Drama

“Ostensibly a faithful adaptation of Pierre Klossowski’s autobiographical novel about the struggle between rival doctrinal factions with the Catholic Church, THE SUSPENDED VOCATION illustrates Ruiz’s belief that institutions, in order to survive, must treat all forms of dissidence as treason. In 1942, a film entitled The Suspended Vocation was begun by a group of monks; running out of money, they abandoned the project. Twenty years later, a religious order hires a professional director to again take up this film project; the director, having examined the earlier footage, concludes that it is unusable. He decides to use professional actors, at which point the church authorities, fearful of the escalating costs, withdraw their support. Read More »

Quote:
“A nuanced portrayal of an entire era…JOSHUA TREE gives us an account of the process by which Hollywood molds an individual into its systemic image of a star.
That it accomplishes this through a formal subversion of Hollywood’s stylistic code…makes the message all the more subtle.”

— Travis Jeppesen, ArtforumRead More »

John Wayne and Janet Leigh star in this military romance. Anna, Russian MIG pilot, escapes the USSR and lands on a US Air Force base in Alaska. There she meets Colonel Shannon, and after he debriefs her, the two become romantically involved and move to Palm Springs. Trouble arises when the US authorities discover that Anna is not really a defector but a Soviet spy. Army honchos decide to turn the tables by letting Shannon follow her back home and do some of his own espionage. But once there, Soviet forces endanger Shannon’s life — and Anna has to choose between her country and the man she has come to love.Read More »

Love is a universe of two in Philippe Garrel’s fatalistic romance “Frontier of Dawn.” Shot in richly textured and contrasting black-and-white celluloid, it centers on a young photographer, François (Louis Garrel, the filmmaker’s son), and the two women with whom he finds and loses love. After his affair ends with Carole (Laura Smet), a famous actress given to flare-ups and meltdowns, he immerses himself in a new life with Eve (Clémentine Poidatz), who promises him a child and perhaps a chance at real happiness. There’s more, including madness, electroshock treatment, a discussion about the cost of baby diapers, and the sudden emergence of a ghost in a mirror, all of which Mr. Garrel connects so loosely that they feel more like moments out of time than narrative fragments. — Manohla Dargis, The New York TimesRead More »

Chris wants to show girlfriend Tina his world, but events soon conspire against the couple and their dream caravan holiday takes a very wrong turn.Read More »

Keep the Lights On chronicles an emotionally and sexually charged journey of two men in New York City through love, friendship, and addiction. Documentary filmmaker Erik (Thure Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Zachary Booth, Damages) meet through a casual encounter, but soon find a deeper connection and become a couple. Individually and together, they are risk takers – compulsive, and fueled by drugs and sex. In an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows, and dysfunctional patterns, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity while being true to himself. Director Ira Sachs’ fearlessly personal screenplay is anchored by Lindhardt, who embodies Erik’s isolation and vulnerability with a gentle presence. Harrowing and romantic, visceral and layered, Keep the Lights On is a film that looks at love and all of its manifestations, taking it to dark depths and bringing it back to a place of grace.Read More »

A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find outside in the cold.Read More »

In a small Café, Min-hee Kim plays a guest who prefers to observe but not interact with the other guests herself.Read More »

Plot Summary
If there is a Greenlander “type” (and if not, take a moment come up with one) Malik would be it: he is taciturn, bearish and mildly hedonistic bachelor. He’s a carpenter, good with his hands, not terribly articulate, living with his similarly-reserved grandparents. He lives in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, where there’s not much to do but work, hunt, drink and pick up women (all of which Malik does well). He spends a lot of time with his friends, Inuit cousin Mikael and baffoonish Carsten, the latter of whom ends up in the hospital after an overdose of Viagra, but it is Malik who receives bad news: he has cancer and not long to live.Read More »