June 24, 2007

Perfect Strangers, by Stephen Poliakoff
A large, wealthy, disparate family holds a reunion. We follow Daniel who has never met anyone there before and uncovers an array of wonderful family stories and relationships. Brilliantly acted with a constantly engaging air of mystery and discovery.

June 21, 2007

Hostel II, by Elli Roth


Three female college students take a detour from their partying, enticed by a beautiful European woman who promises seclusion, safety and maybe even romance. What they get is a living hell where they are sold to the highest bidder who's fondest wish is to kill them slowly. Hostel 2 also follows 2 American men who, on the flip side of the coin, are willing to pay to join an exclusive club where a life will end at their hands...any way they like. It's a story of human monsters and the almighty dollar as only Eli Roth could tell it.

June 17, 2007

Walkabout, by Nicolas Roeg

Amidst the vast emptiness of an unending plain, a stressed-out Australian urbanite interrupts his family's Outback picnic to kill himself and blow up their car, leaving his teenage daughter and young son... alone. Thus begins a memorable emotional and physical odyssey for a girl just old enough to take matters in her own, very proper hands -- and for her little brother, zestfully plunging into what seems to him a game. But it's no game for the third member of the eventual trio: an Aborigine boy on his coming-of-age "walkabout."
Easy Rider, by Dennis Hopper

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Two young "hippie" bikers, Wyatt and Billy sell some dope in Southern California, stash their money away in their gas-tank and set off for a trip across America, on their own personal odyssey looking for a way to lead their lives. On the journey they encounter bigotry and hatred from small-town communities who despise and fear their non-conformism. However Wyatt and Billy also discover people attempting 'alternative lifestyles' who are resisting this narrow-mindedness, there is always a question mark over the future survival of these drop-out groups. The gentle hippie community who thank God for 'a place to stand' are living their own unreal dream. The rancher they encounter and his Mexican wife are hard-pushed to make ends meet. Even LSD turns sour when the trip is a bad one. Death comes to seem the only freedom. When they arrive at a diner in a small town, they are insulted by the local rednecks as weirdo degenerates. They are arrested on some minor pretext by the local sheriff and thrown in jail where they meet George Hanson, a liberal alcoholic lawyer. He gets them out and decides to join them on their trip to New Orleans in time for Mardi Gras.

June 14, 2007

Cinema Paradiso, by Giuseppe Tornatore

Cinema Paradiso offers a nostalgic look at films and the effect they have on a young boy who grows up in and around the title village movie theater in this Italian comedy drama that is based on the life and times of screenwriter/director Giuseppe Tornatore. The story begins in the present as a Sicilian mother pines for her estranged son, Salvatore, who left many years ago and has since become a prominent Roman film director who has taken the advice of his mentor too literally. He finally returns to his home village to attend the funeral of the town's former film projectionist, Alfredo, and, in so doing, embarks upon a journey into his boyhood just after WWII when he became the man's official son. In the dark confines of the Cinema Paradiso, the boy and the other townsfolk try to escape from the grim realities of post-war Italy. The town censor is also there to insure nothing untoward appears onscreen, invariably demanding that all kissing scenes be edited out. One day, Salvatore saves Alfredo's life after a fire, and then becomes the new projectionist. A few years later, Salvatore falls in love with a beautiful girl who breaks his heart after he is inducted into the military. Thirty years later, Salvatore has come to say goodbye to his life-long friend, who has left him a little gift in a film can. In 2002, over a decade after the film's original release, Tornatore brought the original 170-minute director's cut to American screens for the first time.

June 03, 2007

Tremble: Sensual Tales Of The Mystical And Sinister, by Tobsha Learner

Erotic, dangerous and divine - Tobsha Learner, author of the sensational bestseller Quiver, is back with a new collection of extraordinary desires.
In a Welsh village, a young woman's sensuality is awakened by an outrageous inheritance.
In Oklahoma, a drought-stricken town is offered salvation by a travelling rainmaker. But his price is controversial - and one that the women of the town are more than willing to pay.
A Sydney record producer struggles to balance his wife and his mistress - until one of them takes matters into her own hands.
From the deeply erotic to the fatally romantic, Tremble dissects love and desire from all angles. Passion, magic and sinister tones interweave to stimulate the senses and explore the wishes of the human heart.
Learner's acute observations, sensual style and knowing wit combine in this elegant, deliciously provocative and page-turning plunge into a world where anything might happen.