Movie Releases by Genre
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2August 6, 2008Based on Ann Brashares' best-selling series of novels about four young women who share an unbreakable bond through the unpredictable events of their lives, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 catches up with Tibby, Carmen, Bridget, and Lena in the months following their first year of college. Having been apart all year, their plans for the summer will take them even further along separate paths as each one experiences the freedom, love, choices, and challenging life lessons that mark their individual journeys toward adulthood. Now, it will take more than a hurried note or even a treasured pair of pants passed back and forth among them to keep their lives connected. (Warner Bros.)
|
||
Frozen RiverAugust 1, 2008Frozen River is the story of Ray Eddy, an upstate New York trailer mom who is lured into the world of illegal immigrant smuggling when she meets a Mohawk girl who lives on a reservation that straddles the US-Canadian border. Broke after her husband takes off with the down payment for their new doublewide, Ray reluctantly teams up with Lila, a smuggler, and the two begin making runs across the frozen St. Lawrence River carrying illegal Chinese and Pakistani immigrants in the trunk of Ray’s Dodge Spirit. (Sony Pictures Classics)
|
||
Sixty SixAugust 1, 2008It is the summer of '66, and England is about to be consumed by World Cup Fever. For 12 year-old Bernie though, the biggest day of his life is looming: his Bar Mitzvah, and the day he becomes a man. However, Bernie's family is increasingly distracted by the threat of losing their business and their wayward older son, and the scale of Bernie's Bar Mitzvah diminishes daily. Worst of all the Cup Final is scheduled to take place on the same day and when England makes it through the qualifying rounds, Bernie's longed-for Bar Mitzvah looks set to be a complete disaster. (First Independent Pictures)
|
||
The Midnight Meat TrainAugust 1, 2008When Leon Kaufman’s latest body of work – a collection of provocative, nighttime studies of the city and its inhabitants – earns the struggling photographer interest from prominent art gallerist Susan Hoff, she propels him to get grittier and show the darker side of humanity for his upcoming debut at her downtown art space. Believing he’s finally on track for success, Leon’s obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of serial killer Mahogany, the subway murderer who stalks late-night commuters – ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways imaginable. With his concerned girlfriend Maya fearing for his life, Leon’s relentless fascination with Mahogany lures him further and further into the bowels of the subways and ultimately into an abyss of pure evil – inadvertently pulling Maya right along with him. (Lionsgate)
|
||
Swing VoteAugust 1, 2008Swing Vote follows the story of Bud Johnson, an apathetic, beer-slinging, lovable loser, who is coasting through a life that has passed him by. The one bright spot is his precocious, over-achieving twelve-year-old daughter Molly. She takes care of both of them, until one mischievous moment on Election Day, when she accidentally sets off a chain of events which culminates in the election coming down to one vote... her dad's. [Touchstone Pictures]
|
The X Files: I Want to BelieveJuly 25, 2008The supernatural thriller is a stand-alone story in the tradition of some of the show's most acclaimed and beloved episodes, and takes the always-complicated relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in unexpected directions. Mulder continues his unshakable quest for the truth, and Scully, the passionate, ferociously intelligent physician, remains inextricably tied to Mulder's pursuits. (20th Century Fox)
|
||
BagheadJuly 25, 2008While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question “what’s the scariest thing you can think of?” Someone immediately said “a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window.” Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, BAGHEAD was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too. (Sony Pictures Classics)
|
||
Brideshead RevisitedJuly 25, 2008A provocative and suspenseful drama, Brideshead Revisited tells an evocative story of forbidden love and the loss of innocence set in the pre-WWII era. In the film, Charles Ryder becomes entranced with the noble Marchmain family, first through the charming and provocative Sebastian Flyte, and then his sophisticated sister, Julia. The rise and fall of Charles' infatuations reflect the decline of a decadent era in England between the wars. (Miramax Films)
|
||
No RegretJuly 25, 2008Set in Seoul, South Korea, No Regret centers on Sumin, who leaves the orphanage where he grew up and heads to the city to study art design. After losing his job at a factory due to layoffs, he finds himself working as a prostitute in a gay bar. Initially Sumin resists the advances of Jaemin, who comes from a rich and conservative family that doesn’t accept his sexual identity. Eventually Sumin succumbs to Jaemin’s advances, after they briefly experience happiness as passionate lovers, Sumin and Jaemin’s relationship falls into heartache and tragedy. (Regent Releasing)
|
||
Boy AJuly 23, 2008BOY A is a fictional story about Jack. His involvement in the murder of another child means Jack, at 24, has spent most of his young life in juvenile prisons. Released from prison into an unrecognizable adult world, Jack is given a new name, new job, new home; a new life. But anonymity is both a blessing and a curse as Jack has to contend with not being able to tell the people he gets to know, and love, of his true past and the monstrous secret he must keep hidden. (The Weinstein Company)
|
Before I ForgetJuly 18, 2008Jacques Nolot stars and directs a tale of a downward spiraling gay gigolo, struggling to cope with his advancing age, poverty, loneliness, writers block, and the increasing complications of HIV disease. When his wealthy benefactor dies after thirty years of lavish support, his inheritance is challenged by the benefactor’s family, leaving him destitute. Underscoring his every move is the fear of being forgotten, or worse: dying back where he started – on the streets. Young hustlers, drugs, alcohol, and countless cigarettes provide momentary distractions, but ultimately, he must face his inner demons in order to be free of them. (Strand Releasing)
|
||
The Dark KnightJuly 18, 2008Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker. (Warner Bros.)
