2000s

  • Shin’ya Tsukamoto – Rokugatsu no hebi AKA A Snake of June (2002)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaJapanShinya Tsukamoto

    Quote:
    When suicide hotline counselor Rinko (Asuka Kurosawa) receives explicit photos of herself from a mysterious caller, she is thrown into a depraved game of hidden fantasies and unrestrained sexual desire. As the voyeuristic stalker becomes determined to alter her passionless life, Rinko’s compulsively clean husband Shigehiko (Yuji Koutari) attempts to hunt him down and the three disillusioned soul’s paths will inevitably intertwine.Read More »

  • Xiaogang Feng – Ji jie hao AKA Assembly (2007)

    2001-2010ChinaDramaWarXiaogang Feng

    Plot summary: (from anutshellreview.blogspot.com)
    Feng Xiaogang’s Assembly was the opening film at last year’s Pusan International Film Festival, and tickets were sold out in record time once they were made available online. Such is the faith (or curiosity) of the new film from the director who brought us movies like World Without Thieves, and martial arts Hamlet The Banquet. When you think of Chinese directors making a movie based out of Chinese history, you can’t help but imagine the massive amount of propaganda that get so blatantly infused into the story and especially the dialogue. But here, Feng managed to bring about a movie which goes beyond the usual ra-ra, and shows us that a movie with universal themes can also come out from what is essentially a war movie based upon China’s tumultuous era after WWII.Read More »

  • Jean-Paul Nogues – Rosée nocturne (2006)

    2001-2010FranceJean-Paul NoguesShort Film

    On a scorching summer night, a quiet feminine slumber enchanted by the womb fluids of the earth and the flesh.Read More »

  • Sharon Lockhart – Podwórka AKA Backyards (2009)

    2001-2010ArchitectureDocumentaryPolandSharon LockhartShort Film

    Sharon Lockhart’s new film, Pódworka, takes as its subject matter the courtyards of Lodz, Poland, and the children that inhabit them. A ubiquitous architectural element of the city, Lodz’ courtyards are the playgrounds of the children that live in the surrounding apartment buildings. Separated from the streets, they provide a sanctuary from the traffic and commotion of the city. Yet far from the overdetermined playgrounds of America, the courtyards are still very much urban environments. In six different courtyards throughout the city of Lodz, we see parking lots, storage units, and metal armatures become jungle gyms, sandboxes, and soccer fields in the children’s world. A series of fleeting interludes within city life, Pódworka is both a study of a specific place and an evocation of the resourcefulness of childhood. (lockhartstudio.com)Read More »

  • Rosa von Praunheim – Meine Mütter – Spurensuche in Riga AKA Two Mothers (2007)

    2001-2010DocumentaryDramaGermanyQueer Cinema(s)Rosa von Praunheim

    Variety review:
    The delightfully impish outrageousness of Rosa von Praunheim turns to more serious contemplation of his origins in the German helmer’s engrossing family docu, “Two Mothers.” Told in 2000 by his 94-year-old mother that he was adopted at an orphanage in Riga, von Praunheim sets out to track down his natural parents. Though such journeys are hardly new, the helmer’s fearless honesty and WWII backdrop make for compelling viewing. Born Holger Radtke in 1942, adopted as Holger Mischwitzky, von Praunheim approaches his search with conflicted emotions, since the parents who raised him provided the kind of loving, supportive home an enfant terrible filmmaker needs to survive. Read More »

  • Mark Becker – Romántico (2005)

    2001-2010DocumentaryMark BeckerUSA

    imdb .com wrote:
    A troubadour returns home to scratch out a living in Mexico after years of trying to get ahead in San Francisco.Read More »

  • Zhao Liang – Petition (2009)

    2001-2010ChinaDocumentaryZhao Liang

    Synopsis
    Petition Village is located behind Beijing’s South Railway Station. The inhabitants of this shantytown have come from all over China and they all share a single objective: reparation from the Chinese state. Qi’s husband, for example, died after a routine medical checkup and was immediately cremated. Qi wants to get to the bottom of the matter, but the local authorities in her village refuse to respond. And that is why she and her daughter have been camping for the last 10 years in Petition Village.Read More »

  • Larry Blamire – The Lost Skeleton Returns Again (2009)

    2001-2010ComedyLarry BlamireSci-FiUSA

    Quote:
    Jerranium 90, a “little rock” that made all the papers, is buried deep within the Amazon. And everybody wants it, including crooked importer Handscomb Draile, slimy Gondreau Slykes, cheap crook Carl Traeger and evil scientist Dr. Ellamy Royne.Read More »

  • Larry Blamire – Dark and Stormy Night (2009)

    2001-2010ComedyMysteryUSA

    Quote:
    Writer/director Larry Blamire (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, Trail of the Screaming Forehead) returns to the helm with this parody of 1930s-era old dark house films, presented in glorious black and white, and featuring every character stereotype and story cliché that kitsch fans have come to associate with these estate-bound frighteners.Read More »

Back to top button