http://www.nypress.com/blogs-1-1-1-2.html Özer Kiziltan’s Takva: A Man’s Fear of God (2006) would be a predictable and poorly executed theological complication on a stock plot had it continued beyond its heavy-handed ending. It relies on a fairly simple connect-the-dots plot: Muaharrem, (Erkan Can) a pious Muslim, is asked to become the debt collector for an Islamic community in Turkey. As a result, he has nightmarish wet dreams—one involving a clown and a butcher and a]]> Like any documentary, Nimrod Erez’s 2012: Science or Superstition is only as interesting as its subject and talking heads. Half the battle for the film was won by its choice of topic—separating and tying together myths and facts regarding the veracity of claims that the world will end on December 21, 2012—and experts. The film’s presentation however leaves a lot to be desired. At no point does Erez really put the screws to]]> Now out on DVD, The Grocer's Son is a low-key character study with pretty French people cavorting amid pretty scenery. Unfortunately, the character being studied is hardly worth the effort. The title character, Antoine (Nicolas Cazalé), returns to his family's grocery business after a decade in the big city not because his father has been hospitalized and his mother needs his help, but to impress his neighbor Claire (Clotilde Hesme) with a]]> Yes, females can have orgasms too—at least, that’s the premise of Passion & Power: The Technology of Orgasm by filmmakers Wendy Slick and Emiko Omori, now out on DVD.  The film accurately and chronologically details how vibrators were invented and the history of their rise to glory, to taboo, to sexual revolution, to today.  The filmmakers weave in and out of interviews with a number of sexual pioneers like the famous masturbator Bett]]> Seems the rumors are true that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are indeed going to play Thomson and Thompson in the big Hollywood version of Belgian comic Tintin. We had lost faith in Pegg after seeing his starring role in the utterly miserable Run Fatboy Run. But then we received our copies of the Brit sitcom Spaced where he got his start. Now we're sure it's all David Schwimmer's fault that Pegg totally blew as the titular fatboy. If you haven't seen]]> The bloggers over at Vulture must have drunk the Kool-Aid. Or maybe they just LOVE Andrew Stanton. But their not-so-hidden agenda to stump for Wall-E's Oscar nom is getting the best of their senses. Lane Brown has been closely following Wall-E's Oscar future for some time. Then it started getting heated when Jessica Coen became annoyed at EW's Dave Karger for not predicting a nomination. Then it somehow morphed into the hottest film story of the ]]> If you didn't see the Public's production of Mother Courage last year in Central Park, John Walter's Theater of War (screening until Jan. 6 at Film Forum) will take you back to that electric performance by Meryl Streep in Brecht's classic work about politics, war and the choices one makes when under pressure. John P. McCarthy calls it a "a crash course in Marxist theory, the genesis and import of Mother Courage, and the life of playwright Be]]> The collective of filmmakers and film lovers who have been meeting every first Sunday now takes their bag of tricks to the 92YTribeca on the first Saturday of the month beginning Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. The fest is named after the 1925 "Fatty" Arbuckle flick that features Buster Keaton as an Indian. Expect an eclectic bunch of film shorts this Saturday,  More info here.]]> Yesterday we received a DVD screener of the first few episodes of United States of Tara, the new Showtime drama that stars Toni Collete as a woman living, unmedicated, with multiple personalities. It's a bizarre premise on the surface, and the biggest question seems to be: Is this gonna be depressing or funny? I mean, if you've seen Sally Field's portrayal of a woman suffering from the disorder in the 1976 TV movie Sybil, you know this reality ca]]> The Alliance of Women Film Journalists like to get a little opinionated when it comes to their annual EDA Awards. This year, they gave their top honor of Best Film to Slumdog Millionaire and Best Director to Danny Boyle. And Kate Winslet (The Reader and Revolutionary Road) and Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky) tie for Best Actress. OK, got it.  But then we get Actress Most in Need Of A New Agent: Kate Hudson. And we can understand the ambiva]]> The U.K.'s Sun is reporting that Eddie Murphy will play The Riddler in the upcoming Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman flick. Our critic Armond White may be the only person to believe the 47-year-old comedian—better known these days for his ability to master fat suits and make acceptable fart jokes for the family-friendly crowd—would actually be a welcome addition to the popular franchise (read White's review of Dark Knight here). It sou]]> I'm still surprised at how few people are familiar with Derek Jarman's films. While other eccentric, avant-garde filmmakers, such as Pasolini, seem to gain more attention and accolades as time passes, Jarman's reputation has withered in some fashion. His longtime collaborator, the actress Tilda Swinton, has recently risen to Hollywood success in some respects. And she seems to be using her newfound power for good: By appearing in the Isaac Julien]]> Is Disney planning a new effort to indoctrinate the youth of America? Or is TCM (previously known as Turner Classic Movies, Ted Turner's way of airing his uber collection of archived films) soon going to be bought up by Disney? It's the question that arises when watching the made-for-TV doc The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics, which will premiere tonight on TCM and starts a month-long orgy of Disney films—Swiss Family Robi]]> Whether you’re undersexed, oversexed or fit snugly into your own category, it’s always worth knowing more about doing the dirty. You can discover what you’re missing, learn something new or just have a giggle at all that jiggling. That’s what CineKink NYC is all about.--- The sixth annual traveling film festival will touch down in the city Feb. 24 through March 1 of next year and will be showcasing a series of short fi]]> Critics have been falling all over themselves to worship Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy, starring Michelle Williams. What no one is saying is that Wendy is possibly the dumbest lead character ever captured on film and the whole film is filled with plot holes. Just how irritating can one 80-minute film be? Let’s count the ways (spoilers follow).---1). She drives from Indiana to Alaska with her dog, Lucy. Considering how often we see ]]> Milk's award-season wins begins with the New York Film Critics awarding it Best Film. Sean Penn also won Best Actor, Josh Brolin supporting (maybe because he didn't quite make it as George W. Bush?) for the film. Mike Leigh was shown some love for Happy-Go-Lucky and everyone's favorite depressing abortion film, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, was also recognized as Best Foreign Film. The Circle’s awards ceremony takes place at Strata Janua]]> Directed by Yen TanNow playing at Landmark SunshineThe acting is wooden, the camera remains stubbornly static, and nothing much happens in Ciao, but the overall effect remains with you for days afterward. Any American gay movie that eschews perfect bodies and steamy sex for a character-driven talkfest is worth a look.The opening sequence certainly doesn't inspire much faith in what's to come. Two men named Andrea (Alessandro Calza) and Jeff (Ada]]> Rev. Billy, the comic preacher/activist who rails publicly against the evils of gentrification—and especially of consumerism—is in the process of promoting (of all things) a holiday movie release. He’s re-releasing his Christmas DVD, What Would Jesus Buy, a familiar but ever-prescient diatribe against holiday materialism. In the movie, Billy takes his show on the road, to places where he might have better luck raising eyebrows ]]> Get ready this Oscar-bait season: Defiance, Valkyrie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Reader, Adam Resurrected and Good, they're all Holocaust films. Stuart Klawans, film critic for The Nation, writes at Nextbook that although he's a proud Jew, he's tired of the glut of Holocaust films. We certainly understand the sentiment. It often feels that every Holocaust story possible is being re-told—bigger box office loot possibilities?—]]> If your blood is pumping because of the changes spreading like wildfire across Brooklyn (or you’re one of the culprits hiding in shame), the Brooklyn Historical Society and the Brooklyn Film & Arts Festival have teamed up to help channel those emotions.---  “Observing Brooklyn; Encountering Change,” the second installment in a documentary series, is a collection of films, each offering a unique perspective on the vast socia]]>