2001-2010

Or shoulders a lot: she’s 17 or 18, a student, works evenings at a restaurant, recycles cans and bottles for cash, and tries to keep her mother Ruthie from returning to streetwalking in Tel Aviv. Ruthie calls Or “my treasure,” but Ruthie is a burden. She’s just out of hospital, weak, and Or has found her a job as a house cleaner. The call of the quick money on the street is tough for Ruthie to ignore. Or’s emotions roil further when the mother of the youth she’s in love with comes to the flat to warn her off. With love fading and Ruthie perhaps beyond help, Or’s choices narrow.Read More »

Plot / Synopsis
17-year-old soccer team manager roots hard for her high school crush Hiroya Takagi to score the winning goal in the prefectural conference semi-final, but he makes a crucial mistake during a penalty kick and loses the game. Mari feels bad for Hiroya, who’s quickly labeled a loser by the rest of the school, and decides to give her virginity away to him even though she knows he doesn’t love her back.

Hiroya leaves town before graduating, and Mari decides to search for him. Following his trail, she winds up taking a hostess job in the red light district of Shinjuki, which eventually leads her into prostitution. After giving up everything for love, will Mari ever be reunited with Hiroya?Read More »

In Jean Gentil, a man looks for a job in a cacophonous city that wouldn’t notice if he had never existed. He’s wearing a tie and the kind of sadness that removes from the face any immediately recognizable expression—the awkward and self-effacing sadness of the unwelcome immigrant. The man (Jean Gentil, playing a filmic version of himself) is an unemployed Haitian polyglot in Santo Domingo with a background in accounting and a tendency to question whether or not he’s even alive. While initially aiming for an office job in line with his experience and goals, he quickly has to settle for a construction job and a hard floor to sleep on after being evicted. He eventually makes his way to the countryside, where he retreats from the unforgiving madness of the big city and, ironically, away from “civilization” he can finally find a place to sleep, something to eat, and water to bathe.Read More »

A troubled mother’s spirit crumbles when her adult children strike out for independence. Feeling abandoned she contemplates taking drastic action.Read More »

Director Joe Swanberg (Nights and Weekends) goes beyond the mumblecore movement with this revealing drama about marriage. For Alexander the Last, Swanberg reigns over an experienced cast of actors — including Jane Adams, Jess Weixler, and Josh Hamilton — but still incorporates his usual improvisational techniques. Margot at the Wedding director Noah Baumbach serves as one of the film’s producers. —IFC FilmsRead More »

In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman (Jessica Lundberg) remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.Read More »

Quote:
Based on a Takeyama Masatoshi novel, Departing Osaka Station at 0:00 (a.k.a. Tabi no Okurimono 0:00 Hatsu) is a journey of discovery and consolation. Directed by Harada Masaki, this sensitive drama portrays the dreams, insecurities, and hardships experienced by people of different ages and walks of life, effectively tuning into the realities of modern society. Backdropped by a tender score from master composer Asakura Daisuke, Departing Osaka Station at 0:00 features a remarkable ensemble cast that includes Takigawa Hanako, Kurosaka Mami, Atsuko Sakurai, Otaki Hideji, Taihei Shiro, and evergreen singer Tokunaga Hideaki in his feature film debut.Read More »

dvdmaniacs.net wrote:
Like the two movies that have come before it, this third (and supposedly final) film in the series, August Underground’s Penance, pushes the boundaries of what should be shown and rubs the viewers face in it. It’s another nasty little movie that will get under your skin and burrow in for the long haul in that there are a few images in this movie that will burn themselves into your brain. There are a lot of independent, shot on video gore films out there – few of them work, most of them suck. The August Underground movies work and succeed at what they set out to do, and that in and of itself is a rare feat.Read More »

Synopsis wrote:
Kohei Takahara, an astronaut who dies in the line of duty, is legally resurrected as a clone: however, contrary to the scientists’ expectations, he reverts to his childhood memories when his twin brother drowned sacrificing his life for Kohei. Kohei’s clone discovers the body of his former self mistakenly believing that it is his deceased twin. Reliving his tragic past, he sets off carrying his corpse body to the beautiful hometown where he lived with his now dead mother.Read More »