USA

Summary:
Loosely adapted by John Farris from his 1977 novel, the film opens on an Israeli beach, where retiring “government agent” Peter Sandza (Kirk Douglas) is enjoying an afternoon with son Robin (Andrew Stevens) and his partner in spying, Childress (John Cassavetes). In a conversation with his father, Robin shares his concerns about an unusual “talent” he possesses, which he fears will set him apart from his peers. (Can you guess what it is?) Peter assures him that everything will be fine once they’ve moved back to the U.S., where Robin will enroll at a Chicago psychic research center.Read More »

Synopsis:
A tale of the fall of Rome at the hand of the half-mad Emperor Nero, who sets fires throughout the city, blaming the Christians and sentencing them to death. The selfish Empress takes revenge when the object of her desire spurns her for the love of a Christian woman.Read More »

A student film with no synced sound, Babysitter is a humorous nine-minute short made as Todd Solondz’ graduate film for NYU film school in 1984. Eric Schwartzman narrates and plays the lead role of a young boy who tells his history with babysitters, and how his life was particularly touched by his last one, a teenager (Patti Seitz). Read More »

Synopsis:
The life of Sadie McKee takes many twists and turns. She starts as the daughter of the cook for the well off Alderson family. Lawyer Michael Alderson likes Sadie but she runs off to New York City with boyfriend Tommy to get married. Before they get married, Tommy takes up with show girl Dolly and deserts her. Sadie stays in New York and becomes involved with Michael’s boss, millionaire Brennan. She marries the chronically alcoholic Brennan for his money. Michael views her as a golddigger at first, but then sees her help Brennan beat his alcoholism. Sadie leaves Brennan to try and find Tommy when she hears that her old flame is in trouble. Little does she know just how much trouble.Read More »

Synopsis:
Everything’s going right for Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan). He came home after the war, married his gal, got a regular job as a bank teller in Hollywood, makes payments on a house in the ‘burbs. But, as the voice-over narrator of this on-edge Film-Noir notes, “One day the world’s all right. The next, it’s nowhere.”Read More »

Plot:
A tough lady gangster learns that she will be totally blind within a week. She seeks help from the one eye surgeon who may be able to save her sight. In the process, he also causes her to have a change of heart. Written by Daniel Bubbeo Read More »

A priest of a small congregation in upstate New York grapples with mounting despair brought on by tragedy, worldly concerns and a tormented past.Read More »

Two young women in love communicate through fantasy and touching in a rhythmic buildup, merging time concepts. Flashes of the past blend with the present and future in a collage of themselves, the hills, the sea and their sexuality.Read More »

Quote:
If a little pearl-handled .38 goes off in the middle of the night and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Blood Simple invites such sardonic musings from the viewer. This is a film compelled by minutia, but housed within big questions encircling philosophy and geopolitics. An opening voiceover on the difference between Russia and Texas introduces audiences to Visser (M. Emmet Walsh), a private investigator fitted with a zippo and cowboy hat. He’s a sloth who’s also a sleuth, hired by Marty (Dan Hedeya), a barkeep who wants to know the man that his wife, Abby (Frances McDormand), has “been sluicing.” Across the desk from Marty, Visser tells him it’s Ray (John Getz), one of Marty’s defective employees. Marty tells him that, in Greece, they would cut off the head of a messenger bringing bad news just to make themselves feel better. Visser, more amused than frightened, retorts: “Give me a call whenever you want to cut off my head. I can always crawl around without it.” One wonders: Does that make Visser a chicken or a snake?Read More »