Heather Kafka Movies

A man looks for a way to get even with the sibling who has stolen away the woman he loves in this independent comedy drama from writer and director Bryan Poyser. Paul (Alex Karpovsky) and Rudy (Chris Doubek) are brothers who are also both writers, though their careers are on opposite ends of the spectrum of success; Paul has authored a series of fantasy novels for kids that have made him a very wealthy man, while Rudy's bitter and more personal work makes no inroads into the marketplace. Rudy is envious of his brother's good fortune, in part because he helped him come up with the characters for his stories when they were children. Rudy does have one thing that Paul wants, however -- Rudy's wife, Diana (Heather Kafka), who is disenchanted with her husband's dour attitude and money troubles and wants a divorce. After Diana finally kicks Rudy out of their home, he's reduced to living out of his car until Paul takes pity on him and pays for an extended stay at a hotel. What Rudy doesn't know is that Paul has given him a place to stay so he can invite Diana on a getaway to a luxury ski resort in Utah. Once Rudy catches on that Paul is seducing his ex-wife, Rudy makes his way to Utah and sneaks into their chalet, following their movements as he plots his revenge. Lovers of Hate received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival -- fitting, since Poyser shot the Utah sequences in Park City while attending the Sundance Festival in 2009 (using the bungalow where he and a number of other Austin, TX filmmakers were staying as the set for Paul and Diana's love nest). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

One of the most infamous horror films of the 1970s is revisited in this remake produced by action-spectacle maven Michael Bay. In the summer of 1973, four teenagers -- Erin (Jessica Biel), Morgan (Jonathan Tucker), Kemper (Eric Balfour), and Andy (Mike Vogel) -- are driving through Texas on a road trip when they pick up a hitchhiker, Pepper (Erica Leerhsen), who is on her way to Mexico to score some dope. With Pepper adding to the party atmosphere, the other four decide to join her, but as they're passing through a small town in Travis County, they see a bloody and distraught girl (Lauren German) wandering by the side of the road, and after stopping to help her, they realize she's been involved in something horribly traumatic. As the kids try to help the girl piece together the story of what happened, they find themselves drawn into the web of a murderous family of subnormal cannibals. Inspired -- like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and Deranged -- by the crimes of Wisconsin multiple murderer Ed Gein, this remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also features narration by John Larroquette, who narrated the original film (it was his first screen credit), as well as supporting performances by R. Lee Ermey, Andrew Prine, and Andrew Bryniarski. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Writer/director Michael Meredith's ambitious first feature, Three Days of Rain, weaves together a large number of tales, loosely based on short stories by Anton Chekhov, and set in present-day Cleveland. Thunder (Michael Santoro) is a struggling tile-maker, an artisan whose leaky roof threatens to destroy his business and his life. Denis (Joey Bilow) is a mentally impaired railroad worker who finds his job in jeopardy when a co-worker, Jim (Chuck Cooper), questions his competence. Tess (Merle Kennedy) is a drug-addled young woman who performs sexual favors for a sleazy judge in order to visit the young daughter of whom she's lost custody. Waldo (Peter Falk) is an old rummy who repeatedly manipulates his caring son, Michael (Bill Stockton, who also produced the film), and then apologizes for doing so. Alex (Erick Avari of The Mummy) begins to question everything about his life after an encounter with a homeless veteran. A cab driver, John (Don Meredith), tells everyone who will listen about the recent death of his son. Through it all runs the commentary of a disc jockey (Lyle Lovett), who plays the smooth jazz that comprises the film's soundtrack. Three Days of Rain came to the attention of Wim Wenders through an editor on the project, Peter Przygodda, and Wenders, impressed with Meredith's work, became involved with the film. Three Days of Rain was shown in competition at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. The film features cameos by Blythe Danner, Jason Patric, Max Perlich, Wayne Rogers (of M*A*S*H fame), and avant-garde filmmaker George Kuchar. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi