Women Without Men
In her first feature length film, Shirin Neshat intertwines the lives of four Iranian women:  two young unmarried women, Munis and Faezah, an emaciated prostitute named Zarin, and Farrokhlagha, a middle aged woman whose military husband seems to have lost interest in her. Before these women find freedom without men in an orchard outside of Tehran, men, whether by their absence or presence, have made these women’s lives unmanageable. In this society, to be unmarried at nearly 30 is nearly as undesirable as prostitution, but being bound by law to a distant man may be par for the course. The director makes no relative moral judgments about the choices of these women, but it’s clear they... READ MORE >>>

Sex And The City 2
Sex and the City 2 is all glitz and no smarts.  As expected, the clothes, shoes, and real estate are to die for; the film itself, however, is tedious, formulaic, and often offensive to other cultures.       Set back in New York, the movie shows where each woman is in her life.  Carrie (Parker) is enjoying married life but is questioning how to keep the "sparkle" in her marriage - i.e., why is her husband watching TV and ordering take-out instead of taking her out to dinner at the newest hot-spots?  Samantha (Cattrall) is going through menopause but still voraciously seeking men.  Miranda (Nixon) is having trouble with her rude boss, so she quits—an unlikely choice in the current economy—and Charlotte (Davis) is going through... READ MORE >>>

Kites
Kites is a combination of a variety of concepts and ideas: it’s an Indian Studio production of a Spanish revenge story about a Hindi hustler and a Mexican seductress that takes place in Las Vegas, Mexico and the sprawling American South West. It’s more complicated to explain the production details than it is to explain the actual story.    Jay (Hrithik Roshan) is a suave player in the streets of Las Vegas, scamming and slumming, whatever it takes to make bucks. He’s charming, but he’s vain and shameless. When’s he’s not performing slight of hand tricks or giving sexy dance lessons, his metier is marrying immigrants in need of a green card in exchange for their savings.  Linda (Barbara Mori) is one of those immigrants, and... READ MORE >>>

Seducing Charlie Barker
Woody Allen's got nothing on Amy Glazer.  Heartbreakingly funny and filled with ironic and informal discussions about life, Glazer’s Seducing Charlie Barker borrows Allen's techniques and themes in sexuality, psychology, and whip-smart dialogue to keep the movie plugging along. Glazer depicts long scenes with New Yorkers debating about the pitfalls of life, dissecting infidelity, and the nuances of social climbing.  As part of the 53rd San Francisco International Film Festival, this dark satire follows a talented struggling actor Charlie Barker (Stephen Barker Turner) who is married to TV power-woman Stella (Daphne Zuniga) and meets young, ditsy Clea (newcomer Heather Gordon).  Charlie begins as a nice, hardworking husband and spirals down into an affair that turns him into a completely loathsome, reprehensible human being lacking judgment... READ MORE >>>

The Little Traitor
It's important in today’s world that there are films that parents can take their children to see and not worry about graphic violence or subversive themes. It’s horrifying to watch a trailer for “Kick-Ass” and hear a middle school age child say, “I can’t wait to see that!” But the children’s movie can be a tough sell: they have to convey emotions that immature minds can comprehend, while having enough wit to keep parents from being bored. It’s a tough balance, and few have mastered it.  Dreamworks, Pixar and Steven Spielberg  (Empire of the Sun) have made movies that are more than just family films; they are great movies.    Lynn Roth’s The Little Traitor is a... READ MORE >>>