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09/19/03- "Casa De Los Babys"
In his first movie since "Sunshine State," indie auteur John Sayles explores the globalization of the adoption business. His impeccable ensemble cast of expectant mothers includes Maggie Gyllenhaal (left), Marcia Gay Harden, Lili Taylor, Mary Steenburgen, and Daryl Hannah.

09/16/03- DVD Review: "Raising Victor Vargus"
Peter Sollett's acclaimed debut, now out on DVD, is an unassuming independent film about teenage love on the sweaty streets of New York's Lower East Side.

09/12/03- "Lost In Translation"
The buzz is already deafening, but this time, it's justified: Sofia Coppola's "Lost in Translation," starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johannson as an odd couple stranded in a luxurious Tokyo hotel, is a hilariously funny and touching gem of a movie.

09/08/03- DVD Review: "Night And Fog"
In 1955, Alain Resnais made the first documentary about the Nazi concentration camps. Almost 50 years and literally hundreds of Holocaust movies later, it is still the most devastating film of its kind. The masterpiece that Francois Truffaut called "the greatest movie ever made" is now available on Criterion DVD.

09/02/03- "Thirteen"
Underage girls spin recklessly out of control in Catherine Hardwicke's shocking debut film starring Nikki Reed, Evan Rachel Wood, and Holly Hunter. Trashy melodrama or genuine 21st century teenage experience?

08/25/03- DVD Review: "Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers"
The film was shot in New Zealand, but the marketing decisions seem to get made in Mordor: just like last year, New Line is releasing a thinly appointed DVD set of "The Two Towers" now, only to follow up with a deluxe 4-disc extended version in November. Should Frodo-fanatics wait, or can they quench their Hobbit-hankering right now?

08/22/03- "Rana's Wedding"
The new movie by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad propels a young woman through the embattled city of Jerusalem to find her lover -- or marry one of the suitors her father picked for her. Read why "Rana's Wedding" is vibrant filmmaking that delivers pertinent news about life under occupation.

08/21/03- DVD Review: "Umberto D."
"Flike! Flike!" the old man calls out for his dog. If you're not tearing up, you're probably not human. Now you can relive the sadness over and over again because the Criterion Collection released Vittorio De Sica's 1952 neo-realist classic on DVD.

08/20/03- "OT: Our Town"
Students at Dominguez High in Compton, a part of Los Angeles known for gangs, riots and high school basketball, stage their first theatrical production in twenty years: Thorton Wilder's classic American drama "Our Town." If that does not sound like the most compelling storyline for a movie, think again.

08/19/03- DVD Review: Bowling For Columbine
Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" is a spirited muckraking romp that has won critical acclaim, prolonged audience interest, and serious awards from all over the world, including an Oscar for Best Documentary, a Cesar for Best Foreign Film, and Best Documentary of All Time by the International Documentary Association.

08/09/03- "American Splendor"
The backlash starts here. Audiences and juries from Sundance to Cannes and critics from IndieWire to the New Yorker's Anthony Lane love comic book artist Harvey Pekar and the ambitious, multi-layered Harvey-mentary "American Splendor" -- except for your guide Jürgen, who takes a page out of Harvey's book to grumble and moan about the movie, starring Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis.

08/08/03- "Koi...Mil Gaya"
"Koi...Mil Gaya" is a Bollywood movie of the Third Kind: a romantic sci-fi musical starring Preity Zinta and Hrithik Roshan that takes great liberties with the work of Steven Spielberg and other American classics. If you'd like to see little blue aliens dance on beautiful mountain slopes, this is the film you've been waiting for. It's hokey and derivative, but you can't help but fall for its charms.

08/07/03- "Step Into Liquid"
The Endless Summer is far from over: With "Step into Liquid," Dana Brown created a genial documentary on surf culture around the world with cinematography so stunning it needs a "no computer graphics" disclaimer

08/06/03-Two by Olmi: "Il Posto" and "I Fidanzati"
The botanist, the bishop, the milkman, and his lover: Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert, the team that gave the world "Children of Paradise," made this very silly movie in 1937.

08/05/03- "Km. 0"
Fourteen lonely lives intersect at kilometer zero in the heart of Madrid on a sweltering summer day. The ensuing Midsummer-night sex comedy is directed by Juan Luis Iborra and Yolanda Garcia Serrano.

08/04/03 - "The Magdalene Sisters"
Peter Mullins' "The Magdalene Sisters" is a bold, shocking and powerful film that recreates a shameful period in Irish history through the fictional stories of three girls.

