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FILM SHOWCASE Last Login: 7/9/09

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A GOOD ISOLATED CHARACTER STUDY ON FILM

MOON Directed by: Duncan Jones Running time: 97 minutes Release date: May 12, 2009 Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy and Thriler Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics MPAA Rating: R This unique film was screened at Tribeca Film Festival and it had gained a buzz from its premiere at Sundance and like many I was anxious to see what it was all about. The program indicated by Tribeca Film Festival...More

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TO THRILL OR NOT TO THRILL; THAT IS THE QUESTION by Gerald Wright

THE FOURTH KIND Directed by: Olatunde Osunsanmi Running time: 98 minutes Release date: November 6, 2009 Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi, Horror and Supernatural Distributor: Universal Pictures MPAA Rating: PG-13 This is the first major film written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi. It claims to be a re-enactment of original documented footage. It also claims to use never before seen archival footage...More

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AN ANIMATION, ACTION BIOPIC AND DOCUMENTARY WEEKEND by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/7/08 at 9:57 PM | Last edited on 6/7/08 at 8:00 PM

Mood:
Fresh
In the animated film world, Kung Fu Panda, 90 minute Paramount/Dreamworks production released an enthusiastic, big and little clumsy panda bear named Po (voice of Jack Black) as the biggest fan of kung fu. Po lives in a Chinese village where he works everyday in his family's noodle shop. He dreams of being a kung fu master, but his dreams usually comes to end when he wakes up each morning. Unexpectedly, one day during a ceremonial event led bythe wise leader and inventor of kung fu Master Oogway (voice of Randall Duk Kim), Po is chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy, and his dreams become reality when he joins the world of kung fu and study with his idols, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (voice of Angelina Jolie); Crane (voice of David Cross); Mantis (voice of Seth Rogen); Viper (voice of Lucy Liu); and Monkey (voice of Jackie Chan) all under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu (voice of Dustin Hoffman). However, the vengeful and treacherous villan snow leopard Tai Lung (voice of Ian McShane) is headed their way to cause havoc. It's up to Po to defend everyone in the village from the oncoming threat. This is an exhilarating piece of animation that blazes across the screen. It is full of sensative and humorous scenes that young and old audiences will find entertaining. I found this film directed by John Stevenson to be a gem of amusement and recommend this movie for the whole family.

Award winning Russian filmmaker, director, writer and actor Sergei Bodrov gives a different slant on the life and legend of Genghis Khan aka Temudgin (Tadanobu Asano) in his stunning historical epic. Mongol, is based on leading scholarly accounts and written documents by Bodrov and screenplay writer Arif Aliyev, this two hour plus movie examines the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was reportedly born in 1162. This film shows a perilous childhood and expands to the battle that sealed his destiny. This movie displays a humane side of this nomad, as a loving father, a man who loved his first wife Borte (Khulan Chuluun)who was kidnapped and raped, and a man who opened the silk road of trade and commerce throughout Russia,Asia and part of Africa. But it is a fact that Ghan massacred killed millions in battles. Though this film distributed by Picturehouse paints him as a victimized young man who had no alternative but to gain revenge and regain his leadership, it was most entertaining to watch he gruesome action battle scenes. This is not your typical historical saga.

First Run Features and filmmaker Jacques Sarasin's, On The Rumba River, is a musical documentary tribute to the African musician Wendo Kolosoy. Featuring stunning images and unforgettable music and interviews, the film honors the Congolese people who have been sustained by his music, despite poverty, a history of oppression and an ongoing civil war that has killed nearly four million people. From 1948, when Antoine "Wendo" Kolosoy recorded his first album and traveled up and down the majestic Congo River on a beat-up boat he played a guitar. This is a period in time when Belgian colonial authorities colonized and banned their native style music. Prior to the Belgian occupation, Wendo as a boy had to live under the rule of the Portugese whose puppet African ruler Mobutu of Angola forbid the native peoples sing in their native tongue. This region in Africa has taken four million lives through an ongoing civil war and oppression. This is when Wendo came up with what we today consider a "Salsa" beat. It's a soothing, but rhythmatic pulsating blend of drums, horns, percussions and voices. It 's had to believe, but the salsa beat known as Afro-Cuban mambo has been around long before Hector Lavoe, Tito Puente, and Ray Barreto. The late Celia Cruz was infuenced by this style of music originating from Africa. Wendo's music excited oppressed people and gave them a refuge while dealing with life in turbulant times. During Wendo young years he was a boxer, so his energy to fight back was instilled in his personality and music. The film is an examination of this river and its inhabitants. It reflects on the pitiful state of the port, elder Wendo and his band members who still live there, with a musical dialogue telling the story of his rediscovery and his comeback under the new regime. This is a bitter-sweet film that will have you tapping your feet to fine music and sharing anger in a governments neglect in meeting its peoples needs. An 82 minute Lingala language film with English subtitles.

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MOTHER OF TEARS (Terza madre, La) by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/6/08 at 11:02 AM | Last edited on 6/6/08 at 9:35 AM

Mood:
Rotten
Directed by: Dario Argento
Running time: 98 minutes
Release date: June 6, 2008 (Limited)
Genre: Horror, Drama, Fantasy, Thriller Trilogy
Distributor:Myriad Pictures

Part three of the Three Mothers trilogy takes place in Rome and deals with the Mater Lachrymarum (the Third Mother).

The history that The Mater has been hiding in Rome for centuries, waiting for the time when she will awaken and cause havoc. The curse originates from an ancient urn chained to a coffin alongside Romes's Viterbo Cementary where old artifacts that belong to Mater Lacrymarum (Morian Atais) who is the Third Mother and only survivor of the Three Mothers (three powerful witches) rest. The witches have been spreading death and destruction thoughout the Holy City, but now The Mater is waiting for the moment to return by way of mysterious and horrific events.

Horror movies have generally gotten a bad rap. The formular for a horror movie involves some ghoul from the underworld devouring some body part of a screaming, large breasted woman. Or where a mad serial killer stalks a screaming, large breasted woman. Or older classic horror films in black and white when pale skin supernatural monsters pop up from eerie shadows to frighten a screaming, large breasted woman. If it sounds repetitive and it is. This film displayed this formular along with misogyny, intense violence and female rear nudity. Along with the scenario given, the elements of extreme which is the nature of violence that keeps the viewers' eyes glued to the screen should be evolked. There is the element of the unexplained which is no secret that people are most afraid of what they don't know or understand. Consider the fact that while most people are not afraid of death, they are deathly afraid of the manner in which they will die. This is the unknown, unexplained feeling that causes discomfort. The Mother of Tears has problems conveying those points to its audience.

In this last chapter of the trilogy Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento), a young student of restoration, co-worker and love interest of Michael Pierce (Adam James), the curator of the Museum of Ancient Art of Rome, is involved in the escalating episodes of violence concerning the finding of the urn. This urn unleases terror and causes Sarah to run away, but she can't escape the Third Mother is looking for her and Sarah is not aware that her mother Elisa Mandy (Daria Nicolodi) was a powerful white witch killed by Mater Suspiriorum (the witch of Fryeburg). Sarah is helped by the spirit of her mother and a priest (Udo Kier), by an eminent estoterism academic, Gugliemo De Witt (Philippe Leroy), and by the Chief constable Marchi (Cristian Solimeno), however she must face her threats by herself.

Fundamentally, the elements of a decent horror film are in place in this movie. Unfortunately, this film lacks a real sense of plot structure and character developement. If "campy" was the main objective in the films' dialogue it would be fine, but I truly believe the script was to be a serious horror story. The fact that all horror genre share traditional traits, whether it being a psychological thriller or a sophisticated horror movie, it can not ask the viewer to suspend all logic and taste. This film's dialogue was vague and did not deliver impact. The gorey scenes were exciting, but that was the only explosiveness the film allowed.

(FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html)

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NEWFEST NY - THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY - by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/4/08 at 9:22 PM | Last edited on 6/4/08 at 9:00 PM

NEW YORK'S LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER FILM FESTIVAL
STARTING JUNE 5 - JUNE 15

Nearly 250 new films from 35 countries, including Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, & USA.
The focus of the festival is Activism/Repression, African American Images, the Early Years of AIDS, and Parenthood. In addition, filmmaker forums for the audiences, filmmakers and local industry to bring togetherness in a series panels and discussions.

