Carlos Sasha Garcia
- 2006
The deceptively complicated art of cigar making is investigated in this short documentary from filmmaker Russell Griffin. In a small store in Miami, Cuban exiles continue to hone the craft they learned in the land of their birth, taking tobacco leaves from around the world and painstakingly rolling them into some of the world's finest cigars. In Los Tabaqueros, these masters of their art explain how combining different leaves can create different and distinctive flavors, and how imperfections are worked out of the leaves to create a superior product. Los Tabaqueros was screened in competition at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Ridley Scott directed this epic-scale historical drama inspired by the events of the Crusades of the 12th century. Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a humble French blacksmith who is searching for a reason to go on after the death of his wife and children. Balian is approached by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a fabled knight who has briefly returned home after serving in the East. Godfrey informs Balian that he is his true father, and urges the blacksmith to join him as he and his forces journey to Jerusalem to help defend the holy city. Balian accepts, and he and Godfrey arrive during the lull between the Second and Third Crusades, in which the city is enjoying a fragile peace. Both Christian and Muslim forces are temporarily in retreat, thanks to the wisdom of the Christian monarch King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), his second-in-command Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), and Muslim potentate Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). Violent agitators on both sides are foolishly eager to end the peace in a bid for greater power, and Saladin bows to pressures from Muslim factions; Godfrey is one of a handful of brave knights who has thrown his allegiance behind Baldwin IV and his community of diversity, and Balian joins him as they use their skills as warriors in a bid to build a lasting peace. Kingdom of Heaven also stars Eva Green as the princess Sibylla, David Thewlis as Hospitaler the priest, and Brendan Gleeson as Reynald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, (more)
