Books, Movies... Stuff!

2008-05-11T16:09:00.001+10:00

Girl with the pearl earring, by Peter Webber

This film, adapted from a work of fiction by author Tracy Chevalier, tells a story about the events surrounding the creation of the painting "Girl With A Pearl Earring" by 17th century Dutch master Johannes Vermeer. Little is known about the girl in the painting, it is speculated that she was a maid who lived in the house of the painter along with his family and other servants, though there is no historical evidence . This masterful film attempts to recreate the mysterious girl's life. Griet, played by Scarlett Johansson, is a maid in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer, played by British actor Colin Firth. Vermeer's wealthy patron and sole means of support, Van Ruijven, commissions him to paint Griet with the intent that he will have her for himself before it is finished. She must somehow secretly pose for the crucial painting without the knowledge of Vermeer's wife, avoid Van Ruijven's grasp, and protect herself from the cruel gossip of the world of a 17th century servant.

2008-05-11T16:05:00.000+10:00

Pig Tales, by Marie Darrieussecq

In Darrieussecq's tragicomic exploration of humanity's animal nature, the chatty, mock-naive style of the unsophisticated narrator pushes every pig pun to its limits, and her deadpan comments on her changing appearance parody those of an adolescent contemplating the onset of puberty. Pig Tales is a striking modern fable by a young writer who has made a dramatic entry onto the literary scene.

2008-05-11T16:04:00.000+10:00

What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, by Robert Aldrich (1962)

Two aging film actresses live as virtual recluses in an old Hollywood mansion. Jane Hudson, a successful child star, cares for her crippled sister Blanche, who's career in later years eclipsed that of Jane. Now the two live together, their relationship affected by simmering subconscious thoughts of mutual envy, hate and revenge.

2008-05-11T16:03:00.002+10:00

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, by Jim Sharman (1975)

What do a Transylvanian transvestite, a cryogenically-preserved motorbiker and a Frankenstein's monster wearing golden underpants all have in common? They're all crucial parts of Rocky Horror Picture Show, the comedy cult classic which is at once hysterical, indispensable and truly disturbing. Innocent young lovers Brad and Janet are stranded when their car breaks down, so they are forced to seek refuge in the castle of the bizarre Dr. Frankenfurter, who is having a gathering of some kind... What ensues is an unforgettable night of music and madness where, like a circus act, you never know what's going to come next. Adding to the madness is the narration of the soporific Professor, who, in omnipotence, recounts the whole story from the comfort of his genteel study. Of course, there are pre-designed spots for audience participation - from being doused with spray bottles to throwing popcorn at the screen to getting up from your seat and dancing along to the incomparable "Time Warp". By the end of the night, fantasies will be realities, men will be women and everything will be explained - or will it?!?!?

2008-05-11T16:02:00.002+10:00

Sounder, by Martin Ritt (1972)

The Morgans, a loving and strong family of Black sharecroppers in Louisiana in 1933, face a serious family crisis when the husband and father, Nathan Lee Morgan, is convicted of a petty crime and sent to a prison camp. After some weeks or months, the wife and mother, Rebecca Morgan, sends the oldest son, who is about 11 years old, to visit his father at the camp. The trip becomes something of an odyssey for the boy. During the journey he stays a little while with a dedicated Black schoolteacher.

2008-05-11T16:01:00.003+10:00

It’s Every Monkey for Themseves, by Vanessa Woods

Imagine you live in a remote village in Central America. Every morning the alarm wakes you up, and for the next 14 hours you run through the jungle, chasing monkeys. You don’t know why you do it. You just do. You see everything. They quarrel. They copulate. They stab each other in the back. Imagine you live in a house with eight other people. You quarrel. You copulate. You stab each other in the back. Slowly, the differences between you and the monkeys - the differences you assumed would always be there – disappear. Memories of civilisation fades. The jungle takes over. Mosquitoes swarm in clouds. Fungus creeps into your crotch. Killer bees conspire to murder you. Something pushes you over the edge. Maybe you smash your head on a rock. Maybe you fall in love with the wrong guy. Maybe it’s something worse. It’s every monkey for themselves is a young woman’s story of life in the jungle. Witty, troubled, and deeply moving, it is about the lovers that trip you up, and the friendships that keep you going. Above all, it is a triumphant account of survival, camaraderie, and love - monkey style.

2008-05-11T16:00:00.002+10:00

Prime, by Ben Younger

In colorful, bustling modern-day Manhattan, Rafi Gardet, a beautiful 37-year-old photography producer reeling from a recent divorce, meets David Bloomberg, a handsome 23-year-old painter recently out of college. Rafi's therapist, Dr. Lisa Metzger, who is working to help Rafi overcome her fears of intimacy, finds out that Rafi's new lover is--unfortunately for Lisa--her only son, David. Both David and Rafi must contend with their 14-year age gap, vastly different backgrounds and the demands of David's traditional mother. Despite their intense attraction, the charmed couple soon realizes that vastly different ages and backgrounds create much conflict. A Jewish hip-hop lover and closet painter who still lives with his grandparents, David has little in common with Rafi--a non-practicing Catholic from a wealthy, broken family who travels in the sophisticated, high-end world of fashion.

2008-05-11T15:58:00.001+10:00

Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex, by Olivia Judson

Do your genitals explode? Are you 200,000 times smaller than your mate? Do you drug your lover with a potion that keeps her faithful? You may not get up to such tricks, but some creatures do: sex is one of the most powerful forces in nature, and generates an astounding diversity of forms and behaviours. But why?
Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation explores the science of sex, considering everything from why females of so many species are so promiscuous to why sex exists at all. It is a blend of wit and rigor, a fusion of science and natural history that will entertain, amaze, and inform.

2008-05-11T15:55:00.003+10:00

Lars and the Real Girl, by Craig Gillespie

In this comedy, Lars Lindstrom is an awkwardly shy young man in a small northern town who finally brings home the girl of his dreams to his brother and sister-in-law's home. The only problem is that she's not real - she's a sex doll Lars ordered off the Internet. But sex is not what Lars has in mind, but rather a deep, meaningful relationship. His sister-in-law is worried for him, his brother thinks he's nuts, but eventually the entire town goes along with his delusion in support of this sweet natured boy that they've always loved.

2008-05-11T15:53:00.003+10:00

Thirst, by Rod Hardy (1979)

Kate Davis, a pretty young woman, finds herself in the sights of a mysterious organization whose members inexplicably have her kidnapped. She’s taken to a tiny village nestled in a remote forest, a rigidly controlled environment that’s run like a small corporation. Hordes of zombie-like people wander the grounds whose sole purpose is to have their blood sucked and then packaged in milk containers for consumption by members of the Hyma Brotherhood, a group of people with an insatiable thirst for blood (and who dislike the term Vampire). Kate, it seems, is a descendant of Elizabeth Bathory, the notorious real life “Bloody Countess”; the Brotherhood is looking to unite Kate’s bloodline with its own in an effort to ensure their immortality. But first Kate will have to be forcibly brought around to the Brotherhood’s way of thinking. She escapes but is quickly recaptured and subjected to a series of psychological tests designed to break down resistance to her inner vampire. The process appears to work in the Brotherhood’s favour, but it’s all an act on Kate’s part. With the help of the sympathetic Dr. Fraser, Kate manages to escape via helicopter, but in fact the good doctor isn’t nearly as upstanding as he appears…

2008-05-11T15:35:00.003+10:00

Some Like it Hot, by Billy Wilder (1959)

Two Struggling musicians witness the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and try to find a way out of the city before they are found and killed by the mob. The only job that will pay their way is an all girl band so the two dress up as women. In addition to hiding, each has his own problems; One falls for another band member but can't tell her his gender, and the other has a rich suitor who will not take "No," for an answer.

