Official Synopsis: Cave of Forgotten Dreams, a breathtaking new 3D documentary from the incomparable Werner Herzog (Encounters at the End of the World, Grizzly Man) follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. A hit at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, Cave of Forgotten Dreams is an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of pristine artwork dating back over 30,000 years — almost twice as old as any previous discovery.
My Take: To be honest, I've never bought the whole 3D phenomenon. But Herzog's doc — along with Wim Wenders' dance film Pina and Martin Scorsese's latest, Hugo Cabert coming out this year — I think I'm going to be converted. These films suggest new possibilities and breakthroughs for the medium. Herzog's choice wasn't for novelty reasons, as the director lookmed for a way to seperate his film from the usual History Channel doc. He wants to give you the experience of these caves as if you are there.
Official Synopsis: Cult director Takeshi Miike delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan's feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a war-torn future.
My take: Japanese film legend Takeshi Miike is one of the most prolific filmmakers working today. He makes an average of two or three films a year, but few make it to the US. Miike struck a cord back in 2000 with his J-horror masterpiece Audition, but he hasn't made an another impression in the U.S. until now. This samurai epic features some of the most jaw dropping action scenes in recent years, and an epic story that has been compared to Akira Kurosawa's legendary Seven Samurai.
Official Synopsis: On December 9, 1937, the Imperial Japanese Army laid siege to the Chinese capital of Nanking, beginning a reign of terror that killed as many as 300,000 civilians — an infamous tragedy now referred to as the Rape of Nanking. The first big-budget fiction film by the Chinese to deal with this seminal event in their modern history, City of Life and Death is a visceral, heartbreaking portrait of life during wartime, and an unforgettable masterpiece of contemporary world cinema.
My Take: It's certainly not a film you would just want to run out and see, and its not an easy watch, but much like Spielberg's Schindler's List, Chuan Lu's film documents a painful chapter in history that must be told.
Official Synopsis: A successful visual artist working in post-9/11 Manhattan, Asya lives the life of the hip and glamorous, replete with exclusive art parties, supermodels, and stretch limousines while she carefully follows the situation in the Middle East on television. Asya learns that her childhood friend, Faisal, has disappeared — the victim of a purported CIA abduction. That same night, she meets Javier, a sexy Mexican PhD student, and romance blossoms. Javier finds Asya's conspiracy theories overly paranoid — but nothing in Asya's world is as it seems. Asya's life is reflective of the themes of cultural fusion, and the complications and humor that arise simultaneously out of everyday life.
My Take: This film made a big impression at last year's Sundance, but wasn't heard from again until now. Director Zeina Durra gives us a complex portrait of a privileged artist that sidesteps any kinds of generalizations as Middle East politics and the mores of privileged Manhattanites collide.
Official Synopsis: Jack Cardiff's career spanned an incredible nine of the moving picture's first 10 decades and his work behind the camera altered the look of films forever through his use of Technicolor photography. Craig McCall's passionate film about the legendary cinematographer reveals a unique figure in British and international cinema.
My Take: A film might look like an expended DVD extra, but Cardiff was cinematographer for some of the greatest films of all time (The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus) and his work is sill widely talked about today. And with Powell and Pressburger's work being rediscovered on Blu-ray (and probably look better than they ever did before), this film will be relevant for anyone interested in the craft of filmmaking.
Official Synopsis: Instead of making a conventional documentary or adapting Dunbar's play The Arbor for the screen, director Clio Barnard has crafted a truly unique work that transcends genre and defies categorization. Following two years conducting audio interviews with Dunbar's family, friends and neighbors, Barnard filmed actors lip-synching the interviews, flawlessly interpreting every breath, tick and nuance. The film focuses in particular on the playwright's troubled relationship with her daughter Lorraine who was just 10 when her mother died. Barnard re-introduces Lorraine, to her mother's play and private letters, prompting her to reflect on the extraordinary parallels between their lives. Interwoven with these interviews are staged scenes of Dunbar's play filmed on The Arbor, the street where she lived.
My Take: One of the best reviewed films in recent years has finally made its way to the U.S.. Clio Barnard's genre hybrid is unlike anything ever attempted. Most of my excitement for the film is simply seeing Barnard pull this trick off. She examines the life of famous UK playwright Andrea Dunbar and the lives of her children after her death using street performance, impressionistic camerawork and extensive audio interviews. It makes classifying fiction and non-fiction feel like an incredibly futile exercise.
