 This month, a tribute to the late Peter Falk, a truly great actor whose undeniable charismatic presence made him one of the captivating performers to ever hit the screen. We present a humble introduction to the man's eclectic work, as well as another edition of Club.MOV's consistently stunning selection of films. ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  July 4 to 7: COLUMBO: ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM Directed by Leo Penn Falk is most remembered for his iconic run as the unusually insightful Lt. Columbo. As the detective, Falk exuded an easy and disarming charm that quickly established him as a staple of any home. In this episode, Columbo has to outsmart a wine connoisseur who murdered his half-brother. It's difficult to pick one Columbo episode to represent the series, but this one happens to be one of Falk's favorites. 96 Minutes English IMDBCLIP July 11 to 14: MURDER BY DEATH Directed by Robert Moore In this classic comedy, five famous detectives and their sidekicks are invited to a lavish mansion and told that a murder will take place at midnight. Along with a great cast featuring Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers, David Niven, Maggie Smith and Truman Capote, Falk pokes fun at the mystery conventions of the time, playing a hardboiled detective based on Sam Spade. 94 Minutes English IMDBTrailer July 18 to 21: WINGS OF DESIRE Directed by Wim Wenders As much as Falk was popular mainstream actor with an iconic TV role, he was also a presence in the independent film community. In 1987, he worked with Wim Wenders, providing a grounding presence to his offbeat angelic drama Wings of Desire. Falk plays himself, revealing a fictional history that may as well be real. The film remains one of Wenders' best, and is required viewing for any arthouse fan. 128 Minutes German, French, Turkish, Hebrew, Spanish and English with subtitles IMDBTrailer July 25 to 28: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO HEARTBREAK 5 MONDAY, July 25: HAPPY TOGETHER DIrected by Wong Kar-Wai Selected by Chard Bolisay IMDBTrailer TUESDAY, July 26: 3-IRON Directed by Kim Ki-duk Selected by Oggs Cruz IMDBTrailer WEDNESDAY, July 27: THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR Directed by Tom Tykwer Selected by Dodo Dayao IMDBTrailer THURSDAY, July 28, GOODBYE MY SHOOTING STAR This is not a film by KHAVN IMDBTrailer This month: we don't really have a theme. What we do have are great movies We've got an adaptation of a beloved Murakami novel, to a documentary about an American literary great, and a subversion of classic samurai tropes. Plus, Club.MOV returns with more heartbreak. We ain't SM City, but we've got it all for you. ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  June 6 to 9: NORWEGIAN WOOD Directed by Anh Hung Tran In 1968, Toru (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) is shocked when his friend Kizuki commits suicide. Toru grows close Kizuki's girlfriend Naoko. Amidst the turmoil of the time, the two try to deal with their tragic loss in very different ways. Murakami is notoriously hard to adapt, but Anh Hung Tran makes a noble attempt. The Tokyo of the film is dreamlike and lyrical, suffused with fleeting moments of heartbreaking beauty. 128 Minutes Japanese with English Subtitles IMDBTrailer June 13 to 16: PUBLIC SPEAKING Directed by Martin Scorsese Fran Liebowitz is one of America's sharpest authors. In this documentary, director Martin Scorsese assembles an entertaining portrait of Liebowitz, assembled from interviews and clips from her speaking engagements. Scorsese reveals a wit and a personality that deserves to be placed among the giants of modern American culture. 98 Minutes English IMDBTrailer June 20 to 23: 13 ASSASSINS Directed by Miike Takashi In feudal Japan, a sadistic young lord has risen to power. He uses his authority to rape and kill at will. With no legal means to challenge the lord's authority, a trusted older samurai is given the secret task to assassinate him. The samurai assembles a group of warriors willing to throw away their honor and their lives in the name of heavenly justice. 13 Assassins is a twisted reversal of the classic Seven Samurai, revealing a darker side to the code of the Bushido and samurai thinking. 126 Minutes Japanese with English Subtitles IMDBTrailerJune 27 to 30: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO HEARTBREAK 4 TWO LOVERS (James Gray, 2010, USA) Curated by Chard Bolisay June 27, Monday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMpuIAiuabwUMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG (Jacques Demy, 1996, France) Curated by Oggs Cruz June 28, Tuesday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7bhJkQd1T4WHAT TIME IS IT THERE? (Tsai Ming Liang, 2001, Taiwan) Curated by Dodo Dayao June 29, Wednesday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irLjuz7NHFcPHILIPPINE BLISS This is not a film by Khavn De La Cruz June 30, Thursday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GnnU8JcQJg
