March 23, 2004:

ON THEIR WAY FROM THE THEATERS

Dirty Pretty Things (2003). Stephen Frears directs Audrey Tautou, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Sergi Lopez in a tale of two illegal immigrants in London, where it opened the film festival in 2002. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw called it "an engrossing noir romance, couched in the language of both thriller and urban myth, and brought to life by three actors whose expertise is a joy to watch," while the Observer's Philip French praised Frears's "perfect balance between social commentary and melodrama, while nudging his actors to turn potentially stereotypical figures... into three-dimensional people." [Rent]

The Singing Detective (2003). Director Keith Gordon and his star, Robert Downey Jr, took an enormous risk making a film out of Dennis Potter's classic teleplay in that Jon Amiel's version for British television is so widely lauded as one of the truly great productions for the screen, large or small. When Gordon's film was released, comparisons were inevitable and inevitably unfavorable, that is, the American version was said not to hold a candle to Amiel's. But writing in Senses of Cinema, Peter Tonguette has recently argued that critics missed the point: "Nowhere, to my knowledge, has it been analysed as a meaningful part of an oeuvre - specifically the oeuvre of its director, one of the most interesting voices in American film right now.... But it's also more than Gordon's film: it's Dennis Potter's, too, for some of the most significant changes between the mini-series and the film - notably, the inclusion of something like a positive (I won't say 'happy') ending - are his." [Rent]

Shattered Glass (2003). A quintessentially late 90s, i.e., Boom Era tale of high-flying feature writer Stephen Glass who completely fabricated more than 20 features for the New Republic. David Edelstein, writing in Slate: "The performances of [Hayden] Christensen [as Glass], [Chloë] Sevigny, [Hank] Azaria, and especially Peter Sarsgaard as a prissy yet achingly vulnerable Chuck Lane [Glass's editor] are so good that for long stretches the artifice drops away and you think you're watching a fly-on-the-wall documentary." [Rent]

The Magdalene Sisters (2002). This winner of the top prize at the Venice Film Festival does not set out to cheer you up. The story of young Irish women tossed by their own families into what, for three decades, was essentially a slave labor prison run by the Sisters of Magdalene Order is all the more chilling because it's based on true events. Still, the film, writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times, "would be too painful to watch if it didn't have a silver lining. Suffice it say that it is possible to fly over this religious cuckoo's nest and remain free." [Rent]

Gothika (2003). Careful, Halle Berry, that Oscar will only take you so far. Penélope Cruz, why didn't you get Tom's agent to read the screenplay before signing on? And won't someone please find a role worthy of one of the great talents of our generation, Robert Downey Jr, before it's too late? All style and no substance was the critics' main complaint when this horror flick appeared; but mileage varies: Roger Ebert gave it three out of four stars. [Rent]

Honey (2003). An "upbeat little hip-hop fable" is what AO Scott calls this one in the NYT, with strains of Flashdance, 8 Mile and Drumline. [Rent]

Beyond Borders (2003). An odd love story involving two humanitarian aid workers that's also sort of a tour of the world's trouble spots. Good intentions, melodramatic results. With Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen. [Rent]

DOCUMENTARY

Sherman's March (1986). In the early 80s, Ross McElwee set out to make a documentary on the lingering aftereffects in Georgia and the Carolinas of the "total warfare" General Sherman waged in the final months of the Civil War. But then his girlfriend dumped him. He couldn't concentrate on his project, though he still had the grant. So, he carries on filming, capturing his disastrous approaches to a variety of women he's attracted to. "Though Mr. McElwee's timing with women is awful," wrote Vincent Canby in the New York Times, "he's a film maker-anthropologist with a rare appreciation for the eccentric details of our edgy civilization." Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. [Rent]

John Carpenter: The Man and His Movies (2002). Click here and ask yourself if you don't want to know more about the guy who made all those movies. [Rent]

Beyond the Mat (1999). "Barry W. Blaustein's surprisingly riveting documentary [on the world of professional wrestling] doesn't probe the worst kept secret in America: that all the matches are rigged," writes Merle Bertrand in Film Threat: "It is instead a human drama and a highly moving one at that, going behind the personas the wrestlers present to their adoring public to reveal the physical, mental and emotional traumas these entertainers endure daily." [Rent]

Chased By Dinosaurs (2003). CGI's come a long way since Jurassic Park. [Rent]

MUSIC

Dope, Guns and Fucking Up Your Video Deck (2001). "A genuine piece of Minnesota punk rock history, featuring a masterful collection of irreverent videos by the finest bands from [indie label] Amphetamine Reptile." (Sound Unseen) [Rent]

