CineFest/Philadelphia Film Festival Shorts

Week One Reviews (M-Z)

Following are reviews of movies premièring in the first week of the CineFest/Philadelphia Film Festival, March 26-April 1. Up to the day of the show, tickets may be purchased in person at TLA Video locations (11 a.m.-10 p.m.), by phone at 267-765-9700, ext. 4 (10 a.m.-9 p.m.), and online at phillyfests.com (up to 24 hours in advance). Same-day tickets are available only at the screening venue. Single-ticket prices are $9-$10; $7-$8 for matinees until 4 p.m.; and $7 for children 12 and under. Service fees may apply.

Denotes a movie recommended by City Paper critics.

Denotes a highly recommended movie.

Mississippi Damned | Mommy is at the Hairdresser's | The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone | No Boundaries | Not Quite Hollywood | Number One With a Bullet | Old Partner | One Day You'll Understand | The Other One | The Perfect Season | Phantom Punch | Plague Town | Revanche | Rumba | Saving Grace B. Jones | The Sea Wall | Stone of Destiny | Sugar | Wages of Spin | The Way We Get By

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Mississippi Damned

Tina Mabry's directorial debut follows two generations of a Mississippi family, jumping from 1986 to 1998, as the sins of a father are visited on a son. Centering around three sisters and their children and seen through the eyes of the young, beautiful Kari, as a child (Kylee Russell) and then as a young woman (Tessa Thompson), we watch as the cycle of abuse — physical, sexual and substance — repeats from generation to generation. Unlike similar films that are heavy on message and short on cash, Mississippi Damned is subtle and simple without feeling low-budget. Mabry has some problems fully fleshing out her many characters, although she's blessed with a strong ensemble. Still, her film is an auspicious debut from a director worth watching. —Molly Eichel (4/1, 9:15 p.m., RE; 4/4, noon, RE)

Mommy is at the Hairdresser's

Set in the summer of 1966 in idyllic, small-town Quebec — gorgeously depicted in warm, color-splashed shots of cornfields and print sundresses — the heartbreakingly tender Mommy is at the Hairdresser's is the rare film that captures the wonder and bewilderment of childhood without condescension or heavy-handed sentimentality. Fifteen-year-old Élise (the remarkable Marianne Fortier) begins to comprehend the fragility of her picture-perfect world: When her mother's abrupt departure shatters her family, she's torn between the impulse to care for her impish but troubled younger brothers (car-obsessed Coco and mildly autistic Benoit) and to flee her worries by partaking in hayloft kissing games and befriending a deaf, hermitlike fisherman. Like Élise — and like the period itself, conveyed through distant TV-news reports of escalation in Vietnam and a delightful soundtrack of mostly Francophone pop — the film lingers, almost breezily, on the threshold between innocence and its loss. —K. Ross Hoffman (3/27, 7 p.m., R5; 3/28, 2:30 p.m., R5; 3/29, 5 p.m., TB)

Written and starring cheesesteak impresario Tony Luke Jr., The Nail is a South Philly story, born and raised. Joey "The Nail" Nardone (Luke) was once a great boxer, so nicknamed because his punch packed such a wallop it could hammer a nail into a wall, but his career is ruined after he is incarcerated for a crime revealed halfway through the movie. After his release, Nardone mentors Jesus, his young Hispanic neighbor, teaching him to box so he can defend himself from bullies and his abusive dad. Not one for subtlety of message, Luke tries so desperately to make his redeemed main man likable that he becomes ridiculous. There are some bright spots, usually when Luke seems the most comfortable in the starring role, like when Joey and Jesus practice together or when Joey takes a hooker home, not for sex but because he just wanted someone to talk to. —Molly Eichel (3/27, 7:15 p.m., PMT; 3/29, 2:15 p.m., RE)

Beginning in South America and ending in our fair streets, No Boundaries follows Isabel (Dani Garza) across the border to Philadelphia and into the arms of Christopher (Mark McGraw, son of Tug). All is well at first: With the help of an immoral coyote, she hops into the States and meets up with her Philly-dwelling cousin and his amiable landlords. But then No Boundaries decides to be a complicated love story. Christopher is an ICE agent with his own skeletons in the closet, complicating his budding love affair with illegal Isabel. Stripped of its romantic plot threads, No Boundaries could have been a fascinating portrayal of a hard-working immigrant. Instead, it gets bogged down under its own sense of sentimentality. —Molly Eichel (3/29, 2 p.m., IH)

Not Quite Hollywood

A freewheeling, fast-paced doc that's almost as fun to watch (and often more so) as the wild and woolly films it spotlights, Mark Hartley's Not Quite Hollywood outlines the history of Ozploitation, the Down Under(ground) version of drive-thru cinema. Hartley packs the film with uncensored reminiscences from virtually all of the surviving key players of the era, peppered with typically effusive praise from Quentin Tarantino. Hartley divides the film by subgenre — sex films, horror, kung fu and the Outback gang films that culminated in Mad Max. Along the way, old grudges are aired, fingers are pointed, and everyone seems more than a little shocked at the fact that so few people died in the free-for-all atmosphere of those sets. Any self-respecting aficionado of rubber monsters and ridiculous explosions will find themselves dashing out of the theater and directly to Netflix. —Shaun Brady (3/28, 10 p.m., TB; 3/29, 9:30 p.m., R5)

Number One With a Bullet

Jim Dziura's commendably dispassionate doc examines the gun fetish inherent in gangsta rap, traversing the country for interviews with hip-hop superstars and wannabes, most of whom seem trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and glorification. With testimonials from Ice Cube, KRS-One and Mos Def, among others, Dziura compiles stories of violence in life and song from those who have lived it, sung about, overcome it or, in some cases, continue to suffer in it. The director's exhaustive eye captures the mixture of bravado and justification that pours fuel onto this volatile fire, but also finds analogues in the larger American gun culture and roots in the squalid conditions that spawned many of these artists and even more of their followers. While casting no explicit judgment on those who profit from or live by the gun, Dziura gradually reveals the very real human toll on its victims, resulting in a film that should be required viewing in many a Killadelphia school. —Shaun Brady (3/29, 9:30 p.m., PMT; 4/2, 4:45 p.m., PMT)

Old Partner

Elderly Korean farmer Won-kyun Choi has a mistress. She's also old, tired and hard-working, but she's got four legs. She's an ox. No, this isn't a not-safe-for-work reference, but to his wife, Sam-soon Lee, the betrayal is very real. Lee saunters in the fields, constantly rambling about how she's in this "wretched lot in life" because she met the wrong man, to which Choi always responds with, "Huh?" While the story's main focus is the relationship between Choi and his animal (who's been loyal to him for 40 years), the most interesting relationship is between Choi and Lee, two stoic farmhands who exemplify the ineffable frustrations of a long-term marriage. —Holly Otterbein (3/27, 5 p.m., IH; 4/2, 12:15 p.m., RE)

One Day You'll Understand

In Amos Gitai's somber, elegiac adaptation of Jérôme Clément's semi-autobiographical novel, Victor (Hippolyte Girardot) discovers his father's Aryan declaration while piecing together the family history. When Victor broaches the subject of the past with his mother, Rivka (Jeanne Moreau), she passive-aggressively refuses to answer. As this slow-going film unfolds, Victor uncovers the guilt, fear and shame of his family, and confronts long-repressed facts and memories. One Day You'll Understand may not culminate in a powerful climax, but Gitai still provokes emotion, most notably through the use of his endlessly swirling camera, which provides a measure of intimacy to the dense drama. Moreau is, as one expects, remarkable as Rivka, and Girardot plays his determined character with great feeling. Their performances elevate this fine, if enervating, film. —Gary M. Kramer (3/28, 7 p.m., RE; 3/29, 12:15 p.m., RE)

In the opening moments of this meditative French drama, Anne-Marie, a 47-year-old social worker, pauses in front of a bathroom mirror before administering a gruesome blow to her own head with a hammer. The subsequent narrative dissects the events leading up to her self-inflicted trauma. In a series of disjointed scenes, we learn of a failed love affair and the creeping jealousy and bitterness that begin to erode the protagonist's grip on reality. A meditation on loneliness, obsession and desire slowly unfolds. Despite a strong lead performance by Dominique Blanc as Anne-Marie, and vérité-style moments of genuine tension, the film struggles to connect. In emphasizing the isolation and anomie of modern, urban existence, The Other One remains as emotionally and spiritually hollow as the sterile and functional Parisian world it portrays. —Brian Rouleau (3/28, 12:15 p.m., Ritz 5; 3/29, 2:30 p.m., The Bridge; 3/30, 2:15 p.m., The Bridge)

