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513,166 | 3,223,254 | 381,061 | 8 | Notes from the Other Side | Not being a James Bond addict this viewer approached CASINO ROYALE in the quiet of the home with the DVD form of the film . For the first time the unique appeal of this 007 character makes sense under Daniel Craig's interpretation . Prior Bond films with the varied actors who have portrayed him have gone for the slick ... |
513,279 | 3,223,254 | 405,866 | 8 | Chabrol's Newest Intrigue Puzzle , but One with Missing Pieces | The films of French Cinema master Claude Chabrol have been some of the quirkier , intelligent , strange , and creative works to come out of France ( La Fleur du mal , Merci pour le chocolat , Au coeur du mensonge , Rien ne va plus , La Cérémonie , L'Enfer , Madame Bovary , Dr . M , etc ) . His works are marked with sin... |
513,253 | 3,223,254 | 118,845 | 8 | Hints of Treasures to Come | Two Chinese lovers drift around Buenos Aires , attempting to come to grips with a relationship that is clearly on the skids in this interesting and frustrating film ' Cheun gwong tsa sit ' ( Happy Together ) by the very talented Kar Wai Wong . On vacation from Hong Kong , Yiu-Fai ( Tony Leung ) and Po-Wing ( Leslie Che... |
513,407 | 3,223,254 | 403,508 | 8 | A Surprisingly Fine Little Film About Adolescent Growth | THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS ( if you haven't read the novel by Ann Brashares ) sounds like another silly , goofy chick flick , a made for summer popcorn movie for teenage girls to love and teenage boys to tolerate . But the title should NOT prevent the general audience from experiencing a truly tender , warm ... |
513,669 | 3,223,254 | 450,232 | 8 | ' People change , Jack , people can change ' | A surprisingly good little thriller , 16 BLOCKS provides a tight , minimalist script , fine directing , excellent camera work , and standout performances by Bruce Willis , Mos Def , and David Morse . It is enough of a twist on the usual cop chase films to make it fresh , exciting , intelligent and touching . Jack Mosle... |
512,764 | 3,223,254 | 354,976 | 8 | A Twist on the Theme of a Love Affair | ' Trop plein d'amour ' ( L'amour Dangereux ) is a beautifully filmed and very well written ( François Lemaire , Steve Suissa and Samantha Mazeras ) story that finds more information about the early stages of love in the young set than a score of other films . Director Steve Suissa knows exactly how to balance the motiv... |
513,612 | 3,223,254 | 401,591 | 8 | A Tank Full of Good Feelings | BROOKLYN LOBSTER is a fine little low budget film that boasts a good story ( based on fact ) written and directed By Kevin Jordan , an excellent low key cast , and enough family love to satisfy just about everybody's need for feel good movies . Giorgio's Lobster Farm has been in the Giorgio family for years and has rec... |
513,010 | 3,223,254 | 455,782 | 8 | The Fine Line Between Comedy and Tragedy | At first glance , during the music and opening sequences of THE HUNTING PARTY , it is difficult to ascertain if the film about to be seen is a comedy or a docudrama about a genocidal maniac . Once the repartee of dialog sets in we realize that journalists require a certain mindset and vantage that allows them to cover ... |
512,727 | 3,223,254 | 421,073 | 8 | And if you like James Ellroy . . . | Despite the fact that we are seeing a plethora of ' bad cop ' movies , it is hard not to like STREET KINGS by the premiere writer of this genre , James Ellroy . This film is not unique in subject matter , but the pace of the action , the keen directing by David Ayer , and the cast of important and popular actors makes ... |
513,060 | 3,223,254 | 337,631 | 8 | A Wee Sparkling Film from Ireland | Some films may be predictable , with minimal storyline and action sequences and still be a hit . THE BOYS AND GIRL FROM COUNTY CLARE hits that description on target . This is an emerald of a jaunty little Irish tale that thoroughly entertains with a fine cast and superb Irish music and leaves the audience wholly satisf... |
513,704 | 3,223,254 | 454,084 | 8 | ' Disabilities ' and Possibilities | The title and cover of this DVD suggest a film that is more fluff than substance . But don't be fooled by these clues . BLIND DATING is a well-written ( Christopher Theo ) , well-directed ( James Keach - brother of Stacy Keach and husband of Jane Seymour ) story about the coping of the visually impaired , the quirks of... |
512,914 | 3,223,254 | 489,281 | 8 | Afterburn | The title of this film STOP-LOSS may puzzle many . According to Wikipedia , ' Stop-loss , in the United States military , is the involuntary extension of a service member's active duty service under the enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond their initial end of term of service ( ETS ) date . It also applie... |
512,989 | 3,223,254 | 857,355 | 8 | A Child's Mind : The Door to Understanding | O Ano em Que Meus Pais Saíram de Férias ( THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION ) is an amazing little film from Brazil written by Adriana Falcão and Claudio Galperin and directed with panache by Cao Hamberger . It tackles many important issues ( political upheaval , religion , ghettos , soccer , aging and more ) while ... |
