Film Reviews

Homicide detective Sean Nault, a cop on a parallel Earth whose technology is powered exclusively by magic. Sean investigates a baffling series of murders committed by a means he's never seen before: science. With the aid of Lenoir, a member of the ridiculed subculture of "pragmatists" who believe science is more than the stuff of myths & children's stories, and the 130-year-old sorcerer Winston Churchill, Sean uncovers an ominous plot that will lead him to another dimension and the realization that, unless he prevents it, both earths could well be destroyed.

Romance meets crime drama, when Nisha and Sunil are wed, but face the consequences of Sunil's brother's questionable business associates.

The story develops in the Tokugawa era of the 18th century, in a poor district of Tokyo, where impoverished samurai live from hand to mouth among equally poor people of lower social classes. One such ronin (masterless samurai) Matajuro, spends his day looking for work whilst his wife, Otaki, makes cheap paper balloons at home. One rainy night, Shinza, a barber, and equally penniless, impulsively abducts the daughter of a wealthy merchant, hiding her at Matajuros home. Their desperate plan has grave consequences when a ransom attempt backfires. The film, which starts and ends with suicide, is deeply pessimistic, insisting that life in feudal Japan was hellish and short for those at the foot of the social ladder.

Gails agoraphobia keeps her inside where she escapes into romance novels. She shares a house with her Nan, recently back from the hospital. Gradually, they both try to reach out to each other to break their isolation. Rob plunges further into his addiction as a way of numbing his heartbreak over the death of his girlfriend. In his stupor, he dreams of embracing her again. Mr & Mrs Gladwin are going through a shift in their 60 year relationship. Years of resentment and unspoken truths have built a barrier between them that Mrs Gladwin, in her abiding love, tries to erode in little gestures.