Production Company(ies)

 
Distributor
20th Century Fox
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Glod, Romania
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language
 
Year of Release
2006
 

 
Genre(s)
Comedy
 
Keyword(s)
Borat, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, Sacha Baron Cohen, Pamela Anderson, Ken Davitian, Larry Charles, Jay Roach, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, Comedy, R rating, Box Office, Gross USA, 20th Century Fox, SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby SRD, Flat, Offensive, Satire, Shockumentary, Critic Reviews, Reviewed by Ed Gonzalez, David Ansen, Brian Tallerico, Joe Williams, Andrew Sarris, Richard Roeper, David Walsh, Richard Crouse, Micheal Compton, Mattie Lucas, Joel Siegel, Nick Pinkerton, Audience Reviews, Directed by Larry Charles, Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, Produced by Jay Roach
 

Cast & Crew

Sacha Baron Cohen

Pamela Anderson

Ken Davitian

Luenell

Bob Barr

Borat

Self

Azamat Bagatov

Luenell

Self

Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat
Pamela Anderson – Self
Ken Davitian – Azamat Bagatov
Luenell – Luenell
Bob Barr – Self
David Corcoran – Self

 

Larry Charles

Sacha Baron Cohen

Jay Roach

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Larry Charles
 
Writer(s)
Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer
 
Producer(s)
Jay Roach

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
20 wins & 34 nominations total
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
 

Top Reviews

Ed Gonzalez

David Ansen

Brian Tallerico

Joe Williams

Andrew Sarris

House Next Door

Newsweek

UGO

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Observer

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN
 All Critics (220) | Top Critics (56) | Fresh (199) | Rotten (21)
 Borat’s cultural learning is revealing, even if it doesn’t adequately convey how it benefits glorious nation of Kazakhstan.
 
 July 16, 2008
 
 Ed Gonzalez
 House Next Door
 TOP CRITIC
 The backlash just proves how deep a nerve the faux Kazakh journalist has hit.
 
 November 1, 2007
 
 David Ansen
 Newsweek
 TOP CRITIC
 The genius of Borat is all in Sacha Baron Cohen’s daring, edgy, unrestrained performance.
 
 March 24, 2007
 
 Brian Tallerico
 UGO
 TOP CRITIC
 Borat is a serious work of social criticism. But it’s also the funniest movie I’ve ever seen.
 
 November 22, 2006 | Rating: A
 
 Joe Williams
 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 TOP CRITIC
 The theory of comedy here is that you can get away with almost anything if you manage to make your target audience feel superior to the human beings being mocked on the screen.
 
 November 15, 2006
 
 Andrew Sarris
 Observer
 TOP CRITIC
 I did find this to be one of the more inventive, aggressively offensive and insanely tasteless comedies in many a year. And yeah, that’s a thumbs-up.
 
 November 13, 2006
 
 Richard Roeper
 Ebert & Roeper
 TOP CRITIC
 In the tactics of Cohen, Charles and their collaborators … there is a level of social insularity, sneering and intellectual sadism that is positively disturbing.
 
 February 14, 2021
 
 David Walsh
 World Socialist Web Site
 Borat is funny, spleen-bursting funny, although you may catch yourself wondering if these are the kind of jokes you should be laughing at.
 
 January 31, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Richard Crouse
 Richard Crouse
 It wallows gleefully in its very un-PC humor, but that is part of what makes it work so well. Cohen and director Larry Charles make the unthinkable funny — and in the process might just get you to think about racism, bigotry and sexism.
 
 November 20, 2019
 
 Micheal Compton
 Bowling Green Daily News
 A gut-busting, uncompromising, totally outrageous film that takes the comedy of embarrassment to new, unprecedented levels.
 
 June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Mattie Lucas
 The Dispatch (Lexington, NC)
 Offensive? Yes, but I haven’t laughed this hard since the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy.
 
 January 5, 2018 | Rating: A
 
 Joel Siegel
 Good Morning America
 For better or for worse, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan is unique, an important movie, a multiplex comedy that doubles as a conceptual art epic.
 
 June 8, 2016
 
 Nick Pinkerton
 Stop Smiling…

 

Plot
Borat Sagdiyev is a TV reporter of a popular show in Kazakhstan as Kazakhstan’s sixth most famous man and a leading journalist. He is sent from his home to America by his government to make a documentary about American society and culture. Borat takes a course in New York City to understand American humor. While watching Baywatch on TV, Borat discovers how beautiful their women are in the form of C. J. Parker, who was played by actress Pamela Anderson who hails from Malibu, California. He decides to go on a cross-country road trip to California in a quest to make her his wife and take her back to his country. On his journey Borat and his producer encounter a country full of strange and wonderful Americans, real people in real chaotic situations with hysterical consequences.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Sacha Baron Cohen’s performance as Borat is described as “daring, edgy, unrestrained” and “genius” by critics.
 

 
Larry-Charles.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Channel Four Films, Figment Films, The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company,
 
Distributor
Miramax Home Entertainment [us], Miramax Films
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
St Vincent, St Vincent and the Grenadines
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images
 
Year of Release
2006
 

 
Genre(s)
Western
 
Keyword(s)
starring Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Mili Avital, Crispin Glover, directed by Jim Jarmusch, written by Jim Jarmusch, Western, box office performance, budget, reviewed by James Berardinelli, Desson Thomson, Rita Kempley, Todd McCarthy, Gilbert Adair, Edward Guthmann, Richard Glatzer, Matt Brunson, Scout Tafoya, David Harris, Nathanael Hood, Barbara Shulgasser, produced by Demetra J MacBride, R rating, Old West, gunslinger, accountant, Neil Young, black-and-white, Robby Muller, metaphysical, social commentary, hallucinatory dream, revisionist Western, racism, viciousness, haunting musical themes
 

Cast & Crew

Johnny Depp

Gary Farmer

Lance Henriksen

Michael Wincott

Mili Avital

William “Bill” Blake

Nobody

Cole Wilson

Conway Twill

Thel Russell

Johnny Depp – William “Bill” Blake
Gary Farmer – Nobody
Lance Henriksen – Cole Wilson
Michael Wincott – Conway Twill
Mili Avital – Thel Russell
Crispin Glover – Train Fireman

 

Jim Jarmusch

Jim Jarmusch

Demetra J. MacBride

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Jim Jarmusch
 
Writer(s)
Jim Jarmusch
 
Producer(s)
Demetra J. MacBride

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
45 wins & 54 nominations total
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

James Berardinelli

Desson Thomson

Rita Kempley

Todd McCarthy

Gilbert Adair

ReelViews

Washington Post

Variety

Time Out

San Francisco Chronicle

DEAD MAN
 All Critics (53) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (16)
 Even if it accomplishes little else, Dead Man will almost certainly inspire thought and discussion.
 
