Whats On starting March 24

The King’s Speech starts tomorrow at Vista!​

Chiang Mai movies beginning Thursday, March 24, 2011

… through Wednesday, March 30

by Thomas Ohlson

Best Bets:  The King’s Speech.  Rango.  Rapunzel.  Solitary Man. 

To Avoid like the Plague: Just Go with It.

Oscar’s best picture of the year!

 

This is Issue Number 21 of Volume 6 of these listings, in our sixth year!

 

The current festivals lineup:

9th World Film Festival of Bangkok: Nov 4 to 13, 2011.

2nd Luang Prabang Film Festival in Luang Prabang: Dec 3 to 10, 2011.

[No Doi Saket Film Festival this year, but planned for 2012.]  

 

Okay, so Beastly never showed up! Worse things have happened! The theaters really do change their plans at the very last minute.   

 

Now playing in Chiang Mai    * = new this week

* The King’s Speech: [Starts tomorrow, Friday, March 25, only at Vista] (Finally arrived, and deserves to be seen on a big screen.) UK/ Australia, Drama/ History – 1 hr 58 mins – In my view a beautiful motion picture, with everything you could wish for. Oscar nominations for best picture (and won), best director (Tom Hooper – and won), best actor (Colin Firth – and won), best supporting actor (Geoffrey Rush), best supporting actress (Helena Bonham Carter), original screenplay (and won), art direction, cinematography, costume design, editing, original score (Alexandre Desplat), and sound mixing. Tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war. Rated R in the US for some language; 15+ in Thailand. Reviews: Universal acclaim: 88/86 out of 100.

The multi-award-winning cast includes Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth, Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi, Timothy Spall, and Michael Gambon.

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King's Speech, a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama.

Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern: No screen portrait of a king has ever been more stirring – heartbreaking at first, then stirring. That's partly due to the screenplay, which contains two of the best-written roles in recent memory, and to Mr. Hooper's superb direction.

New York Post, Lou Lumenick: Old-school filmmaking at its best.

Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert: What we have here is a superior historical drama and a powerful personal one.

St. Petersburg Times, Steve Persall: Like Bertie's struggle, there's so much wonderment to articulate about this film that being mistaken for a stammering idiot is a risk. See it, then say it for yourself: The King's Speech is the best movie of 2010.

* Sucker Punch: US/ Canada, Action/ Fantasy/ Thriller – 1 hr 49 mins – A young girl (Baby Doll) is institutionalized – locked away in a mental asylum by her wicked stepfather – where she will undergo a lobotomy in five days time. Faced with unimaginable odds, she retreats into a fantastical world of her imagination where she and four other female inmates at the asylum plot to escape the facility. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, but her incredible adventures blur the lines between reality and fantasy as Baby Doll and her companions battle various creatures and enemies to retrieve five items they need that will allow them to break free from their captors before it's too late.

Directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) and starring Abbie Cornish, Emily Browning, Vanessa Hudgens. No reviews as yet.

* Gnomeo and Juliet: UK/ US, Animation/ Adventure/ Comedy/ Family/ Fantasy/ Romance – 1 hr 24 mins – A version of Shakespeare's play, set in the world of warring indoor and outdoor gnomes. Garden gnomes Gnomeo (voice of McAvoy) and Juliet (voice of Blunt) have as many obstacles to overcome as their quasi namesakes when they are caught up in a feud between neighbors. Caution, be advised: contains plastic pink flamingos and lawnmower races. Mixed or average reviews: 53/56 out of 100.

Rotten Tomatoes consensus: While it has moments of inspiration, Gnomeo and Juliet is often too self-referential for its own good..

* Vanishing on 7th Street: US. Horror/ Mystery/ Thriller – 1 hr 30 mins – An apocalyptic thriller/horror about a group of people who must avoid darkness to stay alive. An unexplained blackout plunges the city of Detroit into total darkness, and by the time the sun rises, only a few people remain – surrounded by heaps of empty clothing, abandoned cars, and lengthening shadows. A small handful of strangers that have survived the night – Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo (shown at right), and newcomer Jacob Latimore – each find their way to a rundown bar, on 7th Street, whose gasoline-powered generator and stockpile of food and drink make it the last refuge in a deserted city. With daylight beginning to disappear completely and whispering shadows surrounding the survivors, they soon discover that the enemy is the darkness itself, and only the few remaining light sources can keep them safe. As time begins to run out for them, darkness closes in and they must face the ultimate terror.  [This is from their Press Kit.]