FOR INFORMATION VISIT [url=http://WWW.NEWFEST.ORG]WWW.NEWFEST.ORG

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DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/4/08 at 2:30 PM | Last edited on 6/4/08 at 1:33 PM

Mood:
Fresh
Directed by: Erik Nelson
Running time: 96 minutes
Release date: June 4, 2008
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Creative Differences Productions & The Kilimanjaro Corp.

This film is 20 years of history on Harlan Ellison, one of the most prolific and visionary science fiction writers of the his lifetime. The film was five years in the making and examines this man from his childhood years in the 1930s in Painesville, Ohio. This is where Harlan Ellison recalls being regularly being beaten by anti-Semitic bullies and when he decided to take refuge in books, movies and music. Moments of this film finds Harlan Ellison very sensitive when he recounts witnessing the death of his father (heart attack) at the age of 14. There was some very touching and poignant footage in the documentary, indicating that this is some of the things that affects him to this day.

Many people recall Ellison's work from episodes, such as, Outer Limits and Star Trek and the nearly 2000 published stories. His 50 years of writing has placed him the the category of an icon. Erik Nelson captures the hysterically funny and controversially clever man in his moments of leisure and work. He is interviewed in his Hollywood Hills home where he would spin stories about his legal tribulations and his friendsip with Robin Williams and Steve McQueen. Robin Williams refers to Ellison as a " a skin graft on a leper".

Erik Ellison navigates the film in a way where I became very attached to an angry man who has the ability to verbally attack people, but by the same token have you care for him affectionately. In this hilarious portrait, Ellison's fertile imagination is matched by his nearly limitless supply of outrage.

Many critics find his work strange, but they are not being truly critical, but in my opinion envious of his non stop productivity. Every piece of work he's done has been done in great detail and sometimes elaborate. However, his work has been accepted as nothing short of brilliant. From televison, film, novels, short stories and essays the documentary shows his durability.

DREAMS WITH SHARP TEETH: A Portrait of Harlan Ellison, is witty and outrageous. It shares the world of a genius writer who is now a living legend.

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"OPERATION FILMMAKER" review by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/4/08 at 11:38 AM | Last edited on 6/4/08 at 11:12 AM

Directed by: Nina Davenport
Running time: 90 minutes
Genre: Documentary
Distributor: Icarus Films

This is a film examining the life of a film student aspiring to become a filmmaker and the exhausting filmmaker's attempts to help this student and save her documentary.
When the bombing of Bagdad's film school cruises the dreams of Muthana, an Iraqi student, actor Liev Schreiber invites him to intern on a shoot in Prague. But frustrated expectations and cultural misunderstandings complicate things between Muthana and his American benefactors. Hired to document a seemingly human interest story, filmmaker Nina Davenport finds herself increasingly entangled in Mutana's life. In the words of Nina, "It promised to be a heartwarming tale, a small victory out of the troubled mission (Operation Iraqi Freedom) of the U.S. war in Iraq. But as in the war itself, good intentions yielded unintended consequences, and even this operation doesn't go according to plan." Director Davenport becomes personally involvd in Schreiber's charitable effort, and soon finds herself embroiled in a comples moral quagmire and all-consuming power struggle between filmmaker and subject. This is an engaging, sometimes funny polital parable, taking the audience on a riveting roller coaster ride from Bagdad to Prague to Hollywood and back.

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JUNE FILM SERIES AT LINCOLN CENTER, NY (2008) by Gerald Wright

Posted on 6/1/08 at 7:20 AM | Last edited on 6/1/08 at 4:38 AM

Mood:
Enlightened
"ISRAEL @ 60", MAY 28 to JUNE 5
The Film Society of Lincoln Center marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of Israel with the film series at the Walter Reade Theater in New York. Highlighting 15 films from the past decade of Israel cinema, the program showcases some of Israel's finest and most adventurous contemporary directors--including Amos Gitai, Joseph Cedar, Giddi Dar, Radu Mihaileanu, and Keren Yedaya, among others.
The theme of national identity showcases Amos Gitai's 2007 film narrative Disengagement starring Juliette Binoche, as a father's death brings a woman living in France back together with her Israeli police officer brother and long abandoned daughter. Another outstanding and powerful film narrative is Live and Become from director Radu Mihaileanu. This 2005 film is about an Ethiopian Christian boy who disguises himself as an Ethiopian Jew in order to escape famine and emigrates to Israel telling a story of his growing up in Israel dealing with the secrets of not being Jewish and having to leave his birth mother behind in the Sudanese Refugee Camps.
(Disengagement and Live and Become full reviews are publish on [url=http://www.HDFest.com]www.HDFest.com).

