This Week in Film: April 4th 2008

From writer/director/star Nadine Labaki comes the acclaimed comedy Caramel, opening in Vancouver on Friday. In Caramel, a Beirut beauty salon serves as a microcosm of modern society, following the lives of five women of varying generations. Screened at the Cannes Directors' Fortnight in 2007, the film has generated sparkling reviews from around the globe and can be seen in an exclusive engagement at Fifth Avenue Cinemas.

Has it really been 18 years since the last Rolling Stones Imax spectacular? It's nice to know that, even at ninety years old, Mick Jagger has enough energy to keep making Imax concert films. This one might be pretty good, as the director is none other than Martin Scorsese. But a collaboration with Christina Aguilera?? Yikes. Shine A Light starts Friday at The CN Imax Theatre.

Also opening at Fifth Ave is Under The Same Moon, about a young Mexican boy who travels to the U.S. to find his mother after his grandmother passes away. It premiered at dozens of festivals including Toronto and Sundance and has been receiving some very good word-of-mouth.

Playing this week at Vancity Theatre is UK director Paul Andrew Williams' gritty thriller London To Brighton, which the Times called "The best British film this year." And as mentioned in the column last week, 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days is still playing at Vancity until April 9, and I strongly recommend seeing this completely enthralling drama before it's gone.

Opening in wide release this weekend, George Clooney stars and directs Leatherheads, co-starring Renee Zellweger and John Krasinski of The Office fame. Clooney and Krasinski play 1920s-era pro football players vying for the affections of sassy reporter Zellweger. It's been getting some decent reviews.

Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler star in the family adventure-comedy Nim's Island, an adaptation of the best-selling children's book by Australian author Wendy Orr, about an imaginative young girl who lives on an isolated island with her scientist father.

From producer Ben Stiller comes the slightly upper-class horror film The Ruins, based upon the novel by Scott Smith, who also wrote one of my favorite screenplays of all time-A Simple Plan. A group of friends on vacation in Mexico discover something very evil hidden amongst the ruins of a nearby jungle. If you're in the mood for some horror guaranteed to be smarter than the average slasher remake, this may be a good alternative.

At Cineworks on April 5, The Cineworks Independent Filmmakers Society presents The Art of the Short Film, an exploratory workshop on short-film production, which covers writing, directing, casting, shot lists, sets, locations and a whole lot more. Tix are $85 or $65 if you have a Cineworks membership. It runs from 10 am-5 pm. Visit cineworks.ca for more details.

Producer Alison Lawton brings her documentary Uganda Rising to the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre located at the Douglas College campus in New Westminster. Covering the plight of child soldiers in a constant state of chaos in Northern Uganda, Lawton herself will speak following the screening of the film, which features interviews with figures such as Noam Chomsky and Lloyd Axworthy. For more info, call 604-527-5327.

Last but not least, if you love the films of Jean-Luc Godard don't forget to catch the screening of his 1965 sci-fi classic Alphaville, starring Eddie Constantine and the beautiful Anna Karina, at the Pacific Cinematheque on April 7 and April 9. It's on a double-bill with Alain Resnais' 1959 film Hiroshima, Mon Amour.