IFC News: Unsexy sex, Ryan Fleck.

This week on IFC News:

The IFC News team has a Valentine's Day list of favorite unsexy sex scenes. Among the films: "Body of Evidence," "In the Cut," and our personal pick, Chen Kaige's "Killing Me Softly," which is disastrous enough that it's totally worth looking up.

As "Half Nelson" arrives on DVD, Michelle Orange catches up with Ryan Fleck as to where he sees his directorial debut on the spectrum of Inspirational Teacher films:

The truth is I don't really remember "Dangerous Minds" very well, but the pieces I've seen seem pretty silly. I think the "true story" it was based on was about a black woman's experience teaching in a tough, inner-city school. Why did they change it to a white woman? I mean, I know why, but to do that stinks of racist bullshit. I don't inherently have anything against the inspirational teacher genre, but I just thought it would be interesting to switch it up a bit. Teachers are human too. And some of them are even drug addicts. Why not explore that?

Aaron Hillis talks to Jasmila Zbanic about her own directorial debut, "Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams," which won the Golden Bear at Berlin last year:

I could say that, first of all, I'm a filmmaker and I want to make films that are important to me. I wouldn't make a [strictly] political-issue film because I don't think my film is political in this way. On the other hand, every film is political, even the most stupid films. I don't think it will affect my filmmaking, because I try to make films that could maybe have meaning to human beings for the next 100 years. It's in my everyday life that I want to talk about things that are unjust. After the film, during my interviews and things, I pointed out that Bosnian women who were raped didn't have any status in our society. With the big media coverage, we actually managed to change Bosnian law. So, you know, this has little to do with filmmaking, but still has something to do with being a filmmaker, because I think aesthetics is a part of ethics.

In this week's podcast, we discuss the high highs and oh-so-low lows that make up the career of Nicolas Cage.

In the DVD column, Michael Atkinson writes about "13 Tzameti" and "The Dr. Mabuse Collection." On "Mabuse":

Here, you do not seek out deft screenwriting and committed acting (the wall-to-wall English dubbing, the only alternative on these public-domain prints, obviates the requirement for either in any case). Rather, you get a retro-tech sense of ominous, Euro-urban dread not unlike the ghostly Parisian emptiness summoned in the serials of silent pioneer Louis Feuillade. When will Mabuse's time come around again?

Matt Singer reviews "Days of Glory" and "Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams."

And Christopher Bonet has the round-up of what's opening in theaters this week.

+ IFC News