Cracks

Opening this weekend: Cracks, directed by Jordan Scott

Synopsis from AllMovie:

A teacher who prides herself on being different meets a student who matches her nonconformist nature in this period drama. It's 1934, and Miss G (Eva Green) is a teacher at a private school for girls near the eastern coastline of England. While most of the teachers at the school are severe and strait-laced women who reinforce its reputation as a repressive environment, Miss G is more youthful and glamorous than her colleagues, and enjoys dropping hints of a free-spirited past to her young charges. Miss G encourages her students to challenge conventional norms of the day, and organizes a diving team at the school, which she oversees with great interest. Miss G also sees a danger in the cliques that dominate the school, and she tries to undermine them, much to the annoyance of Di (Juno Temple), who holds a high place in the school's pecking order. But things change for both Miss G and her students when Fiamma (Maria Valverde) enrolls at the school. Fiamma is from Spain and has a strong independent streak; she doesn't look to her peers for approval and insists on doing things her own way, which makes her all the more exotic and appealing to the other students. Fiamma also earns the approval of Miss G, but before long rumors begin to spread that the teacher's interest in her new student is more than academic.

Cracks

Showing at the San Francisco International Film Festival: Cracks, directed by Jordan Scott

Synopsis from the SFIFF website:

The cracks aren’t hard to find within the imposing stone walls of St. Mathilda’s boarding school for girls. At first they appear in the familiar form of elitist cliques, petty jealousies and bitchy bids for popularity. Girls will be girls, after all, and even in 1930s England, mean girls prevail. At St. Mathilda’s, diving team captain Di Radfield (Juno Temple) presides over her small band of snobs and also holds special favor with their stylish and provocative coach and teacher, Miss G. Draped in flowing silk, cigarettes smoldering, Eva Green (Casino Royale) brings some of her sultry Bond-girl style to an otherwise repressed, gray world of drab uniforms, stern-faced matrons and Sunday hymns. Di and her teammates are entranced by Miss G’s glamour and tales of international adventure, faithfully following her every word (“The most important thing in life is desire,” she avers breathlessly) and every move (a naked nighttime dip into frigid English waters, anyone?). The arrival of a new girl, the beautiful daughter of Spanish royalty, gradually splits the fine cracks into dangerous fissures. Fiamma’s pubescent sensuality and exoticism are both a threat and a lure for the girls and an increasingly unsettled Miss G. Adapted from Sheila Kohler’s 1999 novel, Cracks gradually reveals the darker inclinations of a secluded, self-monitored society in which obsession, rivalry and sexual awakening collide. In her feature debut, director Jordan Scott draws superb performances from her all-female cast, making her mark as the next generation of the Scott (as in Ridley and Tony) filmmaking family. —Joanne Parsont

Empire of Silver

Showing at the San Francisco International FIlm Festival: Empire of Silver, directed by Christina Yao

Synopsis from the SFIFF website:

With this lush epic Palo Alto–based filmmaker Christina Yao tells a story both timely and timeless: a tale of love, succession and compromised ideals that chronicles the lives of a powerful family of Shanxi bankers during the waning years of the Qing Dynasty. Downright Shakespearean in theme, the film details a little-known piece of Chinese history while offering parallels to the current financial crisis with its shadowy world of unscrupulous market fixing and backroom deals. In the northeastern Chinese province of 19th-century Shanxi, a group of bankers amassed extensive wealth and power that allowed them considerable independence from the state. The fictional Kang family is one such clan, whose fortunes take a sudden turn for the worse when several of the family’s heirs meet tragic fates and civil unrest threatens the nation’s stability. Third Master (played by Hong Kong heartthrob Aaron Kwok), a hedonist and the Kang patriarch’s least favorite son, is now called upon to carry on their lineage. Torn between familial obligation and his own desire for love and happiness, he sets out to reform his father’s unethical business practices while shepherding the family through the country’s growing unrest. Full of swooping crane shots, monumental sets and massive landscapes, Yao’s debut recalls the opulent historical sagas of Chinese Fifth Generation filmmakers like Zhang Yimou as it combines a passionate tale of unrequited love and a fascinating glimpse of a rarely related episode in Chinese history. —Jesse Dubus

In Theaters: Bluebeard (Barbe bleue)

Opening this weekend at the IFC Center in New York: Bluebeard, directed by Catherine Breillat

Ooh, this looks so creepy... can't wait!