2008-05-11T15:34:00.002+10:00

City by the Sea, by Michael Caton-Jones

New York City homicide detective Vincent LaMarca has forged a long and distinguished career in law enforcement, making a name for himself as a man intensely committed to his work. But on his latest case, the stakes are higher for Vincent--the suspect he's investigating is his own son. He and Joey have been painfully estranged ever since Vincent divorced his wife and left the decaying boardwalks of Long Beach, Long Island for the anonymity of Manhattan and a successful career with the NYPD. He lives his life in solitude, keeping his girlfriend at arm's length; the closest relationship he maintains is with his partner, Reg--and Vincent makes sure that stops at the precinct door. As long as Vincent lives in the protection of the present, he doesn't have to deal with the pain of his past--or his sorrow over his broken relationship with Joey. But this murder investigation is drawing Vincent home to Long Beach, the self-proclaimed City by the Sea, where the past has been waiting for him to return. The agonizing memory that has tortured him all his life--the death of his father, a convicted murderer who was executed when Vincent was just a boy--still plagues him. In the course of the investigation, he discovers that his own unresolved pain and failures as a father have deeply influenced Joey's life, and now his 18-month-old grandson may be fated to follow their self-destructive paths.

2008-03-31T23:00:00.000+11:00

Mercury Rising, by Harold Becker

The United States government is about to launch its brand new super code. Impossible to break, or so they thought, until it was broken by a nine year old autistic boy. Now the bodies are piling up to keep it secret and the mercury is rising.

2008-03-31T22:58:00.000+11:00

12 Monkeys, by Terry Gilliam

An unknown and lethal virus has wiped out five billion people in 1996. Only 1% of the population has survived by the year 2035, and is forced to live underground. A convict (James Cole) reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to 1996 to gather information about the origin of the epidemic (who he's told was spread by a mysterious "Army of the 12 Monkeys") and locate the virus before it mutates so that scientists can study it. Unfortunately Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990, six years earlier than expected, and is arrested and locked up in a mental institution, where he meets Dr. Kathryn Railly, a psychiatrist, and Jeffrey Goines, the insane son of a famous scientist and virus expert.

2008-03-31T22:57:00.002+11:00

Shall We Dance (1937), by Mark Sandrich

Ballet star Pete "Petrov" Peters arranges to cross the Atlantic aboard the same ship as the dancer he's fallen for but barely knows, musical star Linda Keene. By the time the ocean liner reaches New York, a little white lie has churned through the rumour mill and turned into a hot gossip item: that the two celebrities are secretly married.

2008-03-31T22:53:00.000+11:00

Body of Evidence, by Patricia Cornwell

A reclusive writer is dead. And her final manuscript has disappeared ... Someone is stalking Beryl Madison. Someone who spies on her and makes threatening, obscene phone-calls. Terrified, Beryl flees to Key West - but eventually she must return to her Richmond home. The very night she arrives, Beryl inexplicably invites her killer in ... Thus begins for Dr Kay Scarpetta the investigation of a crime that is as convoluted as it is bizarre. Why would Beryl open the door to someone who brutally slashed and then nearly decapitated her? Did she know her killer? Adding to the intrigue is Beryl's enigmatic relationship with a prize-winning author and the disappearance of her own manuscript. As Scarpetta retraces Beryl's footsteps, an investigation that begins in the laboratory with microscopes and lasers leads her deep into a nightmare that soon becomes her own.

2008-03-31T22:48:00.002+11:00

Birdy, by Alan Parker

Two friends arrive back from Vietnam, scarred in different ways. One has physical injuries, the other has mental problems that make him yearn to be a bird, a subject he has always been fascinated with.

2008-03-31T22:45:00.001+11:00

Road Games, by Richard Franklin

A suspenseful thriller about a truck driver's efforts to stop a demented murderer. Pat Quid has been hired to deliver pork to Perth, Australia. Keeping him company on the road is his pet dog, who Pat claims is a dingo. After hearing about a killing spree, whose culprit remains unknown, Pat starts to believe the fiend is actually the mysterious driver of a green van he passed along the way. When the police don't believe the story, Pat decides to nab the villain on his own. After the maniac kidnaps Pamela, the pretty hitchhiker Pat picked up, the truck driver becomes even more determined to stop the madman.

2008-03-18T23:07:00.001+11:00

L’invité (The Dinner Guest), by Laurent Bouhnik

This finely paced comedy is sheer lighthearted lunacy, with three great star talents in top form; Thierry Lhermitte, Valérie Lemercier and the remarkable Daniel Auteuil.Unemployed for three years, Gerard has landed a job in Indonesia. To start off on the right foot with his "team leader", Gerard invites him to dinner but as his wife Colette has no culinary skills, this may or may not be the brightest idea he's ever had. Thankfully, neighbour Alexandre comes to the rescue and after a series of hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings; Gérard and Colette open their door and welcome their dinner guest...Let the mayhem begin!

2008-03-18T23:02:00.001+11:00

No Country for Old Men, by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

In rural Texas, welder and hunter Llewelyn Moss discovers the remains of several drug runners who have all killed each other in an exchange gone violently wrong. Rather than report the discovery to the police, Moss decides to simply take the two million dollars present for himself. This puts the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly every rival, bystander and even employer in his pursuit of his quarry and the money. As Moss desperately attempts to keep one step ahead, the blood from this hunt begins to flow behind him with relentlessly growing intensity as Chigurh closes in. Meanwhile, the laconic Sherrif Ed Tom Bell blithely oversees the investigation even as he struggles to face the sheer enormity of the crimes he is attempting to thwart.

2008-03-18T22:59:00.002+11:00

Desert Saints, by Richard Greeberg

The nature of temptation. Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise...

2008-03-18T22:58:00.001+11:00

Chain Reaction, by Andrew Davis

Eddie Kasalivich, an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, works as a technician for a scientific team that discovers an alternative, low-cost, pollution-free fuel source. When one of the chief scientists is murdered and the invention stolen, Eddie and physicist Lily Sinclair are framed for it and have to flee for their lives, with the FBI, CIA and other involved parties in close pursuit. Paul Shannon, Eddies mentor, is the director of a scientific company which - unknown to Eddie - has commercial interests in the invention. Eddie and Lily set out to find the stolen invention and hopefully clear themselves of the false charges.

2008-03-18T22:56:00.002+11:00

Ice Bound, by Roger Spottiswoode

ICE BOUND: A WOMAN'S SURVIVAL AT THE SOUTH POLE tells the harrowing true story of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the cancer-stricken physician stranded at a South Pole research station who, under dangerous circumstances and with the help of co-workers, treated her own illness. This movie is based on the book Ice Bound: A Doctor's Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole, by Dr. Jerri Nielsen with Maryanne Vollers.

2008-03-03T12:03:00.001+11:00

Whatever Love Means, by David Baddiel

Vic is a nearly-famous rock guitarist thinking about shacking up in south London with his foul-mouthed thirty-something girlfriend Tess; Vic's best friend Joe is a geeky, AIDS-researching biochemist who shares a son and a flash yuppie pad with the beautiful and slightly Irish Emma. On the day of Princess Diana's death Vic falls into bed with Em; a few months later Joe sort of does the same with Tess. If that were all there was to this book, it would hardly be worth bothering with: just another Hampstead (or rather, Herne Hill) adultery novel. What raises it up a considerable notch, quite apart from Baddiel's obvious gift for very good jokes, is his less expected gift for deadpan but dryly insightful prose, and his even more unexpected talent for fleshing out character. Every player in this touching, tragic tale: female as well as male, minor as much as major, villainous alongside virtuous, is eminently believable, and harrowingly feasible. Not quite so convincing is the Princess-Diana-death subplot that forms a background to the early chapters. Like the hysteria over the Queen of Hearts itself, the whole thing rather peters out, and provides little more than an excuse for the book's well-chosen title (it's a famous Prince Chuck quote apropos his then fiancé Diana). Taken as a whole, small misgiving aside, this is a fine and impressive novel: funny, sad, warm, dark, tender, wise and bleakly memorable.

2008-03-03T12:02:00.001+11:00

White Noise, by Geoffrey Sax

When the unexpected happens, architect Jonathan Rivers has become a grieving widower, wallowing in deep confusion over the death of his wife. But a paranormal expert approaches Jonathan with the unlikely: the ability to hear his wife from beyond the grave. Through a form of unusual communication known as EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon), Jonathan will finally be able to see his wife. But in doing so, Jonathan has drawn himself into a much more complex situation when his curiosity becomes an obsession. Only that obsession will have him confront those not of this world, and some of them don't approve of Jonathan's interference with their destructive nature.

2008-03-03T11:44:00.000+11:00

Derailed, by Mikael Hafstrom

Charles is worn down by his home life where he and his wife struggle to cope with the demands their daughter's illness, and his job. When he meets Lucinda on the train to work in Chicago, there is an immediate spark between them. Soon they are doing lunch; dinner and drinks follow. This leads to an adulterous rendezvous in an hotel. But no sooner have they torn each others' clothes off than their room is invaded by a thief who beats Charles and rapes Lucinda. Because of the illicit nature of their relationship, Charles is reluctant to go to the Police and soon finds himself powerless to resist the every demand of the thief.

2008-02-20T19:00:00.001+11:00

Shortbus, by John Cameron Mitchell

Numerous New York City-dwellers come to the exclusive club Shortbus to work out problems in their sexual relationships. Rob and Sophia are a happily married couple, except for the fact that she has never experienced sexual climax. This irony follows her to work, because she is a couple’s counsellor who frequently has to deal with the sexual issues other couples have. Two of her patients are Jamie and James, a gay couple who have been monogamous for five years and counting. James wants to bring other men in to the relationship, and his own history with depression may hint at an ulterior motive. Ceth may be the perfect addition to their family, but Caleb, a voyeur from across the street, may have his own ideas about that. Sophia visits Severin, a dominatrix with secrets of her own to reveal.

2008-02-20T18:52:00.003+11:00

Cut and Run, by Jeff Abbott

She's a liar.

She's a thief.

She's a killer.

She's his mother. And he'll take on the world to save her.

With his father near death, Judge Whit Mosley launches a search for his mother, who abandoned the family thirty years ago and vanished into the criminal underworld. Hoping to heal the wounds of the past, Whit finds Eve—framed for murder and for stealing five million dollars from a Houston crime cartel desperate to regain their lost power. He has one impossible chance to save his mother: take her on the run, outsmart a gang of sophisticated killers, and find the missing millions. Caught in a nightmare of double crosses and vicious schemers, Whit turns his back on law and order for the one person he most wants to trust but knows the least—a dangerous woman who may be plotting the cruelest deception of all.

2008-02-20T18:49:00.001+11:00

All That Remains, by Patricia Cornwell

Young lovers are ending up dead, found partially skeletonized in remote woodland areas with no apparent cause of death. Chief Medical Examiner Kay Scarpetta is baffled, and she fears the "Couple Killer" will strike again. The most recent victim was the daughter of a powerful political drug activist, and the search for the killer intensifies. Kay soon learns that the government is withholding evidence, and the only thing more shocking is why they've done so: they fear the sociopath stalking young couples is one of their own...

2008-02-20T18:40:00.001+11:00

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, by Tim Burton

Never Forget. Never Forgive.

After hard years in exile for a crime he didn't commit, Benjamin Barker now Sweeney Todd, returns to London to find his wife dead and his daughter in the hands of the evil Judge Turpin. In his anger, Sweeney goes on a murderous rampage on all London, with the help of Mrs. Lovett, he opens a barber shop in which he lures his victims in with a charming smile before casually ending their life with a flick of his razor across their neck. But not one man killed, nor ten thousands men can satisfy Sweeney's lust for revenge on those who've caused his years of pain.

2008-02-20T18:37:00.001+11:00

La Spagnola, by Steve Jacobs

Lola, a hot-blooded Spaniard, is deserted by her husband for a cool and calculating Aussie blonde. Lola is pregnant again but she and their daughter Lucia are left to starve while Ricardo spends all their savings on a sleek new set of wheels for his mistress. When he dies unexpectedly the family fortune, one flash car, remains with the mistress. Despite all his betrayals, Lucia sides with her father. Desperate and destitute in a country she doesn't like or understand, Lola's quest for revenge begins. Caught in the tempests of begrudging love, revenge, sibling rivalry, jealousy and passion, fourteen year old Lucia must find the strength to survive on her own terms. Aided to break free of her mother by her eccentric Aunt Manolo she struggles to find her own identity and her own quest for justice puts her on a collision course with her mother.

2008-02-20T18:35:00.001+11:00

Friday, by F. Gary Gray

Having just been canned from his job on his day off, Craig and his best friend Smokey spend the day smoking up in their South Central neighborhood while dealing with a neighborhood bully, relationship troubles, an angry drug dealer, and a lot of other odd characters.

2008-01-20T18:12:00.000+11:00

Bug, by William Friedkin

The loser and lonely waitress Agnes lives in a cheap motel in Okalahoma grieving the disappearance of her beloved son Lloyd ten years ago. Her abusive ex-husband Jerry Goss has just left prison on probation and is insistently calling her. When her colleague and only friend, the lesbian RC, brings her drifter acquaintance Peter Evans to visit her, they have an affair and Peter stays with Agnes in her room. Peter finds bugs in their bed, and discloses to Agnes that he was a soldier in the Gulf War submitted to experiments by the army and presently he is infested with bugs. Agnes feels the same symptoms and the couple believes in Peter's conspiracy theory of the American government.

