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Aaron Burr, Part 2 (directed by Dana O'Keefe) In this unusual and stylish re-telling of Burr's duel with Alexander Hamilton, history is re-imagined by Burr in a modern retrofitted narrative. Starting out with a James Bond, circa-1970s visual style, the two figures appear as secret agents, with a jaunty jazz score accompanying Burr's contextualization of the engagement. As each minute unfolds, Burr repeats the engagement again and again while giving his biased re-assessment of the faults of history. Director O'Keefe shoots Burr back and forth through time periods as his contempt for Hamilton climaxes in a hilarious final missive. At the end of this comic, intelligent, and innovative film, I found myself amazed that only nine minutes had passed.

FEAR X is the type of art-house/ indie fare that is just elusive enough, and slow, to make you think you are watching something more enriching than it is. The slow moving and provocative beginning has you involved enough not to pop out the disc in boredom and maybe even has you sitting up on your couch so you don't actually fall asleep and miss "the point." Don't worry. Your dreams are just as portentious and hold up to better analysis. The entire look and pace of FEAR X plays out like the forgotten love child of David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick. The problem is that the cinematic dna of this pairing got only the residue of its style and mood. It's no coincidence it looks Kubrick seeing as that Stanley's longtime gaffer worked on the film. In scene after scene there is stark usage of the color red to foretell of rage and foreboding violence. Curtains, lamps, coats, scarves...you name it. Red, red, red. I got it. Can we move on? The answer is no. The movie plays out in this mind-numbing slowness of pace leaving you to question if you are simply "not getting it." By the end you will not care...you won't "want it." FEAR X is not an awful movie but it can frustrate you with its artistic pretensions in a medium that has the ability to entertain, enrich and educate. FEAR X pretends to do all of these things...and does none. I hate a faker.

Second film by Brooks that I've caught and he seems to have a great feel for what works. Never act with children and animals they say...these guys would be on the losing end of that equation if they weren't children themselves. Shot in and around Los Feliz and the L.A. Zoo the film focuses on two guys who take the responsibility of watching and protecting stray dogs for a living. The problem is, "they don't work there." The concept of two guys chasing down stray dogs as so-called volunteers plays out in series of great docu-style scenes. Particularly funny is the sequence when the two 'heroes' find themselves fighting over a chew toy in a pet shop. 'Catch' it if you can.