World of Film

KILLER: A JOURNAL OF MURDER (U.S.A., 9:30 p.m.) It's tempting to re-title this one Dead Man Ranting, but that really wouldn't be fair. James Woods is surprisingly subdued, and terrifyingly effective, as Carl Panzram, a career criminal (and self-proclaimed serial killer) who's condemned to death for murdering a sadistic prison guard. This fact-based drama, set in 1929, focuses on the relationship between Panzram and a more enlightened guard, Henry Lesser (Robert Sean Leonard), who spent decades seeking a publisher for Panzram's harrowing autobiography. But Leonard is unbelievably callow as the killer's compassionate confidant, and the movie as a whole is blandly prosaic. The main reason to see Killer is Woods' fearless performance as a man who declared war on the society that shaped him, and lost. (Joe Leydon)

Thursday, April 18
ANIMIA DE CARINO (TENDERNESS ANEMIA) (Spain, 5 p.m.) See listing for Wednesday, April 17, 9:30 p.m.

THE MICHELLE APARTMENTS (Canada, 5 p.m.) Henry Czerny plays a government tax auditor who's drawn into financial and sexual intrigue while investigating improprieties at a chemical company headquarters. The company, Turnbull Chemicals, has an interesting slogan: "We make the food you eat look better." (Not Reviewed)

NUEBA YOL (Dominican Republic, 7 p.m.) A recently widowed man decides to follow his somewhat shady buddy from Santo Domingo to Nueba Yol (Dominican slang for New York). The newly arrived immigrant (Luisito Marti) runs into a gaudy Dominican drug dealer and learns the hard way that the streets of New York aren't necessarily paved with gold. (Not Reviewed)

MUSULMANIN (Russia, 7 p.m.) A solemn film about a young soldier's religious conversion -- while on a tour of duty in Afghanistan, he becomes a Muslim -- and how this affects his life when he returns to his Russian home. The disparity between spirituality and ugly reality is explored. (Not Reviewed)

LOADED (U.S.A., 9:30 p.m.) Writer/director Anna Campion (her sister, Jane, director of The Piano, is the more acclaimed Campion) has produced a queer look at Generation X. Seven British actors, including Thandie Newton and Catherine McCormack, star as student filmmakers. Their plan is to make a horror film, but when they go on location to a creepy county mansion, there are surprises. (Not Reviewed)

UNA CASA EN LAS AFUERAS (A HOUSE ON THE OUTSKIRTS) (Spain, 9:30 p.m.) In an attempt to live the Spanish dream, a yuppie buys a fabulous country house for his girlfriend. However, the yuppie and the house both have mysterious secrets in their pasts, and the girlfriend finds herself in danger. (Not Reviewed)

Friday, April 19
SEARCH FOR ONE-EYE JIMMY (U.S.A., 5 p.m.) Seinfeld writer Sam Henry Kass has written and directed a few off-Broadway plays, and had made a name for himself as a hip new voice of the working class. One-Eye Jimmy is a comedy he wrote and directed about life in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and while there is no shortage of movies about the guys from such environs, this film does have an intriguing cast, including Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Beals, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Anne Meara, Tony Sirico and several Turturros -- Aida, John and Nick. (Not Reviewed)

LOADED (U.S.A., 5 p.m.) See listing for Thursday, April 18, 9:30 p.m.
BOCA A BOCA (Spain, 7 p.m.) See listing for Wednesday, April 17, 5 p.m.
POMPATUS OF LOVE (U.S.A., 7 p.m.) See listing for Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m.

JOINT ADVENTURE (U.S.A., 9:30 p.m.) Just as Quentin Tarantino has inspired an entire genre of attitude-infused pulp melodramas, Richard Linklater has encouraged dozens of indie wannabes to produce genially plotless comedies about hazily aimless Generation Xers. Joint Adventure is one of those, a mildly amusing trifle that demonstrates just how far a movie can go with a $100,000 budget, three engaging young leads and only the faintest outline of a plot. The setting is Knoxville, Tennessee, and the buddy-buddy protagonists include Zack, who dreams of being a high-profile film actor; Pete, a painter who yearns to sell one of his works, if only to pay the rent; and Claudia, an overeducated, underemployed philosophy grad who can never stick with any job for more than a few days. When Pete's Uncle Earl must undergo chemotherapy, Aunt Joyce asks her nephew if he could find "some of that marijuana" to ease her husband's nausea. This leads to a not-so-frantic search for grass that serves mainly as an excuse for the three leads to actually get up and walk for a while. (Joe Leydon)

SUITE 16 (United Kingdom, 9:30 p.m.) An aging playboy stikes a deal with a young hustler: the hustler gets the trappings of wealth, the playboy relives his youth vicariously through the hustler. But the erotic games soon turn dark, culminating in a murder attempt on a young woman. (Not Reviewed)

Saturday, April 20
WILD BILL, HOLLYWOOD MAVERICK (U.S.A., 5 p.m.) One of the low-key hits of last year's WorldFest was Frank and Ollie, a charming documentary about two Disney animators. This year we have a another filmmaker documentary, and while it's unlikely to be charming, its subject is just as fascinating: William A. Wellman, who directed the first movie to win an Academy Award for best picture (the silent World War I drama Wings) as well as such classics as Public Enemy, The Ox-Bow Incident and Nothing Sacred). Known as one of the great two-fisted film directors, Wellman's life off-screen was as tumultuous as anything he put on-screen, if not more so. (Not Reviewed)