 This month, we're paying tribute to the late Sidney Lumet. Lumet was one of Hollywood's finest craftsmen, creating a wide range of films with varied styles and subjects. This month, we're showing three of his finest pictures, all of them showcasing his prodigious ability to get extraordinary performances from actors. ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  May 9 to 12: 12 ANGRY MEN Directed by Sidney Lumet Twelve men enter the jury room to deliberate the fate of a young Spanish-American accused of murder. Eleven of the jurors think it's an open and shut case. One juror dissents. As the men argue the case, their prejudices and preconceptions soon become clear. Lumet turns the film's single set into an emotional sauna, turning up the heat with the growing steam of societal conflict. 96 Minutes English IMDBTrailer April 16 to 19: SERPICO Directed by Sidney Lumet Based on a true story. Policeman Frank Serpico (Al Pacino) isn't like the other cops in New York city. He refuses to take bribes or extort money for criminals. Serpico fights hard to clean up the force, and for his integrity, he becomes a pariah on the force. In spite of a storied career, this might still rank as Al Pacino's finest acting performance. 130 Minutes English IMDBTrailer May 23-26: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO HEARTBREAK 3 CITIZEN DOG (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2004, Thailand) Curated by Chard Bolisay May 23, Monday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye2wkS1TBmQ COMRADES: ALMOST A LOVE STORY (Peter Chan, 1996, Hong Kong) Curated by Oggs Cruz May 24, Tuesday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki7rEY2Hh78 LOVE IN A PUFF (Pang Ho Cheung, 2010,Hong Kong) Curated by Dodo Dayao May 25, Wednesday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qzwXy-7OKE CAMEROON LOVE LETTER (For Solo Piano) This is not a film by Khavn De La Cruz May 26, Thursday, 9pm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ea4M3o00bg  May 30 to June 2: NETWORK Directed by Sidney Lumet "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" With these words, aging news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) becomes relevant again. But while he set out to start a revolution, the forces that control career merely seek to take advantage of his newfound popularity. Working with a sublime script by Paddy Chayefsky, Lumet crafts a definitive excoriation of media and corporate culture, one that remains relevant today. 121 Minutes English IMDBTrailer This month, a master of world cinema looks into the war on terror, an indie darling crosses genres, and Club.Mov brings us an Idiot's Guide to Heartbreak. ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  April 4 to 7: ESSENTIAL KILLING Directed by Jerzy Skolomowski Winner of the Grand Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival. A man (Vincent Gallo) is taken captive after killing three American soldiers. He is tortured before being transferred to an Eastern European country. He escapes en route to his next prison, and fights for his life and freedom in a completely unknown land. Skolomowski, one of the true greats of world cinema, strips away the politics of a naturally political situation, and tells a simple tale of survival of one man who literally has no voice. 81 Minutes English IMDBTrailer April 11 to 14: KABOOM Directed by Gregg Araki Smith (Thomas Dekker) is a film student who spends most of his time getting into sexual flings with a variety of men and women. He witnesses a junkie being abducted and murder by a gang of people in animal masks. He begins to investigate this weird case, forming the pieces to a conspiracy that seems to involve everyone in his life. Araki melds sci-fi, drama, and comedy as he explores a generation that doesn't quite know what to do about the world. 86 Minutes English IMDBTrailerApril 18-21: No screenings for Holy Week.  April 25-28: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS THE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO HEARTBREAK MONDAY: ONCE presented by Richard Bolisay Directed by John Carney IMDBTrailerTUESDAY: LOVE ME TONIGHT presented by Oggs Cruz Directed by Rouben Mamoulian
IMDBTrailerWEDNESDAY: THE MIDDLE MYSTERY OF KRISTO NEGRO Directed by Khavn de la Cruz
IMDBTrailerTHURSDAY: PLOY presented by Dodo Dayao Directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang IMDBTrailer This month, along with our regular screenings, Mogwai is proud to introduce Club.MOV. Once a month, we are giving a week over to Richard Bolisay, Oggs Cruz and Dodo Dayao, programmers of the Tioseco-Bohinc film series. Together, they'll be putting together a monthly program that features eclectic and noteworthy films. ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  March 7 to 10: The King's Speech Directed by Tom Hooper Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Bertie, the Prince of Wales (Colin Firth), suffers from a severe stammer. He's been treated for it all his life, to no avail. At the urging of his wife, he sees one more specialist: Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue's methods prove to be unorthodox, and the prince is hesitant to commit. But as a great responsibility falls on the prince's shoulders, he has no choice but to trust in the specialist's techniques. 