czech dream Tagged Articles at Cinematical

My pick of the week comes from Brazil: Antonia. Directed by Tata Amaral, Antonia is an engaging, low-key pleasure about four women that live in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood in São Paolo but have dreams of fame and fortune. As I've written before, "the beauty of Antonia is its down-to-earth nature. These women are not super-heroines, nor do they expect any special treatment just because they can sing like angels. They just want a fair shake." The DVD includes a behind the scenes feature and a music video.

From the Eastern European front, both Czech Dream and The Way I Spent the End of the World have received good critical notices. Czech Dream is perhaps best described as a subversive, activist documentary look at the dangers of rampant consumerism, while End of the World is a "tragic-comic coming-of-age tale." DVD details on both titles are scarce.

An early, entirely distasteful scene in Drama/Mex soured me on the film, yet others have been won over by its stylish excess and primal urgency in telling three related stories in a seaside town. DVD details are not available. Cinematical's Jette Kernion called The Girl Next Door "nightmare-inducing," and not in a good way; it's a family drama set in the 1950s featuring physical torture. The DVD includes two audio commentaries, interviews with the cast and crew, and a "making of" feature.

Ryan Stewart had many things to say about The Hottest State, none of them good, so you may want to check out his review before renting this drama featuring Laura Linney and directed by Ethan Hawke. The DVD includes a commentary with Hawke and the crew and a short film by Hawke. The latest version of Lady Chatterley generated highly enthusiastic early reviews, which did not impress Nick Schager, who said the film "shouldn't be associated with the term 'cinematic' in almost any way, shape or form." The DVD includes trailers and a photo gallery.

Hart Sharp Video, the company that distributed Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me on DVD, has signed a deal for a long-term relationship with the director. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Spurlock and Hart Sharp will distribute documentaries with "distinct social relevance and importance to society and the world today" under the new "Morgan Spurlock Presents ... " banner. While some of the films will have received theatrical distribution prior to the DVD release, others will get their first non-festival exposure via Morgan Spurlock Presents ... , including Czech Dream, a fascinating-sounding, very well-reviewed documentary about the "influence of Western consumerism on Czech society" that has, until now, only been seen in the US at a handful of festivals. The other release already planned for the distributor is The Future of Food, a doc about the hazards of genetically modified food that received a limited theatrical release in this country.

If you disagree with Spurlock's politics or views, obviously, you don't need to see the movies, but it's hard to come up with any real reason not to support this new partnership, particularly if it gives us a chance to see excellent, under-exposed works like Czech Dream. Personally, I can't wait to see what's next on their list.