Top December Releases
Who better to take us on a tour of Illusion and Reality than Orson Welles?
| 12 Dec 2006
Nacho Libre (4 Dec)
Jared Hess' second film is an entertaining and very silly story following the fortunes of a Mexican priest-turned wrestler played by Jack Black. Loosely based on the true story of Fray Tormenta, this feature has the same whimsical feel of Hess' debut, Napoleon Dynamite. Hess seems to enjoy portraying unusual, geeky characters in his films and Jack Black gives an excellent performance as the masked wrestler desperately trying to save his monastery from financial ruin. This is an endearing, laid-back comedy which is ideal for the whole family.
F For Fake (4 Dec)
Who better to take us on a tour of Illusion and Reality than Orson Welles? In F For Fake the great man turns his attention to Magic, Illusions, Fakery and Reality. A superb documentary in which the Documentarian is as fascinating and enigmatic as the subject. At times baffling, always entertaining and utterly brilliant Welles makes you the viewer question what you are seeing, hearing and even thinking. Watch this and become a new person. Or maybe it was all a trick, and Welles' humour has all of us fooled.
The Michael Haneke Trilogy (4 Dec)
Following on from the success earlier this year of Caché (Hidden) is the release of a trilogy of early works, a reflection on "the progressive emotional glaciation of Austria" from director Michael Haneke. Uncompromising and direct, Haneke offers a stark and at times brutal view into a reality a million miles from the neatly packaged and slickly delivered product on offer elsewhere. Definitely one for viewers tired of the spoon-fed fodder being churned out of Hollywood. Features include: The Seventh Continent (1989), Benny's Video (1993), and 71 Fragments of A Chronology Of Chance (1994). Look here for more questions rather than obvious answers.
Snakes on a Plane (26 Dec)
Snakes on a Plane has everything. Snakes, a plane, Samuel L "mother-f*cking" Jackson, some scares, some nasty deaths, a whole bundle of laughs and even (here's the shock) some tear jerking moments!
SoaP will never win any awards (unless they introduce a new catagory - best film involving S.L."m-f"J. and some snakes) but it provides a brilliant evening's entertainment. The characters are stereotypical enough to enable you to play "spot the corpse", yet interesting enough to make you care. The snakes are everywhere and S.L."m-f"J. is still the coolest actor in Hollywood. Expect to laugh, expect to be on the edge of your seat, and expect to be strangely moved.
An Inconvenient Truth (26 Dec)
Al Gore's enviromental documentary is a powerful and sometimes depressing look at global warming and its consequences. Based on his original power-point presentation & years of enviromental campaigning this is a personal look at the problems faced by us all. The film has received rave reviews and won the former Vice President much admiration for his clear and persuasive explanation of the consequences of political and personal inaction on CO2 emissions. It's not often that we hear politicians saying something worth listening to, so this film is recommended to everyone.
Jared Hess' second film is an entertaining and very silly story following the fortunes of a Mexican priest-turned wrestler played by Jack Black. Loosely based on the true story of Fray Tormenta, this feature has the same whimsical feel of Hess' debut, Napoleon Dynamite. Hess seems to enjoy portraying unusual, geeky characters in his films and Jack Black gives an excellent performance as the masked wrestler desperately trying to save his monastery from financial ruin. This is an endearing, laid-back comedy which is ideal for the whole family.
F For Fake (4 Dec)
Who better to take us on a tour of Illusion and Reality than Orson Welles? In F For Fake the great man turns his attention to Magic, Illusions, Fakery and Reality. A superb documentary in which the Documentarian is as fascinating and enigmatic as the subject. At times baffling, always entertaining and utterly brilliant Welles makes you the viewer question what you are seeing, hearing and even thinking. Watch this and become a new person. Or maybe it was all a trick, and Welles' humour has all of us fooled.
The Michael Haneke Trilogy (4 Dec)
Following on from the success earlier this year of Caché (Hidden) is the release of a trilogy of early works, a reflection on "the progressive emotional glaciation of Austria" from director Michael Haneke. Uncompromising and direct, Haneke offers a stark and at times brutal view into a reality a million miles from the neatly packaged and slickly delivered product on offer elsewhere. Definitely one for viewers tired of the spoon-fed fodder being churned out of Hollywood. Features include: The Seventh Continent (1989), Benny's Video (1993), and 71 Fragments of A Chronology Of Chance (1994). Look here for more questions rather than obvious answers.
Snakes on a Plane (26 Dec)
Snakes on a Plane has everything. Snakes, a plane, Samuel L "mother-f*cking" Jackson, some scares, some nasty deaths, a whole bundle of laughs and even (here's the shock) some tear jerking moments!
SoaP will never win any awards (unless they introduce a new catagory - best film involving S.L."m-f"J. and some snakes) but it provides a brilliant evening's entertainment. The characters are stereotypical enough to enable you to play "spot the corpse", yet interesting enough to make you care. The snakes are everywhere and S.L."m-f"J. is still the coolest actor in Hollywood. Expect to laugh, expect to be on the edge of your seat, and expect to be strangely moved.
An Inconvenient Truth (26 Dec)
Al Gore's enviromental documentary is a powerful and sometimes depressing look at global warming and its consequences. Based on his original power-point presentation & years of enviromental campaigning this is a personal look at the problems faced by us all. The film has received rave reviews and won the former Vice President much admiration for his clear and persuasive explanation of the consequences of political and personal inaction on CO2 emissions. It's not often that we hear politicians saying something worth listening to, so this film is recommended to everyone.