"OPEN ROADS: NEW ITALIAN CINEMA", JUNE 6 to 12
Over the past years, new generations of Italian filmmakers have been unified through the spirit of independence that has allowed them to break away from old models and genres and truly make in on their own. This spirit is also indicative of the myriad backgrounds. Now in its eigth year, this film series showcases a unique list of films. The Girl by The Lake is Andrea Molaioli's debut film adaptation of Nowegian author Karin Fossum's (the Norwegian Queen of Crime) book "Don't Look Back", a subtle thriller about a murder in an Italian provincial town that draws multiple suspects without leaving many clues when a young woman is found dead in a lake. Another movie of this series is Days and Clouds from director Silvio Soldini (Bread and Tulips) with a story of a middle age couple who live on the beautiful seaport city of Geneo. The film focuses on the sudden way they adapt to an entirely new way of life when their lavish lifestyle in taken away because lost of employment. It's a social shock journey of how a prominent couple rapidly descent into the working class and learn to live on necessities while watching the erosion of their relationship .
(A complete film review Days and Clouds on [url=http://www.HDFest.com]www.HDFest.com).

"HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH", JUNE 13 to 26
The films in this year's edition of the Human Rights Watch International Film Festival reflect struggles throughout the world - the buying and selling of children in China; the continuing animosity between Pakistan and India; the story behind the murder of a courageous Russian journalist - as well as those right here at home. while many films raise questions, these begin to provide answers as brave filmmakers work on the front lines of international crises to show us the toll of war, the horrors of ongoing conflicts, and the human faces at the heart of it all. Filmmaker Katrina Browne traces her ancestors' involvement in the slave trade in Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North. This personal documentary tells the story for the first time of her prominent Rhode Island DeWolf family's history making their fortune from their business of slavery. She retraces the steps of the Triangle Trade as she and nine other members of the family travel to slave forts in Ghana where they meet with African Americans on their own homecoming pilgrimages. Then, they to the ruins of a family owned sugar plantation in Cuba. At each stop the family grapples with personal feelings knowing their legacy is based on slavery. This powerful film confronts issues that apply to the entire nation as a whole. In another film, directors Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath's epic story documents 23 years of a Laosian family's journey beginning in 1984 to the present day. Kuras does the majority of the filming and Phrasavath narrates this deeply personal and poetic memoir of himself as a young man struggling to survive hardships in war torn Laos and life as an immigrant in a Brooklyn, New York "crack infested" neighborhood, revealing the hidden human face of war's collateral damage. This film merges ideas from both a documentary and a dramatic film. It is a combination of cinema verite', re-photographed archival footage of Vietnam/Laos battles and other elements that could enable the viewer to get closer to the idea of a very personal point of view of memory. His mother tells her story of perserverence as a soldier's wife who is separated from her husband and left with nine children and force to flee a country threatening to kill them. This is a well made film displaying how a family deals with life on life's terms.

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SEX and the CITY: The Movie by Gerald Wright

Posted on 5/28/08 at 7:26 PM | Last edited on 5/28/08 at 6:38 PM

Mood:
In Love
Directed by:Michael Patrick King
Running time: 142 minutes
Release date: May 30, 2008
Genre: Drama and Romance
Distributor: Warner Brothers Pictures (Newline Cinema & HBO Films)
MPAA Rating: R

This romantic comedy feature film adaptation of the HBO comedy series Sex and the City (based on the book by the same title by Candance Bushnell) about four female friends living in New York City. The main theme of the story is about frank discussions concerning romance and sexuality, in the context of of being a single woman.

