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Tales from EarthseaGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 03/08/2011 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2006 Run Time: 115 mins Released By: Walt Disney Home Video Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Timothy Dalton, Junichi Okada, Matt Levin, Blaire Restaneo Animator Goro Miyazaki, son of the famous Hayao Miyazaki ("The Walt Disney of Japan"), makes his directorial debut with the animated feature TALES FROM EARTHSEA (aka GEDO SENKI). Miyazaki loosely adapted the work from the third and fourth volumes in best-selling sci-fi author Ursula K. Le Guin's infamous series of cult novels -- all set in Earthsea, a Tolkien-esque fantasy realm. GEDO SENKI opens at a point when Earthsea is deteriorating rapidly, and the power of magic is waning -- tendencies signaled by the sudden, frightening reappearance of dragons in the land of humankind. Ged Sparrowhawk was once a lowly goat herder but is now known as Lord Archmage, the most powerful of all wizards. He soon meets Prince Arren of Enlad -- a teenage boy chased by a "shadow," the force that is tipping the world out of balance and driving innumerable people to the point of insanity. The men team up and journey to Hort Town, the Earthsea capital city, where they find the entire community turned upside down -- craftsmen have abandoned their trades, slavery runs rampant, addicts clamor in the streets. They ultimately find refuge in the priestess Tenar's palace, also occupied by the scarred orphan girl Therru. While the latter initially avoids Arren in fear of his "dark side," Arren bides his time in the nearby fields, being mentored by Ged on the balance of creation. Therru eventually opens up to Arren, but he grows increasingly disturbed by nightmares about being chased by the shadow, and his daytime fear of it grows absolutely overwhelming. Ged then discovers that the cause of the kingdom-wide "imbalance" is actually his old arch nemesis, the wizard Cob, who has opened up the gateway between the living and the dead, and hopes to attain eternal life, meanwhile plotting to murder Ged in vengeance for an act he committed long ago. In fear of his evil self, Arren absconds from Tenar's palace -- actively fleeing from the shadow -- but ultimately faints and turns up at the castle of … more less -
Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/04/2004 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 1999 Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, Ziyi Zhang, Sihung Lung Known for making films about familial relationships, director Ang Lee surprised everyone with his martial arts epic CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. Based on a novel by Wang Du Lu, CROUCHING TIGER starts with the revenge plot common in the wuxia stories that Lee loved as a child, then adds a feminist twist. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun Fat) is a legendary martial artist who has decided to pass on his sword, the Green Destiny, to a friend. Soon afterward, the sword is stolen by a masked female, setting in motion events that test the bonds of family, love, duty, and sisterhood. Chow appears with three generations of female stars: Cheng Pei Pei, a 1960s action heroine; Michelle Yeoh, the beauty queen turned 1980s action goddess; and newcomer Zhang Ziyi, who smolders as the princess who wants more than domestic tranquillity. Famed action choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping (THE MATRIX) stages jaw-dropping zero-G fights across rooftops, rivers, and bamboo trees, while Yo-Yo Ma punctuates the fisticuffs with dramatic cello solos. Described by Lee as "SENSE AND SENSIBILITY with martial arts," CROUCHING TIGER recalls the best wuxia films of the 1960s and pushes the genre in new directions. … more less -
Triplets of Belleville, TheGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/04/2004 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2003 Run Time: 80 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Jean-Paul Donda, Michael Robin, Monica Viegas In this animated French film, a boy named Champion trains relentlessly for the Tour de France, with the help of his loyal grandmother and overweight dog, Bruno (who loves to bark at passing trains). When the big race comes, Champion and a few of his fellow racers are kidnapped by some box-shouldered thugs who spirit them off to Belleville (a surreal impression of 1930s-1950s Manhattan) where they are forced to pedal as part of a clandestine gambling operation. Bruno and Grandma set out across the sea in a paddle boat to rescue their boy, but once ashore they soon become lost, hungry and penniless--that is, until the frog-eating Triplets of Belleville, former scat-singing jazz prodigies turned experimental musicians, come to their rescue. Filled with inspired, twisted imagery, this nearly dialogue-free film is a crowd-pleaser of unusual power, with the strange, measured pacing of a dream, and a great soundtrack of bizarre, alternate-reality '30s jazz. It also offers a touching and believable evocation of a dog's life. A great throwback to the time before animation became dominated by CGI effects, TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE is a very strange, very loving, and very French salute to obsession, affection, and persistence. … more less -
