Fantasy

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Strange and magical stop-motion fairy-tale for adults, with obsessive-compulsive attention to repetitive details similar to Svankmajer. This is much gentler than Svankmajer though, and holds back its meaning and symbolism just out of reach. Allegedly took Christiane Cegavske 12 years to put together, and the pedantic work on every little repetitive detail feels unusual for a female director. The movie starts and ends with a living doll, tea, cake and a symbolic egg that finds its way into this fantasy world of strange creatures that all become enchanted by the egg and what it brings. Aristocratic mice pay the Oak Dwellers (some kind of mammal with beaks) to make them a female doll but they refuse to hand it over when done, impregnating it with the egg by stitching it into its belly and hanging the doll on a tree. Read More »

Plot Outline: Strings is a mythological story about the son of a king, Hal Tara, who sets out on a journey to revenge the death of his father. To his surprise he discovers the truth of his own people – and where he least expects it – he finds true love.

Actually this film is a bit short on plot but is technically stunning, and incorporates a number of unusual sight-gags, such as the portcullis to the walled city rising (not lowering) to keep people in (because everyone is a puppet and the raised portcullis blocks their strings)…Read More »

The collected work known as “One Thousand and One Nights” survived for centuries through generations of Arab storytellers, and is now recognized as an integral part of world literature. In this filmed performance, storyteller/filmmaker Nacer Khemir sits on chair in the middle of a dimly lit stage and deploys the magic of words to take us on a journey of the imagination. This simple set-up may not seem like much, but it offers the listener an extraordinarily colorful experience and brilliantly emphasizes the oral nature of the work. As we listen to the expertly told stories, we are equally charmed by their intricacies and entranced by their interconnectedness. Even though Khemir illustrates some of the stories with beautifully filmed sequences, the audience’s ability to listen is paramount here. Sheherazade used words to avoid impending death, Khemir uses the art of storytelling to breathe a new life into this ancient masterwork.Read More »

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Stanley Kubrick envisioned Eyes Wide Shut as an Odyssean chronicle of marital drift. After a series of absurd encounters with the unseemly, naughty bourgeois and the diseased rejects that pander to their ludicrous peccadilloes, Tom Cruise’s wandering soul gets the hint: don’t stray! Jean-Claude Brisseau’s subversive Secret Things is nowhere near as structurally rigorous as Kubrick’s swan song, but it certainly feels more daring. First, think Celine and Julie Go Masturbating. On what appears to be a lonely stage, the sexy Nathalie (Coralie Revel) begins to pleasure herself. Then the delirious swell of an opera piece, perfectly timed to the movement of Brisseau’s camera, which pans to the right to reveal a roomful of bar patrons, including innocent barmaid Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou), ogling the spectacle of Nathalie’s uninhibited libido. Read More »

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The story of the student who sells his shadow for money and power only to find that the shadow reappears at certain moments and brings disaster upon him, should be well known from the original and the first remake. Robison however, introduces some new twists and angles to the story which should not be told here.Read More »

A fantasy romantic comedy that highlights the charm of the city of Onomichi.

A fantasy romantic comedy based on the popular comic by the manga artist, YAMAMOTO Chugaku, supported by the younger generation. The story follows Yohei, a heartbroken young man who gets dumped by his girlfriend. Suddenly, a girl ghost appears in Yohei’s room. As she had never experienced love during her lifetime, she becomes curious about romantic relationships between men and women. She bombards Yohei with questions every day, initially annoying him, and he tries to find a way to exorcise her. However, as he spends more time with her, he begins to feel comfortable with her, realizing she is just like a normal human girl. The film is an all-Onomichi locating, and Cinema Onomichi, which appears in the film as well, highly recommends it, praising the beautiful scenery of Onomichi. They commend the film’s direction and cinematography for showcasing the city’s hidden charms that even the locals might not have noticed, making it an excellent piece of work.Read More »

As demonic forces descend on Argentina, the world’s best hope is confined to an insane asylum, powerless to avert a dark resurrection. The once legendary warlock Antonio Poyju (Germán De Silva) is haunted by the mistakes of his past, and is now reduced to rebelling against orderlies in an institution.

When a malevolent demonic force reveals itself, Poyju must rally a ragtag ensemble of certifiable inmates to spring him from his confinement, so that he can reconcile with his estranged daughter Helena (Lorena Vega) and reunite their magical bloodline to stave off the evil. But the confines of modern life and an unnatural influence has stripped Helena of her belief and cheated the world of her magic. Will Poyju be able to remind his long-lost daughter of her cultural heritage and reignite the magic that has been smothered by corporate life?Read More »

Synopsis:
Maude, engaged to a doctor, was adopted years earlier by the president of an anti-alcoholic league. She becomes infatuated with a Gypsy violinist, who, after kidnapping and restraining the girl’s fiancé takes her to his villa and, to try to make her give in to his coaxing, has some gypsies offer her champagne.

Whilst incomplete and suffering from a certain amount of nitrate decomp – there are around four quite bad bouts of this, if memory serves – enough of the film survives to provide a coherent, if whimsical, narrative with pleasing performances and some charming special effects. There is much to recommend the film stylistically with a good mix of long, medium and close-up shots, some thoughtful shot compositions and several instances where characters exit shot toward the side of the camera, providing a candid feel.Read More »

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This movie is a declaration of love to cinema that is used as a metaphor for the universe itself. We are the films and God is projecting them, including this one with Rachel and Leopoldo, who in a former life literally co-invented cinema as an assistant of Thomas A. Edison named William K.L. Dickson.Read More »