WENDY AND LUCY: Intensity without glitter

Kelly Reichardt

Jonathan Raymond (writer)
Kelly Reichardt (writer)

Michelle William Wendy
Will Patton Mechanic

Wendy and Lucy is a coming of age film, an adolescent girl has elected to take a car trip with her dog Lucy up to Alaska where she hopes to find a summer job and reach adulthood en route.

This is an intensely moving film, its emotional worth is achieved through the excellent acting of Wendy, (Michelle Williams), in her most subtle yet striking performance, and with the slow-elongated scenes reflective of the way most working class and bohemian people think and live their lives. There is always a palpable undercurrent, of disaster, an outbreak of over powering destructive force because of the steady course Wendy tries to steer. Her failures are many and yet in the end her achievement is remarkable.

An American 2008 film without glitter, without intensity of action without super this or super that and without the introduction of state of the art animation is a film to cherish, to support and to hope, that the human experience that allows the audience to feel what they want without being told through music or action is a delight. A relic of the past that will hopefully grow stronger, more plentiful next year

Linda Zises
WBAI Women Collective

Forbidden Lie$

Anna Bronowski
"We are never deceived, we deceive ourselves" Goethe.

Story line:
The film's subject is Norma Khouri, a Jordanian woman who has a perfect American accent that could only have been developed in a non English speaking person under the age of seven.
Khouri found fame and fortune in 2001 with the publication of her book Forbidden Love, said to be a biographical story concerning a Muslim coming of age girl and friend of Norma Khouri who was brutally murdered (stabbed to death) by her family for having a relationship with a Christian man.
A few years later journalists started poking holes in the story, leading the public to question the veracity of the story told.
Forbidden Lie$ covers this statement of fact quickly but thoroughly in the beginning of the documentary, and from there we spend most of our time in the company of Norma Khouri as she tries to convince us that her novel is more than fiction. Thankfully she fails.

Reviewer Comments:
Director Anna Broinowski has found a truly fascinating woman to study. She conducts endless interviews with Khouri as she seeks the truth. As in life, the truth is not so easy to find.
Norma claims she fears for her life, worried about violent backlash over the unsavoury portrait her novel paints of Jordanian Muslims. She refuses to return to Jordan and show us the facts. Broinowski is not deterred however, and slowly puts the pieces together in front of us.

The documentary is done with a great deal of good feeling towards Norma Khouri who continues to spin a deceit upon her viewing/reading audience.

But at the core of this very well done, entertaining documentary is a fundamental ethical question, one that might be lost in the moment as we are taken from one journey to another in search of Truth. To entertain has its limits. To feed off of current prejudice to compose a supposedly true story that takes these erroneous and deleterious ideas to an extreme is immoral. To allow ourselves to be taken into the criminal world of a woman who dumps her children on a single woman of limited resources, emotionally and financially. and justifies her lack of honesty by siting former president G.W. Bush as her moral authority, is reprehensible.

To smile at a job well done by Anna Broinowski without the proper perceptive compromises the appeal of her work.
With that in mind, if you want pure entertainment and know what the film is about, then by all means, enjoy the moment.

Linda Z
WBAI Women Collective

Shall We Kiss

Written and Directed by
Emmanuel Mouret

Starring Virginie Ledoyen, Emmanuel Mouret, Julie Gayet, Michaël Cohen, Frédérique Bel, Stefano Accorsi

Just when we thought the slow moving, low action film about love and friendship and the quality of relationships was an event of the past having been covered too often too much, along comes yet another film questioning the nature of love and friendship. It strives to draw a line between the two when in fact the age old understanding that this line is thin and only our restrained actions can ultimately bring to resolution the nature of who we are to one another.

'Shall we Kiss?' is best answered with a conscious decision not with an act compelled solely by an emotional impulse.

The film brings this point home with the use of suburb acting. The augmentation of the dialogue with vivid fine works of art that hang from the walls. Even the wall paper in the last scene, age old in design, becomes so strong an addition to the film that one is forced to look at it and only with effort to look away to the actors as they perform their parts exquisitely well.

But why this film at this time?

I never thought the Internet would bring us so far afield of how to relate, that "hooking up" would become the norm and voyeurism the way of life for the very young through adolescence and beyond. But here we are on the precipice of never having to leave our personal abodes to be fully entertained, to never having to say our names or going through all those uncomfortable introductions We are on the brink of being so segmented in our daily interactions, so false in our ability to convey our essence that this film 'Shall We Kiss?' poses a question that survived for centuries and is now as never before threatened with extinction.

Yes, We Shall Kiss. We should know each other's names and the smell of our bodies and what each other thinks or doesn't. What else is there in life if not this friendship and love for one another. It might not be the ultimate meaning of life, but it certainly is an important ingredient in that search.

I recommend we get back to basics. 'Shall We Kiss?' is a good beginning to an always questionable end.

Linda Z
WBAI Women's Collective

Enlighten UP

Kate Churchill

Starring: Nick Rosen

Director: Kate Churchill

Director: Kate Churchill
Story: Khari Streeter, Jonathon Hexner, Kate Churchill
Producer: Kate Churchill
Composer: Krishna Venkatesh
Studio: Balcony Releasing

APRIL 6: Release Date NEW YORK CITY:

Enlighten Up is 82 minutes of yoga reflective of those who "have a practice' and those who are entering the world of sport because of injury, aging or just because it is the thing to do.

There is no question that Yoga is spreading like wildfire. It is difficult to find a "small" class where individual attention is afforded without extra fees.

Yoga is good for every one except..... This documentary isn't about the emergence of a hero. It is about the process of becoming a Yogi. No pain has been spared the subject of this process nor the audience who bares witness to all the pitfalls visited on this neophyte Yoga guinea pig.

But with all that said, what remains is an ever gowning awareness that Yoga, if you can do it, is a special discipline. This documentary is designed for those who are weak at heart and body as well as those who are committed to the art.

We have only one body, one mind The practice of Yoga aims to preserve and enhance both.

To see how it is done, or avoided at all costs.
Enlighten Up is the Way!

A low keyed documentary done wih minimum professional input and a lot of unconditional love.

Now playing at the IFC Midtown, Manhattan


Linda Zises
WBAI Women Collective