Synopsis from AllMovie:

Controversial filmmaker Catherine Breillat puts a new spin on an ancient story in this multileveled drama. In France in the mid-'50s, Catherine (Lola Créton) enjoys toying with her younger sister, Anne (Daphné Baiwir), by reading her the story of the murderous and oft-married Bluebeard, embellishing the story with plenty of gore and scaring the child out of her wits. As Catherine rereads the story, we're taken back to the year 1697, as Lord Bluebeard (Dominique Thomas) prepares to make Marie-Catherine (also played by Créton) his seventh wife. Marie-Catherine's youth and innocence make her an especially attractive quarry to Bluebeard, and rather than murder her right away, he decides to wait a while in order to savor the terrible joy of claiming her life. However, as Bluebeard becomes caught in a cycle of events that keep him from following through on his wife's murder, the two slowly become something like a normal couple and Marie-Catherine begins to turn the tables on her spouse. Barbe Bleue (aka Bluebeard) received its world premiere at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival.

Netflix It: Cadillac Records

Available on Netflix: Cadillac Records, written and directed by Darnell Martin

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Directed by TV veteran Darnell Martin, the musical drama Cadillac Records documents the compelling true-life story of the Chicago record label that helped the world discover such legendary artists as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, and Chuck Berry. Founded in 1950 by Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody), Chess Records quickly gained a reputation as home to some of the most talented and influential blues artists ever to step into a recording studio. But giving these musicians an opportunity to bring their music to the world was no easy task, because along the way there was enough sex, drugs, and rock & roll to ensure that things around Chess Records never got boring. Featuring Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Gabrielle Union as Geneva Wade, Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James, Mos Def as Chuck Berry, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, and Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf.



And the real Etta James:

Night Catches Us

Showing at Sundance: Night Catches Us, directed by Tanya Hamilton

Synopsis from the Sundance website:

In the summer of ’76, as President Jimmy Carter pledges to give government back to the people, tensions run high in a working-class Philadelphia neighborhood where the Black Panthers once flourished. When Marcus returns—having bolted years earlier—his homecoming isn’t exactly met with fanfare. His former movement brothers blame him for an unspeakable betrayal. Only his best friend’s widow, Patricia, appreciates Marcus’s predicament, which both unites and paralyzes them. As Patricia’s daughter compels the two comrades to confront their past, history repeats itself in dangerous ways.

Night Catches Us masterfully reckons with the complexity of its characters’ revolutionary ideologies and internal desires. Bell-bottoms, Afros, potlucks, and Caddies set the scene as the film potently interweaves political media with an evocative soul-inspired score, summoning a vivid sense of place and time. The golden light that bathes characters’ faces seems to express the promise—and elusiveness—of the necessary change Marcus and Patricia struggle for so dearly—each by separate means.

There is a trailer on the film's website.

Meet Tanya Hamilton:

The Runaways

Showing at Sundance: The Runaways, written and directed by Floria Sigismondi

Synopsis from the Sundance website:

Of all the bands to come out of the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, The Runaways are by far the most uniquely fascinating. This is partially due to their music but more so to the fact that they were teenage girls whose wild and reckless lifestyle was the stuff of legend.

Focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett and lead vocalist Cherie Currie as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record-label woes, the film chronicles the band's formation as well as their meteoric rise under the malevolent eye of an abusive manager.

Acclaimed video artist Floria Sigismondi directs from her own script, and her luscious camerawork captures every sweaty detail—from the filthy trailer where the women practice to the mosh pits of Tokyo. What really makes the film cook are the sizzling performances by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. Not to be missed, The Runaways is an ode to an era and a groundbreaking band.

Netflix It: Mansfield Park

Available from Netflix: Mansfield Park, directed by Patricia Rozema

Warning: This is a very "free" adaptation, more of a Jane Austen pastiche (with a very similar plot) than a faithful adaptation. If you haven't read the novel, you'll enjoy the movie, but if you have, the differences will drive you up a wall.

