Jim Allodi

Written and directed by Aaron Woodley, Rhinoceros Eyes follows Chep (Michael Pitt), a reclusive prop-factory employee who quite literally lives at his job. Considering that Chep only leaves the funhouse-like factory to watch romantic films at the local movie house and is able to locate even the most obscure of objects from the depths of the prop house, he is regarded among peers as a valuable, if eccentric, asset to the staff. Eventually, Chep develops an infatuation with Fran (Paige Turco), a movie production designer with an uncanny eye for detail and authenticity. As her visits become more frequent, her requests become more bizarre -- including a pair of rhinoceros eyes, an antique Irish wooden prosthetic arm, and a severed index finger -- Chep becomes increasingly determined to procure them for her, and resorts to drastic, oftentimes violent measures. Though the police become involved, Chep's grip on reality continues to deteriorate, and visions of an alter ego constructed of prop-house junk begin to take over his life. The film also features Matt Servitto, Jim Allodi, Victor Ertmanis, and Nadia Litz. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Hired by a cheap tabloid, washed-up reporter Tom Merrick (Casper Van Dien) begins collecting research for a series of articles on famous disasters. Along the way, he makes a curious discovery: In the photos of such catastrophes as the San Francisco Earthquake and the Hindenburg explosion, he notices that the same person keeps showing up in the crowds. It soon develops that a group of futuristic "tourists" have signed on with an organization called Thrill Seekers, which whisks its customers to historical tragedies so that they can experience the thrill of being eyewitnesses. Much to his horror, Tom finds out that these time-traveling tourists have shown up in his own town, preparing to watch a cataclysmic disaster that has not yet transpired -- one that, unless prevented, will claim the lives of Tom's ex-wife and son. Originally telecast as The Time Shifters by TBS on October 17, 1999, this made-for-cable feature has since been released to video as Thrill Seekers. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Campbell Scott stars in this zany send-up of '50s body-snatching, alien invasion flicks. Scott plays Dr. Karel Lamonte, a pipe-smoking atomic scientist fresh from the Atomic Academy, who finds himself in the small town of Exceptional Vista -- situated somewhere between Fetus and New Imbroglio -- just before a large meteor strikes the local TV tower. Does this herald the beginning of a bizarre alien invasion? The town is littered with unusual characters: Sandy (Fiona Loewi) has an unnervingly close relationship with her brother, Guy (Tom Everett Scott); the town's sole policeman (Hardee T. Lineham) seems more interested in spanking Sandy than in solving crimes; and the mayor (Bernard Behrens) is a religious fanatic who claims that the aliens were sent from God to punish us for watching TV. When freshly gnawed-upon corpses start appearing at the edge of town, Dr. Lamonte responds like any other red-blooded atomic scientist: he bathes with a naked, inflatable likeness of himself. Top of the Food Chain was screened at the 1999 Vancouver Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Expatriate American writer Paul Bowles came to the limelight with an adaptation to screen by Bernardo Bertolucci of his first novel The Sheltering Sky. Subsequently, ambitious documentarists from several countries went down to Tangiers, Morocco where Bowles has been living for more than 50 years to capture the last days of an aging artist and composer, who played an important role in shaping the artistic trends of the 20th century along with other celebrities such as Allen Ginsberg, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams and William S. Burroughs.

In this definitive film biography which took director Jennifer Baichwal more than four years to complete, the 87-year-old Bowles reflects on his life, work and friends while lying in bed at his home in Tangier smoking kif (cannabis) from an elegant black cigarette holder. Although his monologue serves as the structure of the film, director Baichwal cuts to archival footage of North Africa in the 1930s and 1940s to set the mood and uses the comments of late William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and David Herbert on Bowles and his work to counterbalance what Bowles says about the same issues. Moroccan writer Mohammed Choukri's harsh analysis of the expatriate scene in Morocco before Independence provides another perspective.

One of the highlights of the film is the exclusive footage of the last meeting of Bowles, Burroughs and Ginsberg in 1995 in a Manhattan hotel room in New York before the latter two passed away. This was Bowles's first visit to the U.S. in 33 years at the invitation of The EO Orchestra, which performed two sold-out performances of his music at the Lincoln Center. Let It Come Down is compact and well balanced. It avoids being voyeuristic, which is not easy to do considering the iconoclastic nature of its subject. Whether it brings the viewer closer to the enigmatic artist is arguable, simply because as Burroughs says of Bowles' autobiography, he might look like he's saying a lot about himself, but in fact, "he says nothing." ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide