Film Reviews

From the makers of The Invisible War comes a startling expose of rape crimes on US campuses, their institutional cover-ups, and the devastating toll they take on students and their families. Weaving together verite footage and first person testimonies, the film follows the lives of several undergraduate assault survivors as they attempt to pursue - despite incredible push back, harassment and traumatic aftermath - both their education and justice.

Frank and Jack Baker are professional musicians who play small clubs. They play smaltzy music and have never needed a day job...

The CIA sends playboy Mike Trent to Alaska with agent Vee Langley, posing as his "nurse," to investigate flying saucer sightings. At first, installed in a hunting lodge, the two play in the wilderness. But then they sight a saucer. Investigating, our heroes clash with an inept gang of Soviet spies, also after the saucer secret.

Roman Polanski wrote the screenplay for this searing portrayal of the aftermath of alcoholism starring Mark Burns as Bernie, a silver tongued wanderer with a fondness for drink and no clear goal in life. What was supposed to be a day of fun at the seaside turns to dust as he drinks his way through a seaside resort community, trailing his little niece Winnie (Beatie Edney). Once the alcohol starts flowing, all physical and emotional stability begins to crumble - and it isn't pretty.

A professional model, Sam Crain, is asked by her sister to smuggle a package from Europe to Portland Oregon, where she discovers that her sister is battling Chinese Shaolin Monks (not ninjas!). Fleeing the monks, Sam unwittingly involves Ed "Brainsmasher" Molloy, a nightclub bouncer.

With Blue Mountain State football star Thad Castle recently signing a multi-million dollar NFL contract, his teammates and college life seem like a distant memory. However, when a new school dean threatens to clean up the BMS image by auctioning off the infamous Goat House, Alex, Sammy and the boys must find a way to convince him to get involved. Despite his new fortune and fame, there is one small favor that Thad needs done before he saves the day: the biggest booze-and-sloot fest in BMS history. Welcome to Thadland!

Indie director Jim Jarmusch lenses a low-tech tribute to protean rocker Neil Young and his long-standing band, Crazy Horse. Stitched together from archival material shot in 1976 and 1986 along with candid scenes of Young and the band kicking back between shows, this rockumentary is as ragged as it is direct. Concert performances include renditions of hits such as "Sedan Delivery" and "Like a Hurricane."

The saga of honorable man Tom Holmes, whose Great War heroics earn fame and a medal for someone else, and his wounds result in morphine addiction and a string of challenges and tragedies.

The Day the '60s Died chronicles May 1970, the month in which four students were shot dead at Kent State. The mayhem that followed has been called the most divisive moment in American history since the Civil War. From college campuses, to the jungles of Cambodia, to the Nixon White House, the film takes us back into that turbulent spring 45 years ago.

Study of interracial marriage in the 1960's. A white divorcée falls in love with and marries an African-American man. When her ex-husband sues for custody of her child, arguing that a mixed household is an improper place to raise the girl, the new husband fights for his parental rights in court, fighting against a judge who represents the prejudices of the era.

In 1947 when the maps of India and Pakistan were being drawn, an oversight ensured that the village of Paglapur didn't find a place in either country. Over 60 years later, Paglapur is isolated, and in need of help. The residents seek help, but as a direct result of being left off the map, they find noone willing to accept Paglapur, and its problems, as their jurisdiction. The villagers decide they need to draw media attention to Paglapur, and in so doing, gain acceptance and help from those who had previously denied them.

Ellie is a 27-year old whose life is far from where she imagined it to be. Filled with annoying friends, a self-involved boyfriend, and a career that she can’t bring herself to pursue, Ellie feels detached from her life. When she learns that her estranged alcoholic father has died, her world is disrupted and she begins a journey that takes her to a small town in Texas. While dealing with the logistical arrangements of her father’s death Ellie has to confront what happens when the structures and safety nets we build for ourselves come undone.

Gary and Shay are two happy-go-lucky flower children who hitchhike in the beautiful Big Sur-Monterey area of California.

Gengobe Satsuma, an exiled samurai cast out as an Asano clan retainer is given a second chance to join his brothers in arms to become the 48th Ronin against the Shogunate. His faithful servant gathers the 100 ryo required for his acceptance. Gengobe is also in love with a greedy geisha named Koman. About to be sold to another man, Gengobe learns that for him to keep her, her debt is exactly 100 ryo.

An anonymous advice columnist finds herself caught in an unlikely romance with the man who has been hired to kill her alter ego.