Tag Archives: 2000s

Notias (2016) Tassos Boulmetis, Yiannis Niarros, Themis Panou, Maria Kallimani, Comedy, Drama

notias-2016
In the early 1970s, with Greece under the rule of a military junta, pre-teen Stavros discovers a strange accompaniment to the awakening of eros: he subverts the meanings of classical myths, creating strange physical symptoms in those around him. Stavros’ conservative parents, perplexed and flustered, take him from specialist to specialist. Diagnoses vary, until a fortune-teller deems that the boy is victim of a rare, ancient disease, which exhibits himself when he is in love. After the collapse of the junta, as Stavros meets the toils of love and politics in university, the influence of his strange affliction extends, from his immediate environment into the political arena.
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300 hommes / 300 Souls (2014) Aline Dalbis, Emmanuel Gras, Documentary, Biography

300-hommes-aka-300-souls-2014
‘Three hundred men’ is one long night at Saint Jean de Dieu, in Marseille. The center welcomes and confines three hundred homeless men every night over the winter. This documentary is neither the description nor the chronicle of the life of a shelter. It portrays humanity reduced to its essence, when only remain speech, humor, anger or madness to affirm that one still exists.’
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Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) Alex Gibney, John Beard, Tim Belden, Barbara Boxer, Documentary

Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005)
Enron dives from the seventh largest US company to bankruptcy in less than a year in this tale told chronologically. The emphasis is on human drama, from suicide to 20,000 people sacked: the personalities of Ken Lay (with Falwellesque rectitude), Jeff Skilling (he of big ideas), Lou Pai (gone with $250 M), and Andy Fastow (the dark prince) dominate. Along the way, we watch Enron game California’s deregulated electricity market, get a free pass from Arthur Andersen (which okays the dubious mark-to-market accounting), use greed to manipulate banks and brokerages (Merrill Lynch fires the analyst who questions Enron’s rise), and hear from both Presidents Bush what great guys these are.
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Nøgle hus spejl / Key House Mirror (2015) Michael Noer, Ghita Nørby, Sven Wollter, Trine Pallesen, Drama, Romance

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Lily and Max have been married for more than 50 years. Now they live together in a nursing home, where Max has been reliant on professional care since his stroke. Lily has been putting her own needs aside and is desperately longing for excitement and intimacy in her life. When a man known as “the Pilot” moves in next door, Lily is immediately charmed by him and his passion for life. But neither her family nor the other residents at the nursing home are fond of her new acquaintance. Misunderstood by her family and trapped in her life with Max, Lily decides to fight to escape the bars of her invisible prison and claim her freedom.
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The Golden Bowl (2000) James Ivory, Uma Thurman, Jeremy Northam, Kate Beckinsale, Drama, Romance

the-golden-bowl-2000
Adam Verver, a US billionaire in London, dotes on daughter Maggie, an innocent abroad. An impecunious Italian, Prince Amerigo, marries her even though her best friend, Charlotte Stant, an alabaster beauty with brains, no money, and a practical and romantic nature, is his lover. She and Amerigo keep it secret from Maggie that they know each other, so Maggie interests her widowed father in Charlotte, who is happy with the match because she wants to be close to Amerigo. Charlotte desires him, the lovers risk discovery, Amerigo longs for Italy, Maggie wants to spare her father pain, and Adam wants to return to America to build a museum. Amidst lies and artifice, what fate awaits adulterers?
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In Between Days (2006) So Yong Kim, Taegu Andy Kang, Bokja Kim, Gina Kim, Drama

in-between-days-2006
On the verge of coming of age. Aimie is perhaps 18, a Korean immigrant in Canada. It’s winter, snow crunches beneath her feet. She lives with her mother. She studies English and doesn’t seem to be a particularly good student. Tran is her best friend, and he wouldn’t mind if their relationship becomes sexual. She declines, then worries that he might find a more willing girlfriend. Her mother broaches the subject of remarriage. Aimie misses her father, sending him messages to come and visit. What does she have she can count on?
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