513,525 | 3,223,254 | 463,345 | 8 | A Stylish , Visually Stunning , Memorable Film from Latin America | LA MUJER DE MI HERMANO seems to have polarized viewers between those who classify it as a television novela and those who see it as a stylish Latin American drama . Written by Peruvian author Jaime Bayly , adapted by María Eugenia Argomedo , and directed by Peruvian director Ricardo de Montreuil , the cast boasts actor... |
512,816 | 3,223,254 | 275,915 | 8 | Three Tales in One : Possibilities of Destiny | ' Amores Possíveis ' ( POSSIBLE LOVES ) is fine little film from Brazil courtesy of writers Paulo Halm and Maya Werneck Da-Rin and polished young director Sandra Werneck . Filmed in Rio de Janeiro in Portuguese , the story of three possible outcomes of a potential love affair is cleverly conceived and is acted with apl... |
513,315 | 3,223,254 | 374,496 | 8 | A Fish out of Water , Learning to Swim | America BROWN is one of those little Indie films that creeps up on you and despite the technical flaws and obvious low budget milieu makes a solid impact as a bit a Americana worth visiting . America Brown aka Ricky Brown ( Ryan Kwanten ) is a high school senior who happens to be a football star in his tiny West Texas ... |
513,220 | 3,223,254 | 348,505 | 8 | A Gothic Romance Tale | Patrick McGrath's novel ' Asylum ' was more a poetic elegy about thwarted love and lust than the screenplay by Patrick Marber ( ' Closer ' ) addresses . The improbability of the story , when McGrath's poetic prose is extracted , surfaces and the nuances of a dark love story are lessened . Despite this the film is a wor... |
512,815 | 3,223,254 | 421,054 | 8 | Edgy , Daring , and Visually Exciting Crime Drama | Tony Scott has a lock and load style of directing , a manner of making a film like a fast ride in the editing room where you must depend on rapid sequence fragments to keep the whole story together , an artsy and at times a bit over the top pretentious visual language that , depending on the story , can work very well ... |
513,606 | 3,223,254 | 426,911 | 8 | Revisiting the Stalinist Era and its Impact | ARCHANGEL ( the name of a northern Russian town that hides secrets the story discloses ) is a film that is not without flaws both in script and in production , but it is a movie of intrigue that makes for a good night's adventure of escape . . . and political philosophizing . Dr . Fluke Kelso ( Daniel Craig ) is an Ame... |
513,088 | 3,223,254 | 426,883 | 8 | Despite the Horrifying Material , the Film is Well Made | ALPHA DOG is a tough movie to watch and to review . The story , in part because it is true , is repugnant , and the slice of life in 1999 in the San Gabriel Valley , California is disturbing to the point of nausea . But this heinous kidnap / murder of a 15-year-old kid by his peers is captured in an intense manner by w... |
512,834 | 3,223,254 | 426,931 | 8 | Music and the Harmony of the Universe : A Film for Dreamers | AUGUST RUSH will not go down in history as a profound film : many will even go so far as to dismiss it as kitsch , maudlin , and a simpleton take off on ' Oliver Twist ' , and other pejoratives . For this viewer the little film is tender and frequently requires suspension of belief , but in the end the idea of the stor... |
513,276 | 3,223,254 | 446,442 | 8 | A Stylish , Engrossing Tale form the European Front Before 911 | Quelques jours en septembre ( A Few Days in September ) is an intelligent , classy little film that boasts not only a unique story as written and directed by Argentinean Santiago Amigorena , but a fine cast of both seasoned and fresh young actors who capture our attention and hearts as they progress through Europe on a... |
513,004 | 3,223,254 | 450,259 | 8 | Tightly Directed Action Thriller | Edward Zwick delivers the goods with BLOOD DIAMOND , a tense and very compelling film about the greed and bloodshed that surround the diamond industry of Sierra Leone . Though a bit too long at two and a half hours the story is not only a dramatically viable one for a film , but it also has much to say about human inte... |
513,275 | 3,223,254 | 460,812 | 8 | A Different Kind of Love Story : Balance in Life | GRIFFIN & PHOENIX is a quiet little made for television film that touches the vulnerable heart . Originally written in 1976 as a television film by John Hill , this thirty-years-later version holds up well , and the fact that audiences will still opt for sensitive stories that treat difficult topics in a mature manner ... |
513,081 | 3,223,254 | 450,340 | 8 | The Safety and Threat and Challenge of Memory Loss | Director Simon Brand and writer Matthew Waynee are relative newcomers to the art of film-making and if UNKNOWN is a fair example of their capabilities , they should have promising futures . The script is clever , just obtuse enough to engage thinking on the part of the viewer , and the story is told in a manner that en... |