2008-01-20T18:09:00.001+11:00

Wimbledon, by Richard Loncraine

In just two summer weeks, a British tennis player who was ranked 119th in the world, and generally considered to be on his last legs as a professional player, gets his one last chance to win both the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships on the grassy courts of Wimbledon... and the heart of the rising star "bad girl of tennis" as well...

2008-01-20T18:07:00.000+11:00

A Mighty Heart, by Michael Winterbottom

Daniel Pearl was born of Jewish parents. He fell in love with Cuban-American, Marianne, and both got married. Both worked as Journalists with the Wall Street Journal. They were amongst the thousands of reporters who headed to Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. After spending considerable time there, they then went to Pakistan, with a visibly pregnant Marianne, the country that on one hand was allied with the U.S. for it's 'war against terrorism', and on the other hand was responsible for the creation of Taliban and hosting training camps for Al Qaeda. The two hook-up with fellow-journalist Asra Nomani of Indian descent. When Daniel goes off to interview Sheikh Gilani and does not return nor answer his cell phone, a frantic Marianne asks for assistance, which comes forth initially in the shape and form of Pakistan's CID Chief Javed Habib, followed by FBI, and American embassy personnel. What results is media frenzy, the locals blaming the Mosaad for the September 11 attacks, as nearly 4000 Jews did not show up for work that day; that Daniel was CIA/Mosaad Agent, and that Asra was an Indian spy. The Pakistani Interior Minister went on record to criticize Daniel for probing into unknown territory, not keeping his Jewish background secret, and blaming his disappearance on Indian spies, while the western media quickly announced his death even though the deceased was an Iranian student. Watch what happens when investigations lead to the discovery of a camcorder which may provide the last and perhaps the only clue to the whereabouts of this missing journalist.

2008-01-20T18:06:00.000+11:00

1408, by Mikael Hafstrom

Based on the short Stephen King horror story of the same name, 1408 is about supernatural writer Mike Enslin, an author of two successful books on supernatural phenomena. As research for his latest book, Enslin is determined to check out the notorious room 1408 in a New York City hotel by personally staying as a guest in the fabled room. He believes that 1408 is just a myth perpetuated by stories and rumours that Enslin has collected for his past works. However, hotel manager Mr. Olin has strong objections to Enslin's stay and only warns him of possible danger to come. Enslin is determined to go anyway. But what Mike Enslin is about to experience is no myth, as 1408 truly is a room where the guests don't check out by noon.

2008-01-20T18:04:00.000+11:00

Clubland, by Cherie Nowlan

The shy son of an aging comedienne tries to find a balance between his demanding home life, his new girlfriend, and his mother's second chance at fame.

2008-01-20T18:02:00.000+11:00

Goya’s Ghosts, Milos Forman

The painter Goya becomes involved with the Spanish Inquisition when his muse, Ines, is arrested by the church for heresy. Her father, Thomas, comes to him hoping that his connection with Brother Lorenzo, whom he is painting, can secure the release of his daughter.

2008-01-20T17:59:00.000+11:00

The Jacket, by John Maybury

The film centres on a wounded Gulf war veteran who returns to his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. He is hitching and gets picked up by a stranger; things go pear shaped when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by the stranger. The vet is wrongly accused of killing the cop and lands up in an asylum. A quack doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a heavy duty straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of the basement morgue. During course of his treatment he gets flashbacks and visions of his future, where he can foresee he is to die in four days time. The catch is he doesn't know how. Thus commences the classic race against time.

2008-01-20T17:58:00.000+11:00

Ratattouile, by Brad Bird

Remy is a rat, constantly risking life in an expensive French restaurant because of his love of good food, as well as a desire to become a chef. Yet, obviously, this is a rather tough dream for a rat. But opportunity knocks when a young boy, who desperately needs to keep his job at the restaurant, despite his lack of cooking abilities, discovers and partners the young Remy. Its up to the two of them to avoid the insane head chef, bring the rest of Remy's family up to his standards, win his partner a girl, and, of course, produce the finest Ratatouille in all of France.

2008-01-20T17:57:00.000+11:00

Broken English, by Zoe R. Cassavetes

Nora Wilder is freaking out. Everyone around her is in a relationship, is married, or has children. Nora is in her thirties, alone with job she's outgrown and a mother who constantly reminds her of it all. Not to mention her best friend Audrey's "perfect marriage". But after a series of disastrous dates, Nora unexpectedly meets Julien, a quirky Frenchman who opens her eyes to a lot more than love.

2008-01-20T17:55:00.000+11:00

The Brave One, by Neil Jordan

A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.

2008-01-20T17:54:00.001+11:00

Rush Hour 3, by Brett Ratner

After an attempted assassination on Ambassador Han, Lee and Carter head to Paris to protect a French woman with knowledge of the Triads' secret leaders.

2008-01-20T17:53:00.000+11:00

The Heartbreak Kid, by Bobby Farrelly

The story centres on a man who is convinced that he has finally met the right girl and marries too quickly. While on his honeymoon and in the process of discovering that his new bride is a nightmare, he meets the girl of his dreams.

2008-01-20T17:52:00.000+11:00

The Bourne Ultimatum, by Paul Greengrass

Bourne is once again brought out of hiding, this time inadvertently by London-based reporter Simon Ross who is trying to unveil Operation Blackbriar--an upgrade to Project Treadstone--in a series of newspaper columns. Bourne sets up a meeting with Ross and realizes instantly they're being scanned. Information from the reporter stirs a new set of memories, and Bourne must finally, ultimately, uncover his dark past whilst dodging The Company's best efforts in trying to eradicate him.

2008-01-20T17:50:00.000+11:00

War of the Worlds, by Steven Spielberg

Ray Ferrier is a working class man living in New Jersey. He's estranged from his family, his life isn't in order, and he's too caught up with himself. But the unthinkable and, ultimately, the unexpected happen to him in an extraordinary sense. His small town life is shaken violently by the arrival of destructive intruders: Aliens which have come en masse to destroy Earth. As they plough through the country in a wave of mass destruction and violence, Ray must come to the defence of his children. As the world must fend for itself by a new and very advanced enemy not of this world, its inhabitants must save humanity from a far greater force that threatens to destroy it.

2008-01-20T17:49:00.000+11:00

The Invasion, by Oliver Hirschbiegel

A mysterious epidemic is sweeping the world, but it takes one Washington DC psychiatrist to discover that the disease is extraterrestrial in origin. When her son becomes infected, she and a colleague must work together to find a cure, before the entire world is lost...

2008-01-20T17:45:00.000+11:00

American Gangster, by Ridley Scott

Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. As a result, his product is superior to what is currently available on the street and his prices are lower. His alliance with the New York Mafia ensures his position. It is also the story of a dedicated and honest policeman, Richie Roberts, who heads up a joint narcotics task force with the Federal government. Based on a true story.