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Freely adapted from a novel by Jane Austen, this period drama is set in the early 1800s, as a girl named Fanny (Hannah Taylor Gordon) is being raised by loving but desperately poor parents. Wanting a better life for Fanny, they send her away to live with her aunts, high-minded Mrs. Norris (Sheila Gish) and drug-addicted Lady Bertram (Lindsay Duncan), who share an estate called Mansfield Park. Fanny joins the family at Mansfield Park, which includes Lady Bertram's husband Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), who made his money in slaves and West Indian plantations; Sir Thomas's son Tom (James Purefoy), an alcoholic; Tom's intelligent younger brother Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller); and his two sisters, Julia (Justine Waddell) and Maria (Victoria Hamilton). Fanny soon makes friends with Edmund, though she's shown little respect by the rest of the family. In time, Fanny grows to adulthood (now played by Frances O'Connor) and gains skill and poise as a horsewoman while developing her skills as an author. When the stylish but secretive siblings Henry and Mary Crawford (Alassandro Nivola and Embeth Davidtz) arrive at Mansfield Park, romantic sparks begin to fly; the two sisters fight over Henry, while Mary is soon engaged to wed Edmund — to the disappointment of Fanny, who has fallen in love with him.

In Theaters: The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

Opening on Wednesday: The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, directed by Jodie Markell

Is that supposed to be a picture of Bryce Dallas Howard? I guess we'll have to see the movie to find out... or the trailer.

Netflix It: Oscar and Lucinda

Available from Netflix: Oscar and Lucinda, directed by Gillian Armstrong

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Australian director Gillian Armstrong directed this Laura Jones adaptation of Peter Carey's 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel. In a lengthy flashback, Oscar Hopkins' great grandson (Geoffrey Rush) narrates the family history that led to his birth. On an Australian farm, Lucinda Leplastrier was tutored by her intelligent mother, a woman who took part in the early feminist movement. Oscar's lonely boyhood in rural England was under the watchful eye of his preacher father. At Oxford to train as a minister, the adult Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) feels he doesn't fit in and develops a passion for gambling, giving his winnings away to the poor. Oscar and Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) meet aboard a ship; he's off to the outback to work as a missionary, and she's returning from London after buying equipment for her glass factory. As mutual misfits, they have an instant attraction and quickly grow close, developing a romantic relationship based on trust. However, the Rev. Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) and Lucinda are friends, sharing an interest in glass. Convinced they are in love, Oscar embarks on an unusual and difficult task, building a glass church for the reverend, an ambitious project to attempt in the remote wilderness.

Before Tomorrow

Opening this weekend: Before Tomorrow, directed by Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Canadian history comes to poetic life on the big screen as directors Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu team to adapt Danish author Jørn Riel's novel about a mid-19th century Inuit family whose lives are forever changed with the arrival of Europeans on their native soil. It's summertime, a time when Inuit communities come together to share food and tell stories, and for the young to get married. Ningiuq (Ivalu) and her best friend, Kuutuguk (Mary Qulitalik), are elders in one such community, and when Ningiuq gets word that the Europeans are advancing she fears for the future of her people. But Ningiuq has a more immediate problem to worry about as well; Kuutuguk has fallen gravely ill, and it looks as if she won't live to see another winter. After returning from a fishing excursion with a rather bountiful catch, Ningiuq, her grandson Maniq (Paul-Dylan Ivalu), and Kuutuguk prepare to dry the fish. Alone on a remote and uninhabited island, the trio waits for someone from their tribe to arrive and guide them back home. When no one appears to do so, Ningiuq and Maniq decide to set off for home while Kuutuguk waits behind. Unfortunately Ningiuq has a foreboding feeling about the journey, and she's about to discover just how accurate her instincts truly are.

The film's website is here.

Netflix It: I Shot Andy Warhol

Available from Netflix: I Shot Andy Warhol, directed by Mary Harron

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

The true story of Valerie Solanas, the radical feminist who became notorious after shooting art world icon Andy Warhol, is portrayed in this fact-based drama. In an attempt to present a fair assessment of her actions, writer-director Mary Harron focuses on Solanas' troubled life, from her childhood as an abuse victim to her life as teenage prostitute in New York City. These experiences left Solanas (played by Lili Taylor) deeply scarred, contributing to a hatred of men that later found full flower in her famous "SCUM Manifesto," an extremist tract calling for the establishment of a "Society for Cutting Up Men." Deeply troubled, she nevertheless briefly finds hope after befriending young transvestite Candy Darling (played by Stephen Dorff) and discovering herself on the fringes of the wild, colorful world surrounding the eccentric Warhol. She becomes obsessed with the idea that Warhol's support could change her life, only to become violently enraged when the artist and his friends begin to turn away from her.

