Lakeview Terrace


here were moments during Lakeview Terrace when I wasn’t sure if I could trust my opinions anymore, and I can be quite the opinionated one. Director Neil LaBute likes to play with one’s perceptions of society as we have seen with his earlier films such as The Shape of Things and Your Friends and Neighbors. However, if a story screws with an audience’s mind, viewers should come to some kind of clarity whether they change their opinions on a certain issue or at least acknowledge that other points-of-views exist otherwise it’s a flop. In this latest film from LaBute, Samuel L. Jackson plays an L.A. cop named Abel Turner who terrorizes his new neighbors because... READ MORE >>>

Towelhead


    How much do you know about the world in which you live, your country, or even your neighborhood? That is the question that director Alan Ball's feature length debut “Towelhead” asks. The film is based on the novel of the same name. It's the coming-of-age tale of Jasira (Summer Bashil), a bi-racial Arab and Caucasian American. She is sent to suburban Houston, Texas to live with her father Rifat (Peter Macdissi), after an incident with her mother's new boyfriend. Rifat is a Lebanese Immigrant, who finds comfort is his fatherly duties as long as they are done his... READ MORE >>>

Forbidden Lies


Going into see “Forbidden Lies,” we all expected another “Shattered Glass” story, and I love a good expose of journalists, biographers, reporters and their ilk being revealed as frauds.  A film about either fabricating a story from whole cloth or embellishing to the point of loosing sight of the truth in toto and being found out is always good fun.  Take last year’s “The Hoax”, for instance.  Actually, that didn’t seem very good sport since it was too easy to out Clifford Irving as a liar regarding his authorized biography of Howard Hughes; Hughes was still alive and all he had to do, and did do, was call the publisher and say he didn’t authorize... READ MORE >>>

Stealing America: Vote by Vote


“Stealing America: Vote by Vote” is probably one of the most infuriating documentaries I personally, have ever seen. However, this is not a result of the film’s quality, it is actually quite the opposite. From Academy Award nominated and Emmy winning film maker Dorothy Fadiman comes a compilation of in-depth interviews and statistics regarding America’s elections from 1996 to 2006. With a larger focus on the 2004 election that kept George W. Bush in office and John Kerry out, Fadiman looks at the use of electronic voting devices and their common instances of malfunction. Not only do we learn that these machines have an intense effect on the outcome... READ MORE >>>

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I liked this movie. How strange. My reactions to Woody Allen films since the one I liked, “What’s Up, Tiger Lily,” have ranged from dislike to abhorrence and having to leave the theater. Almost always, we watch Allen play out his fantasy of beautiful woman loving him (of course, they have to be very neurotic). His absolute lowest attempt at fulfilling this fantasy was “Deconstructing Harry,” in which countless beautiful, classy, educated women are angry at him for their past relationships with him (there he’s playing out his Mia nightmare). After hearing him hiss “Jew bitch” one too many times (and once is enough), I walked out. He has also had the good sense in his last few romantic... READ MORE >>>