1990s

Utilizing an exceptional international all-star cast and excellent special effects, Hallmark entertainment and American Zoetrope productions created this fun-filled adaptation of Homer’s most-famous epic poem. It was originally broadcast as a four-hour miniseries on the NBC network. The story faithfully chronicles the many adventures of sailor Odysseus (Armand Assante), his colorful crew as they encounter a variety of mythical figures, including Odysseus’s spiritual guide Athena (Isabella Rossellini), the seductive Calypso (Vanessa Williams) and the treacherous Eurymachus (Eric Roberts). Highlights include the Trojan Horse (made to original scale and filmed on location in the ruins of Troy) sequence. Much of the miniseries was filmed in Europe and on the Mediterranean, making it a feast for the eye.Read More »

Quote:
The romantic pretensions of Hollywood to the contrary, love is a very messy business. After all, the other person is a completely separate being, whose independent thoughts, feelings, and experiences cannot be accessed immediately through ESP, whose very actions must always be interpreted through the unreliable filter of subjective impressions. One wonders if we ever really do get to know our lovers.Read More »

Confectioner Mauritz is shot at close range. His wife, Thai woman Sita, whom he met two years ago through a marriage institute, is frightened and barely speaks German. Her five-year-old daughter, who she brought into the marriage, is also silent. The searches lead Commissioners Batic and Leitmayr to the Flügel Agency, that specialises in the placement of women with small children. Batic registers as an alleged customer with the institute.Read More »

Rich imagery and political allegory enliven an already complex story in this late Soviet-era mystery/drama. In the story, a government investigator has come to town to look into the validity of bribery charges that were brought against an official there. In the meantime, we discover that a twin and his brother have been engaged in a kind of very close warfare. One twin was a medical doctor, and was married to a beautiful woman. The second twin was interested in bedding the wife, and had no feeling for his brother. Thus, he impersonated him in the hospital, and openly engaged in medical malpractice of the grossest sort, resulting in a patient’s death. The first twin lost his career and was forced to support himself by going door to door selling kerosene. The second (and clearly sociopathic) twin, naturally, became an important figure in the activities of his local soviet.Read More »

Wealthy Sunny von Bülow lies brain-dead, husband Claus guilty of attempted murder; but he says he’s innocent and hires Alan Dershowitz for his appeal.

Letterboxd review by chavel ★★★★★
An aerial shot that opens is like no other, it starts overlooking over the exclusive Easton Bay and then turns upwards, with the shot swooping over estate after estate in ritzy Rhode Island for nearly a minute. In an overhead shot, these are the richest looking houses you’ve ever seen, property after property, perfectly, lushly landscaped.Read More »

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We are on the continent of Robert Kramer’s essay-films. What country is this, what year, what time? There are no establishing shots, no introductions to ease us in. Everything is in medias res. Kramer never gives us a superimposed title telling us we are watching ‘Vietnam’ or ‘Paris’ or ‘USA’; he never includes the identifying names of people, typewritten on screen, the first time we see them (and indeed, if we ever do learn this, it is often indirectly, by accident); he rarely introduces a radically different piece of footage into the montage with a reassuring title saying ‘ten years ago’, or a voice-off saying ‘I remember …’.Read More »

With breathless pace, Hélène Chatelain (“the woman” in “La jetée”) reconstructs the life of Nestor Makhno from his writings, Soviet propaganda films, reactions of workers today and the memory he has left in the hearts & minds of his people in Gouliaïpolié, in the east of the Ukraine.Read More »

Synopsis:
Dora, a dour old woman, works at a Rio de Janeiro central station, writing letters for customers and mailing them. She hates customers and calls them ‘trash’. Josue is a 9-year-old boy who never met his father. His mother is sending letters to his father through Dora. When she dies in a car accident, Dora takes Josue and takes a trip with him to find his father.Read More »

It is 1965. High-school student Takeyoshi Fujiwara Yasufumi Hayashi) hears “Pipeline” by the Ventures, and is mesmerized by their unique sound. With three friends, he forms a band called “The Rocking Horsemen.” A warm and comic glimpse into high-school and small-town life in Japan in the 60’s.Read More »