The movie takes place four years after the television series finale. Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker), is a successful author and everyone's favorite fashion icon-next-door. She is witty and continues to narrate her own story about sex, love and fashion obsessed single women in the "Big Apple". Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) and Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) as the favorite femmes fashionables continue to juggle jobs, friendships and relationships while they start to navigate motherhood, marriage and Manhattan real estate.
The cast includes Chris Noth reprising his role as Mr. Big. In the feature film it reveals his name as John James Preston and has his wedding to Carrie called off. The plot adds Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) as Miranda's husband who is unfaithful stemming from her excessive work habits and lack of sex at home. Charlotte and her husband Harry (Evan Handler) are finally pregnant after their adoption of a little girl. There's a welcome addition to the cast of Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) as Carrie's young and inexperienced but still label-savvy assistant, Louise from St. Louis, who is new to New York City's lifestyle. Candace Bergen has a small part as the preeminent VOGUE Magazine editor Enid Frick.

Primarily this film is elaborated a little more on the plotlines than the series, such as Samantha is older (she turns 50). The fundamental changes is that it shows the women getting older and wiser. They are in their 40s and see the younger women coming up behind them with different views. But you can be sure it's all about the clothes, shoes and handbags.

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THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI by Gerald Wright

Posted on 5/24/08 at 10:25 PM | Last edited on 5/24/08 at 9:32 PM

Mood:
Fresh
Directed by: Roger Spottiswoode
Running time: 125 minutes
Release date: May 23, 2008 (limited NY & LA) wide Jan. 2009
Genre: Drama/Bio-pic
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
MPAA Rating: R

Based on real events, this is a story set against war-torn China in the 1930's. The film centers on a young English journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Myers), an American nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group Jack Chen (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60 orphaned children from the invading Japanese, Nationalist and Communist armies fighting over China. They lead them on an extraordinary journey across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, snow covered mountains and unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover and share the true meaning of love, responsibility and courage.
In 1938 Hogg an ambitious journalist attempting to get the scope on the genecide in Shanghai and Nanjing witnesses the horrific crimes. He is captured and rescued by missionary Jack Chen. Chow Yun Fat's role is brilliant and he is one of the most prolific actors today. These two men form an unusual friendship, because Hogg is a pacifist. Escaping a near death, Hogg arrives at a rat infested school house of 60 boys ran by an elderly woman named Lo San (Shuyuan Jin). The boys are led by Shi-Kai (Guang Li) who rebels agains Hogg, because Hogg is ask to care for and teach the boys by nurse Lee Pearson who brings in black market supplies for the survival of the boys. These supplies are warehoused by the beautiful and seductive black marketeer Madame Wang ((Michelle Yeoh). This story inspired by a true story is a most insightful epic film. What makes this an extrodinary movie is the outtakes of actual testimony of the surviving boys who are now elderly men who pay tribute to George Hogg which is shown while the final credits are rolling.
An exclusive directors statement by Roger Spottiswoode is that, "from the moment I read about George Hogg in China and his untimely death. I knew it was a story that I wanted to tell....At the same time we were finding many of the children who Hog had rescued. They all remember him with profound love and devotion and seem to recall so much about the man who saved them all those years ago."
This is quite a memorial bio-pic on an epic scale. A must see.

FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright go to: [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

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INDIANA JONES and the KINGDOM of the CRYSTAL SKULL

Posted on 5/24/08 at 9:17 PM | Last edited on 5/24/08 at 8:46 PM

Mood:
Fresh
Review by Gerald Wright

Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Running time: 122 minutes
Release date: May 22, 2008
Genre: Action/Adventure and Sequel
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13

When you have Spielberg as director, George Lucas and Jeff Nathanson as co-writers of the story, it is a sure box office smash hit. The film is set in 1957 and the fourth film in the Indiana Jones film series. It pits an older and wiser Indy (Harrison Ford) against agents of the Soviet Union, led by evil doer Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), in the relentless search for a crystal skull. This sequel Indy is assisted by his former girlfriend Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) and her son Mutt Williams (Shia La Beouf). It could be mentioned that Mutt is the long lost unknown son of Indy. Archaeologist Mac (Ray Winstone) lend a helping hand in the great search for the skull. Here's a bit of trivia. This film was in development chaos since the 1989 release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, because Spielberg and Ford disagreed over Lucas's choice of the skull as the plot device. Screenwriters Jeb Stuart, Jeffrrey Boam, M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Darabont, and Jeff Nathanson wrote drafts, before screenplay writer David Koepp's script satisfied all three men. It was a long time coming, but well worth it.

