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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tThe Sisters<\/a>\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTHE SISTERS is adapted by Richard Alfieri from his play 'The Sisters' which in turn was adapted from Anton Chekov's 'The Three Sisters': the theatrical aspects of the play remain intact in this film version - and that is most definitely a plus! All of the action takes place on an obvious set (an enormously beautiful Faculty Lounge for a university where nearly everyone in the play is employed, and in a hospital waiting room) and the lines are richly imbued with dialogue that mirrors Chekov's form despite the fact that Chekov's play has been updated to the present time with all the changes (and similarities!) of modern day family life.\r\n\r\nThe story is well known: a family of three sisters and a baby brother are both united and bonded by the past and show the scars of maturing on their journeys from a childhood to adulthood with a father that was both a hero to some and an incestuous attacker to another. One by one each of the sisters and the brother peel away the trappings that hide each other's realities and make public the pain endured in their dysfunctional family. Maria Bello as Marcia carries the bulk of the story as the abused, spiteful, vitriolic, unhappy head of the family unit: she is astonishingly fine. Mary Stuart Masterson is Olga, the closeted lesbian chancellor who has never had the luxury of sharing her private feelings with her sisters for fear of the consequences of her sexuality. Erika Christensen is the youngest sister Irene whose painful life as being treated as a child leads to her life of drug abuse. Allesandro Nivola is Andrew, the baby brother left in charge of the family estate in the South and has married a trashy, mouthy floozy Nancy (Elizabeth Banks) who is the sole challenge to the family's unity. The stalwart Greek chorus is the old professor Dr. Chebrin (Rip Torn) who watches as the various characters tangential to this crumbling family vie for inclusion: Gary Sokol (Eric McCormack) whose asides keep the theatrical flavor moving; David Turzin (Chris O'Donnell) who loves and wants to possess Irene and is in bitter competition with Gary for her affections; psychologist husband of Marcia Dr. Harry Glass (Steven Culp); and the visitor from the past Vincent Antonelli (Tony Goldwyn) who changes Marcia's existence transiently. Each actor is superb, playing the marvelous dialogue for all its worth and giving us fully realized characterizations. Arthur Allan Seidelman is the fine director and the elegant musical score is by Thomas Morse.\r\n\r\nThere is action in this story and movement inside and outside the ways films should be shot when making a play into a movie. But for those who love the theater seeing this film little film will create a desire to have this exact company of actors set up shop in a nearby legitimate theater to allow for the grand impact of a fine play sifted through a fine adaptation to be absorbed repeatedly. Highly recommended. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tHuman Touch<\/a>\n\t\t\t[3 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI feel the title 'Human Touch' itself is misleading. Upon hearing its title and reading its synopsis, I was misled into thinking that the film would be a simple story about how touch is important in our lives. But how far it is from the truth. If the title was not meant to be intentionally misleading, I thought it would be far more apt to name it 'The Human Touch' because it is really more about humanity than anything else. But then again, if director Paul Cox really named it that way, not many people would even bother to see it in the first place. I would, for one, dismiss it as yet another existentialist arty-farty piece of crap that nobody can understand.\r\n\r\nHuman Touch is of course existentialist art-house fare, but it is also something else altogether. Because it doesn't purport to know anything about the mystery that is ourselves, nor does it have any theory of the reason of our existence. It too, like us, is seeking in understanding further just exactly what makes us tick, and how we can simply be, after we inherited millions of years of culture. And this shared culture, is so vast and inexplicable, that we simply call it 'humanity'. But what is 'humanity'? And does anyone even understand any cornerstone of it? In this way, the film's provocative nature reaches into many beings of humanity. From the arts, history and religion, to our bodies, morals and emotions like affection and lust, it never ceases to probe and question just what drives us to do things a certain way that other creatures would not do. And how our surroundings and our history binds us together and affect us collectively and yet, splintering us in many different directions and personalities.