seanplummer

Just saw The Girl Next Door in a preview screening in Toronto and it's a surprisingly smart and sensitive teen sex comedy. 24's Elisha Cuthbert is beautiful and almost nude but also subtle as Danielle, the ex-porn star who moves in next to Matthew (The Dangerous Life of Altar Boys' Emile Hirsch), a straight-arrow high school senior determined to live it up a little bit now that he's been accepted into Georgetown University. There's enough T&A to keep the frat boys entertained, but The Girl Next Door, despite a couple of lapses in narrative logic, prevails thanks to the enthusiasm of its leads and a remarkably candid approach to sex not mired in heavy-handed moralism, a condition prevalent in these post-Janet Jackson/Boobgate times. Kudos to Timothy Olyphant as Danielle's alternately charming and menacing porn producer.

Dennison Ramalho is a name to watch. Amor Só de Mãe is a perfectly executed, stylish and truly disturbing short film set in the Brazilian jungle. Filho is a weak-willed old man in love/lust with Formosa; there is little to indicate she feels the same way. Their couplings are brief and not particularly romantic. She threatens to move away without him unless he gives up his elderly mother, a religious fanatic, for her. He can't do it, and breaks down after discovering her whoring herself. Not only that but Formosa turns out to be a devil worshiper. Possessed, she compels Filho to show his devotion to her by returning with his mother's heart. What follows is a sad, sickening spectacle that shows both religion's tendency to be judgmental and the selfish, evil nature of devil worship. This is intense, graphic viewing and bodes well for director Ramalho's future in horror.