512,909 | 3,223,254 | 825,236 | 8 | The Microcosm of the Beauty Salon | SUKKAR BANAT ( CARAMEL ) marks a fine directorial debut for the stunningly beautiful Lebanese actress Nadine Labaki . Though films about the private lives of a circle of women who gather in a mutual watering hole to gossip , share joys and pains of love affairs , as well as being the important support group they all ne... |
513,358 | 3,223,254 | 415,407 | 8 | One Man's Castle is Another Man's Prison : COLDITZ and Human Behavior | Colditz is a castle near Leipzig where during WW II the Nazis held Allied troops who were particularly at risk as escape artists . Many of the men had escaped POW camps prior to their incarceration in the huge castle , and the man in charge of the prison warns every new inmate that the castle is impenetrable : there is... |
513,314 | 3,223,254 | 378,947 | 8 | The Janus Effect : The Polar Effects of Comedy and Tragedy | Woody Allen's finest film that dealt with the potency of interpersonal relationships in a purely serious mode was the magnificent ' Interiors ' , a film that remains one of the most visually beautiful and hauntingly touching films of the past . In MELINDA & MELINDA he seems to be looking at his life in films from a hig... |
513,567 | 3,223,254 | 469,897 | 8 | Static in Ordinary Lives | Capturing a bit of Americana , a parcel of life foreign in nature to our own , has offered the opportunity to appreciate the diversity of living and of people in this country populated by ordinary yet extraordinary beings . Films that have focused on little family ventures ( ' Mystic Pizza'-type films ) make us examine... |
513,024 | 3,223,254 | 119,219 | 8 | Gradually Becoming a Cult Movie | GOODBYE LOVER slipped by a lot of viewers when it was released in 1998 and it is only now while on DVD that the quality of this little tongue-in-cheek film noir is gaining steady popularity . And that is basically due to a superb cast of fine actors who obviously are enjoying every minute of the project . Sandra ( Patr... |
513,299 | 3,223,254 | 1,117,385 | 8 | ' Prison desensitizes you . ' | Writer / Director Ric Roman Waugh may not have a large number of completed films under his stuntman belt , but if FELON is any indication of the quality of work we can expect from him , it seems he has a solid future . There are many films about prison life and prison breaks that keep coming down the pike , but few of ... |
513,116 | 3,223,254 | 377,076 | 8 | Artist and Model | Pedro Usabiaga is a well-established Basque photographer whose chief concerns are figurative photography and whose passion in photographing the Spanish male . In this hour long conversation with the artist we are given entry into that process of selecting models ( none of the models he uses for this book to be titled '... |
513,635 | 3,223,254 | 229,397 | 8 | Looking for the Happiest Day of Your Life | FORGIVE AND FORGET was originally written by Mark Burt and directed by Aisling Walsh as a TV movie aimed at a straight audience in the UK . That fact is important to remember as it makes this excellent film more credible to the audience that is finding it negative . The world at large remains homophobic as is evident n... |
512,659 | 3,223,254 | 346,491 | 8 | A Director's Cut Reformation of Alexander | Few films have garnered the criticism as the theatrical release of the much maligned Alexander and that fact always stirs the curiosity cauldron - in this case , so much so that Oliver Stone decided to re-edit and re-compose the original version into this Director's Cut DVD . Now the film can be viewed in the relativel... |
513,193 | 3,223,254 | 114,854 | 8 | Another Little Jewel of a Film from Australian Cinema | VIOLET'S VISIT may retrace old ground covered by other successful movies , but as written by Andrew Creagh and Barry Lowe based on a story by Richard Tarner and directed by Richard Turner this take on the joys and trials of surprise gay parenting is fresh and as unprejudiced a look as has come along in a long time . Vi... |
513,708 | 3,223,254 | 421,206 | 8 | Not Just Another ' Team Sports Cure Every Evil ' Film | It seems like the past few years have seen a run on sports films that demonstrate the power of learning sportsmanship on a team level can alter the lives of the misbegotten youths suffering from the angst of society's perceptions . We've been through soccer , baseball , tennis , dance , track and football : GRIDIRON GA... |
513,079 | 3,223,254 | 775,539 | 8 | Dance 10 , Story 4 | STOMP THE YARD comes as a pleasant surprise to those of us who have yet to be introduced to ' stepping ' - a sport / dance form that is not break dancing , not hip-hop , not modern dance , not clogging , not ballet , but instead is an exhilarating display of rhythm , physical dexterity , and creative choreography that ... |
513,349 | 3,223,254 | 396,171 | 8 | A Visual Masterwork | PERFUME - THE STORY OF A MURDERER may not succeed on every level . Based on the novel DAS PERFUM by Patrick Süskind and prepared for the screen by Andrew Birkin , Bernd Eichinger , and director Tom Tykwer , this is a story more about the senses than about people . The main character is not the sort of man with whom we ... |