Netflix It: Across the Universe

#23 - Across the Universe

Available from Netflix: Across the Universe, directed by Julie Taymor

To be honest, this movie looked absolutely unwatchable to me, but my parents loved it, so...

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:


Set against the anti-war protests, rock & roll revolution, and mind-expanding psychedelia of the 1960s, Julie Taymor's hallucinogenic musical follows the arduous journey of star-crossed lovers Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) as they and a small group of musicians are swept up in the raging waters of the volatile counterculture movement. Guided through their journey by a pair known only as Dr. Robert (Bono) and Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard), Jude and Lucy are eventually forced to find their way back to one another after being split apart by powerful forces beyond their control. The music in the film consists exclusively of songs made popular by the Beatles during the time period depicted in the movie.


The film's website is here.

Netflix It: Vanity Fair

#17 - Vanity Fair

Available on Netflix: Vanity Fair, directed by Mira Nair

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

William Makepeace Thackeray's witty assessment of the British class system, as seen through the experiences of one young woman, is brought to the screen with some serious star power in this period comedy drama. Becky Sharp (Reese Witherspoon) is a bright and ambitious girl born to a poor British family. Becky is determined to make something of herself however she can, and after accepting a job as a nanny for the children of the powerful and aristocratic Sir Pitt Crawley (Bob Hoskins), she wastes no time ingratiating herself with the family. Pretty Becky catches the eye of Crawley's handsome and eligible son Rawdon (James Purefoy), and becomes chummy with sharp-tongued Aunt Matilda (Eileen Atkins). Between the two of them, Becky is introduced to London's most exclusive social circle, where she becomes re-acquainted with Amelia Sedley (Romola Garai), a former school chum who is amused by Becky's efforts to scale the ladder of social influence. Becky weds Rawdon, but following initial happiness, the social and economic stability she dreamed of begins to collapse when he begins drowning his troubles in gambling and drink, and soon she turns to the powerful Marquess of Steyne (Gabriel Byrne) for support. Meanwhile, Amelia's fortunes fall even harder following the death of her husband. Vanity Fair was directed by Mira Nair, who enjoyed a surprise international success with 2002's Monsoon Wedding.

The movie's website is here.

The Wedding Song

Opening this weekend: The Wedding Song, written and directed by Karin Albou

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Two young women find that their differences bring them closer during a difficult time in this drama from writer and director Karin Albou. Nour (Olympe Borval) and Myriam (Lizzie Brochere) grew up in the same neighborhood in Tunis, and as they've grown into adulthood they've stayed close friends, even though Nour is a Muslim and Myriam is Jewish. It's 1942, and Tunis is under occupation by Axis forces, which has made life difficult for both women; the German authorities have prevented Khaled (Najib Oudghiri), Nour's fiancée, from getting a job, forcing them to postpone their wedding, while Myriam's family must pay exorbitant fines for being Jewish, which may lead her into a marriage of convenience to a wealthy physician (Simon Abkarian) many years her senior. While Myriam sees no way out of her desperate situation, Nour finds that the Nazi propaganda circulated throughout the community is piquing her worst suspicions about Jewish stereotypes. But as Nour and Myriam sink deeper into their personal crises, they begin to understand how badly they need one another's support.

Effi Briest

Showing at the Chicago International Film Festival: Effi Briest, directed by Hermine Huntgeburth

Synopsis from the Chicago International Film Festival website:

In 19th-century Germany, 17-year-old Effi Briest sees her carefree life disappear when her parents marry her off to a man 20 years her senior. To find respite from her dull domestic existence, she begins an affair with a handsome young officer, but their dalliance carries a high cost... This adaptation of the famous novel approaches the classic story through a post-women's-lib lens, allowing it to transcend costume-drama conventions.

Trailer (in German without subtitles):

