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 | Rushmore with a Swiss-German Accent Directed and co-written by Fredi M. Murer ([b]Full Moon[/b], [b]Alpine Fire[/b]), [b]Vitus[/b] is a leisurely paced, sentimental, whimsical coming of age tale, centered on, like [b]Searching for Bobby Fischer[/b] and [b]Little Man Tate[/b] before it, a child prodigy trying to make his way in a world that wants to celebrate him for his talents, but simultaneously treat him as a child, with all the lack of choice that treatment implies.More |  | Riveting Vietnam War Drama Written and directed by Werner Herzog ([b]Grizzly Man[/b], [b]Nosferatu[/b], [b]Aguirre: Wrath of God[/b]) and based on the documentary [b]Little Dieter Needs to Fly[/b] Herzog directed ten years ago, [b]Rescue Dawn[/b], a Vietnam War-era action-drama about an escape attempt from a Laotian prison, returns Herzog to where he's seemingly most comfortable, the natural world of the jungle where men either lose themselves to megalomania and barbarism or overcome physical, mental, and emotional obstacles.More |  | Urban Biopic Scores Kasi Lemmons’ ([b]Eve's Bayou[/b]) latest film, [b]Talk to Me[/b] explores, in microcosm, the African American struggle embodied as embodied by the Civil Rights Movement. Through Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con-turned-radio personality who made a name for himself during the Civil Rights Movement in Washington, D.C., [b]Talk to Me[/b] also explores the conflict between assimilation and "keeping it real".More |  | Zombies are People Too Just when you thought the zombie sub-genre was dead and buried, along comes [b]Fido[/b], a slyly subversive, satirical horror/comedy co-written and directed by Andrew Currie ([b]Sleep Murder[/b], [b]Mile Zero[/b]). Mixing and matching multiple genres, from the zombie horror sub-genre initiated by George A. Romero in 1968 with [b]Night of the Living Dead[/b], 1950s-era melodramas that critiqued social conformity, and 50s-era boy-and-his-dog family films, [b]Fido[/b] is wonderfully campy from start to finish and, for genre fans, occasionally gory too.More |  | Romantic Comedy with Indie-Art Pretensions The late, great John Cassavetes is known among cineastes as the godfather of indie filmmaking. Beginning in 1959 with [b]Shadows[/b]. His children, Nick and Zoe, have followed in his footsteps. Nick has directed films such as [b]Alpha Dog[/b] and [b]The Notebook[/b] while Zoe has written and directed two feature-length films, 2000’s [b]Men Make Women Crazy Theory[/b] and now [b]Broken English[/b], a light, lightweight romantic comedy with indie-art pretensions.More |  | Michael Moore, Provocateur Extraordinaire, is Back After a three-year hiatus, Academy Award-winning writer/director/polemicist/celebrity Michael Moore ([b]Fahrenheit 9/11[/b], [b]Bowling for Columbine[/b], [b]Roger and Me[/b]) is back with his latest documentary, [b]Sicko[/b], this time taking on the U.S. healthcare system. Coming from the left-leaning Moore neither the diagnosis nor the prognosis is surprising: free, universal, healthcare. [b]Sicko[/b] asks more questions than it answers, but at minimum, it should kick start a national dialogue.More |  | Standout, Thought-Provoking Drama Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, [b]Stephanie Daley[/b], writer/director Hilary Brougher’s second feature-length film examines two women, opposites in age, experiences, beliefs, and desires, and the life-altering decisions surrounding pregnancy and childbirth. Never polemical or heavy-handed, and often insightful and thought-provoking, [b]Stephanie Daley[/b] is also never less than absorbing throughout its brief ninety-minute running time, thanks in large part to standout performances by Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn in the lead roles.More |  | Contrived Hitman Comedy/Drama In the early 90s, John Dahl made a rep for himself by directing modestly budgeted neo-noirs, including [b]Kill Me Again[/b], [b]Red Rock West[/b], and [b]Rounders[/b]. Dahl is back working on familiar genre ground with [b]You Kill Me[/b], a contrived comedy/drama about an angst-ridden hitman that’s long on predictability and short on laughs.More |  | Steve Carell Keeps a Sinking Boat Afloat Four years ago, [b]Bruce Almighty[/b], a “high concept” comedy starring Jim Carrey as a temporary stand-in for the omnipotent creator, grossed more than $240 million dollars stateside. With numbers like that, a sequel was inevitable, but with a seemingly exhausted premise, the producers faced a quandary: where to go next? Ultimately, they decided to take Steve Carell’s character from [b]Bruce Almighty[/b], Evan Baxter, and turn him into the lead character of the sequel titled, appropriately enough, [b]Evan Almighty[/b].More |  | Poignant, Heartbreaking Docudrama Directed by Michael Winterbottom ([b]Tristram Shandy[/b], [b]The Road to Guantanamo[/b], [b]9 Songs[/b]) and adapted by John Orloff, [b]A Mighty Heart[/b] methodically chronicles the desperate, eventually futile, search for Daniel Pearl, an investigative journalist for the [b]Wall Street Journal[/b] who was kidnapped by a militant group in Karachi, Pakistan on January 23, 2002. On February 1st, the militants executed Pearl, his death videotaped and distributed to Pakistani and American officials more than a week later.More |
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