Guru

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

No less a light than Steven Soderbergh (once upon a time the flag-bearer for independent American cinema) is on record as calling Choking Man "everything an independent film should be." If that kind of all-encompassing praise sounds difficult to live up to, not to worry. Steve Barron's film is plenty good and certainly worth its 83 minutes of your time. Though I am not certain what the "everything" in Mr. Soderbergh's quote might comprise, Barron gives us quite a bit on which to chew: a painfully shy Ecuadorian young man named Jorge, who works as a dishwasher in a Queens, NY, diner; his home life in Spanish Harlem, which includes a most unusual roommate; the new Asian-American waitress with whom he forms a small connection; the owner and staff of the diner; even a young salesman in a local Oriental rug shop.

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

Heavy Metal in Baghdad marks an important step forward for the widely ignored school of Iraq docs, it depicts the plights of middle class people who in all likelihood led lives that bear more resemblance to documentary viewers in the States than films about soldiers, prisoners, orphans or war criminals. Heavy Metal in Baghdad tells the story of Acrassicauda (which translates to Black Scorpion of the Desert), the only known heavy metal band in Baghdad. Before the 2003 invasion, these young men each identified as being happily apolitical. But after the war broke out their lives changed rapidly: strict street security and curfews made it impossible to get gigs, their practice space was bombed and eventually employment became so scarce all band members had to relocate to Syria to support their families as laborers.

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

On paper, there's much to like about the sequel to the surprise hit about a stoned duo's misadventures on the way to a White Castle in Cherry Hill, New Jersey: it stars two likeable actors (John Cho and Kal Penn) reprising likeable roles, it has the nerve to turn the civil-rights nightmare that is Gitmo into a dick joke and it gleefully subverts racial stereotypes to such a degree, it almost becomes a post-racial stoner flick. Unfortunately, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay forgets one thing along its THC-addled way: to be all that funny.

Punk's Not Dead (2007)

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ****

After several recent, failed attempts (like American Hardcore), filmmaker Susan Dynner finally turns in the punk music documentary we all deserve, and one that punks can finally relate to. Rather than dwelling on the history of punk and choosing a list of bands to highlight, in Punk's Not Dead Dynner packs in an astonishing amount of material; she covers the movement's history in the film's first 30 minutes (Nirvana comes in at the 20 minute mark). From there, she wrestles with very relevant questions like: why does all this matter? And, does it still matter? A lesser filmmaker would simply answer those questions, but Dynner lets the debate rage.

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson
Rating (out of 5): ***

Trapped Ashes, an anthology horror film in the style of Dead of Night (1945) featuring the return of the legendary Monte Hellman (The Shooting, Two-Lane Blacktop) -- who has been on "hiatus" for almost 20 years -- seemed like a great idea. But serving all five directors, the lone, first-time screenwriter Dennis Bartok (the former Head of Programming for the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles) turned in a lackluster, disappointing script that not even the likes of Joe Dante or Ken Russell could save.

Dante directs the wraparound sequence, in which all the characters tour a haunted house on a movie lot. (Dante regular Henry Gibson plays the tour guide.) Trapped inside, each must tell a scary story to escape; each tale is based on male fears of female sexuality.

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

History has a lot to do with the special appeal of Joy House (titled "Les Felins" in France): the history of its director Réne Clément, of filmmaking at this particular time (1964), and even the history of one of its stars (Lola Albright). Clément will probably always--and rightly--be remembered for two of his films: the quiet, elegant and moving WWII drama about children, Forbidden Games (from 1952; nominated for Best Foreign Film, winner of the NY Film Critics Circle award, as well as the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival) and Purple Noon, a huge international hit that helped put Alain Delon on the movie star map. Clément made other notable films, but none that captured the zeitgeist as did these two.

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

Here's an odd little movie -- one that, though its DVD release fairly reeks of straight-to-video failure, is often surprisingly well-done. Yet, given the way it circumvents expectations at every turn, The Secret is almost certain to end up doomed, despite a fine cast that includes David Duchovny, Lili Taylor, Olivia Thirlby and Brendan Sexton III.

First off, it's a film about the spiritual, the supernatural, death and (a kind of) resurrection yet is not scary or particularly suspenseful. And there is little in the way of violence or blood. It offers scenes of teenage sex and drug abuse without almost any of the usual nudity and sleaze factor. And it takes what seems awfully close to the premise of Freaky Friday (minus one corporeal body) and turns it into a very adult fable dealing with, among other tricky topics, the possibility of parent/child sex (this movie gives new meaning to the term "fraught"). At heart, though, it is another in a long line of generation-gap stories, and among the better ones, at that: odd, occasionally funny, and finally moving.

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

There are those of us who will see anything that features Spanish actor (and now an Academy Award winner) Javier Bardem. Although he should have won his award a few years earlier – for Best Actor in Before Night Falls -- his work in the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men at least offered one side of his repertoire to a fare-thee-well. Approaching 40 and making movies since he was a kid, Bardem comes from a storied Spanish industry family and has now made 40 film and TV appearances, of which I've seen 22. While some are better than others, not a single one has been a waste of time. In my experience, this is unusual, particularly when one is watching a film mainly to see one of its performers. It should not be that surprising, however, as Bardem appears to be as intelligent a man as he is a good -- and incredibly varied -- actor.

How varied? Stick Dance With the Devil, Second Skin and The Sea Inside in your queue and be amazed. Further, you can substitute practically any of his films for these three and get similar results. I suspect Bardem chooses his roles carefully. An actor cannot know what the result of something as collaborative as a motion picture will be. But if he is taking a leading role (or an important supporting role), and he's as strong a performer as Bardem, he'll know that he can probably exercise enough control (at least over his own performance) to end up with something worthwhile. This is how things have turned out for the actor so far, and his relatively unknown 1996 movie Extasis (Ecstasy) -- just out on DVD -- proves no exception.

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

There's a strong whiff of feminism to Love For Sale, the rather trite title given the US release of a Brazilian movie called O Céu de Suely (Suely's Sky). Fortunately, rather than weighing down this sad, slight (82 minutes plus credits) story, the sense of feminism that we get from the main character Hermilla (and her pseudonym Suely) is one of a damaged woman who must somehow find herself against heavy odds. She has trusted, loved and been betrayed by a man and now, with a young son to raise, she comes back to her hometown and family -- and tries to start anew.

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Ratings (out of 5):
Bra Boys **½
Surfwise ****

What can you say about a family that surfs? Apparently, plenty -- on the basis of the riveting documentary Surfwise -- but less so concerning the Australian film Bra Boys. The former, written and directed by Doug Pray (Scratch, Big Rig), tells the tale of the Paskowitz family, father Dorian "Doc," mother Juliette and their nine or ten children (truthfully, I lost count)--all of them boys except for a single girl. Dorian, a champion surfer, was indeed a doctor (and from the account here, a good one) who gave up the posh life to be a surfing "bum" and raise his family in a most unusual manner, eschewing normal schooling for the kids and instead raising them in the back of a large (but not large enough) traveling van, where, thin as rails, the family lived as best it could, with little money and little else.