Gigantic: Matt Aselton’s debut feature

Wins Top Prize at AFI Dallas

Starring Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano (Now shooting “The Extra Man” with Katie Holmes, “There Will be Blood”, “Little Miss Sunshine”)
Edward Asner, Jane Alexander & John Goodman
Written and directed by Matt Aselton

An unmarried, (and uninvolved) working class man of twenty something in search of a life's fantasy/mission/goal; to adopt a Chinese baby.

Gigantic is an empty fantasy style film that can proudly boost about its extraordinary acting. But why these great performers decided to take the job remains unclear.

For starters, what does the title signify? That an immediate comprehensible answer does not come to mind even after one lives through the film experience is a serious problem. The second problem is with the "attacker". Is he real, a fantasy, a product of drugs too many, a rip off of one of the brothers? That said.........


John Goodman is so so so funny The Chinese baby at the end of the film is a delight, a wonderful memorable character but what is the film about?

I loved Jane Alexander, how could I not. The only down moment was again the woman, the mother John Goodman's former wife who was so out of it, such a downer. Why is it always the women who miss the boat, who cause the real pain and irreparable problems in film plots.

In my opinion what is wrong with this film is the private references and important personal memories that somehow never rise up to public comprehension.
What is right with this film is the fun in the making that comes across the screen and the acting. The acting and character stretches are well worth seeing.

Opening Today in NYC

LindaZises
WBAI Women Collective

OBLIVION;: FUNNY, YET SAD, AND BEAUTIFUL

El Olvido

Heddy Honigmann, Director:

"All my films are about fighters, people putting up resistance. Against oblivion and loss"

Oblivion is no exception.

Heddy Honigmann's extraordinary ability to capture the essence of her subjects, the layer upon layer of meaning, of progression from one moment to the next, her images that speak volunms to the narrative, spoken frankly, often emotionally, always directly into the camera and into our hearts and our minds creating an impression that lingers. I feel as if I know these people. I am there with the camera talking, listening, learning and laughing. This film has humor. It is not depressing, It is illuminating and that is what makes it so enjoyable, so worthwhile.

By the end of the documentary I am almost convinced that I now know the history of Peru, a brief history, not going all the way back but the history that spans the latter 1900's into 2000; the history of corruption, of insidious poverty side by side, moment by moment of footage.

Oblivion chronicles the life of a people who somehow find a way to survive, to keep going even as their ranks swell into the millions of inhabitants in Lima and the politicians, the men in charge continue to be baboons, murders, the worst of human kind. The use of food as a way to learn the customs, the way of life in Peru is wonderful.

And the children!

Heddy Honigmann brings the children into focus again and again. They are, for the most part, happy with little to nothing of their own. Education is not within their grip and yet, they survive seemingly without anger. They toil with a smile, they beg with a casual acceptance of being ignored. It is almost as if the entire notion of failure escapes them.

This is a film that brings life in Lima Peru into our hearts and minds, a work of distinction that only Heddy Honigmann could do with such aplomb.

http://www.heddy-honigmann.nl/hhonigmann/films/elolvido
Opens April 15th at Film Forum in New York City.

LindaZiawa
wbai women collective

The Class

Esmeralda Ouertani as Sandra and Rachel Regulier as Khoumba in The Class

The Class is the story of a high school teacher working in a tough Paris neighborhood where ethnicities, cultures and attitudes often clash in the classroom as it does in the world beyond the school environment.

What is the job, the chances of success of a well meaning teacher who wants to foster the student's potential to become part of main stream society where they and their families are marginalized?

That is the question posed in this autobiographic film.

It is a quiet film with few special effects or profound and alarming stressful moments as it poses a gentle yet provocative confrontation with our wish to help others despite insurmountable obstacle to this goal.

It isn't clear if the teacher Francois Begeaudeau succeeds or whether the children's resistance to change wins the day, but the struggle is certainly worth the price of admission.

See another side of Paris, the "charming" European city

Now playing at the Cobble Hill theater Brooklyn New York


Linda Z
WBAI Women's Collective

SUGAR

Written and Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Half Nelson)

Plot:
Sugar is a film about a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro De Macorís' struggle to make it into the big American leagues At age 19 he advances to the United States’ minor league system; but when his play on the mound falters, he begins to question the single-mindedness of his life’s ambition

Commentary:
Sports drama, immigrant journey, and coming-of-age story, summed up in a self discovery drama WoW
What more could a child want, what more could a mother struggling to convince her son that maybe being single minded in his thirst for baseball fame and fortune might not be the way to go.

The problem is this film is not truly suitable for children. It isn't robust enough to hold an adults unwavering attention and it's too sophisticated for a child. It is one of those in between films that I want to recommend whole heartedly to my son, but can't.

Sony Pictures Classics will release “Sugar” in April 2009

Linda Z
WBAI Women's Collective

LIVE AND BECOME: On DVD

Radu Mihaileanu

Can Love conquer Fear and Hate?

Live and Become is a love story and a history lessen with up to date scenes from Israel, where I have never been. It is based on the story of the people who were airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel in 1984 during Operation Moses.

This film is a tour de force that opens the viewers eyes to what it is like to be a nine year old orphan, to be different in color and experience from those we live with, and to feel the weight and pressure of unconditional love in spite of the gulf that defines and divides us.

This is a film for the romantic, for the intellectual, for those who might not know about the Ethiopian migration into Israel where the politicians wanted the immigrants to boost their number of citizens but the Israel people were afraid of the color of their skin, the spread of potential desease from AIDs or worse and the possibility that these foreigners were in fact posing as Jewish people but were not Jewish and never had been.

Beautifully acted, the story unfolds slowly with particular attention to detail and the translation, the subtittles were way above average.

Enormous in scope.
Live and Become covers a multitude of issues that most of us would rather forget but can't.

On DVD


Linda Z(ises)
WBAI Women's Collective
Criticalwomen.Net