United States
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"It somehow felt right - like we belong together." The words spoken in Angel Gazetta's diary as he begins his descension into crack addiction. Crack addiction may seem an old subject in film, but Gary Winick's incredible drama, taken from the real-life diaries of Angelo "Angel" Gazetta, takes a novel approach to an often depressing subject matter. Michael Imperioli (GOODFELLAS, CLOCKERS) gives a wonderful, caring performance about a man who is introduced to crack by his friend Raymond (Paul Calderon -- PULP FICTION, BAD LIEUTENANT, CLOCKERS).
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Like a weird Kafka-esque dream comes the Strange Stories of a tale-telling father. On board a train, a young girl requests that her father tell her some of his unique and entertaining stories to help take away the "hum-drum" of looking at the world pass by the window. Like all good fathers, he obliges by making up weird and ridiculous stories on the spot, turning the other train passengers into his fictitious world's characters. In the first story, a man has his air cut off for not paying his bill.
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In S. Yin You's BO SOOT, a young journalist is assigned to write about her elderly uncle's acting career, which consists mostly of stereotypical Asian roles. His wistful yet somehow fond memories of "the golden age" of Hollywood make for a thought-provoking and strangely nostalgic look back at the treatment of minorities in the film industry. --Matt Aquino
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Blending legend, myth, and modern news footage, Ramona S. Diaz documents a powerful and touching story of women's struggles in the Philippines with Spirits Rising. More than simply a Filipina history, Diaz juxtaposes tales of heroines, past and present, showing the integral role women have played toward independence for "Las Islas Filipinas." Beginning with the shocking assassination of Benigno Aquino on August 21, 1983, Spirits Rising chronicles, with news footage and personal interviews, Corazon Aquino's rise to power and Ferdinand Marcos' fall from grace.
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Craig Baldwin makes documentaries the way David Lean made small, intimate little dramas. Don't go into this film with preconceptions; you'll be disappointed. The subject matter - fair use, intellectual property, copyright-infringement - may seem dry, but certainly not in this inventive director's hands. Court TV this ain't. It all started when the alternative Bay Area band, Negativland, sampled the work of - one- time alternative band, now mega-group - U2. U2's label, Island, soon brought suit. It lead to Negativland losing it's contract with SST Records and, eventually, bankruptcy.
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Once upon a time, ten-year-olds Carrie and Kevin were wisked away on a once-in-a-lifetime adventure to a magical faraway land called Seldom. That adventure, however, is now over and Carrie, returning from college to pursue her dream as a writer, is becoming an adult and hasn't heard from Kevin in years. Things seem pretty normal, as Carrie comfortably returns to her uneventful, suburban life with her family and other childhood friend Eric. That is until the phone call. Enter Kevin once again into Carrie's life, but this time he makes an unexpected request of her.
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Dante wrote about the seven levels of hell in his Inferno. Rupert Wainwright's film THE SADNESS OF SEX illuminates each level of love. There are fifteen to be exact, and each one is traversed with a swirl of emotional and intellectual depth. THE SADNESS OF SEX is a hilarious tale told from the viewpoint of a helpless romantic along his stream or consciousness journey to the center of a human soul searching for life's unanswered questions about love.
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Let's get this out of the way right at the start: Beverly D'Angelo - thanks to a shaman named Salvador Dali - has been turned into a pterodactyl (or, at least, her character, Pixie, has). So begins one of the most twisted pieces of celluloid to come down the pike since the Ice, Bronze, or any other Age, Pterodactyl Woman From Beverly Hills. You see: Pixie's paleontologist husband, Dick, while doing some very unPC digging one day, pisses off said shaman and...Whammo! Pixie gets hexed.
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Procedure 769 is a powerful film about the execution of Robert Alton Harris, in 1992, the first person to be executed in California in 25 years. Although this is the story of a specific prisoner it has much broader relevance to the general capital punishment issue. The dispassionate and even-handed approach to the material avoids the usual special pleading associated with such documentaries and therefore makes it more accessible for both supporters and opponents of capital punishment.
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What's going on in Joe's Meat Market? Come in and find out in Jeff Sommerville's Gristle, the story of Regina Runnymeade, and innocent southern girl and her first job in New York. The employees of Joe's, however, seem a little strange, as Regina finds out that there's a heavy price to pay for ordering the pig's knuckles and that she must make some life decisions. --Mike Rabehl