Guru

Reviewer: Dylan de Thomas
Rating (out of 5): ***½

Early works in artists' careers can be fascinating, giving viewers a window with which to view later greatness, and that certainly is the case with the new Criterion Collection release of Akira Kurosawa's Drunken Angel (1948). The crisp digital transfer will give fans of the venerated Japanese director the opportunity to see (the first viewing for some – this is the official region 1 debut on the DVD format; GreenCine previously offered an import) what the master called his first "real" film – that is, the first time he had complete creative control on a project. Perhaps more notably, it was his first collaboration with actor Toshiro Mifune, beginning one of the greatest cinematic collaborations in the history of film, which ran through 1965’s Red Beard.

Reviewer: Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): ***½

The show that Simpsons creator Matt Groening followed that huge hit with, Futurama didn't have the same ratings success as its famous cousin, but developed a large and loyal cult following. Unfortunately, it was doomed as another high quality comedy that Fox shifted around confusingly for four seasons, showing less patience than it did with the Simpsons, only to, as with Family Guy (which I'm much less of a fan of, but it certainly has a huge following), realize they blew it and brought a cult favorite back. Bender's Big Score is the first of what will be several new feature-length Futurama episodes. And fans can breathe a sigh of relief: even if it stumbles about a few times -- blame it on writers rust after the four year layover (which the opening sequence cleverly references, along with a well-deserved, thinly-veiled smackback at Fox itself) -- in many ways it's as if they'd never left. Good news everyone: It has roughly the same amount of laughs as you'd find if you watched three solid episodes of the show back to back.

The film stars, yes, Bender the wise-ass robot, who becomes captive to a virus as part of a hostile takeover by scammer aliens (who use spam to fool the Planet Express company's gullible employees). After gaining access to a secret code that allows them to travel through time -- Fry has the time travel secret with the power to destroy the universe written in binary code tattooed on his ass, and don't ask, just enjoy! -- the evil scammers use Bender to do their bidding, including the theft of all the valuable objects in human history. Time travel paradox gags have been used on the show before, and they come close here to one time travel paradox too many, but they find the right pace as the show goes along, using the main plot to cleverly launch a few side stories that all end up connecting at the end. This stretched out episode does have more than its fair share of butt and dick jokes, though admittedly many of them are genuinely funny. And that's always been one of the charms of Futurama: jokes that only PhDs in math could come up with (or even understand) mix with sight gags and crude humor for the sophomoronic in all of us.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****½

The mystery of family has received some major exploration over the past few years, particularly in the documentary category: Capturing the Friedmans and 51 Birch Street are two that spring immediately to mind. To these, and others, must now be added Red Without Blue, the fascinating, low-key, painful, sad, funny and majestic true-life movie by Brooke Sebold, Benita Sills and Todd Sills. All three are credited with writing, producing and directing; Brooke and Benita handled the editing and Brooke and Todd the cinematography. Talk about a collaborative venture. However it happened, the end result is rich and nearly seamless in its examination of twin brothers, their mother and father, the lover of one of the twins and a few more assorted friends and family.

As usual, I suggest you go into this movie knowing little more about the facts than what I've just told you because the surprises in store are many and strong. This is a journey for the subjects on view and for the viewers, too, and where it takes us all is pretty amazing. Many narratives and documentary films these days are heralded for being "non-judgmental"; until I saw Red Without Blue, I don't think I had nearly the understanding of that term that I now possess. As with all documentaries, I did find myself wondering, "Can all of this be true? And how would I really ever know?" But then I decided that, were this fiction, I'd buy it just as willingly. Because these filmmakers have found a way to reach out to their subjects and their viewers--and bring us all home.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****

Any movie that knocks about your most cherished belief, say, that Capitalism--or, what the hell, Communism, Christianity, the Internet, the motion picture industry--is the greatest achievement of the modern world, is to be treasured. Doubting one's dream is generally salutary, and Czech Dream leaves us doing just this—and more; this little (less-than-90-minutes) documentary is a knockout.

