The Movie: "No, Valerie! Don't!" Cries a lousy Andy Warhol impressionist via this salacious, almost shameless voiceover intro. This Documentary, directed by Jean-Michel Vecchiet originally aired on French television Channel 3 in 2005. With another doc, Paul Morrissey: Autumn in Montauk (2002), already behind him, it seems Vecchiet is very familiar with the Warhol universe, and just because there are several other Warhol DVD's in your queue it doesn't mean you get away with leaving this one out; assuming you're a "Warhol freak," like so many claim to be.

Andrew Warhola was the sickly child of Slovak immigrants who came to the poor section of Pittsburg looking for a better life. From all accounts (from his brothers James and Paul Warhola to apprentice/"Whip Dancer" Gerard Malanga) Andy didn't fit in with the other boys too well, and he naturally gravitated to the arts and the gla...Read the entire review

The Film:

A budget-production intended for French television Boiteux: Le Baby Blues a.k.a Baby Blues (1999) follows the story of Lieutenant Deveure (Vincent Winterhalter) who battles a number of personal demons while attempting to figure out the presence of a baby corpse at the property of a young French couple. After a series of visits to the couple's house Deveure befriends the pregnant Blandine (Audrey Tautou, Amelie) and eventually finds himself in the middle of a large conspiracy involving prominent figures from the city's business and political elite.

Predictable, uneven, and at times disturbingly amateurish-looking Baby Blues' only exciting asset is the presence of French superstar Audrey Tautou who takes a large portion of the cover for this upcoming R1 release. Unfortunately, Tautou not only is far and away from being i...Read the entire review

Does the magical name "Bardot" mean anything to today's youth? Does it have the cache that its equivalent, "Valentino" has (or had; I asked my teenage son if he had ever heard of either, and all I got was a blank stare). At one time, even when I was a boy in the 1970s, the words "Brigitte Bardot" instantly conveyed an almost cosmic, mystical sexual allure -- which is highly amusing to me today because I don't think I ever even saw a Bardot film until I was in college. For decades, her name had been synonymous with a kind of foreign, unbridled sex appeal: the ultimate pouty "sex kitten" of the 1950s and 1960s (leaving other posers to that title, such as Raquel Welch and Ann-Margret, in the dust). So I was quite curious to see SKD's "remastered edition" of Bardot's second film appearance, 1952's Manina la Fille Sans Voile, or as it was known when released in the U. S., The Girl in the B...Read the entire review

The Film:

A young Frenchman from Jewish origin (Yvan Attal) decides to leave his native country and move to Israel in order to join MOSSAD. After a never-ending training program with plenty of physical abuse Ariel Brenner/Ari Eisenbach is finally granted access to the secret organization where his first mission is to gain access to a well-known French specialist in charge of a strategic nuclear program. Ariel is quickly sent to Paris where he befriends a sophisticated call-girl (Sandrine Kiberlain) who must seduce and eventually compromise the French specialist.

While discussing the specifics of the job Ariel and the call-girl grow fond of each other. But…she is a professional and so is he. The mission is completed and the unsuspecting Frenchman's rendezvous is captured on tape. Unfortunately it quickly becomes obvious that he isn't the right man for the job. MOSSAD are disappointe...Read the entire review

The Film

An exceptionally well-made Italian production which I doubt would have seen the light of the day in North America if not for little-known boutique label Synkronized USA La Parola Amore Esiste a.k.a The Word Love Exists will make plenty of foreign film aficionados happy. Co-produced by RAI Italia and Canal + this film was actually made back in 1998 and up to this point has been available only for European distribution. Fortunately what I have in my hands is a handsome, if rather barebones, DVD release which should at least partially make up for the lack of interest from the so-called majors.

The story of La Parola Amore Esiste evolves around Angela (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) who appears to be struggling with a compulsive disorder illness of some type while desperately trying to find a man she can love. Angela has plenty of material possessions...Read the entire review

When the Buena Vista Social Club movie came out in 1999 Cuban music found itself in the hot-seat, with Americans buying up the traditional sounds in droves. But it was really just the Buena Vista imprimatur that was selling; The entire rest of the Cuban music scene was still locked up within that island-nation's famously insular borders. Cubanissimo spreads the love around a little more broadly, showcasing a host of artists and styles not familiar to the Buena Vista generation.

But it's also a loosely structured, sloppily edited film, with little in the way of actual historical content. Still, I usually find myself criticizing music-related documentaries for dwelling too much on the stories and not presenting enough of the music. That's definitely not the case here: I would say that nearly all of Cubanissimo's 84 minute running time is taken up by music, often with songs p...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Written and directed by Richard Bean, Franck Spadone is modern French noir/thriller set in the ugly underbelly of modern day Paris. Stanislas Merhar plays a less than moral man named Franck Spadone who makes his living as a professional pickpocket on the streets of the French capital. His two friend, Bruno (Christophe Le Masne) and Pablo (Antoine Fayard) work with him and the three of them are pretty prolific in their chosen occupation.

Laura (Monica Bellucci of Irreversible and The Passion Of The Christ is a gorgeous woman who works in a Parisian strip club. One night while taking the subway home from work to her apartment, Franck and his two accomplices rob her but Franck sees her as more than just another victim and falls instantly in love with her, captivated by her beauty despite the rather unusual circumstances under which the two meet.

Fra...Read the entire review