page index:
an education • bliss • mary and max • fresh • the fall • rabbit proof fence • as it is in heaven • Howl's moving castle • dessert of forbidden art • The Namesake • inside job • bride flight

Monday December 26, 2011

Bride Flight

syposis:

A romantic drama that charts the lives of three women from different backgrounds, forever changed when they emigrate to New Zealand as war brides. Source: IMDb.com

reviews:

• A nostalgic glimpse into tangled destinies. – Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate It does everything but hand viewers a glass of white wine, light candles and draw them a bath. – Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
• Lovely scenery and historical context elevate the sentimental story lines above the soap opera domain. – Stephanie Merry, Washington Post

details:

Directed by Ben Sombogaart. Starring Karina Smulders, Anna Drijver and Elise Schaap.
130 minutes. 2008 release. Rated R for a strong sex scene and some graphic nudity.

trailer:

Bride Flight

Monday November 28, 2011

Inside Job

Synopsis:

Takes a closer look at what brought about the financial meltdown. Source: IMDb.com
This film is shown in partnership with Occupy Rapid City.

Reviews:

• This scathing expose should be enough to alarm people all over the political spectrum. – Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
• This is a compelling documentary that will have you leaving the cinema absolutely seething. – Simon Reynolds, Digital Spy
• Inside Job tackles the mess head-on with a kind of bitter pragmatism, reconstructing the system that failed and circling its weak spots. – Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

Details:

Directed by Charles Ferguson. Starring Matt Damon, William Ackman and Daniel Alpert.
120 minutes. 2010 release. Rated PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material.

Trailer:

Inside Job

Monday October 31, 2011

The Namesake

Synopsis:

American-born Gogol, the son of Indian immigrants, wants to fit in among his fellow New Yorkers, despite his family’s unwillingness to let go of their traditional ways. Source: IMDb.com.

Reviews:

• Intelligent and insightful, The Namesake celebrates family in a unique way. – Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
• A fascinating and gripping drama on the search for identity… – Felix Vasquez Jr., Cinema Crazed
• A magnificent meditation on what it might mean for many immigrants to be American in the 21st century. – Kam Williams, NewsBlaze

Details:

122 minutes. 2006 release. Rated PG-13 for sexuality/nudity, a scene of drug use, some disturbing images and brief language. Directed by Mira Nair. Starring Kal Penn, Irrfan Khan and Tabu.

trailer:

The Namesake (IMDb)

September 26, 2011

Desert of Forbidden Art

Synopsis:

Directed by Tchavdar Georgiev and Amanda Pope. Starring Edward Asner, Sally Field and Ben Kingsley. Risking being denounced as an ‘enemy of the people,’ Igor Savitsky rescues 40,000 forbidden fellow artists’ works and creates in a far desert of Soviet Uzbekistan a museum now worth millions. Source: IMDb.com

Reviewers' Comments:

• A great art-history tale becomes a good but less-than-remarkable film. – Eric Monder, Film Journal International
• A remarkable story of heroism and of defiance of tyranny. – Mark R. Leeper, Mark Leeper’s Reviews
• It’s a must-see for anyone interested in art. – Ernest Hardy, Village Voice

Details:

80 minutes. 2010 release.

Trailer:

From YouTube

August 29, 2011

Howl's Moving Castle

Synopsis:

When an unconfident young woman is cursed with an old body by a spiteful witch, her only chance of breaking the spell lies with a self-indulgent yet insecure young wizard and his companions in his legged, walking home. Source: IMDb.com Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Starring Chieko Baishô, Takuya Kimura and Tatsuya Gashûin.

Reviewer's comments:

• So richly detailed and colorful that one almost aches from the beauty. – Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle
• If you’ve yet to take the anime plunge, this is a fine place to start; if you’re an old hand, you will not be disappointed. – Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
• A stunning example of a pure, disorienting dream logic that cinema provides all too rarely. – Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out

details:

119 minutes. 2004 release. Japanese. Rated PG for frightening images and brief mild language.

trailer:

From YouTube

July 27, 2011

as it is in heaven

Synopsis:

A successful international conductor suddenly interrups his career and returns alone to his childhood village in Norrland, in the far north of Sweden.It doesn't take long before he is asked to come and listen to the fragment of a church choir, which practises every Thursday in the parish hall. Just come along and give a little bit of good advice. He can't say no, and from that moment, nothing in the village is the same again. The choir develops and grows. He makes both friends and enemies. And he finds love. (Written by Sonet Film)

Reviewers’ Comments:

