2000s

  • Tomislav Mrsic – Pula povjerljivo AKA Pula Confidential (2003)

    2001-2010CroatiaDocumentaryTomislav MrsicYugoslavian Cinema under Tito

    Excellent documentary about the history of Yugoslavian Film Festival in Pula and ex-Yu cinema in general. Produced by HTV Croatian Television.

    The festival was originally started in 1954 and within a few years it became the centerpiece event of the Yugoslav film industry, with first national awards being presented in 1957. This lasted until 1991, when the festival was canceled due to the breakup of Yugoslavia.Read More »

  • Abel Ferrara – ‘R Xmas (2001)

    Drama2001-2010Abel FerraraCrimeUSA

    In New York, in a morning close to Christmas, an upper class father and mother go in their BMW to a private school to see the play of their daughter. Then they go shopping and later they return to their fancy apartment in Manhattan. In the night, they move to a simple apartment in a dangerous neighborhood, where they prepare drugs for distribution. On the Christmas Eve, while buying the Christmas gift for their daughter, the father is kidnapped, and his wife desperately tries to raise a high amount of money to pay the requested ransom.Read More »

  • Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige – Yawmon akhar AKA A Perfect Day (2005)

    Drama2001-2010ArthouseJoana HadjithomasKhalil JoreigeLebanon

    A day in the life of Malek, a young man who suffers from sleep disorders and is obsessed with thoughts of his ex-girlfriend. Meanwhile, his overprotective mother struggles with the disappearance of her husband, who was kidnapped more than 15 years ago during the civil war.Read More »

  • Sabu AKA Hiroyuki Tanaka – Hard Luck Hero (2003)

    2001-2010AsianCultJapanSABU

    review:
    *** might contain spoilers ***

    Story: After being convinced by his friend Ishii, Asai decides to take part in a fixed
    underground Thai-Boxing fight as a last minute replacement. The deal is simple; convince
    the crowd that he is in fact a Muay Thaï champion from Thailand, which should be
    miraculous considering the fact that he has no experience, and get knock out on the
    second round. However, an unexpected incident during the fight turns the event into total
    chaos.Read More »

  • Luc Moullet – Le prestige de la mort AKA Death’s Glamour (2006)

    2001-2010ComedyFranceLuc Moullet

    Whilst seeking out locations in the South of France for his next film, director Luc Moullet comes across a male corpse. He immediately decides to use this to his advantage. By swapping his passport with that of the dead man, Moullet hopes that the world will believe he is dead, thereby ensuring a renewed interest in his work. Unfortunately, the scheme backfires, since the dead man was someone rather important… (Blaq Out)Read More »

  • Gerald Peary – For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009)

    2001-2010DocumentaryGerald PearyUSA

    Actress Patricia Clarkson narrates this documentary dramatizing the unique history of American film criticism. In addition to eliciting the thoughts and opinions of such respected film critics as Jonathan Rosenbaum, J Hoberman, Andrew Sarris, Roger Ebert, Kenneth Turan, Lisa Schwarzbaum, and A.O. Scott, the filmmakers also speak with internet-based critics like Harry Knowles and Karina Longworth, who offer a fresh perspective on the ongoing battle between upcoming on-liners and their print publication counterparts.Read More »

  • Stephane Gauger – Owl and the Sparrow aka Cu va chim se se (2007)

    2001-2010DramaStephane GaugerVietnam

    Quote:
    It is a rare opportunity to choose one’s family, but when young orphan Thuy becomes fed up with her circumstances she creates her own fate in Owl and the Sparrow.

    Not satisfied with working at her uncle’s bamboo blind factory, Thuy hits road and river to find her fortune in Saigon. Busy streets swarm with bicycles and peddlers of infinite goods, and the young girl is soon advised by the experienced children of the street. The local triteness of her situation is unnerving, and few blink at her circumstances — except for despondent flight attendant, Lan, who takes Thuy under her broken wing.Read More »

  • Eric Rochant – Total western (2000)

    1991-2000CrimeDramaEric RochantFrance

    Plot Outline: After a drug deal gone wrong, Bédé goes into hiding in the countryside at a reformative school for criminal youth. His location is found out, and he and the pupils have to protect themselves with whatever means they have.Read More »

  • Ming-liang Tsai – Hei yan quan AKA I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone [+Extras] (2006)

    2001-2010DramaMalaysiaMing-liang TsaiQueer Cinema(s)

    Forest fires burn in Sumatra; a smoke covers Kuala Lumpur. Grifters beat an immigrant day laborer and leave him on the streets. Rawang, a young man, finds him, carries him home, cares for him, and sleeps next to him. In a loft above lives a waitress. She sometimes provides care and attention. More violence seems a constant possibility. They find another man abandoned on the street, paralyzed. They carry him. While no one speaks to each other, sounds dominate: coughing, cooking, coupling, opening bags; music and news reports on a radio, the rattle and buzz of a restaurant. It’s dark in the city at night. We see down hallways, through doors, down alleys. Who sleeps with whom?Read More »

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