Hideous! (DVD)
A grotesque, seemingly petrified mutant creature spawned by environmental sludge seems like a cool collector`s item, right? Not after it somehow comes back to life--and generates more little murderous freaks to assist in wreaking mutant havoc.R"
Director: Charles Band
ACTORS: Michael Citriniti, Rhonda Griffin, Mel Johnson, Jacqueline Lovell, Tracie May
The Barber (DVD)
Revelstoke, Alaska is well known for its dark and stormy winters. As one such season approaches, local barber Dexter Miles (Malcolm McDowell) becomes excited when he hears that the body of resident Lucy Waters has been discovered. While the rest of the town bundles up for a brutal winter, Dexter slowly becomes a chilling character through the horrifying eyes of a serial killer.NR"
Director: Michael Bafaro
ACTORS: Malcolm McDowell, Jeremy Ratchford, Garwin Sanford
Les Destinies Sentimentales (DVD)
From Olivier Assayas, the director of IRMA VEP and L`EAU FROIDE, comes LES DESTINIES, a tender and sophisticated period piece starring Emmanuelle Biart and Charles Berling. Based on the novel by Jacques Chardonne, this epic film takes place in France from 1900 to the `30s. Focusing on the life of Jean Barnery (Berling), the film is divided into three 60-minute chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to Jean`s first wife Nathalie (an icey Isabelle Huppert) and the scandal that causes him to abandon his career as a pastor in the insular village of Barbizac. The next chapter centers on his second wife and true love, Pauline (Biart), for whom he gives up his family fortune so that they may live a simple romantic life in a chalet nestled in the Swiss Alps. The third chapter, which explores with philosophical curiosity the effects of war and economy on community and industry, focuses firmly on Jean`s primary love, porcelain. With beautiful period costumes, touching dialogue, and a convincing display of the passage of time, LES DESTINIES features some unforgettable sequences. At a Barbizac ball, the camera lingers in the chandelier as dancers swirl in a dizzying waltz below. In the Swiss Alps, Jean paddles an exquisite wooden rowboat as Pauline swims in azure water. Later, the film depicts the Limoges porcelain factory in detail with its mammoth coal-fueled kilns offset by skilled artisans carefully painting the fresh china. In addition, the Barbizac brandy business, managed by Pauline`s uncle (Olivier Perrier), gets a good amount of play, with the amber liquor being ladled out for tasting during its lengthy aging process.
This film was included in the Rendez-Vous with French Cinema 2002 festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.NR"
Director: Olivier Assayas
Bala Perdida (VHS)
In a small Mexican town, bullfighter Carmelo is in love with Alicia, the adopted daughter of the town`s pharmacist. Both Carmelo and Alicia`s lives get complicated, however, by Emilio, who returns from Mexico City with an angry posse on his trail, asking Alicia to hide money he won from cheating at card games.NR"
Director: Chano Urueta
ACTORS: Antonio Aguilar, Miguel Aceves Mejia
Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life (DVD)
The making of Stevie Wonder`s seminal 1976 album is detailed in this Classic Album documentary featuring interviews with Motown founder Berry Gordy, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock and others. Includes a reunion of original album players highlighted by renditions of Sir Duke and I Wish. NR"