 November 9, 2018 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 James Berardinelli
 ReelViews
 TOP CRITIC
 Both Blake’s journey and composer Neil Young’s spare, electric guitar score seem endlessly circular; and people are always asking Blake for tobacco.
 
 November 9, 2018
 
 Desson Thomson
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 The landscape outside and the passengers inside become wilder and woollier with every weary mile.
 
 November 9, 2018
 
 Rita Kempley
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 The film’s pleasures are simply too elusive and mild to make up for a lack of narrative propulsion.
 
 November 9, 2018
 
 Todd McCarthy
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 [It’s a] bizarre, funny, almost mystical take on the Western
 
 November 9, 2018
 
 Gilbert Adair
 Time Out
 TOP CRITIC
 [The] metaphysical context benefits enormously from the haunting musical themes that Neil Young wrote, underlining the film’s psychedelic/apocalyptic edge, and from the stunning black-and-white camera work of Robby Muller.
 
 November 9, 2018 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Edward Guthmann
 San Francisco Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 Jarmusch’s movie maintains its East Village cool at any cost — and ends up thuddingly hollow.
 
 April 19, 2022
 
 Richard Glatzer
 The Advocate
 Part revisionist Western, part social commentary, and part hallucinatory dream.
 
 August 29, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Matt Brunson
 Film Frenzy
 Not even the horror Westerns of the ’70s and ’80s approached the eeriness of Jarmusch’s boldly elemental Western landscape.
 
 January 18, 2020
 
 Scout Tafoya
 The Spool
 Dead Man is an elegiac poem of a film that examines our country’s shameful history of viciousness and racism.
 
 August 14, 2019
 
 David Harris
 Spectrum Culture
 If not the best American Western of the 1990s, then certainly the most original and unusual.
 
 December 29, 2018 | Rating: 9/10
 
 Nathanael Hood
 The Retro Set
 I don’t mean to dismiss Dead Man as worthless, or meaningless. Jarmusch just happens to express himself in a deadpan manner that just happens to have no appeal for me whatsoever. Of course, I only say this because he is an “artist.”
 
 November 9, 2018
 
 Barbara Shulgasser
 San Francisco Examiner…

 

Plot
Once again we’re plunged into the world of sword fights and “savvy” pirates. Captain Jack Sparrow is reminded he owes a debt to Davy Jones, who captains the flying Dutchman, a ghostly ship, with a crew from hell. Facing the “locker” Jack must find the heart of Davy Jones but to save himself he must get the help of quick-witted Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan. If that’s not complicated enough, Will and Elizabeth are sentenced to hang, unless Will can get Lord Cutler Beckett Jack’s compass. Will is forced to join another crazy adventure with Jack.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film Dead Man on Fresh Kernels.
 

 
Jim-Jarmusch.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Film4 Ingenious Film Partners Special Treats Production Company,
 
Distributor
NA
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Pitesti, Romania
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong violence, some drug content and language
 
Year of Release
2006
 

 
Genre(s)
Action
 
Keyword(s)
starring Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D’Amario, Bibi Naceri, Dany Verissimo, François Chattot, directed by Pierre Morel, written by Luc Besson, Bibi Naceri, action, R rating, Luc Besson produced, box office gross $1.2M, reviewed by Lisa Nesselson, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Peter Bradshaw, David Jenkins, Digby Lewis, Joe Williams, Richard Propes, Dorothy Woodend, Sean Axmaker, Scott Nash, Jeffrey M Anderson, French language, crime-ridden ghetto, elite police squad, bomb, powerful hoodlum, civilian, rescue, acrobatic stunts, Tarzan, CGI, fake stunts, urban ills, Frenchness, theme park show
 

Cast & Crew

Cyril Raffaelli

Damien

David Belle

Leito

Tony D’Amario

Damien

Leito

K2

Taha

Lola

Cyril Raffaelli – Damien
David Belle – Leito
Tony D’Amario – K2
Bibi Naceri – Taha
Dany Verissimo – Lola
François Chattot – Kruger

 

Pierre Morel

Luc Besson

Luc Besson

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Pierre Morel
 
Writer(s)
Luc Besson, Bibi Naceri
 
Producer(s)
Luc Besson

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 1 nomination
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Lisa Nesselson

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Peter Bradshaw

David Jenkins

Digby Lewis

Variety

Chicago Reader

Guardian

Time Out

BBC.com

DISTRICT B13
 All Critics (116) | Top Critics (38) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (23)
 A message-based actioner that’s fast, dumb fun.
 
 June 6, 2007
 
 Lisa Nesselson
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 I was delighted by the balletic and acrobatic stunts, some of which evoke Tarzan.
 
 June 6, 2007
 
 Jonathan Rosenbaum
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 A 90-minute feature simply showing [David] Belle’s stunts with no frills would be great; unfortunately, they only account for about 10 minutes – the rest of the time, Belle is called upon to act.
 
 July 8, 2006 | Rating: 2/5
 
 Peter Bradshaw
 Guardian
 TOP CRITIC
 As 85-minute testosterone binges go, you could do a whole lot worse.
 
