The Films Of 2010 (MCN) Dec 31 fourth tally

The newest tabulation of film critics' year end top ten lists, courtesy the cinema geeks at Movie City News. About this iteration they write "There were a couple of technical glitches as the new system settles in – but the lists are starting to add up now. Yes, Social Network stays on top, but Inception and The King’s Speech are moving up the charts." My own favourites I've marked in boldface.

1 Social Network, The 548 points, 70 list appearances Videomatica Jan 11
2 Winter's Bone 317.5 points, 49 list appearances Videomatica
3 Inception 238.5 points, 34 list appearances Videomatica
4 Toy Story 3 234 points, 41 list appearances Videomatica
5 Black Swan 225.5 points, 36 list appearances onscreen
6 King’s Speech, The 191.5 points, 31 list appearances onscreen
7 Kids Are All Right, The 172 points, 32 list appearances Videomatica
8 Carlos 162 points, 24 list appearances 
9 127 Hours 149 points, 28 list appearances onscreen

10 Ghost Writer, The 130 points, 23 list appearances Videomatica
11 Exit Through The Gift Shop 120 points, 21 list appearances Videomatica
12 True Grit 115 points, 28 list appearances onscreen
13 Another Year 113 points, 20 list appearances 
14 Inside Job 96.5 points, 15 list appearances onscreen
15 Fighter, The 94 points, 22 list appearances onscreen
16 Dogtooth 80.5 points, 15 list appearances Videomatica Jan 25
17 Prophet, A 78.5 points, 15 list appearances Videomatica
18 Greenberg 71 points, 9 list appearances Videomatica
19 Town, The 68 points, 14 list appearances Videomatica
20 Let Me In 62 points, 9 list appearances Videomatica Feb 1

21 I Am Love 61.5 points, 10 list appearances Videomatica
22 Please Give 54.5 points, 11 list appearances Videomatica
23 Wild Grass 54 points, 8 list appearances Videomatica
24 Sweetgrass 50.5 points, 12 list appearances Videomatica
25 Shutter Island 46 points, 9 list appearances Videomatica
26 White Material 44 points, 9 list appearances
27 Everyone Else 43 points, 8 list appearances
28 Enter the Void 43 points, 9 list appearances Videomatica Jan 15
29 Mother 42.5 points, 9 list appearances Videomatica
30 Somewhere 40 points, 7 list appearances

31 Blue Valentine 38 points, 7 list appearances x
32 Animal Kingdom 35 points, 8 list appearances Videomatica Jan 11
33 Strange Case of Angelica, The 32 points, 5 list appearances
34 Four Lions 32 points, 6 list appearances
35 Scott Pilgrim vs The World 31 points, 8 list appearances Videomatica
36 Red Riding Trilogy 31 points, 5 list appearances Videomatica
37 Alamar 29 points, 4 list appearances 
38 Rabbit Hole 29 points, 8 list appearances onscreen
39 Never Let Me Go 28 points, 5 list appearances Videomatica Feb 1
40 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow 27 points, 4 list appearances onscreen

41 Last Train Home, The 26 points, 6 list appearances Videomatica Feb 1
42 Boxing Gym 26 points, 4 list appearances
43 Marwencol 26 points, 5 list appearances
44 Kick-Ass 25 points, 6 list appearances Videomatica
45 Fish Tank 25 points, 6 list appearances Videomatica
46 Daddy Longlegs 22 points, 4 list appearances
47 Illusionist, The 21.5 points, 4 list appearances
48 Trash Humpers 21 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
49 Secret Sunshine 20 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
50 Life During Wartime 19.5 points, 4 list appearances

51 Secret in Their Eyes, The 19 points, 4 list appearances Videomatica
52 Father of My Children, The 17.5 points, 3 list appearances
53 Bluebeard 17 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
54 Tangled 17 points, 3 list appearances onscreen
55 Biutiful 17 points, 2 list appearances 
56 Jackass 3D 16 points, 4 list appearances
57 Buried 16 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica Jan 18
58 Restrepo 15.5 points, 4 list appearances Videomatica
59 American, The 15 points, 5 list appearances Videomatica
60 Oath, The 15 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica

61 Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The 13 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
62 Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench 13 points, 3 list appearances
63 How to Train Your Dragon 13 points, 4 list appearances Videomatica
64 Film Unfinished, A 13 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica ?
65 Our Beloved Month of August 13 points, 3 list appearances
66 And Everything Is Going Fine 12 points, 2 list appearances 
67 Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu, The 12 points, 2 list appearances 
68 Catfish 11 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica Jan 4
69 Waiting for 'Superman' 11 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
70 Tilman Story, The 11 points, 2 list appearances

71 Company Men 10.5 points, 3 list appearances
72 Inferno 10 points, 3 list appearances
73 I Love You Phillip Morris 10 points, 2 list appearances
74 Around a Small Mountain 10 points, 2 list appearances 
75 Mother and Child 10 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica Jan 4
76 Vincere 10 points, 4 list appearances Videomatica
77 Machete 9 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica Jan 4
78 Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work 9 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica Jan 11
79 Mesrine (Parts 1 and 2) 8 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica
80 Easy A 8 points, 3 list appearances onscreen

81 Prince of Broadway 8 points, 2 list appearances
82 Splice 8 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica
83 I'm Still Here 7 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica
84 Eccentricities of a Blond Hair Girl 6 points, 3 list appearances
85 Get Low 6 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica Feb 22
86 Square, The 5 points, 3 list appearances Videomatica
87 Green Zone 4 points, 2 list appearances Videomatica
88 Tiny Furniture 3 points, 2 list appearances
89 Unstoppable 3 points, 2 list appearances
90 You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 3 points, 2 list appearances

91 Way Back, The 2 points, 2 list appearances

*

One Vote Wonders include...
Hadewijch
Lourdes
The Portuguese Nun
Nowhere Boy

But nobody gots no respect for my beloved Me And Orson Welles or the extraordinary Of Gods And Men. Presumably the former is an idiosyncratic favourite, and the latter hasn't been seen outside of festivals yet.

Watching for... SISTER SMILE | THE JESUS GUY

Three off-the-beaten track biopics written up at Movie City News.  Not sure I could even watch the first pair: one tragic, almost absurd development after another.

