What’s a classic love story without some stars crossing overhead? What’s a romantic comedy without family members getting in the way and embarrassing both themselves and the lovers in question? What can a potential bride do when her father insists on more tradition than she’s comfortable with? How can a penniless suitor earn that father’s…
Throughout his career, Lars Von Trier has made a name for himself as one of this generation of filmmakers’ premiere provocateurs. However, there is some debate as to whether or not that’s all he is with an equal amount of people seeing him as a shameless shock merchant as those who believe him to be…
Omar (Adam Bakri), a young baker living in the West Bank, has to climb a wall just to see his girlfriend Nadia (Leem Lubany), a high school student. It is not a wall that separates Israeli and Palestinian territory but one within the West Bank itself, dividing Palestinians from each other. Living in what amounts…
It isn’t likely one will recognize any members of the cast of Cement Suitcase, a film written and directed by J. Rick Castaneda (whose resume includes just a few short features, including “Math and Other Problems”). Yes, a person may have a fleeting bit of acknowledgement, but will most likely say, “Oh, he/she just looks…
Maintaining a single conversation for the entirety of a feature movie’s running time is certainly a bold aim, but for all the good will that ambition engenders, it’s tough to be anything but exhausted and irritated by the rambling ridiculousness on display in producer/director Jonathan Soler’s Phantom. After a quiet, patient opening scene of a…
To celebrate his 65th birthday, Jep Gambardella (Toni Servillo) throws one hell of a party. The view is spectacular, the alcohol is flowing freely, and everyone — and I mean EVERYONE — is having an amazing time. At first, you mistake the scene for a hip, happening night club, and as it turns out, you…
When it comes to the narrative twist, there’s the element of surprise and the element of effectiveness. The best and most memorable twists entwine the two, so we’re both caught off guard and emotionally engaged enough to care. With their short Point Mugu, director Francis Dreis and co-writers Amelia Jackson-Gray and Erin Ross get halfway…
