Fall Fear Reaches New Heights

Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse communities in the United States and the world. There are immigrants from every country in South America, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and China. Some are citizens, some have green cards, some are without documents.

Tracy Borman tells the story of the downfall of Henry VIII's second wife, charting her arrest, trial and execution.

Lonely, middle-aged widow and cleaning lady Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira) goes into an unknown bar during a rainstorm and meets Ali (El Hedi ben Salem), a Moroccan auto mechanic over twenty years her junior. These two "outsiders" like each other immediately, fall in love, and marry. That sends shockwaves through Emmi's family and neighbours, as well as Ali's co-workers and bar buddies. Emmi and Ali's relationship is threatened not only by hostile outside forces, but by problems in themselves which they need to confront if they hope to find lasting happiness together.

In the baking Afghan summer sun, thousands of people made a desperate dash for the airport in Kabul. Their city was convulsed with fear after the country's leadership fled, leaving the Taliban back in the Presidential Palace. It was an inglorious end to the 20 year war effort to rid the nation of the Taliban. On Monday Four Corners takes you into the fall of Kabul. In interviews and videos from those on the ground, the program captures the drama and the chaos of the last 16 days.

Bit of a let-down after the terrific first instalment. There is decidely less action in this one, and Kinnosuke's acting is not as compelling.
On the upside, many of the characters from the first one are still around. The feisty old couple who feel wronged and try for revenge are hilarious. And Akemi and Otsu, the two main female characters, are as lovely as ever.
And the overall story begins to make more sense. The film opens with Takeno deciding to leave the castle and, therefore, is given a new name for his new life. His new personal name, Musashi, is in fact the same name as Takezo. That is, the same kanji characters. But because of the (to outsiders) baffling lack of consistent phonetics, this is perfectly acceptable and understandable, and the story makes some attempts to at least make it clear. The newly rechristened MM sets out to learn swordsmanship from only the best practitioners, in a time when ronin (landless samurai) are legion and times are tough.
There is some clever strategy and thoughtful plot points, and the final sword battle caps things off rather well. Overall, I'd say this instalment would be good for those who want to understand the series as a whole, but not so compelling as a stand-alone viewing.

The War of the World is a major new history of the 20th century by acclaimed and controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson, described by The Times as the “most brilliant British historian of his generation”. We think we know the last century well, but our view of it was skewed by the fact that we were living through it.

Chili-born Italian director Marco Bechis's second feature is a political drama based on his experiences with the military regime of Argentina (1976-1980) when he lived there. Maria (Antonella Costa) is a militant activist in an organization that is fighting the oppressive dictatorship. She teaches reading and writing in the suburbs of Buenos Aires in an area of shantytowns. She lives in a decrepit rooming house with her mother Diane (Dominique Sanda), who rents out some rooms. One of the lodgers, a shy young man named Felix (Carlos Echeverria), is in love with Maria. He seems to have come from nowhere and is supposed to be working in a garage. One morning, Maria is kidnapped by a military squad in civilian clothes in front of her mother and is taken to the garage 'Olimpo,' one of the many well-known torture places in the city, which operate to the general indifference of the inhabitants…..