513,590 | 3,223,254 | 476,643 | 8 | Borders and Bridges | The Israeli / Palestinian conflict persists and while the world may be aware of the violence surrounding the division of the two countries , few have a clue to the other aspect of the division - the group of people who want peace and work toward eradicating the separation . Eytan Fox , in THE BUBBLE ( ' Ha-Buah ' ) , h... |
512,918 | 3,223,254 | 487,195 | 8 | A Little Film with Heart : Appreciating Fine Actors | BONNEVILLE creeps up on the viewer . It is a solid marriage of light comedy and sentiment and the somewhat slight story is brought to life by the natural gifts of a trio of superb actors . Why it did not find popularity in the theaters is probably due to the topic of death and the cast of ' older actresses ' , but it i... |
513,683 | 3,223,254 | 209,464 | 8 | Wondrously Strange Film | VILLA DES ROSES , based on the novel by Willem Elsschot , is a strange and claustrophobic examination of life in a confined space in Paris 1912-1913 . Director Frank Van Passel has surrounded his production with excellent scenery , effects , camera work and a cast of gifted actors to tell this bizarre tale of Europe on... |
513,138 | 3,223,254 | 350,261 | 8 | A Small Town in the Vast Plains of Wyoming Bring Focus to Alienation | Lasse Hallström has the gift to capture the aura of a place and time and allow that atmosphere to color the characters in his stories , making everything he does feel natural and possible . In this very fine film AN UNFINISHED LIFE the setting is the vastness of Wyoming , in a town where everyone knows everyone and rem... |
512,928 | 3,223,254 | 760,188 | 8 | The Birth of Psychoanalysis : Friedrich Nietzsche , Dr Josef Breuer and Freud | WHEN NIETZSCHE WEPT gives us an insight into the beginnings of Psychology and particularly the Treatment of Talking as begun not by Sigmund Freud , but instead by the brilliant yet troubled mind of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the Viennese physician Dr . Josef Breuer . Pinchas Perry adapted the novel by the same... |
513,136 | 3,223,254 | 363,771 | 8 | A Fantasy Well Grounded in Reality | CS Lewis ' The Chronicles of Narnia may very well have been a book intended for children but it was also the result of a life through the Great Wars and the effects those wars had one the individual . Gratefully in Andrew Adamson's directorial hands that part of the story that lends the need for the fantasy is preserve... |
512,724 | 3,223,254 | 970,468 | 8 | ' Brother , can you spare a dime ? ' | The lead-in cinematic and musical elements for this delightfully entertaining , fast paced , little bit of nostalgia film prepares the viewer for the story as well as any ' overture ' could . The setting is London in the 1930s , the day of the first blitzkrieg , and the tone of the imagery is that quiet depression and ... |
513,233 | 3,223,254 | 374,583 | 8 | What price glory ? | COMME UNE IMAGE ( LOOK AT ME ) is a tough little film that practically defies the viewer to love it . Rated as a comedy , it has few chuckles of the usual kind , but the smart tidy script delivers more of the Reformation-type comedy - wit with a bite . Writer / director and star Agnès Jaoui ( her co-author is her ex-hu... |
513,141 | 3,223,254 | 343,737 | 8 | Espionage , One Slow Step At A Time | THE GOOD SHEPHERD may take a lot of patience to sit through the nearly three hour tale written by Eric Roth ( Munich , Forrest Gump , Ali , The Horse Whisperer , etc ) and directed with meticulous attention to detail by Robert De Niro , but in the end the film about the creation of CIA ( " ever notice that no one these... |
513,287 | 3,223,254 | 822,854 | 8 | Things are not what they seem : A Study of Governmental Abuses | SHOOTER is a fast paced , well-photographed , imaginative thriller - the kind of movie that does not allow the attention span to wander for a second if the full impact of the drama is to be appreciated . Based on the popular novel ' Point of Impact ' by Stephen Hunter and adapted for the screen by Jonathan Lemkin , thi... |
513,264 | 3,223,254 | 822,849 | 8 | Finding Redemption in Tragedy | RAILS & TIES , under the guidance of first time director Alison Eastwood , tackles an implausible subject of multiple tragedies resulting in repairing personal breaks and with the able assistance of a groups of excellent actors makes a finely tune , sensitive study of little lives struggling against major odds . It is ... |
512,695 | 3,223,254 | 238,295 | 8 | Choices and their ramifications | The French title of this film is IN EXTREMIS ( though translated as TO THE EXTREME ) and means ' in desperate circumstances , especially at the point of death ' . Rethinking the story of this interesting but problematic movie in those terms after viewing gives the cinematic effort more poignancy . This is a tale of the... |
