Best of Frankie's Palace

March 4, 2005

This week's batch of limited releases include one of the most honest looks at the soldiers fighting in Iraq you'll ever see, a six hour mini-series, an oft-delayed Miramax release, a gay-themed Nazi thriller, and a road trip movie on a desolate highway in Argentina. As always, it's an eclectic mix.

Best of Youth - Reviews
This six hour long film spans 40 years in the life of one Italian family, while looking at the events that transpired in their country. The film was made as a mini-series (hence the 6-hour running time), but is being shown as a two part movie with both parts together. The movie opened on Wednesday in one theatre in New York City.

Dear Frankie - Reviews
A single mother, Lizzie, doesn't want her son, Frankie, to know truth about his father, so she tells him he's an adventurous sailor, even writing letters to her son pretending they're from his father. But when he hears his father's ship is coming into port for a few days, she must decide whether to tell the truth or create an even more elaborate deception. This was supposed to come out a long time ago, but troubles at Miramax delayed a lot of their releases over the past year. It's finally being released tonight in 5 theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

Gunner Palace - Reviews
Maybe not the most structured documentary every made, but it does show the soldiers in an honest, if not always flattering light. A warning before you check the movie out, even though there is plenty of swearing in the movie, the MPAA took the context into account and gave the film a PG-13 rating. Personally I agree with their decision, but people should know in advance. The film opens tonight in 8 theaters in new York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Intimate Stories - Reviews
A road movie set on a barren road to San Julian that tells the story of three people traveling the road for different reasons. A gentle, charming movie that is perhaps a little too slow at times. The multiple award winning movie opens in two theaters in New York City tonight - Cinema Village and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.

Walk on Water - Reviews
A gay-themed Nazi thriller from the same people who brought you Yossi & Jagger. A Mossad agent befriends the grandchildren of a Nazi war criminal to help him capture the old man. But his relationship with the two causes him to question his priorities and endanger his mission. The widest limited release of the week at 10 theaters, but ironically, the reviews are merely mixed.


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Filed under: Dear Frankie, Gunner Palace, La meglio gioventù