Xiao Lu Xue continues the story begun in 2013's Finding Mr. Right. In Mandarin.
The titular Oscar, one of the only survivors of a terrifying massacre during middle years of the nearly four-decade Guatemalan civil war, appears at the opening and the closing of Ryan Suffern’s documentary, and provides the harrowing tale with some heart. But the head, hands, guts and legs belong to …
A straight-up Boys’ Own adventure yarn, set sincerely and squarely in early ’50s New England but gussied up with plenty of 21st-century StormWave CGI. A monster winter storm causes not one but two oil tankers to split in half off the coast, and so many people are busy attending to …
Lampedusa, located 70 kilometers off the African coast and 120 kilometers from Sicily, has become a landing point for over 400,000 African and Middle Eastern migrants, all believing they’ll find safe harbor somewhere in Europe. Having spent months filming on the island, director Gianfranco Rosi returns with this quietly observed …
It’s the Super Bowl of fashion, and Andrew Rossi (Page One) takes us backstage at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual celebrity-studded fundraiser. Positioned in the cellar, the Met’s Costume Institute appears to be operated by a vampire academy of haute couture zombies, scuttling under the spell of gala chairperson, …
The remarkable, arduous journey of the Monarch butterfly. Documentary directed by Mike Slee.
Meryl Streep stars as the titular doormat, a simpering society hostess who fancies herself an opera singer when in reality, her coloratura style approximates the sounds of barn owls being fed through an Osterizer. As her manager/dark cully, Hugh Grant (sympathetic and syphilitic, Flo looks the other way) keeps the …
Agrochemical propaganda or a controversial look at "Food Evolution"?
Chinese caper comedy directed by Jiang Tao. In Mandarin.
Gently jazzy French musical about a girl (Pauline Etienne) who lands a job (or at least a one-month trial period) at a fancy ladies’ shoe factory, just in time to hear the rumor of an impending upgrade (read: downsizing). The songs work better when the subtitles don’t struggle to make …
Pan Anzi directs a Chinese Western. In Mandarin with English subtitles.
This film plays as part of the San Diego Latino Film Festival's Cine Gay Showcase. According to the festival brochure, "When Moises Serrano was just a baby, his parents risked everything to flee Mexico and make the perilous journey across the desert in search of the American dream. After 23 …
Not a total misfire, but this first feature from Jason Zada fails to capitalize on its fine setup, its competent cast, and its exquisite location. Natalie Dormer prettily occupies most of the screen’s time and space as identical twins; thanks to a childhood trauma, one is dark and one is …
Documentary look at 13 barrier breaking women who bucked the odds and formed the Ladies Professional Golf Association. Directed by Charlene Fisk and Carrie Schrader.