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 4.
Sun Aug 17 – MONGOL – 2 hrs 4 min – R –
In Mongolian with English subtitles.
Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov
(Prisoner of the Mountains) illuminates the life
and legend of Genghis Khan in this stunning
historical epic. Based on leading scholarly
accounts, “Mongol” delves into the dramatic and
harrowing early years of the ruler who was born
as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from
his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed
his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional
portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him
as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader.
Filmed in the very lands that gave birth to
Genghis Khan, “Mongol” transports us back to a
distant and exotic period in world history, to a
nomad's landscape of endless space, climatic
extremes and ever-present danger. The film
shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and
the foundation on which so much of his greatness
rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte,
his lifelong love and most trusted advisor.
Masterfully blending action and emotion, Bodrov
delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of
survival and triumph, and a love story for the
ages. “3 1/2 Stars. Quality escapism: an exotic
saga that compels, moves and envelopes us with
its grand and captivating story.” –Claudia Puig,
USA Today.
 5.
Sun Aug 24 – JELLYFISH – 1 hr 18 min –
Not Rated – In Hebrew and French with English
subtitles. Winner of the Camera d'Or at the 2007
Cannes Film Festival, Jellyfish tells the story
of three very different Tel Aviv women whose
intersecting stories weave an unusual and
fascinating portrait of modern Israeli life.
Batya, a catering waitress, takes in a child
apparently abandoned at a local beach. Batya is
one of the servers at the wedding reception of
Keren, a bride who breaks her leg escaping a
locked toilet stall, ruining her chance at a
dream Caribbean honeymoon. And attending the
event with an employer is Joy, a
non-Hebrew-speaking domestic worker who has
guiltily left her son behind in her native
Philippines. As these three women separately
wend their way through Israel's most
cosmopolitan city, they struggle with issues of
communication, affection, and destiny--but at
times find uneasy refuge in its tranquil seas.
“B+. Marvelously inventive, often-ironic Israeli
storyteller Etgar Keret and his wife, Shira
Geffen, spin in Jellyfish a dreamy, arty,
alluringly cockeyed tale.” –Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly. “Yes, Jellyfish says,
it's a wonderful life, not in that old-fashioned
style we've perhaps tired of but in a surprising
new and magical way all its own.” –Kenneth Turan,
L.A. Times.
 6.
Fri, Sat & Sun Aug 29-31 – THE FALL – 1
hr 57 min – R. In Los Angeles, 1915, a little
immigrant girl finds herself in a hospital
recovering from a fall. She strikes up a
friendship with a bedridden man, who captivates
her with a whimsical story that removes her far
from the hospital doldrums into the exotic
landscapes of her imagination. Making sure he
keeps the girl interested in the story, he
interweaves her family and people she likes from
the hospital into his tale. Award-winning music
video, commercial and film director Tarsem Singh
(The Cell) creates one of the year’s most
imaginative films, a visually sumptuous fantasy
world of exotic bandits, evil tyrants,
dream-like palaces and breathtaking landscapes.
Shot on location in 28 countries around the
world, The Fall stars Golden Globe nominated
actor Lee Pace (Pushing Daisies, Miss
Pettigrew Lives for a Day) and Justine
Waddell (Mansfield Park, Chaos) and
features a breakthrough performance by
first-time Romanian child actress Catinca Untaru.
“4 Stars! (Highest Rating!) Tarsem's The
Fall is a mad folly, an extravagant visual orgy,
a free-fall from reality into uncharted realms.”
–Roger Ebert. “3 1/2 Stars. Dazzling and
delirious, The Fall is a celebration of cinema,
of old-fashioned storytelling and globe-hopping
spectacle.” –Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer.
 7.
Sat & Sun Sep 6 & 7 – THE VISITOR – 1 hr
43 min – PG-13. In filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s
follow-up to his award winning directorial debut
The Station Agent, Richard Jenkins (Six
Feet Under) stars as a disillusioned
Connecticut economics professor whose life is
transformed by a chance encounter in New York
City. It all starts when Walter finds someone
has been sleeping in his bed. His reluctant
gesture of kindness leads to a series of
unlikely events involving friendships, drumming
and romance. It’s through these new found
connections with virtual strangers that Walter
is awakened to a new world and a new life. “3
1/2 Stars. A heartfelt human drama that sneaks
up and floors you.” –Peter Travers, Rolling
Stone. “3 1/2 Stars. It is one of the year's
most intriguing dramas, with a quartet of
powerful performances. –Claudia Puig, USA Today.
“3 1/2 Stars. Best movie I've seen so far this
year? Hands down, it's Tom McCarthy's superb
The Visitor, which turns Richard Jenkins,
one of the best character actors in the
business, into a full-fledged star.” –Lou
Lumenick, N.Y. Post.
 8.
Fri, Sat & Sun Sep 12-14 – ENCOUNTERS AT THE
END OF THE WORLD – 1 hr 39 min – G. Werner
Herzog (Grizzly Man, Rescue Dawn)
confirms his standing as poet laureate of men in
extreme situations with Encounters at the End
of the World. In this visually stunning
exploration, Herzog travels to the Antarctic
community of McMurdo Station, headquarters of
the National Science Foundation and home to
eleven hundred people during the summer
(Oct-Feb). Over the course of his journey,
Herzog examines human nature and Mother Nature,
juxtaposing breathtaking locations with the
profound, surreal, and sometimes absurd
experiences of the marine biologists,
physicists, plumbers, and truck drivers who
choose to form a society as far away from
society as one can get. “It’s one of the best
documentaries of the year, no doubt about it.”
–Richard Roeper, Ebert and Roeper. “A.
(Highest Rating!) Herzog wants us to see how
these quirky researchers, in their lust to
explore, are acting out a drive as primitive as
nature: the need to break away from the world in
order to find it.” –Owen Gleiberman,
Entertainment Weekly.
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