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With no disrespect intended to any ladies reading this, it’s been said that no story carries the emotional impact of a story about the relationship between a father and his son.  From the days of the Bible and mythology, countless stories have used that relationship as a basis for emotional conflict, from fantasy films like Star Wars and Field of Dreams to biographical films like Walk the Line. Indeed, it is because of that last film that the documentary MY FATHER AND THE MAN IN BLACK exists.

Totally detached from society, as a matter of personal choice Abigail Harm is as anti-social and introverted as they come. Her only human interaction from day to day is that of her commitment to the service of reading to clients whom she sees at their home, as she reads from their favorite novels or other materials of choice. As the famous Korean folktale would have it,  one which tells of love, true love, the ever lasting kind which results from the taming of a deer, who is appears robe-less in need of consolation. One most unexpected evening a gentleman in need of food and temporary shelter appears in Abigail’s home. Over a meal she prepares, the man questions Abigail’s understanding of  love, to which she admits her only experience with it was through her parents, as an infant.  His one wish for Abigail becomes that she truly gets to feel what love is. He enlightens her to the myth of ‘The Woodcutter and the Nymph’ impressing upon her the importance of keeping her eyes open to her true love which is forthcoming.  In a matter of days, Abigails entire existence is revamped via this revelation, and literal appearance of a man in need of her as she is in need of he.

All screen adaptations of classic novels face the same inevitable obstacle: though they need not best their source material, they must work twice as hard as an original film to justify their existence. Why watch an adaptation of Jane Eyre, of Pride and Prejudice, or of Madame Bovary when those original texts are so celebrated and so readily available?

Appearances are often deceiving. Two people who might appear to be perfect for each other on the surface by the way they interact might be incompatible once things get deeper. In DRINKING BUDDIES, a romantic comedy from writer/director Joe Swanberg (V/H/S), pretty and playful Kate (Olivia Wilde) works as a marketer at a Chicago-area brewery. Though she is in a relationship with the pedantic Chris (Ron Livingston), she clearly has better chemistry with one of the brewers she works with, Luke (Jake Johnson). However, the outgoing Luke is engaged to Jill (Anna Kendrick), a somewhat shy special education teacher.

The clock is ticking; the days are passing, as she sits behind closed doors, paralyzed by fear.

SPARROWS DANCE, directed by Noah Buschel, explores the life of a former actress (Marin Ireland) who has been sequestered in her apartment for a year. Her daily existence is plagued by fear. This fear serves to clog her life, until she meets Wes the plumber (Paul Sparks).

By now, you’ve likely heard all about LEE DANIELS’ THE BUTLER, the story of an African-American man who served on the White House staff through eight administrations. In the film Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines, who is loosely based off actual White House butler Eugene Allen. Of course, don’t be fooled by the marketing – reading the Washington Post article the film was initially based on, shows that the film is fictionalized to a great degree. Because of that, in some ways The Butler is like a real-life version of Forest Gump, though by no means do I mean to compare the obviously completely different protagonists (to be like Forest Gump, Cecil would have had to do something like stop the Cuban Missile Crisis by misplacing JFK’s silverware).

“A time when a vacation meant a trip to the Catskills”

And with it you were assured to see a show. Now whether or not it was to your liking was no guarantee. Moments afte ther decline of Vaudeville and Burlesque there existed a huge void in American activities and passtime; what once ensured entertainment was now old news, yet the audience remained. 75 miles NW of New York lie a region called the Catskills, still til this day, a place of hotels, rooming houses, and more. As it remains very popular today, there was a time when the Catskills were the end all be all in vacation options. Tourists from all over frequented this area in search of opportunity; to relax, to engage, to mingle, and more.

I’ve always had a deep respect for standup comedians, which I regard as one of the toughest gigs in all of entertainment. However, standup comedy as we know is a relatively modern form of entertainment, and the origin of how it grew from vaudeville can be pinpointed to the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York, where dozens of the greatest comedians of all time developed their acts.

WHEN COMEDY WENT TO SCHOOL, a documentary about the influence the Catskills vacation region had on Jewish comedians, explores what exactly made the area such an enclave for future funnymen (and women). Narrated by Robert Klein, comedian and former Catskills busboy, and featuring interviews with Jerry Lewis, Jerry Stiller, Sid Caesar, Jackie Mason, and other comedy icons, along with plenty of vintage clips of Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce, and Rodney Dangerfield, When Comedy Went to School is full of laughs as it tells the story of how modern standup comedy developed among Jewish vacationers.

“If you accept a dinner invitation you have a moral obligation to be amusing”

Famous words of the Dutchess of windsor, which serve as the perfect personification of what the ROMEOWS stand for, as a collective. Comprised of Retired old men, Brooklyn college Alumnus who come together each and every Wednesday for the purpose of brotherhood. Documenting their history, their unity, their commitment to one another and their pride in not only their roots but their alma mater as well, ROMEOWS is a lesson in relationships.

FRUITVALE STATION is based on one of those horrific, real-life stories of when a police officer makes a heinous, unjustifiable decision.

The film opens with amateur footage shot on a cell phone of the actual frantic, fatal moments in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day 2009 recreated in Frutivale Station’s harrowing climax. The recreation begins a little over twenty-four hours before, with Oscar (Michael B. Jordan), a twenty-two year old small-time dope dealer and ex-con, arguing with Sopina (Melanie Diaz), his girlfriend and the mother of his four year-old child, Tatiana (the adorable Ariana Neal) about Oscar recently cheating on her. The movie then follows Oscar throughout the rest of his New Year’s Eve – which also happens to be his mother’s birthday – as he tries to follow through on his resolution to give up dealing dope and get his job back at the supermarket, which he was recently fired from for constantly being late. However, it’s New Year’s Eve and Sopina wants to go out to San Francisco to party. Though Oscar’s mother (the wonderful Octavia Spencer) begs him to take the train to avoid driving drunk, it turns out to be the wrong decision when Oscar is confronted by someone from his past and is later detained by the police in a frightening, chaotic scene.

Isn’t it funny how a movie that starts with a line in voiceover narration like “my story can never be told” ends up being a two hour movie in which that story is told in great detail, right?

Eleanor (Saorise Ronan) and Clara (Gemma Arterton) are 200 year old vampire-like creatures (called “succreants”) in modern day England. Though they refer to each other as sisters, Clara is actually Eleanor’s mother. Eleanor keeps her blood thirst in check by only feeding on dying old people, while Clara supports them by prostituting. After meeting a doughy, bespectacled customer who owns a hotel named Byzantium, Clara sets up a brothel and believes that their problems have been solved. However, Eleanor meets a gangly, nervous teenager named Frank (Caleb Landry Jones) and she finds herself drawn to him. She aches to reveal her true nature to him but Clara has so far kept her unaware of the costs of that decision – they are being tracked by powerful dark forces. Intercut with this narrative is the story of how Clara and Eleanor became succreants and why they must hide their true nature from the world.