The Films: A-E

A-E | F-MI | MO-S | T-Z

*recommended

THE ADVENTURES OF FELIX

France, 2000. Directors: Olivier Ducastel, Jacques Martineau

Sat., June 2, 6:30 p.m., Harvard Exit Mon., June 11, 7:15 p.m., Pacific Place SIFF SEZ From the makers of Jeanne and the Perfect Guy comes the droll story of a gay man who decides to walk the length of France from Dieppe, in the north, to Marseilles, where he hopes to meet the father he never knew. During a series of strange and comic yet poignant vignettes, Felix creates an imaginary family from a host of colorful characters.

*ALI ZAOUA

Morocco, 2000. Director: Nabil Ayouch

Cast: Sa鸞Taghmaoui

Sun., May 27, 9:30 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall

Mon., May 28, 4:00 p.m., Harvard Exit

This is why we have film festivals. You take an unheralded little movie from Morocco, cast it with real street kids out of Los Olvidados, kill the most sympathetic character five minutes in, add some whimsical animation sequences, and you've got what may prove to be the best picture at SIFF this year. Among the filthy, feral, glue-sniffing waifs near Casablanca's harbor, three children try to give their deceased pal a decent funeral. "We won't let him be buried like shit!" they resolve, yet they lack the money. Worse, the freaky deaf-mute leader of their old gang could beat and sodomize them at any moment. Then they have to tell their dead friend's mother the bad news—but she's a hooker in a disapproving Islamic society. Too much pathos, you ask? Maybe, but you might be a preteen glue-sniffer, too, facing the real-life poverty that inspired Ali's script. Not to be missed. Brian Miller

ALL OVER THE GUY

U.S.A., 2001. Director: Julie Davis

Fri., May 25, 7:15 p.m., Egyptian

Sun., May 27, 1:45 p.m., Pacific Place

SIFF SEZ A contemporary romantic comedy, All Over explores the universal saga of searching for the love of one's life. When two gay 20-somethings are thrown together in an unlikely pairing by their straight friends, they do everything NOT to fall in love. Can these endearing guys overcome all obstacles and surrender to their hearts? (See Amy's Orgasm.)

AMERICAN ASTRONAUT

U.S.A., 2001. Director: Cory McAbee

Thurs., June 7, 9:30 p.m., Harvard Exit

Fri., June 1, 10:00 p.m.,Valley Drive-In

We're so desperate to stamp out the derivative that too many points are given for pushing envelopes—not for actually tearing them open. Maverick visions are rarely regarded as both original AND entirely awful. This film unabashedly is. Astronaut delivers an onslaught of surreal images and ideas that momentarily ensnares the senses, only to flitter away seconds later, forever lost. The title character (director McAbee) is a mutton-chopped smuggler who trades phone sex tapes bound for Mars—populated entirely by male virgins—but has compunctions about delivering a naive Adonis to a legion of sex-starved, man-eating babes on Venus. This could be done with levity and irony, considering the intentional C-movie/Ed Wood vibe, but McAbee's yen for incessant repetition and inability to invent a single funny or unique setting make this a low-budget catastrophe proportional to Hollywood's most inept dreck. Andrew Bonazelli

AMY'S ORGASM

U.S.A., 2000. Director: Julie Davis

Sat., May 26, 6:30 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall

Sun., May 27, 4:00 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall

SIFF SEZ A smart, funny romp through the perils of modern relationships, Amy's Orgasm follows a 29-year-old, Ivy League-educated, self-help author as she grudgingly falls for a sexy shock-jock radio host with a reputation for hitting on his bimbo guests. This second feature film from director, writer, producer, editor, and actor Julie Davis deservedly won the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Audience Choice Award.(See All Over the Guy.)

*ANGELS OF THE UNIVERSE

Iceland, 2000. Director: Fridrik Th�ridriksson

Sat., June 2, 9:30 p.m., Harvard Exit

Mon., June 4, 9:30 p.m., Pacific Place

How much depression can you stand? Think you're tough? Think you can take 97 unrelenting minutes of one man's irrevocable descent into schizophrenia? C'mon—you like Bergman, dontcha? An unrelenting study of mental illness, Angels is like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest without Jack Nicholson or Girl, Interrupted without Angelina Jolie. Rendered in stark primary colors from what looks like the '70s onward, the film simply follows poor Paul's downward trajectory as he frightens his well-meaning family and makes a few friends in the asylum to which he's periodically committed. He narrates his sad tale in the past tense (how far past we ultimately learn), blaming "the merciless onslaught of reality" for his condition. Still, Cold Fever director Fridriksson refuses to sensationalize or overdramatize the demons behind Paul's perpetually furrowed brow. It's a bummer, but Angel is also fascinating to watch. B.R.M.

*ANIMAL

Argentina, 2000. Director: Sergio Bizzio

Wed., June 13, 7:15 p.m., Pacific Place

Thurs., June 14, 2:30 p.m., Pacific Place

Not to be confused with the forthcoming Rob Schneider vehicle, Animal actually shares a theme with that summer comedy—bestiality, not implied but realized. Idle, rich, middle-aged ranch owner Alberto isn't obviously dissatisfied with his wife and life until he spies Fanny (as he comes to call her), who is one good-looking ewe! Don't fear that their affair is graphic—it isn't—or that Animal is really about sex. Instead, it's a black comedy about doomed passion with lots of little Bu� touches, grace notes of droll depravity set against an inanely sunny, cheerful backdrop. "I feel great, full of energy!" Alberto exults after consummation, although he's soon required to defend his forbidden love by murderous means. In essence, Animal is a retelling of Lolita, not so polished or literary, but pretty damn funny for all its wooly imperfections. World premiere. B.R.M.