Pat Tillman, the football star who shirked a multi- million dollar pro contract to fight beside his brother in Iraq and Afghanistan was one casualty of war the Bush Administration was willing to talk about. Too bad they didn’t get the story straight, but then again, truth wasn’t their motive. Bush needed a mythical hero to inspire men to enlist and galvanize support for his unpopular war. Pat Tillman, the charismatic and handsome footballer, arguably the most famous US soldier at the time, fit the bill. We were told that Tillman died in an ambush, fighting an uphill battle against a rain of terrorist bullets, sacrificing himself to spare the lives of fellow soldiers behind him. His chiseled face flashed on every news channel and the nation mourned the loss of this selfless hero. Pat Tillman was a hero, but the story of his death was a brazen lie. Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire. Not just by a stray bullet in frenzied fog of war combat, but in a shocking skirmish of confusion and battle-lust. The cover-up started immediately and reached all the way to Whitehouse.

Director Amir Bar-Lev documents the Tillman family’s fight to separate their beloved son from the mythical figure that was made of him and expose the military and Bush administration’s bold dishonesty to the nation they duped. The Tillman’s had a long fight on their hands. Year’s later, when the military brass and Donald Rumsfeld were finally called to questioning at a congressional hearing over the cover-up, the good old boys feigned ignorance and passed the buck before filing out to lunch. Well, what were they expecting? The matter would have died there if not for Amir Bar-Lev. In the end, The Tillman Story achieves what Pat’s family fought for – the truth revealed.

– Stephen C.

When an unknown Nazi film was discovered in an East German archive, lost for decades, it revealed staged scenes shot in the Warsaw Ghetto in May of 1942, mere months before the mass deportations by railcar would begin to the Treblinka extermination camp. The film, revealed take after take of staged scenes that attempted to manipulate perception on how the Jews lived and behaved in their pre-camp holding pen. A Film Unfinished presents the full footage, scenes of extreme poverty and demoralizing oppression layered with fictionalized sequences of Jews dining in callous luxury or strolling the streets in designer clothes, passing bodies without so much as a glance. The footage is grainy and undressed, more Atget than Riefenstahl. Sometimes hauntingly beautiful, capturing tiny sparks of folk character, others macabre and disheartening. Interviews with Willy Wist, the only known cinematographer give chilling testimony to the film’s ultimate goal of demonizing the Jews, a small step in the Reich’s more ambitious plan to eviscerate them from history.

Undeniably, there is a now vast library of films devoted to the Holocaust, and many roll their eyes or groan at the mention of yet another Holocaust documentary. (One of the better known critics snored during the screening one row behind me.) But for many, like myself, the Holocaust remains a point of intense fascination for its incredible challenge to humanity and the disparate actions, heroic and sinister that it engendered. A Film Unfinished is at least a worthy addition to the bulging Holocaust cannon. It reveals yet another layer of Nazi deception and presents a truth and reality that few survived.

A Film Unfinished opens in New York at Film Forum.

- Stephen C.

Embarrassingly, I skipped the press screening for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Who needs to see Michael Cera play yet another whimpering mouse? Certainly not I. Then, on hearing the rumble, I headed quick to the theater at Union Square. The movie played to a sold out audience (all mostly under 30) and I was quickly hooked by director Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the comic book by the same name. With a fresh, inspired style, dead-on comedic timing and a genuinely humorous script, Mr. Wright gives us what may be our last big laugh of the summer.

To win the girl of his dreams, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) must engage in 3D battle with a league of her past boyfriends – all 7 of them! Michael Cera, that uber geek with the Bambi brown eyes and ill-fitting jeans is at his old game. Only in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, he transcends stereotype with satire – just barely.

Like a mash-up hybrid of video game and comic strip, Scott Pilgrim brings a fresh, new energy to the screen that you don’t have to be young to appreciate. You might wish for a fast forward button in the fourth quarter when the storyline goes on repeat, but you’ll leave the theater entertained and feeling that you’ve seen something new – a rare satisfaction in today’s formula packaged cinema. Mr. Cera, you’re off the hook this time for originality, but be warned: this was your last ride on the nerd train.

- Stephen C.

Too bad Steven Slater didn’t catch Eat Pray Love before torching his professional life and escaping down an emergency chute with a stolen beer – Julia Roberts might have inspired him to take the high road. Unfortunately for JetBlue, Eat Pray Love opens Friday.