2007-11-27T16:00:00.000+11:00

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag - Journey of a Woman, by Pradeep Sarker

A fascinating blend of musical, melodrama and feminist fairy tale, “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” shows Bollywood’s moral universe in transition. The film follows the fortunes of Badki and Chutki , sisters from a genteel Benares family with money problems and predatory relatives. When Badki leaves to find work in Bombay, “Laaga” really takes off. There, Badki — with no diploma and no skills — becomes Natasha: a high-priced prostitute. The movie isn’t coy about this. “I’ve fallen from grace,” she says. “I can never come back.” Chutki’s story is lighter. M.B.A. in hand, she joins her sister in the city, where she gets a job in advertising. Her first task is to sell Lux soap to the modern Indian woman. And who is that creature? As her boss (and future husband) discovers, Chutki herself — bright, spunky, self-assured — fits the bill. Fallen women are a Bollywood staple. But Chutki won’t allow her sister to be shunned. Instead of keeping the stain a dark secret, Chutki insists on honesty and that the family reintegrate Badki.

2007-11-27T15:57:00.001+11:00

Intimate Stranger, by Allan Holzman

A struggling bar singer takes a job as a phone-sex operator in order to make ends meet. One night she gets a call from a man who tricks her into listening while he murders a prostitute. Then he tells her that he's going to kill her next. She goes to the police, but the detectives don't believe her. However, an ambitious uniformed cop does believe her, and together they try to track down the killer before he kills anyone else--including her.

2007-11-19T13:47:00.000+11:00

Elizabeth: The golden Age, by Shekhar Kapur

Growing keenly aware of the changing religious and political tides of late 16th century Europe, Queen Elizabeth finds her rule openly challenged by the Spanish King Philip II -- with his powerful army and sea-dominating armada -- determined to restore England to Catholicism. Preparing to go to war to defend her empire, Elizabeth struggles to balance ancient royal duties with an unexpected vulnerability in her love for Sir Walter Raleigh. But he remains forbidden for a queen who has sworn body and soul to her country. Unable and unwilling to pursue her love, Elizabeth encourages her favorite lady-in-waiting, Bess, to befriend Raleigh to keep him near. But this strategy forces Elizabeth to observe their growing intimacy. As she charts her course abroad, her trusted advisor, Sir Francis Walsingham, continues his masterful puppetry of Elizabeth's court at home -- and her campaign to solidify absolute power. Through an intricate spy network, Walsingham uncovers an assassination plot that could topple the throne. But as he unmasks traitors that may include Elizabeth's own cousin Mary Stuart, he unknowingly sets England up for destruction.

2007-11-19T13:46:00.000+11:00

She Came to Stay, by Simone de Beauvoir

Set in Paris on the eve of World War II and sizzling with love, anger, and revenge, She Came to Stay explores the changes wrought in the soul of a woman and a city soon to fall. Although Françoise considers her relationship with Pierre an open one, she falls prey to jealousy when the gamine Xavière catches his attention. The moody young woman from the countryside pries her way between Françoise and Pierre, playing up to each one and deviously pulling them apart, until the only way out of the triangle is destruction.

2007-11-19T13:45:00.000+11:00

Alien (1979), by Ridley Scott

When commercial towing vehicle Nostromo, heading back to Earth, intercepts an SoS signal from a nearby planet, the crew are under obligation to investigate. After a bad landing on the planet, some crew members leave the ship to explore the area. At the same time as they discover a hive colony of some unknown creature, the ship's computer deciphers the message to be a warning, not a call for help. When one of the eggs is disturbed, the crew do not know the danger they are in until it is too late.

2007-11-19T13:44:00.001+11:00

Wrong Turn 2: Dead End, by Joe Lynch

Dale Murphy is hosting and producing his own reality T.V show called "The Ultimate Survivalist: The Apocalypse", with six contestants led by Nina Papas, who'll be thrown together for six days in a simulated post-apocalyptic wasteland, and the winner will walk away with $100,000. Located in a remote part of West Virginia, the contestants discover that what they are really fighting for is their survival - against a family of hideously deformed inbred cannibals who plan to ruthlessly butcher them all... Who will survive?

2007-11-19T13:43:00.000+11:00

The Butterfly Effect, by Eric Bress

Evan Treborn grows up in a small town with his single working mom and his friends. He suffers from memory blackouts where he suddenly finds himself somewhere else, confused. Evans' friends and mom hardly believe him, thinking he makes it up just to get out of trouble; something bad always seems to happen during these blackouts. As Evan grows up he has less of these blackouts until he seems to have recovered. Since the age of seven he has written a diary of his blackout moments so he can remember what happens. One day at college he starts to read one of his old diaries, and suddenly a flashback hits him like a brick!

2007-11-19T13:42:00.000+11:00

The Gods Must Be Crazy II, by Jamie Uys

Xixo is back again. This time, his children accidentally stow away on a fast-moving poachers' truck, unable to get off, and Xixo sets out to rescue them. Along the way, he encounters a couple of soldiers trying to capture each other and a pilot and passenger of a small plane, who are each having a few problems of their own.

2007-11-19T13:40:00.000+11:00

The Gods Must Be Crazy, by Jamie Uys

A Sho in the Kalahari desert encounters technology for the first time--in the shape of a Coke bottle. He takes it back to his people, and they use it for many tasks. The people start to fight over it, so he decides to return it to the God--where he thinks it came from. Meanwhile, we are introduced to a school teacher assigned to a small village, a despotic revolutionary, and a clumsy biologist.

2007-11-09T13:22:00.000+11:00

Death Proof, by Quentin Tarantino

Originally released as a second-billed movie part of Grindhouse, Death Proof, a throwback to the 1970s exploitation road-chase movies, features Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike, a former Hollywood stunt race car driver who targets and kills women with his "death-proof" stunt car. In Act I, Mike surfaces in Austin, Texas to target a group of women whom he knows; Jungle Julia (Sydney Poitier) an outgoing, dope-smoking, radio DJ/fashion model meeting her old school friends for a night on the town whom are sentimental model Arlene (Vanessa Ferlita), and local bad-girl Shanna (Jordan Ladd), as well as bar-nut hippie Pam (Rose McGowen) who tries to make Mike notice her, unaware of his sociopath and misogynist tendencies. In Act II, Stuntman Mike surfaces in Tennessee where he randomly picks another another group of women to stalk all of whom work in the motion picture business; Abernathy (Rosario Dawson) is a make-up girl and stand-in wanting a chance of pace in her life. Lee (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is a naive B-movie actress. Kim (Traci Whoms) is a tough-minded stunt woman always wanting action. And Zoe (Zoe Bell) is a fellow stunt woman from New Zealand visiting her friends. However, the second set of girls proves more though to get, and because of a combination of bad luck and Stuntman Mike's carelessness, the girls decide to turn the tables on their tormentor for revenge of their own.

Quote from movie: "kinda cute, kinda hot, kinda sexy, hysterically funny, but not funny-looking guy who you could fuck"

2007-11-09T13:19:00.000+11:00

Failure to Launch, by Tom Dey

At 35, Tripp has an interesting job, a hip car, a passion for sailing, and a great house - trouble is, he lives with his parents. They want him out, so they hire Paula, an "interventionist," who has a formula in these cases: chance encounter, get him to ask her out, involve him in a trauma, meet his friends and get their nod, delay sex, have him teach her something, then launch him. It's worked up to now, but this gets complicated when Tripp thinks she's getting too serious and one of his pals is attracted to Paula's deadpan, semi-alcoholic roommate, who's plagued by a mockingbird. Too many secrets may scrub the launch, and what if Paula really likes him? Who can intervene then?