Directed by Brad Anderson. Rated R in the US for language. Mixed or average reviews: 50/51 out of 100.

SuckSeed / ห่วยขั้นเทพ: Thai, Comedy/ Musical – Approx. 2 hrs 20 mins – Inspired by the rhythm of rock 'n roll, the film tells a story of teenage boys who set up their rock band called SuckSeed just to impress the girls, but things get complicated when a girl joins the group. 

Gantz / ガンツ,: Japan, Action/ Crime – 2 hrs – Looks interesting, but apparently outside of Japan it is a disappointment to fans of the manga by what is universally decried as abominable English dubbing on nearly all copies of the film distributed outside of Japan. Here though there is a different problem, as it is dubbed into Thai, with no English subtitles. It’s at Vista only.

Gantz is the first part of a two-film, big budget, live action adaptation of the popular Japanese anime and manga Gantz. It’s the latest in a line of Japanese attempts at Hollywood-style blockbuster films that have emerged in the last few years, with movies like K-20, 20th Century Boys, and the recent Space Battleship Yamato (just shown here at Vista) featuring better effects and higher production values than your typical Japanese film.  Based on a best-selling manga and split into two parts, Gantz is one of the most ambitious movies in Japanese cinema history. 

Rotten Tomatoes synopsis: After trying to rescue a man on the subway tracks, two teens wake up in a room dominated by a mysterious black sphere that sends them to hunt down and kill aliens hiding on Earth.

IMDb viewer: Gantz begins with the tragic deaths of childhood friends Kurono Kei (played by JPop boyband "Arashi" member Ninomiya Kazunari) and Kato Masaru (played by Death Notes star Matsuyama Kenichi) who die trying to save a passenger who had fallen onto some subway rail tracks.

Although they get hit by an express subway train, they find themselves miraculously alive in a mysterious Tokyo apartment room amidst other strangers who had befallen similar tragic and accidental deaths. In the center of the room is a gigantic metallic sphere with a digital screen display and various compartments which house an assortment of advanced and hi-tech weaponry.

The metallic sphere (who calls itself Gantz) informs the assembled contestants that they need to hunt down various alien invaders (disguised either as humans or other objects) in order to earn points. Once 100 points are accumulated and won by any individual contestant, they may choose to either (1) erase their memory and return to normal life or (2) resurrect any of the other contestants who had previously died in a "mission".

Thus begins the epic adventure of these individuals as they play the game to win their freedom and to resurrect their fallen comrades in arms.

Rango: US, Animation/ Action/ Adventure/ Comedy/ Family/ Western – 1 hr 47 mins – It’s a delight! Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff. Directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp, it’s the first full-length work of animation created by the special-effects company Industrial Light & Magic. Generally favorable reviews: 75/76 out of 100. At Airport Plaza only. Not in 3D!

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: Rango is a smart, giddily creative burst of beautifully animated entertainment.

Morrow McLaughlin: It’s hard to describe how well Depp does Rango. It’s so good, it’s a bit scary – like this may be the most talented individual on the planet.

Roger Ebert: Rango is some kind of a miracle: An animated comedy for smart moviegoers, wonderfully made, great to look at, wickedly satirical, and (gasp!) filmed in glorious 2-D.

Solitary Man: US, Comedy/ Drama/ Romance – 1 hr 30 mins – A car magnate watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions. Brilliant character study by Michael Douglas. Rated R in the US for language and some sexual content; 18+ in Thailand. Generally favorable reviews: 69/69 out of 100. At Vista only. Last Day!

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: Built around a singularly unpleasant main character, Solitary Man needed a flawless central performance to succeed -- and Michael Douglas delivers.

Roger Ebert: Reading in the gossip sheets that Douglas in years past was led astray by lust, we suspect that some of his performance is based on experience. Why is a man a serial seducer? To prove to himself that he can, which to a woman is not a compelling reason to be seduced.

