Battle in Seattle

Andre Benjamin preaches turtle power at the 1999 WTO protests in Battle in Seattle (Redwood Palm Pictures)

All right I might have to do a few lightening rounds to catch up on the nearly dozen films opening this week. Yikes! What's up with that? Partly contributing to the increase in numbers is the fact that Reading Gaslamp has essentially added a new art house venue into the mix - and that's a good thing because it means some films that might never have played in town are now getting an opportunity to open. One such film is Battle in Seattle (opening October 3 at Reading Gaslamp Cinemas) about the 1999 protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization's millennial meeting.

Religulous

Bill Maher interviews Christ at the Holy Land Experience in Religulous (Lionsgate)

With nearly a dozen films and two festival to cover this week, I'll get to as much as I can today. Top of my list, though, is the Bill Maher-Larry Charles documentary Religulous (opening October 3 at Landmark's Hillcrest and La Jolla Village Theaters). Maher describes himself as a non-believer and he sets out to ask believers why they believe. Now this is not designed as a comprehensive, balanced exploration of faith and religion. It is a very personal take on faith and religion, and on the role they both take in American culture, society, and politics. Think of it like a humorous op ed piece, and as the funniest film so far this year.

Trailer Tuesday: Religulous

Pairing political humorist Bill Maher and Borat director Larry Charles on a documentary about religion just sounds like you're asking for trouble or at the very least controversy. But trouble may be exactly what the new film Religulous wants to stir in the final weeks oging into the presidential election. Maher and Charles are self-described disbelievers who join forces to try and figure out why so many people are so blindly devoted to religion. Maher, raised by a Jewish mother and Catholic father, long ago renounced his faith in a higher being and now he wants to find out what makes other believe. Many may find his tone insulting and his approach one-sided but Maher is also consistently funny and provocative, and the documentary does raise questions about the role faith plays in our society. The trailer is courtesy of Lionsgate and is scheduled to open on October 3.

Orwell Rolls in His Grave

Orwell Rolls in His Grave (Sag Harbor Basement Pictures)

Remember reading George Orwell's 1984 in high school? The book offers a bleak vision of a future in which an all-knowing government employs pervasive and constant surveillance of its people, blatant propaganda, and brutal control over its citizens. The book inspired such new vocabulary as Big Brother and double speak. On September 23 Lestat's West will offer a free screening of a documentary that takes its cue from the author of 1984, Orwell Rolls in His Grave. Director Robert Kane Pappas serves up a critical examination of the media and asks whether America has entered an Orwellian world of doublespeak where outright lies can pass for the truth.

Pappas seeks out Charles Lewis, director of the Center for Public Integrity; Vincent Bugliosi, former L.A. prosecutor and legal scholar; film director and author Michael Moore; Rep. Bernie Sanders; Danny Schecter, author and former producer for ABC and CNN; and Tony Benn, former member of the British Parliament. Schecter tells us, "We falsely think of our country as a democracy when it has evolved into a mediacracy - where a media that is supposed to check political abuse is part of the political abuse."

The press notes for the film state: "1984 is no longer a date in the future." Orwell Rolls in His Grave screens at Lestat's West Showroom (3343 Adams Avenue) on September 23 at 7pm.

Flow

The documentary Flow: For Love of Water (Osilloscope)

In Flow: For Love of Water (opening September 19 at Landmark's Ken Cinema), filmmaker Irena Salina tackles what she calls the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - the world water crisis. And she's certainly not alone in identifying this as a major global concern. Like An Inconvenient Truth, her documentary Flow is designed to be a kind of wake up call for mainstream audiences who may be peripherally aware of the problem but not seeing it as a major concern. As long as clean water comes out when they turn on the tap, most people don't see a crisis.

NOTE: Following each of the prime evening screenings of Flow there will be a panel discussion about the film and water issues.

