| |  In This Issue:July 2011What's New on DVD127 Hours (2010)Drama. Intense/Offbeat/Scenic. Color. 94 mins. Rated R. Directed By Danny Boyle. Starring James Franco and Lizzy Caplan. Based on a true story (we'd hardly believe it otherwise) and essentially a one man showcase for the considerable talents of James Franco (who spends most of the film playing to a large rock), it's ... Read More > | |  |
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Elliot Spitzer (2010)Documentary. Brainy. Color. 117 mins. Rated R. Directed By Alex Gibney. Starring Elliot Spitzer. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney was able to convince Spitzer himself to appear in this compelling documentary, and the fallen progressive hero cuts a complex, fascinating figure, with his ... Read More > | |  |
Everyone Else (2010)Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Intense/Scenic. Color. 119 mins. Unrated. Directed By Maren Ade. Starring Lars Eidinger, Hans Jochen-Wagner, Birgit Minichmayr and Nicole Marischka. This subtly devastating sleeper from Germany presents an intimate portrait of a relationship unraveling over a vacation in the sun. Though the scenery is gorgeous, Ade wisely keeps her lens trained ... Read More > | |  |
L'Enfance Nue (1968)Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving/Scenic. Color. 83 mins. Unrated. Directed By Maurice Pialat. Starring Michel Terrazon, Rene Thierry and Marie-Louise Thierry. It's no surprise that Truffaut would be drawn to help make this film considering his own filmmaking career began with the similarly-themed The 400 Blows. Both films focus on tales of troubled youth, ... Read More > | |  |
The Father of My Children (2010)Drama/Foreign. Intense/Moving. Color. 110 mins. Unrated. Directed By Mia Hansen-Love. Starring Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Chiara Caselli and Alice de Lencquesaing. This tale of a workaholic producer on the skids achieves a rare poignancy. First we get immersed in Gregoire's harried world, and sense his growing panic as his business starts to atrophy; then the ... Read More > | |  |
Waiting for Superman (2010)Documentary. Brainy. Color. 111 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Davis Guggenheim. Starring Geoffrey Canada and Michelle Rhee. The burning relevance of Guggenheim's probing, riveting documentary has already generated much healthy debate, shining a spotlight on a nagging issue we can no longer afford to ignore. The film ... Read More > | |  |
White Material (2010)Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Intense. Color. 105 mins. Unrated. Directed By Claire Denis. Starring Christopher Lambert, Michel Subor, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Isaach De Bankolé and Isabelle Huppert. Director Denis draws on her own upbringing in Africa as the daughter of a civil servant for this intense and absorbing exploration of emerging madness, all bound up in familial, racial, and national ... Read More > | |  |
Theme of the Month: Gay America
This week New York State took the historic step of passing its Marriage Equality Act affording the same rights and protections for gay couples as those enjoyed by heterosexual couples. To recognize this important moment in New York and our nation, we showcase ten films that tell stories about gay life in America. Bound (1996)Mystery/Suspense. Spine-tingling. Color. 109 mins. Rated R. Directed By Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Starring Lena Olin and Gina Gershon. Before they wrote and directed "The Matrix," the Wachowski brothers concocted this smart, highly entertaining sex thriller-cum-mob caper. Gershon and Tilly not only heat up the screen with a sinfully ... Read More > | |  |
Boys Don't Cry (1999)Drama. Blood-curdling/Intense. Color. 118 mins. Rated R. Directed By Kimberly Peirce. Starring Hilary Swank and Chloë Sevigny. This gritty, compelling film by debut director Kimberly Peirce examines homophobia, sexual identity, and unconventional love in a small, dead-end town. Based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena ... Read More > | |  |
Brokeback Mountain (2005)War/Westerns/Drama. Moving/Scenic. Color. 135 mins. Rated R. Directed By Ang Lee. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger. Based on the Annie Proulx short story, Ang Lee's Oscar-winning "Brokeback" is an affecting, beautifully photographed story about a taboo-busting subject for a major Hollywood production: the love ... Read More > | |  |
Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985)Drama. Brainy/Intense/Moving. Color. 119 mins. Rated R. Directed By Hector Babenco. Starring William Hurt and Raul Julia. Based on the novel by Manuel Puig, Babenco's gloriously subversive "Kiss" earned a heap of Oscar nominations in 1985, but it was Hurt who walked away with a statue for his indelible, soulful ... Read More > | |  |
Milk (2008)Drama. Intense/Moving. Color. 128 mins. Rated R. Directed By Gus Van Sant. Starring Sean Pean, Emile Hirsch, James Franco and Diego Luna. Gus Van Sant's triumphant biopic on the slain gay activist Harvey Milk captures the charisma, humor, and passionate humanism of this groundbreaking politician, whose legacy is timelier than ever in ... Read More > | |  |
Mulholland Drive (2001)Mystery/Suspense. Spine-tingling/Brainy. Color. 147 mins. Rated R. Directed By David Lynch. Starring Laura Harring and Naomi Watts. Bizarre, hypnotic, and darkly dreamlike, this enigmatic mystery from "Blue Velvet" director Lynch cloaks the City of Dreams in a lush, noirish atmosphere, wringing every last drop of ... Read More > | |  |
Philadelphia (1993)Drama. Intense/Moving. Color. 125 mins. Rated PG-13. Directed By Jonathan Demme. Starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. The first mainstream film to deal squarely with the issue of AIDS, Demme's groundbreaking "Philadelphia" is a profoundly moving drama that digs into the ethics of how society views gay men. Strong ... Read More > | |  |
The Times of Harvey Milk (1984)Documentary. Spine-tingling/Moving. Color. 88 mins. Unrated. Directed By Rob Epstein. Starring Harvey Fierstein. Skillful storytelling and period footage portray the new and exciting affirmation of the homosexual lifestyle in 1970s San Francisco. The film also creates a lump in the throat as we know where ... Read More > | |  |
Transamerica (2005)Drama. Offbeat. Color. 104 mins. Rated R. Directed By Duncan Tucker. Starring Kevin Zegers and Felicity Huffman. Expertly handled by first-time director Tucker, this funny, touching film belongs to a tradition of beautifully observed movies about nontraditional American families. Huffman is riveting to watch, ... Read More > | |  |
Victim (1961)Mystery/Suspense. Brainy/Offbeat/Spine-tingling. Black & White. 100 mins. Unrated. Directed By Basil Dearden. Starring Dirk Bogarde and Sylvia Syms. Basil Dearden's tense, gripping drama was daring for the time in addressing the victimization of closeted homosexuals by unscrupulous criminals. Bogarde is superb as Farr (no relation), and Sylvia ... Read More > | |  |
Spotlight
July 14th - John hosts a movie screening at a private club in Greenwich, CT.  | | | |
