Ten years after its (very) limited theatrical release, this remains as one of the most purely imaginative and intriguingly bizarre cinematic experiences I have EVER watched and/or witnessed. 'The Saddest Music in the World' is set in 1933 and stars Isabella Rossellini (Death Becomes Her) as the legless beer baroness, Lady Helen Port-Huntley, whose sad-ish life in the lonely and (Great) Depression-ravaged city of Winnipeg, Canada, announces a singing competition to be hosted in her city to find "The Saddest Music in the World". Contestants from the far-reaches of the globe pour into Winnipeg and sing/perform one sad song after another. Port-Huntley is unaware that some of the entrants have past (tragic) connections to her from years earlier but she does make the connection with the singer representing the Land of the Maple Leaf, Fyodor Kent (David Fox - Mama) -- who gifts Lady Port-Huntley two glass legs filled to the brim with liquid gold (beer). Fyodor has two sons also competing for the top prize (representing the US and Serbia) -- which becomes something other than the $25K -- when more of the past is remembered and tears begin to flow freely. Director Guy Maddin has created an unusual experience here with heavy use of authentic-looking grainy, black-and-white images -- with bits of color toyed around with onscreen from time to time. The film and storyline are both absurd but it is all about spectacle ... Lady Port-Huntley walks around in glass, beer-filled legs while people sing sad songs. We are supposed to enjoy the absurdity here ... and I did.

This Is the End is a much better idea than it is a movie. The story has a funny yet absurd plot -- which is entirely its reason for being -- but it is a rather shoddily made production with poor special effects and a rushed conclusion. Parts of it are overtly smug and while that is supposed to be intentional with some of the characters the film itself has a bit of smug-ness to it as its stars knew they were able to make a rather poorly put-together film simply because of who they are. The stars of This Is the End play tongue-in-cheek loose interpretations of themselves mostly based on perceived public perceptions of each of them. James Franco (Spider-Man) is throwing a party at his grand mansion in Hollywood for all of his closest friends ... and what appears to be hundreds of others. Seth Rogen (Knocked-Up), Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder), Jonah Hill (Superbad), Craig Robinson (Peeples), Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim) and a whole bunch of other celebs (who cameo here) party it up like there is no tomorrow ... and for some there isn't as This Is the End! When catastrophe hits (again and again and again), all hell breaks loose and everyone's life is put in peril. The jokes are played over and over again -- Franco is pompous and gives off a gay vibe, Baruchel (who?!) thinks he is smarter than everyone, etc. -- and it gets kind of old because they haven't made these guys that likeable (and, again, this is intentional) and the jokes become repetitive. The film's best bits belong to some of the bit players such as Cera and Watson who don't stay in the mansion like the others when the mayhem breaks out. I wish they had more here ... because they are both hilarious in this. The film is funny and I did laugh quite a bit ... but it is too much a mess and too hectic. It just becomes too much and (slightly) too outrageous.

Lovelace wants to be a biopic of the eponymous 70's porn sensation Linda Lovelace but unless Lovelace suffered from a bipolar disorder the film misses its mark as the film is comprised of two very conflicting halves that don't effectively go together. The film opens with Linda (Amanda Seyfried - Les Miserables) as an innocent and fun-loving young adult growing up in an overly-strict, religious household with a cold mother (Sharon Stone - Basic Instinct) and vacant but kind father (Robert Patrick - T2). She meets Chuck Traynor (Peter Sarsgaard - Jarhead) a nice man several years older than her who introduces her to the pleasures of sex and flirtation. When he discovers her unusual talent -- if you know who Lovelace is, you know her "talent" -- he decides to cash in and turn her into a porn starlet. Linda became a huge mainstream celebrity in the porno-chic 70's after starring in Deep Throat as she partied and played with Hugh Hefner (James Franco - Spring Breakers) and had the time of her life. She was loving life ... until the film hits its halfway point and the story changes and lets the audience know that Linda hated her life and suffered abuse at the hands of her husband and degradation in the entire porn industry. Linda is distraught and lives in terror and fears for her life. This half of the film is more tense and frantic and it simply conflicts too much with the partying excess we had just witnessed. Perhaps the filmmakers intended on the first half of Lovelace being what the audience believed to be and the second half is the "truth" according to Linda herself. Either way ... it just doesn't really work. The 70s here aren't overly vibrant and alive ... and they are kind of boring at times. It is disco-lite and NO Boogie Nights. Lovelace -- like Linda's life -- is a mess but I don't think that was the common thread the movie wanted to make.

Set in 1915 on the idyllic and beautiful Riviera coast of the Cote d'Azur region of France, Renoir is the story of a young woman sent to the house of the celebrated Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir to serve as the 74-year old painter's new muse. The wheelchair bound artist suffers from severe arthritis and has very limited mobility and he is looked after by a large number of maids and nurses who keep his household going which includes a young son who has become jaded and reluctant to accept new comers to the house. Shortly after Andree's (the muse) arrival, Renoir's older son, Jean, returns home from the war as he has been injured and needs to convalesce. Andree and Jean bond over a variety of topics and conversations while both express a deep respect for the artist and his work. Jean feels a duty to serve his country and fight for what is right; but he also has a keen interest in early motion pictures and he'd like to be able to spend more time with Andree. The elder invalid worries about his son and grows to care for his muse as well ... wanting love and peace to reign in his house. The film is very slow-paced and it may feel (to some) as if one is actually watching a painting as some scenes linger on minimal action as Renoir paints his subjects ... and the audience observes. The film gives little in biographical information on either Renoir ... and it seems to be more "her" story than either of theirs although there are a couple of great father-son scenes in the film in which she is not included. The photography in Renoir is stunningly beautiful ... but it is a green and orange coastal France. The film is always pretty to look at but I don't think it will keep everyone's interest. Renoir (Sr.) was a highly respected artist while his son became a celebrated director ... but this film only very briefly gives us pieces of each of these men. Even after watching Renoir ... we don't really know either of them.

Byzantium is a film that will take some patience and time to get into as it isn't a run-of-the-mill vampire flick and some of the thick British accents of its cast members might distract some of the American audience. The film has some beautiful imagery (even the posters are beautiful) of a run-down, coastal resort city in England and the acting is quite good; but director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game, Mona Lisa, Interview with a Vampire) has a few problems wrapping everything up towards the story's end leaving one with a few head-scratching questions. Byzantium is the name of an old, majestic hotel whose heydays have passed where two young women take refuge while on the run from something in the past that is slowly catching up with them. The younger girl, Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan - The Lovely Bones), is a melancholy young woman with few friends whose older and much-flashier friend, Clara (Gemma Arterton - Quantum of Solace), resorts to turning tricks and luring men into traps for their money to keep them alive. The women are keeping a deadly secret and are pursued by a group of men who believe the women are dangerous and threaten their very existence. If the world knew who/what these women were, they would most surely turn against them and as these men want them dead ... it is these two women versus the world although they have one kind but unwitting ally in Noel (Daniel Mays - Atonement) who has taken a liking to Clara. The problem Jordan encounters is trying to incorporate the many flashbacks that are necessary to complete the story; but he has a great eye for moody atmosphere and dread as Byzantium uses some lush reds and golds but is also drowned in a gloomy gray fog. I ended up liking Byzantium ... few vampire films are overly interesting anymore as they've become teenage daydream material. This one isn't ... there is dreary darkness here and Arterton is one to watch.