2007-11-09T13:14:00.000+11:00

The Family Stone, by Thomas Bezucha

The prodigal son Everett Stone brings his conservative and bigot fiancée Meredith Morton (Sarah Jessica Parker) to spend Christmas holidays with his very closed family. Meredith is coldly and hostilely welcomed by the family Stone, and feeling completely uncomfortable, she decides to call her sister Julie to stay with her. Along Christmas, revelations and new feelings are disclosed.

2007-10-28T19:33:00.000+11:00

Eastern Promises, by David Cronenberg

The mysterious and charismatic Russian-born Nikolai Luzhin (Viggo Mortensen) is a driver for one of London’s most notorious organized crime families of Eastern European origin. The family itself is part of the Vory V Zakone criminal brotherhood. Headed by Semyon, whose courtly charm as the welcoming proprietor of the plush Trans-Siberian restaurant impeccably masks a cold and brutal core, the family’s fortunes are tested by Semyon’s volatile son and enforcer, Kirill, who is more tightly bound to Nikolai than to his own father. But Nikolai’s carefully maintained existence is jarred once he crosses paths at Christmastime with Anna Khitrova, a midwife at a North London hospital. Anna is deeply affected by the desperate situation of a young teenager who dies while giving birth to a baby. Anna resolves to try to trace the baby’s lineage and relatives. The girl’s personal diary also survives her; it is written in Russian, and Anna seeks answers in it. Anna’s mother Helen does not discourage her, but Anna’s irascible Russian-born uncle Stepan urges caution. He is right to do so; by delving into the diary, Anna has accidentally unleashed the full fury of the Vory. With Semyon and Kirill closing ranks and Anna pressing her inquiries, Nikolai unexpectedly finds his loyalties divided. The family tightens its grip on him; who can, or should, he trust? Several lives – including his own – hang in the balance as a harrowing chain of murder, deceit, and retribution reverberates through the darkest corners of both the family and London itself.

2007-10-15T23:39:00.000+10:00

Snatch, by Guy Ritchie

Turkish and his close friend/accomplice Tommy get pulled into the world of match fixing by the notorious Brick Top. Things get complicated when the boxer they had lined up gets the shit kicked out of him by Pitt, a 'pikey' ( slang for an Irish Gypsy)- who comes into the equation after Turkish, an unlicensed boxing promoter wants to buy a caravan off the Irish Gypsies. They then try to convince Pitt not only to fight for them, but to lose for them too. Whilst all this is going on, a huge diamond heist takes place, and a fistful of motley characters enter the story, including 'Cousin Avi', 'Boris The Blade', 'Franky Four Fingers' and 'Bullet Tooth Tony'. Things go from bad to worse as it all becomes about the money, the guns, and the damned dog!

2007-10-15T23:33:00.000+10:00

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, by Guy Ritchie

Four Cockney wide-boys are tricked into owing 500,000 nicker to the local gang-land boss and porn king, 'Hatchet' Harry Lonsdale. With the very real threat of finger amputation looming over them the lads come up with a plan to nick the cash from their next-door neighbours: a gang of hardcase drug-dealers... Meanwhile, 'Hatchet' ain't none too pleased when a pair of antique shotguns wot he wants are sold on by a pair of Scouse thieves, to be used in a "job"... The involvement of a conscientious debt-collector, some public school "chemists", a psychotic hash-baron, a lot of guns and knives, ensures that karma is surrealistically resolved (just!) before the end credits roll...

2007-09-23T00:30:00.001+10:00

Killing Me Softly, by Nicci French

Alice Loundon's life couldn't be any more fulfilling. She is a successful career woman and is engaged to a wonderful man named Jake. Even though her personal life is in order, she feels that there is something, that there is a void that needs to be filled. Her ordered life lacks excitement. But things change as soon as she meets a handsome and mysterious stranger named Adam. After a night of passionate lovemaking with Adam, she dumps her fiancé and marries Adam. Little does Alice know that she has embarked on a roller coaster ride of obsession and malice. Killing Me Softly has a Fatal Attraction quality to it that will keep you turning the pages. There are many thrillers out there -- especially thrillers about obsession -- but Nicci French's language is original.

2007-09-23T00:21:00.000+10:00

Stardust, by Matthew Vaughn

A young man named Tristan tries to win the heart of Victoria, the beautiful but cold object of his desire, by going on a quest to retrieve a fallen star. His journey takes him to a mysterious and forbidden land beyond the walls of his village. On his odyssey, Tristan finds the star, which has transformed into a striking girl named Yvaine. However, Tristan is not the only one seeking the star. Lord Stormhold's three living sons not to mention the ghosts of their four dead brothers all need the star as they vie for the throne. Tristan must also overcome the evil witch, Lamia, who needs the star to make her young again. As Tristan battles to survive these threats, encountering a pirate named Captain Shakespeare and a shady trader named Ferdy the Fence along the way, his quest changes. He must now win the heart of the star for himself as he discovers the meaning of true love.

2007-09-23T00:13:00.000+10:00

The Triumph, by Randa Haines

Three-time Emmy Award nominee Matthew Perry delivers a "...tour-de-force performance" as real-life inspiration Ron Clark, a passionate and innovative teacher who leaves his small hometown to teach in one of Harlem's toughest schools. But to break through to his students, Clark must use unconventional methods, including his ground-breaking classroom rules, to drive them toward their greatest potential.

2007-09-17T23:44:00.000+10:00

Hairspray, by Adam Shankman

Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager with all the right moves, is obsessed with the Corny Collins Show. Every day after school, she and her best friend Penny run home to watch the show and drool over the hot Link Larkin, much to Tracy's mother Edna's dismay. After one of the stars of the show leaves, Corny Collins holds auditions to see who will be the next person on the Corny Collins show. With all of the help of her friend Seaweed, Tracy makes it on the show, angering the evil dance queen Amber Von Tussle and her mother Velma. Tracy then decides that it's not fair that the black kids can only dance on the Corny Collins Show once a month, and with the help of Seaweed, Link, Penny, Motormouth Maybelle, her father and Edna, she's going to integrate the show.....without denting her 'do!

2007-09-09T01:04:00.001+10:00

Once, by John Carney

The Guy works part-time helping his father, who runs a small, vacuum cleaner repair business, but dreams of having his songs recorded and landing a record deal. His girlfriend has recently left him and gone to London, and he is still coming to grips with that loss and is emotionally vulnerable. One day while busking on Dublin's Grafton Street, he meets the Girl, an East European immigrant who has moved to Dublin to start a new life for herself and currently works as a house cleaner in an upper-class residence.

2007-09-09T01:03:00.001+10:00

Spiral, by Koji Suzuki

Mitsuo Ando works as a pathologist and has performed hundreds of autopsies. When the body of an old school friend by the name of Ryuji Takamara arrives on his table, Ando unexplainably feels like the body is trying to send him a message. Ando’s personal problems have rendered him lonely and nearly friendless, and he soon finds himself becoming obsessive in a search for an explanation of Ryuji’s death. As he hunts for an answer he discovers more strange deaths - and a bizarre story which attribute them to a videotape that can kill…
Sequel to the massively influential novel RING. Far from sticking to the basic ideas of that first book, Suzuki flies off into even more bizarre territory of the weird and wonderful. Mainly the weird. If you found the idea of a videotape that can kill hard to swallow, then you better stay away from SPIRAL.

