JALE
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 11 minutes |
Unfortunately, Flores takes what could have been an uncompromising story and turns it into a heavy-handed morality play.
Posted on October 26, 2009 by Brad Wilke
THE LAST TENANT
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 22 minutes |
In the end it is we who feel violated – not by a killer, but by the filmmaker who cheats us of more film-time.
Posted on October 25, 2009 by Amy R. Handler
COOKING HISTORY
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 88 minutes |
CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEATURE! Stories of Bosnians and Serbs who staunchly refused certain meals or ingredients due to nationalistic associations with these foods are eclipsed by the memory of a pig squeal only equalled in cinema history by Ned Beatty.
Posted on October 24, 2009 by James Teitelbaum
THE COMMUNE
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 91 minutes |
In “The Commune,” anyone who isn’t a mainstream Christian, and/or anyone who likes nature, healthy food, or being nice to people is actually an incestuous killer who must be a member of a cult of freaks.
Posted on October 24, 2009 by James Teitelbaum
THE BOOTLEG FILES: BUSTER KEATON IN “LE ROI DES CHAMPS-ÉLYSÉES”
Phil Hall’s The Bootleg Files explores the wild world of classic and kooky flicks that can only be found on bootlegged videos and DVD. This week, Phil finds an unlikely character in a French boulevard comedy.
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Phil Hall
AMELIA
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: PG Running Time: 111 minutes |
Hilary Swank settles into a stylized groove that’s miles from the viscerally realistic approach to her best work.
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
THE DAMNED UNITED
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 98 minutes |
“The Damned United” will be savored and appreciated when considered for year-end prize consideration. Don’t wait till then to see it.
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Elias Savada
ANTICHRIST
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 109 minutes |
This wretched thing should have been snuffed out at the drawing board.
Posted on October 23, 2009 by Matthew Sorrento
HOW L. FRANK BAUM INVENTED THE FILM FRANCHISE: EXCERPT FROM THE HISTORY OF INDEPENDENT CINEMA
At this moment, we should pause and pay tribute to a man whose contributions to the world of independent cinema are usually ignored, which is strange since he created a concept that remains with us to this day: the film franchise.
Posted on October 22, 2009 by Phil Hall
ESPN’S 30 FOR 30: MUHAMMAD AND LARRY
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Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 51 minutes |
“Muhammad and Larry,” Maysles’ contribution to the ESPN series “30 for 30″ which will air on October 27, 2009, offers a fascinating if heart-breaking chronicle of the weeks leading up to the tragic October 1980 title fight. The film is a terrific account of a terrible mistake.
Posted on October 22, 2009 by Rick Kisonak
FOUR YEARS
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  Year Released: 2008 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 11 minutes |
Yet, appearances can deceive, and none of these technical anchors can save “Four Years” from spiraling into cinematic purgatory, which is a real shame.
Posted on October 22, 2009 by Amy R. Handler
EL REGALO (THE GIFT)
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Year Released: 2008 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 4 minutes |
This promising social critique ends in a shortcut to a minor chuckle when it could have quite easily taken the long road to a satisfying guffaw.
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Brad Wilke
THE BOYS ARE BACK
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  Year Released: 2009 MPAA Rating: PG-13 Running Time: 104 minutes |
Reminiscent of Michael Pressman’s 1996 film “To Gillian On her 37th Birthday,” “The Boys Are Back” displays an especially poignant sort of authenticity.
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Stina Chyn
EAST L.A. MARINE (DVD)
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Year Released: 2008 MPAA Rating: Unrated Running Time: 75 minutes |
Tom Brokaw called the WWII veterans the “greatest generation.” Guy Gabaldon, a short Hispanic enamored with Japanese culture, would probably be ranked by Brokaw right at the top of that group.
Posted on October 21, 2009 by Doug Brunell
ONG BAK 2
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Year Released: 2008 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 98 minutes |
“Ong Bak 2” is a staggering symphony of physical mayhem, with Tony Jaa its masterful conductor. You’ll leave the theater dazed, exhausted, and exhilarated.
Posted on October 20, 2009 by KJ Doughton