Sister Smile
The Jesus Guy

Few songs in the history of Top 40 radio have been as irritating – after the first 1,000 or so listens, anyway – as the Singing Nun’s exceedingly cheerful “Dominque,” which, in 1963, topped the Billboard charts. Even if almost no one in America, apart from nuns of the Dominican Order, knew what the words meant, the Belgian novice’s chirpy ode to St. Dominic was put into heavy rotation alongside “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Louie Louie” and “Puff the Magic Dragon.”

She went on tour and appeared on Ed Sullivan’s show, a month ahead of the Beatles. Three years later, Debbie Reynolds would play a singing nun in a highly fictionalized movie based on Sister Smile’s life. The real Singing Nun, Jeanne-Paule Marie Deckers, would dismiss it as “fiction.”

Without Vatican censors standing in the way of the truth, two biographical movies about Deckers’ tumultuous life have been released in the last 10 years: Roger Deutsch’s Italian-language Sister Smile (2001), starring Ginevra Colonna, and Stijn Coninx’s Soeur Sourire (2009), with Cecile De France in the lead role.

Neither found distribution in the United States, so most Americans familiar with the song probably think the Singing Nun is either dead, by now, or opening for the Pope on his pastoral missions. In fact, Deckers was never comfortable with life in the spotlight. Neither did she enjoy having to justify her progressive beliefs, including the need for the Church to allow birth control, to her superiors. Without another hit to promote, the Dominican sisters waved goodbye to Sister Smile in 1967, knowing her original vow of poverty would keep residual checks flowing to the order.

In Deutsch’s film, Deckers finds companionship among hippies and other denizens of the Belgian underground. Still seeking personal redemption, she gets hooked on drugs and is tormented by demons that could be traced back to her father and early sexual issues. Finally, she accepts her romantic feelings toward other women, specifically longtime companion Anna Pécher, with whom she founded a school for autistic children. Tortured by the demands of tax collectors, who refused to accept that Deckers’ share of music revenues were kept by the Church, both women committed suicide in 1985. Only 51 at the time of her death, Deckers was buried alongside Pecher in a Wavre cemetery. Colonna’s portrayal is very powerful. The DVD set includes two of Deutsch’s shorts, Dead People and Mario Makes a Movie.

Also from MVD Visual comes The Jesus Guy, Sean Tracey’s documentary portrait of an American evangelist who walks the planet barefoot, preaching the word of God and looking very much like holy-card images of Jesus Christ. Citing the bible, Brother James Joseph (a.k.a., the Jesus Guy, Whats Your Name? and Carl) accepts no money, carries no food or personal belongs, and owns only one tunic. He doesn’t claim to be the reincarnation of Jesus or anything but a messenger for His teachings.

In the 1960s, Brother Joseph would have been greeted with signs that read, “No shirt, no shoes, no service.” Although some people still consider him to be a kook, the Barefoot Evangelist has enjoyed generally warm receptions on his spiritual mission. He has appeared on 20/20 and in dozens of publications, including Time and the Wall Street Journal. For the past 16 years, Joseph has wandered through 47 states – last month, he was spotted in Tampa, Florida — and 13 countries. In the film, a Catholic priest compares his mission to that of St. Francis of Assisi. The religion correspondent of the Washington Post attests to the genuineness of his appeal before townspeople she’s interviewed. Indeed, the worst thing said about him is that he’s “only human” or a “normal guy,” not the deity they wanted him to be.

As is to demonstrate his affinity with Jesus Christ, Tracey films bonehead cops demanding of Joseph that he obtain a permit for exercising his constitutional right to chat with Americans – not proselytize or beg – on the streets of their home towns. That local officials probably wouldn’t give such an oddity a permit, even if such a thing were available, is as immaterial to cops today as it was in the ’60s or in Jerusalem, 2011 years ago.

He’s far more welcome in nursing homes, at church groups and halfway houses. I’ve run into men who’ve looked like Joseph and spouted scripture to beat the band. None have listened to the people to whom they’re preaching, as the Jesus Guy does, or debate doctrine. I’ve never encountered a televangelist who’s gone an hour without asking for money or offering to trade prayers for donations. Typically, Joseph refuses such offers.

Does Joseph have foibles? Yes. Does he lose patience with skeptics? Occasionally. Is he a slave to the media? Probably. Does he appear to be more genuine about his religious beliefs than most American politicians and bible-banging religious leaders? Undeniably, yes. The DVD adds Q&As and panel discussions with Tracey and the Jesus Guy at early screenings.

The Films Of 2010 (MCN) Dec 24 third tally

The latest iteration of the Movie City News tabulation of film critics' end-of-year Top Ten lists.

Movie City News | Critic Top Tens 2010
Dec 24 2010

1 Social Network, The | 466 points, 59 lists Videomatica Jan 11
2 Winter's Bone | 268.5 points, 41 lists Videomatica
3 Toy Story 3 | 199 points, 34 lists Videomatica
4 Black Swan | 185.5 points, 29 lists onscreen
5 Inception | 165.5 points, 25 lists Videomatica
6 Carlos | 155.5 points, 23 lists
7 Kids Are Alright, The | 151 points, 28 lists Videomatica
8 King's Speech, The | 143.5 points, 24 lists onscreen
9 Ghost Writer, The | 123.5 points, 22 lists Videomatica
10 127 Hours | 118.5 points, 23 lists onscreen

11 True Grit | 104.5 points, 24 lists onscreen
12 Another Year | 95.5 points, 17 lists
12 Exit Through the Gift Shop | 90 points, 17 lists Videomatica
14 Inside Job | 86 points, 14 lists onscreen
14 A Prophet | 69.5 points, 14 lists Videomatica
16 Dogtooth | 68 points, 12 lists
16 Wild Grass | 68 points, 10 lists Videomatica
18 Town, The | 67.5 points, 13 lists Videomatica
19 Fighter, The | 62.5 points, 14 lists onscreen
20 Let Me In | 62 points, 9 lists Videomatica Feb 1