Netflix It: The Virgin Suicides

Available on DVD: The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

A dark comedy punctuated by moments of drama, The Virgin Suicides explores the emotional underpinnings of a family starting to come apart at the seams in 1970's Midwestern America. The Lisbons seem like an ordinary enough family; Father (James Woods) teaches math at a high school in Michigan, Mother (Kathleen Turner) has a strong religious faith, and they have five teenage daughters, ranging from 13-year-old Cecilia (Hannah Hall) to 17-year-old Therese (Leslie Hayman). However, the Lisbon family's sense of normalcy is shattered when Cecilia falls into a deep depression and attempts suicide. The family is shaken and Mother and Father seek the advice of psychiatrist Dr. Hornicker (Danny DeVito), who suggests the girls should be allowed to socialize more with boys. However, boys soon become a serious problem for Cecilia's sister Lux (Kirsten Dunst). Lux has attracted the eye of a high-school Romeo named Trip (Josh Hartnett), who assures Father of his good intentions. But Cecilia finally makes good on her decision to kill herself, throwing the Lisbons into a panic; and after attending a school dance, Trip seduces and then abandons Lux. The Lisbons pull their daughters out of school, as an emotionally frayed Mother keeps close watch over them. Meanwhile, Lux continues to attract the attentions of the local boys, and she responds with a series of clandestine sexual episodes with random partners as often as she can sneak out of the house. The debut feature from Sofia Coppola (whose father, Francis Ford Coppola, co-produced this film), The Virgin Suicides also features supporting performances from Scott Glenn and Giovanni Ribisi. The film was shown as part of the Directors Fortnight series as the 1999 Cannes Film Festival.

Netflix It: Talk to Me

Available on Netflix: Talk to Me, directed by Kasi Lemmons

Synopsis from the New York Times:

In 1966, when we first meet them, Petey Greene (Don Cheadle) and Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor) present an easy, obvious contrast. Dewey, rising fast in the management ranks of a Washington R&B radio station, favors trim suits and dark ties. When he speaks on the air, listeners are apt to mistake him for a white man. Petey, serving 10 years for armed robbery in a Virginia penitentiary, is a man of an altogether different — and, to Dewey, much lesser — sort. His speech is laced with profanities and put-downs, and he manages to look flashy even in prison, where he accessorizes his state-issued denims with bright red shoes and a flowery neckerchief. Their subsequent friendship, which spans an era of social upheaval and fashion turmoil, is at the center of Talk to Me, Kasi Lemmons’s funny, earnest, affectionate new film. Talk to Me starts out broad and schematic only to surprise you with its subtlety as it unfolds. The result is a movie that offers uplift without phoniness, history without undue didacticism and a fair number of funny, dirty jokes. — A. O. Scott



A clip of the real Petey Greene:

An Education in Theaters

Now in theaters: An Education, directed by Lone Scherfig

Netflix It: The Piano

Jane Campion's Bright Star debuted at Cannes earlier this year, but based on the subway ads I've seen, it looks to be in theaters soon (September 18, to be exact). Gear up for Bright Star (about John Keats and his passionate yet never consummated love affair with muse Fanny Brawne) by revisiting her most acclaimed film, The Piano. Warning: you will see Harvey Keitel's junk.

Synopsis from AllMovie.com:

Writer/director Jane Campion's third feature unearthed emotional undercurrents and churning intensity in the story of a mute woman's rebellion in the recently colonized New Zealand wilderness of Victorian times. Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute who has willed herself not to speak, and her strong-willed young daughter Flora (Anna Paquin) find themselves in the New Zealand wilderness, with Ada the imported bride of dullard land-grabber Stewart (Sam Neill). Ada immediately takes a dislike to Stewart when he refuses to carry her beloved piano home with them. But Stewart makes a deal with his overseer George Baines (Harvey Keitel) to take the piano off his hands. Attracted to Ada, Baines agrees to return the piano in exchange for a series of piano lessons that become a series of increasingly charged sexual encounters. As pent-up emotions of rage and desire swirl around all three characters, the savage wilderness begins to consume the tiny European enclave. Campion imbues her tale with an over-ripe tactility and a murky, poetic undertow that betray the characters' confined yet overpowering emotions: Ada's buried sensuality, Baines' hidden tenderness, and Stewart's suppressed anger and violence. The story unfolds like a Greek tragedy of the Outback, complete with a Greek chorus of Maori tribesmen and a blithely uncaring natural environment that envelops the characters like an additional player. Campion directs with discreet detachment, observing one character through the glances and squints of another as they peer through wooden slats, airy curtains, and the spaces between a character's fingers. She makes the film immediate and urgent by implicating the audience in characters' gazes. And she guides Hunter to a revelatory performance of silent film majesty. Relying on expressive glances and using body language to convey her soulful depths, Hunter became a modern Lillian Gish and won an Oscar for her performance, as did Paquin and Campion for her screenplay. Campion achieved something rare in contemporary cinema: a poetry of expression told in the form of an off-center melodrama.

You can also read about The Piano in this book.