• Not a movie for cynics. —James O'Ehley. SA Movie & DVD Magazine.
• Internationally famous conductor Daniel Dareus (Michael Myquist) goes from being a big fish in a big pond to being a big fish in a small pond when he returns to his childhood village in search of peace and rest. But he stirs up painful memories and jealousies, when he takes on the role of choir master in the tiny community. The choir is a platform for bringing characters together but also for revealing the chasms within the village and within relationships. The rural setting underlines the isolation of the village, focusing the drama to its very core elements: the nature - and the danger - of community.
  The danger ranges from domestic violence to intolerance of all kinds, often seething under the surface of genteel neighbourliness.
  But the screenplay digs somewhat deeper still when the pastor's wife Inger (Ingela Olsson) confronts her husband (Niklas Falk) with her buried secret of 20 years: she doesn't believe there is sin ... it's an invention of the church, so it can offer absolution. The confrontation is triggered by the sweeping changes that Daniel's passion for music has brought to the community. And feelings about religion are not the only kind she has repressed ...
  The ructions make for gripping drama on a human scale, something Swedish cinema has always excelled at. The title brackets the basic human need for happiness and its spiritual equivalent, themes with which the film deals in subtle but powerful ways. Director Kay Pollak, who co-wrote the screenplay, handles the material with the maturity equal to his years (66 when he made the film in 2004), balancing humour and drama with a deft touch, and weaving in the healing of romance through Daniel falling in love with the vibrant and sensitive Lena (Frida Hallgren). Some may find the melodramatic ending is unsuited to the film's tone, but might well forgive that one negative, given the many pluses. — Andrew L. Urban. Urban Cinefile.
  

Details:

Sweden: 132 min. Not Rated (Please see iMDB's Parental Guide).

TRAILER:

External movie link at madman.com.au

May 30th, 2011

The Fall

Synopsis:

At a Los Angeles hospital in the 1920s, Alexandria is a child recovering from a broken arm. She befriends Roy Walker, a movie stunt man with legs paralyzed after a fall. At her request, Roy tells her an elaborate story about six men of widely varied backgrounds who are on a quest to kill a corrupt provincial governor. Between chapters of the story, Roy inveigles Alexandria to scout the hospital's pharmacy for morphine. As Roy's fantastic tale nears its end, Death seems close at hand.

Reviewers’ Comments:

• “Enjoyable, well acted and visually stunning fantasy drama that is sure to divide audiences but is unlike anything else you'll see all year.”
  – Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
• “Something like a Sir David Lean epic crossed with trippy offshoots of tall tales of Zorro, Ali Baba and Pecos Bill rolled into one, The Fall is a sun-kissed companion to Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth. A brilliant follow-up from Tarsem Singh.”
  – Nick Rogers, Suite101.com
• “Beguiling, befuddling, brilliant. It's sure to divide audiences but, for all its ocular opulence and wild fantasy, at heart The Fall is a tender, touching tale about childhood, hope and the power of story.”
  – Nev Pierce, Total Film
  

Details:

117 min. 2006 release. Rated R for some violent images.

TRAILER:

The Fall

April 25, 2011

fresh

Synopsis:

“Fresh” is a reflection of a rising movement of people and communities across America who are re-inventing our food system. “Fresh” celebrates the food architects who offer a practical vision of a new food paradigm and consumer access to it. Encouraging individuals to take matters into their own hands, “Fresh” is a guide that empowers people to take an array of actions as energetic as planting urban gardens and creating warm composts from food waste, and as simple as buying locally-grown products and preserving or freezing seasonal produce to eat later in the year.

Reviewers’ Comments:

• "Where FRESH departs from FOOD, INC, The Omnivore's Dilemma, and most other food documentaries of late, is that FRESH is downright hopeful." – FairFoodFight.com
• "We all know about the problems with the American food system, but what about the solutions? FRESH is a bracing, even exhilarating look at the whole range of efforts underway to renovate the way we grow food and feed ourselves." – Michael Pollan
• "FRESH is just that — an upbeat and wonderfully fresh look at our food system and how to make it work better for the health of humans and the planet. It’s a must see for everyone who eats." – Marion Nestle

Details:

72 min. In color. 2009 release. This film is not rated.

TRAILER:

Fresh

March 28, 2011

mary and max

synopsis:

Spanning 20 years and 2 continents, MARY AND MAX tells of a pen-pal relationship between two very different people: Mary Dinkle (Collette), a chubby, lonely 8-year-old living in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia; and Max Horovitz (Hoffman), a severely obese, 44-year-old Jewish man with Asperger’s Syndrome living in the chaos of New York City.

As MARY AND MAX chronicles Mary’s trip from adolescence to adulthood, and Max’s passage from middle to old age, it explores a bond that survives much more than the average friendship’s ups-and-downs. Like Elliot and Coombs’ Oscar® winning animated short HARVIE KRUMPET, MARY AND MAX is both hilarious and poignant as it takes us on a journey that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, sexual differences, trust, copulating dogs, religious differences, agoraphobia and many more of life’s surprises.