Final InquiryGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 02/19/2008 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2007 Run Time: 112 mins Released By: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Cast: Daniele Liotti, Dolph Lundgren, Hristo Shopov, Mónica Cruz Following a solar eclipse that coincides with a series of earthquakes, Roman emperor Tiberius asks investigator Tito Valerio Tauro for help in finding out what caused these natural phenomena to occur at the same time. What Tito finds are clues concerning the possible resurrection of a Jewish rabbi. … more less -
Tokyo RaidersGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 03/05/2002 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2000 Run Time: 100 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Ekin Cheng, Kelly Chan, Hiroshi Abe, Toru Nakamura After being stood up at the altar, a beautiful model searches through Tokyo for her missing fiancé. Along the way she meets a disgruntled interior decorator and a private investigator (Tony Leung) on the same search. The three must fight off the Yakuza and learn the truth about the missing man. TOKYO RAIDERS is an action-packed hit and one of the most exciting films to come from Hong Kong in recent years. … more less -
Twin DragonsGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/24/2011 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 1992 Run Time: 89 mins Released By: Miramax Echo Bridge Cast: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Teddy Robin Kwan, Anthony Chan It is a tradition in the Hong Kong film community for actors and directors to donate their time and the profits from a film in order to raise funds for various causes. TWIN DRAGONS was part of an effort of the Hong Kong Directors Guild to build a new headquarters. Ringo Lam and Hark Tsui split the director's job and Jackie Chan splits the lead in two by playing twins separated at birth. They are brought back together when the nonviolent concert pianist John Ma comes to Hong Kong and becomes involved in the life of his streetfighting twin, Boomer. Although it is conceived as a comedy and an obvious satire of Jean-Claude Van Damme's own twin brother film, DOUBLE IMPACT, there is plenty of action, including both car and boat chases. A complicated love story develops, with the usual mistaken identity problems, when Tammy (Nina Li Chi) and Barbara (Maggie Cheung) keep wondering why their boyfriend's personalities keep changing. Cheung, who is best known for her stunning performance in Wong Kar-Wai's IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, plays the foil to both characters with her usual sparkle. Chan provides the well-choreographed fights. Directors Lam, Tsui, and John Woo make cameo appearances. … more less -
12Genre: Foreign Films Release Date: 07/14/2009 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2007 Run Time: 159 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Classics Cast: Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergey Makovetsky, Sergey Garmash, Alexy Petrenko, Valentin Graft Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar, acclaimed director Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12 is an ambitious and enthralling dissection of the many personal and social quandaries facing modern-day Russia. Inspired by Sidney Lumet's 1957 classic, 12 ANGRY MEN, 12 opens with the closing arguments in the case of a Chechen teenager accused of murdering his adoptive Russian father. With the courthouse under construction, the 12 male jurors adjourn to a dilapidated school gym in order to deliberate the verdict. Certain of the teen’s guilt and eager to go back to their lives, the men launch a brief deliberation that leads to a unanimous show of hands. But when a soft-spoken Muscovite questions the haste of their judgment, the complexities of the case soon reveal themselves. So, too, do the complexities of each juror, from an anti-Semitic cab driver to a slick TV producer to a portly surgeon sympathetic to the teen’s war-torn upbringing. As day turns to night, the jurors find their once-certain conclusions turning the other way. But when the jury foreman (Mikhalkov) explains the potential consequences of their new consensus, the 12 must decide if the right verdict could be its own death sentence for the teen. Having won a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for BURNT BY THE SUN, Mikhalkov once again displays his mastery of drama and humor in a style that is theatrically, uniquely Russian. Dramatically charged and brilliantly acted, 12 is as much a statement about the importance of justice as it is a loving meditation on a country and a people still struggling to find their way forward. … more less -
Class, TheGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 08/11/2009 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2009 Run Time: 130 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: François Begaudeau, Nassim Amrabt, Laura Baquela, Cherif Bounaidja Rachedi, Juliette Demaille Winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, master French director Laurent Cantet's THE CLASS is an absorbing journey into a multicultural high school in Paris over the course of a school year. François Begaudeau--an actual teacher and the author upon whose work the film was based--is utterly convincing as François, an openminded teacher in charge of a classroom of youngsters from a wide variety of backgrounds. Of course, the mere fact that he's older and in a position of authority causes his students to challenge him on many occasions. François is stuck in the middle. In the teacher conferences, he butts heads with the harsher adults who don't appear to have any sympathy for their students. In class, his attempts to be lenient and understanding are somehow misinterpreted and he finds himself arguing with the kids that he so clearly wants to help. As the school year progresses, tensions rise, until François finds himself in a position he never imagined he'd be in. Unlike his more formally written early films like HUMAN RESOURCES and TIME OUT, Cantet proves that he has an ability to work in a more improvisational manner. Shooting on HD and working with a cast of young non-actors, he allows THE CLASS to breathe, resulting in a fictional drama that has the spirit and energy of a documentary. His startlingly assured ensemble brings the new, culturally diverse France of the early 21st century to striking life. … more less -
