Matchmaking Mayor: The Heart Can’t Be Commanded: Berlin Review
Offline dating is alive if not entirely well in the dying Slovak village of Zemplinske Hamre, whose mayor has taken it upon himself to marry off the town’s 70-odd bachelors and bachelorettes.
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Bullhead: Berlin Review
A Flemish bovine hormone mafia movie that begins with a voiceover informing us that no matter how hard we try to escape the past, “in the end we’re all fucked” conjures up dreary images of interminable slaughterhouse sequences.
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Mama Africa: Berlin Review
Legendary South African singer Miriam Makeba is highlighted in Mika Kaurismaki's straightforward documentary, and the worst that can be said about the film is that the presence of Makeba, who died in 2008, is sorely missed.
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The House: Berlin Review
Zuzana Liova's Czech-Slovak co-production starring Katerina Winterova and Miroslav Krobot is recommended for lovers of Ken Loach-style realistic dramas built on naturalistic performances, sans the politics.
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Into Paradiso: Film Review
There’s a funky scrappiness to Paola Randi’s debut feature that trumps its Swiss-cheese plot, and introduces an artistic flair that’s all too fleeting in the sweetly goofy "Into Paradiso."
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Whatsoeverly — Film Review
With corruption and sex scandals at an outrageous high in Italian politics, Giulio Manfredonia’s "Whatsoeverly" is too soft in its political satire, and too regional in its humor, to have much of an impact on foreign audiences, despite inclusion in the Berlinale program.
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Che bella giornata — Film Review
A wildly inept and ignorant security guard drives his police chief superior to a breakdown while courting a beautiful woman who is actually using him to pull off a dastardly crime.
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Welcome to the South — Film Review
This Italian remake of the French film, Welcome to the Sticks, requires much suspension of disbelief but it’s perfectly entertaining if silly fun
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The First Beautiful Thing — Film Review
"The First Beautiful Thing," Paolo Virzi’s carefully drawn portrait of a 40-something, misanthropic high school teacher forced to visit his estranged mother’s deathbed, spans four decades of a troubled family with enough gentle pathos and sly humor to compensate for a less than original storyline.
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The Woman of My Dreams — Film Review
Mother thinks she knows best in rom-com with a serious point about self-deception in love.
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I Am With You — Film Review
Independent filmmaker Guido Chiesa is already being lauded in Italy for his courageous new version of Christ’s life.
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Little Sparrows — Film Review
A gentle drama about a dying mother finding closure with her three grown daughters, Yu-Hsiu Camille Chen’s freshmen feature, “Little Sparrows,” is elevated to terrific heights by a mesmerizing performance from Nicola Bartlett.
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