118 Minutes English IMDBTrailer February 14 to 16: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS LOVE LETTER Directed by SHUNJI IWAI Hiroko Watanabe's fiancé Itsuki died two years earlier in a mountain climbing accident. While looking through his high school yearbook, Hiroko in a fit of grief decides to write a letter to him using his old school address. Surprisingly she receives a reply, not from the dead Itsuki, but from a woman with the same name whom had known Hiroko's fiancé in school. A relationship develops between the two women as they continue to exchange letters and share memories of the dead Itsuki. 117 Minutes Japanese with English Subtitles IMDBTrailer FEBRUARY 17: CLUB.MOV PRESENTS KOMMANDER KULAS Directed by Khavn de la Cruz From The International Film Festival Rotterdam Website: Kommander Kulas has a restless night, in which he dreams that he is a giant cockroach. Upon waking, Kulas finds a number of stitches in his chest: his heart seems to have been stolen. With his destitute friend Carabao, Kulas sets off on an adventure that leads the two wandering souls all over the country in search of Kulas’ heart. On the way, they meet various mythological characters. As ever, De La Cruz - who has now made more than seventy short films and some thirty features - shot this film on video, but deviates from his typical experimental style, completely unaffected by film conventions. Kommander Kulas is more controlled than De La Cruz' previous films. Nevertheless, the absurdism the maker himself compares to the films of Chilean cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky is still present. 80 Minutes IMDBTrailer March 21 to 24: THE ILLUSIONIST Directed by Sylvain Chomet Based on a unproduced screenplay by French legend Jacques Tati. The film tells a story of an aging illusionist, watching as his trade wanes in popularity. As he goes about getting work in smaller and smaller venues, he meets a young girl who comes believe that the illusionist actually has mystical abilities. Unwilling to break her heart, he puts up illusion after illusion for her, all the while draining his bank account. Chomet takes Tati's physicality and translates it into beautiful handdrawn animation, the film itself a paean for a dying trade. 80 Minutes No Dialogue IMDBTrailer March 28 to March 31: FREAKONOMICS Directed by Seth Gordon, Morgan Spurlock, Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady Based on the groundbreaking book by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. Economist Steven Levitt comes up with a lot of uncomfortable answers to some difficult questions. Does your name have an effect on your life? Did the legalization of abortion in the U.S. cause crime to dip in the 90s? Is there cheating in one of Japan's most respected traditional sports. Can you bribe students to do better in school? All this and more is tackled by some of the most talented documentary filmmakers working today. 90 Minutes English IMDBTrailer  Tired of seeing the same old things over and over again? Ready to expand your cinematic horizons? Want to talk seriously about movies, but have no one who's willing to argue with you? Well for the summer, Mogwai Cinematheque has an offer you just can't refuse. This year, we're holding a six-session film appreciation workshop. There, you can expect to see great films that you might have never even heard of. After that, you'll led into a discussion by film critic and Mogwai curator Philbert Ortiz Dy. The workshop will take place on Sundays, at 3PM, starting March 13. The price: Just Php 1200. Interested? Email mogwaifilmclub AT gmail DOT com with the following information: NAME: AGE: GENDER: ADDRESS: CONTACT NUMBER: FAVORITE FILMS: (optional) See something weird! Argue with people about it! Maybe it'll even change your life! (Probably not). *We reserve the right to cancel the workshop if we do not get enough applicants. For February, we journey into dreams, check out a classic, and reexamine reality. All this and more at Mogwai Cinematheque ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  February 7 to 10: BIBLIOTHÈQUE PASCAL Directed by Szabolcs Hajdu Bibliothèque Pascal begins soberly, with a social worker asking a young mother the story of how she lost her little girl. The story she tells, however, is anything but sober. She tells of a grand adventure that has her getting knocked up by a magical fugitive, and being sold into slavery in an English brothel that caters to clients with literary fetishes. The film is boisterous and surreal, calling to mind the work of Terry Gilliam. But Bibliothéque Pascal also balances its whimsy with harsh doses of reality, never quite letting the audience fully escape into a fantasy world. 