2007-09-09T01:02:00.000+10:00

Grease, by Randal Kleiser

What, you haven't seen it? Danny is the 'coolest' of the T Birds, a group of High School guys; they hang out with the Pink Ladies. Danny met Sandy during the summer holiday and now she's moved to the area and to his school, Rydell High. Sandy doesn't fit in with the 'cool' scene, and the Pink ladies, "Look at me I'm Sandra Dee, Blessed with my virginity" sings Rizzo, the Pink Ladies leader. A rival gang Scorpians wants to race the T Birds car ("Go Greased Lightening ..."). Also there's a National Dance TV show coming to Rydall High ... There are a couple of rival suitors to Sandy and Danny, to liven the relationship up. And 'oh yes' - Graduation.

2007-09-09T01:01:00.001+10:00

Saturday Night Fever, by John Badham

Travolta plays Tony Manero, a Brooklyn paint-store clerk who'd give anything to break out of his dead-end existence. In life, Tony is a peasant; on the disco dance floor, he's a king. As the soundtrack plays one Bee Gees hit after another, we watch white-suited Tony strut his stuff amidst flashing lights and sweaty, undulating bodies. Tony's class aspirations are mirrored in his relationship with his dance partner, Stephanie, a secretary eager to move into the glamorous world of Manhattan. Saturday Night Fever's huge success grew meteorically thanks to the towering popularity of its soundtrack; during the first half of 1978, when the movie's disco songs saturated the singles charts up to four at a time, it was no longer clear whether the hit movie was feeding the hit songs or the hit songs were feeding the hit movie. This crossover between music and movies set the pace for many movies to come, as it also marked the rise and fall of 1970s disco culture.

2007-09-07T21:52:00.000+10:00

Blind Fight, by John Furse

Keenan and McCarthy spent 4.5 years confined together, held underground for much of their captivity, at times chained to each other and to the walls of their prisons. The two men, who could easily have found themselves at opposite ends of a gun barrel in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, instead forged a relationship which transcended all that appeared to divide them. "Blind Flight" tells the story of this compelling relationship as they both resurrect their deepest memories, feelings, fears and loves. In their near biblical journey they uncover many of the forces which made them blind and captive human beings prior to their physical captivity. They finally discover a compassion for their captors which makes the film a 'love story' in the fullest and most humanistic sense.

2007-09-07T21:51:00.000+10:00

Oliver Twist, by David Lean (1948)

Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. Oliver is taken in by the pickpocket and he joins a household of young boys who are trained to steal for their master. This version of Oliver Twist is topped by Alec Guinness's masterly performance of arch-thug Fagin.

2007-08-27T20:20:00.001+10:00

No Reservations, by Scott Hicks

For story & plot see "Mostly Martha" [English title for "Bella Martha"], a delightful 2001 German film set in Hamburg about an accomplished female [single] chef who suddenly, tragically finds herself the guardian of her dead sister's young daughter... The original film is excellent and most charming.

2007-08-18T20:21:00.001+10:00

Elephant, by Gus Van Sant

The movie starts as a car has a hard time driving straight down the road in a residential area. We think some kid has stolen this car. Nah. It's the dad driving his son to school, and he's drunk. The teenage son must take over. So, adults give up all responsibility towards their children and mayhem can take place. The film shows one day in the life of several teenage students as they go in and out of classes. They live their student lives and we follow their steps through the corridors and doors, taking them as guides one by one, like avatars in a giant video game.

2007-08-12T16:41:00.000+10:00

Amazing Grace, by Michael Apted

Behind the song you love is a story you will never forget.

Amazing Grace is about the campaign against the slave trade in 18th century Britain, led by famous abolitionist William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the film also recounts John Newton's writing of the hymn.

2007-08-08T22:11:00.001+10:00

And Now… Ladies and Gentlemen, by Claude Lelouch

A jazz singer and a British jewel thief are brought together by their mutual desire to forget the past.

Valentin is a criminal mastermind, but his exploits don't prove much in the way of satisfaction. Thus, he sets out on a one-man sailing trip around the world in a last attempt at finding meaning in his life. Meanwhile, in Morocco, a burned-out jazz singer named Jane is trying to forget a fizzled love affair. And so begins the journey of these two lost souls who are destined to cross paths.

2007-08-02T22:22:00.001+10:00

Pink Flamingos, by John Waters

One of the most vile, stupid and repulsive films ever made.

Sleaze queen Divine lives in a caravan with her mad hippie son Crackers and her 250-pound mother Mama Edie, trying to rest quietly on their laurels as 'the filthiest people alive'. But competition is brewing in the form of Connie and Raymond Marble, who sell heroin to schoolchildren and kidnap and impregnate female hitchhikers, selling the babies to lesbian couples. Finally, they challenge Divine directly, and battle commences...

2007-08-02T22:15:00.000+10:00

Sex and the City, by Liz Tucillo

A sensuous and ironic sitcom about four young, desirable, virtually inseparable New York bachelor girls who lead and confide in each-other their ever changing and confusing sex lives, as different as their natures. Carrie Bradshaw is a charming petite columnist, and often the narrator of the story, either writing her copy or off screen, constantly tossing up and rejecting different views on just about anything that does or might impact modern women's sex lives; she tries almost everything, is constantly disappointed, but always seems to return to a certain Mr. Big. Miranda Hobbes is a red-hair lawyer determined to score professionally and to be though in love to, yet her only faithful lover is an insecure nerd. Charlotte York is a gallery-managing wasp from a prestigious, super-rich family, with high old-fashioned moral standards for her lovable but insecure self but unfortunately almost impossible to live up to for any lover, whenever she can find a socially acceptable one. Samantha Jones is every feminist's hero, and the utterly unashamed voice of lust at their meetings: an acclaimed PR agent and unstoppable nymphomaniac man-eater who can flirt the pants off almost any man (often literally and fast) and always feels like more, without a hint of commitment, claiming this is the age for woman to do what men always did to them.

2007-07-28T22:31:00.000+10:00

Transformers, by Michael Bay

Their war. Our world.

More than meets the eye...

High-school student Sam Witwicky buys his first car, who is actually the Autobot Bumblebee. Bumblebee defends Sam and his girlfriend Mikaela Banes from the Decepticon Barricade, before the other Autobots arrive on Earth. They are searching for the Allspark, and the war on Earth heats up as the Decepticons attack a United States military base in Qatar. Sam and Mikaela are taken by the top-secret agency Sector 7 to help stop the Decepticons, but when they learn the agency also intends to destroy the Autobots, they formulate their own plan to save the world.

2007-07-28T22:30:00.001+10:00

Single White Female, by Barbet Schroeder

An attractive, successful woman living in New York City breaks up with her boyfriend and decides to ease her recovery by getting a new roommate. The young woman who moves in changes slowly from normal and supportive to psychotic and dangerous, while also physically transforming herself to appear more and more like her roommate.

