Mao’s Last Dancer

A stunning adaptation of the autobiography of Chinese ex-pat Li Cunxin, who was plucked from his village at age 11 and forced to study ballet and who, years later, defected to America for freedom – and love.

Pax Americana and the Weaponization of Space

OTTAWA PREMIERE This startling doc examines the origins and reality of the militarization of space, and asks: will we weaponize space or keep it for peace? Must the world accept one super-power cop on the global beat? And what if it doesn’t?

Socalled Movie, The

OTTAWA PREMIERE If Woody Allen and Lil Wayne had a lovechild, it would be Josh Dolgin, a.k.a. Socalled, the Montreal-based hip-hop-klezmer-funk musician at the centre of this kaleidoscopic documentary about one man’s incredible creative process. English with French subtitles | Josh Dolgin in attendance June 18!

Tintorera

Hugo Stiglitz (yup, this is where Tarantino got the name for the Inglourious Basterds character) stars in this Jaws rip-off in which a tiger shark (tintorera, en Espangol) churns up the seas in place of a great white. Also starring Susan George (Straw Dogs).

Who Am I

This month, the Drunken Master’s Dojo says, if you think Jackie Chan is too old to thrill you, think again! This action-packed spectacle (never released theatrically in North America) will renew your appreciation for the world’s greatest living entertainer.

Water on the Table

OTTAWA PREMIERE Is water a commodity or a human right? Following the work of Maude Barlow, who fought – in vain – to keep water off the table in the NAFTA negotiations, this doc is “an 11th-hour cinematic wake-up call, and an unforgettable profile of a woman on an unstoppable

Embodiment of Evil

OTTAWA PREMIERE Completing his “Coffin Joe” trilogy (preceded by At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1963) and This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967)), director Marins (who is often compared to Buñuel and Jodorowsky) goes big on the home stretch. This is “trash horror cinema to the max.” (Variety) English

Dark Star

From the director of Halloween and the writer of Alien comes a sci-fi space-trucker comedy about four astronauts on a deep space mission to destroy unstable planets. This was Carpenter’s directorial debut, and like Halloween, this low-budget sleeper has inspired many filmmakers. 0

Date Night

This movie’s premise – that you could get bored of being married to Tina Fey – is hard to swallow. But once it got going, I laughed so hard I Lizzed.

Tropic Thunder