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Everyone's alone--the well-dressed gentleman played by consumate actor Claude Rains who doesn't know (or want to know) who he is; the adorable child, Billy Mumy, who tells an all-to-common story of rejection; and poor ole sad sack drunk (reliable character actress, Connie Gilchrist) who provides pathos and comic relief.

Everyone has a sad story. But as in life, when the opportunity presents itself--the secret of Life is revealed: We all need each other. A great story, economically told by master actors.

"The Killing Fields of Dr Haing S Ngor" is a carefully-made documentary based on Dr Ngor's own treasury of his improbable life's images and words. We see astonishing films of Cambodian history, little known to Americans, and Dr. Ngor's life--both improbable and heroic. First, Haing was a Cambodian son with a medical degree, enjoying his position of wealth and power; then a prisoner of the brutal Pol Pot regime until, by chance and astonishing good luck, he came to America only to be offered the role of Dith Pran in "The Killing Fields"(1984) for which he was one of three Asian actors to win an Academy Award. His story is remarkable and should be better known. Thanks to Arthur Dong's excellent film it can be.

Film Noir, which often united the darker impulses of America post- WWII with an exhausted, disillusioned Europe, showed the world was both smaller and larger than mere borders. Dave Boyle's new noir Man From Reno is both a step back into the contained yet expansive world of San Francisco and an up-to-the- minute dispatch from the lonely land of singles. The brilliant Pepe Serna is the aptly named sheriff, Moral, whose calm demeanor and intelligence inspires confidence. The cast, down to the bartenders, are living in this world and the darker places of the psyche. But it is talented Ayako Fujitani as the lionized author whom we want to know better. She carries her secrets like a true detective--close to vest. Secrets and dark alleys abound but the characters carry the story. This one's a keeper-- years from now it will double-bill with The Maltese Falcon at our land-marked neighborhood movie palaces.