07/29/03- "Masked And Anonymous"
The indefatigable Bob Dylan writes, acts, and rocks out in this late-career vanity vehicle, together with an all-star cast headed by John Goodman, Jessica Lange, and Jeff Bridges. It's a ramshackle production with terrific music that'll be great midnight movie fodder for decades to come.

07/22/03 - "Garage Days"
Alex Proyas, director of such dark and moody films as "The Crow" and "Dark City," tries his hand at light fare, with disasterous results. "Garage Days," his film about a local Sydney band is a rare feat: a flick full of sex, drugs and rock 'n roll that's just plain dull.

07/11/03- "I Capture the Castle"
Tim Fywell's period drama "I Capture The Castle" has all the right ingredients: an eccentric English family, lush countryside, Victorian gowns, a crumbling castle, eligible bachelors, and the wonderful English actress Romolai Garai as the earnest heroine. Charming but slight, the film is worth watching for its young rising star.

07/1o/03- DVD Review: "Warm Water Under A Red Bridge"
Magic elements mingle with oddball characters in Shohei Imamura's quiet tale of a company man who finds renewed life in a small Japanese fishing town. .

07/05/03- Francois Ozon's "Swimming Pool"
Sex kitten Ludivine Sagnier parades topless in "Swimming Pool," an erotic thriller that aims for the suspense of classic Hitchcock. With Charlotte Rampling, who also worked with writer-director Ozon in "Under The Sand," as the tight-lipped mystery writer.

07/01/03- DVD Review: "I Am Curious"
Vilgot Sjoman's "I Am Curious" is a film that comes in two color-coded versions: yellow and blue, the colors of the Swedish flag. Banned for a long time, Criterion now released both films as a DVD set. Guest reviewer Jordan Hoffman takes on the allegedly obscene classics.

06/30/03- DVD Review: "Tully"
Hilary Birmingham's indie drama "Tully" succeeds because of the wonderful perfomances of its actors, including Julianne Nicholson, whose freckled skin seems to glow from within.

06/25/03- "Whale Rider"
In the tradition of audience-pleasers that defend the rights of Irish boys to ballet dance, French puritans to eat sweets and concentration camp inmates to engage in physical comedy, "Whale Rider" is gearing up to become this year's pandering faux-foreign success. boxed set.

06/10/03- The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
Francois Truffaut's masterpiece "The 400 Blows" was followed by four more films about Antoine Doinel, its melancholic, idealistic hero. All five films are now available in an essential boxed set.

05/22/03- When Akira met Bill: "Throne of Blood"
Long before "Ran," Akira Kurosawa adapted Shakespeare's "Macbeth," substituting samurai for Scotsmen. It doesn't get much better than this.

05/21/03- "Drôle de Drame" on DVD
The botanist, the bishop, the milkman, and his lover: Marcel Carné and Jacques Prévert, the team that gave the world "Children of Paradise," made this very silly movie in 1937.

05/20/03- The Sea
Emotions run as hot as the barren landscape is cold in Baltasar Kormákur's Icelandic family drama.

05/18/03- L'Auberge Espagnole
Romain Duris stars and Audrey ("Amelie") Tautou pouts in Cedric Klapsich's pleasant tale about a young French man who finds his way during a year abroad in Barcelona.

05/12/03- Go, Evil, Go: "The Shape of Things"
Neil LaBute's latest mean-spirited hero is a woman.

05/06/03- The White Sheik on DVD
Marcy used to be intimidated by Italian master Federico Fellini. After seeing his sweet and hilarious debut, a rambunctious screwball comedy with a heart of gold, she's a fan.

04/29/03- The Dancer Upstairs
John Malkovich's "The Dancer Upstairs" is a political thriller that touches, a romance that thrills, and a debut that convinces.

04/28/03- Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
A Brahmin and a Muslim take a fateful journey through violence-torn India in Aparna Sen's film.

04/27/03- Confidence
The ensemble cast is cleary having fun in this latest entry in the con genre. With Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Ed Burns, Andy Garcia and Paul Giamatti.

04/22/03- City of Ghosts
Matt Dillon has taken a giant career leap with his ambitious directorial debut "City of Ghosts," an impressive foray into film noir.

04/15/03- Three by Miyazaki
Disney releases three films by Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki on DVD, including the Oscar-winning "Spirited Away," Jürgen's favorite film of 2002.

04/14/03- Hope in the Projects: Lilya 4-Ever
Lukas Moodyson, whose "Together" was the best and warmest film of 2000, is back -- with one of the most depressing movies ever made.