Proud American

Immigrants become citizens in Proud American (Lightsource)

Fourteen years ago, local filmmaker Fred Ashman began working on the concept for what would become Proud American (opening September 12 in select theaters including Regal Rancho Del Rey, AMC La Jolla, UltraStar Mission Valley, AMC Mission Valley, AMC Fashion Valley and Edwards Mira Mesa). Ashman, who founded Multi Image Productions here in San Diego more that thirty years ago, got serious about the project in 2002 and began to seek funding. The film, which will be shown in IMAX at some theaters, opens across the nation and Ashman hopes the film will help set the tone for people as they prepare to go to the polls and elect a new president.

War, Inc.

John Cusack, the star, co-writer and producer of War, Inc. (First Look)

If you ever wondered what might have happened to John Cusack's hit man from 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank, then check out War, Inc. (opening June 27 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas). The character Cusack plays presents a possible fate for Martin Q. Blank, or at least a logical trajectory his killer could have taken. War, Inc., as with Grosse Pointe Blank, is also co-written by Cusack, co-stars his sister Joan as his assistant Marsha (she was Marcella in Grosse Pointe Blank), and boasts an appearance by Dan Aykroyd. But unlike Grosse Point Blank, which knew exactly what kind of dark comedy it wanted to be, War, Inc. is all over the map.

Bigger Stronger Faster*

Filmmaker Chris Bell explores steroid use in America in Bigger Stronger Faster* (HD Net)

That asterisk is actually part of the title of the new documentary Bigger Stronger Faster* (opening June 13 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) and it references the film's subtitle - The Side Effects of Being American. Chris Bell makes his documentary feature debut with Bigger Stronger Faster* and he uses his own family as a starting point to explore the issue of steroids in America. He opens the film by explaining that he wanted to be ripped like Hulk Hogan or Sly Stallone or the Terminator but in reality he "was a fat pale kid from Poughkeepsie."

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies

The name's Bond... um, I mean Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath. (Music Box Films)

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (opening May 16 at Landmark's Ken Cinema) is one mouthful of a title. But it does exactly what a good title should do - it conveys something about the film. In this case, it signals that you are in for a spoof on spy movies. Most Americans will assume that it's simply poking fun at James Bond but that's only part of the joke. OSS 117 also refers to a famous French spy who appeared in nearly a 100 novels beginning in 1949, and a handful of movies in the 50s and 60s. So that may explain why the film's been such a hit in France where it plays on their own pop culture. It's been such a homegrown hit that there's already talk of sequels.

Cairo, 1955. Everyone suspects everyone of something; everyone is plotting against or double crossing everyone else; nobody trusts anybody; and the British, the French, the Soviets, the family of the deposed King Farouk, and the insurgent religious sect Eagles of Kheops are all engaged in some sort of covert activity in Egypt. Into this nest of spies, the President of the French Republic, Monsieur René Coty, sends his best weapon: Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, agent OSS 117 (Jean Dujardin). Or as one of the femme fatales he meets says, "numbered like a cow for slaughter." Any way, OSS 117 must discover who killed a fellow spy and restore order to Cairo and the world. Along the way he encounters a bevy of beauties, some with lethal intentions. (You can also listen to my Film Chat about OSS 117 and Son of Rambow.)

My Brother is an Only Child

Brothers Accio and Manrico in My Brother is an Only Child (THINKFilm)

The new Italian film My Brother is an Only Child (opening May 2 at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas) focuses on two siblings who choose opposite sides of the political spectrum in Italy during the 60s and 70s. The film swept Italy's Donatelli awards, their equivalent of Hollywood's Oscars. Italian screenwriters Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli see sibling rivalry as the perfect metaphor for exploring their country's often divisive politics. In 2003's The Best of Youth, two brothers reflect four decades of political turbulence beginning in 1963. In this year's My Brother is an Only Child, the writing duo partners with director Daniele Luchetti for another story set in the 60s and 70s, and focused on two very different brothers. (You can listen to my radio feature or read the extended review and interview.)