21 Greenberg | 59 points, 7 lists Videomatica
22 Enter the Void | 51.5 points, 9 lists Videomatica Jan 15
23 Sweetgrass | 51 points, 11 lists Videomatica
24 Somewhere | 50 points, 8 lists
25 Please Give | 48.5 points, 10 lists Videomatica
25 I Am Love | 48.5 points, 9 lists Videomatica
27 White Material | 45 points, 9 lists
28 Mother | 44 points, 9 lists Videomatica
28 Shutter Island | 44 points, 8 lists Videomatica
30 Everyone Else | 40 points, 8 lists

31 Blue Valentine | 38 points, 7 lists
32 Animal Kingdom | 35 points, 8 lists Videomatica  Jan 11
33 Strange Case of Angelica | 32 points, 5 lists
34 Four Lions | 30 points, 5 lists
35 Rabbit Hole | 28.5 points, 7 lists onscreen
36 Never Let Me Go | 28 points, 5 lists Videomatica  Feb 1
37 Last Train Home, The | 26 points, 6 lists
37 Marwencol | 26 points, 5 lists
37 Boxing Gym | 26 points, 4 lists
37 Alamar | 26 points, 3 lists

41 Scott Pilgrim vs the World | 23.5 points, 7 lists Videomatica
42 Daddy Longlegs | 22 points, 4 lists
43 Trash Humpers | 21 points, 3 lists Videomatica
43 Red Riding Trilogy | 21 points, 3 lists Videomatica
45 Secret Sunshine | 20 points, 3 lists Videomatica
46 Restrepo | 19 points, 4 lists Videomatica
47 Fish Tank | 17 points, 5 lists Videomatica
47 Kick-Ass | 17 points, 5 lists Videomatica
47 Biutiful | 17 points, 2 lists
47 Hadewijch | 17 points, 2 lists

51 Illusionist, The | 16 points, 7 lists
51 Green Zone | 16 points, 3 lists Videomatica
51 Buried | 16 points, 3 lists Videomatica  Jan 18
54 Life During Wartime | 15.5 points, 3 lists
55 Oath, The | 15 points, 3 lists Videomatica
56 Vincere | 13.5 points, 4 lists Videomatica
56 Jackass 3D | 13.5 points, 4 lists
58 American, The | 13 points, 4 lists Videomatica  Dec 28
58 World on a Wire | 13 points, 2 lists
58 And Everything is Going Fine | 13 points, 2 lists

61 Secret in Their Eyes, The | 12 points, 3 lists Videomatica
61 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | 12 points, 3 lists onscreen
63 Inferno | 11.5 points, 2 lists
64 Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | 11 points, 2 lists Videomatica

The Films Of 2010 (MCN) Dec 17 second tally

Second iteration of the MCN tabulation of Critic Top Ten Lists. 50 critic lists now represented. Glad that Inception won't be the year's dominant film, disappointed to see that The Social Network will be, but pleased as punch that Winter's Bone is clearly the Indie to beat. Need to see Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, on Vancouver screens now) and TS3 (on DVD). Wish I could see the five your Carlos, waiting for Let Me In on DVD though I want to see the Let The Right One In with GOOD subtitles first. GHOST WRITER at #10? Dear lord of movie criticism, will you not intervene? Expecting King's Speech to rally, eager to see it, maybe even before Christmas. Tickled that Please Give is in the top 20, but realizing Animal Kingdom maybe just didn't get seen by enough folks: well, it's still my Number One, they can't take that away. Also realizing Me & Orson Welles probably just an idiosyncratic pleasure, and sticking to my theory that crits have forgotten how fine was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, lumping it in with its lumpen sequels.

Movie City News | Critic Top Tens 2010
Dec 17 2010

1. The Social Network [#1 on previous list]| 237.5 points, 32 list mentions Granville 7, Intl Village, etc
2. Winter's Bone [3] | 139.5 points, 22 list mentions  Videomatica
3. Black Swan [7] | 101.5 points, 16 list mentions Fifth Ave, SC Riverport, etc
4. Toy Story 3 [4] | 98.5 points, 18 list mentions  Videomatica
5. Carlos [9] | 85.5 points, 13 list mentions
6. Inception [2] | 71.5 points, 9 list mentions Videomatica
7. The Kids Are Alright | 68 points, 12 list mentions  Videomatica
8. Let Me In | 59 points, 8 list mentions   Videomatica Feb 1
9. Inside Job [5] | 55.5 points, 8 list mentions  Granville 7
10. The Ghost Writer | 54.5 points, 9 list mentions   Videomatica

11. The King's Speech [6] | 49 points, 7 list mentions  Park, SC Riverport, etc.(Coen) 
12. Dogtooth | 47 points, 8 list mentions
13. Another Year | 46 points, 7 list mentions 
14. Exit Through the Gift Shop | 44 points, 9 list mentions  Videomatica
15. 127 Hours [8] | 42.5 points, 9 list mentions Fifth Avenue, Intl Village
15. Please Give | 42.5 points, 9 list mentions   Videomatica
17. True Grit (Coen) | 42.5 points, 8 list mentions  Fifth Ave, RC, SC Riverport, etc
18. Greenberg | 40 points, 5 list mentions   Videomatica
19. Shutter Island | 35 points, 6 list mentions  Videomatica
20. Sweetgrass | 34 points, 8 list mentions  Videomatica

21. Wild Grass | 33 points, 6 list mentions  Videomatica
22. Enter the Void | 32.5 points, 6 list mentions  Vancity Sat Dec 18, 8:45
22. A Prophet | 32.5 points, 6 list mentions   Videomatica
24. Mother (Bong Joon-Ho) | 31.5 points, 6 list mentions  Videomatica
25. Everyone Else | 31 points, 6 list mentions
26. White Material | 30 points, 7 list mentions
27. The Town [10] | 26 points, 5 list mentions Videomatica
27. Alamar | 26 points, 3 list mentions
29. Somewhere | 23 points, 3 list mentions 
30. Secret Sunshine | 20 points, 3 list mentions  Videomatica

31. Never Let Me Go | 18 points, 3 list mentions   Videomatica Feb 1
32. I Am Love | 16.4 points, 3 list mentions  Hollywood   Videomatica
33. Buried | 16 points, 3 list mentions  
33. Green Zone | 16 points, 3 list mentions  Videomatica
35. Life During Wartime | 15.5 points, 3 list mentions
36. The Last Train Home | 15 points, 3 list mentions
36. The Oath | 15 points, 3 list mentions  Videomatica
38. Bluebeard (Breillat) | 14 points, 2 list mentions  Videomatica
38. Fish Tank | 14 points, 4 list mentions   Videomatica
38. Daddy Longlegs | 14 points, 3 list mentions 
38. Boxing Gym | 14 points, 2 list mentions