 July 6, 2006
 
 David Jenkins
 Time Out
 TOP CRITIC
 Instantly forgettable, but hugely entertaining for 85 minutes.
 
 July 4, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Digby Lewis
 BBC.com
 TOP CRITIC
 District B13 doesn’t waste time with fake personality clashes. Both lead actors are amazingly fluid athletes, and during the many getaway and shoot-’em-up sequences, there is a minimum of special effects or wire choreography.
 
 June 24, 2006 | Rating: B
 
 Joe Williams
 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 TOP CRITIC
 By returning to true action instead of CGI gimmicks or fake stunts, Morel has crafted a film that is electrifying to watch.
 
 September 6, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4.0
 
 Richard Propes
 TheIndependentCritic.com
 Urban ills are pretty much the same worldwide. But it’s the very Frenchness of the film that makes it amusant. Unlike a typical American actioner, the villain is not a megalomaniacal genius, nor a corporate overlord; it’s the civil servants. . .
 
 August 23, 2017
 
 Dorothy Woodend
 The Tyee (British Columbia)
 The straight-faced outrageousness is part of the film’s charm, while the stripped down aesthetic, driving pace, and impressive action sequences are the film’s charge.
 
 June 15, 2017
 
 Sean Axmaker
 Stream on Demand
 When Belle is in motion, the movie excels.
 
 October 6, 2013 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 Scott Nash
 Three Movie Buffs
 This action film from Luc Besson’s B-movie factory is one of his best.
 
 February 5, 2010
 
 Jeffrey M. Anderson
 Combustible Celluloid
 Comes off more like a theme park show than an actual film, it’s there to deliver stunts and never an actual story.
 
 April 29, 2009
 
 Felix Vasquez Jr.
 Cinema Crazed…

 

Plot
In the near future, the worst ghettos of Paris, France are literally walled off and among the worst is District B13. Controlled by the ruthless crime lord, Taha, a young righteous punk named Leïto is determined to bring him down. When the boss retaliates by kidnapping his sister, Lola, a rescue attempt by Leïto is destroyed by betrayal that gets him arrested and Lola kept in the clutches in Taha. Six months later, a crackerjack undercover cop named Damien is given a urgent mission: a neutron bomb has been stolen by Taha in District B13 which has an automatic timer function engaged and set to detonate in less than 24 hours. Now with time running out, Damien and Leïto must work together to find and stop the bomb, but there is far more to this crisis than any of the field players realize.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
District B13 features David Belle, who is known for inventing the parkour style of movement.
 

 
Pierre-Morel.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Constantin Film Norddeutscher Rundfunk Westdeutscher Rundfunk
 
Distributor
NA
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, Roissy-en-France, Val-d’Oise, France
 
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
 
Year of Release
2005
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Vincent Lindon, Emmanuelle Devos, Mathieu Amalric, Hippolyte Girardot, Cylia Malki, Macha Polikarpova, directed by Emmanuel Carrère, written by Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by John Monaghan, Stephen Hunter, Michael Phillips, Ruthe Stein, Steven Rea, Wesley Morris, Felicia Feaster, A.S Hamrah, Eric Monder, Brian Gibson, Louis Proyect, MPAA rating, identity, marriage, psychological suspense, unsettling questions, architecture, mustache, paranoia, commitment, French film, existential doubt, ennui, Kafkaesque, thriller, philosophy, surrealism, literary quality, storytelling, pretty pictures
 

Cast & Crew

Vincent Lindon

Marc Thiriez

Emmanuelle Devos

Agnès Thiriez

Mathieu Amalric

Marc Thiriez

Agnès Thiriez

Serge Schaeffer

Bruno

Samira

Vincent Lindon – Marc Thiriez
Emmanuelle Devos – Agnès Thiriez
Mathieu Amalric – Serge Schaeffer
Hippolyte Girardot – Bruno
Cylia Malki – Samira
Macha Polikarpova – Nadia Schaeffer
Director – Emmanuel Carrère
Producer – Anne-Dominique Toussaint
Writers – Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère

 

Emmanuel Carrère

Jérôme Beaujour

Anne-Dominique Toussaint

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Emmanuel Carrère
 
Writer(s)
Jérôme Beaujour, Emmanuel Carrère
 
Producer(s)
Anne-Dominique Toussaint

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 2 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

John Monaghan

Stephen Hunter

Michael Phillips

Ruthe Stein

Steven Rea

Detroit Free Press

Washington Post

Chicago Tribune

San Francisco Chronicle

Philadelphia Inquirer

THE MOUSTACHE
 All Critics (43) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (6)
 What the movie lacks visually, it makes up for with the performances, especially by Lindon, who leads us on a journey we want to stick with even if we can’t fully understand.
 
 November 3, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 John Monaghan
 Detroit Free Press
 TOP CRITIC
 In one sense it’s what might be called ‘typically French,’ an exquisitely observed fable of bourgeois life that is mordant, witty and yet low-key. In another sense, it’s what might be called ‘nuts.’
 
 November 2, 2006
 
 Stephen Hunter
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 An absorbing riddle posed in cool, matter-of-fact tones.
 
 September 28, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Michael Phillips
 Chicago Tribune
 TOP CRITIC
 I found it mesmerizing from beginning to end.
 
 September 22, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Ruthe Stein
 San Francisco Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 An intriguing study of identity, marriage and, perhaps, madness.
 
 September 1, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Steven Rea
 Philadelphia Inquirer
 TOP CRITIC
 Leaps from a gripping identity thriller into a strange yet equally involving adventure about the bounds of self-knowledge and the incredible liberty of disregarding them.
 
 August 25, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Wesley Morris
 Boston Globe
 TOP CRITIC
 Adapted from a novel by first-time director Carrére, the film retains a literary quality in playing with our faith in the conventions of storytelling and in its sly, understated surrealism.
 
