(UNITED KINGDOM)
  This romantic comedy is set in 1930's London, filmed with luminous cinematography. A beautiful and charming woman, Rosemary (Helena Bonham Carter), is constantly frustrated by her eccentric and rebellious boyfriend Gordon (Richard E. Grant). Fearful of becoming respectable, he quits the ad agency where they both work to become a destitute poet. "The merry war" between them is a delighful battle of the sexes. Based on George Orwell's 1936 novel "Keep the Aspidastra Flying" about art, commerce, love and poverty.

"SOARING" **** - Boxoffice Magazine

(ITALY, 1998)
  WINNER OF 3 ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING
BEST ACTOR, ROBERTO BENIGNI AND
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
  WINNER OF THE GRAND PRIX, 1998 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
  WINNER OF THE PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARD,
1998 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

  A heart-breaking romance and enduring tale of sacrifice, love and protection. In 1938 Italy, against a backdrop of increasing racial intolerance and narrow-mindedness, Guido (played by Director Roberto Benigni), a lovable dreamer, falls in love with a reserved and refined school teacher, Dora. Unfortunately, Dora is engaged to a local Fascist official, until Guido rescues her from her undesirable fate and the two embark on a fairy-tale romance. Five years later, Guido is taken to a concentration camp with their young son Giosue, but shields the boy from the camp's brutal realities by convincing him that they are involved in an elaborate game.

"BEAUTIFULLY TOLD AND ATTRACTIVELY SHOT, ROBERTO BENIGNI'S FILM IS BOTH FUNNY AND MOVING" **** - Boxoffice Magazine

"MOVING AND SINGULARLY EFFECTIVE" - James Berardinelli

(U.S., 1998)
  In this romantic comedy, Hope Davis (Daytripper, The Myth of Fingerprints) plays Erin Castleton, a night-shift nurse who gets dumped by her long time boyfriend but remains curiously unconcerned. Her alarmed mother secretly places an ad in the personals for her. Furious at first, then curious about the myriad of responses, Erin embarks on an adventurous series of dates. At the same time, we follow Alan Monteiro, a day-job plumber who dreams of becoming a marine biologist. The two would-be lovers' paths persistently cross but never collide.
  Directed, co-written and edited by Brad Anderson.

"THE WIT, HUMANITY AND PACING OF MR. ANDERSON ... DELIVERS A DISTINCTIVE EDGE" - Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News

(UNITED KINGDOM, 1998)
  NOMINATED FOR 7 ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE & BEST ACTRESS, CATE BLANCHETT

  Shekhar Kapur (The Bandit Queen) tackles one of the most imposing Queens in all of history, the daughter of Henry VIII, Britain's great monarch of the 16th Century, Elizabeth Tudor. Magnificent in every way, Cate Blanchett gives a tour de force performance as young Elizabeth who, trembling and powerless, narrowly escapes execution and the hand of her half-sister Queen Mary, and is eventually crowned Queen. She discovers she has inherited a realm that is almost bankrupt and lacking an army capable of protecting her country from threats which are posed from without and within. The only apparent avenue to solidify her rule is to marry one of her powerful foreign neighbours. As Elizabeth makes her choices, charts her way through deadly byzantine politics and confronts her own fears, she begins to forge for herself a person who can overcome all her enemies - Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen.

"A SUPERLATIVE PERFORMANCE [BY] CATE BLANCHETT... LIKE JUDI DENCH AS QUEEN VICTORIA IN MRS. BROWN, SHE BREATHES LIFE INTO THE REVERED HISTORICAL FIGURE" *** - James Berardinelli

(CANADA, 1998)
  WINNER, CITY-TV AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM, 1998 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

  Internationally acclaimed Canadian writer and director Robert Lepage (LE CONFESSIONAL, LE POLYGRAPHE) brings his particular brilliance to the screen in this much anticipated film. The War Measures Act has been enacted in 1970 Montreal. A beautiful actress finds herself engaged in a series of escapades in far off Japan, where she stars in a broadly comic French farce as part of Canada's exposition at the World's Fair. Misunderstandings result from her ill-fated attempts to make overseas phone connections with her writer boyfriend back in Montreal. Lepage masterfully interweaves the meaning of 'no' - as in traditional Japanese Noh Theatre - with 'non' as it relates to the referendum question.

(BRAZIL, 1998)
  ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE BEST ACTRESS -- FERNANDA MONTENEGRO

  Dora works at the central railway station in Rio de Janeiro. She writes letters for the illiterate poor who are trying to reach their families in the far off wilds of Brazil. However, she holds nothing more than contempt for her clients, not even sending many of the letters she writes, while happily pocketing their hard earned cash. The story takes a turn when she takes dictation for one such letter for a woman who is desperately seeking the father of her 9 year old son. In a drastic series of events, the woman is struck by a bus outside Dora's office and the boy is left in her unwilling care. So begins Dora's extraordinary odyssey which will test her resourcefulness, daring and fortitude, ultimately allowing her to rediscover the beauty of her soul.

