Top 20 Summer Preview: 10-1

The Gist: This looks at the medical establishment and the U.S. healthcare system and sees how patients are not saved because insurance companies choose not to incur the costs.

Fact: Moore brought American patients down to Cuba for some healing. Major faux-pas in the eyes of the government.

See It: Moore once again shows why the U.S and A is hemorrhaging internally.

9. Severance

The Gist: Working nine to five is a real killer, but teambuilding holidays can sometimes be even worse. A coach lurches out of the hustle and bustle of Budapest and heads towards the mountainous border.

Fact: Christopher Smith last directed Creep.

See It: IONCINEMA’s horror aficionado Jameson Kowalczyk says if you are into blood , this is the must see of the summer.

8. Lights in the Dusk

The Gist: Where the trilogy´s first film was about unemployment and the second about homelessness, the theme of Lights in the Dusk is loneliness. Like Chaplin´s little tramp, the protagonist, a man named Koistinen, searches the hard world for a small crack through which he could crawl in

Fact: This concludes the trilogy that started with Drifting Clouds (Kauas pilvet karkaavat, 1996) and continued with The Man Without a Past (Mies vailla menneisyyttä, 2002).insert

See It: If you are into Scandinavian noir humor – you’ve come to the right place with Aki Kaurismäki.

7. Manufactured Landscapes

The Gist: This doc focuses on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky makes large-scale photographs of ‘manufactured landscapes’ – quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams. He photographs civilization’s materials and debris, but in a way people describe as “stunning” or “beautiful,” and so raises all kinds of questions about ethics and aesthetics without trying to easily answer them.insert

Fact: Director Jennifer Baichwal has picked up more than one festival award.

See It: You’ll be floored by the opening traveling shot alone – will remain with you way after the theatre lights go on.

6. Rescue Dawn

The Gist: In the annals of history’s great escapes there is no other story like that of Dieter Dengler, the only American to ever break out of a POW camp in the impenetrable Laotian jungle.

Fact: Was pushed back from 06’ into 07’ – it wasn’t a company looking to dump a title, but instead producers woes were the issue.

See It: Werner Herzog is one of the rare filmmakers who has produced many gems in both the narrative and doc format.

5. A Mighty Heart

The Gist: Based on the book “A Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl” by Mariane Pearl and Sarah Crichton, this commences on January 23, 2002, where Mariane Pearl’s world changed forever.

Fact: At one point there were two Pearl projects in development – this one got the fast track.

See It: Michael Winterbottom is a flexible filmmaker who touches many terrains – expect some great guerilla-style photography.

4. Lady Chatterley

The Gist: Constance Reid is twenty-three years old when she marries Clifford Chatterley, a dashing Lieutenant in the British army. It is 1917. Their honeymoon is short lived. Clifford goes to fight on the Flanders battle front from which he returns a broken man. After two years of medical treatment, Sir Clifford is considered completely healed.

Fact: Pascale Ferran’s film has picked up many kudos among Euro audiences.

See It: Marina Hands delivers a top-notch performance.

3. Death at a Funeral  

The Gist: Based on a screenplay by Dean Craig, “Funeral” revolves around a dysfunctional British family as they gather to mourn the passing of their patriarch. But a sober, heartfelt goodbye turns into calamity.

Fact: Picked up a recent audience at comedy festival.

See It: Frank Oz’s comedy has been receiving a great buzz – audiences that loved The Full Monty might want to check this out. 

2. 12:08 East of Bucharest

The Gist: The whole country watched live on television as angry crowds forced Romanian dictator Ceausescu to flee Bucharest by helicopter. In a quiet town east of the capital, sixteen years since this historic day, the owner of the local TV station invites two guests to share their moments of revolutionary glory.

Fact: Was a winner at last year’s Cannes film festival.

See It: Audiences flocked to see Goodbye Lenin – this one deliciously details the difficult transition of eastern europe.

1. Eagle vs. Shark