 January 29, 2020
 
 Felicia Feaster
 Creative Loafing
 Carrère shows how a minor change can make the world a different place, how it disappears under our feet without our noticing, how glimpses into little truths can make the people around us seem hostile and ultimately drive us mad.
 
 July 6, 2010 | Rating: 3/4
 
 A.S. Hamrah
 Boston Phoenix
 Those looking for a good thriller should be pleased enough and those seeking a serious art film will get plenty of philosophy with their pretty pictures.
 
 March 1, 2007
 
 Eric Monder
 Film Journal International
 Bristling with existential doubt and ennui . . . Carrère’s half-nightmare, half-dream vision of one man’s imprisonment in his own life remains satisfyingly unresolved and stubbornly unique.
 
 February 11, 2007
 
 Brian Gibson
 Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta)
 Kafkaesque story of man who shaves trademark moustache. Afterwards everybody–wife included–insists that he has never had one!
 
 February 1, 2007
 
 Louis Proyect
 rec.arts.movies.reviews
 A dizzying experiment, evocative and frustrating at the same time.
 
 January 17, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
 
 David Cornelius
 eFilmCritic.com…

 

Plot
An architect becomes increasingly paranoid when he shaves off his mustache and no one seems to notice in the French drama film, “The Moustache.”
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Vincent Lindon delivers a captivating performance as the lead character in The Moustache.
 

 
Emmanuel-Carrère.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Independent Film Channel, Channel, Four Fourth Floor Pictures,
 
Distributor
IFC Films
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
Taiwan
 
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
 
Year of Release
2005
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Édith Scob, Charles Berling, Juliette Binoche, Jérémie Renier, Dominique Reymond, Kyle Eastwood, directed by Olivier Assayas, written by Olivier Assayas, drama, French language, box office gross $1.6M, reviewed by Frédéric Bonnaud, Derek Elley, Jonathan F Richards, Ray Bennett, Stephen Cole, Greg Quill, Juliette Binoche as Adrienne, Charles Berling as Frederic, Jérémie Renier as Jeremie, Édith Scob as Helene, produced by IFC Films, MPAA rating N/A, art collection, mortality, family drama, possessions, sentimental value, financial value, museum, inheritance, passing of time, memories, grave, slow-paced
 

Cast & Crew

Juliette Binoche

Charles Berling

Jérémie Renier

Édith Scob

Dominique Reymond

Adrienne

Frederic

Jeremie

Helene

Lisa

Juliette Binoche – Adrienne
Charles Berling – Frederic
Jérémie Renier – Jeremie
Édith Scob – Helene
Dominique Reymond – Lisa
Kyle Eastwood – Self

 

Olivier Assayas

Olivier Assayas

NA

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Olivier Assayas
 
Writer(s)
Olivier Assayas
 
Producer(s)
NA

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
8 wins & 19 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Frédéric Bonnaud

Derek Elley

Jonathan F. Richards

Ray Bennett

Stephen Cole

Film Comment Magazine

Variety

Film.com

Hollywood Reporter

Globe and Mail

SUMMER HOURS
 All Critics (106) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (100) | Rotten (6)
 ( … ) Summer Hours is Assayas’s best film set on home turf-the one that best puts things in perspective and loudly proclaims that one must know how to shed dead skin to go on living.
 
 November 17, 2013
 
 Frédéric Bonnaud
 Film Comment Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 Assayas’ script is more allusive than demonstrative, with a distinct whiff of Eric Rohmer in its conversational blocks separated by fadeouts.
 
 December 16, 2009
 
 Derek Elley
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 n Summer Hours, Olivier Assayas’s gently provocative rumination on family and possessions, a trio of siblings wrestles with the problem of what to do with the old homestead once Mother is gone.
 
 August 23, 2009
 
 Jonathan F. Richards
 Film.com
 TOP CRITIC
 Evocative look at a family trying to decide what to do with its treasures.
 
 June 19, 2009
 
 Ray Bennett
 Hollywood Reporter
 TOP CRITIC
 Where a Hollywood film of a family feuding over a fabulous estate would surely end with a slapped face and an infantry charge of lawyers, Assayas’s work concludes with a smile and a shrug. Life goes on. What else can it do?
 
 June 19, 2009 | Rating: 4/4
 
 Stephen Cole
 Globe and Mail
 TOP CRITIC
 Performances in this small and profoundly eloquent film are superb, yet none redirects attention from Assayas’s earnest meditation on the ravaging effects of a shrinking world on family traditions and entrenched personal relationships.
 
 June 19, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Greg Quill
 Toronto Star
 TOP CRITIC
 A profound and affecting film that is both inspiring and unforgettable.
 
 June 6, 2019 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Mattie Lucas
 From the Front Row
 I love films which capture that atmosphere of late summer, lazy and sultry and shadowed by the coming autumn. So I found this very moving.
 
 September 6, 2018
 
 Eve Tushnet
 Patheos
 In crafting his own objet d’art, Assayas has paid careful consideration to the fine aesthetic practiced in Taiwan, particularly that of Hou Hsiao-hsie.
 
 October 10, 2017
 
 Jay Kuehner
 Cinema Scope
 Avoiding easy conflict and histrionics, Summer Hours instead shows loving siblings, relatives and friends negotiating differences the best that they can.
 
 August 24, 2017
 
 Eric Hynes
 Stop Smiling
 Olivier Assayas’s new meditation on French domestic life, the wisely ironic Summer Hours, begins with children’s games and ends with adolescent partying and pairing off — that is, the real business of life
 
 March 17, 2015
 
 Stuart Klawans
 The Nation
 Has the feel, if not the look, of an old man’s film, a meditation on the passing of time.
 
 August 26, 2011
 
 Kelly Vance
 East Bay Express…

 

Plot
After their mother’s passing, three siblings must come to an agreement on what to do with her valuable art collection while also grappling with their own mortality in Olivier Assayas’ contemplative family drama, Summer Hours.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Juliette Binoche in the role of Adrienne.
 

 
Olivier-Assayas.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)

 
Distributor
NA
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
The Prince – 3198 W 7th St, Los Angeles, California, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for language and some sexual content
 
Year of Release
2006
 

 
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
 
Keyword(s)
Thank You For Smoking, Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, Comedy, Drama, Jason Reitman, David Sacks, Christopher Buckley, R, Box Office, Budget, Reviewed by Stephanie Zacharek, Mark Kermode, Jessica Winter, Dan Jolin, Paul Arendt, David Edelstein, Richard Propes, David Lamble, Micheal Compton, Gabe Leibowitz, Fernando F Croce, Satire, Lobbyist, Big Tobacco, Anti-Smoking Campaign, Sharp Satire, Witty, Cynical Script, Brilliantly Smarmy Lead Performance, Dolby SRD, Scope (2.35:1), Loaded with Delightfully Unscrupulous Characters, Liberal Senator, Lobbying, Public Relations, Amoral, Caustic Comedy, Smart, Funny, Sneaky, Subtle
 

Cast & Crew

Aaron Eckhart

Maria Bello

Cameron Bright

Adam Brody

Sam Elliott

Nick Naylor

Polly Bailey

Joey Naylor

Jack

Lorne Lutch

Aaron Eckhart – Nick Naylor
Maria Bello – Polly Bailey
Cameron Bright – Joey Naylor
Adam Brody – Jack
Sam Elliott – Lorne Lutch
Katie Holmes – Heather Holloway
Director – Jason Reitman
Producer – David Sacks
Writer – Jason Reitman

 

Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman

David Sacks

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Jason Reitman
 
Writer(s)
Jason Reitman
 
Producer(s)
David Sacks

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
12 wins & 32 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Stephanie Zacharek

Mark Kermode

Jessica Winter

Dan Jolin

Paul Arendt

Salon.com

Guardian

Time Out

Empire Magazine

BBC.com

THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
 All Critics (180) | Top Critics (52) | Fresh (155) | Rotten (25)
 The picture is obviously a satire, but it has no sharpness, no sense of daring.
 
 October 7, 2006
 
 Stephanie Zacharek
 Salon.com
 TOP CRITIC
 There’s enough bite in the dialogue and performances to provoke a hacking cough of approval, and the laugh-out-loud moments are many, not least in scenes featuring Rob Lowe’s unctuous Hollywood agent.
 
 June 24, 2006
 
 Mark Kermode
 Guardian
 TOP CRITIC
 Aiming at all targets and hitting none of them, the movie is as harmless and inconsequential as a candy cigarette.
 
 June 24, 2006
 
 Jessica Winter
 Time Out
 TOP CRITIC
 Structural scrappiness aside, it remains a laudably amoral and superbly caustic comedy for those who like their satire strong and unfiltered.
 
 June 24, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Dan Jolin
 Empire Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 As a clear-eyed dissection of the dirty business of public relations, where “if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong”, it is pretty much peerless.
 
 May 23, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Paul Arendt
 BBC.com
 TOP CRITIC
 Even the good lines here last a self-congratulatory beat too long.
 
 May 12, 2006
 
 David Edelstein
 New York Magazine/Vulture
 TOP CRITIC
 A hilarious, insightful, honest, and endearing film.
 
 September 26, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
 
 Richard Propes
 TheIndependentCritic.com
 A nifty supporting cast delivers the savage hand-grenade, quality one-liners with a ferocious believability.
 
 May 11, 2020
 
 David Lamble
 Bay Area Reporter
 A razor-sharp satire that’s smart and funny and features a great performance by Aaron Eckhart.
 
 November 20, 2019 | Rating: A-
 
 Micheal Compton
 Bowling Green Daily News
 Thank You For Smoking gets much of its juice from a superb Aaron Eckhart as Nick Naylor.
 
 September 19, 2009 | Rating: 60/100
 
 Gabe Leibowitz
 Film and Felt
 The joke fizzles
 
 August 30, 2009
 
 Fernando F. Croce
 CinePassion
 Thank You For Smoking is an elegant satire, sneaky and subtle…
 
 February 28, 2008 | Rating: 7/10
 
 Brandon Fibbs
 BrandonFibbs.com…

 

Plot
The chief spokesperson and lobbyist Nick Naylor is the Vice President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies. He is talented in speaking and spins arguments to defend the cigarette industry in the most difficult situations. His best friends are Polly Bailey that works in the Moderation Council in alcohol business, and Bobby Jay Bliss of the gun business own advisory group SAFETY. They frequently meet each other in a bar and they self-title the M.O.D. Squad, a.k.a. Merchants of Death, disputing which industry has killed more people. Nick’s greatest enemy is Vermont’s Senator Ortolan Finistirre, who defends in the Senate the use of a skull and crossbones on cigarette packs. Nick’s son Joey Naylor lives with his mother, and has the chance to know his father in a business trip. When the ambitious reporter Heather Holloway betrays Nick disclosing confidences he had in bed with her, his life turns upside-down. But Nick is good in what he does for the mortgage.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features a “brilliantly smarmy lead performance” from Aaron Eckhart.
 