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TWO FOREIGN DRAMAS WITH A MESSAGE by Gerald Wright

Posted on 5/16/08 at 9:33 PM | Last edited on 5/16/08 at 7:20 PM

Mood:
Fresh
SANGRE DE MI SANGRE (Blood Of My Blood)
Directed & Written by: Christopher Zalla
Running time: 111 minutes
Release date: May 16, 2008
Genre: Drama (Spanish & English with subtitles)
Distributor: IFC Films
MPAA Rating: Not rated

This is a suspenseful drama about stolen identity, family relationships and the ambiguous nature of morality. The heart of the film lies the visceral labyrinth of deceptions and frustrated hopes that is New York City. A place where most people are outsiders and family becomes defined by relationships not based on blood, but on shared experience and the need for connection.
Pedro (Jorge Adrian Espindola) and Juan (Armando Hernandez) meet in the back of a tractor trailer filled with undocumented Mexican immigrants headed for New York City. Pedro, a mild manner and friendly 16 year left Mexico after the death of his mother. He has little knowledge of survival techniques. Pedro shows Juan (a crafty street hustler) a sealed letter that his mother gave him as an introduction to the father he never knew. Pedro brags to his new friend that his father Diego (Jesus Ochoa) is a wealthy restaurant owner in Brooklyn. Juan father left him when he was a baby and his life was hard on the streets in Mexico. It was so bad that he was on the illegal transport because streetgangs threatened to kill him if given the chance. His only outlet was to get out of the country.
When the truck arrives in Brooklyn, Pedro wakes up to find all of his belongings gone, including the introduction letter with his father's address printed on the envelope. Alone and unable to speak English, he is lost on the city streets.
Juan, who stole Pedro's identity shows up at Diego's door with the letter claiming to be Diego's long lost son from Mexico. Diego is not the owner of a restaurant, but a dishwasher who saves the majority of his money. Diego rejects Juan (pretending to be Pedro). Street-wise Juan decides to win Diego over by presenting an image of being a hard working loving son. But rather than working during the day when Diego is working, he is search Diego's home for the hidden money he's been saving.
Meanwhile, Pedro learns the streets of New York and meets a Spanish speaking street hustling prostitute named Magda (Paola Mendoza) who takes advantage of him, but eventually helps him in his search for his father. It is said that you can run into people in New York City when you're not looking for them. This is what happens in this movie with these four major character--and what a calamity. I won't be a spoiler, but the finals scenes are gripping and shocking.
This film will get you to abandon the good/evil paradigm that we are so accustomed to applying to movies, and instead engage the characters for what the are, which is simply human.

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REPRISE
Directed by: Joachim Trier
Running time: 105 minutes
Release date: May 16, 2008
Genre: Drama (Swedish & French with English subtitles)
Distributor: Miramax Films
MPAA Rating: R

This is a sexy, playful, poignant coming of age story of two 20's something friends entering the adult world.
Phillip (Anders Danielson Lie) and Erik (Espen Klouman-Hoiner) are aspiring writers with dreams of becoming great. They both have manuscripts of their novels sent off to publishers. Each is hoping to become a "cult author" with visions of a new life of intensity, romance and nightclubbing. Phillip's novel garnered instant acclaim and turned him into a celebrity. This went to head head literally, because it landed him into a psychiatric hospital. Erik never sold his novel, but never gave up and finally succeeds.
Reprise explores not just what happens to Phillip and Erik as they pick up the pieces in their life, but gives a dazzling mix of flashbacks, rapid-fire editing, philosophical voiceovers and forwards in time. The film traces how Erik and Phillip arrived at this point as exuberant youths into the harsh real life adulthood with all its pitfalls.
Their life is shared with Kari (Viktoria Winge), Phillip's girlfriend and muse, with whom he tries to recreate the source of his inspiration. Erik's on and off again girlfriend finds out that he gets his inspiration from seclusion. But the two young men have their hang-out buddies of Morten (Odd-Magnus Williamson), Geir (Pal Stokka) to rely on over the years.
This film unfolds in Oslo and Paris with a provocative mix of music, romance, career ambitions, boyish banter and inner demons. This is a great debut feature for Joachim Trier which won Norway's Amanda Award (Academy Award equivalent) for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

FOR MORE FILM REVIEWS by Gerald Wright got to [url=http://www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html]www.HDFest.com/Gerald/allreviews_gerald.html

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