The concept is certainly original and funny: Filmmakers Vít Klusák and Filip Remundathe use modern marketing techniques to wage a massive promotional campaign for a super-supermarket in the Czech Republic--only it's all a ruse. The film is full of surprising and meaningful moments, all along the way: the ad man explaining why he can't "lie" is wonderfully ironic, even touching, in its naiveté. But the best is the last half hour, once the hoax has been unmasked. Seeing/hearing the various Czechs give us their thoughts and feelings on the matter forces us, too, to stop and think about how we are all manipulated, by all the media--left, right and center--all the time. These two Czech filmmakers, bless their hearts and minds, have opened the door a crack wider so that we can begin to see and understand this influence/control of the people by the powers that be and by society itself, our ever-loving peers.

Reviewer: Erin Donovan
Rating (out of 5): ***½

One of the marks of a strong film director is one who can make something greater than the sum of its parts. In Between Days has a micro budget, non-professional (teenage) actors, a bleak Toronto winter setting, very little dialogue and an entire universe of ennui all under the banner of a title taken from a Cure song.

First-time writer/director So Yong Kim, already an established painter, film producer and multi-media artist, pays special attention to the visual and sound design of her feature film debut. Teaming up here with cinematographer Sarah Levy, the film has a syrupy quality that enlarges and minimizes the things happening around her to suit Aimie's emotional state. In Between Days is a well-paced yet detailed account of the day to day life of teenage immigrant at the threshold of sexuality and national identity. Kim deftly sidesteps cliche and preciousness by focusing with careful precision on the root beginnings of the deceptive nature of gender communication and the all-encompassing frustration of being a non-English speaker in a teenage world where conformity is key.

Reviewer: Walt Opie
Rating (out of 5): ***½

Somewhat surprisingly, the sport of ice hockey has inspired very few decent films over the years. You might be able to count them on two fingers: 1977's Slap Shot starring Paul Newman, and Disney's Miracle about the 1980 U.S. men's hockey team winning the gold. So it's nice to be able to add to this list The Rocket, a thoughtful biopic about the life of legendary Montreal Canadiens scoring machine Maurice "The Rocket" Richard (who retired from the NHL in 1960 and died in 2000).

Directed by Charles Binamé (Seraphin: Heart of Stone), it stars popular Canadian actor Roy Dupuis, who had already portrayed Richard for two previous projects (including a two-part French-Canadian miniseries). Dupuis reportedly did his own skating in the film, and the hockey scenes—which depict the NHL in the 1940s and 1950s before players wore helmets—have an admirable gritty quality of verisimilitude. Binamé has said of his inspiration for the hockey scenes, "I really wanted to capture hockey the way (Martin) Scorsese had captured boxing with Raging Bull."

The best gay films released on DVD in 2007 (along with some not quite so great), a diverse bunch...

Available Men This series of gay-themed shorts is way better than most compilations (only one of the bunch sucks--it's in claymation and thankfully brief). The title short is terrific, and those that follow are each quite different as they explore various facets of "love"--in unique and clever ways. Give this one a try.

Broken Sky A Mexican art film by Julián Hernández that is indeed art, this is a long one (2 hours and 20 minutes) but if it manages to pull you in to its story of a young university man and his "lost" love, you'll be hooked. It's that beautiful, strange and hypnotic. There is little dialog but the visuals are so unusual that I think you'll pay attention.

C.R.A.Z.Y. This Canadian film has won some 37 awards from all around the world. Deservedly. It's fresh, funny, rude and insightful, as it tracks the life of a gay son trying so hard to be what his daddy wants. The movie is a learning experience in the best of ways: entertaining, thoughtful, fairly rigorous and very involving.

Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds Nowhere as ground-breaking, funny/dirty/naughty as the original, this, supposedly the first gay "sequel," is good enough to at least enjoy and laugh at/with. And one of the leads--Marco Dapper--is downright memorable, when he disrobes.

Glue: An original in a generally parched genre, this Argentine knockout captures teenage sexuality in all its raw and crazy vitality. Via imagination (and an original color palette), writer/director Alexis Dos Santos and his cinematographer and editors manage to create a new look/feel that perfectly portrays the subjects, their age, confusion and raging hormones.