 
Jason-Reitman.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Break Thru Films,
 
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)

 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for disturbing war images and brief language
 
Year of Release
2006
 

 
Genre(s)
Documentary/War
 
Keyword(s)
documentary, war, military-industrial complex, defense spending, foreign policy, United States, combat, veterans, Iraq War, Vietnam War, military experts, journalists, Eisenhower, politics, capitalism, democracy, anti-war, left-leaning, Gore Vidal, John McCain, Kenneth Adelman, Joseph Cirincione, Anh Duong, Gwynne Dyer, John S.D Eisenhower, Susan Eisenhower, Eugene Jarecki, Susannah Shipman, PG-13, $1.4M, Sony Pictures Classics, directed by Eugene Jarecki, written by Eugene Jarecki, produced by Eugene Jarecki and Susannah Shipman, reviewed by Roger Moore, Keith Phipps, Andrew O’Hehir, Richard Nilsen, Marc Savlov, Michael Booth, Richard Propes, David Lamble, Dorothy Woodend, Michael Joshua Rowin, Felix Vasquez Jr., Alex r, Alec B, Mark C
 

Cast & Crew

Kenneth Adelman

Joseph Cirincione

Anh Duong

Gwynne Dyer

John S.D. Eisenhower

Kenneth Adelman

Joseph Cirincione

Anh Duong

Gwynne Dyer

John S.D. Eisenhower

Kenneth Adelman – self
Joseph Cirincione – self
Anh Duong – self
Gwynne Dyer – self
John S.D. Eisenhower – self
Susan Eisenhower – self
Eugene Jarecki – director, producer, writer
Susannah Shipman – producer

 

Eugene Jarecki

Eugene Jarecki

Eugene Jarecki

Susannah Shipman

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Eugene Jarecki
 
Writer(s)
Eugene Jarecki
 
Producer(s)
Eugene Jarecki, Susannah Shipman

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 3 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Roger Moore

Keith Phipps

Andrew O’Hehir

Richard Nilsen

Marc Savlov

Orlando Sentinel

AV Club

Salon.com

Arizona Republic

Austin Chronicle

WHY WE FIGHT
 All Critics (115) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (90) | Rotten (25)
 May 13, 2009 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Roger Moore
 Orlando Sentinel
 TOP CRITIC
 Ultimately, Why We Fight reveals itself as yet another leftie doc with an anti-war agenda. But the mere fact that it takes time to ask questions and listen to opposing viewpoints sets it apart from the pack.
 
 November 27, 2006 | Rating: B
 
 Keith Phipps
 AV Club
 TOP CRITIC
 A film that stands out for its passion, ambition and clarion-call sincerity, even amid the contemporary onslaught of political documentaries.
 
 October 7, 2006
 
 Andrew O’Hehir
 Salon.com
 TOP CRITIC
 The fact is, Jon Stewart on The Daily Show uncovers this same hypocrisy every night, and does it in two minutes with irony and humor, while Why We Fight attempts it with outrage and scolding.
 
 March 30, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Richard Nilsen
 Arizona Republic
 TOP CRITIC
 … canny and somewhat overwhelming documentary …
 
 March 18, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/5
 
 Marc Savlov
 Austin Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 Eugene Jarecki’s Why We Fight takes on enough subjects to make five great documentaries, but as a result is so scattered that it doesn’t quite make for one good one.
 
 March 15, 2006 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Michael Booth
 Denver Post
 TOP CRITIC
 In the end, Jarecki dares to imply that, perhaps, it is because we fight that we will not survive.
 
 September 27, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
 
 Richard Propes
 TheIndependentCritic.com
 Unfortunately, Jarecki is unable to stick to material that supports his indictment of the entire thrust of American foreign policy since WWII. Instead, Why We Fight is devoted to a one-sided indictment…
 
 May 7, 2020
 
 David Lamble
 Bay Area Reporter
 If the director occasionally strays into bombast, . . .he still manages to make a strong case for war between democracy and capitalism, two systems conjoined in Western thought, but now terribly at odds.
 
 August 24, 2017
 
 Dorothy Woodend
 The Tyee (British Columbia)
 Left-leaning audiences will readily agree with it, but the lack of ideas on how to take on such an enormous enterprise as the military-industrial complex limits the film’s intrusion into reality.
 
 December 17, 2013
 
 Michael Joshua Rowin
 Stop Smiling
 Surely, Jarecki’s expose is an engrossing and startling documentary, but it never gives those who keep up with world events something they haven’t known for years.
 
 April 29, 2009
 
 Felix Vasquez Jr.
 Cinema Crazed
 Why We Fight is a shell-shock of a film.
 
 February 28, 2008 | Rating: 7/10
 
 Brandon Fibbs
 BrandonFibbs.com…

 

Plot
He may have been the ultimate icon of 1950s conformity and postwar complacency, but Dwight D. Eisenhower was an iconoclast, visionary, and the Cassandra of the New World Order. Upon departing his presidency, Eisenhower issued a stern, cogent warning about the burgeoning “military industrial complex,” foretelling with ominous clarity the state of the world in 2004 with its incestuous entanglement of political, corporate, and Defense Department interests.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film on Fresh Kernels.
 

 
Eugene-Jarecki.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Channel Four Films, Ci By 2000 Thin Man Films,
 
Distributor
NA
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
Golan Heights, Israel
 
MPAA / Certificate

 
Year of Release
2004
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Hiam Abbass, Makram J Khoury, Clara Khoury, Ashraf Barhom, Eyad Sheety, Evelyn Kaplun, directed by Eran Riklis, written by Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis, drama, $375.6K box office, Dolby Digital sound mix, reviewed by Jeff Strickler, Marjorie Baumgarten, Carrie Rickey, Ruthe Stein, Marta Barber, Kenneth Turan, Maria Garcia, Chris Hewitt, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Bob Strauss, political drama, soap opera, Druze bride-to-be, Israel, Syria, political unrest, wedding planning, family tensions, Golan Heights, cultural satire, personal impact of politics, Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis, Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt, MPAA rating
 

Cast & Crew

Hiam Abbass

Makram Khoury

Clara Khoury

Ashraf Barhom

Eyad Sheety

Amal

Hammed

Mona

Marwan

Hattem

Hiam Abbass – Amal
Makram Khoury – Hammed
Clara Khoury – Mona
Ashraf Barhom – Marwan
Eyad Sheety – Hattem
Evelyn Kaplun – Evelyna

 

Eran Riklis

Suha Arraf

Bettina Brokemper

Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre

Eran Riklis

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Eran Riklis
 
Writer(s)
Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis
 
Producer(s)
Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Eran Riklis, Michael Eckelt

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
8 wins & 15 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Jeff Strickler

Marjorie Baumgarten

Carrie Rickey

Ruthe Stein

Marta Barber

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Austin Chronicle

Philadelphia Inquirer

San Francisco Chronicle

Miami Herald

THE SYRIAN BRIDE
 All Critics (42) | Top Critics (26) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (6)
 Political dramas and soap operas don’t have much in common, which makes this hybrid as surprising as it is entertaining.
 