A movie like Eat Pray Love is basically critic-proof. Movie-goers are already lining up to get their dose of Julia Roberts and Javier Bardem – despite middling reviews. And well they should. Eat Pray Love is a visual, fun romp that satisfies on the surface. A New York writer, disenchanted by the grind of career and marriage embarks on a soul-quest to regain her appetite for life. Her journey leads her on a year-long sojourn through the menu’s of Italy, the spiritual air of India and finally to a more elevated relationship with love in Bali. While enjoying our personal time with Julia and Javier, we might be overwhelmed at times by the Broadway sets, flat predictability of the script and Hollywood over-packaging. Eat Pray Love’s idea of spiritual awakening has more to do with surviving divorce and heartache than peeling back the layers of ego or living in the present. Such superficialities aside, Julia is at her best: beautiful, accessible and fun to hang with. Eat Pray Love may not satisfy any of the lofty themes it throws around but it’s a perfect getaway with two of our favorite people.

No longer gainfully employed, Mr. Slater might not have the cash to skip town for a year to ‘find’ himself, but hopefully he can afford a movie ticket. This one’s for him.

– Stephen C.

The process of revisiting a Mississippi town’s violent past for the sake of delayed justice is as painful as the reopening of an old wound. Few of the town’s inhabitants, black or white, want to look back for fear of family names surfacing or reviving an old shame that took decades to shake. But, in the case of this American tragedy, the wound had to be reopened for it to be properly healed.

The crime is so notorious that after 40 years, it still holds a dark place in our national conscience. The murder of three civil rights activists in 1964 by Klansmen on a Neshoba County backroad was never fully investigated despite years of bragging from those involved. Then in 2005, with at least twelve of the suspects still alive, one vociferous bigot said to have been the ringleader of the killing gang, the 80-year-old preacher and Klansman Edgar Ray Killen, was brought to trial. Neshoba: The Price of Freedom follows that trial. Through candid interviews with the shamefully ignorant Killen as well as families of the victims and Neshoba folks of all walks, the filmmakers piece together a compelling and important account of an American town’s process of self-scrutiny and reconciliation that resonates with an entire nation. Sadly we leave the film reminded that despite efforts like Edgar Ray Killen’s trial to bring light where ignorance still thrives, racism is alive and well.

– Stephen C.

A young Palestinian woman named Soraya (Suheir Hammad), born in Brooklyn and raised on stories of her grandparent’s long-ago life in Jaffa, travels to Israel with a dream of reclaiming her family’s ancestral home and history. Although Soraya finds a romantic bond and kindred spirit in Emad (Saleh Bakri), also Palestinian, she’s otherwise treated like a criminal at every step. Soraya confronts the sad realization that her grandfather’s romantic Palestine has been reduced to a place of restrictions and checkpoints where every move has been rendered illegal: travel from one town to the next, opportunities to study abroad or even a day at the sea – all forbidden. When she attempts to retrieve her grandfather’s money from a Ramallah bank, she’s informed that the account was ‘frozen’ in 1948 and that she should apply for a loan if she’s in need. Enraged, Soraya vows to claim her family’s money and dignity by whatever means necessary, a decision that pushes the couple beyond a final boundary.

The first Palestinian feature film from a female director, Salt of this Sea is a thought provoking and moving portrayal of a woman’s search for her cultural identity and rightful homeland. Filmmaker Annemarie Jacir has a sensual and immediate style that binds us to the characters and narrative. A few pivotal scenes feel a bit staged and I was not always convinced by Suheir Hammad’s talent, but the film’s style and themes sweep you up. Beyond the security walls, barbed wire and armed guards, there is a hilly, sun-drenched land with orange trees and charming people. It’s just this Palestine that Soraya is unable to reach.

- Stephen C.

In a picturesque Sicilian village a young girl born into the mob, Rita, witnesses the murder of her revered father in the town square. Six years later, her beloved brother is also gunned down. Devastated and enraged, Rita vows to avenge their deaths and bring down the rival Don who ordered their killings. Armed with diaries filled with mob secrets, Rita marches into the Palermo District Attorney’s Office and demands an audience. Rejected by her mother and village for betraying the ‘family’, Rita enters the witness protection program and is relocated to Rome where prosecutors try to give her a new life and safeguard her from her past as they prepare her to testify. The Sicilian Girl is based on the true story of Rita Atria who broke the Omerta code to avenge her family and make a stand against the mafia’s stranglehold on Sicilian life. Her court testimony in the famous 80’s mob trials would be the first from a woman born on the inside.

With the sun-drenched beauty and rich culture of Southern Italy as a backdrop, The Sicilian Girl portrays the tragedy, rage and impossible choices of life under the mob. It’s the story of one woman’s courage to place a higher sense of moral over the social laws of her people. If you’ve ever basked on the heavenly beaches of Mondello Lido or Giardini-Naxos, you may want to catch this film to give you a fuller sense of life on that seemingly idyllic isle.

The Sicilian Girl opens at Film Forum.

- Stephen C.