"A GORGEOUSLY UNDERSTATED EPIC OF THE EVERYDAY, A FILM DESTINED TO CAPTURE OUR HEARTS AND FORTIFY OUR SPIRITS." - Rebecca Yeldham

(CANADA/UK, 1998)
  A captivating tale about a compassionate soul forced to confront a turbulent world of change. Based on the novel of the same title by Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey is a sumptuous and ravishing film about the small details in life that make us human. The story of Gustad Noble (Roshan Seth) is set in Bombay, 1971, the year India went to war over the fate of what was to become Bangladesh.
  Gustad's journey is marvellously rendered by (acclaimed filmmaker Sturla) Gunnarsson's eye for details of character and place, and by the extraordinarily talented Roshan Seth (Gandhi, Mississippi Masala).   -- Toronto International Film Festival

(UK, 1998)
  GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD WINNER, BEST ACTOR -- MICHAEL CAINE
  ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE, BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS -- BRENDA BLETHYN

  At once uplifting and funny, showing a vast compassion for its exceptionally human characters, Little Voice is a moving treat and a wonderful portrait of the power of expression to set us free.
  In the attic of an untidy house, on a deadend street in a seaside town in northern England, Laura Hoff is singing. Laura (Jane Horrocks) hasn't really spoken since her father passed away -- hence her nickname, "Little Voice." A ghost-like presence in the house, Laura spends all her time listening to songs from her father's amazing collection of records. She has developed a remarkable talent for imitating those old recordings. Alone in her room, which has been converted into a shrine to her father, she perfectly replicates the songs of Judy Garland, Billie Holiday, Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and Marlene Dietrich. Laura's gift is amazing, but she doesn't share it with anybody.
  Michael Caine and Brenda Blethyn deliver hilarious turns as the brash, low-brow couple with an eye on the big time; Ewan McGregor is charming as a bashful young man who discovers love; and Jane Horrocks is captivating as Laura, whose quest to reveal her true voice is conveyed with marvelous honesty and sincerity.
  -- Toronto International Film Festival

***½ "A TREMENDOUS CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE ... BY OFFERING OPPORTUNITIES TO LAUGH, CRY, AND CHEER, LITTLE VOICE SATISFIES IN A BIG WAY." -- James Berardinelli

(UK, 1998)
  ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES BEST ACTRESS -- EMILY WATSON & BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS -- RACHEL GRIFFITHS
  GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD NOMINEE, BEST ACTRESS -- EMILY WATSON

  Rarely has a film based on the life of an artist been made with such extraordinary sensitivity to its subject. And what a subject this is. The flamboyant and richly talented Jacqueline du Pre was a musician of supreme talent. One of the greatest cellists of the century, her performances are the stuff of legend.
  Born into a middle-class English household, Jackie and her sister, Hilary, were both highly proficient musicians from an early age. Hilary played the flute and Jackie the cello. Initially it was Hilary who was thought to be the more talented. But the emotional and mercurial Jackie soon outstripped her sister, rapidly achieving stardom as a young woman, and the jet set life of an international artist.
  Hilary and Jackie probes the nature of the relationship between two sisters with unimaginable insight and deep emotion. Beautifully shot, directed and acted, this is a film of considerable passion and power.
  -- Toronto International Film Festival

**** "IT IS A TRIUMPH, AND ONE OF 1998's FEW "DON'T MISS" MOTION PICTURES." -- James Berardinelli

(US, 1997)
  ACADEMY AWARD WINNER, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR -- JAMES COBURN
  ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE, BEST ACTOR -- NICK NOLTE

  Adapted from the acclaimed novel by Russell Banks (The Sweet Hereafter) and directed by Paul Schrader (who wrote Taxi Driver, Raging Bull).   Nick Nolte is at the top of his acting craft as jinxed Wade Whitehouse, a glorified cop and snow-plow operator. Set in a small town in New Hampshire, this chilling and unyielding tale follows the hapless plight of the well meaning Wade, whose every action is haunted by personal demons. He struggles with a precarious relationship with a daughter who prefers her step-father to him, and schemes ineffectively to regain custody of her. His struggle takes a darker turn when he investigates a hunting accident which he comes to believe is really a cold-blooded murder.
  Nick Nolte was nominated for an OSCAR for Best Actor and James Coburn won the OSCAR for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Wade's abusive father.

**** "NOLTE AND COBURN ARE MAGNIFICENT IN THIS FILM." -- Roger Ebert

***½ "NOLTE, IN PEAK FORM IN ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES OF HIS CAREER, IS SUPPORTED BY A TOP CAST." -- Ed Scheid, Box Office Magazine

Wednesday, June 9, 7:00 pm
It's Your Turn, Laura (AA)
(C't'a ton tour, Laura Cadieux)

(Canada, 1998; English subtitles)
  LAURA CADIEUX became an overnight hit in Quebec last year, with pop singing star and actress Ginette Reno winning accolades in the title role. Directed by Denise Filliatrault and based on Michel Tremblay's novel, this light hearted, slice-of-life comedy revolves around Laura and her queen-sized woman friends who meet at a doctor's office for a mysterious fat-slimming remedy. The doctor always takes forever and while they wait, the delectable foibles of this entertaining collection of women are laid bare as they knit, play cards, watch TV and gossip. Conventionally thin and beautiful women like Catherine Deneuve are scorned and the more voluptuous Anouk Aimée from Claude LeLouche's classic A MAN AND A WOMAN is hailed as a "real woman." The French classic's theme score becomes their spontaneous anthem.

*** "LAURA CADIEUX WILL SURPRISE AND REWARD EVEN THOSE WHO SWORE THEY'D NEVER GO TO A SUBTITLED MOVIE AGAIN." -- The Globe and Mail