Heavy Metal in Baghdad (2008) dir. Suroosh Alvi, Eddy MorettiDocumentary**Acrassicauda means 'black scorpion' in latin. It's also the name of the only heavy metal band in Iraq. Needless to say, heavy metal is frowned upon by the fundamentalist authorities, who see their music as a form of heretical Western propaganda. The filmed journey of filmmakers Suroosh Alvi and Eddy Moretti to find this contr...

The following is a chat I had with Bruce McDonald, director of "Hard Core Logo", and now his new film, "The Tracey Fragments" – a unique take on teenage angst, starring Ellen Page. Click HERE for the review. The film uses an experimental visual technique of fragmenting the traditional frame into an ever changing kaleidoscope of split screen and multiple image effects. Bruce's talented editor Jere...

By Greg KlymkiwReceiving critical jeers upon its release in 1975, Richard Fleischer's film version of Mandingo, taken from the best-selling sex and slavery potboiler by Kyle Onstott and produced by the oft-loathed-and-scorned producer Dino De Laurentiis, did, like its recent cinematic blood-brother Showgirls (Paul Verhoeven's All About Eve in a Vegas strip club) achieve considerable cult status as...

The Wackness (2008) dir. Jonathan LevineStarring: Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby, Famke Janssen**"The Wackness" is a well-intentioned coming of age story of a New York City high school graduate set in the summer of 1994. Enjoyment of the film will depend largely on whether you like the main character. For me, it was intense dislike, but for other 20 and 30-somethings the time, place, situa...

Persepolis (2007) dir. Marjane Satrapi and Vincent ParonnaudVoices by: Chiara Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Simon Abkarian***"Persepolis" is a film more to admire than to be truly entertained by. It's based on Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel about her own experience living in Iran during the 1979 revolution and the cultural identity problems of living in Vienna as a youth. A un...