 June 22, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Jeff Strickler
 Minneapolis Star Tribune
 TOP CRITIC
 While the film’s depiction of bureaucratic frustrations and familial woe are universal, the characters themselves can be difficult to warm up to and often seem as arid as their surroundings.
 
 May 20, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Marjorie Baumgarten
 Austin Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 An engrossing absurdist comedy.
 
 May 19, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Carrie Rickey
 Philadelphia Inquirer
 TOP CRITIC
 A thoughtful and engaging film set in the turbulent Golan Heights.
 
 May 12, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Ruthe Stein
 San Francisco Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 This Israeli film gives us an honest look at situations we never see in the news. It may have too many flaws to be a good film, but for its content, it is a winner.
 
 April 21, 2006 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 Marta Barber
 Miami Herald
 TOP CRITIC
 It is written, directed and acted with real compassion and sympathy for the humanity of its characters, no matter who they are or on what side of these multiple issues they turn out to be.
 
 April 20, 2006 | Rating: 4.5/5
 
 Kenneth Turan
 Los Angeles Times
 TOP CRITIC
 The narrative remains on the surface, executed between the cliche and the predictable. [Full review in Spanish]
 
 July 20, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
 
 Yasser Medina
 Cinemaficionados
 Unrelentingly pedantic, it’s also utterly humorless.
 
 March 1, 2007
 
 Maria Garcia
 Film Journal International
 Riklis performs a delicate balancing act, juggling a half-dozen plotlines, each of which is made vivid by his terrific cast.
 
 June 22, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Chris Hewitt
 St. Paul Pioneer Press
 An extraordinary Israeli film that is unlike any other wedding film ever made!
 
 June 6, 2006 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
 Spirituality & Practice
 It’s a lovely little film that puts a big, big bite on some very large issues.
 
 April 21, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Bob Strauss
 Los Angeles Daily News
 As enjoyable a piece of cultural satire as any that’s come out of this highly troubled region.
 
 April 7, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Jules Brenner
 Cinema Signals…

 

Plot
A Druze bride-to-be faces political and familial obstacles when her father wants her to marry a Syrian comedian, potentially forcing her to leave her home on the border of Israel and Syria permanently, in the drama film “The Syrian Bride.”
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
The film stars Hiam Abbass, Makram Khoury, and Clara Khoury.
 

 
Eran-Riklis.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Jet Tone Production
 
Distributor
NA
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
New York City, New York, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
 
Year of Release
2004
 

 
Genre(s)
Documentary
 
Keyword(s)
documentary, Evelyn Glennie, percussionist, deaf, music, vibrations, tactile sensations, public performances, Grand Central Station, New York City, improvised album, abandoned factory, Berlin, Thomas Riedelsheimer, Stefan Tolz, Leslie Hills, Trevor Davies, box office, gross USA, $176.1K, English, genre, producer, director, written by, reviewed by, MPAA rating, critics, audience score, top critics, fresh, rotten, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Raven Snook, Steven Rea, Robert Denerstein, Michael Booth, Susan Walker, Dorothy Woodend, Chelsea Bain, Jonathan Kiefer, Christopher Null, Sean P Means, Tom Strini, audience reviews, horror movies, MCU movies, Netflix series, TV shows, streaming movies, trending on RT
 

Cast & Crew

Thomas Riedelsheimer

Stefan Tolz

Leslie Hills

Trevor Davies

Director

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director – Thomas Riedelsheimer
Producer – Stefan Tolz
Producer – Leslie Hills
Producer – Trevor Davies

 

Thomas Riedelsheimer

NA

NA

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Thomas Riedelsheimer
 
Writer(s)
NA
 
Producer(s)
NA

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
5 wins & 2 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Raven Snook

Steven Rea

Robert Denerstein

Michael Booth

Chicago Reader

Time Out

Philadelphia Inquirer

Denver Rocky Mountain News

Denver Post

TOUCH THE SOUND
 All Critics (51) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (45) | Rotten (6)
 [A] fascinating portrait.
 
 April 15, 2009
 
 Jonathan Rosenbaum
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 A coy yet worthy profile of celebrated Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie.
 
 June 24, 2006
 
 Raven Snook
 Time Out
 TOP CRITIC
 Touch the Sound is remarkable not only because of Glennie’s story — a clinically deaf Grammy-winning musician who has played with the world’s great orchestras — but for the way Riedelsheimer uses sound.
 
 December 8, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Steven Rea
 Philadelphia Inquirer
 TOP CRITIC
 The movie makes an interesting addition to what could become Riedelsheimer’s evolving and extraordinary gallery of movies that bring the creative process to life.
 
 December 2, 2005 | Rating: B+
 
 Robert Denerstein
 Denver Rocky Mountain News
 TOP CRITIC
 It will be frustrating if you expect narrative and linear development. But if you take it on as a new point of view, valuable even if you don’t completely comprehend it yet, Touch the Sound is worth the trip.
 
 December 2, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Michael Booth
 Denver Post
 TOP CRITIC
 Riedelsheimer gives the viewer not only Glennie’s music, but her own experience of it.
 
 November 28, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Susan Walker
 Toronto Star
 TOP CRITIC
 More than once, I found myself crying while watching Touch the Sound for no apparent reason, but then, beauty can do that to you.
 
 August 24, 2017
 
 Dorothy Woodend
 The Tyee (British Columbia)
 October 21, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Chelsea Bain
 Boston Herald
 Thomas Riedelsheimer’s portrait of deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie is an absolute masterwork, both of filmmaking and of musicianship.
 
