The 12th annual Asian American Showcase, presented by the Foundation for Asian American Independent Media and the Gene Siskel Film Center, continues through Thursday, April 12, with screenings at the Film Center. Tickets are $9, $7 for students, and $5 for Film Center members; for more information call 312-846-2800.
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Dark Matter A brilliant Chinese student (Ye Liu of Purple Butterfly) thinks his dreams have come true when he arrives at a California university to study astrophysics under his idol (Aidan Quinn), but after the young man develops a dazzling new theory that contradicts his mentor’s model of the universe, he gets a chilly lesson in academic politics. Billy Shebar based his script on the true story of Gang Lu, a doctoral student who killed five people at the University of Iowa in 1991, and fails to pull off a comparably bloody climax. But first-time director Chen Shi-Zheng shows great sensitivity to the pressure and isolation felt by Chinese brains at American universities, and the relationship between Liu and Quinn provides a rare look at the intellectual serfdom of graduate study. With Meryl Streep. 88 min. (JJ) a Sat 4/7, 8 PM; also Wed 4/11, 6 PM.
The Inheritance A Canadian brother and sister return to their native Manila to attend the funeral of their wealthy grandmother and discover they’ve inherited her remote country estate. This Canadian-Filipino coproduction (2006) begins by cogently showing how each sibling has assimilated and how awkward both feel revisiting their homeland; the second half descends into supernatural hokum as they’re terrorized by an assortment of demons on the estate. Writer-director-editor Romeo Candido creates some visually arresting images, but lack of cultural context stymies his attempts to fuse a contemporary narrative with Filipino folklore. In English and subtitled Tagalog. 111 min. (JK) a Fri 4/6, 8:15 PM.
The Trouble With Romance There’s plenty of trouble–along with some laughs and wise insights–in these four vignettes on sex and relationships, set in rooms in the same hotel. In “Dumped” the misunderstood conversation that leads to a breakup is characteristic of male-female miscommunication. In “Banged” a girl’s hallucinations of her ex during sex and after convinces her new lover that she’s nuts. “Love” shows a guy’s encounter with a surprisingly caring high-priced hooker. The performances are convincing, and director Gene Rhee does a good job of outlining the messiness of human affections here, showing how we don’t always know what we really want or how to get it. 88 min. (FC) Rhee will attend the screening. a Sat 4/7, 3 PM.
