Islamic Execution—This Friday, June 23, the New Mexico Coalition to Repeal the Death Penalty will present the award-winning Iranian film Day Break beginning at 7 p.m. at the KiMo Theater in Downtown Albuquerque. The film was shot inside Tehran's century-old prison and revolves around the imminent execution of a young man found guilty of murder. In Iranian society, a victim’s family not only has the right to condemn or forgive an accused killer, they also have the responsibility of carrying out said execution. This apparently leads to an all-too-common situation, in which criminals are stuck in prison at the whim of families wavering between forgiveness or revenge. The film is a well-made, well-acted think piece, sure to spark discussions of both the death penalty and cultural differences between the United States and the Middle East. A public forum will be held after the screening led by the film's award-winning producer/director, Hamid Rahmanian. Tickets are available online (www.nmrepeal.org), through Ticketmaster (888-7800) or at the KiMo Box office.

Death-dealing Aussie indie sees a light at the end of the tunnel

A man accidentally steps in front of a train, killing himself. Who and what he was is unimportant now. It is the repercussions of his death, the slow ripples that it sends out and how it affects people--most of whom never even knew him--that we’re supposed to be keeping an eye on here. This seemingly everyday accident is the catalytic event in Aussie filmmaker Sarah Watt’s deft, death-obsessed drama Look Both Ways.

Martin (1977)

Growing up a poor Mexican child, I cut my horror teeth (sharpened my fangs?) watching “Dialing For Dollars” on KOAT-7 hosted by beloved local weather guru Howard Morgan. Driven by an insatiable desire to quench my thirst for terror, I would race home from school to catch classic horror films starring the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (not to mention kick-ass science fiction and Godzilla movies!). So you will have to understand that I’m a pretty tough nut to crack when it comes to vampire films. Quite frankly, most of them just ... suck. It takes a pretty solid effort to make a fan out of me. Luckily for horror freaks such as myself, the good people at Lions Gate have chosen to finally release a truly great, often ignored vampire mini-masterpiece on DVD. I’m talking about horror legend George A. Romero’s Martin.

“Pants Off Dance Off” on Fuse

You can tell, just from the title, that Fuse TV’s “Pants Off Dance Off” achieves a Zen-like level of simplicity and stupidity that many TV shows strive for, but few truly attain.

Week in Sloth

The Week in Sloth