If you absolutely have to watch a film with subtitles, try to catch it in the movie theater and not home on DVD.

You see when you watch a beautiful film with subtitles on DVD you miss the scenery. That’s because your eyes must always semi-focus on the bottom of your TV screen to keep track of the dialog.

But when you watch a movie with subtitles in the movie theatre, you’re looking up at a huge screen and your perspective is such that your peripheral vision can absorb more of the scenery - even the text seems easier to perceive.

Mongol which opens June 6th in a very limited release can be screened at the Varsity cinema in the Manulife building at Bay and Bloor in Toronto.

This is probably the only place in this city where this movie is playing. This is a good movie - a historical epic by Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov – but it has subtitles.

After twenty minutes it won't matter - Mongol is an awesome movie, and definitely the best new foreign film I've seen this summer.

What's the best new foreign film that you have seen?

I saw Mongol over the weekend and I thought it was spectacular.

Ip Man is pritty good.

Just watched "Live and Become". Incredible story about the 1984 Operation Moses in which approximately 8000 Jews made aliyah from Ethiopia. The DVD is subtitled. I got the film via Netflix, but I'm sure you can find it at on-line stores.

Prison Break is yet another drama series which has been gracing the screens courtesy of American producers. Over the past couple of years there seem to have been more and more shows coming over from America, all of a considerably high standard, and once again this one is no different. Prison Break. I’ve never really been a fan of the hit show Lost but always enjoyed the show 24 and so was eager to see what Prison Break would be all about. The first series of Prison Break hits the screens of America back in January 2006 and not yet finished, we are currently awaiting the fourth series which is now showing in America.
Prison Break basically follows the life of Michael Schofield who committed a bank robbery in order to be sent to prison to rescue his brother Lincoln Burrows who was facing the death penalty due to killing the Vice President’s brother. Despite there being a great deal of evidence connecting Lincoln to this crime, Michael firmly believes in his innocence and along with their old friend and Lincoln’s lawyer Veronica, goes about trying to prove his brother’s innocence and get them both out of Fox River state prison.
The series is based solely within the prison and shows the hatching and planning of the escape procedure and route. Of course nothing goes smoothly in the world of television and along the way there are multiple difficulties and scares which all add to the drama of the programme. The show also incorporates life on the outside including Lincoln’s son and how he is seemingly dragged into the whole mess, which almost adds the whole soap opera element to the show. The series ends with the men, along with several others who have all become central to the plot, attempting their dangerous escape out of the prison.
The show is quite different to any I’ve ever really watched before; if you’ve seen the film The Life of David Gale or The Shawshank Redemption then you will see great similarities in the stories. The show is screened by Fox and was premiered as the new 24 but in all honesty it’s not quite the same – it’s more nail biting in my opinion but lacks the alleged thrill of 24. It’s a hard hitting and honest American drama which will have you on the edge of your seat, it’s one you also need to be paying attention to as if you miss an episode they’ll be a big gap in your knowledge as so much seems to happen in every single episode.
In all honesty Prison Break is ridiculous, immensely ridiculous. But if you can see beyond the ridiculousness on the surface you’ll actually discover that it’s incredibly clever and unbelievably addictive. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes minus the commercial breaks and I find I’m literally on the edge of my seat for about half that time. No episode is complete without several cliff hangers and the cliff hanger at the end of each episode will leave you hammering on the TV screen begging to be told what happens next. Each episode will typically open with a recap of the previous couple of episodes to keep you up to date with what is going on.
The acting is brilliant, the coolness and suaveness which Wentworth Miller employs in playing Michael is brilliant, he makes Michael taciturn and determined in such an endearing way that you’ll be batting for him throughout the series. The show is strictly embedded within the drama category and it isn’t really easy watching drama either, more of a serious drama. It isn’t a comedy in the slightest although in some rare occasions the producers have introduced a little sarcastic, downbeat humour that does add a break to the dramatic mood that overhangs each episode.
But sincerely, It seem to be full of praise for the show so far but on the other hand the first series is 22 episodes in length which sees Michael continually plotting their escape, but them never actually escaping. I did feel towards episode 16 or 17 that the series was being dragged out a little in retrospect, although at the time I loved every single minute of it and would quite happily have watched them plotting with growing tiresome.
However the show has also received great criticism from some of American’s main critics including: -
The Washington Post “Prison Break would come off as more cruel than unusual. The somber pretentiousness of it, reinforced by performances uniformly overwrought, make it a heavy weight to bear, yet one resolutely empty-headed.”
What I would say is go into watching this show with an open mind, you have to accept the large and somewhat false coincidences otherwise you’ll just grow exasperated with this show. And remember, the main reason most of us watch TV is normally to escape reality and therefore, being a little far away from realistic surely cannot be a bad thing.
My final word, I have to be honest and say I loved the show, and am already craving the second series an abnormal amount! As long as you can disengage from looking for the plot holes and the ridiculousness of the plot then you’ll enjoy the mystery and sheer addictiveness of the show.
By Zyshan Aly Jayed

Just recently watched Let The Right One In and JCVD. They're both really good films.

Saw "Tokyo!" at a film festival recently. It's an omnibus picture directed by three seperate foreign directors telling stories within the cityscape of Tokyo.

Michel Gondry, Leos Carax, and Bong-Joon-Ho each direct a segment, and they all bring their a-game to the table. Pretty sure it's coming to DVD and Bluray at the end of June, so if you haven't seen it already i'd recommend it.

http://bit.ly/Tokyothemovie