42. The Illusionist | 13 points, 2 list mentions
42. Marwencol | 13 points, 3 list mentions
42. Red Riding Trilogy | 13 points, 2 list mentions   Videomatica
42. Strange Case of Angelica | 13 points, 2 list mentions 
46. Blue Valentine | 11 points, 2 list mentions
46. Trash Humpers | 11 points, 2 list mentions  Videomatica
46. Our Beloved Month of August | 11 points, 2 list mentions
46. Restrepo | 11 points, 2 list mentions  Videomatica
50. Around a Small Mountain | 10 points, 2 list mentions 

51. The Fighter | 9.5 points, 3 list mentions  Fifth, Intl Village, SC Riverport, etc
52. Scott Pilgrim vs the World | 9 points, 4 list mentions
52. Animal Kingdom | 9 points, 3 list mentions  Videomatica Jan 11

jan 28-30 | missions fest film festival

Deb Sears is as "Pacific Theatre" as a Pacific Theatre person can get. She toured with the Salt Company (along with folks like Anthony F. Ingram, Erla Fay Forstythe, Damon Calderwood, me, and more), has appeared on our mainstage (You Can't Take It With You, You Still Can't, and many Stones Throw Productions over the year), was our board president and then key staff member through the transition years into Holy Trinity. She's still a PT regular, but her focus is more on film, and she's ended up curating what is now apparently an annual film festival in conjunction with Missions Fest. Good catch, MF...

Civil Rights Champions and Missionary Pioneers Celebrated 
at 2011 Missions Fest Vancouver Film Festival

Vancouver, BC, Canada – January is a terrific month to honour civil rights pioneer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - the 3rd Monday, near his January 15 birthday, is an American federal holiday. King's legacy will also be reflected upon later in the month at the 2nd annual Missions Fest Vancouver Film Festival (MFVFF) January 28 - 30, 2011 in Rooms 1 – 3, a 450 seat capacity space, on level 2 at the Vancouver Convention Centre, 999 Canada Place.

Two films included in the festival’s programming reference King and the non-violent approach for which he is renowned. Ethnographic Media's LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM, directed by award-winning filmmaker Jim Hanon (END OF THE SPEAR, THE GRANDFATHERS), takes viewers to Israel and follows a Palestinian Muslim, a Palestinian Christian and a Jew in their courageous struggle for a nonviolent solution to the crisis that has torn Palestinians and Israelis apart. And, Vancouver based Myra Ottewell's MISSISSIPPI REMIXED takes a fresh look at race relations in America’s Deep South. Both filmmakers will be present for post-screening talkbacks with the audience.

The pioneering spirit of other twentieth century greats is also celebrated in Yuan Zhiming's THE CROSS: JESUS IN CHINA - SEEDS OF BLOOD and, in THE FLAME. The former explores the footprints of the Chinese missionaries of the older generation following the Boxer Rebellion and unpacks why, despite communist control, the number of Chinese Christians increased from 700,000 in 1949 to approximately 70 million today. The latter unites two well-respected American Christians with a powerful medium.

World Vision and Samaritan's Purse founder Bob Pierce believed in the power of film to touch hearts and impact lives as nothing else could. Between 1950 and 1965 he shot and produced nine groundbreaking films – all revealing the divinely inspired evolution of World Vision's ministry. In 1952, Pierce partnered with director Dick Ross to make THE FLAME - a narrative documentary blend utilizing footage Pierce had shot in Korea. Over the years, Ross worked with many Hollywood stars including Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood, John Wayne, Jean Arthur, Richard Chamberlain and, Pat Boone and Erik Estrada (THE CROSS AND THE SWITCHBLADE). After teaming up with Pierce, Ross went on to found the Billy Graham Association's film production arm, now known as World Wide Pictures, where he helmed many fine films. "My father had no way of knowing what God would do with his first film (THE 38th PARALLEL) or the others that followed. He simply took it a step at a time, faithfully sharing the Gospel, showing the need, and challenging Christians to live out their faith. He trusted God to do the rest...and He did!" states Marilee Pierce Dunker, one of the keynote speakers featured at Missions Fest Vancouver 2011. Following THE FLAME screening, Pierce Dunker will be present to speak about her father's filmmaking and answer audience questions.

The main film festival programming is rounded out with three films that tackle the challenging topics of contemporary persecution and enslavement. Opening night features the world premiere of Chris Atkins' FREEDOM FIGHTER. Sentenced to death because of his faith, the film follows Egyptian Rev. Majed El Shafie, who survived severe persecution and torture eventually escaping to Canada, as he fights to help those facing a similar fate in dangerous countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. El Shafie will be present for an audience talkback after the premiere. Hosted by Geetanjali Guptara, Michael Lawson’s INDIA'S FORGOTTEN WOMEN explores domestic violence, dowry crime, sex selective abortion, female infanticide, bonded labour, rape, temple prostitution, and human trafficking in the 250 million strong Dalit community. Closer to home, Hope for the Sold's ENSLAVED AND EXPLOITED: The Story of Sex Trafficking in Canada offers candid interviews with victims and agency representatives as well as Ratanak International’s Brian McConaghy and Canadian W5 Journalist Victor Malarek addressing various issues raised in the film. McConaghy will also be present for audience Q&A following the screening.

Many of the themes covered in the long form documentaries are also treated in award-winning shorter films. Saturday's programming includes three such films. The 168 Film Festival's 2010 Best Documentary Award winner, DESERT ARK, screens before FREEDOM FIGHTER. Preceding LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM is OLD RADICALS; honoured with three awards in Toronto's 2010 Hot Docs Doc Challenge. And, KAVI, which received the Gold Medal – Best Short Narrative Award at the 2009 Student Academy Awards®, follows the ENSLAVED AND EXPLOITED screening.

The film festival concludes Sunday afternoon with a collection of short pieces focusing on local and international mission and relief work mostly produced by Lower Mainland filmmakers. The filmmakers will be present for a brief talkback following each film.