513,544 | 3,223,254 | 450,470 | 8 | ' Two drifters , off to see the world ' from " Moon River " | Director João Pedro Rodrigues and writer Paulo Rebelo ( ' O Fantasma ' ) collaborate again on this fascinating ( if a bit frustrating ) Portuguese film ODETE ( ' Two Drifters ' ) . Together they have their own brand of surrealism and exploration of fantasies that seems to be developing into a smart new look for cinema ... |
513,282 | 3,223,254 | 446,687 | 9 | A Modern Day Reflection of ' Harold and Maude ' | DRIVING LESSONS is a little film that sneaks up on you . What at first seems to be a bit of fluffy nonsense comedy British style is at its base a very fine story about coming of age and the needs for significant friendship of both the young and the elderly . Writer Jeremy Brock ( ' Mrs . Brown ' , ' Charlotte Gray ' , ... |
513,387 | 3,223,254 | 118,610 | 9 | Professional Life , Hedonism and the Meaning of Friendship in Madrid | AMOR DE HOMBRE is a smart , snappy , fast-paced , entertaining little film which considering its release date of 1997 was a precursor to the now frequent appearance of films that deal with tender relationships between gay men and straight women ( ' My Best Friend's Wedding ' and all the spin-offs ) . It is a smart scri... |
513,055 | 3,223,254 | 368,962 | 9 | ' Hope is the worst of evils , for it prolongs the torments of man . ' Nietzsche | ' You never get out of the sewer ' is the sad summary toward the end of this remarkable film from Macedonia . Director Svetozar Ristovski co-wrote this screenplay with Grace Lea Troje , a story of the struggle of youths in a country devastated with poverty and corruption - a place without hope . The message is grim , t... |
512,929 | 3,223,254 | 433,350 | 9 | An Intelligent and Stylish Film That Goes Beyond Its Genre | BOY CULTURE is a very fine little film and were it being evaluated solely within the confines of gay films , it would easily rate 10 stars . It is well written , well directed , well acted and has messages that cover a fairly broad territory ( racism , homophobia , hustler life style , relationships , coming out tales ... |
513,461 | 3,223,254 | 885,520 | 9 | A Love Triangle As Fragile and Lovely As Any Ever Filmed | ETERNAL SUMMER ( Sheng xia guang nian ) is a delicate , quiet , understated and eloquent study of youthful interpersonal relationships form Taiwanese director Leste Chen from a screenplay by Cheng-Ping Hsu based on the novel by the same name by Chi-yao Wang . The style of the film allows a wide audience to appreciate t... |
513,254 | 3,223,254 | 384,766 | 9 | The Gory Glory of the Roman Empire | HBO takes risks , thank goodness , and this series ROME is a fine example of how far a television project can go toward the movie industry and still maintain interest when broken into weekly installments . There may be a number of quibbles from Latin scholars and historians as to the veracity of it all , but ROME is no... |
512,825 | 3,223,254 | 427,470 | 9 | Heist Story with a Human Twist | THE LOOKOUT , written and directed by Scott Frank ( who also wrote ' The Interpreter ' , ' Minority Report ' , ' Get Shorty ' , ' Dead Again ' , etc . ) is a clever story of a bank robbery but that is really a secondary plot to this excellent drama that deals with characters with impairments and how they cope with the ... |
513,454 | 3,223,254 | 318,761 | 9 | Another Glimpse into the Etiology of Family Fragility | Amidst all the big bang sequels to cartoons , actions flicks , horror movies , and potty mouth raunch films it is refreshing to find a continuous trickle of meaningful stories bravely presented to the public , unfortunately usually for a short screen time before they move on to DVD . Such is the case for THUMBSUCKER , ... |
513,262 | 3,223,254 | 780,536 | 9 | The Psychic Isolation of Two Hit Men in Bruges | Martin McDonagh makes an impressive writing and directing debut with the very fresh and entertaining and surprisingly well rounded film IN BRUGES . Though the basic storyline is rather simple , McDonagh knows how to keep it turning and twisting with generous amounts of humor as well as probing character development . H... |
513,274 | 3,223,254 | 355,683 | 9 | An Excellent Examination of the Darkness of Madness | Kai S . Peck is one courageous Director ! He has created a very substantial and quite disturbing film about an actual bizarre serial killer and through the statements and letters of his subject and a book by Paul Moor and his astute directing he has been able to step over the sensationalism of his subject and open the ... |
513,042 | 3,223,254 | 466,665 | 9 | A Small Independent Film with a Big Message | THE ARCHITECT is a film based on a play by David Grieg that deals with social class dichotomy , lack of communication in families , gender confrontations in youths , and coming to grips with decisions of the past that later haunt . Made on a budget less than a million dollars and shot in twenty days , this unique littl... |
