LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Gutsycurene Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

dwpollar 1st watched 4/3/2014 – 7 out of 10(Dir-Thom Fitzgerald): *reviewed version is Director's cut of app. 128 minutes* Powerful group of 3 stories centering around a spreading virus in three distinct cultures that isn't mentioned as being AIDS, but it's definitely implied. What makes this Canadian movie work is seeing the love displayed by the other folk who are watching the torment from the outside and doing whatever it takes to help ease the pain of the suffering ones. The first story doesn't actually begin until a prologue to what will eventually be the final story – but I think it is the strongest, with Lucy Liu playing a woman who sets up blood intake centers in an impoverished Asian nation only to find out that they are being infiltrated by sick donors who infect whole areas. A father played by Tanabadee Chokpikultong is the first one sick in his family, but ends up being the last survivor and performs amazing feats of sacrifice despite overwhelming feelings of sadness and sickness. The second story is about a male porn star who continues to work to support his mother and uncle despite the fact that he knows he is sick from something. The mother played by Stockard Channing decides to do her part after her uncle dies and she subsequently finds out what her son is doing and what he has. This part is set in Canada and involves an un-selfish action that is confusing that involves the mother but I believe the intent was to make her son's life more enjoyable while he is still alive. The final story attached with the prologue is narrated by a nun played by Olympia Dukakis giving it a slight documentary feel but is definitely slow going at first. It focuses on a group of nuns who are there to save souls primarily, but a younger nun played by Chloe Sevigny takes extreme measures on her own to keep a family together and safe from a local land owner. What these ordinary people do is not popular when you look at them from a legalized & moralized perspective but there is a greater good in mind by those who perform them. The movie ends by the asking the viewer if you could be one of those ordinary people(definitely not in a preachy way but in a compelling way). This film by Thom Fitzgerald is unique despite some slow parts primarily in the 3rd story and a slightly confusing 2nd story, but overall is a very good viewing, and worthwhile to the cause and to the moviegoer. ** Also viewed 125 minute Canadian version on 4/19/2014, still powerful but a couple of scenes cut out and edited differently where stories go back and forth more often, 2nd story is missing some important footage in this version, but it is closer to the original 123 minute Toronto International film festival version **

Neil Turner Here is another film of which I knew nothing that - thanks to the recommendation of my video service - has brought two intensely entertaining and thought-provoking hours to my life. It comprises three tales of the worldwide AIDS epidemic each unique and impressive.The first takes place in rural China where Lucy Liu plays Jin Ping - a woman who is a black-marketeer of blood products. She and her partners prey upon residents of small villages who are basically ignorant of the complexities and dangers involved in donating blood. The villagers are poor, and the promise of much-needed funds is the bait used by Jin Ping. A farmer who is unable to give blood uses his daughter as the donor in order to make a better life for his family. The farmer and his daughter are played by two extraordinary Chinese actors who bring humor and - in the end - great pathos to their parts. In this first of the three parts the film shows ruin and death brought to an entire village through greed and apathy.The second tale narrower in scope but is the most fascinating of the three. It takes place in French-Canada and revolves around a porn star and his family. Stockard Channing plays the mother in what is one of the strangest and most fascinating roles I have ever seen. To tell more would spoil the film for anyone who might view it, but I can assure you that Channing has accomplished something special in her portrayal of a mother's reaction to the illness of her son.The third story in the film stars Olympia Dukakis, Chloë Sevigny, and Sandra Oh as nuns who travel to Africa to assist at a clinic. They become involved in various ways with the workers and the large agricultural company for which most of the local villagers work. In this third tale the scenery is so beautiful and impressive that it is almost beyond comprehension. The viewer is struck that within all of this natural beauty, lurks a deadly disease destroying the population.In most films in which the driving theme is the destructiveness of AIDS, you would expect to see at least some characters who are gay men. There is not one gay person in this film. That very fact enhances the film's powerful message that this epidemic is not one confined to a small segment of society but to the world's civilization as a whole. If you wish to observe disease, religion, avarice, politics, love, hate and still be thoroughly entertained, I recommend 3 Needles.

