Film Reviews

In the mid-80s, three women (each with an attorney) arrive at the office of New York entertainment manager, Morris Levy. One is an L.A. singer, formerly of the Platters; one is a petty thief from Philly; one teaches school in a small Georgia town. Each claims to be the widow of long-dead doo-wop singer-songwriter Frankie Lyman, and each wants years of royalties due to his estate, money Levy has never shared. During an ensuing civil trial, flashbacks tell the story of each one's life with Lyman, a boyish, high-pitched, dynamic performer, lost to heroin. Slowly, the three wives establish their own bond.

A biography of the Belgian nun Jeannine Deckers, who became a popular singer in the early 1960s and struggled with the contradiction between the church and her true self.

A cavalry troop finds itself under constant attack by Indians.

Melody, 28 years old, a confused child born under the name X, decides to rent out her body in order to get the money she needs to realize her dream: opening a hair-dressing salon. To do so, she accepts to carry the child of Emily, a rich English woman 48 years old who can no longer have children. To make sure everything goes well and keep an eye on her future child, Emily decides to welcome Melody into her home and stay by her side throughout the pregnancy. Although they first appear to come from completely different worlds, the two women end up adopting each other: Melody finds in Emily the mother she never had, and Emily sees in Melody the daughter she always wanted to have. Evidently, the bonds that emerge during this double maternity create all sorts of doubts and questions.

The Blue Planet, the definitive exploration of the Earth's final frontier is now over. From the deep to the shore, from pole to pole it revealed extraordinary life and behaviour that had never before been filmed. In some cases the species were only recently known to scientists.The series took almost five years to make, involving nearly 200 filming locations. The fact that most of the ocean environment remains a mystery presented the production team with many challenges. Besides witnessing animal behaviour for the first time, the crew also observed some that were new to science. The producers were helped by marine scientists all over the world with state of the art equipment.

Back from a tour of duty, Kelli struggles to find her place in her family and the rust-belt town she no longer recognizes.

Cet Amour-là is an intimate portrait of a legendary love affair. Set against the beauty of the Breton seaside, it is also a film that revels in the insights that Marguerite Duras' writing affords.

Carnival dancer Lane Bellamy finds herself stranded in a southern town ruled by corrupt political boss Sheriff Titus Semple. Lane becomes romantically involved with Deputy Sheriff Fielding Carlisle, a weakling whose career is being driven by Titus. Seeing Lane as a liability to his own political ambitions, Titus mounts a campaign to get her driven out of town. She finds she can't get a job and even gets arrested on a trumped-up morals charge. Released from jail, Lane finds work as a "hostess" at Lutie-Mae's road house, where she meets Dan Reynolds, another member of the town's political machine. They marry and move to a home on Flamingo Road, the town's social pinnacle. Their marriage is soon marked by scandal when a drunken Carlisle visits Lane at home one evening and shoots himself.

An emotionally challenged young man named Bobby (Christian Bale) runs away from home in order to escape his abusive stepfather who has killed his pets. He meets an old man, Mr. Summers (John Hurt), who spends his time traveling and giving burials to animals that have been killed by cars. Bobby, also having an affinity for animals, becomes friends with the old man and aids him in his task.

An "underground" cartoonist contends with life in the inner city, where various unsavory characters serve as inspiration for his artwork.

Band singer/race driver Mike McCoy must choose between marrying a beautiful rich girl and driving her father's car in a prestigious race.

Prince of Broadway is the story of Lucky and Levon, two men whose lives converge in the underbelly of New York's wholesale fashion district. Lucky, an illegal immigrant from Ghana, makes ends meet by soliciting shoppers on the street with knock-off brand merchandise. Levon, an Armenian-Lebanese immigrant, operates an illegal storefront with a concealed back room where counterfeit goods are showcased to interested shoppers. Lucky's world is suddenly turned upside down when a child is thrust into his life by a woman who insists the toddler is his son. While Lucky copes with his new domestic dilemma, Levon struggles to save a marriage that is falling apart. The seedy side of the wholesale district is revealed through a journey that continually confronts the interplay between what is fake and what is real.

A bigoted junkie cop suffering from bipolar disorder and drug addiction manipulates and hallucinates his way through the festive season in a bid to secure promotion and win back his wife and daughter.

Kimihiko Onizuka is a salaryman infatuated with maiko (apprentice geisha) and whose greatest goal in life is to play a party game called "yakyuken" with one.

Tells the seemingly random yet vitally connected story of a set of incidents that all converge one evening at 11:14pm. The story follows the chain of events of five different characters and five different storylines that all converge to tell the story of murder and deceit.