Pray the Devil Back To Hell, a review…

October 22, 2008 at 8:12 am | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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In theaters: December 12, 2008

  • Genre : Foreign, Documentary
  • Director : Gini Reticker

  • Cast : Leymah Gbowee, Etweda “Sugars” Cooper, Vaiba Flomo, Etty Weah, Janet Johnson Bryant

Pray the Devil Back to Hell is the gripping account of a group of brave women who demanded peace for Liberia, a nation torn to shreds by a decades-long civil war. The women’s historic achievement finds its voice in a narrative that intersperses interviews, archival images, and scenes of present-day Liberia together to recount the memories of a few of the women who were there. In 2003, Liberia was a country devastated by decades of political dislocation, humanitarian crisis, and street-to-street urban warfare. Charles Taylor, then President of Liberia, had emptied the country’s pockets as creatively as any dictator in memory. His ascent to power led to the deaths of thousands of people and a nation in complete ruin. Out of the wreckage, more than 2000 Christian and Muslim women throughout the country began to organize and banded together in an effort to bring an end to the fighting. At great person risk, they protested creatively and persistently for peace in the worst days of brutal and protracted civil conflict. The Academy Award-nominated team Gini Reticker, Kate Taverna and Kirsten Johnson teamed up with Abigail E. Disney to produce this powerful documentary feature. (from: http://www.apple.com)

Shiver, a review…

October 4, 2008 at 4:32 am | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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Genre: Thriller
Director:Isidro Ortiz
Cast:Junio Valverde, Mar Sodupe, Jaime Barnatan, Blanca Martinez, Francesc Orella

Junio Valverdi of THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE stars as Santi, a bullied teen who suffers from a rare and violent allergy to sunlight. When his condition worsens, he and his mother are forced to move to a remote village in the mountains. His arrival marks the beginning of a series of brutal slayings. Something is alive deep in the shadowy forest. Can a frightened outcast find safety in the darkness or does the ultimate terror wait in the most unexpected place of all? Francesc Orella and Mar Sodupe co-star in this chilling Spanish horror thriller from acclaimed director Isidro Ortiz (FAUSTO 5.0) and featuring art direction by Pilar Revuelta, Oscar® winner for PAN’S LABYRINTH. (from: http://www.apple.com)

Synecdoche, New York (a review…)

October 4, 2008 at 4:04 am | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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Genre: Drama

Director: Charlie Kaufman
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh

Theater director Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is mounting a new play. His life catering to suburban blue-hairs at the local regional theater in Schenectady, New York is looking bleak. His wife has left him to pursue her painting in Berlin, taking their young daughter Olive with her. His therapist, Madeleine Gravis is better at plugging her best-seller than she is at counseling him. A new relationship with the alluringly candid Hazel has prematurely run aground. And a mysterious condition is systematically shutting down each of his autonomic functions, one by one. Worried about the transience of his life, he leaves his home behind. He gathers an ensemble cast into a warehouse in New York City, hoping to create a work of brutal honesty. He directs them in a celebration of the mundane, instructing each to live out their constructed lives in a growing mockup of the city outside. The years rapidly fold into each other, and Caden buries himself deeper into his masterpiece. As he pushes the limits of his relationships, both personally and professionally, a change in creative direction arrives in Millicent Weems (Dianne Wiest), a celebrated theater actress who may offer Caden the break he needs. (from: http://www.apple.com)

The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, a review…

September 25, 2008 at 3:57 am | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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 Genre: Drama

  • Director: Olaf de Fleur Johanesson
  • Cast: Raquela Rios, Stefan C. Schaefer, Olivia Gaudio, Brax Villa, Valerie Grand Einarsson

    • Raquela is a “ladyboy” – from the Philippines who dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris. In order to make her dreams come true, she turns from prostitution toward the more lucrative business of Internet porn. Her success as a porn star brings new friends, including Valerie, a ladyboy in Iceland, and Michael, the owner of the website Raquela works for. Valerie helps Raquela get as far as Iceland. From there, Michael offers her a rendezvous in Paris. Will Paris be everything she dreamed of? And will Michael turn out to be her Prince Charming? (www.apple.com)

