The Bubble. Young people in Tel Aviv, straight and gay, living Tribeca lives. All is familiar, disturbingly so for two reasons: one gay couple is half Muslim, and all of them are scared but not surprised by the sound of bombs. Vividly acted, comprehendingly directed. (Reviewed 9.24.07)
Forever. The Dutch director Heddy Honigmann has made a fascinating documentary about a French cemetery--Pere-Lachaise in Paris. Among the gravestones and monuments of the illustrious, Honigmann finds and reveals people whose interests in being there are very varied and illuminating. (9.24.07)
Great World of Sound. A recording company down south has found a way to rook aspiring musicians and employs two traveling salesmen to do the greasy job. The insights into musical talent and human scam are interwoven neatly by Craig Zobel's directing. (9.24.07)
The Last Winter. Larry Fessenden is known as a skilled director of horror, but this is much better than that. Two thirds of it at least, set in an oil station in arctic Alaska, is a drama about nature and man; and the rest of it is top-notch action. (Shot in Iceland, magnificently.) (From the upcoming 10.8.07 issue.)
--SK
By Stanley Kauffmann