I absolutely love independent films and I've had the pleasure of seeing three recently. Two were very good: "Goodbye Lenin" and "Bon Voyage." The other one was so-so. Has anyone got something to contribute to this?

Hugs,
Ciara

"Young Adam" was interesting, like Mike Leigh's "Naked" made in 1950's Scotland.  Ewan McGregor was believable and properly understated, Tilda Swinton was magnetic, and Emily Mortimer ("Lovely and Amazing") was radiant.  Interesting tale of immorality.

"Twilight Samurai"...thought provoking and magical.

"La Vie Promise"...so-so.  Film school kid decided to make a paen to Isabelle Huppert.  Hey, I would too, but it wasn't a great movie.

"Monsieur Ibraham"...if it is still playing in Phoenix, see it at all cost.  Great movie.

Some great movies opening this weekend.  "A Slipping Down Life", with one of my favorites, Lili Taylor (will never forget her in "Say Anything") and the underrated Guy Pearce (see him in "Till Human Voices Wake Us" on video)..."Strayed", anther psychosexual thriller by Andre Techine with Emmanuelle Beart about France in 1940, and "Zero Day", a VERY disturbing movie like a home movie of two boys doing a Columbine scenario.

As for the two you saw, haven't seen them, but heard "Goodbye Lenin" was quite good, and "Bon Voyage" looked interesting, if a bit over the top.  Hard to go wrong with Depardieu, and it is always good to see Isabelle Adjani.

What was the third one you saw?

Rotten Tomatoes (see link) gives it an 88% Fresh rating.

Personally, I thought it was OK, but not great. (But what would you expect from somebody who loved "Bubba Ho-Tep." Which reminds me, the DVD for Bubba was supposed to be released on May 25. I have to go look for it.)

I haven't seen "Bon Voyage".

My favorite recent film was "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

I also liked "Super Size Me."

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but it was about a Jewish family dealing with the death of the father and their miserable life afterward. It was good but depressing. If I can remember it, I'll let you know.

Hugs,
Ciara

I enjoyed both of those CiCi, especially Bon Voyaage. Bon Voyage had a fantastic cast. Supersize me was very, very interesting. I come from a family of vegetarians and vegans, so we haven't eaten fast food in a long time. Perhaps that's why we were so disgusted with parts of it as well (the enormous amounts of meat eaten, the caloric intake, the amounts of fat, etc.) What surprised me the most was that people were laughing at parts of the movie. I didn't find it funny at all. I think you'll enjoy it. I'm Not Scared is a thriller type movie from Italy. It was GREAT! Try to see The Mayor of the Sunset Strip too. The ending is particularly sad.

Billy Jack,the Movie.

"I just go berserk"...

He's still around...the actor who played him ;that is, Tom Laughlin

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It's about a man and a woman in Hong Kong in 1962.  Their spouses are having an affair and they slowly discover it.  Their mutual discovery of their spouses' infidelity draws them to one another.  They are tempted to have an affair and -- who knows?  Perhaps they do. It is one of the most beautiful films I've ever seen and despite the fact that there is nothing even as explicit as a kiss, it is immensely sexy and HOT!!

The first one is Morvern Callar with Samantha Morton. A little depressing, but hugely satisfying. A young woman comes home on Christmas Eve to find that her live-in, author boyfriend has committed suicide and is dead on the kitchen floor. Rather than tell anyone about it (for various reasons) she continues her life, she doesn't know what else to do. There is this one part where she is getting ready to go out for a party and she keeps having to step over his dead body, very odd. Anyway, she ends up submitting the manuscript he wrote to a publisher and becomes a top selling author. It was a very dark, but amazing film. I highly recommend.

The second one that I loved recently is called My Life Without Me. It stars Mark Ruffalo and Polly Walker. She is a young mother of 2 who married her high school sweetheart. They live in a trailer in her mother's back yard. They are poor, but they love each other very much. She begins to have some intense physcial pain and finally goes to the hospital where the doctor tells her that she has like 2 months to live, ovarian cancer, there is nothing they can do. She doesn't tell anyone about it and proceeds to make a list of the things she wants to do before she dies. The movie is about her attempt to do all the items on her list. This movie could have been very trite, sophomoric, and corny but thanks to the wonderful writing, directing, and undersated performances of the cast, ends up being a hugely courageous, uplifting and beautiful movie. Super thumbs up. See it!
Both of these films are currently out on DVD.

Rent Bubba Ho-Tep, find out the TRUTH about Elvis!