1990s

Mild mannered businessman Anthony Wongs life is shattered when his pregnant wife is run over by a busy taxi driver. This and another incident with a sleazy cab driver causes Wong to go on a mission to kill bad taxi drivers.Read More »

It’s hardly an earthshaking revelation that we live in a culture where fame (or its cheaper companion, notoriety) is the secular equivalent of sainthood. But “To Die For,” Gus Van Sant and Buck Henry’s brilliant satire, makes that discovery seem like a clarion call from the heavens or—more appropriately—a rock-’em, sock-’em TV sound bite.

Henry’s script, based on Joyce Maynard’s novel, is assured, sophisticated and mercilessly glutted with funny zingers. Van Sant’s fluid, subtly wicked direction is a personal redemption of sorts; he’s the one responsible for the legendarily abysmal “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.” But what gives the movie its sharpest, sweetest edge is Nicole Kidman.Read More »

Dizzy is a perennial student living in a small double room in a hostel. He never seems to study, but spends his time sleeping, watching TV, and drinking. Marko, a studious freshman from the country, is assigned to the other bed in the room, and he is soon joined by his young, very pregnant, girlfriend Ana. Meanwhile, Dizzy’s girlfriend Marina is trying to get Dizzy to make a commitment, but he would prefer to continue his idle ways.Read More »

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Olivier Assayas directed this French drama, examining several relationships over a year’s span, capturing varying textures and shades of feeling between people from late August of one year until early September of the next. Gabriel (Mathieu Amalric) and Jenny (Jeanne Balibar) separate, despite the affection that still binds them. A new love develops between Gabriel and young designer Anne (Virginie Ledoyen) as they overcome their fears and uncertainties.Read More »

Based on the true story of a Chinese painter, Pan Yuliang (Gong Li), whose work was celebrated in Paris yet rejected at home. At fifteen years old, she was sold into prostitution. Her life changes when she marries a high official. Through her husband, she finds expression in western painting, and furthers her studies in Paris. Although highly respected in Paris, it wasn’t until after her death that she received the acceptance at home she so desperately sought. The film is directed by Huang Shuqin, a woman director famous for highlighting the influence of tradition on gender issues.Read More »

In order to settle a business dispute, a mob leader murders one of his own teenage sons. The surviving son vows to avenge his brother’s death, and organizes his own gang of teenage killers to destroy his father’s organization.Read More »

The film revolves around the lives of teenagers in Soviet Lithuania. The protagonists of the film are fans of rock’n’roll music which is banned in the USSR and are interested in the hippie movement, secretly listening to the Luxembourg radio. They all live in a house which was formerly a hotel, called “America”. Events of Kaunas’ spring affect them as they are involved. After their attempt to send a letter to the Luxembourg radio, teenagers would become suspects to the KGB.Read More »

Much of the extremely rare performance footage presented in this video has never before been publicly seen and documents the diversity of a music which was as personal as a fingerprint yet as universal as the blues itself. John Jackson, Pink Anderson, Rev. Gary Davis and the charismatic Josh White manifest different aspects of the rich Piedmont ragtime/blues tradition.
In Memphis, echoes of the Mississippi Delta could be heard in the music of Furry Lewis. While the delightfully eccentric Jesse Fuller and the introspective Robert Pete Williams embody country blues which defies regional identity.Read More »

The blues “rediscovery” era of the 1960s brought to concert and sound stages many veteran artists who had participated in the “Golden Age” of country blues recording prior to World War II. The best of them retained much of their youthful power and brought with them the authority of experience. While these artists have since passed on, their recorded legacy is enhanced by these extraordinary performance clips.
The first generation of recorded Delta bluesmen – Charley Patton, Tommy Johnson, the Mississippi Sheiks – is echoed in the stark and powerful performances of Bukka White, Sam Chatmon, Big Joe Williams, Houston Stackhouse and Son House. Read More »