Film Reviews

A re-interpretation of Ramayana, the Thai animation film tells the story of a giant robot, Na Kiew, who's left wandering in a barren wasteland after a great war. Na Kiew meets Jao Phuek, a puny tin robot who's lost his memory and is now stuck with his new big friend. Together they set out across the desert populated by metal scavengers, to look for Ram, the creator of all robots.

This short film is a metaphor for the Vietnam War. A man walks into a meticulously clean and sterile bathroom, concentrating on the polished porcelain and shiny metal motif. He then proceeds to shave. When his face is clean, however, he only continues to shave until he pierces through his skin. Blood covers him and falls around him, the red contrasting the perfect spotlessness of the bathroom.

With or without help from law enforcement officers, a lone individual decides to crack down on the syndicate.

The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.

The realm of magic is being threatened by the realm of logic, so Carolinus, the green wizard decides to shield it for all time. Ommedon, the evil red wizard, stands in his way. Carolinus then calls for a quest that is to be led by a man named Peter Dickinson, who is the first man of both the realms of science and magic. It is Peters job to defeat Ommedon.

A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza. In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.

Yu-Siang is blind – but he has a superb sense of hearing. Born in rural Taiwan, this extremely talented musician moves to the capital Taipei to study the piano. But how will he manage on his own? Even the walk across campus from his halls of residence poses a challenge and he must learn how to make the trip step by step. Yu-Siang began winning awards for his piano playing as a young boy but he once overheard somebody saying he only won because of his blindness. Since then he has avoided public competitions – in spite of his teachers' encouragement. Yu-Siang is not interested in recognition: to him his musical development is more important. One day he meets a young woman working in a snack bar. She dreams of becoming a dancer. The encounter proves to be a turning point for both of them.

Nancy Allen plays an investigative news reporter Jillian Gray, who, along with her daughter is kidnapped by white slave king Cicero, after getting too close with her investigation. Now that she has escaped, she seeks revenge on Ciero

Two narratives clash violently in this meditative portrayal of disaffected youth set in a graveyard of abandoned mobile homes known as Sunset Edge. We follow a group of four aimless, suburban teenagers - they skateboard the park, sleep in the sun, and rummage through the decaying remains completely unaware that this is where a lonesome teen is confronting a horrific past. Day turns to night, people disappear, and the secrets of Sunset Edge are revealed in a paralyzing finale.

A Vietnam veteran, Charles Rane, returns home after years in a POW camp and is treated as a hero. When thugs invade his home to steal the silver coins he received for his service, they mangle his hand and leave him and his family for dead. Rane survives and becomes obsessed with getting revenge. Aided by his loyal friend Johnny Vohden, Rane, now wielding a hook for a hand, sets out on his mission of vengeance.

For Ever Mozart is an episodic film that follows a theater troupe from France attempting to put on a play in Sarajevo. Along their journey they are captured and held in a POW camp, and they call for help from their friends and relations in France. Director Jean-Luc Godard presents stories about this troop to ask how one can make art while slaughters like the one in Bosnia are taking place, and he throws in a strong critique of the European Union. For Ever Mozart is one of Godard's most disjointed and difficult films. Its stories sometimes seem to form a whole and at other times the links among them are unclear. One gets the impression that in each episode Godard attempts to start a film only to come to the conclusion that it is impossible to continue. It features some of the most beautiful shots of tanks in the cinema.

A young woman named Noah lives alone in New York. She is a disturbed flower child, who retreats into her past, yearning for lost innocence. She recalls her childhood, searching for a "safe place." As a child she met a magician in Central Park who presented her with magical objects: a levitating silver ball, a star ring, and a Noah's ark. She is romantically involved with two totally different men. Fred is practical but dull. Mitch is dynamic and sexy, her ideal fantasy partner. Neither man is able to totally fulfill her needs.

Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron of tactical specialists are forced to choose between their duty and their humanity, between following orders by ignoring the conflict that surrounds them, or finding the courage to follow their conscience and protect a group of innocent refugees. When the democratic government of Nigeria collapses and the country is taken over by a ruthless military dictator, Waters, a fiercely loyal and hardened veteran is dispatched on a routine mission to retrieve a Doctors Without Borders physician.