Iggy and the Stooges: Live in Detroit (2003). The reunion tour went famously well, but there's more, adds Rolling Stone: "A revelatory in-store show rocks equally hard, with drummer Scott Asheton playing just a cardboard box, a suitcase and a bucket. Talk about raw power." [Rent]

Blondie (1979). Speaking of drummers, this band had a great one in Clem Burke. Anyway, 1979: First #1 hit in the US with "Heart of Glass"; first #1 hit in the UK with "Sunday Girl"; "Dreaming" riding the charts before year's end. It was a very good year for Blondie. [Rent]

Nat King Cole: Soundies and Telescriptions (2004). "Before achieving international pop stardom with his vocal recordings for the Capitol label during the early-1950s, the great Nat King Cole (1917-1965) enjoyed considerable success fronting his own trio in Hollywood and resorting to a repertoire of jazzy/jivey/novelty numbers that made for irrestible listening," writes Jazzscript. These promos stem from that period and boast that "smooth, crisp, appealing sound that gained him early popularity." [Rent]

Louis Jordan: Films and Soundies (2004). Once again, Jazzscript: "One of the chief progenitors of the R & B idiom and a pioneer of the small-combo "jump" blues so popular during the forties, vocalist and altoman Louis Jordan (1908-1975) is justly remembered as a performer who defined an era. An effervescent saxophonist and an enthusiastic singer with a very personal, jive-loaded sense of humour, the irrepressible Jordan enjoyed a sensational string of hits while fronting his rock-solid Tympany Five band from the war years onwards to the early Fifties." [Rent]

DRAMA

Blindness (2003). "In the tradition of Body Heat and The Postman Always Rings Twice, Blindness cleverly works a variety of angles simultaneously," raves Boxoffice Magazine: "It's a surprisingly smart thriller given its almost theatrical constraints. Seductively eerie photography by cinematographer Rico Sands, a subtle but effective score by Mark Governor and elegant staging by co-writer/director Anna Chi lend the picture the feel of a classic noir." [Rent]

Langrishe Go Down (1978). A BBC Play of the Week written by Harold Pinter. Notes AO Scott in the NYT: "The chief fascination of Langrishe, Go Down - what makes its belated arrival in this country something of an event - is that Otto and Imogen are played by Jeremy Irons and Judi Dench, who were great English actors long before they came to personify Great English Acting." [Rent]

Hush (1998). A thriller with Jessica Lange and Gwyneth Paltrow. [Rent]

Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2002). It's hard to imagine Helen Mirren needing a good bucking up, but as all women of means know, when that time comes, the only thing to do is buzz off to Italy and find yourself a young studmuffin. Based on Tennessee Williams's only novel. [Rent]

Apt Pupil (1998). With Ian McKellen as an anti-Gandalf, based on a novella by Stephen King. "It's not perfect, certainly," writes Marc Savlov in the Austin Chronicle, "but as directed by [Bryan] Singer (The Usual Suspects) it's a punchy, hair-raising descent into the nature of evil and the corrupting influence of one man's power over another." [Rent]

Bugsy (1991). A re-release of Warren Beatty's engaging tale of, among other things, the genesis of Las Vegas. [Rent]

COMEDY

Songs From the Second Floor (2001). J Hoberman calls this "supremely crafted" Swedish winner of the Special Jury Prize in Cannes "slapstick Ingmar Bergman." Bergman himself has tagged director Roy Andersson's television commercials, which have developed a cult status over the years, the best in the world. Andersson must be something of a perfectionist; he spent four years making this film. It was worth the wait. [Rent]

On Edge (2001). If you got a kick out of Drop Dead Gorgeous, try this mockumentary on the wunnerful world of women's figure skating. [Rent]

Scoop (1987). Gavin Millar directs this made-for-Brit-TV comedy based on one of Evelyn Waugh's most entertaining novels. The fine cast, headed up by Michael Maloney, includes Denholm Elliot, Herbert Lom and Donald Pleasence. [Rent]

Jawbreaker (1998). A spoof of the likes of Heathers or Carrie that, frankly, falls way short of either. Request

Drowning Mona (2000). You've never seen Bette Midler this mean, and all in all, it's a fine cast having a bit of fun - particularly Jamie Lee Curtis. [Rent]

Splash (1982). The Tom Hanks vehicle gets the Special Edition treatment. [Rent]

Click on to see more titles arriving on March 23: Horror, docs, TV, anime and more....

Also:

• Check out the titles arriving on March 30.
• Take a peek at highlights arriving in April and beyond.

And don't forget to check out the New Releases that're already here.