Jurgen & Marcy's Independent Film Blog October 2003 Archive

Hayden Christensen plays another misguided prodigy in Billy Ray's journalism drama "Shattered Glass," the true story of New Republic star reporter Stephen Glass, the whiz kid whose stories turned out ... Read More

Jean-Pierre Melville's masterful thriller "Le Cercle Rouge," starring Alain Delon and Yves Montand, is one of two Criterion DVDs released this week. Steven Soderbergh's "Schizopolis" comes with a documentary track ... Read More

It's the end of the world--don't you know that yet? Sun Ra's unique blend of avant-jazz film, head flick, sci-fi spoof and blaxploitation is the grooviest movie about a crew ... Read More

The bittersweet story told in Mark Moskowitz's acclaimed literary journey "Stone Reader" just got its happy ending: "The Stones of Summer," the forgotten novel by Dow Mossman which inspired the ... Read More

Naked men streak through a park, a randy bugman spews nonsense while he's persued by a mysterious film team, the camera pans to a tree adorned with a sign: "Idea ... Read More

Robert Downey Jr. puts on his best Michael Gambon impression in the remake of the classic BBC mini-series--but even he can't save this ill-conceived mess. Why didn't they leave brilliant ... Read More

Elia Suleiman's "Divine Intervention," Jan Jakub Kolski's "Pornography," and Barbara Albert's "Free Radicals" are among the 55 submissions for nomination in the Foreign Language Film category. The Oscar ... Read More

It must be late October-- our weekly list of recommended world and indie DVDs is dominated by horror flicks. From Danny Boyle comes "28 Days Later," and the Pang brothers ... Read More

The 41st New York Film Festival came to a close yesterday with Alejandro González Iñárritu's "21 Grams." Jürgen takes a look back at the second half of 2003 line-up, including ... Read More

Gina Gershon gives a powerhouse performance in Alex Steyermark's "Prey For Rock & Roll," the story of four women in a struggling Los Angeles punk band. Drea de Matteo, Shelly ... Read More

Gillo Pontecorvo's "The Battle of Algiers," long unavailable in the United States, will be released to selected theaters in February in a new 35mm print by Rialto Pictures. News of ... Read More

Jerry Bruckheimer directs Cate Blanchett in this biopic about a muckraking Irish journalist who faced down Dublin druglords. The result is a mixed bag of excellent acting and the slick, ... Read More

On Friday, Robert Besson's "Au Hasard Balthazar" arrives at Film Forum in a radiant new print. The film, hailed as one of the sublime masterpieces of the 20th century, tells ... Read More

Baby, you can ring my bell jar: Gwyneth Paltrow plays the suicidal poet Sylvia Plath in Christine Jeff's second film. Daniel Crag stars as poet-lover Ted Hughes. The biopic, which ... Read More

This week's top DVD releases offer the work of young and talented independent filmakers: Rose Troche's "The Safety of Objects" and Neil LaBute's "The Shape of Things." And oh yes, ... Read More

Proudly bearing the Palm d'Or it won at Cannes, Gus van Sant's bloody school shooting drama "Elephant" screens at the New York Film Festival tonight and tomorrow. The film opens ... Read More

Quentin Tarantino -- "Q" to his friends -- releases the first part of his bloody epic "Kill Bill" today, starring Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Liu. The critics ... Read More

Veteran director Claude Chabrol's 50th film covers familiar territory:a bourgeois family rife with incest, corruption, and murder. "The Flower of Evil" is opening in selected cities on Friday. Read Marcy's ... Read More

Ewan McGregor sheathes his light saber and makes love to Tilda Swinton in this sooty, brooding adaptation of a novel by Alexander Trocchi. "Young Adam" is showing at the New ... Read More

Halfway through the 41st New York Film Festival, it seems that almost every movie is about irredeemable guilt and inescapable evil. A look back at one week of murky rivers, ... Read More

Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki's quiet masterpiece "The Man Without a Past" won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. This week, you can buy it on DVD. ... Read More

Two artists hide out at a country estate during the German occupation of Poland in Jan Jakub Kolski's adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz' novel. Elegantly shot, "Pornography" is both lighthearted and ... Read More

Rithy Panh's devastating documentary about the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot plays tonight at the New York Film Festival. Uniquely powerful among human-rights documentaries, "S21" brings victims and perpetrators face-to-face.

Far and away the best film showing at this year's New York Film Festival so far, Lars Von Trier's controversial "Dogville" has its (sold out) public screenings tonight and tomorrow. ... Read More

Jeff Stein's classic documentary about legendary rock band The Who has been painstakingly restored to full, rip-roaring glory. The film will show off Roger Daltrey's swinging microphone, Pete Townshend's shredding ... Read More

The 41st New York Film Festival opens tonight with Clint Eastwood's hard-hitting thriller "Mystic River." Tragic childhood events catch up with a group of former friends when violence erupts ... Read More

"Kids" meets "Lost in Translation" in Masato Harada's "Bounce Ko Gals," a strangely sweet film about underage prostitution. The film follows the adventures of a trio of white-socked friends through ... Read More

With 26 feature films from 21 countries, the New York Film Festival once again promises a bonanza for adventurous film lovers. This year's line-up includes new films by Lars van ... Read More