This is a smart, effective film, a comedy in many ways even though it's bookended with reasons for Ben to see it as a potential tragedy. It's a serious comedy, perceptive, nuanced, with every supporting performance well-calibrated to demonstrate to Ben that he can run but he can no longer hide. Here is one of Michael Douglas' finest performances.

Red Riding Hood: US/ Canada, Fantasy/ Horror/ Mystery/ Thriller – 1 hr 40 mins – Set in a medieval village that is haunted by a werewolf, a young girl falls for an orphaned woodcutter, much to her family's displeasure. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke (the first Twilight, and Thirteen), starring Amanda Seyfried, Julie Christie, and Gary Oldman. Generally unfavorable reviews: 29/30 out of 100. At Airport Plaza only.

Brian Orndorf: Truly dreadful...Hardwicke hasn't offered a competent directorial effort to date, with Hood a new low for the filmmaker. Not only is the feature a total eyesore, but one perfectly content to pilfer from a fad.

Hollywood Reporter, Todd McCarthy: A film of grimm banality, Red Riding Hood puts a bloodthirsty Twilight spin on a fairy tale already possessed of an unusually macabre climax. As it thuds along from one wolf attack to the next, Catherine Hardwicke's first film since taking leave of Bella and her toothy friends adamantly refuses to provide any wit, humor or fun, concerning itself mostly with the heroine's taxing dilemma of picking between the rural village's two best looking boys.

Hug Na Sarakam / ฮักนะ สารคาม: Thai, Comedy/ Romance – Transvestite indie filmmaker Tanwarin Sukkhapisit, director of the banned social drama Insects in the Backyard, goes commercial with her latest effort. It's a sunny comedy and countryside ode about the love lives of youngsters in Maha Sarakham, the predominantly rural province in the culturally distinct region of Thailand's northeast, Isaan. They engage in romantic shenanigans that have nothing to do with Isaan’s usual sorry image of pitiable farmers. At Vista only, and in Thai only.

The Unborn Child/ Sop Dek / ศพเด็ก 2002: Thai, Horror/ Mystery – Actually 2,002 unborn children, since this opportunistic horror film is based on last November’s scandal when 2,002 aborted fetuses were discovered at a Buddhist temple in Bangkok after the temple’s crematorium broke down, and the resultant smell had neighbors complaining. Directed by Poj Arnon (Bangkok Love Story). If you’d care for the background on what the scandal was all about, click here. At Vista only.

Just Go with It: US, Comedy/ Romance – 1 hr 57 mins ��� On a weekend trip to Hawaii, a plastic surgeon convinces his loyal assistant to pose as his soon-to-be-divorced wife in order to cover up a careless lie he told to his much-younger girlfriend. Generally unfavorable reviews: 33/37 out of 100. If you enjoy Adam Sandler’s movies, you might like this one. At Airport Plaza only.

Rolling Stone, Dennis Dugan: A RomCom with little rom and even less com, Just Go with It returns Adam Sandler to his fascination with kids, poop, and mammary glands. ...Don't even think of going with it.

Rapunzel / Tangled (3D): US, Animation/ Comedy/ Family – 1 hr 40 mins – For some reason, this film is known as Tangled in the US and Rapunzel here. It’s terrific old-fashioned Disney magic. The beautiful princess Rapunzel has been in a tower her entire life, and she is now curious about the outside world. One day, a bandit scales the tower and is taken captive by Rapunzel. She strikes a deal with the charming thief to act as her guide to the outside world. Now only in 2D, and only at Vista. Last Day today! Generally favorable reviews: 71/75 out of 100.

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: While far from Disney's greatest film, Tangled is a visually stunning, thoroughly entertaining addition to the studio's classic animated canon.

Globe and Mail, Jennie Punter: Tangled, Disney’s 50th animated feature, is glorious-looking, action-packed, and laugh-rippled, with a few fine story-advancing musical numbers.