105 Minutes Romanian/English/Hungarian/Spanish/German with English subtitles IMDBTrailer February 14 to 17: ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND Directed by Michel Gondry A special Valentine's presentation. Joel and Clementine (Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet) had a pretty rough breakup, and both decide to undergo a process that erases their relationship from their memory. But as Joel goes through the procedure, he realizes that he doesn't want to forget Clementine, and he fights to hold on to some sliver of memory inside his psyche. Many consider Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind one of the finest romances ever told. We here at Mogwai agree, and offer it to you this Valentine's. 108 Minutes English IMDBTrailer February 21 to 24: TRUE GRIT (1969) Directed by Henry Hathaway See the original before the Coen Brothers' version, which opens on February 23. Teenager Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) is on a mission to avenge her father's death. She recruits the ornery marshal Rooster Cogburn to help her track down the killer. Along with a Texas Ranger with something to prove, they head deep into Indian territory to find their man. John Wayne won his only Oscar for his turn as Rooster Cogburn. His performance is one of astounding depth, Wayne showing a hidden sadness that belies his gruff exterior. 128 Minutes English IMDBTrailer February 28 to March 3: CATFISH Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman Nev Schulman has started a relationship with a Midwestern family. He's gotten to know them pretty well through online interactions, and has even begun a sort of romance with one of the members. His brother and his friend decide to document the whole thing, and what happens next is pretty surprising. The less you know about Catfish, the better off you are. This is an amazing story that's almost too good to be true. What's certain is that it's too good to be missed. 87 Minutes English IMDBTrailer It's a new year. Time for new films. Check out what we're showing this month: ALL SCREENINGS START AT 9 PM  January 10 to 13: UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul Winner of the Palme D'or. Deep in the jungles of Thailand, aging farm owner Boonmee is preparing for his inevitable death. He has asked what's left of his family to come over, but it isn't only the living that decides to arrive. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives bursts with strangeness, the film depicting the constant push and pull of the past and present in a country defined by its contradictions. 113 Minutes Thai with English Subtitles IMDBTrailer January 17-20: SOMEWHERE Directed by Sofia Coppola Winner of the Golden Lion. Hollywood star Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff) seems to have it made, but lurking beneath his glamorous lifestyle is a deep sadness. When his only daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) turns up at his doorstep, he's forced to confront the emptiness of his existence. Sofia Coppola employs a minimalist style to portray an existential crisis in the making, seen through the filter of a supposedly enviable Hollywood life. 94 Minutes English with some Italian IMDBTrailer January 24-27: NEVER LET ME GO Directed by Mark Romanek Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. Ruth, Kathy and Tommy (Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield) are all studying at a peculiar boarding school, completely separated from the outside world. While playing out the usual complications of pre-teen life, they are told of their strange and ultimately purpose in the world. This ambitious adaptation of Ishiguro's trickiest novel gains its strength through its tone, which accurately reflects the deep confusion and melancholy of the characters. 104 Minutes English IMDBTrailer January 31-Feb 3: THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT Directed by Lisa Cholodenko Winner of the Best Feature Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival. Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson) were conceived through artificial insemination by their lesbian parents Jules and Nic (Julianne Moore and Annette Bening). The two seek out their sperm donor father and try to bring him into their family. The film revels in the awkwardness of the situation, playing out its scenes with often painful clarity, highlighting the complicated histories of the characters. 106 Minutes English IMDBTrailer
 Starting this week, and all the way through December, Mogwai in cooperation with the Society of Filipino Archivists presents films from the series "Overlooked Films, Underrated Filmmakersrs." We're starting out with an Agatha Christie style murder mystery in Danny Zialcita's Masquerade.  An opulent mansion in a far flung island is the setting for a deadly masquerade ball. Eleven strangers, all with shady pasts, are invited by the mysterious Mr. X to the ball, and dark secrets are soon revealed as each of the guests begin to die in brutal fashion.  Zialcita was a true iconoclast in Philippine cinema. He is perhaps best known in the industry as a filmmaker who never worked with scripts. He needed every story to be mutable, loose enough to accept new ideas as they came. His work is astonishing on its own, his stories filled with seemingly disparate narrative threads that somehow tie together in the end, often with a deliciously subversive. That he did this all while improvising suggests a sort of genius that just doesn't come around very often.  