Umberto D, Unbearable Lightness of Being, Under the Volcano...Martin Paule's Micro Movie Reviews collection for Shelterbelt Cinema Channel, gotop10.com, world cinema page; movies from india china japan; European films, African Cinema; top 10 cinema academic film journals sites

Films with ensemble casts and tangentially-connecting storylines have grown ubiquitous over the past decade and Czech director Jan Hrebe's serio-comic film can be counted as being among the more successful examples of the genre. One central storyline concerns an ex-convict soccer hooligan and his infertile wife who buy a black-market baby; another involves a splintered upper-middleclass family dealing with estrangement and infidelity. Hrebek's story digs deep into issues of racism, poverty and the struggle for assimilation. A subtext about well-meaning but inept NGOs offers a clear-eyed look at Prague in the midst of enormous changes.

This is another installment in director Michael Apted’s fascinating and unprecedented documentary about a group of British people and the trajectories of their lives. Starting with the first film, S even Up, which originally aired on British television, and continuing at seven year intervals, he has continued to make films of this group drawn from all echelons of British society. Along the way, some have dropped out of the series while others have died. A must-see for anyone with a sociological bent.

Unlike Michael Moore and "Fahrenheit 9/11" that scores points through its director's sense of comedy as well as manipulation of fact and situation, Uncovered's director Robert Greenwald builds his case systematically and meticulously arguing that the Bush administration perpetrated a hoax. Judicious use of news clips coupled with a persuasive lineup of talking heads leaves you with the clear sense (if you didn't already have it) that Bush and his neocon cohorts were guilty of sustained deceit in developing support for the Iraq war. What also clearly emerges is an indictment of our media for failing to question the runup to war.

Unmade Beds
The lives of four New York singles, two men and two women who use the
personals to seek relationships, is told in this unflinching documentary.
By turn agonizingly sad then hilarious, the subjects are brutally frank
about their aims. A woman in her late 30s seeks a sugar daddy to solve her
perpetual financial difficulties. Indeed, at the end of the film we see
her entering a courthouse where she is to marry a guy who has promised her a
$20,000 signing bonus. Perhaps the saddest case is that of an obese
woman approaching 30 who wonders if she can rekindle one of her previously
failed affairs as she becomes increasingly desperate to marry and have
children. The two men's stories are nearly as compelling. A middle-aged guy
with Hugh Heffner-like propensities but a limited budget maintains a seedy
apartment packed with erotica. He constantly quests after one more score, and
in a moment of reflection, ruefully acknowledges that he blew it back in the
70s by failing to commit to a woman he cared for. He (accurately) identifies
himself with the characters that Harvey Keitel and Jack Nicholson often play.
Lastly there is a 40 year-old bachelor whose family is beginning to worry
that he is perhaps gay as he has never married. His is perhaps the hardest
story to decipher in this quartet of longing.

De Sica's magnum opus is the story of a retired government worker on a tiny
pension ravaged by post-war inflation who is faced with becoming homeless.
Roving the streets of Rome he becomes a friend to an unmarried, pregnant
woman. Together this odd couple struggles against a cruel and unforgiving
society. Genuine and heartbreaking in every respect.

A very long and interesting story about a Czech doctor who has trouble
making emotional commitments to the many women he loves. Set around the
time of the Russian invasion and curtailment of liberties that took place
in the late 60s, it demonstrates how people can undergo big changes when
the going gets rough.

A convict is released from prison and takes a job in a small garage where
he proves to be a great mechanic. But much to the owner's consternation,
his nubile daughter becomes enamored of the new help with utterly
unpredictable developments...

One of John Huston's greatest achievements is based on a terrific novel by
the British writer Malcolm Lowrey. The action is set over a couple of days
surrounding the Mexican Dia Del Muerte (Day of the Dead) and involves a
washed-up British consul who is suffering from terminal alcoholism. Highly
atmospheric with a great performance by Albert Finney in the lead role.
There's a documentary about the making of this film that is just about as
compelling as the source material. I can't summon up the name at the
moment, but I think it has "Volcano" in its title too.

A no-holds-barred portrait of Isaac Mizrahi, a wunderkind of couturier
fashion, filmed by his then-lover. He is an unrepentant, flaming faggot who
loves his role and who is enraptured by all forms of pop culture,
especially Mary Tyler Moore whose sitcom theme song is a frequent element
in Mizrahi's motor mouth monologues. The film follows the designer through
the conception and creation of a Nanook of The North-inspired collection
that nearly crashes and burns (along with Mizrahi) only to be redeemed on
the runway in an inspired showing where the models change behind a
semi-transparent scrim. He is a testament to artistic chutzpah who could
have easily become a first rate standup comic had he not become fascinated
with his mother's wardrobe at an early age.


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