Mini-Review: THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST is a frustrating film; its high points are delightfully witty, while its low points are crude and dated. When it tries to be hip (arty montages and a parody of flower children), it falls flat, but the political satire (and the riff on "typical Americans") is a lot of fun. The editing and direction are shaky as well. The acting really saves it; James Coburn is quite good in the title role, but Godfrey Cambridge and Severn Darden steal the show as a pair of amiable spies.

Mini-Review: Shohei Imamura's mammoth portrait of life on an isolated Japanese island, focusing on a family who believe themselves cursed and an engineer who comes to help develop the island, but finds himself drawn into the madness. Death, incest, shamanism, and folklore all factor into the mix, and while it's overlong and often repetitive (with an iffy coda), it boasts fine acting (especially Hideko Okiyama as the retarded daughter), gorgeous cinematography, and portrays a genuinely fascinating world.