Dragon LordGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 05/10/2011 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 1982 Run Time: 94 mins Released By: Miramax Echo Bridge Cast: Jackie Chan, Hui-Min Chen, Hong-Yip Cheng, Chang Chung, Tai Do Dragon (Jackie) and his buddy Cowboy get mixed up in a plot to swipe some valuable Chinese antiques and are forced to kick butt. However, the real attraction here is a number of showstopping set pieces that involve Jackie and Cowboy playing some pretty demented versions of Badminton and Football, all while trying to win the heart of a local beauty. Known variously as YOUNG MASTER IN LOVE, DRAGON STRIKE, and DRAGON LORD, it is still a very worthy entry in the Jackie Chan canon. … more less -
Best Costume Design Double Feature: Moulin Rouge/The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the DesertGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 01/25/2011 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 1994 Cast: Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, Terence Stamp, Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce The gems in this double feature of outrageous Oscar winners took home the statuette for being fun and fabulous. Included here are Baz Lurhman’s MOULIN ROUGE as well as PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, starring Hugo Weaving. See individual titles for complete details. … more less -
Godzilla: The Series - Mutant MadnessGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 03/28/2006 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2006 Run Time: 65 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Brigitte Bako, Paget Brewster, Malcolm Danare, Kevin Dunn, Joe Pantoliano This animated series chronicles the further adventures of the characters from the 1998 U.S. remake of GODZILLA. In these episodes they face mutant mosquitoes, a rodent that can transform into a tornado, and genetically altered scorpions. … more less -
He Loves Me, He Loves Me NotGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 08/12/2003 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2003 Run Time: 96 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Cast: Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan, Isabelle Carré, Clément Sibony, Sophie Guillemin The title HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT is more ironic and telling than the unknowing viewer would dare to guess. A whimsical love story, yes it is. But its whimsy is short-lived and fades quickly to concentrate on the dark underbelly of relationships, emotional attachment, and the complexity of the human spirit. Audrey Tautou delivers a beguiling performance as Angelique, a lovely and passionate young art student. Having just received a grant to work on a series of new paintings, she rushes through her days busily working while always finding time to send secret gifts to her lover, Loic (Samuel Le Bihan). Loic is a successful cardiologist who is older and busier than Angelique. But that does not deter her dedication to him, or sway her to consider dating a classmate who says he's in love with her. Halfway through the film, writer-director Laetitia Colombani employs a narrative technique that changes everything, bringing a chilling flip side to the story. A creative and colorful work, with excellent supporting roles played by Isabelle Carre and Clement Sibony, HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME NOT is poised to pounce as a new entry in the romantic thriller genre. … more less -
Tokyo GodfathersGenre: Foreign Films Release Date: 04/13/2004 Rating PG-13 Production Year: 2004 Run Time: 91 mins Released By: Sony Pictures Home Thoroughly modern in its story, its characters, its urban Tokyo setting, its absurdly funny action sequences, and its understated and ironic self-mockery, TOKYO GODFATHERS is an anime gem from director Satoshi Kon (MILLENNIUM ACTRESS). It is a snowy Christmas in Tokyo and three homeless people--Hana, Gin, and Miyuki--who drift through the streets and alleyways of the city staying warm in the supermarkets and soup kitchens, make up a nontraditional family. Gin is a older man who once had a wife and daughter but lost them and spiraled downward into drinking and drifting. Hana is a flamboyant cross-dressing homosexual who dreams of having a baby. And Miyuki is just a kid--a young girl who ran away from home after a conflict with her father and is still battling familial demons. When the three motley but loving bums find a baby girl abandoned in the garbage on Christmas Eve, they know they've received a true gift. But in their attempts to return the baby to its real mother they go on a wild goose chase all over Tokyo solving mysteries, pursuing criminals, and all the while tackling their own personal problems. According to director Kon, the plot is based on the 1948 Western 3 GODFATHERS directed by John Ford. This immensely entertaining film features a jazzy score of electronic music, excellent illustrations, and superb character development. … more less