Official Synopsis: A train rolls into its final stop. From one of the freight cars jumps a weary-eyed transient with dreams of a fresh start in a new town. Instead, he lands smack-dab in the middle of an urban hellhole, a place where the cops are crooked and the underprivileged masses are treated like insignificant animals. This is a city where crime reigns supreme, and the man pulling the strings is known only as "The Drake." Along with his two cold-blooded and sadistic sons, Ivan and Slick, he rules with an iron fist, and nobody dares fuck with The Drake, especially not some hobo. Director Jason Eisener's blood-soaked return to the Sundance Film Festival is more than just a nod to the grindhouse flicks of the 1970s and '80s; he ups the ante in a major way, and Rutger Hauer's performance is a legendary display of brutal ass-kicking and meticulous name-taking that is not to be missed.
My Take: Most any fan of Gindhouse cinema who sees the title for a film called Hobo with a Shot Gun and sees the words "Starring Rutger Hauer" will be hopping in line to see this. I may be one of them.
Official Synopsis: The public life of Yves Saint Laurent was as extravagant as it was decadent, as a design prodigy and then the grand couturier of a fashion empire, he influenced 50 years of style — but few are familiar with the private life of the legend. In Pierre Thoretton's L’Amour Fou, Pierre Berge, the man with which YSL shared four decades of his life and love, reflects on the equally extravagant history of their personal relationship. Framed around the 2009 auction of the priceless, elaborate art collection amassed by Yves and Pierre over several decades, this extraordinary documentary provides an unprecedented look at the life of the mythic personality, whose personal life matched his public for elegance, extravagance and passion. An Official Selection of the Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals, L'AMOUR FOU is an un-missable film event for fans of documentary film and fashion die-hards alike.
My Take: This is the kind of documentary that gives you exclusive access to the subject and doesn't simply recount their various life achievements resume-style. If you want to know more about fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent, this film is probably contains as much as you can ever hope to learn.
Official Synopsis: This is a romantic comedy set in Paris about a family that goes there because of business, and two young people who are engaged to be married in the fall have experiences there that change their lives. It's about a young man's great love for a city, Paris, and the illusion people have that a life different from theirs would be much better. It stars Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Kathy Bates, Carla Bruni, Adrian Brody among others.
My take: This might be the Woody Allen movie we've been waiting for. It has received more acclaim than his other recent "comeback films" Match Point and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, has a fascinating premise (our relationship with nostalgia in our everyday life) that seems fresh and exciting, and of course, the cast is absolutely killer.
Official Synopsis: The Romanian New Wave of the past decade has yielded such internationally acclaimed gems as 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu and 12:08 East of Bucharest. Add to them Tuesday, After Christmas, an elegant, emotionally resonant drama of a middle-class couple whose 10-year marriage is rocked by the husband's illicit affair with their daughter's sexy dentist. In many respects it's an oft-told tale: Paul must choose between the easy rapport and stability of his family life and the uncertainty and excitement of a relationship with a much younger woman. In scorchingly intense long takes, the power dynamics among these three are unpredictable and, in the end, devastating. The fact that the two leads are actually a married couple adds to the verisimilitude.
My Take: It's hard to recommend a film like Tuesday, After Christmas because the films of the Romanian New Wave are incredibly challenging. They don't play by Hollywood storytelling rules. Long takes, many of which include long bouts of silence, are the dominant feature of them. Be warned: pay attention to details, the performances and subtle bits of satire. This is the kind of film that rewards patience.
Official Synopsis: From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of such classic films as Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, The Tree of Life is the impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950's. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick's signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life.
My Take: I haven't been more excited about a movie since Inglorious Bastards. And after delay after torturous delay (the film was set for release in late 2009, then it was pushed back to later 2010, then it was pushed back to summer 2011) Malick's film is finally within reach. Tree of Life premiered at Cannes to a wildly divisive reaction before winning this year's Palme d'Or. But even its detractors agree there is something there. It's a truly cinematic experience who's images are absolutely ravishing and must be experienced in the largest movie theater screen possible.
Why would you want to see epic 3D monstrosities (Thor, Pirates of the Caribbean 8, Transformers: The one that sound like the Pink Floyd album) when there are filmmakers working on a truly epic canvas, trying to cover themes of life and death, the cosmos, and human perseverance in under-the-radar films that are seeing only limited releases (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, 13 Assassins, The Tree of Life)? Sure, they'll probably be on Video On Demand soon, but that's not how they were meant to be watched.
The Following is part one of a list of the films playing in limited release from now until August. (Look for part two next week.) Some of these films have already opened elsewhere and are currently on Video on Demand, while others are making their way to the Tampa Bay area very soon.
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