    Breakfast With Scot, a review…

    September 25, 2008 at 3:52 am | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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    Genre: Comedy

  • Director: Laurie Lynd
  • Cast: Tom Cavanagh, Ben Shenkman, Noah Bernett, Jeananne Goossen, Sheila McCarthy, Grahame Greene

    • Adapted from the novel by Michael Downing, Eric (Tom Cavanagh of the hit series “ED,” “Scrubs,” “Eli Stone”) lives for all things hockey. Now in his thirties, he’s managed to turn his stint as an ex- Toronto Maple Leaf into a full-time gig as commentator for sports TV. He’s living the dream! But when Eric’s boyfriend Sam (Ben Shenkman of “Angels in America” “Law & Order,” “Canterbury’s Law”) announces that they’re to become temporary guardians of a young boy, Eric’s comfortable world shatters. Enter Scot (Noah Bernett, “Prom Wars,” “Girl’s Best Friend,” “Last Exit, “Gothika”) — a recently orphaned, swishy 11-year-old sissy-of-a-boy — and Eric’s mirror opposite. Freaked out by Scot’s ‘joie de vivre,’ Eric and Sam gently nudge Scot away from scented hand cream and all things pink, towards a more ‘acceptable’ pastime – hockey. But after Scot’s disastrous first game, Eric begins to rethink the compromises he’s made in his own life in order to be accepted. (from: www.apple.com)

    Forever Strong, a review…

    September 22, 2008 at 4:31 pm | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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    Genre: Drama

  • Director: Ryan Little
  • Cast: Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Sean Astin, Neal McDonough, Penn Badgley

    • Rick Penning (Sean Faris, *Never Back Down*) lives life just like he plays rugby; fast, hard-hitting and intense. When life on the edge lands him in jail, prison ward Marcus Tate (Sean Astin, *The Lord of the Rings*) offers him a chance to get back in the game by playing for his rival, Highland Rugby. Reluctantly Rick joins the team where he must adopt the grueling training schedule and unique code of conduct that Coach Gelwix (Gary Cole, *Office Space*) enforces, or finish out the season behind bars. Egos clash as bitter competitors struggle to become a team. An unlikely brotherhood is formed with his Highland teammates, just as Rick is released from jail and sent back home to rejoin his former team, coached by his overbearing father (Neal McDonough, *Minority Report*). Heading into a faceoff with Highland at the National Championship, Rick is forced to choose where his loyalty lies. (from: www.apple.com)

    Humboldt County, a review…

    September 22, 2008 at 3:28 pm | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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    Genre: Drama

  • Director: Darren Grodsky, Danny Jacobs
  • Cast: Jeremy Strong, Fairuza Balk, Peter Bogdanovich, Frances Conroy, Brad Dourif

    • At the edge of the continent and on the margins of society is a region of California known to some as “The Lost Coast.” It is there, in HUMBOLDT COUNTY, that Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong) – a promising yet disillusioned medical student failed by his professor (Peter Bogdanovich) – stumbles upon a remote community of counterculture marijuana farmers and a warmly embracing, yet eccentric family played by Frances Conroy, Fairuza Balk, Chris Messina, Brad Dourif, and newcomer Madison Davenport. From directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs, who also co-wrote the screenplay, HUMBOLDT COUNTY is a story of the human soul in search of happiness, and the unexpected places we can sometimes call home. (from: www.apple.com)

    Yes Man, a review…

    September 22, 2008 at 1:17 pm | Posted in film | Leave a comment
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    Genre: Comedy

  • Director: Peyton Reed
  • Cast: Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschanel, Bradley Cooper, Rhys Darby, John Michael

    • Jim Carrey stars as Carl Allen, a guy whose life is going nowhere—the operative word being “no”—until he signs up for a self-help program based on one simple covenant: say yes to everything…and anything. Unleashing the power of “YES” begins to transform Carl’s life in amazing and unexpected ways, getting him promoted at work and opening the door to a new romance. But his willingness to embrace every opportunity might just become too much of a good thing. (from: www.apple.com)


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