Masquerade is one of his earlier films, and that genius is already quite visible. Though it would take a while for Zialcita to find his more subversive voice, one can already see his skill at playing with multiple characters, weaving them into a grand tapestry of immorality and murder. It's about time that Zialcita gets his due. MASQUERADE Directed by Danny Zialcita Starring Bernard Bonnin, Marlene Dauden, Liberty Ilagan, Ben Perez and Vic Silayan November 29 to December 2 Screenings start at 9 PM More on Danny Zialcita at Video 48  This week, the spirit of the Russian revolution finds its way into the suburbs of Montreal. The Red Army is reborn in Jacob Tierney's <i>The Trotsky</i>.  Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) believes a very strange thing. He thinks he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky, and that he's destined to lead a revolution against the capitalist oppressors of his native Canada. As punishment for staging a hunger strike at his father's factory, Leon is sent to public school. There, he begins to sow the seeds of revolution, encouraging his classmates to rise up against a tyrannical system. But where Leon sees oppression, others just see everyday life.  What at first seems as just one big absurdist joke turns out to have a pretty serious point to make. As much as <i>The Trotsky</i> finds pleasure in the sheer dissonance of having the delightful Jay Baruchel act like a Russian revolutionary in gentrified Montreal, the film makes the larger point about apathy in the general public, particularly the youth. Rather than rail against things that aren't right, they just accept them as small annoyances requisite in living a civilized life.  Teenage rebellion has always been valued in cinema, much of it made iconic in the films of John Hughes. But where Hughes venerated the outsiders who can't be bothered to care about high school, <i>The Trotsky</i> gives us a protagonist that takes his rebellion seriously. In modern days, the stakes might be lower. But that's no reason to tolerate the small tyrannies that surround us. THE TROTSKY Written and Directed by Jacob Tierney Starring Jay Baruchel, Ricky Mabe, Tilo horn, Saul Rubinek and Colm Feore 120 Minutes November 15-18 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer
 This week, a chilly tale of conviction set in the backwoods of Missouri. A young girl armed with nothing but her determination takes on a community where crime is the only option in Debra Granik's haunting Winter's Bone.  Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) has never had it easy, taking care of her mentally absent mother and her two younger siblings. The sheriff comes knocking one day, informing her that her father has skipped bail, and put their house up as collateral. If Ree can't produce her father within the week, her family will be thrown out. Ree must then navigate the community of criminals in which she resides, asking questions to people who don't take kindly to being asked.  Winter's Bone is a bleak tale of being born into a world with no options. The community depicted in the film is one composed of people who have very little, but will do everything to protect what little they have. Crime appears to be the natural answer, and it is the consequences of crime that keep Ree from ever being free of the decaying landscape that surrounds her.  The film is relentlessly grim, with Granik keeping an even, realistic tone throughout the picture. But what gives the film its weight is the fearless performance from lead Jennifer Lawrence. As Ree, Lawrence exudes steely determination, a quite forceful courage that doesn't even need to be spoken. As Ree, Lawrence does not yell or fight or make idle threats. One look, and you'll understand. This is all about survival. Nothing can really stand in her way. WINTER'S BONE Directed by Debra Granik Written by Anne Rosellini and Debra Granik Based on the novel by Daniel Woodrell Starring Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, Kevin Breznahan, and Dale Dickey 100 Minutes November 8 to 11 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, we ask what it means to really be giving. Director Nicole Holofcener examines the various kinds of guilt that lead people towards a skewed sense of charity in her movie Please Give.  Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) is taking care of her abrasive ninety-one year-old grandmother, making it difficult for her to have much of a life. Her self-absorbed sister Mary (Amanda Peet) hardly helps out at all, much of her time taken up by stalking her ex's new girlfriend. Neighbors Kate and Alex (Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt) are waiting for Rebecca's grandmother to die so they can buy her apartment and use it as an expansion. Kate, who runs a furniture store that buys most of its stock from families of the recently deceased, is having a crisis of conscience, and she tries to deal with it through personal charity.  