04/08/03- Cowboy Bebop - The Movie
The groovy crew of animated bounty hunters makes their way to the big screen, but they lose their trademark snazziness to the limp, overlong plot.

04/07/03- The Man Without a Past
Stranger Than Lapland: if Jim Jarmush was Finnish, he would make movies like Aki Kaurismäki, whose quirky and quietly optimistic new film is receiving well-deserved critical acclaim.

04/01/03- My Life As A Dog
Before Swedish director Lasse Hallström got lost in Hollywood, he struck a true chord with the 1986 classic about a sensitive boy who likes to compare himself to Russian space dog Laika.

03/24/03- Fulltime Killer
Not even Bill Clinton with a double-barelled shotgun and a shoot out in a fireworks factory can save this Hong Kong action flick from mediocrity.

03/18/03- Nowhere in Africa
A Jewish family escapes the horrors of the Third Reich to Kenya. Caroline Link's Oscar-nominated epic is old-fashioned filmmaking--and we mean that in the best possible way.

03/11/03- Spun
Nobody sleeps in Jonas Åkerlund's outrageous crystal meth epic. The strung-out all-star cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Mena Suvari, John Leguziamo, Patrick Fugit, Brittany Murphy, and Mickey Rourke.

03/10/03- Sleeping With Terrorists: "Katharina Blum"
Volker Schlöndorff and Margarete von Trotta's take on Heinrich Böll's polemic against the power of the state and media, "The Lost Honor Of Katharina Blum," is as pressing now as it was in 1975.

03/05/03- Laurel Canyon
Frances McDormand lets loose in a terrific new role as record producer, mother, and corrupter of curious girls. Lisa Chodolenko's second film is candy. Also starring Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale and Alessandro Nivola.

3/04/03- The Safety Of Objects
Rose Troche assembled a terrific cast, including Glenn Close, Patricia Clarkson, Joshua Jackson, and Dermot Mulroney, for "The Safety of Objects," a look at four neighboring families based on the caustic stories of A.M. Homes.

2/24/03- Lawless Heart
Interwoven stories about love lost and found -- and one particularly fine corkscrew. Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger's second collaboration stars Tom Hollander, Bill Nighby, Clementine Celarie, and Douglas Henshall.

2/19/03- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Johnny Depp and Bencio del Toro play two drug-crazed freaks on a rampage through 1971 Las Vegas in Terry Gilliam's twisted adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's cult classic, now out in a lavish two-disc DVD set from the Criterion Collection.

2/18/03- All the Real Girls
It's hard to believe how badly botched this film is.

2/9/03- My Big Fat Greek Rant
Marcy finally sees Nia Vardalos' surprise hit "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," and she says: hold the tzatziki. Read why she thinks it's not just bad, but offensive.

2/4/03- Sindance
An innocent bystander in Park City: our Sundance 2003 correspondent Lucie Faulknor finds herself in a blizzard of celebs, parties, and mind-altering movies.

2/3/03- St. Quixote: Windmills, Books, and Cannibals
Three new documentaries portray men on quixotic quests: Mark Moskowitz chases elusive writer Dew Mossman in "Stone Reader," Toby Schneebaum eats human flesh in "Keep the River on Your Right," and Terry Gilliam is "Lost in La Mancha."

1/28/03- Violent Femmes: "Chaos"
Men are selfish buffoons at best and murderous pimps at worst in Coline Serreau's exciting mix of revenge thriller, domestic comedy, and feminist manifesto.

1/27/03- Sundance Film Festival Winners
"American Splendor" and "Capturing the Friedmans" took home the prestigious Grand Jury Prize for drama and documentary, Patricia Clarkson received a special award for acting, and Hope Davis lit up the screen.

1/20/03- City of God
An exhilerating new film from Brazil. Director Fernando Meirelles marries Tarantino-style spectacle with a social consciousness.

1/15/03- DVD Review: The Einstein of Sex
Celebrated gay filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim tells the story of sex pioneer Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld with humor, compassion, and plenty of naked frolicking.

1/12/03- DVD Review: Band of Outsiders
Jean-Luc Godard set out to break all the rules, but "Band of Outsiders" remains his most charming and accessible film.

1/10/03- Sundance 2003: The Lineup
It's indie season in Park City, Utah.

1/3/03- DVD Review: Pepe Le Moko
Jean Gabin is utterly winning in this supremely entertaining crime classic set in the exotic maze of the Casbah.

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