Director Lars Von Trier spoke to a NYC audience at the IFC Center - via iCHAT, the AOL instant messenger client for Mac OS X that uses speech bubbles and pictures. The virtual Q&A took place in honor of his new film release, “Manderlay”, the sequel to the Nicole Kidman caper “Dogville”. The film, which takes place where the last film left off, concerns the protagonist’s arrival at an Alabama plantation called Manderlay, where slavery still exists. Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) attempts to set the slaves free by teaching them the values of American democracy, but - surprise surprise - not everything turns out as expected. Von Trier, who famously has never set foot in the country, includes the film as the second installment in his ‘USA- Land of Opportunities’ trilogy. “Manderlay” opens today in select New York theaters.

- Jordan

Whit Stillman’s chatty 1990 classic, “Metropolitan”, about a “middle class young man’s romantic misadventures among New York City’s debutante society”, will finally be released by Criterion for a Valentine’s Day release. The film, nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, often plays like a modern-day chip off Jane Austen’s block. Essentially a story about the decline of romance in urban civilization, the film follows Tom Townsend, a Pomfret-grad ‘Marxist’ who falls in with the deb crowd one night by sharing a taxi to Park Ave. You love to hate these people, and then just end up loving them. Watch out for this one in February!

-Jordan

I saw Cache over the weekend and, admittedly, came to the theater with high expectations. I left the theater feeling let down because many things were left unresolved, however, perhaps that was the point.  Hankeke explores the themes of alienation, connection, and communication–or in many instances, the lack of it. My friend whom I was with found this movie abosutely frustrating to watch because each character kept secrets and pieces of information to themselves, or they just couldn’t express their thoughts and emotions. I found it to be an interesting commentary on the state of today’s society.

Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Bubble”, about the lives of a small group of doll-factory workers, will be the first film in history to be released in theaters as well as on high-definition television (HDTV) the night of its premiere, Jan. 27. Frustrating a wave of theater owners and Hollywood execs already miffed by low ticket sales, it will be made available on DVD only four days later. Shot on HD-DV, the film is the first in a six-film deal that Soderbergh struck with Wagner/Cuban Companies as part of their “day-and-date” strategy to experiment with new avenues of distribution.

-Jordan

A three-hour documentary on German monks who’ve taken a vow of silence. The filmmaker, Philip Groening, lived with the Carthusian monks for several months in order to make the film. It has no score, no interviews, no voice-over, and no archival footage. It simply follows the lives of the monks as is, attempting to “capture a moment in time”. Click on the link below to see the beautiful trailer.

http: www.diegrossestile.de/english

-Jordan

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room: Magnolia Home Entertainment — the biggest corporate scandal of the last century!

The War Within: Magnolia Home Entertainment — Pakistani student struggles with ethics of terroism

Bubble: Magnolia Home Entertainment — Soderberg’s new film about romance and murder in a small midwestern town