\r\n\r\nBut the film never engages into verbose intellectualizing a la many French New Wave directors who just get lost in a world of their own by talking and talking about theories and never managing to shut up. This film has a heavy anchor by the very real people in the film and their relationships, such that every decision they make and every emotion they feel, doesn't help us any better in understanding their, say, 'character design', but only manages to open up more vistas of the mystery that is us.\r\n\r\nThis is wholly because the film doesn't seem to be theoretical. In fact, it is far from theoretical, its people often seemingly idiosyncratic and unfathomable but always very plausible. It explores all these questions not by theorizing like most art house directors do, but rather by allowing us to experience. Not unlike Tarkovsky, whose great work similarly explores humanity by framing mankind's actions against our surroundings and nature, the scenes in this movie are not linked by logical linearity or emotion, but rather through ambient noise. From the ancient stalactite caves that echo with baby cries and church bells to the great emotions within people ringing with rapturous choral voices, this film puts us through experiences that connects us--rather than alienate us--and makes us part of a far greater whole - mankind.\r\n\r\nFor what my young eyes and ears can see and hear is little, and bound by my limited sensory capabilities; what sadness or happiness I feel is bound by my shallow experiences in life; what ideas and concrete thoughts I can construe is bound by my fundamental education and understanding of the world. But what connects us all, and can only be reached through intuition, is the spark that the creator puts in all of us, that separates us from the other creatures and the inanimate - the human soul. And this movie touches so unflinchingly on this shared human nerve, that all that I am made of is not as important as what I am part of. Where I share the same blood as generations of creatures who have come into consciousness of themselves and the womb surrounding them.\r\n\r\nIt is what I enjoy finding in cinema, that if any one moment can touch on this what I perceive as the human soul, then that is worth sitting through piles of crap for. For the human soul--the truth, as what more philosophical people would call it--is worth every inch of living for. And this movie uncannily hones in to this same nerve that we all share and quiver for, and holds on to it unflinchingly. True, it may not have been genuinely successful in every inch of its celluloid film. And I would be hard-pressed to say it is good for its individual technical parts. But what little the film understands about its subject matter, it knows this: that most reasoning and emotion cannot bring anyone as close to the human soul as raw intuition. And the intuitive power it brings to screen by merely seeking the human soul, and by large, finding it, is all that matters and all that makes it a truly truly great film. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tCriminal Lovers<\/a>\n\t\t\t[2 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIt all looks simple, but what is going on in CRIMINAL LOVERS is complex. Ozon is adept at conveying the shifts in our emotions and clearly enjoys exploring our conflicted natures.\r\n\r\nSexy Alice (Natacha Regnier), a manipulator of men, coerces the sexually uncertain Luc (Jeremie Renier) into murdering the handsome Said (Salim Kechiouche). Although getting rid of the body proves problematic, the couple's real problems begin when they take refuge in an old cottage in the forest.\r\n\r\nThe owner of the cottage is Karim (Yasmine Belmadi), an odd fellow who develops a fondness for Luc and a hatred for Alice. Perhaps Alice is his competition? The film explores fascinating sexual territory, and even reminded me, tonally, of Japanese pink films such as WIFE TO BE SACRIFICED and CAPTURED FOR SEX 2.\r\n\r\nOzon embraces the provocative subject matter with supreme confidence and never recoils from its inherent darkness. The erotic tension remains taut throughout and the performances are beautifully balanced.\r\n\r\nThe photography is subdued but stylish and the forest setting echoes \"Hansel and Gretel\".\r\n\r\nThere is great intelligence behind this adult fairytale and a willingness to explore sexuality and desire that is never hampered by the stench of political correctness that handicaps so much \"edgy\" material these days. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tSex and the City (2008)<\/a>\n\t\t\t[5 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI learn something new everyday. Here I thought the feature adaptation of the immensely popular HBO show \"Sex and the City\" was written and directed by its creator Michael Patrick King. After a little research, I come to find that King was only a producer on the show, with only 31 writing credits as opposed to the full 94 for real creator Darren Star and literary basis Candace Bushnell. Despite this, though, it would seem that King is now the driving force behind Carrie Bradshaw and friends, becoming the voice of middle-aged women everywhere. Isn't it a bit strange that a man has written these women to be as pop culture iconic as they are? Kudos to him, because Bradshaw's opening monologue to the Sex and the City movie is very appropriate\u2014this story is about labels and love in New York City. Thankfully, that's not all its about; in the end, the tale is actually intelligently written and quite witty, causing this cynical male to laugh and smile more times than he ever could have imagined.