American writer/director Aaron Schock wanted to make a documentary about a traveling circus, but in the U.S. that kind of entertainment is a relic of a bygone era. So, he went to Mexico. The subject of Schock’s film, La Gran Circo de Mexico, is nowhere near as majestic as its name, consisting only of members […]
2010
AIFF Film Review: Mandrill and le Petit Dragon
Mandrill is a rollicking B-movie exploitation flick from Chile that gleefully references everything cool in espionage and action cinema, from James Bond to 1970s exploitation and kung fu movies. As a boy, Antonio Espinoza witnessed the murder of his parents by a ruthless gangland boss named Cyclops. Now a man, Antonio has adopted his own […]
AIFF Film Review: Wild Target and Banana Bread
by Kristen Sales Victor Maynard (Bill Nighy) comes from a family of assassins with a long legacy of deadeye pride. His mother (Eileen Atkins), who he has recently moved into a retirement home after living with her all his life, is none too pleased Victor has heretofore failed to produce an heir to continue the […]
RIFF Film Review: Womb
Director: Benedek Fliegauf 2010 Germany/Hungary/France Occasionally you watch a film where the thought of describing it later to someone feels impossible. Womb appears to be that film for me of 2010. Emerging Master Program, Focus on Benedek Fliegauf. The story is about a woman, Rebecca (Eva Green), and man, Tommy (Matt Smith), who meet as […]
RIFF Film Review: The Genius and the Boys
Nobel Prize winner. Genius scientist. Valued friend and co-worker. Pedophile. Carleton Gajdusek was regarded as all of the above. The final, that of a pedophile, would occur late in his stellar career after adopting 57 children from the tribes of the South Seas. In the documentary The Genius and the Boys director/screenwriter Bosse Lindquist, from […]