|
||
FelonJuly 18, 2008A loving family man with a promising future, Wade Porter suddenly loses everything when he accidentally kills the burglar who broke into his home. Convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Wade is sentenced to spend the next three years inside a maximum security facility where the rules of society no longer apply. Forced to share a cell with a notorious mass murderer and subjected to brutal beatings orchestrated by the sadistic head prison guard, Wade soon realizes he’s in for the fight of his life and must become the toughest Felon of them all if he’s to survive the block. For what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. And in state prison, only the strongest will survive. (Sony Pictures)
|
||
TakeJuly 18, 2008Take occurs over two days - one day in the present and one day in the past. Ana drives through the desert to witness the execution of Saul, the stranger who destroyed her life so many years ago. Saul waits out the final hours of his life. Both are caught in the memory of the day when their lives crossed paths and changed forever. Years earlier, Saul is out of a job, out of money, and out of time to pay his debts. Ana, with her young son, tries to work out her uncertain future. It only takes a moment for their lives to collide and become permanently intertwined. (Liberation Entertainment)
|
||
TranssiberianJuly 18, 2008One of those legendary train trips that people used to dream about taking, the Transsiberian Express has probably seen better days. An American couple, Roy and Jessie, decide to return home the long way from their recent sojourn in Peking and meet another couple from the West, Carlos and Abby, with whom they quickly form that tenuous bond that often unites fellow travelers away from home. When Roy gets separated from the train at a stopover, Jessie begins to realize that their compatriots aren’t exactly who or what they seem to be. But the real dangers of their unforgettable trip have only begun to surface; Russian cops, mobsters, and locals are still to come. (First Look Studios)
|
The Stone AngelJuly 11, 2008 |
||
AugustJuly 11, 2008August follows Tom Sterling as an aggressive, young dot-com entrepreneur who fights to keep his start-up company afloat. Tom finds himself on a personal and professional downward spiral as he struggles to reunite with girlfriend, Sarrah, regain control of his company from his apathetic investor Ogilvie , and deal with age-old family wounds with his father, David and his brother Joshua. (First Look Studios)
|
||
Das wilde LebenJuly 11, 2008The wild 60s: Munich teen Uschi Obermaier drives men wild, but also confuses them with her assertive demeanor. When she moves into the legendary Berlin ‘Kommune 1’ she begins a relationship with the leader Rainer Langhans. There she runs through a whirlwind of relationships and rises to become a coveted supermodel and icon of the young generation. When she meets the charismatic adventurer Dieter Bockhorn, who controls Hamburg’s red-light district, they set off together in search of the summer of eternal love. But times are changing and their dropout idealism is short-lived as Dieter cannot come to terms with Uschi’s desire for independence. Uschi finds herself faced with an existential question: what is the price of freedom? (Uber Die Produktion)
|
||
Garden PartyJuly 11, 2008Los Feliz, CA - On the sleazier side of Sunset, teenage beauty APRIL has humble ambitions. She’s searching for a way to get by without taking off her clothes—any more than she already has. Sally St. Clair is a realtor whose business has been built upon her sex appeal and secret past. Nathan, has moved to Los Angeles from Nebraska in search of fame as a dancer. Lacking drive and confidence, Nathan finds himself making late night photocopies for Sally and her clients. Todd is one of those prospective clients. A porn addicted artist in search of a way out of a sexless relationship and into an adventure, he’s happy to help Sally get revenge for some past indiscretions. (Roadside Attractions)
|
||
Death Defying ActsJuly 11, 2008It is 1926, and Harry Houdini is the most famous performer in the world. Audiences flock to watch him perform his amazing stunts. But the man behind the legend is a tortured soul, having been unable to hear his mother’s dying words. He offers a $10,000 reward to anyone who can contact his mother from beyond the grave. When a beautiful but deceptive psychic, Mary McGregor, and her sidekick daughter, Benji, take the challenge, Harry is initially skeptical, but is soon captivated by her charms. The more time he spends with the mysterious woman, the more attracted he is, and what began as a con soon evolves into a passionate and complicated love affair, as Houdini attempts the most dangerous stunt of his career. (Myriad Pictures)
|
||
Giorni e nuvoleJuly 11, 2008Well-to-do, sophisticated couple, Elsa and Michele, have a 20 year-old daughter, Alice, and enough money for Elsa to leave her job and fulfill an old dream of studying art history. After she graduates, however, their lives change. Michele confesses he hasn't worked in two months and was fired by the company he founded years ago. Elsa overcomes her initial shock by pouring extra energy into facing the crisis while Michele, exhausted by an unsuccessful job hunt, lets himself go, alternating between vivacity and apathy. The growing distance between them eventually leads to a break-up. Only when they are apart will they realize that they risk losing their most precious possession: the love that binds them. (Film Movement)
|
||