\r\n\r\nSarah Jessica Parker truly does embody Bradshaw to perfection. Being that it all happens through her point of view, (even when she isn't present at the event on screen, she is still the one narrating; believable I guess since this quartet tells each other EVERYTHING), it is crucial that her character lives and breathes reality. A writer of moderate success, she is happily in love with manfriend Mr. Big, (I do enjoy Chris Noth, I don't know why, never seen \"Law and Order\", his smugness just makes me smile though), and threatens to throw her whole existence out the window with the biggest business deal she's ever shook on, with him as a partner\u2014marriage.\r\n\r\nThe whole will they or won't they, stay together\/break-up\/get married, is actually the most conventional and boring part of the film. This storyline is the quintessential chick flick clich\u00e9 and it does what it does without surprise. Spanning over a year in time, I did enjoy the six months these two lovebirds are apart, because that is when the proverbial sh*t hits the fan in all their lives. Parker shows some very nice range as the downtrodden, heartbroken waif attempting to pull herself back up and become that strong woman so many viewers idolize and hope to be. But this isn't the Carrie Bradshaw story, thankfully, because that would have been torture. It is about four women and the different places their lives are at; how they help each other; and how they balance being the women they've strived to be while still having a relationship with equally successful males. It's these stories that truly captivated me into accepting the fact that, while Sex and the City is not my genre, topic, or even sphere of consciousness of choice, it did engross me enough to be happy to have seen it.\r\n\r\nKristin Davis is very enjoyable as Charlotte, the youngster of the bunch in her mid-thirties. With such a bubbly and childlike demeanor and attitude, her zeal for life is contagious and something I think everyone strives for. Being that her mid-movie meltdown concerns having too much good happen to her, making the \"inevitable\" fall too daunting to imagine, you can see how truly happy she is, especially with husband Evan Handler, (one of the gems in \"Californication\" and unfortunately wasted here, much like Willie Garson's Stanford who is nothing more than a prop for the background). Cynthia Nixon, on-the-other-hand, is the exact opposite. A lover of sex and promiscuity, she finds herself in a relationship with a younger male that loves her dearly, but the monogamy is too much to deal with. She isn't ready to realize that being with one man in a relationship does not mean she has become dependant on him. The need for multiple men, to be in full control, is so ingrained that she must find a love for herself\u2014a balance with her body\u2014before she can ever commit to someone else. How can one love if unable to love oneself? It is the age-old question and one that she needs to come to grips with soon, as she turns 50\u2014either to accept or change.\r\n\r\nThe storyline that really grabbed my attention, though, was of Miranda Hobbes, played wonderfully by Cynthia Nixon. Here is a career-driven lawyer that has compromised herself in order to make a life with husband Steve and child Brady. Whoa, I just realized the husband is Steve Brady and the son Brady Hobbes \u2026 guess you have to watch the show to understand that one. Anyways, it is their intriguing evolution as a couple that I found myself wanting to be resolved the most. Whether the two got back together, after a short separation due to his indiscretion, or not, I found myself invested in the subplot. The acting, on the part of both characters, was real and palpable. The love mixed with a loss of trust shone through and you will find yourself pulling for them in the end. Why you ask? Because this film isn't only about labels and love\u2014just don't tell Jennifer Hudson since her Louise cares only about each\u2014but also forgiveness.\r\n\r\nThis isn't high school where grudges rule and you most likely will move on to never see any of your classmates again; this is a professional world with intelligent and capable women. Life is too messy and too short to go through it with hatred and regret. Bad things happen and you can either walk away, letting them despite what you feel, or fight tooth and nail for everything you want and deserve. Sometimes those tough patches are merely bumps in the road to true bliss, but you have to be willing to find out for sure. And that, I believe, is the real moral behind this story\u2014happiness does come with a price, and even though it may cost a fortune, it most definitely will be worth every penny. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tHard<\/a>\n\t\t\t[2 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Hard\" is about the hard life & times of its characters, and its is hard to watch. I generally don't like murder movies, and definitely don't like graphic violence, blood & gore. But, I liked this movie.