May show up any time

127 Hours: (I am hopeful it will show up any day now – It had been playing at Major in Pattaya) US/ UK, Drama – You do want to see this, believe me! It’s fantastic! Sounds grim, but actually not that bloody; the major action is performed with a modicum of taste, in my opinion. And the musical score is a marvel, doing all sorts of things to help you keep things in perspective. It was nominated for the following Oscars: best picture, best actor (James Franco), best adapted screenplay, film editing, original score (the marvelous A.R. Rahman, composer for Slumdog Millionaire), and best original song. This Danny Boyle film, based on true events, features James Franco as hiker Aron Ralston, who becomes trapped under a boulder while canyoneering alone near Moab, Utah, in the United States. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall, and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers, family, and the two hikers he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever meets? Rated R in the US for language and some disturbing violent content/ bloody images. Reviews: Universal acclaim: 82/82 out of 100.

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: As gut-wrenching as it is inspirational, 127 Hours unites one of Danny Boyle's most beautifully exuberant directorial efforts with a terrific performance from James Franco.

True Grit: (Playing in Thailand now and may show up here any time) Drama, Western – I thought Jeff Bridges was a hoot in this; truly enjoyable! Nominated for these Oscars (but didn’t win a one): best picture, direction (Joel and Ethan Coen), actor (Jeff Bridges), supporting actress (Hailee Steinfeld), adapted screenplay, art direction, cinematography, costume design, sound editing, and sound mixing. The story is as in the original: Following the murder of her father by hired hand Tom Chaney, fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross's (Hailee Steinfeld) determines to bring him to justice. Enlisting the help of a trigger-happy, drunken U.S. Marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), she sets out with him - over his objections - to hunt down Chaney. Her father’s blood demands that she pursue the criminal into Indian territory and find him before a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) catches him and brings him back to Texas for the murder of another man.  Generally favorable reviews: 80/83 out of 100.

 

Scheduled for March 31

King Naresuan Part III / ตำนานสมเด็จนเรศวรมหาราช 3 ภาคยุทธนาวี: Thai, Drama/ War – The third chapter of the King Naresuan epic, continuing the story of Thai's chivalric king and warrior in the Ayudhya era who fought against the invasion of Burmese troops that aimed to overpower the Ayudhya Kingdom. This is the one the sparked a scandal because of the unbelievable huge amount of money the Thai government gave this film for expenses. What is less known is that that obscene sum of money was actually given for only one scene in the movie, the big battle scene.

Hop: US, Animation/ Comedy/ Family/ Fantasy – Blending state-of-the-art animation with live action, Hop tells the comic tale of Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny’s teen-aged son (voiced by Russell Brand) and must take him in as he recovers. As Fred struggles with the world's worst houseguest, both will learn what it takes to finally grow up. [Wanna bet? – editorial comment] Actually, looks like fun.

... and looking forward

Apr 6 (Wed): Battle: Los Angeles / World Invasion: Battle LA: US,  Action/ Sci-Fi/ Thriller – 1 hr 56 mins – For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. Generally unfavorable reviews: 37/47 out of 100.

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: Overlong and overly burdened with war movie clichés, Battle: Los Angeles will entertain only the most ardent action junkies.

Apr 13 (Wed): Mars Needs Moms!: US, Animation/ Action/ Adventure/ Comedy/ Family/ Sci-Fi – 1 hr 28 mins – Nine-year-old Milo (Seth Green) finds out just how much he needs his mom (Joan Cusack) when she's nabbed by Martians who plan to steal her mom-ness for their own young. Just opened in the US and England, and it seems no one went to see it. Shaping up as one of the biggest flops ever (see below). Mixed or average reviews: 51/52 out of 100.

Rotten Tomatoes Consensus: The cast is solid and it's visually well-crafted, but Mars Needs Moms suffers from a lack of imagination and heart.

New York Times, Brooks Barnes: In the movie business, sometimes a flop is just a flop. Then there are misses so disastrous that they send signals to broad swaths of Hollywood. Mars Needs Moms is shaping up as the second type.

Walt Disney Studios spent an estimated $175 million to make and market Mars Needs Moms, which sold $6.9 million in tickets at North American theaters in its opening weekend. That grim result puts the 3-D animated adventure on track to become one of the biggest box-office bombs in movie history, on par with such washouts as The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Cutthroat Island and The Alamo.

