2/9
Happy-Go-Lucky (UK;
2008; d. Mike Leigh)
Mike Leigh films
are the product of months of improvised rehearsals that begin with a simple
idea. In this film, Poppy, played by Sally Hawkins, is an indefatigably happy
person who smiles her way through life and tries to bring everyone she meets
a large measure of happiness. This includes her dour, misanthropic driving instructor
(Eddie Marsan) who is exasperated and repelled by Poppy’s unceasingly
sunny attitude. The clash between pessimism and hope, common ground for a Mike
Leigh film, results in surprise turns that have received consistent critical
praise. Peter Rainer of The Christian Science Monitor calls Happy-Go-Lucky
a “wonderfully humane movie,” while Michael Phillips of The
Chicago Tribune calls this new Leigh film “a sanguine reminder that
we’re all here together, so cheer up, mate.”
(R; 118 min.)
2/23
The
Order of Myths (USA; 2008; d. Margaret Brown)
Mardi Gras was
first celebrated in the US in Mobile, Alabama, in 1703. Three centuries later,
Mobile still celebrates Mardi Gras—and it is still a racially segregated
celebration. In this fascinating documentary, Mobile native Margaret Brown takes
us inside the city’s parallel pageants—one black, one white—and
shows us how the masks we wear often reveal our true selves. Manohla Dargis
of The New York Times calls the film as “big and richly complex
as the United States itself.”
(NR; 97 min.)
3/2
I served the King of England/Obsluhoval
jsem anglického krále (Czech Republic; 2006; d. Jirí
Menzel)
Oscar-winning
Czech director Jirí Menzel (Closely Watched Trains) returns
after a lengthy silence with another adaptation of a novel by Bohumil Hrabal,
this time the fantastic, allegorical life-story of Jan Dite (literally, "John
the Child"). Dite works as a waiter in luxurious hotels first during the
Nazi occupation and later during the Soviet domination of Czechoslovakia, during
which time he lives a bittersweet life of physical gratification and emotional
upheaval, both because of the politics of the time and his own naivete. John
Beifuss of The Memphis Commerical-Appeal writes that the film "celebrates
the pleasures of life while acknowledging its absurdity."
(R; 120 min.)
3/9
Unconscious/Inconscientes (Spain;
2004; d. Joaquín
Oristrell)
Set in Barcelona in 1913, this outrageous comedy follows a young woman searching
for her missing husband, a famous Freudian psychologist. Edward Lawrenson of
Time Out London notes that the film “probably inaugurates a new
genre: the period Freudian farce. It might be some time before another entry
in the cycle, so we should be thankful for the wit and style of Oristrell’s
film.” In true Freudian fashion, the film plumbs the depths of sexual
taboo, among a million other things, in the most outrageous fashion, including
a cameo by Freud and an encounter with a silent film porn star.
(R; 100 min.)
3/16
Tkaronto (Canada; 2007; d. Shane
Anthony Belcourt)
Produced
on a shoestring budget in just over two weeks by independent Canadian filmmaker
Shane Belcourt, this film chronicles the chance meeting of two people, an Anishnabe
painter named Jolene (Melanie McLaren) and Metis screenwriter named Ray (Duane
Murray). During a day spent together walking through Toronto—the Mohawk
name for which gives the film its title—Jolene and Ray not only discuss
the difficulties that each of them faces in their personal lives, but also the
larger cultural struggles facing members of First Nations groups in contemporary
Canada. Liz Braun of The Ottawa Sun called it "an Aboriginal version
of Before Sunrise . . . smart and sexy and arresting."
(NR;
105 min.)
3/30
Ben X (Belgium; 2007; d. Nic Balthazar)
Flemish director Nic
Balthazar also wrote the novel upon which this, his debut film, is based. Visually
creative and fast-paced, Ben X incorporates video games, electronic
text, and Internet videos alongside more conventional imagery in telling the
story of a Belgian teenager named Ben (Greg Timmermans) who simultaneously lives
a vibrant virtual life online while struggling with real-life social interactions
as a result of Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism. Kevin Thomas of The
Los Angeles Times writes that the film is "a brilliant, harrowing
first feature that plunges the viewer headlong into Ben's chaotic existence."
(NR;
93 min.)
4/6
Synecdoche, New York (USA;
2008; d. Charlie Kaufman)
“Flat out hilarious . . . poetic and profound . . .” (Ray Bennet,
The Hollywood Reporter). Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation,
Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
makes his directorial debut with this off-beat, genre-defying film. “Synecdoche”
is a play on Schenectady, where some of the narrative is located, as well as
a figure of speech in which a part represents a whole—in this case, an
enormous replica of New York City that has been erected in an abandoned warehouse.
It is there that a neurotic playwright (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his ensemble
cast begin to confuse the city outside with the imitation they have created.
Synecdoche, New York has been called “a miracle movie”
(Richard Corliss, Time) that challenges “nearly every expectation
a moviegoer might have about time, psychology and narrative structure”
(AO Scott, The New York Times).
(R; 124 min.)
4/13
Edge
of Heaven/Auf der anderen Seite (Germany; 2007; d. Fatih Akin)
Director
Fatih Akin has made his mark through films (Head On, Crossing the
Bridge) that explore the deep and often uneasy interactions between Germans
and Turks in the twenty-first century. This film continues that process through
the sometimes intersecting, sometimes parallel stories of six people, German
and Turkish, in both countries. Sean Axmaker of The Seattle Post-Intelligencer
writes that the film is “a circumspect and reflective odyssey, and all
the more moving for the hope found along the journey.” Steven Rea of The
Philadelphia Inquirer calls it “near-perfect, suspenseful, heart-breaking,
profound.”
(NR; 122 min.)
4/20
Secret of the Grain/La Grain
et le mulet (France; 2008; d. Abdel Kechiche)
Secret of the Grain is a drama about ordinary people and their
extraordinary lives. The narrative revolves around Slimane, who is laid off
from his job at the shipyard and decides to open a restaurant. What follows
is a meditation on family, food and fate. According to AO Scott of The New
York Times: “It will leave you stunned and sated, having savored
an intimate and sumptuous epic of elation and defeat, jealousy and tenderness,
life and death, grain and fish.”
(NR; 151 min.)
4/27
Sleep Dealer (USA/Mexico;
2008; d. Alex Rivera)
*****Guest Appearance by Director Alex Rivera*****
The Matrix meets Old Mexico: Sleep Dealer is set in a
high-tech future, but follows Memo Cruz, who lives in a decidedly low-tech Mexican
village. Memo dreams of working for one of the big technology corporations who
own the computer networks that connect and control the world. Technology, privacy,
immigration, globalization and the environment are just a few of the timely
issues raised by Rivera’s film, which won the Sloan Feature Film Prize
and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Peter
Scireta of SlashFilm.com predicts that Sleep Dealer is “sure
to become a cult classic … and rightfully so.”
(PG-13; 90 min.)
Cinema 10 is a non-profit, volunteer group which presents alternative film programming. We work to bring the best in American independent and foreign films to North Country audiences. If you have a suggestion or would like to get involved, please e-mail Holly Chambers. The Cinema 10 Board members are Fran Bailey, Ramachandran Bharath, Holly Chambers, Ed Clark, Milner Grimsled, Viki Levitt, J. Dolores Martin, Derek Maus, Hilary Oak, Celine Philibert, Chris Robinson, Erik Schulz, Donna Smith-Raymond, David Sommerstein, and Jean Thompson.
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