2000s

  • Wim Wenders – The Soul of a Man (2003)

    2001-2010DocumentaryPerformanceUSAWim Wenders

    About the film
    Quote:
    In “The Soul of A Man,” director Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of ’20s and ’30s events – shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James “Blood” Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.Read More »

  • David Christensen – Six Figures (2005)

    2001-2010CanadaDavid ChristensenDramaThriller

    Quote:
    Warner isn’t sure how he got where he is, but he’s not particularly happy to be there: mid-thirties, married, two kids, dead-end career in fund raising, cramped town house, old car, clothes slightly frayed around the edges. His latest job has landed him and his family in a boom-town where everyone else seems to have more than Warner – and more is what Warner wants. But it’s not what he gets. Instead, the probation period of his job has just been extended; his wife, Claire, thinks her own job is in jeopardy as well; their entire savings are going towards a house that won’t be big enough for them; and their four-year-old daughter, the preschool teacher tells them, is “a couple of beats behind” the other children. Read More »

  • Joachim Lafosse – Nue propriété AKA Private Property (2006)

    2001-2010ArthouseDramaFranceJoachim Lafosse

    Pascale (Isabelle Huppert) lives with her adult twin sons, aimless François (Yannick Renier) and headstrong Thierry (Jérémie Renier, star of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s L’ENFANT and LA PROMESSE), in a renovated Belgian farmhouse. Each is still reeling from the divorce that divided the family some years earlier. Both boys pursue their respective interests, but neither seems compelled to embrace adulthood or the responsibilities that come with it. However, all that is about to change. Pascale has fallen in love again and dreams of a new life for herself and her lover a countryside B&B that they aspire to own together. But what would seem to be a happy time in her life takes a turn for the worse as she finds herself unable to rise from the shadow of her ex-husband and selfish children. In a bid for survival, Pascale leaves the house in the hands of Thierry and François, never suspecting that in her absence, long-buried resentment and rivalry will boil over, igniting a war between the brothers. (DVD Backcover)Read More »

  • Miguel Arteta – Chuck & Buck (2000)

    Miguel Arteta1991-2000ComedyDramaQueer Cinema(s)USA

    Quote:
    Buck is a man-child who has lived his existence in a life of Romper Room, kindergarten collages, and lollipops. When his mother dies suddenly, Buck remembers his old childhood friend Chuck, with whom he feels a need to reconnect after having invited him to his mother’s funeral. Buck treks out to Los Angeles where Chuck, an up-and-coming music record executive, is living his life. Buck ends up developing an obsession with Chuck and begins stalking him.Read More »

  • Ethan Hawke – Chelsea Walls (2001)

    DramaEthan Hawke

    Quote:
    In New York’s storied Chelsea Hotel, a novelist, a dancer, a painter, a poet, an aged jazz singer, and a young troubadour sort out their personal and artistic lives within walls haunted by the likes of Dylan Thomas, O. Henry, and Sarah Bernhardt. A boozy novelist balances wife, mistress, and stories. A dancer who’s a waitress in the basement club chooses between a Hollywood jerk and a local painter. A youth from Minnesota who composes and sings may be the next Bob Dylan. A poet decides to give her feckless boyfriend another chance, even as her eyes tell us she knows what’s ahead. An old jazz artist wants to place a bet and share his love for Lady Day. These walls do seem to talk.Read More »

  • Jeffrey Lau – Ching din dai sing AKA A Chinese Tall Story (2005)

    2001-2010ActionAsianHong KongJeffrey Lau

    Synopsis
    Taking place in the younger days of the famous monk, Tripitaka (known for bringing the sacred Bhuddist sutras from India to China), the film tells a fantastical adventure of the monk and his three disciples. On their way to the city of Shache, the monk narrowly escapes an attack from a group of demons. While trying to think of a way to rescue his disciples, he is captured by the king of reptiles and placed under the vigilance of Meiyan, an ugly demon who falls in love with the monk. Luckily, a princess from another galaxy rescues the monk, deeply affecting Meiyan, who pursues the two. In a twist of fate, the ugly Meiyan decides to help her beloved and teams up with the princess to rescue Tripitaka’s three disciples.Read More »

  • Antouanetta Angelidi – Kleftis i I pragmatikotita AKA Thief of Reality (2001)

    Antouanetta Angelidi2001-2010ArthouseGreece

    Synopsis
    «Reality steals your dreams, and you steal it in order to dream. Reality steals your life, and you steal it in order to live.» A darkly optimistic film. Three versions of a single day. Three characters trapped in parallel universes. The invasion of the Thief will unite them. Each point of view produces a different story. The Sculptress has visions of Judgment Day, the Scientist holds fast to a fragmented memory, the Actor sees «Antigone» invading all space. Three philosophical viewpoints: Fate – Chance – Free Will. What do they have in common? The Thief progresses towards an answer. It is the human condition that unites us, imprisons us and frees us. The brotherhood of mortality. Whatever I spent, I had. Whatever I saved, I lost. Whatever I gave, I have.Read More »

  • Karim Aïnouz – O Céu de Suely AKA Love for Sale (2006)

    Karim Aïnouz2001-2010BrazilDrama

    Synopsis
    After two years of living in São Paulo, Hermila returns to her village in northeastern Brazil with her newborn son, anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband. Time passes slowly and the wait becomes an even heavier burden as she begins to realize that she’s been abandoned. Her distress increases as she renews a relationship with an old boyfriend before deciding that she doesn’t want to relive the past. Determined to raise enough money to escape her stifling hometown, she comes up with an unlikely prize to raffle off – one conceived during her chats with newfound friend and local prostitute, Georgina. Hermila adopts the name Suely, an act that distances her from her family and her past and signals the beginning of her journey toward new, open horizons.Read More »

  • Marisa Sistach – Nadie te oye: Perfume de violetas (2001)

    2001-2010DramaMarisa SistachMexico

    A poignant and moving urban drama, focusing on the growing problem of sexual assault in Mexico City. Director Sistach fictionalizes the true story of a friendship between two adolescent girls which is torn apart when one of them is brutally raped. Rebellious tomboy Yessica is frequently in trouble at school and at home, with its lower middle-class limitations. She is always at odds with her mother, bullying stepfather, and despicable stepbrother, Jorge. Then Jorge strikes a deal with a friend, helping the man trap Yessica and rape her, in exchange for money. Terrified and ashamed of the attack, Yessica remains silent, seeking comfort in her friendship with innocent and childlike Miriam, from a more stable home, though reared by a poor single mother. Tragedy unfolds as Yessica increasingly relies on Miriam and begins to get the naive girl into trouble, until Miriam finds she is no longer in control of her fate.Read More »

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