Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s 1996 film A Moment of Innocence (Nun va Goldoon) is a semi-autobiographical reconstruction of an actual event in his life. As a teenager, Makhmalbaf stabbed a policeman while trying to steal his gun during a revolutionary rally in Tehran. Decades later, he attempted to find the policeman in an act of penance. His film pays homage to this event.

Makhmalbaf plays himself and (somewhat more remarkably) the police officer does the same. Both older, the film recounts their reunion and decision to create a film about the event. They set about doing so, casting younger versions of themselves and reimagining events from varying perspectives. But it’s not a documentary. The performances seem natural and unscripted, but the plot has been carefully planned. Banned in Iran, the movie won critical plaudits overseas.

It all might sound groaningly abstract, but Criticker users were almost unanimous in their praise, earning A Moment of Innocence a spot in our list of Neglected Gems. The film has a lightness and simplicity which make its complex themes easily accessible. You can’t help but ponder how much is real and how much imagined, and you’re unsure how much to trust what you’re watching. In his 4 1/2 star review, Slant’s Eric Henderson says that “A Moment of Innocence feels wispy and effortless, yet resonates heavy with the Proustian understanding of how memories only amplify and enrich with time”. A unique cinematic experience, at the very least.

Buy A Moment of Innocence here

Star Wars Cell Phone Alert

Hang your Vader or Stormtrooper charm on your jacket, computer bag, navel ring, etc., and whenever you get a call on your cell, it will spin around and the little lights near its base will flash. You can leave your phone on silent, tucked in your pocket, and pretend to be paying rapt attention to your boss as he drones on about this new technology they call Twitter and how your business is going to harness the power of social media. When Vader spins, you make a quick exit, feigning a potty emergency, and rush to safety to answer that important phone call from the Emperor.

More info: Star Wars Cell Phone Alert

Animated Musical Star Trek Lamp

This is the lamp that plays the iconic Star Trek theme song, including the entirety of the famous prologue: "Space… the final frontier…" spoken by William Shatner. As the music plays, an 8" die-cast replica of the Starship Enterprise rotates on the the base of the lamp. The Starship Enterprise has authentic details like Bussard intake collectors and a sensor array platform that are illuminated by four color-changing LEDs.

Buy it here: Animated Musical Star Trek Lamp

Indiana Jones Room Booby Traps

The Indiana Jones Room Booby Trap Set includes a dart launching idol, a spider dropping idol, and an educational field notebook to help you learn the science of gears and levers. No batteries required!

More info: Indiana Jones Room Booby Traps

User Hopscotch recently started a really interesting topic in the Criticker Forums, asking others what their earliest memory of cinema is.

Welcome to cinema, child

Bambi, King Kong, Dunstin Checks In all pop up, as does The Never Ending Story. There are some funny memories being shared, such as 3-year old LordofDance having to be escorted out of the theater when King Kong fell from the skyscraper.

I’ve done some thinking about this, although I have a terrible memory when it comes to such things. The first movie I remember clearly was The Last Unicorn, which was surprisingly scary for a kid’s flick, and had a great ending.

Feel like sharing? Head over the forums and join the discussion!

Two films new to DVD this week are worthy of the highly-prized moniker of Criticker Pick! One, you’ve definitely heard of (and most probably already seen), and another which isn’t quite so well known. So, we won’t waste a lot of words on Up, and instead encourage you to pick up Ballast, a powerful drama set in the deep south. It was a favorite at Sundance, and this beautifully shot film is definitely worth your time.

Criticker Pick!Up – Average Tier 8.12
By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn’t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip. Up @ Amazon

Ugly Truth, The – Average Tier 4.02
A romantically challenged morning show producer (Heigl) is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent (Butler) to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result. Ugly Truth, The @ Amazon

Accidental Husband, The – Average Tier 3.51
When talk radio host Emma Lloyd advises one of her listeners to break up with her boyfriend, the jilted ex sets about getting his revenge. (imdb) Accidental Husband, The @ Amazon

Spread – Average Tier 5.21
A sex comedy centered on a serial womanizer and his jilted lover. (imdb) Spread @ Amazon

Criticker Pick!Ballast – Average Tier 7.67
A drama set in the Mississippi delta, where one man’s suicide affects three people’s lives. Ballast @ Amazon

This Matrix version isn’t exactly accurate but the humor makes up for it. It was made by the Russian actor group Big Difference. What other movies should have been shot in other eras?

