魔鬼屠夫

　　一位渴望调查的大学教授被一些老朋友邀请去调查他们古董书店的一系列闹鬼事件。

　　甘地热潮正席卷印度全国，其中一个原因可以说是拜本片所赐。本片讲述黑道人物姆纳为了追求一名电台女DJ，讹称自己是大学教授，不惜恶补甘地生平，以便参加电台问答比赛。当他日刨夜刨时，甘地的鬼魂就在他眼前出现，教导他如何以非暴力手段应付人生逆境。在这出黑道人物追女仔的电影中，圣雄甘地的角色几乎由头演到尾，甘地的哲学和精神也贯彻了全片。本片在首都新德里开画一星期后，市政府以该片宣扬甘地追求真理和非暴力抗争，宣布该片可以豁免缴交娱乐税。同样地，印度中部切蒂斯格尔邦也因本片表扬甘地的价值观，具有教育意义，宣扬正面讯息，也给予该片免税的地位。

　　为了向女友和她的父亲证明自己，失败的修车员踏上朝圣之旅，却在途中遇到了种种意外。

　　柯蒂斯（迈克尔·珊农 Michael Shannon 饰）是个建筑工人，非常辛苦地工作养家，幸而和妻子萨曼莎（杰西卡·查斯坦 Jessica Chastain 饰）感情和睦，还有个六岁的听障女儿汉娜。有一天，柯蒂斯被一个非常真实的噩梦惊醒，梦里面有恐怖的龙卷风到来，下起柏油一样的雨，整个镇子被夷为平地。从此类似的噩梦经常出现，柯蒂斯渐渐开始相信，认为这是末世启示，梦里发生的一切都被他带到现实，他开始变得暴躁、沉默，还在家里建风暴掩体，甚至丢了工作。萨曼莎不理解丈夫的一系列变化，认为他生病了，应该看心理医生，还为他花许多钱建毫无用处的东西、买昂贵又毫无用处的防毒面具、丢了工作没了医疗保险大为光火。柯蒂斯的“症状”越来越严重，也越来越为人所不容，他的境遇，取决于他预见的风暴到底会不会到来……

　　Fraught with over obvious symbolism, Hartley's early feature is nonetheless a joy to watch. Hal here shows us his uncanny ability to cast his characters perfectly came early in his career.
　　Adrienne Shelley is a near perfect foil to herself, equal parts annoying teen burgeoning in her sexuality (though using sex for several years); obsessed with doom and inspired by idealism gone wrong she is deceptively – and simultaneously – complex and simple. Her Audrey inspires so many levels of symbolism it is almost embarrassingly rich (e.g., her modeling career beginning with photos of her foot – culminating her doing nude (but unseen) work; Manhattan move; Europe trip; her stealing, then sleeping with the mechanics wrench, etc.)
　　As Josh, Robert Burke gives an absolutely masterful performance. A reformed prisoner/penitent he returns to his home town to face down past demons, accept his lot and begin a new life. Dressed in black, and repeatedly mistaken for a priest, he corrects everyone ("I'm a mechanic"), yet the symbolism is rich: he abstains from alcohol, he practices celibacy (is, in fact a virgin), and seemingly has taken on vows of poverty, and humility as well. The humility seems hardest to swallow seeming, at times, almost false, a pretense. Yet, as we learn more of Josh we see genuineness in his modesty, that his humility is indeed earnest and believable. What seems ironic is the character is fairly forthright in his simplicity, yet so richly drawn it becomes the viewer who wants to make him out as more than what he actually is. A fascinatingly written character, perfectly played.
　　The scene between Josh and Jane (a wonderful, young Edie Falco . . . "You need a woman not a girl") is hilarious . . . real. But Hartley can't leave it as such and his trick, having the actors repeat the dialogue over-and-over becomes frustratingly "arty" and annoying . . . until again it becomes hilarious. What a terrific sense of bizarre reality this lends the film (like kids in a perpetual "am not"/"are too" argument).
　　Hartley's weaves all of a small neighborhood's idiosyncrasies into a tapestry of seeming stereotypes but which delves far beneath the surface, the catalyst being that everyone believes they know what the "unbelievable truth" of the title is, yet no two people can agree (including our hero) on what exactly that truth is. A wonderful little movie with some big ideas.

　　艾比（凯瑟琳·海格尔 Katherine Heigl 饰）是同事眼中的完美女神，作为早间电视节目制作人的她不仅事业有成，而且还有着一张精致漂亮的脸蛋。但令同事们困扰的是，这样完美的艾比，年近三十却依然单身。只有艾比心里清楚，自己之所以单身，是因为心目中的那个完美先生还没有出现。
　　作为艾比的同事，麦克（杰拉德·巴特勒 Gerard Butler 饰）对态度强硬的艾比产生了浓厚的兴趣，所以，当艾比邂逅了医生科林（艾里克·温特 Eric Winter 饰）并为之心动后，他主动提出要为她的恋情出谋划策。在麦克的帮助下，艾比的感情之路一帆风顺，但在这过程中，艾比发现自己对于麦克的感情渐渐地变得复杂起来。

　　深山里某个小镇上，人们过着安静平淡知足的日子。对于自己的家乡，高中女生Machi（夏莲）虽然再熟悉不过，却总觉得仍有许多未知之谜等着她去发掘。某天，Machi和两个女友憧憬未来，玩起故事接龙游戏，在她们天马行空地幻想未来时，镇里的大人们开始回想有关过去被埋葬的树木的故事。
　　暴风雨将小镇“袭击”，大人们记忆中被埋葬的巨大树木暴露出来，“梦幻森林”的入口被打开，Machi和女友编写的未来同过去有了联系，一切变得似真又似幻，如梦又如烟。