Apr 13 (Wed): Let the Bullets Fly / 讓子彈飛  [ 让子弹飞 ]: China, Action/ Comedy – 1 hr 28 mins – Set in China during the warring 1920s, notorious bandit chief Zhang descends upon a remote provincial town posing as its new mayor, an identity that he had hijacked from Old Tang, himself a small-time imposter. Hell-bent on making a fast buck, Zhang soon meets his match in the tyrannical local gentry Huang as a deadly battle of wit and brutality ensues. Written and directed by Jiang Wen, starring Jiang Wen and Chow Yun Fat. The film is hugely popular in China, and is on the verge of being China’s biggest box-office hit. Rated 18+ in Thailand.

Hollywood Reporter, Maggie Lee: Machiavellian mind games, a twisted vendetta, and high-octane gun slinging among a bandit posing as a governor, his strategist, and a small-town kingpin are the stuff of adventure and trenchant humor in the Chinese western, Let the Bullets Fly. As an allegory on power, corruption and rough justice, it has flashes of intelligence and political acumen.

Actor-auteurJiang Wen directs with a macho, devil-may-care bravadothat expresses the anarchy and rapacious opportunism of warlord-dominated China in the 1920s.

 

* = Coming soon (hopefully)

AF = Alliance Française  FS = Film Space

 

At Alliance Française on Fridays at 8 pm

 

The Alliance Française shows its series of French films in a small room in their building at 138 Charoen Prathet Road. The building is directly opposite Wat Chaimongkhon, near the Chedi Hotel. Tell your taxi "Samakhom Frangset" and/or "Wat Chaimongkhon." A contribution of 30 baht is requested; you pay outside at the information desk of the Alliance Française proper.

On Friday, March 25, 8 pm:  À tout de suite / Right Now (2004) by Benoît Jacquot – 95 mins – France, Crime/ Romance/ Drama. In black and white. English subtitles. Generally favorable reviews: 63/66 out of 100.

With Isild Le Besco, Ouassini Embarek, Nicolas Duvauchelle, Laurence Cordier.

When she hangs up the phone after hearing her lover say, “We’re coming right now,” she knows in her heart of hearts what she hadn’t faced up to before: that this man she loves, this “prince” from nowhere, is a hoodlum. He has just robbed a bank and a man got killed. It’s the mid-1970s. She’s nineteen years old. Right now, as if in a waking dream, she falls headlong from the tight, narrow space of her father’s uptown apartment into a weaving world of escape — Spain, Morocco, Greece — and from being an almost well-behaved girl into the life she’s always wanted, for better or worse.

– Alliance description

A school girl falls for a charming young man. After news about a botched bank robbery in which a guard is killed, she learns that her boyfriend was one of the robbers. She decides to hide him and his friends and then they all sneak out of the country. After hiding out and spending all the money, tempers rise and the group splits up. This forces the girl to work her own way back home and deal with her actions and her separation from her boyfriend.  A stylish, erotically charged thriller, and visually stunning.

 

At Alliance Française on Friday, April 1:  L'Atalante / Le Chaland qui passe (1934) by Jean Vigo – 88 mins – France, Drama/ Romance. Black and white. No English subtitles. Reviews: Universal acclaim: 87 out of 100.

 

With Michel Simon, Dita Parlo, Jean Dasté.  

When Juliette marries Jean, she comes to live on his ship, on board of which are, besides the two of them, only a cabin boy and the strange old second mate Père Jules. Soon bored by life on the river, she slips off to see the nightlife when they come to Paris. Angered by this, Jean sets off, leaving Juliette behind. Overcome by grief and longing for his wife, Jean falls into a depression and Père Jules goes and tries to find Juliette…

