The Tenant, 1976. Directed by Roman Polanski.Starring Roman Polanski, Isabelle Adjani, Melvyn Douglas, and Shelley Winters. SYNOPSIS:  A bureaucrat rents a Paris apartment where he finds himself drawn into a rabbit hole of dangerous paranoia. One of Roman Polanski’s recurring motifs has always been the horror of the apartment space. It was as recently as […]

Milius, 2013. Directed by Joey Figueroa and Zak Knutson. SYNOPSIS: A look at the life of filmmaker John Milius. If you stopped members of the public and mentioned the name John Milius they wouldn’t have a ruddy clue who you were talking about – even helping them by throwing a clue of, “He works in […]

Streets of Fire, 1984. Directed by Walter Hill.Starring Willem Dafoe, Michael Paré, Diane Lane, Rick Moranis, Bill Paxton and Mykelti Williamson. SYNOPSIS: A mercenary goes after his ex-girlfriend, a singer who has been kidnapped by a gang. By prefacing the film with the words “another time, another place…” Walter Hill allows himself the freedom to […]

The Counselor, 2013. Directed by Ridley Scott.Starring Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt. SYNOPSIS: A slick lawyer gets in over his head after becoming involved in drug trafficking to ease his financial difficulties. Cameron Diaz removes her underwear and slowly steps out of the bright yellow Ferrari. She climbs onto […]

Lasting, 2013. Written and Directed by Jacek Borcuch.Starring Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina, Juan Jose Ballesta, Joanna Kulig and Andrzej Chyra. SYNOPSIS: Polish students Michal and Karina are falling in love and enjoying a carefree summer in idyllic rural Spain until an unexpected nightmare throws their lives into chaos. In a roundabout sense, Jacek […]

Norte, the End of History (Philippines: Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan) , 2013. Directed by Lav Diaz.Starring Archie Alemania, Angeli Bayani, Soliman Cruz, Miles Canapi, Sid Lucero and Hazel Orencio. SYNOPSIS: A man is wrongly jailed for murder while the real killer roams free. The murderer is an intellectual frustrated with his country’s never-ending cycle of […]

Gloria, 2013. Directed by Sebastián Lelio.Starring Paulina Garcia, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla and Fabiola Zamora. SYNOPSIS: A story set in Santiago and centered on Gloria, a free-spirited older woman, and the realities of her whirlwind relationship with a former naval officer whom she meets out in the clubs. A lot of geriatricomedies – so-called ‘comedies’ […]

After Lucia (Spanish: Después de Lucía), 2012. Directed by Michel Franco.Starring Tessa Ía González Norvind, Gonzalo Vega Sisto, Tamara Yazbek Bernal, Hernán Mendoza, Paloma Cervantes and Juan Carlos Barranco.  SYNOPSIS: After the tragic death of his wife, a father and his daughter move to Mexico City looking for a fresh start only to find that starting […]

Harakiri (Japan: Seppuku), 1962. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi.Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Ishihama, Shima Iwashita, Rentaro Mikuni, Kei Sato and Tetsuro Tanba. SYNOPSIS: An elder ronin samurai arrives at a feudal lord’s home and requests an honorable place to commit suicide. But when the ronin inquires about a younger samurai who arrived before him things take […]

Dom Hemingway, 2013. Written and Directed by Richard Shepard.Starring Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demian Bichir, Emilia Clarke, Jumayn Hunter, Madalina Diana Ghenea, Kerry Condon, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Jordan A. Nash. SYNOPSIS: After spending 12 years in prison for keeping his mouth shut, notorious safe-cracker Dom Hemingway is back on the streets of London looking […]