Please Give is one of the most honest movies you'll ever see. The world of cinema tends to be populated by flawless people dealing with problems that are larger than life. This film is all about the slightness of being, the general ennui of people who feel that they don't quite deserve their place in life. These are people asking the big questions not because they've experienced something life-changing, but because nothing in their life ever changes.  The movie dares to ask the question what it really means to be good in the modern world, turning what most would consider Christian values on their heads. While charity and self-sacrifice are all admirable traits, the film dissects these two concepts and reveals the extent to which they are harmful. Great performances from Rebecca Hall and Catherine Keener give a soul to this thoroughly human film. PLEASE GIVE Written and Directed by Nicole Holofcener Starring Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Oliver Platt and Amanda Peet 90 Minutes November 2 to 4 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, an overlooked, underrated low-budget gem from Canada. Watch the horror as fantasy goes wrong in Alexandre Franchi's The Wild Hunt.  Things aren't going well for Erik (Ricky Mabe). His brother Bjorn has left him to take care of their senile father. Bjorn spends all of his time participating in Live Action Role Playing (LARP) events, playing the role of Bjorn the Viking Berserker, servant of Thor. Worse yet, Erik's girlfriend Lyn has caught the role playing bug, too, preferring to live in the fantasy world of the game rather than Erik's mundane existence. Things come to a head with a major weekend event, where a massive in-game battle is to be held. In order to get his girlfriend back, Erik has no choice but to suit up and play the game as well. But he turns out to be quite the disruptive force, and the game turns out to be frighteningly real.  What at first might seem like the stuff of slasher movie cheese turns out to be a graceful study of the psychology of games. It explores the extremes of role playing, methodically mapping out the sort of personalities that might gravitate towards this form of escapism. It isn't so much an accurate depiction of your average LARP event, as it is a wider study of how far people might go to protect their fantasies.  The Wild Hunt was made for just half a million Canadian dollars, but you wouldn't know it. Clever production design and great cinematography combine to give the film a somewhat epic feel. This is director Alexandre Franchi's debut feature, and based on the talent exhibited here, he might just be someone to watch in the future. THE WILD HUNT Directed by Alexandre Franchi Written by Alexandre Franchi and Mark Antony Krupa Starring Ricky Mabe, Mark Antony Krupa, Trevor hayes, Kaniehtiio Horn and Claudia Jurt 96 Minutes October 25 to 28 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, we enter the tangled world of hair. Actor and comedian Chris Rock introduces the wider world to the paradoxes and strangeness inherent in African-American hair care in Jeff Stilson's Good Hair.  Prompted by his youngest daughter's insecurities, Chris Rock sets out to discover what it means to have good hair in the African-American context. To do this, he goes into beauty salons and barbershops, interviewing common folk and celebrities alike to gauge attitudes about hair. He travels to Atlanta, where the largest hair care product expo is held every year. There, he follows the participants of the Hair Battle Royale, where up and coming hair stylists are made to put on a heavily choreographed show that showcases their skills.  The film also looks at the problem from a more global perspective. Rock also travels to India, to see where hair sold for a thousand dollars in the states is harvested for next to nothing. He travels the United States, trying to find out why there are so few of these companies that make hair products for African-Americans are actually run by African-Americans.  Along the way, Rock discovers a people who have been totally convinced to suppress what comes natural to them. Rock proves to be quite a compelling documentarian, his easy, disarming demeanor and comedian's insight creating moments of surprising clarity. And he keeps things pretty funny, too, even when the truth proves to be a little sad in the long run. GOOD HAIR Directed by Jeff Stilson Written by Chris Rock, Jeff Stilson, Chuck Sklar and Lance Crouther Featuring Chris Rock, Al Sharpton, Maya Angelou, Raven Simone and Ice-T 95 Minutes October 18-21 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, satire knows no bounds. The tricky subject of Muslim extremism is put through the prism of comedy in this daring and irreverent film. Even Jihad can be funny in Chris Morris' Four Lions.  Omar (Riz Ahmed) is a leader of a group of would-be Jihadists living in Sheffield, England. He and his group of radicalized Muslims (which includes Barry, a recent convert) dream of becoming suicide bombers. The only problem is that they're all imbeciles, and aren't quite cut out for the terrorist life. Omar struggles to keep his group together as they bungle plot after plot and argue over the stupidest details of their supposed ideology.  