\r\n\r\nThe version I saw was the 2005 re-released DVD Directors Uncut Version, unrated. Some of the sex and violence scenes edited out of the theatrical release are restored. Pretty good production quality. Some of the acting can be wooden. Certainly not the most pleasant movie I ever watched, but was one of the most interesting.\r\n\r\nAs other reviewers indicate, it's a movie about a gay serial killer and his pursuit by a closeted gay policeman. The message is about homophobia and self loathing. I recommend you give it a try, but don't watch it alone late at night! <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tCaught Inside<\/a>\n\t\t\t[2 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tCaught Inside is a taught psychological thriller set on a Surfing Safari in the Maldives with a thought provoking script that revolves around a central character who is not unlike Max Cady from Cape Fear.\r\n\r\nDirector Adam Blaiklock and the crew spent a month or so in the Maldives filming Caught Inside. From the outset a requirement was that the actors were all competent surfers and the surfing scenes are all shot with realism. The story is cleverly and quietly developed with moments of real suspense and surprise that make the audience gasp.\r\n\r\nBen Oxenbould plays Bull, at first glance popular with his peers, a larrikin who can charm anyone when he wants to. However we soon learn that he has a dark side. He has issues with women and anyone who disagrees with him and his disturbing sociopathic tendencies cannot be hidden in the confined spaces of the vessel.\r\n\r\nHe uses his strength as an intimidation to others but, interestingly, never takes on the Captain played by Peter Phelps. It is not clear whether this is due to some past incident, his respect for authority or the fact that the skipper might be stronger than him but anyone else who crosses his path is fair game.\r\n\r\nDespite the fact that the Captain laid out the ground rules at the beginning of the trip, it becomes evident that the cruise participants are on their own \u2013 miles from anywhere. No one can help. This plays into Bull's hands as his manic tendencies become obvious. There are subtle hints that he has shown this type of behaviour before and he becomes more and more menacing and unhinged as the film progresses.\r\n\r\nCaught Inside was filmed with a tight budget but it does demonstrate how important it is to base a movie on a great script. The film essentially revolves around Bull and Ben Oxenbould is truly exceptional in the role. He has been known as a comic actor with his performances in Comedy Inc but this film provides him with an opportunity to display a real talent for a complex character role.\r\n\r\nIn some ways the other actors are incidental to Bull but they are generally all very competent.\r\n\r\nIt is disappointing that Caught Inside hasn't reached a wider audience. The sad reality these days is that it is very difficult to get wide distribution without major stars and studio backing. Independent film makers face an up hill battle to get their films screened in cinemas.\r\n\r\nHighly recommended. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tWake Wood<\/a>\n\t\t\t[3 clips]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tI found the story line original, or at least something I haven't seen in the past 10 years, because it's nearly all been done by now. The story moves at a good pace, showing you mysterious things along the way, teasing you a little before revealing what exactly is happening.\r\n\r\nI would describe Wake Wood as a mix between the Exorcist and The Wicker Man. While it never reaches the brilliance of the previously mentioned films Wake Wood is a solid film, with good acting, particularly from the ever excellent Aidan Gillen. The cinematography is hardly groundbreaking but suits the mood of the film well.\r\n\r\nAny fan of supernatural horror should be satisfied with what Wake Wood has to offer. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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<\/a><\/td>\n\t\t\t\tNCIS<\/a>\n\t\t\t[1 clip]<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThis has become my favorite regular show on the main networks. The stories are good enough to keep me watching and the character interplay can be quite amusing at times. Gibbs is great...watching the others react to him makes me chuckle. Abby is perfectly believable, despite the goth overtones...she is strong, smart, yet still sexy and feminine. I think Pauley Perette was the ideal actress to cast. The writing seems to continue at an even keel...if nothing else getting better as more episodes are shown. I think the producers have a hit here. I go back each week. Definitely worth your time...even if it means taping or tivo'ing it (which I do)...something to look forward to when I can't make 8:00 on Tuesday.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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