(Article originally appeared on GreenCine Daily)
by Vadim Rizov

The arthouse isn't immune from peddling glorified YouTube cutesiness: earlier this year, Babies offered up viral‐adorable burbles on 35mm. (Cuteness on demand is nicely spoofed in Godard's new Film Socialisme, going from full-screen kitteh close‐up to the woman watching it; she meows, which is considerably less cute.) Similarly, the masses apparently love to watch sassy old folks being stylish and adorable, without any troublesome bodily failures getting in the way. Mid‐August Lunch, full of snippy old ladies and food porn, seemingly offers up more undemanding fare, and let's be clear: there's nothing inherently wrong with that. But Gianni di Gregorio's directorial debut is remarkably tough‐minded.

Reviewer:Craig Phillips
Rating (out of 5): ***

I find Splice maddening, provocative, erratic, brave enough to suggest something greater, hard to dismiss, but ultimately frustrating. It's an intriguing film that touches on hot-button issues involving bioethics and corporate science, things that not only "could happen" but are happening. The early David Cronenberg influence in the new film byCube director Vincenzo Natali is clear, and that's both a compliment and a burden. I say this not just because it's a Canadian production, but because the film manages to weave in the gross out with the cold and clinical, with a distinctly wry Canadian sense of humor that is sometimes overlooked in Cronenberg's best work, too. Essentially a modernized take on the age old mad scientist creating a monster tale, as well as cautionary tale on genetic engineering, Splice has its effectively scary moments, but it is not quite on a level with The Fly.

Reviewer: Jeffrey M. Anderson 
Rating (out of 5): ***

The great Japanese director Nagisa Oshima is known for shaking up the quiet, stately Japanese cinema of the 1960s with his stories of youth, social realism, social critique, and even a bit of surrealism. His most notable titles from this period are arguably Boy (1969) and The Ceremony (1971), though none of his early films is well known in the West. Instead, Oshima is best known here for his pair of 1970s erotic arthouse hits, In the Realm of the Senses (1976) and Empire of Passion (1978). Though these movies put Oshima on the world map, many early fans consider them a diversion from Oshima's true talent.

This leads us to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983), Oshima's follow-up to Empire of Passion, newly released via Criterion Collection. With the world's attention, he turned to this international production, based on an autobiographical novel by Afrikaner Laurens van der Post, throwing English and Japanese talents into the same ring. It's an odd film, drawing comparisons to The Bridge on the River Kwai due to its setting, but much more intimate in scale. It's relentlessly grim, constantly off-balance, occasionally moving, and often striking. (Oshima co-wrote the screenplay with the former English film critic Paul Mayersberg, who also wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth.)

Reviewer: James van Maanen
Rating (out of 5): ****½

 Afterschool -- the not quite new film by Antonio Campos that made its New York debut two years ago at the 2008 NY Film Festival, after playing Cannes and then moving on to Berlin -- begins with a scene that brings to mind the finale of Olivier Assayas' Demonlover. As you might expect from something that startling, the movie takes off into a narrative that addresses the subjects of kids, adults, teachers, school and society in general - always with a camera seemingly present. It's not pretty.

In fact, it's been awhile since I've seen anything that depressed me as much as this film. This is not because of its quality level, for Campos has achieved something difficult and demanding on his end and ours: making a movie about the next generation that is slow, often very quiet, and runs the risk of alienating its audience. That it will not put off thoughtful adults is due to Campos' technical skill and his careful planning of what happens and when -- and how the insular little world that the writer/director captures reacts to the event at the center of the movie.