[link tip from classic fun]

- UFOS in Spain

Thanks to user td888 for suggesting this enhancement, which we’ve just released onto the Kumpel page.

Now, you no longer need to refresh the whole page in order to get a new suite of recommendations based on your Kumpel’s ratings. Head over your Kumpels Page to check it out.

We’re back in the office after an extremely busy “vacation” spent shuttling around most of the American Midwest, visiting family and friends. Now let’s get back to work.

Falling under the category of “duh”, we’ve now made it possible to rank films that you’ve remembered, without first having to “forget” them. Previously, you’d have to remove the remembered film from that collection, before you were able to rank it. Not very intuitive, and no longer the case.

This also applies to Ignored Films. Just a small enhancement to enhance usability.

Hey Woody! We recognize you there underneath Larry David’s skin. And Criticker users weren’t too impressed by your return to NYC in Whatever Works. In fact, none of this week’s new releases amanaged to win everyone over, though Il Divo came close. It’s the story of former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti. (Personally, I don’t plan on letting the bad reviews prevent me from seeing Orphan.)

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs – Average Tier 5.31
The sub zero heroes are back. Scrat is still trying to nab the ever elusive nut, while maybe finding true love. Manny and Ellie await the birth of their mini-mammoth. Diego the saber toothed tiger wonders if he’s growing too soft and Sid gets into trouble when he creates his own makeshift family by hijacking some dinosaur eggs. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs @ Amazon

Orphan – Average Tier 4.74
A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be Orphan @ Amazon

Whatever Works – Average Tier 5.60
An eccentric man (Larry David) is taken into a series of adventures and encounters with his friends from Greenwich, a young woman from the South (Evan Rachel Wood), and her parents. Whatever Works @ Amazon

Divo, Il – Average Tier 6.84
The story of Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti, who has been elected to Parliament seven times since is was established in 1946. Il Divo @ Amazon

Nothing Like the Holidays – Average Tier 4.67
A Puerto Rican family living in the area of Humboldt Park in west Chicago face what may be their last Christmas together. Nothing Like the Holidays @ Amazon

We snuck a couple new features into the code last week. Both had been in our list of things to do for months… and now they’re done! The list goes from 569 to 568.8 pages.

Nearly all the films which enter our database are submissions made by users. Indeed, many have added hundreds and hundreds of films to the database. Until now, there was no easy way to see all the films which a particular user had created.

Now when you submit a new film to Criticker, it’s automatically added to a private collection called My Film Submissions Submitted Films. A link to this special collection is available from your profile (or the profile of whatever user you’re interested in!)

All previously submitted films have been automatically added to the collections, so now you finally have a list of your submissions!

This didn’t turn out to be as difficult as we thought it would be! Criticker now has a search plugin, using the OpenSearch platform. Most browsers have a search box in their toolbar, and you can now add Criticker to it. This will allow you to do a search at Criticker, regardless of whether you’re on the site or not!

With Pixar gobbling up both critical praise and popular admiration, it’s easy to forget that there’s another li’l animation studio over there in the corner, whimpering for attention. There there, Dreamworks, we haven’t forgotten about you. How could we? It’s because of Shrek 2 that Criticker came into being!

Shrek 2: Humanity’s Cultural Nadir

To help us remember Dreamworks’ other not-quite legendary achievements is a collection of films, created by Hells Zargon. I was amused to see that all my PSIs for these films were in the yellow range. A confirmation of mediocrity.

What is it? Why is Dreamworks unable to ascend to the heights of Pixar? Corporate vision, or just hiring the wrong creative teams?