2007-07-23T21:51:00.001+10:00

Beaches, by Garry Marshall

When the New York child performer CC Bloom and San Fransisco rich kid Hillary meet in a holiday resort in Atlantic City, it marks the start of a lifetime friendship between them. The two keep in touch through letters for a number of years until Hillary, now a successful lawyer moves to New York to stay with struggling singer CC. The movie shows the various stages of their friendship and their romances including their love for the same man.

2007-07-21T01:47:00.000+10:00

Soul, by Tobsha Learner

In 1860, seventeen–year–old Lavinia Huntington is transported from her Irish village to start a new life in Mayfair, London, as the wife of a gentleman anthropologist, thirty years her senior. A year later she is standing trial for his murder.
In modern–day Los Angeles, forty–year–old Professor Julia Huntington, geneticist, returns from a field trip to Afghanistan. She has received a prestigious commission from the US Defence Department to research a genetic propensity to kill without remorse. At the same time, she discovers that her husband has betrayed her terribly.
This is a story that crosses generations, a story of two women and their struggle with obsessive love and revenge. Part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, part commentary on genetics and human behaviour, sexual jealousy and betrayal, Soul is both provocative and unputdownable.

2007-07-21T01:43:00.000+10:00

The Stepford Wives, by Frank Oz

Joanna Eberhart, a wildly succesful president of a TV Network, after a series of shocking events suffers a nervous breakdown and is moved by her milquetoast of a husband, Walter, from Manhattan to the chic, upper-class and very modern planned community of Stepford, Connecticut. Once there, she makes good friends with the ascerbic Bobbie Markowitz, a jewish writer who's also a recovering alcoholic. Together they find out, much to their growing stupor and-then horror, that all the housewives in town are strangely blissful, and somehow... doomed. What is going on behind the closed doors of the Stepford Men's Association and the Stepford Day Spa? Why is everything perfect here? Will it be too late for Joanna and Bobbie when they finally find out?

2007-07-09T23:47:00.001+10:00

Panic, by Jeff Abbott

What if everything in your life was a lie?

Things are going well for 24 year-old Evan Casher: his career as a documentary filmmaker is booming and his relationship with his new girlfriend, Carrie, couldn't be better. After an urgent phone call from his mother, he makes an unexpected trip home to Austin. Then the unthinkable happens. He arrives to find his mother brutally murdered, and narrowly escapes an attempt on his own life. Spirited away from the scene by an enigmatic mercenary with an agenda of his own, Evan is confronted with a shocking fact: his entire life has been little more than a carefully constructed lie.

Evan's only hope for survival is to uncover the truth about his family's past... and to confront a powerful, ruthless organization of killers who will stop at nothing to keep old secrets buried. With his mother's attackers fast on his heels and with no one to trust—not the authorities, his father, nor the woman he loves—it's a perilous search that takes him from the Texas Hill Country to New Orleans, to London, and to Miami. Full of unforgettable characters and jolting plot twists, Panic is an emotionally charged, heart-stopping thriller about one man's determination to take back his stolen life.

2007-07-03T18:40:00.000+10:00

28 Weeks Later, by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Seven months after the rage virus has annihilated the British Isles, the US army declares that the war against infection has been won, and that the reconstruction of the country can begin. In the first wave of returning refugees, a family is reunited--but one of them unwillingly carries a terrible secret. The virus is not yet dead, and this time, it is more dangerous than ever.

2007-07-01T23:53:00.000+10:00

The Witch of Cologne, by Tobsha Learner

From the author of the sensational and erotic bestseller Quiver… An epic love story of the 17th century.

This is the story of Ruth Elazar ben Saul, a Jewish midwife who returns to her home of Deutz outside Cologne. Imbued with the radical ideas of Spinoza and with ancient Hebrew Kabbalism, her revolutionary methods of dealing with illness lead to accusations of witchcraft and imprisonment.
Her love affair with Detleff von Tennen, a local Catholic bishop, may save her in the short term, but at a time of brutal repression and religious persecution there are few options for those who break taboos.

2007-07-01T23:52:00.001+10:00

Shrek The third, by Chris Miller

When his new father-in-law, King Harold falls ill, Shrek is looked at as the heir to the land of Far, Far Away. Not one to give up his beloved swamp, Shrek recruits his friends Donkey and Puss in Boots to install the rebellious Artie as the new king. Princess Fiona, however, rallies a band of royal girlfriends to fend off a coup d'etat by the jilted Prince Charming.

2007-06-24T00:18:00.001+10:00

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.

2007-06-21T20:04:00.000+10:00

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.

2007-06-17T19:22:00.000+10:00

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."

2007-06-17T19:19:00.000+10:00

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.

2007-06-14T21:10:00.000+10:00

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.

2007-06-03T22:28:00.000+10:00

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.

2007-05-25T19:22:00.000+10:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (III),
by Gore Verbinski

At the End of the World, the Adventure Begins.

After Elizabeth, Will, and Captain Barbossa rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from the clutches of the Kraken, they must face their foes, Davey Jones and Lord Cutler Beckett. Beckett, now with control of Jones' heart, forms a dark alliance with him in order to rule the seas and wipe out the last of the Pirates. Now, Jack, Barbossa, Will, Elizabeth, Tia Delma, and crew must call the Pirate Lords from the four corners of the globe, including the infamous Sao Feng, to a gathering that will make their final stand against Beckett, Jones, Norrington, the Flying Dutchman, and the entire East India Trading Company.

2007-05-21T20:40:00.000+10:00

2007-05-17T18:25:00.000+10:00

2007-05-13T20:16:00.000+10:00

Voss, by Patrick White

The plot of this novel is of epic simplicity: in 1845 Voss sets out with a small band to cross the Australian continent for the first time. The tragic story of their terrible journey and its inevitable end is told with imaginative understanding.
The figure of Voss takes on superhuman proportions, until he appears to those around him as both deliverer and destroyer. His relationship with Laura Trevelyan is central personal theme of the story.
The true record of Ludwig Leichardt, who died in the Australian desert in 1848, suggested Voss to the author.

Patrick White was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1973.

2007-05-13T19:54:00.000+10:00

Disturbia, by D.J. Caruso

After his father's death, Kale Brecht becomes sullen, withdrawn, and troubled -- so much so that he finds himself under a court-ordered sentence of house arrest after a run in with the law. His mother, Julie, works night and day to support herself and her son, only to be met with indifference and lethargy. The walls of his house begin to close in on Kale. He becomes a voyeur as his interests turn outside the windows of his suburban home towards those of his neighbors, one of which Kale begins to suspect is a serial killer. But, are his suspicions merely the product of cabin fever and his overactive imagination?

2007-05-13T19:50:00.000+10:00

Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

The movie debut focuses on the horrifying, sometimes unintentionally funny system of observation in the former East Germany. In the early 1980s, the successful dramatist Georg Dreyman and his longtime companion Christa-Maria Sieland, a popular actress, are big intellectual stars in the socialist state, although they secretly don't always think loyal to the party line. One day, the Minister of Culture becomes interested in Christa, so the secret service agent Wiesler is instructed to observe and sound out the couple, but their life fascinates him more and more...