In addition to the 8 film programs, containing nearly 500 minutes of film, four seminars are being presented in association with the film festival. Writer Marnie Wooding offers What is a Good Story? and, The Stories We Tell seminars on Friday afternoon at 1:30pm and 3:00pm respectively. At 12:30pm on Saturday, Actor / Producer Shannon Braithwaite moderates a panel of filmmakers on the topic Putting It All Together: From Funding to Filming to Distribution followed at 4:00pm by a hands on workshop entitled I Am Filmmaker facilitated by Phil Hood and Greg Meeres.

Weekend Film Festival Passes (admission to all screenings) are $10.00 and, Single Screening Tickets are $3.00. Tickets can be ordered in advance by cheque or credit card (MC, VISA, AMEX) by calling 604-524- 9944 or e-mailing tickets@missionsfestvancouver.ca. Any remaining passes and tickets may be purchased at the door. Admission to the seminars and the Sunday afternoon film program is free.

Some films do contain scenes of the effects of violence in war torn countries as well as other content which may not be suitable for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.

missionsfestvancouver.ca/Film.cfm offers show times, film descriptions as well as links to trailers. The Missions Fest Vancouver program guide (available at area churches and at Missions Fest) provides similar information. A film festival booklet with full details and behind the scenes info will be available on site.
Founded in 1984, Missions Fest Vancouver is part of Missions Fest International. It highlights global mission opportunities, showcases over 230 international mission organizations, features world class speakers within the context of 130 seminars, plenary sessions, film screenings, youth rallies, and children's workshops. Its three-fold purpose is to inform, celebrate and challenge people of all ages to get involved in missions by sending, praying, giving and going. This all happens within a three-day weekend conference with 35,000+ people attending annually. Speakers for the 2011 fest, are: Viv & Ieda Grigg, Afshin Javid, Stephen Lungu, Michael Oh, Marilee Pierce Dunker and, Mike & Danae Yankoski. The “weekend at a glance” schedule can be accessed here

Missions Fest Vancouver has selected “What Does the Lord Require of You” as its 2011 theme. General admission is free.

Missions Fest Vancouver Film Festival 2011 Press Kit

dec 21 28 29 | the apartment

Upcoming at Pacific Cinematheque, one of my great favourite films

THE APARTMENT
Tuesday, December 21 — 1:00pm
Tuesday, December 28, 2010 - 8:50pm
Wednesday, December 29, 2010 - 7:00pm

The Apartment is available at Videomatica

Critical Consensus Lists: 1995-2009

Here are links to the "Critical Consensus" tabulations back to 1995, each of which tallies Critic Top Ten lists at the end of a particular year. The list for 2010 is in progress.

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995

From 1995-2002, the early days of the internet, it was strictly a labour of love: Alex Fung (apparently a student at an eastern Canadian university) collected Top Ten lists by various critics, submitted to him by other internet users, and compiled them into a master list. I have been unable to find his compiled charts for 2001 and 2002, but I do have the individual critic top ten lists from which he worked, and have gone some distance toward compiling them. Then in 2003 Movie City News took up the torch, and continue to the present.

I have also worked on a meta-meta-list that would combine the tabulations for the years of the new millenium into one master chart. Big job, so it's not done yet, but here's an in-progress iteration: Critical Consensus, 2000-2008. Hope to finish up that project as we move into 2011.

The Films Of 2010 (MCN) first tally

Movie City News posted their first tally of critic Top Ten lists a few days ago (December 9). With only six critics represented, it's a very small beginning: the final tabulation usually goes up a few weeks into January, and includes over 200 lists.

Still, no surprise that Social Network and Inception top the list by a significant margin, both widely-appreciated films, though neither are among my own favourites. The superb Winter's Bone is a solid third: I figured it for the top-listed indie film of the year, so it won't surprise me if it stays pretty high, though Toy Story 3 may well slip past it. I'm also pulling for Please Give, Animal Kingdom and Nowhere Boy, all of which have already appeared on at least one list. The King's Speech will get many more mentions. Nice to see Get Low already making a showing, as well.

Obviously the specific placings, etc, have no real significance: the great fun and value of this annual ritual is simply to come up with titles to rush out and see, and to think again about the films we've seen in the past twelve months that were stand outs.

For now, for what it's worth...

Movie City News 
Top Ten Scoreboard
Dec 9, 2010: first tally, 6 critic lists

1.  The Social Network 28
2.  Inception 27
3.  Winter's Bone 19
4.  Toy Story 3 17
5.  Town, The 14.5
6.  Greenberg 12
7. Black Swan 8
8. The Fighter 7.5
9. 127 Hours 4

Films occurring on only one list
Carlos 10
Let Me In 10
Wild Grass 9
Everyone Else 8
King's Speech, The 7
White Material 6
Takers 6
Father of My Children, The 5.5
Dogtooth 5.5
Inside Job 5.5
Company Men, The 5.5
Restrepo 5.5
Mother 5.5
I Am Love 5.5
Ghost Writer, The 5.5
Life During Wartime 5.5
A Prophet 5.5
Please Give 5.5
Scott Pilgrim vs The World 5
Kick-Ass 5
Get Low 5
Marwencol 5
Splice 4
I Love You Phillip Morris 4
Animal Kingdom 3
Fish Tank 3
Monsters 3
Jackass 3D 2
Other Guys, The 2
Green Zone 1
You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger 1
Nowhere Boy 1
Sawgrass 0

I wonder whether the sharp decline in professional published film reviews this year will diminish the number of lists that will be considered for the meta-list.

*

For what it's worth, here are my personal favourites so far this year, in very rough order starting with the ones I got the most excited about...

Animal Kingdom
Please Give
Me And Orson Welles
Nowhere Boy
Winter's Bone
Of Gods and Men
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Secret In Their Eyes
The White Ribbon
The American
Get Low

Expect Dragon Tattoo to start showing up on some lists, though its rep may have tarnished by association with the disappointing follow-up instalments in the series by a different director. I don't expect most critics to share my affection for the Orson Welles pic: a peculiar pleasure. Foreign films suffer from the fact that their staggered release schedules split them across more than one year: Secret In Their Eyes and White Ribbon will be too old for some critics to consider this year, and Of Gods And Men will not yet have been seen by many.

dec 8 & 12 | it's a wonderful life | cineplex classic films

It's A Wonderful Life (1947)
"They're making memories tonight!"
Directed by: Frank Capra
Cast: James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore
Plot: An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would have been like if he never existed. A perennial holiday favourite!