513,661 | 3,223,254 | 342,258 | 9 | Transcending Evil , Discovering Humanity | Luc Besson's signature style is all over the writing of this very fine little film . His ability to push the buttons on the most violent screen business while gradually developing a tale of warm sentiment is well served by director Louis Leterrier and a perfect cast of actors . UNLEASHED is one of the few examples of h... |
513,212 | 3,223,254 | 230,921 | 9 | Dreams , Expectations , Fantasies : A Family Tale | ' Que faisaient les femmes pendant que l'homme marchait sur la lune ? ' ( strangely ' translated ' for the English speaking audiences as FAMILY PACK ! ) is a fascinating , involving , probing , witty , tender little film from Belgium that uses a loaded homecoming to unfold a strange family's secrets and modes of adapti... |
513,593 | 3,223,254 | 415,965 | 9 | A Gentle Film That Deserves Wider Attention | MARTIAN CHILD was marketed incorrectly - that can be the major reason for its lack of success in the theatrical release . While all the multiplex theaters are overflowing with loud , coarse , raunchy , and special effects driven financial successes ( with major exceptions , of course ! ) , little meaningful and sensiti... |
513,054 | 3,223,254 | 275,072 | 9 | An Unexpectedly Beautiful , Tender Tale in Time of War | WHERE ESKIMOS LIVE is one of those surprise films that appears out of nowhere , without ballyhoo , not apparently having been on the theatrical release circuit , yet once discovered serendipitously in the video store and watched , makes such an impact that its anonymity is a puzzle . Writer / director Tomasz Wiszniewsk... |
513,086 | 3,223,254 | 216,048 | 9 | The Brits Show Us How OKLAHOMA ! Should be Staged | OKLAHOMA ! opened on Broadway in 1943 and became a classic - not only because the Rodgers and Hammerstein score was so strong , but also because Agnes De Mille was brought in to introduce serious choreography to the Broadway stage . For the past 64 years this musical comedy / drama has been on the boards both professio... |
512,807 | 3,223,254 | 385,004 | 9 | Visual Splendor for a Touching Romance | When the neighborhood movie houses seem to have an overwhelming number of martial arts films , both takeoffs on ' Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon ' quality and the ' Matrix ' clone dalliances , and when the whole concept of mind-boggling flying armed forms threatens to become passé , along comes another film by Yimou Z... |
513,085 | 3,223,254 | 446,755 | 9 | Making W . Somerset Maugham's Novel Visual | Though some readers who are familiar with the novel , ' The Painted Veil ' , may have quibbles about the altered sequences and places of action and character emphasis in Ron Nyswaner's screenplay , those disparities pale in comparison to the superb acting and cinematic treatment of Maugham's story about the development... |
513,337 | 3,223,254 | 137,079 | 9 | A Dazzling Kaleidoscopic Theme and Variations | Lola + Bilidikid ( Lola and Billy the Kid ) written and directed by the dynamic E . Kutlug Ataman is an immensely interesting view of the lives of Turks in Berlin . The many characters introduced at a seemingly random fashion all are woven in the loom of Ataman , becoming one connected tapestry of ethnic clashes , humo... |
513,087 | 3,223,254 | 378,284 | 9 | Political Chaos from the Vantage of Children's Eyes | Andrés Wood is a highly regarded Chilean filmmaker , a man unafraid to take on controversial issues and present them in a manner that is revelatory to his audience , whether that audience is in Chile or other South American countries - or in Europe or North America . In MACHUCA he transports us to the year 1973 in Chil... |
513,589 | 3,223,254 | 804,522 | 9 | Rendition : an unfortunate new word to add to our sense of shame | RENDITION accomplishes a lot in presenting a story that is tough to watch , tougher to believe , and for all that is a tremendously involving and electrifying movie . It is definitely a message film but that message is delivered by a smart script , a compassionate director , and a dream cast . But first the word rendit... |
513,653 | 3,223,254 | 118,230 | 9 | Love : Four Divertimenti | Gaël Morel co-wrote ( with Catherine Corsini ) and directed this very French exploration of the manifestations of love in a style that feels more like eavesdropping on private encounters than on a linear drama . The plot is actually tightly woven around each of the four characters , at the same time giving the effect o... |
513,632 | 3,223,254 | 420,015 | 9 | The Kind of Movie Making that Restores Faith in the Medium | Columbian director and writer Rodrigo García ( Things you can tell just by looking at her , multiple episodes of Six Feet Under , Carnivale , The Sopranos , Fathers and Sons , etc ) does what few writer / directors are capable of : García observes the human condition , finds the stories that such observations suggests ... |
513,719 | 3,223,254 | 416,675 | 9 | Clashes : Cultural , Lingual , Scientific , Emotional | DARK MATTER is a film that will polarize audiences : for those who seek understanding of the clashes between science and ' religion ' and the matrix from which tragedy grows the film will appeal , and for the audiences who demand tidy stories with happy resolutions the film will not please . Apparently ' based on true ... |