The Perfect Season

Any tribute film to the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies — a team who overcame injury, distraction and a long history of ineptitude to bring home the World Championship trophy — would be hard to mess up. That said, writer/director Dan Stephenson deserves credit for not botching the project. The film starts with a montage of adorable pictures of the current Phillies as Little Leaguers, ends with them slowly riding down Broad Street and captures the highlights in between. While it's obviously a must-see for any Phils fan, it did have its flaws — it glossed over nearly all of the season's bad moments, and eschewed Harry Kalas for the fine, but unmemorable, ace reliever Brad Lidge as its narrator. The film isn't perfect, but hey, neither was the season. —E. James Beale (3/27, 5 p.m., PMT)

Phantom Punch

A dramatic account of the life and career of boxing legend Sonny Liston, Robert Townsend's film highlights the pugilist's rise from prison inmate to heavyweight boxing champion of the world. Ving Rhames plays Liston, a heavy-hitter with a sharp tongue trying to find his way through a biased media in the early '60s, all the while fighting to suppress his uncontrollable anger. Rhames is supported by a cast of notables including Stacey Dash (Clueless) and Nicholas Turturro (NYPD Blue). Refusing to (ahem) pull punches with its subject, the film gives a true portrayal of Liston's battles in and out of the ring, complete with mob connections, police corruption and sexual affairs. —Tiffany Jackson (3/31, 7 p.m., PMT)

Following an American family stranded in the Irish countryside during a much-needed bonding experience, the bickering daughters, mindless boyfriend and lovebird parents are met by a horde of bloodthirsty villagers who want nothing but to devour the unknowing trespassers. When Rosemary, the "leader" of this sadistic child-tribe, is suddenly introduced, it's time to cover your eyes — the horror's just begun. Directed by David Gregory, Plague Town delivers just the right amount of gore, bizarre plot twists and deformed zombie children to fully creep out audiences without sending them to the restroom in a panic. —Lauren Fleming (3/30, 9:30 p.m., RE; 4/3, 4:45 p.m., IH)

Revanche

Heavily under the influence of his countryman Michael Haneke, Götz Spielmann films his revenge drama at a safe distance, keeping the camera removed and the temperature cool. Initially toggling between a metropolitan red-light district and a rural village, the movie slowly but ineluctably brings the places and characters together, binding them with loss and anger in ways some of them never realize. Spielmann has some of Haneke's misanthropic zeal, but he turns it toward less nihilistic ends, with the result being that the final turns feel earned and genuinely cathartic. —Sam Adams (3/27, 4:45 p.m., RE; 3/28, 9:30 p.m., R5)

There are few words spoken in Rumba. It's a near-mute film framed in comedic absurdism and informed by silent movie stylings: Keaton's mugging, Chaplin-esque slapstick and lengthily-drawn-out sight gags. French husband-and-wife teachers Dom and Fiona (played by directors/writers Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon) share a love and talent for Latin dance until a car crash ends their salsa glory days: Dom suffers classic amnesia and Memento-style chronic short-term memory loss and Fiona loses her leg. Their handicaps are subsequently played for un-PC-but-tame laughs with varying success as the two adapt to a world without rhythm — a conceit that often feels it'd be better suited for a short film rather than a full-length. The humor's antiquated but the movie is ultimately winning because of the charms beyond its hit-or-miss gag reel — interpretative shadow-dancing, choreographed set-pieces and Dom and Fiona singing "Sea of Love" over a campfire as Fiona's prosthetic leg goes up in flames. —Andrew Amundson (3/27, 4:30 p.m., R5; 3/28, 7:15 p.m., R5)

Directed by '60s performer Connie Stevens, Saving Grace B. Jones features Tatum O'Neal as the title character, who is discharged from an insane asylum after a long stay. Committed after she is hit by a truck on her wedding day, Grace is released into the care of Landy, her saint of a brother (Michael Biehn, aka John Connor's dad in Terminator) and his family. While Landy is convinced she is cured, no one, not even Grace, agrees. Needless to say, Grace does not fare well. Told unnecessarily from the point of view of Landy's young niece, the film loses itself deciding whether it's a tragedy or a coming-of-age story. Apparently based on a true story, Stevens' film is not strong enough to support its melodramatic plot. —Molly Eichel (3/28, 7:15 p.m., RE; 3/29, 12:15 p.m., PMT)

