Friday, December 30, 2005

JapAnime.

ruth & jeremy's choice:

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki.


Duration: 103 minutes

Mini
Review:
Rarely does a film touch so many hearts or reach
such artistic heights as the highly accliamed 'Kiki's
Delivery Service', the magical adventure of an enterprising
young girl who must follow tradition to become a full-fledged
witch. Venturing out, with only her chatty black cat Jiji, Kiki
flies off for the adventure of a lifetime. Landing in a far-off city,
she sets up a high-flying delivery service. Here begins a wonderful experience of independence and responsibility as she finds her place in the world.
Special
Notes:
DVD Special Features include; Alternative Angle Storyboards, Original Japanese Trailers, 'Ursula's Painting', Japanese Language with English Subtitles or English Language Option, Widescreen Version, .Zone 4.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Number two

ORLANDO (1991)
Directed by Sally Potter.
Can't copy and paste the blurb so those who are unfamiliar with the movie must look it up on Alice's web site for more information.
Audrey

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Two at Once

Hotere (2001)
Director: Merata Mita.
Starring: Ralph Hotere.
Duration: 82 minutes Country: New Zealand.
Mini
Review:
"Hotere" is a documentary about a complex man who is Aotearoa New Zealand's greatest living artist. Ralph Hotere is intensely creative and wildly innovative yet he has produced works of profound refinement and essential distillation. This film is about these works and his refusal to expound upon them. "There are very few things I can say about my work that are better than saying nothing." - Ralph Hotere.
Special
Notes:

Monday, December 19, 2005

And one from Daniel and Germany

Mostly Martha (2001) Mostly Martha
Director: Sandra Nettelbeck.
Starring: Martina Gedeck, Sergio Castellitto, Maxime Foerste.
Duration: 105 minutes Country: Germany.
Mini
Review:
Aka "Bella Martha". Martha is a single woman who lives for one passion: cooking. The head chef at a chic restaurant, Martha has no time for anything - or anyone - else. But Martha's solitary life is shaken when a fateful accident brings her sister's eight-year-old daughter, Lina, to her doorstep. As Martha struggles to care for her headstrong niece, the restaurant hires a charming and carefree Italian chef named Mario. Suspicious of Mario's intentions, Martha slowly discovers that he has a special recipe for living - one that will touch her home and her heart.













Sunday, December 11, 2005

A Ruthpick

1997, directed by Sally Potter.
Argentina, France, USA

Semi-autobiographical tale of director/star/writer and former dancer Sally Potter (director of "Orlando") who finds love and the meaning of life in the tango while living in Paris. Pablo Veron co-stars.









.




Thursday, December 08, 2005

Audrey's pick again

: Callas Forever (2002) Callas Forever
Director: Franco Zeffirelli.
Starring: Fanny Ardant, Jeremy Irons, Joan Plowright.
Duration: 112 minutes Country: Italy.
Mini
Review:
It took director Franco Zeffirelli a quarter of a century to figure out how best to pay homage on screen to his longtime friend and colleague, opera legend Maria Callas, who died at 53 in 1977...resulting in this glorious, not-to-be-missed wonderful offering.... Managing Maria Callas's (Fanny Ardant) late career has left Larry Kelly (Jeremy Irons) scorched by the star's brilliant fire. Visiting her palatial Paris apartment, Kelly is shocked to find a broken and reclusive Callas, humiliated by the deterioration of her voice. Determined to re-ignite her passion and restore her legacy, he convinces her to take on an important project: a film of the opera "Carmen", in which she will lip-sync her own, beautiful recording of many years previous. "