513,622 | 3,223,254 | 758,786 | 9 | Stranger than Fiction ! | STUCK is one of those films that creeps up on you , teases you into thinking a comedy is in the making , then slowly reveals itself as what seems to be an exposé of our current manner of getting through life , of competing in the workplace , and of self absorption to the point of endangering those around us . The fact ... |
512,785 | 3,223,254 | 366,596 | 9 | ' I Am A Camera ' | Walk down any street in metropolitan areas and the omnipresence of the Big Brother camera is frightening : cell phones now capture all manner of images from friendly to horrific , cameras at stores ' entries scan customers like a police state , police have license plate detecting cameras on their vehicles , strolling y... |
512,759 | 3,223,254 | 420,136 | 9 | A Night on the Streets of Buenos Aires | Edgardo Cozarinsky is one of Argentina's most respected film makers and this elegiac nocturnal mood piece ' Ronda nocturna ' is a stunning little foray into exploring the people who work by night in a big city , that big city could be anywhere in the world . This is not a film for those who need a storyline or those wh... |
513,227 | 3,223,254 | 406,650 | 9 | The Oblivion of Suburbia : A Dark Comedy | Few films have polarized audiences ( fortunate enough to have experienced this little film ) as much as THE CHUMSCRUBBER , a film that is unique in its brave depiction of American suburbia , a place where ' things ' have absorbed our attention and ' people ' have all but melted into the woodwork . It is a dark comedy ,... |
513,600 | 3,223,254 | 382,357 | 9 | ' Angst and Alienation in America ' | LAND OF PLENTY is nowhere near as powerful a title for this brilliant Wim Wenders film as the original working title , ANGST AND ALIENATION IN America . This is another Wim Wenders wonder of film-making , a quiet little powerhouse of a movie that should be required viewing for all of us . Wenders wrote this moving piec... |
513,674 | 3,223,254 | 384,369 | 9 | The Path from Glory to Self Martyrdom | BEFORE THE FALL ( ' NAPOLA ' ) is a brilliantly made film that addresses the blind hopes of youth in becoming a success as a man , a factor that allowed and allows dictators to entice young men into the realm of warriors under the guise of applauded bravery and the golden promise of achieving glory for a great cause . ... |
512,721 | 3,223,254 | 479,354 | 9 | An Inside View of Political Detainees | One of the aspects of this excellent film from Argentina is the disturbing fact that it is based on actual events . Director Israel Adrián Caetano ( with Esteban Student and Julian Loyola ) created the screenplay from the main character's memoir - ' Pase libre ' by Claudio Tamburrini - and in doing so bring a sense of ... |
513,360 | 3,223,254 | 362,526 | 9 | A Big Bravo ! for this California Transplant from Argentina ! | As one of the many foreign film devotees who rank writer Fabián Bielinsky's 2000 film NUEVE REINAS from Argentina as one of the best caper films ever , I was completely satisfied with the ' American made version ' CRIMINAL . Bielinsky co-wrote this screenplay with director Gregory Jacobs and the result is a terse , wit... |
513,202 | 3,223,254 | 1,175,491 | 9 | A Film The Will Gain Respect In Time | W . is a film not many people want to see or even discuss because of the subject matter - the career of the country's most unpopular President , the debacle of the Iraq War , and the decimated economy . There is a certain ' guilt ' that comes with criticizing the leader of the country , from both conservatives and libe... |
512,926 | 3,223,254 | 488,903 | 9 | Needs and Recriminations | PUNISH ME ( VERFOLGT ) , aptly photographed in rich black and white , is a deftly made German film that raises as many questions as disturbing thoughts , a film that in every definition is a film noir - and a superb one at that . Writer Susanne Billig and director Angelina Maccarone ( note : two very talented women ! )... |
513,652 | 3,223,254 | 274,117 | 9 | Needs and How to Take Care of Them | Sur mes lèvres or READ MY LIPS is fine little thriller that also examines the lives of ' outsiders ' , people who live in the periphery of our vision who struggle with the need to ' fit in ' . Director Jacques Audiard with and co-writer Tonino Benacquista have created a tense , tight , completely entertaining little th... |
513,101 | 3,223,254 | 395,424 | 9 | A Visually Breathtaking , Emotionally Staggering Film of Great Importance | 3 NEEDLES as written and directed by Thom Fitzgerald ( The Hanging Garden , The Wild Dogs , Blood Moon , Beefcake ) is a powerful statement about the insidious spread of AIDS throughout the world , taking us to places we the viewers would rarely visit from the news media emphasis on the disease . The film is three stor... |
