More Recomendations

The Corporation
Dir. Mark Achbar & Jennifer Abbott
Canada, 2003
May 27, 4:15pm, HARVARD EXIT; May 29, 6pm, EGYPTIAN

Slightly pointy-headed, but very interesting documentary that traces the history of incorporated companies from the 1800s, when they were granted the same rights as a person, to the disastrous present. It's a little over two hours, but the pacing doesn't really lag and the framing of the issues are done in such a way as to keep things interesting. It is even, at times, quite moving. Interviews with Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore and industry insiders keep things rounded. Done by the director of "Manufacturing Consent."

Intimate Strangers
Dir. Patrice Leconte
France, 2004 (North American Premiere)
June 13, 6pm, CINERAMA

Subtle psychological drama about a woman who enters a tax consultant's office and pours out her problems as if he were the psychiatrist two doors down. I started out thinking this one was going to be boring, but it drew me in slowly but surely and I ended up enjoying it very much. It centers on these two individuals and the little deceits that grow between them -- nothing too complicated, but just complicated enough, with very well drawn characters. Not to be confused with "Perfect Strangers," which also plays the festival and sucks.