REVIEWERS' COMMENTS:

• "The themes are nicely complemented by Elliot's animation style, which is full of wonky cityscapes and misshapen characters, something that gives this oddball story a lovely, tactile, handcrafted feel. —November 1, 2010. Alistair Harkness Scotsman.
• "In a perverse and often immature way, it forthrightly deals with mature issues of love, friendship, forgiveness and mental health. It requires a mature audience, but an audience nonetheless". November 20, 2009. —Peter Howell. Toronto Star
• "Remarkable and poignant...". —September 25, 2009. Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times.
• "This tale of two outsiders is lovingly rendered in traditional claymation and Elliot's expressive creations are wonderfully brought to life…" —October 21, 2010. John Ferguson. Radio Times.

awards

• 2009 World Premiere - Opening Night Film. Sundance Film Festival..
• 2009 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Feature Film Award.
• 2009 Asia Pacific Screen Awards.
• 2009 Australian Directors Guild.
• 2009 Australian Film Institute.
• 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. Crystal Bear - Special Mention.
• 2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival. Grand Prize.

interesting bits:

• The postage stamps in the film used by Mary feature an image of Dame Edna Everage, a character played by comedian Barry Humphries, who also narrates the film.
• One Tomb Stone over from Ruby's reads "R.I.P. Adam Elliot", the writer/director of the film.
• The street, Lamington Drive, is a play on words: Lamingtons are an Australian cake. They are sometimes used in fund-raising activities by schools and other organizations, whereby they are sold in bulk. Such activities are referred to as 'Lamington Drives'.
• The cat shelter that Ivy leaves her money to is named after T.S. Eliot, the author of 'Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'.

DETAILS:

Genre Animated feature Director/Writer Adam Elliot Producer Melanie Coombs Cast Toni Collette (Mary), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Max), Barry Humphries (The Narrator) and Eric Bana (Damien). Introducing Bethany Whitmore as young Mary. Running Time 92 mins.

TRAILER:

Mary and Max (IMDb)

February 28, 2011

bliss

synopsis:

When 17-year-old Meryem is found disheveled and unconscious by the side of a lake in the countryside, her family believes the worst – that her chastity has been lost. They turn to the ancient principle of "tore," a strict moral code that condemns Meryem to death. The duty of upholding the family's honor falls upon a distant cousin, Cemal, who has just completed a brutal tour in the military. Together they embark on a surprising journey across traditional and modern-day Turkey.

REVIEWERS' COMMENTS:

• “Lovely, swirling cinematography and the novelist's own emotive score help gloss over stereotypes and some clunky melodrama. Realistic touches overall make it satisfying.” —Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com.
• “A powerful and absorbing drama, built upon strong production values and heartbreakingly authentic performances.” —Mike Scott, Times-Picayune
• “An engrossing, tender and compelling drama boasting exquisite cinematography and a radiant performance by the beautiful Ozgu Namal.” —Avi Offer, NYC Movie Viewer

DETAILS:

Details: Unrated. 106 min. In color. In Turkish with English subtitles. 2007 release.

TRAILER:

Bliss (IMDb)

January 31, 2011

an education

synopsis:

The young British actress Carey Mulligan delivers a spectacular performance in this month's Voices of the Heartland film, "An Education". Set in the 1960's, this coming-of-age story shows a 16 year-old girl on a fast track to Oxford, but derailed by the attentions of a smooth-talking man more than twice her age. She has to decide whether what she learns about this man and his way of life are appealing enough for her to reshape her life plans.

REVIEWERS' COMMENTS:

• "The combination of a literate script, an adroit cast and an economical style is simple addition that achieves an alchemical feat: the best film of the year." —Joe Williams, ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
• "The screenplay by author Nick Hornby is exceptional: Witty, observant and wise." —Bob Bloom, LAFAYETTER, (IN) JOURNAL AND COURIER
• "One of the year's best." —Christy Lemire, ASSOCIATED PRESS
• "This cinematic gem is an ironclad lock to be nominated for best picture of the year." —Keith Cohen, ENTERTAINMENT SPECTRUM
• One of 2009's finest motion pictures -- an open and honest look at sexual politics and a woman's place in the world during the early 1960s. —James Berardinelli, REELNEWS
• A beguiling little film that, with deceptive restraint and forthrightness, opens up worlds of roiling, contradictory emotions. —Ann Hornaday, WASHINGTON POST
• An Education is just what the title promises, and a delight, as well. —Bill Goodykoontz, ARIZONA REPUBLIC

AWARDS:

• 3 Oscar nominations (Best film, best actress, best screenplay)
• Won BAFTA Film Award Won British Independent Film Award
• Won Chicago Films Critics Association Award
• Another 15 wins and 45 nominations
• National Board of Review
• British Independent Film Award
• Washington DC Film Critics Association
• Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Association
• Utah Film Critics Association
• Houston Film Critics Society

DETAILS:

100 min. 2009 release. Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexual content, and for smoking. In English. In color.

TRAILER:

An Education

We encourage suggestions for future showings from our audience.