513,664 | 3,223,254 | 383,534 | 9 | Christmas and a time for meting out miracles | NOEL is an unabashedly romantic little film , the type of movie Hollywood used to make for Christmas seasons before the toilet mouth Bad Santa , etc type became popular . Perhaps the time has returned for us to examine how the world can come together at this time of year , sort of a good omen that we just might all sta... |
513,112 | 3,223,254 | 402,057 | 9 | Told the Way Myths Can Be Remembered | BEOWULF & GRENDEL as the title of this wonderfully atmospheric retelling of the myth is well selected : the usual name of the myth is simply BEOWULF but Sturla Gunnarsson , with the aid of screenwriter Andrew Rai Berzins , appreciates the importance of the ' creature ' Grendel and gives him equal billing . Not all audi... |
513,017 | 3,223,254 | 995,708 | 9 | A Twist on the Theme of a Love Affair | L'amour Dangereux is a beautifully filmed and very well written ( François Lemaire , Steve Suissa and Samantha Mazeras ) story that finds more information about the early stages of love in the young set than a score of other films . Director Steve Suissa knows exactly how to balance the motivations and the responses of... |
513,621 | 3,223,254 | 829,098 | 9 | Distances and Proximities : Fathers and Sons | Based on an autobiographical memoir by Blake Morrison WHEN DID YOU LAST SEE YOUR FATHER ? is a finely wrought exploration into the delicate issues that both separate and bind fathers and sons . It is difficult for viewers whose fathers are gone not to relate to the profound tenderness and at times difficult reminiscenc... |
512,694 | 3,223,254 | 181,396 | 9 | The Sudden Fires of Adolescence that Create Maturity | COME TE NUSSUNO MAI translates from Italian to " like you anyone ever " or one's first experiences in life are unique solely to you , never having been experienced by anyone in history . BUT FOREVER IN MY MIND is simply a quote lifted from this film about the agonies and ecstasies of adolescence and to fully appreciate... |
513,023 | 3,223,254 | 443,446 | 9 | The Damages of Suppression | ' La Bestia nel cuore ' ( ' The Beast in the Heart ' released in the USA as ' Don't Tell ' ) is an intense Italian film written and directed by Cristina Comencini that tackles subject matter so visceral that the telling of it requires complete concentration from the audience in order to feel the power of the impact at ... |
513,069 | 3,223,254 | 426,204 | 9 | Choices | THE GOOD BOY ( aka SEGUNDO ASALTO and ROUND TWO ) is a superb little film from Spain , written by Imanol Uribe based on a story by director Daniel Cebrián . For some reason the film was marketed in the US as a gay themed movie , probably because of the poster / DVD jacket of star Álex González ' finely trained torso . ... |
513,151 | 3,223,254 | 298,050 | 9 | Form and Function In Film Art | MANITO is a fine little independent film that does what few of the big movies have tried : the manner of shooting an intimate family film set in the ghetto atmosphere with a hand held camera gives it the immediacy and grit of the story far better than the expensive multicamera shoots of other similar tales with big bud... |
513,237 | 3,223,254 | 333,089 | 9 | A Bizarre Film by an Important New Cinematic Visionary | ' Aprimi il cuore ' ( Open My Heart ) is a unique film , one that tells a story of incest , prostitution , and murder in a singularly obtuse family . The genius of this piece is the writer , director and actress Giada Colagrande who has at a young age ( she is not yet thirty as of this writing ) found a voice in Italia... |
513,286 | 3,223,254 | 438,315 | 9 | Be Everything You Are | Some films make a difference : viewing them can give us a story that is memorable and leave the viewer with powerful food for thought that continues to influence thinking long after the film is over . Such is the case for PEACEFUL WARRIOR . Based on a book by Inspirational Guru Dan Millman and beautifully adapted for t... |
513,529 | 3,223,254 | 417,614 | 9 | Caring for Others , Taking Care of the Self | DREAMLAND is one of those little Indie films that sneaks up on you , draws you in and leaves you feeling fulfilled . Written by Tom Willett and directed with great sensitivity to both style and message by Jason Matzner , the film boasts a truly remarkable cast in every role and the ensemble acting is some of the finest... |
513,047 | 3,223,254 | 288,869 | 9 | An Urgent , Controversial , Challenging Film from Argentina | Though the essence of this story goes all the way back to Greek plays , the theme of this radiant film has rarely seemed more cogent and contemporary . It is always refreshing to learn some occult historical information from a fictional movie and that is another reason to view this important film written by Alan Pauls ... |
513,124 | 3,223,254 | 354,899 | 9 | A Magical Bon-Bon from Michel Gondry | The French have a way with films that tinker with reality , fantasy , illusions , and delusions and the result of those traits have produced some of the most exciting and avant garde films ever made . Michel Gondry has inherited the mantle from Cocteau , Resnais , etc and runs with it in this charming little diversion ... |
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