– Alliance description

Rotten Tomatoes synopsis: Considered by critics to be one of the 20th century's best films, L'Atalante is the final work of French director Jean Vigo's (Zero for Conduct) tragically brief, but brilliant career. After their wedding, Juliette (Dita Parlo) and Jean (Jean Dasté) set out on L'Atalante, the river barge that Jean captains. In a scene representative of the film's lovely, poetic cinematography, Juliette, both desiring and fearing her new life, wistfully walks atop the length of the barge, wedding dress fluttering in the wind. The couple soon settles into wedded bliss, with the companionship of quirky, tattooed bargeman Père Jules. He provides many of the film's unexpected comedic moments (watch for the plethora of cats, and the cigarette smoking belly button). Trouble arises, however, as Jean continually foils Juliette's attempts to learn more of life by listening to the radio and exploring the barge's ports. When a charming traveling salesman/entertainer (Gilles Margaritis) entices Juliette with stories of the charm of Paris, she decides to venture out on her own. The question of whether Jean and Julliette's love will win out over their conflicting ideas, along with the naturalistic, dreamlike visual world that Vigo creates, will keep viewers enraptured to the end.   

At Film Space on Saturdays at 7 pm

March is “The Month of True Story” at Film Space. April, “The Month of Tremble with Terror.”

 
Film Space is to the right and in the back of the Chiang Mai University (CMU) Art Museum (at 239 Nimmanhemin Road, corner of Suthep Road), in the Media Arts and Design building across from the ballet school. Showings are in a classroom on the second floor or on the roof, weather permitting. A contribution is requested in the donation box at the entrance – you should leave at least 20 baht. Well worth supporting. All films not in English are shown with English subtitles.

At Film Space Saturday, March 26, 7 pm:  The Sea Inside / Mar adentro (2004) by Alejandro Amenábar – 2 hrs 5 mins – Spain/ France/ Italy, Biography/ Drama. The life story of Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. The film explores Ramón's relationships with two women: Julia, a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living. Through the gift of his love, these two women are inspired to accomplish things they never previously thought possible. Despite his wish to die, Ramón taught everyone he encountered the meaning, value, and preciousness of life. Though he could not move himself, he had an uncanny ability to move others. Generally favorable reviews: 74/75 out of 100. In Spanish, Catalan, and Galician, with English subtitles.

Won the 2004 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, the 2004 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film.

Rotten Tomatoes consensus: Held aloft by a transfixing performance from Javier Bardem as a terminally ill man who chooses to die, The Sea Inside transcends its melodramatic story with tenderness and grace.

April is “The Month of Tremble with Terror.”

At Film Space Saturday, April 2, 7 pm:  The Shining (1980) by Stanley Kubrick – 2 hrs 22 mins – UK/ US, Drama/ Horror/ Mystery. Frustrated writer Jack Torrance takes a job as the winter caretaker at the ominous, mountain-locked Overlook Hotel so that he can write in peace. When he arrives there with his wife and son, they learn that the previous caretaker had gone mad. Slowly Jack becomes possessed by the evil, demonic presence in the hotel. Rated R in the US. Generally favorable reviews: 61/79 out of 100.

Boston Globe, Bruce McCabe: When you sit down to The Shining, you sit down with normal expectations of being diverted, perhaps even being gripped, but not being undermined. But the film undermines you in powerful, inchoate ways. It's a horror story even for people who don't like horror stories - maybe especially for them.

Empire, Ian Nathan: Alive with portent and symbolism, every frame of the film brims with Kubrick's genius for implying psychological purpose in setting: the hotel's tight, sinister labyrinth of corridors; its cold, sterile bathrooms; the lavish, illusionary ballroom. This was horror of the mind transposed to place.

At the Gay Film Series

Next showing March 27, at 7 pm: Transamerica (2005), last presentation of the season until June 19th, 2011. Directed by Duncan Tucker, the film tells the story of Bree, a transsexual woman (Felicity Huffman), who goes on a road trip with her long-lost son Toby (Kevin Zegers). The film is marked by an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning performance by Huffman. Rated R in the US for sexual content, nudity, language and drug use. Generally favorable reviews: 66/68 out of 100.

Films with a gay theme shown generally every two weeks, with very limited seating, in a private home. Reservations a must to attend films in this series. To reserve: send email to: theme.movies@yahoo.com mark in subject area “reserve” with the number in your party. To be placed on the mailing list for advance notice of movies just put in the subject line: “mailing list.”  ​