THE WEEKEND EXPERIENCE - MOVIES OPENING: 7/31/09

PICK OF THE WEEK

Thirst
I've been waiting for this one! Thirst is getting great reviews, with critics saying it's a smart and exotic piece of film-making from one of Asia's leading commercial talents and a quality example of an Asian director exploring a classic genre.

Sang-hyun is a priest who cherishes life; so much so, that he selflessly volunteers for a secret vaccine development project meant to eradicate a deadly virus. But the virus takes the priest, and a blood transfusion is urgently ordered up for him. The blood he receives is infected, so Sang-hyun lives - but now exists as a vampire. Struggling with his newfound carnal desire for blood, Sang-hyun's faith is further strained when a childhood friend's wife, Tae-ju comes to him asking for his help in escaping her life. Sang-hyun soon plunges into a world of sensual pleasures, finding himself on intimate terms with the Seven Deadly Sins.


GRIPPING DRAMA OF THE WEEK

Lorna's Silence
Critics are giving Lorna's Silence rave reviews, saying it's a closely observed, sociologically astute, and amazingly naturalistic drama about moral compromise as a by-product of economic need.

Lorna, a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her boyfriend, Sokol. In order to do so, she becomes an accomplice in a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio. Fabio has set up a false marriage between Lorna and Claudy allowing Lorna to get her Belgian citizenship. However, she is then asked to marry a Russian mafioso who's ready to pay hard cash to also get his hands on those vital Belgian identity papers. Fabio intends to kill Claudy in order to speed up the second marriage. But will Lorna remain silent?


WORTH A LOOK

Adam
Adam is a handsome, intriguing young man who has all his life led a sheltered existence -- until he meets his new neighbor, Beth, a beautiful, cosmopolitan young woman who pulls him into the outside world, with funny, touching and entirely unexpected results. Their implausible and enigmatic relationship reveals just how far two people from different realities can stretch in search of an extraordinary connection.

Critics are giving this film mixed reviews, saying Adam is sweet, meticulous, and, at times, sort of clever, but it's also a not-quite-surprising-enough heartwarming trifle.

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