Wednesday, December 8, 7:00pm
Sunday, December 12, 1:00pm

Presented in 2K Digital. All tickets five dollars. SilverCity Riverport, SilverCity Coquitlam, Colossus Langley, Scotiabank Theatre. The Classic Film Series presents one great title each month on the big screen from September 2010 to August 2011: details here.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is available on DVD at Videomatica

woman with 5 elephants

A trusted Soul Food buddy writes "Saw Vision and Woman with 5 Elephants tonight. The first disappointing, the second a marvel; you must see it!"

dec 2 + 5 | king's speech | director night + advance screening

Soul Foodie and filmmaker Jason Goode alerts us to an early opportunity to view a film that's likely to be a must see this December. Director Tom Hooper also created Longford, one of the great overlooked Soul Food essentials. (The Longford screenplay was by Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Last King Of Scotland, Frost/Nixon, Hereafter).

"The King's Speech, which won the People's Choice Award at T.I.F.F. this year, will have an advance screening on the morning of Sunday, Dec 5th at 10AM at Fifth Ave cinemas. Director Tom Hooper is, in my estimation, one of the great directors working today and will soon be a more familiar name to North American audiences. The King's Speech debuted with the best per-theatre average for any film this year and the 17th best ever."

There's a half-hour interview with Hooper available online, from NPR's Fresh Air.

Oh, by the way, Jason is presenting a Director Night on Hooper's past films this Thursday evening (Dec 2) in a friend's home out near UBC.  If you're interested in attending, check out Jason's blog for details.

Videomatica has many of Hooper's previous films, including Longford. You can rent at the store, or sign up for their video-by-mail service: I have it, it's phenomenal!

ridge + tinseltown in jeopardy

Vancouver's cinema scene is changing
MARSHA LEDERMAN
Globe and Mail | Nov 22 2010 | Updated Nov 23 2010

Vancouver’s cinema scene will change this week, as Cineplex Entertainment takes over the Cinemark Tinseltown – and the move is hardly getting rave reviews.

With Cinemark out of the picture, the operation will be re-named Cineplex Odeon International Village Cinemas, The Globe and Mail has learned. The deal has not been officially announced, but staff have been informed of the change.

Pat Marshall, vice-president of communications and investor relations for Cineplex Entertainment, said she expected a signed agreement would be in place this week, with the change of ownership – and name – to take effect on Friday.

“As part of the acquisition, we will review all elements of the theatre operation and we’ll make whatever change is necessary,” Ms. Marshall said, adding that staff have been offered – and accepted – jobs with Cineplex.

Ms. Marshall said it was unclear whether pricing will change. The difference in cost for an adult ticket in the evening is minimal ($12.99 at Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre in downtown Vancouver versus $12.75 at Tinseltown), but Cinemark offers discounts for matinées and also free parking for patrons during the film.

When asked whether the long-standing practice of showing less mainstream art films would continue at the theatres, Ms. Marshall was non-committal.

“I think we’ll take a look at a number of different elements in terms of programming,” she said, adding that Cineplex is looking at adding digital projectors and 3-D systems. “I think you’ll see a much expanded array of both technology and film offerings.”

Tom Charity, who programs the Vancity Theatre and also reviews films for CNN.com, called the sale cause for concern.

“I think [Tinseltown’s] booking has been really quite courageous and very diverse. ... They’ve shown a much wider range of films than you see at the Scotiabank, for example. They’ve been open to showing Canadian films and even subtitled films and they’ve been very open to the community to renting the theatre out to local festivals. And that may or may not change. The proof will be in the pudding. But if we look at what happens at the Scotiabank, that type of thing doesn’t happen very much.”

Brian McIlroy, a film studies professor at the University of British Columbia, agreed.

“On the surface, the major concern here is a diminishment of variety of cinematic offerings in the city. Tinseltown's many screens have allowed smaller films to get a screening, even if in a small auditorium. ... Cineplex is likely to think long and hard about the variety – or the risk-taking – that Tinseltown has offered in the past.”

Tinseltown is the only theatre in Canada operated by Cinemark. Calls to Tinseltown and Cinemark’s corporate office were not returned by deadline on Monday.

Venerable Ridge Theatre's future in doubt
IAN BAILEY
Globe and Mail | Mar 25 2010 | Updated Nov 22 2010

After 60 years and hundreds of movies, the end credits appear to be looming for the venerable Ridge Theatre, birthplace of the Vancouver International Film Festival and a neighbourhood theatre on Arbutus Street.

High rents and the challenges of making a one-screen theatre work in a multiplex age are converging to doom the Kitsilano theatre, which has tended to show independent, foreign and Canadian films – Atom Egoyan's new thriller Chloe opens there on Friday – and continues to host screenings for the Vancouver festival.

Leonard Schein, founder and president of Festival Cinemas, which runs the Ridge Theatre as well as the Park Theatre on Cambie and Fifth Avenue Cinemas multiplex on Burrard Street, says his five-year lease on the 480-seat Ridge ends on Dec. 31 of this year.

“Unless our landlord reduces our rent greatly, we will not be able to renew,” Mr. Schein told The Globe and Mail in an e-mail commenting on the theatre's future.

Both photographs of the Ridge Theatre by Ron Reed

nov 28 | the maltese falcon | cineplex classic film series

The Maltese Falcon (1941)
"A guy without a conscience! A dame without a heart!"
Directed by: John Huston
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Plot: A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.

Wednesday, November 17, 7:00pm
Sunday, November 28, 1:00pm

Presented in HD. All tickets five dollars. SilverCity Riverport, SilverCity Coquitlam, Colossus Langley, Scotiabank Theatre. The Classic Film Series presents one great title each month on the big screen from September 2010 to August 2011: details here.

THE MALTESE FALCON is available on DVD at Videomatica

dec 3 | of gods and men | cinematheque

Sorry to be bossy, but you just can't miss this one. You're not allowed.

I happen to think the gospel is nothing but left-handed and handed-over, and this film is the essence of that gospel. And hey - when's that last time a movie about monks won the Grand Prix at Cannes, or did boffo box office in post-Catholic France? Definitely the Soul Food Movie of the year, and so far as we know, there'll only be this one showing in Vancouver, at the European Film Festival. (I'm not kidding: the last three Dardenne brothers flicks, two of which won the Palme d'Or, showed something like three nights each here. I love our city, it's an embarrassment of artistic and cinematic riches, but I swear sometimes... Philistines, we are.)

Of Gods and Men ("Des Hommes et des dieux" 2010, d. Xavier Beauvois, France)
Pacific Cinematheque
Fri Dec 3 | 6:45

A powerful, poetic work rendered with great grace and intelligence, Xavier Beauvois’s Of Gods and Men won this year’s Grand Prix at Cannes (the festival’s second-highest honour), and has just been announced as France’s official submission to the upcoming 83rd Academy Awards. “Beauvois recounts the harrowing true story of a brotherhood of French monks in the highlands of North Africa who find themselves threatened by Islamic extremists during the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s. Starring a gifted ensemble cast led by the empathetic Lambert Wilson (as resident religious scholar Brother Christian), the film begins as a bucolic chronicle of these simple men of God and their gentle relationship with their Muslim neighbours, to whom they provide much-needed medical care and other services. When the insurgents arrive, they find themselves faced with an impossible decision: to flee, or to stand their ground and fulfill their spiritual mission. Magnificently photographed by cinematographer Caroline Champetier in compositions that suggest Renaissance paintings, Of Gods and Men is a poetic, austerely beautiful triumph” (New York Film Festival). “A tour de force of ensemble acting . . . Keenly observed, empathetic and exalting” (Nick James, Sight and Sound). Colour, 35mm, in French and Arabic with English subtitles. 120 mins.

nov 26 - dec 2 | vision | vifc

Soul Food friend Graham Peat (AKA "Mr Videomatica") alerts us to this one, which looks like a Soul Food Must-See. Thanks, GP! I'm especially intrigued by one tiny element in the Hildegard story, mentioned in this New York Times review: "She was a playwright whose lyrical drama Ordo Virtutum is excerpted in a scene in which the nuns, as they were allowed to do on certain holidays, frolic in silk gowns and jewels." Check out that link: the music is gorgeous beyond belief.

VISION (Germany, 2009, 110 mins)
Vancity Theatre
Fri Nov 26 | 8:15
Sat Nov 27 | 8:15
Sun Nov 28 | 3:30 + 8:30
Mon Nov 29 | 6:30
Tue Nov 30 | 8:15
Wed Dec 1 | 6:30
Thu Dec 2 | 8:15

The 12th-century Benedictine nun, Hildegard von Bingen–today a cult figure–is luminously portrayed by Barbara Sukowa in her 5th collaboration with director Margarethe von Trotta. Hildegard, a polymath by any century's definition, was a composer of Gregorian chants, a playwright, poet, and scientific pioneer in the fields of healing, herbal medicine and botany. As an iconoclastic religious figure who insisted on separate and independent abbies for nuns, she ran up against the church's authoritarian and patriarchal hierarchy; as a mystic and visionary, she insisted on her right to preach and interpret the Gospels. Sukowa infuses Hildegard with the will of a modern feminist, but one tethered to a medieval universe. Von Trotta makes that world believable and lush, and at times as scary and alluring as a 900-year-old fairy tale.

"The film exalts in the diverse accomplishments of the 12th century Benedictine nun. Sukowa embodies her character's imposition of will with complete conviction, just as she does Hildegard's imposing intellect and bottomless devotion."–Todd McCarthy, Variety

"The sympathy of von Trotta's Vision lays in joy... Despite its title, far from showing us the exterior manifestation of Godliness of Hildegard von Bingen's life, von Trotta's film, in its contained but generous sense of the emotional tenor of each individual scene, seems to be exploring the nuances of love on this earth."–Daniel Kasman, MUBI

Now on DVD... THE SEVENTH CHAMBER

The Seventh Chamber, a celebrated biopic of the Jewish Catholic nun who was killed in the Holocaust, is something of a "lost classic" of Soul Food Cinema. Lost until now. The DVD is just out, with perspicacious notes by Decent Films / National Catholic Register movie commentator Steven D. Greydanus (or SDG, as he's known around these parts. I just call him "Sudge"). I've ordered me a copy of the disk: meantime, we'll all have to content ourselves with some excerpts from Steven's notes on the film, included in the Ignatius Press DVD release: the complete essay is available at his website.

Edith Stein: The Seventh Chamber premiered in 1995 at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the OCIC Prize from the International Catholic Organization for Cinema (Office Catholique International du Cinéma or OCIC, now SIGNIS), an award acknowledging achievement in “enhancing human values.” A special mention award (Elvira Notari Prize) was also given to the director, acclaimed Hungarian director Márta Mészáros, and to the star, Romanian Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern (The Passion of the Christ), who plays Edith Stein. The following year the film took top honors for cinematography at the Polish Film Festival. . .

What would a conventional biopic of Edith Stein look like? It would probably begin with vignettes from Edith’s upbringing in a large Jewish family: lighting candles on the Sabbath, celebrating Pesach or Yom Kippur, perhaps listening to the rabbi at synagogue. The figure of Edith’s mother would loom large in these early scenes, as would the absence of her father, who died when Edith was not yet two.

We would recognize early signs of Edith’s lively intelligence and assertive independence — for example, her insistence on skipping kindergarten and joining school in mid-term. We would see her capacity for empathy, but also the questioning nature that would cause her, in her teenaged years, to lose her faith in God.

We would follow Edith’s discovery of philosophy . . . and her grapplings with the philosophical problem of empathy. The First World War would make its presence felt; we might see her working as a Red Cross volunteer at the military hospitals. We would then see her rediscovery of religious questions, and above all her transformation after reading Teresa of Avila’s autobiography, in which she encounters the God of love.

After devouring a catechism and a missal and attending her first Mass, Edith would accost the pastor to baptize her, brushing aside his explanation about the usual period of formation with a request to be examined immediately. Her baptism on New Year’s Day, 1922 would follow. Still to come would be her lectures across Europe; the rise of the Nazi threat; her expulsion from the university in 1933 for her Jewish ethnicity; the diaspora of her family and her entrance into the Carmelite monastery at Cologne later that year; her taking of vows under the name Teresa Benedicta a Cruce (Teresa Blessed by the Cross); her transfer to Holland to escape the German authorities; her arrest in Holland by the Gestapo in 1942; and her arrival in Auschwitz and death in the gas chambers later that year.