Claudio Carvalho In China, the unscrupulous pregnant smuggler of blood Jin Ping (Lucy Liu) infects an entire rural village in a province exploring the poor and ignorant people. The poverty associated to the ignorance and greed doom the whole population to the tragic disease for US$ 5.00 per liter of blood.In Canada, the second rate porn actor Denys (Shawn Ashmore) hides from his director and colleagues that he is HIV positive using the blood of his sick father for the tests required by the production. When his father dies, his mother Olive (Stockard Channing) discovers his former profession and that her son has AIDS. She hires a US$ 2,000,000.00 life insurance; then she infects herself and sells and cashes part of her insurance in advance to have a comfortable life with her son.In Africa, the nuns Sister Clara (Chloë Sevigny), Sister Hilde Francis (Olympia Dukakis) and Sister Mary John (Sandra Oh) come to a small mission to convert the villagers in the Catholicism. Sister Clara believes their mission is also to help the locals and she self-sacrifices her dignity to get financial support for the community."3 Needles" is a well-intentioned movie that discloses three different views of dissemination of AIDS in three panels. In the first one, poverty associated to the ignorance and greed sentences the dwellers of a village; in the second, selfishness and need of money infects at least eight actors and actresses of the porn industry; in the last one, ignorance and lack of resources doom the poor people to the disease. The screenplay is a little confused and flawed, and some of the questions in the Message Board prove it. The first story is tragic and with an ironic conclusion when the dweller questions that he sold his blood for US$ 5.00 and he paid US$ 10.00 for the test. The second one is of a tremendous dark humor, and I do not know whether the intention of the director / writer Thom Fitzgerald is to criticize the earlier cash of life insurance. The last one has an unnecessary tragedy in the end. Nevertheless "3 Needles" is a good, honest and powerful movie about an unpleasant theme with top-notch acting of the cast. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Unidos Pelo Sangue" ("Tied by the Blood")

hawktwo I was fortunate to see the director's cut of this film at the DC Filmfest. The audience was privileged to have the director, Thom Fitzgerald, make an unannounced visit and stay for questions afterwards.3 Needles is three separate stories how AIDS spread in China, Africa, and the United States.I found it a bit confusing to begin with some African scenes and then jump to the China story. I think this was to allow the narrator to introduce and to end the movie. The narrator was Olympia Dukakis and she had a part in the African story.Lucy Liu led an outstanding cast in the story of its spread to China. Until this film, I did not realize that China had an AIDS epidemic. The movie shows how AIDS was spread through blood collection stations throughout rural China. China's vast rural population was perfect for exploitation. They were isolated; they needed the money; it took a long time to associate entire villages dying with the helpful blood collector.The US story is somewhat familiar to us. A male porn star spreads it knowingly due to his greed. What makes this story unique is how Stockard Channing handles the discovery that her son is not only a porn star, but is dying. She educates herself on the disease and discovers a breed of vultures buying up the insurance policies of AIDS victims (viaticum companies) hedging their bets that purchasing a $2M policy for $1M will double their investment. She sets out to give herself AIDS and sell her insurance policy. What she does with the proceeds is the controversial part.The African story reveals the director's Roman Catholic roots. One wishes that Sandra Oh had a larger part in this story. Chloe Sevigny is wonderful as a dedicated nun who chooses to submit to the local plantation owner (sorry, don't remember the African name for plantation) in order to get revenge / punishment on an adult male who has raped a young young virginal child in order to rid himself of the AIDS virus. As with the others, this story shows the many facets of this disease and the difficulty in assigning blame for its spread or for how people handle it.Each of the stories has an odd element of humor to it. At times, I found it inappropriate for the subject, but perhaps that is also the message: we can laugh despite the hardships. I saw the director's cut, I wonder if this will be removed / downplayed in the cut that's released.The cinematography is beautiful and sweeping in both Asia and Africa. The US scenes manage to show a true grit feeling.Kudos to the director for assembling a really outstanding set of actors. Outstanding performances from Lucy Liu, the father-daughter team from the China story and Ian Roberts (the plantation owner).