2001-2010

He came from outer space to save the human race!

Looks like an alien, sings like a diva – Klaus Nomi was one of 1980’s most profoundly bizarre appearances. He was a cult figure in the New Wave Underground scene who sang pop music like opera and brought opera to club audiences. He was a performer with a “look” so strong, that his first audiences went wild before he even opened his mouth. On the verge of international fame as a singer, he instead became one of the first prominent artists to die of AIDS. But the reaction Klaus Nomi provoked was so strong, that he is still unforgettable, even 20 years after his death.Read More »

Allmovie.com
Acclaimed Spanish filmmaker Julio Medem turns toward nonfiction to direct the documentary La Pelota Vasca: La Piel Contra la Piedra (The Basque Ball: Skin Against Stone). This controversial film is a look at the complicated situation between the Basque nationalist movement and the Spanish government. Medem interviews politicians, novelists, musicians, and over 70 other commentators in his efforts to explain both sides of the complex situation in the Basque Country of Northern Spain. Contains French, Castilian Spanish, and Basque languages. The Basque Ball was shown at the San Sebastian Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, and was nominated for a Goya award.Read More »

A devastating and heartrending take on grizzly bear activists Timothy Treadwell and Amie Huguenard, who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska.Read More »

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A look at what people from different countries suffer in order to have a job. Includes a coal miner in the Ukraine, a slaughterhouse worker in Nigeria, a sulfur miner in Indonesia, a steel worker in China, and a ship-breaker in Pakistan.Read More »

MARK SCHILLING wrote:
Junji Sakamoto’s “Zatoichi: The Last,” the latest revival, doesn’t feature Katsu, who died in 1997 after a wild, riotous life. Instead it stars the hyper SMAP singer Shingo Katori, who has mostly appeared on the big screen in comedies (“The Uchoten Hotel”) or kiddie actioners (“Saiyuki”).

Also, instead of portraying Ichi as an outcast and loner, the film gives him a wife, friends, a community — and strong feelings for all of them.Read More »

21-year-old Eriko breaks up with her boy friend after their date at the circuit. But life without a boy friend is indeed dull. Boredom occupies her even after she completely switches her job. Then she meets Tamura at a party. Eriko takes a liking to Tamura. A few days later, when Eriko asks him out on date, Tamura happily accepts. However, during their date Tamura abruptly announces that he had a girlfriend studying in the U.S. Tamura’s innocent look enhances Eriko’s shock, as she returns home completely dumb struck. After this incident Eriko tries to give up on Tamura, but fate plays with her. A few days later, Eriko bumps into Tamura at a mini theater in. In seeing Tamura innocently laughing at the play, Eriko realizes her true feelings for him. Read More »

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Notes on Marie Menken explores the almost forgotten story of the legendary artist Marie Menken (1909-1970) who became one of New York´s outstanding underground experimental filmmakers of the 1940s through the 1960s, inspiring artists such as Stan Brakhage, Andy Warhol, Jonas Mekas, Kenneth Anger, and Gerard Malanga. She was a probable role model of Edward Albee´s “Who´s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and ended up
as a Warhol Superstar.Read More »

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In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona (Press) meets the exotic, pampered Tasmin (Blunt). Over the summer season, the two young women discover they have much to teach one another, and much to explore together.Read More »

Synopsis:
The twenty-something Betty comes to a remote small town and strikes a friendship with the fourteen-year old local girl Lea, who is fascinated by her new friend’s tales of partying and living in the fast lane in the big city. Betty has ulterior motives for befriending the young girl, however.Read More »