This certainly isn't the easiest subject to tackle, especially one for a comedy. But it is exactly this attitude that Four Lions satirizes. In making fun of terrorism, the film actually reveals a more complex core to the Muslim world. While people and even the media tend to equate the religion itself with extremism, the film makes a clear distinction between the regular people who just want to worship and the idiots who want to blow themselves up. Heavily researched by satirist Chris Morris, the film paints a fuller picture of modern Islam in the Western world than one would get in the news.  Tricky subject matter aside, the film simply follows the grand tradition of the British farce, attacking society's sacred cows by revealing the idiocy and absurdity at the center of all of it. A strange equality is achieved in comedy; no one is above being made fun of, and in the end, everybody's just as stupid as everybody else. FOUR LIONS Directed by Chris Morris Written by Chris Morris, Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain Starring Riz Ahmed, Arsher Ali, Nigel Lindsay, Kayvan Novak and Adeel Akhtar 101 Minutes Some English subtitles for Urdu dialogue October 11-14 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, an international literary sensation gets the big screen treatment. Troubled souls come together to solve long forgotten mysteries in Niels Arden Oplev's adaptation of Stieg Larsson's The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo.  Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is about to serve a prison term. He has lost a libel case filed by a corrupt industrialist, and has become somewhat of a pariah. But while waiting to serve his sentence, he is approached by a wealthy businessman to help investigate the truth about the disappearance of his niece some forty years ago. While preparing to take the case, Blomkvist gains an unlikely ally in Lisbeth Salander, a hacker with a troubled past. Together, they dig up a family's deepest, most dangerous secrets, only finding solace in each other's frailties.  The film is an adaptation of the late Stieg Larsson's worldwide bestseller. Its original Swedish title, Man Som Hatar Kvinnor, translates to "Men Who Hate Women," which points to the larger themes that this seemingly standard detective story points to. Larsson was a journalist and an activist, and through this story he explored the malaise that exists in contemporary Swedish society. His story tackles themes of corruption, misogyny, and social injustice.  The film stays pretty faithful to the novel, staying thoughtful and methodical even as the tension ramps up to frightening levels. But it is most admirable for keeping Larsson's politics intact, the film often uncompromising in its depiction of the horrors inflicted upon women, and brutal in portraying the weakness of the rich. There is a strong mystery at the core of this film, but its appeal goes far beyond its pulp elements. THE GIRL WITH A DRAGON TATTOO Original Title: Man Som Hatar Kvinnor Directed by Niels Arden Oplev Written by Nikolaj Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre and Peter Haber 152 Minutes Swedish with English Subtitles October 4 to 7 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, we're looking at one of the most powerful and influential counterculture movements of the last twenty years. And along the way, street artist Banksy will show us the creation of a monster. Take it to the streets in Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop.  Banksy begins this documentary by saying that the film was supposed to be about him and street art in general. But along the way, it sort of became about the guy who was supposed to be making the film. And here we meet Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman living in Los Angeles who films practically every minute of his life, and accidentally became a major part of the modern street art movement. Guetta started out following street artists around, taking video of their increasingly temporary work.  He did this under the pretense of putting together a documentary about the movement, but the truth was that he has no real intention of doing anything with the footage. This changed when he caught the attention of international street art sensation Banksy, who challenged him to do something with his work. When it was clear that Guetta didn't have the capacity to put something coherent together, Banksy took hold of the footage, and pointed the camera back at Guetta. He then challenged Guetta to make his own forays into art.  The result is something even more subversive. As Guetta begins seeing himself as an artist, he begins to buy into a culture of hype and celebrity. What starts out as the only real document of a genuinely powerful art movement becomes an indictment of the art world itself. What happens is so outrageous that people have come to suspect that the entire film is one big prank from Banksy. But that just makes it a little more brilliant. EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Directed by Banksy Featuring Thierry Guetta, Banksy, Shepard Fairey Narrated by Rhys Ifans 87 Minutes September 27-30 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer
 This week, we're keeping things pretty simple. It's just three people, a chair, and all the horror that mother nature can muster. This week, feel the chill of Adam Green's Frozen.  Three college students trying to go for a last late night ski run find themselves in a life-or-death struggle when their chair lift suddenly stops. With the resort shutting down for the week and no cell phones on their person, the three are left to find a way to escape their predicament, lest they starve and freeze on the chair lift. But every option they have carries a dangerous consequence.  Frozen triumphs by keeping things really simple. The situation may be alien to our completely snow-free environment, but the movie makes the dangers of the situation palpable. You can almost put yourself in the characters' place, and you can begin to imagine what you would do in that situation. The characters are universal, their identities inconsequential as nature decides to have its way with them.  The film convincingly maps out how people would react to this problem, and it shows audiences the often painful consequences of their actions (or their inaction). Slick, polished filmmaking keeps the mood heavy, and smart character work gives the film a surprising amount of pathos. The film works on a very primal level, exploiting a few very basic fears that almost all people have. FROZEN Written and Directed by Adam Green Starring Emma Bell, Shawn Ashmore and Kevin Zegers 93 Minutes September 20 to 24 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, a touch of nostalgia from two of Britain's biggest comedic minds. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant take a surprisingly earnest look back on the follies of youth in a small factory town in Cemetery Junction.  Freddy (Christian Cooke) doesn't want to end up like most folks in Cemetery Junction, where you usually end up working at a factory for your entire life with nothing to show for it. He applies for a job at an insurance firm, aiming at a better kind of lifestyle. But his friends Bruce and Snork don't really seem eager to see him leave their life of goofing around behind. And when Freddy runs into an old girlfriend of his, he begins to reevaluate what he really wants in life.  Gervais and Merchant have become mostly known for their abrasive humor, but anybody who's seen their work know that they suffuse all that acidity with a copious amount of heart. That heart takes the forefront in Cemetery Junction. The biting one-liners are still there, but the duo let in stay in the background, keeping the focus on this heartfelt coming-of-age tale.  Through it, they explore the attitudes of young people to their roots, the strange conflict between loving a place and needing to leave it behind. The nostalgia is palpable in every frame, the film transporting viewers to a completely different time. A fantastic 70s soundtrack helps set the mood, every song feeling like a memory, lovingly told by a friend. CEMETERY JUNCTION Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant Starring Christian Cooke, Felicity Jones, Tom Hughes, Jack Doolan, Emily Watson and Ralph Fiennes 95 Minutes September 13-16 Screening start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer  This week, we're leaving all pretension behind as a modern master of cult cinema brings his unique skills to the Roman legion. Get a flaming arrow to the back of the head in Neil Marshall's Centurion.  AD 117 in Britain, where the Roman legion has been stopped from advancing by the guerilla tactics of the brutal Pict tribe. Centurion Quintus Dias (Michael Fassbender) is the sole survivor of a raid on the front line, and he escapes enemy clutches to join up with the legendary ninth legion. Unfortunately for Quintus, the legion is led into a trap, and he is left to lead a small pack of survivors to safety. But the brutal English countryside, a seemingly unstoppable Pictish tracker, and the treachery of his own men stand in the way of their freedom.  Historically, cinematic depictions of Roman times have concentrated on the opulence of the era. It's all marble columns and grand feats as people dressed in togas cheer on the staged brutality of the circus. Centurion serves to remind audiences that the Roman legion ran roughshod over most of the known world at the time, thanks to a professional army of soldiers who were ready to face death any day.  Centurion doesn't skimp on the violence. It doesn't make its battles out to be epic encounters. Rather, it is cut after cut of brutal death, metal hitting bone and flesh in the worst ways possible. But Marshall cleverly sneaks in political allegory in this symphony of violence, the Roman advance serving as a symbol of all wars, where good men become brothers and are marched towards their doom. Marshall, known mostly for his skill at genre filmmaking, gives himself room to grow a bit, and he uses it to get downright poetic. CENTURION Written and Directed by Neil Marshall Starring Michael Fassbender, Olga Kurylenko, Dominic Wiest and David Morrissey 97 Minutes September 6 to 10 Screenings start at 9 PM IMDBTrailer | |
