Crooked reporter Danny DeVito and vice cop Kevin Spacey set up sensational stories for a Los Angeles scandal sheet in the 50s and become enmeshed in the investigation of a multiple murder.
more...
Once again Steve Martin seems trapped in an uneasy compromise between the free-form goofiness of his early features (The Jerk, The Man With Two Brains) and a more conventional romantic picture with a coherent story line.
more...
Howie's mother has died in an accident on the Long Island Expressway—a stretch of highway that runs through this realist fairy tale without much enhancing its meaning—and his father, who's distracted by a new sexual relationship, is implicated in a criminal investigation.
more...
The title of Bertrand Tavernier's well-turned 146-minute French thriller refers to the article from the French Code of Public Health that forbids “all offenses linked to the possession, traffic, and consumption of narcotics.” Cowritten by former narcotics officer Michel Alexandre, this 1992 film takes a realistic approach, following the everyday routines and bureaucratic frustrations of a Parisian narc (well played by Didier Bezace).
more...
The program of six shorts includes Alain-Paul Mallard's L'origine de la tendresse; One Voice, One Vote by Jeanne Paturle and Cecile Rousset; and Olivier Bourbeillon's The Last Day.
more...
50s rocker Ritchie Valens, ill-fated flight companion of Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper, is the subject of this pop biopic cum consciousness raiser by Latino-crossover specialist Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit).
more...
Jean Renoir's first sound feature (1931) and one of his best, about a bored banker (Michel Simon) who becomes hopelessly smitten with a prostitute (Janie Mareze).
more...
Miami director Lisandro Perez-Rey presents a lively portrait of the Cuban hip-hop collective Fabri-K (the factory) while providing a broader view of the genre's ascendance from forbidden activity to state-embraced art form.
more...
Marcos Zurinaga directed this 1987 tale of love, betrayal, and espionage, set on the eve of Puerto Rico's transformation into an American commonwealth in 1942.
more...
Sebastian Bednarik directed this 2007 documentary about a group of veteran musicians and dancers who reunite to perform a murga, a traditional Uruguayan theater piece.
more...
This Colombian mean-streets drama suffers from a rather jumbled script, but it's rescued by its easy authenticity and Luis Carlos Guevara's magnetic lead performance.
more...
Fred Halsted directed and stars in this famous gay-porn film (1972), which is both referenced and excerpted in Thom Andersen's recent documentary Los Angeles Plays Itself.
more...