Princesa (DVD)
This Italian film from director Henrique Goldman traces the journey of teenage transsexual Fernanda (Ingrid de Souza) as she heads from her native Brazil to the seedy world of Italy`s transsexual prostitution scene. Unlike most of her fellow prostitutes, Fernanda`s most cherished desire is to have a sex-change operation, fall in love with a man, and live the normal life of an Italian woman. When a new client, Gianni (Cesare Bocci), approaches her one night, it seems that her dreams will come true. However, as Fernanda makes the transition from streetwalker to housewife, she discovers that what she left behind might be more fulfilling that what she thought she always wanted.
Goldman`s treatment of his chosen subject is never judgmental and rarely one-sided--he not only shows great affection and understanding of the transsexual prostitutes, but also seeks to humanize and understand the numerous Italian men who come to them as clients. From the carnival-like Milan street market of the hookers to Fernanda`s placid and ordered life with Gianni as a homemaker, PRINCESA avoids lingering on the characters` unusual lifestyles and instead focuses on their complex inner lives.NR"
Director: Henrique Goldman
ACTORS: Ingrid de Souza, Lulu Pecorari, Cesare Bocci
The Mean Season (DVD)
THE MEAN SEASON, based on a novel by John Katzenbach, tells the riveting story of disgruntled Miami newspaper reporter Malcolm Anderson (Kurt Russell), who decides to quit the news game after tiring of writing about murder. But before he leaves, he finds himself in the middle of the biggest story of his life when a serial killer decides to contact him. Apparently impressed by the journalist`s prose style, the so-called Numbers Killer wants to use the media to promote his deadly activities and finds Anderson the perfect mouthpiece. Meanwhile, the notoriety feeds Anderson`s own ego and ambition as well, and he heedlessly plunges ahead with his work--until the danger comes too close to home. THE MEAN SEASON features a terrific cast led by Russell, Andy Garcia, Joe Pantoliano, and Mariel Hemingway.R"
Director: Phillip Borsos
ACTORS: Kurt Russell, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Jordan, Richard Masur, Andy Garcia
Two Weeks Notice (DVD) Full Frame Opposites attract in the directorial debut of screenwriter Marc Lawrence. Determined activist, lawyer, and idealist Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) has a noble reason for accepting a top position at Wade Realty Corporation. By ...
Opposites attract in the directorial debut of screenwriter Marc Lawrence. Determined activist, lawyer, and idealist Lucy Kelson (Sandra Bullock) has a noble reason for accepting a top position at Wade Realty Corporation. By taking the job, she can save the beloved community center in her Coney Island neighborhood. Along with the job comes the position of personal advisor to her high-maintenance boss, George Wade (Hugh Grant). As the two work together, down-to-earth Lucy becomes utterly indispensable to millionaire playboy George, so much so that he seeks her advice on everything from stationery selection to his divorce settlement to what suit he should wear. When Lucy gives her two weeks notice and realizes that her potential replacement, June Carter (Alicia Witt), has some strong chemistry with George, she has to acknowledge her own romantic feelings for her boss. Likewise, faced with losing the person he relies upon most, George is forced to do some soul searching of his own. Grant is well-cast as freewheeling George, delivering his lines with subtlety and making a potentially irritating character likable and charming. TWO WEEKS NOTICE also stars Dana Ivey and Robert Klein as Lucy`s parents.
PG-13"
Director: Marc Lawrence
ACTORS: Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Alicia Witt, Dana Ivey, Robert Klein
Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie (DVD)
Benny Silman was a kid from Brooklyn who fell in love with the culture shock he received when he attended Arizona State University. Beautiful women in bikinis, stunning weather, and the close proximity Las Vegas made Silman`s new home a shangri-la. The Vegas trips became so regular that Silman eventually became the campus bookie at ASU, making money off fellow gamblers in the student body. This BIG SHOT took it too far when he began fixing Arizona State basketball games in point-shaving scandal that would stun the collegiate athletic world in 1994 as his short stint as big man on campus came to an abrupt end.
David Krumholz (SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK) is perfectly cast as the Brooklyn transplant in this made-for-cable feature. Using large doses of humor and a knowledge of sport, director Ernest Dickerson spins an entertaining tale of excess that makes a perfect companion piece for his other 2002 cable film, MONDAY NIGHT MAYHEM.R"
Director: Ernest R. Dickerson
ACTORS: David Krumholtz, Nicholas Turturro, Tory Kittles, Jennifer Morrison, Carmine Giovinazzo
Blue Car (DVD)
Agnes Bruckner delivers an impressive, assured performance with BLUE CAR, an affecting coming-of-age drama from Karen Moncrieff. Bruckner is Meg, a beautiful teenager who is desperate to find inspiration and guidance in her otherwise tumultuous life. At an early age, her father left her family behind. Now, there is only her edgy mother, Diane (Margaret Colin), and her increasingly aloof younger sister, Lily (Regan Arnold). Salvation appears to arrive in the presence of Mr. Auster (David Strathairn), Meg`s reserved English teacher who takes an interest in Meg`s poetry. It isn`t long before both Meg and Mr. Auster begin to take an interest in each other, and as an approaching national poetry competition brings the two closer together, deeper feelings emerge. But Meg eventually learns a painful secret about Mr. Auster, which shatters her impressions of the man, and threatens to push her over the edge forever.
Moncrieff, a former television actress turned writer-director, turns her potentially formulaic material into ultimately moving entertainment. This can be attributed to the performances of her lead actors. As the conflicted Meg, Bruckner is a perfect blend of budding sexuality and adolescent bitterness. As her damaged teacher, Strathairn is at turns deeply comforting and crushingly evil.R"
Director: Karen Moncrieff
ACTORS: David Strathairn, Agnes Bruckner, Margaret Colin, Frances Fisher, Regan Arnold
