
Reel World
Females and Films
On March 14 and 15, the National Hispanic Cultural Center hosts the 2008 Women & Creativity Film Festival. Over the weekend, the NHCC’s Bank of America Theatre (1701 Fourth Street SW) will screen a string of short films and videos created by female producers, writers and directors. Anne Stirling’s alternative-to-matrimony documentary Why Get Married?, Rebecca Rivas’ examination of Peruvian women’s reproductive health, Erin Hudson’s look at female long-haul truckers and several short-form narrative pieces will be shown Friday, March 14, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. A Q&A with the artists will follow. Saturday—from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., from 2 to 4:15 p.m. and from 6 to 9 p.m.—there will be additional blocks of shorts, documentaries and animations. All screenings are free and open to the public. For a complete schedule of films, log on to www.nhccnm.org.

Film Review
The Rape of Europa
The art of war
Are you familiar with Stendhal Syndrome? It’s a psychosomatic condition, first documented by the 19th-century French writer Stendhal, in which people can be overcome by great works of art. Stendhal reported heart palpitations, dizziness and an almost religious sense of epiphany upon viewing the cultural riches of Florence. It’s an odd concept, to be sure--but one that seems all the more clear upon viewing The Rape of Europa, a mesmerizing, astonishing, highly emotional film about Adolf Hitler’s systematic campaign to steal and/or destroy Europe’s great works of art.

Film Review
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
At least it doesn’t have Jim Carrey in gray makeup and big, rubber ears
Now that we’re all safely outside the biohazard zone created by 2000’s Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas and 2003’s Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat, I think we can all agree that live-action versions of Dr. Seuss books are just wrong, wrong, wrong. It’s of some comfort, then, that the 2008 feature film translation of Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! arrives in animated form. It’s computer-animated, mind you, but at least it’s a cartoon, sparing us the horror of seeing Mike Myers covered in white spackle and black fur and prancing around leftover sets from Edward Scissorhands.

Idiot Box
“New Amsterdam” on FOX
After 400 years, his pension must be awesome
John Amsterdam, the main character of FOX’s offbeat new crime series, is a 17th-century Dutch soldier cursed (or is it blessed?) to live forever, or at least until he meets his one true love. It sounds like an unusual premise for a show, but one of the sneakier strengths of “New Amsterdam” is that it’s really rather familiar.
Week in Sloth
The Week in Sloth
“Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp” (VH1 7 p.m.) It’s worth tuning in to the first episode of “Celebrity Fit Club” (now with more retired drill sergeant!) just to seen who’s gotten all fat. Tipping the scales for this outing are Erin Moran, Sommore, Brian Dunkleman, A.J. Benza, Tina Yothers, Willie Aames, Dustin Diamond and Toccara Jones. I have no idea who several of those people are, but it’s nice to see Dunkleman finally find a follow-up project to that first-season hosting gig on “American Idol.”
“The Return of Jezebel James” (KASA-2 7 p.m.) Indie film darling Parker Posey (Best in Show, Henry Fool) headlines this mature comedy as a successful young-adult author who bends to the will of her parents and admits the only thing she’s missing in her life is a child. Determined to go it herself, our heroine soon finds out she’s incapable of having children. Undeterred, she “hires” her aimless little sister (Lauren Ambrose from “Six Feet Under”) to carry her child to term.