The Sea Wall

An account of economic hardships, depression, immorality, vanity and greed, The Sea Wall is saved by its talented cast. Isabelle Huppert plays Madame Dufresne, a widow working hard to protect her failing rice crop from corrupt French authorities in 1930 French-Colonial Indonesia. Huppert gives depth and understanding to an otherwise confusing character whose decision to marry off her 16-year-old daughter to a rich, snake-eyed Chinese businessman seems heartless. But as the film continues to develop and her character unravels, Dufresne's immoral behavior begins to make sense. Accompanied by Gaspard Ulliel and Astrid Berges-Frisbey, who play her troubled teenagers, Huppert's talents bring light to an otherwise dreary film. —Lauren Fleming (3/27, 4:45 p.m., TB; 3/28, 4:45 p.m. R5; 3/29, 7 p.m., R5)

In 1296, Edward I of England took the Stone of Destiny upon which every Scottish king had been crowned, giving him symbolic dominion of Scotland. In 1950, four Glaswegian university students take it upon themselves to steal it back. Led by Ian Hamilton (Charlie Cox, Stardust), upon whose book the film is based, and fueled by the rhetoric of home rule activist John MacCormick (Robert Carlyle), the gang of four must figure out a way to break into Westminster Abbey and bring Scotland back its symbol of nationhood. Stone of Destiny is one of those fist-pumping patriotic pics and it has its moments of humor, but the students' mission never comes off as particularly exciting or urgent. —Molly Eichel (3/30, 2:15 p.m., RE; 3/31, 4:45 p.m. PMT; 4/1, 7:15 p.m., RE)

Sugar

Half Nelson's Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden continue in a neo-naturalist vein with the story of a Dominican baseball player (Algenis Perez Soto) who's picked for a shot at the bigs. The movie's style is so unassuming it's almost transparent, but considering the simplicity of the story, it's surprisingly unpredictable. The plot never falls into pat arcs, and Soto, a nonprofessional actor with a wicked knuckleball, brings a depth of feeling to the hoariest of sports-movie tropes. Following its Spanish-speaking hero through a succession of Midwestern farm-team towns, the movie doubles as a reflection on the loneliness of immigrant life, conveyed by shooting Soto with long lenses so that the people around him are reduced to a blur of life, close at hand but unreachable. —Sam Adams (3/30, 7 p.m., R5)

The first image to appear in Shawn Swords' exposé of Dick Clark and the Bandstand era is a definition for payola, the pay-for-play scandal that rocked the early rock 'n' roll landscape. That should give a clear indication of the Philly-based filmmaker's take on the subject, but while the world's oldest teenager may have earned a few potshots, Swords' rickety doc is little more than a compilation of grievances. The pre-Clark Bandstand years are recounted via the Geator's familiar tales, while Clark is attacked by a variety of musicians, songwriters and ex-dancers with bad toupees and axes to grind. The subject himself appears only once, in an archive interview angrily brushing off questions of his play-for-pay policies; otherwise Swords simply lets his interviewees' accusations stand as fact with no apparent research by the director himself. Clark's refusal to participate hurts more in the lack of actual footage from the show, leaving Swords to repeatedly cycle through a limited stockpile of stills backed by an increasingly distracting faux-'50s music track. —Shaun Brady (4/1, 6:45 p.m., IH)

The Way We Get By

Bangor, Maine, may experience heavy snowfall during the winter, but that doesn't stop dedicated greeters from welcoming the 75 percent of all soldiers and Marines who leave and return from its airport. This heartfelt documentary follows three elderly greeters who work around the clock to offer their salutations. While they each battle with their own personal issues — from deteriorating health to the loss of close companions — nothing makes them happier than seeing that the troops have a warm welcome home, and a heartfelt goodbye. While the movie drags at times, the touching points are tearjerkers. —Tiffany Jackson (3/30, 5 p.m., RE; 4/3, 3 p.m., RE; 4/4, 4:30 p.m., PMT)

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