Although an excellent movie about Edith Stein could be made from the above outline, it is not the outline followed by The Seventh Chamber. . . .

Rather than stick to conventional drama or realistic narrative, The Seventh Chamber verges into expressionism, with stylized, non-literal interpretive conceits offering a blatantly subjective vision of its subject matter. . . .

Instead of flashbacks, there are surreal, allegorical sequences in which memory and symbolism merge and shift — most strikingly a dreamlike masquerade party flashback that we see after she has tripped on a flight of stairs and fallen on the floor. Even more seemingly straightforward scenes are not entirely realistic; the masquerade party flashback is flagrantly stylized, but even Edith’s fall from the stairs, and the way she lies on the floor murmuring to herself about the cross instead of getting up, suggests some departure from ordinary drama. Conversations seem to reflect a dreamlike, poetic logic rather than the rhythms of ordinary discussion. Recurring images run through the film: a cross falling into a puddle; a young girl watching Edith; doors and gates closing. Even ordinary scenes are framed with careful formalism, framed in single or double arches and partly eclipsed by pillars or trees.

. . . One familiar cinematic point of comparison and contrast that may occur to some viewers is Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ — and not only because Romanian Jewish actress Maia Morgenstern (who plays Edith Stein) went on to portray the Virgin Mary in Gibson’s film. That Morgenstern has played two Jewish women saints bridging the old covenant and the new is in a way not a coincidence, since it was her role in The Seventh Chamber that brought her to Gibson’s attention. It is possible, too, that The Seventh Chamber influenced Gibson’s film in other ways.

For example, consider a shot in The Passion in which Morgenstern’s Virgin Mary, supernaturally sensing the nearness of her Son, lies prone with her cheek to the pavement as the camera sinks below the pavement into the cell below where Jesus stands in chains. Compare a strikingly similar shot and camera movement in The Seventh Chamber in which Morgenstern’s Edith Stein has fallen prone and lies with her cheek to the floor as the camera sinks below the floor, transitioning to the masquerade sequence (later the camera rises back up through the floor to find Edith still lying there).

The Passion of the Christ is shot through with expressionist flourishes, from Christ trampling the serpent’s head in Gethsemane to Mary’s flashback of the boy Jesus falling as Christ falls under his cross. More generally, Gibson’s whole film displays what could be called expressionist leanings in its heightened or artificial presentation of reality: the slow-motion falls, the exaggeration of the scourging and Christ’s battered state, etc. . . .

In a similar way, The Seventh Chamber brings a level of artifice and symbolism to events in Edith Stein’s life in an effort to dramatize the inner meaning of the events and of her life as a whole. Although the imagery in The Seventh Chamber is seldom if ever as flagrantly non-literal as Gibson’s infernal infant, it does sometimes present interpretive challenges.

. . . The film is emphatic that Edith Stein embraces Catholicism without in any way rejecting Judaism. . . . Edith also embraces her fatherland, Germany, with a patriotic fervor that is almost baffling to us. . . .

newish soul foodish movie book | roy anker

Roy Anker has a film book already in print - Catching Light: Looking For God In The Movies. I like it: he's a lit guy, so he brings substantial insights, treats the films as art not sermon illustrations, and has a pretty good eye for film as well as text. And he writes well.

The only qualm I had about the first book was that the selections were a bit dated. I share his predilection for pointing people to older films, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with the titles he chose - Tender Mercies is my favourite film, and who could gainsay The Mission, Babette's Feast, American Beauty (well, except Jeff Overstreet - heh heh heh), Grand Canyon or Kieslowski's Blue? But it did have the slightest sense of having been compiled from an archive of old "Faith And Film" lecture notes. Still, one of my top five or ten books about movies with God Stuff.

Judging from the Table Of Contents, it looks like his new volume draws on the earlier volume - American Beauty, Godfather III, Tender Mercies, The Mission, Superman, Grand Canyon, E.T. all get chapters - but there's lots new too - Magnolia, Millions, Dead Man Walking, Shawshank Redemption, Crimes & Misdemeanors, Decalogue and M. Night Shyamalan's debut Wide Awake are all interesting choices (though still opting for the tried and true over the latest and greatest. Wish he'd included, for example, his response to Carlos Reygadas's Silent Light). Hard to know if this is just a revision of the earlier volume, or a completely new book that includes further thoughts on those earlier film. But I'll be adding it to my shelf, even if just for the new bits.

Here's what IMAGE Update has to say...

Of Pilgrims and Fire by Roy Anker

In Of Pilgrims and Fire: When God Shows Up at the Movies, Calvin College professor Roy Anker presents a series of thoughtful vignettes on the presence of God in film, providing commentary on flicks from a wide swath of genres, from blockbusters E.T. and Superman to cult favorite The Shawshank Redemption to more obscure foreign films The Color of Paradise, Decalogue, and Babette’s Feast — several of which you will also find on the Arts and Faith Top 100 List.

The “pilgrims” of the title are the protagonists, the antagonists, the viewers, and the critics, compelled to “journey in search of a potent, magical, holy something,” for the fiery light that reveals truths about each other and about the way to live. Anker reflects on images of God and themes of splendor, the collision of morality and belief, and “the feast of love,” extracting spiritual nuggets even from deeply flawed films such as The Godfather III.

Complementing his enthusiasm are Anker’s winsome turns of phrase (once he speaks of Robert De Niro’s Mendoza in The Mission as being “mugged by love”) and a keen eye for powerful subtlety. Anker shows a deep respect for the filmmakers he discusses, and it’s plain he knows their work well. Chapters feature screen stills from each particular movie, other critics’ comments, post-viewing questions, and suggestions for checking out additional related flicks, inviting discussion and encouraging readers to round out their own impressions. Of Pilgrims and Fire throws fresh light on the oft-worn intersection of spirituality and pop culture.

nov 21 | millions

Big screen matinee of a Soul Food favourite, next Sunday only

MILLIONS
director: Danny Boyle
Sunday, November 21, 2010 - 1:00pm
Pacific Cinematheque

MILLIONS is available on DVD at Videomatica