 May 12, 2006 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Jonathan Kiefer
 Sacramento News & Review
 It doesn’t help when Glennie tries to elucidate her feelings about nature and music in holistic, broad strokes that border on nonsense.
 
 May 7, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Christopher Null
 Filmcritic.com
 A documentary that artfully blends sound, image and biography.
 
 January 13, 2006 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Sean P. Means
 Salt Lake Tribune
 Riedelsheimer sees Glennie as an angel of hyperawareness and possessor of special spiritual wisdom.
 
 December 31, 2005 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Tom Strini
 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel…

 

Plot
“Touch the Sound” is a documentary that follows Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie as she demonstrates her ability to play music using vibrations and other tactile sensations, despite being deaf. The film showcases her public performances and collaborative work on an improvised album in an abandoned factory in Berlin.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
The documentary follows Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie, who realized she was going deaf at the age of 8 and now plays music using vibrations and other tactile sensations.
 

 
Thomas-Riedelsheimer.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Twentieth Century Fox,
 
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Vietnam
 
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some language and a crude sexual reference
 
Year of Release
2004
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Damien Nguyen, Nick Nolte, Tim Roth, Bai Ling, Temuera Morrison, Dang Quoc Thinh Tran, Thi Kim Xuan Chau, directed by Hans Petter Moland, written by Sabina Murray, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by J.R Jones, Marjorie Baumgarten, Jason Anderson, Peter Howell, Terry Lawson, Desson Thomson, Cole Smithey, Kam Williams, Rex Roberts, Camerin Courtney, Rob Thomas, produced by Tomas Backström, Petter J Borgli, Terrence Malick, Edward R Pressman, MPAA rating R, Vietnamese, mixed race, journey, United States, American father, refugee, war, tragedy, emotions, social issues, human connections, physical touch, unconditional acceptance, familial love, human heart, Vietnam conflict, suspense, unexpected twists, visually stunning, moving film, finding your own place in the world, convenience, dramatic logic, lacking in three dimensional characters, harrowing vein
 

Cast & Crew

Damien Nguyen

Nick Nolte

Tim Roth

Bai Ling

Temuera Morrison

Binh

Steve

Captain Oh

Ling

Snakehead

Damien Nguyen – Binh
Nick Nolte – Steve
Tim Roth – Captain Oh
Bai Ling – Ling
Temuera Morrison – Snakehead
Dang Quoc Thinh Tran – Tam
Director – Hans Petter Moland
Producers – Tomas Backström, Petter J. Borgli, Terrence Malick, Edward R. Pressman
Writer – Sabina Murray

 

Hans Petter Moland

Sabina Murray

Tomas Backström

Petter J. Borgli

Terrence Malick

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Hans Petter Moland
 
Writer(s)
Sabina Murray
 
Producer(s)
Tomas Backström, Petter J. Borgli, Terrence Malick, Edward R. Pressman

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 5 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

J. R. Jones

Marjorie Baumgarten

Jason Anderson

Peter Howell

Terry Lawson

Chicago Reader

Austin Chronicle

Globe and Mail

Toronto Star

Detroit Free Press

THE BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY
 All Critics (76) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (17)
 Its epic tale of two cultures tragically entwined is anchored by deep and elemental emotions.
 
 April 12, 2010
 
 J. R. Jones
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 The Beautiful Country provides a panorama without insight.
 
 August 7, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/5
 
 Marjorie Baumgarten
 Austin Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 Conditions for the characters may be bleak, but their perseverance makes the story compelling.
 
 August 5, 2005 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 Jason Anderson
 Globe and Mail
 TOP CRITIC
 [A] graceful and yet harrowing drama.
 
 August 5, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Peter Howell
 Toronto Star
 TOP CRITIC
 A poignant and affecting portrait of the war’s lingering consequences.
 
 August 5, 2005 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Terry Lawson
 Detroit Free Press
 TOP CRITIC
 At times, the movie feels like a manufactured Asian Chocolat, which drives the label ‘art house movie’ even further into mainstream banality.
 
 August 4, 2005
 
 Desson Thomson
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 This haunting film casts a wide swath that veers between obvious cliches and intensely visceral truths.
 
 April 16, 2009 | Rating: B
 
 Cole Smithey
 ColeSmithey.com
 Worthwhile as an informative and touching reminder of the existence of a forgotten set of innocent victims of the Vietnam conflict.
 
 May 7, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Kam Williams
 Upstage Magazine
 An ambitious movie made on a modest budget, its intention is better than its execution.
 
 February 22, 2007
 
 Rex Roberts
 Film Journal International
 The most stunning beauty comes in human connections, physical touch, unconditional acceptance, familial love – in the treacherous and tender terrain of the human heart.
 
 September 8, 2006 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Camerin Courtney
 Christianity Today
 “The Beautiful Country” touches on many thorny social issues about the way the world works, but it’s ultimately Binh’s story, a truthful and heartening one.
 
 November 10, 2005 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Rob Thomas
 Capital Times (Madison, WI)
 Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland’s ambitious but bleak social problem film is compelling but never fully satisfies in its clumsy dramatics.
 
 August 28, 2005 | Rating: B-
 
 Dennis Schwartz
 Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews…

 

Plot
One of the consequences of the U.S.-Viet Nam war was the children of G.I.s by their Viet Namese wives and lovers. For years, women who were involved with U.S. soldiers were social outcasts, treated as collaborators while their children, even when living with grandparents, endured taunts and abuse. This is the story of one such child, Binh, being forced from his village at seventeen years, going to Saigon to find his mother, then trying to escape to the U.S. with his much younger half-brother, Tam, in 1990. The film lingers on the rigors of the voyage: the sampan, the Malaysian detention camps, the illegal refugee ship, and the underground economy with near-slavery in New York City. It then opens up when Binh leaves New York for Houston to find his father.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Nick Nolte stars in The Beautiful Country as Binh’s American father.
 

 
Hans-Petter-Moland.jpg