Holding TrevorJuly 4, 2008Trevor Holden has just witnessed his boyfriend, Darrell, overdose on heroin--again. As Darrell's oldest friend, Trevor feels a responsibility to help Darrell in his latest attempt at sobriety, much to the dismay of his own best friends, Jake and Andie. But, when Darrell starts using again, Trevor is finally ready to call it quits. And just when he does, he meets the ever-so-charming Ephram. Simply being everything that Darrell is not immediately wins Ephram a number of points, but Ephram accepts a job thousands of miles away in New York City, and he wants Trevor to go with him. Now, what started out as Trevor's own personal existential journey turns into a path that will lead him to what is most important: himself. Holding Trevor is continually poignant, relentlessly self-deprecating, and just the type of cerebral dark comedy that can speak directly to the 20-somethings of today while letting other generations in on the joke. (Regent Releasing)
|
||
The WacknessJuly 3, 2008The Wackness centers on a troubled high school student named Luke Shapiro--a teenage pot dealer who forms a friendship with Dr. Jeffrey Squires, a psychiatrist and kindred lost soul. When the doctor proposes that Luke trade him weed for therapy sessions, the two begin to explore both New York City and their own depression. (Sony Picture Classics)
|
||
Tell No OneJuly 2, 2008Tell No One is based on Harlan Coben's international best-selling thriller about pediatrician Alexandre Beck, who still grieves for his beloved wife Margot Beck, who was murdered eight years earlier. When two bodies are found near the scene of the original crime, the police reopen the case, and Alex becomes a suspect again. The mystery deepens when Alex receives an anonymous e-mail with a link to a video clip that seems to suggest that Margot is somehow still alive and with a message that says "Tell no one." (Music Box Films)
|
||
Finding AmandaJune 30, 2008From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series Rescue Me, comes Finding Amanda, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can’t shake, and the unlikely lengths we’ll go to while trying. Taylor Mendon is a television writer and producer working on a low-rated, little-respected half-hour sitcom. Once destined for bigger and better things, Taylor's compulsive gambling, recreational drug use and drinking all conspired to throw his career off the rails. After kicking the alcohol and drugs, he only has one more hurdle...the horses. His beautiful twenty - year old niece Amanda has her own habit to kick. Living in Las Vegas, working as a "dancer," her family has just discovered she is actually a prostitute, and they suspect hooking for drug money. On their way home from an emergency family meeting, Taylor's wife Lorraine finds recent racing stubs in Taylor's glove compartment. After years of standing by him, she leaves. Taylor comes up with a plan: he'll win back his wife by doing the right thing. He'll go to Las Vegas, find Amanda, and deliver her to a rehabilitation center in Malibu. While he’s at it, he might even catch up with some old friends. But besides that, it’s strictly the business at hand—while he's there, he vows, he won't gamble a single cent, but things don’t turn out quite as he’d planned. (Magnolia Pictures)
|
||
Elsa y FredJune 27, 2008 |
||
The Last MistressJune 27, 2008The Last Mistress marks the monumental pairing of cinema's premiere provocateur, director Catherine Breillat with the most fearless and explosive actor of our generation, Asia Argento. A penniless rogue, Ryno de Marigny, shocks 19th century France with his engagement to the virginal gem of the aristocracy, Hermangarde. As lurid speculations of Ryno's ten year affair with the carnal Vellini manifest, a supremely erotic and wickedly humorous depiction of human lust is revealed - overriding the brittle facade of nobility and reverence. Bolstered by Breillat's mastery of the medium and Argento's commanding performance, The Last Mistress is a highly entertaining yet incredibly provocative film that has resulted in unanimous praise from audiences and critics across the world. (IFC Films)
|
||
Red Roses and PetrolJune 27, 2008Based on a successful Irish play by acclaimed writer Joseph O’Conner, and directed by Tamar Simon Hoffs, the darkly comedic drama offers a tour-de-force showcase for McDowell as Enda Doyle, a university librarian, poet, and rascal who is the flawed patriarch of a dysfunctional family struggling to come to terms with his death and with one another. Unfolding amidst a haze of cigarette smoke and uneaten food, as his family gathers in Dublin for his wake, Red Roses and Petrol explores the emotional dynamics of familial relationships with sharp humor and surprising turns. (World Wide Motion Pictures Corporation)
|
||
Full Grown MenJune 25, 2008Set in a stylized yet familiar landscape of Americana, Munro’s whimsical cautionary tale follows Alby Cutrera, a 35-year-old husband and father who longs for the days of his carefree boyhood when his only occupation was playing with his action figures. Desperate to escape the confines of adulthood and return to his halcyon days, Alby tracks down his childhood whipping boy Elias, who now teaches at a special needs school, and persuades him to take a road trip to Diggityland – their favorite childhood theme park. As the dynamic duo motor along Florida’s tatty Orange Blossom Highway, they encounter a cast of tragicomic creatures, including an AWOL ex-theme park employee turned commando hitchhiker, an oversexed bartending clown-in-training, and a trailer-dwelling delusional mermaid . Calamity and mayhem ensue as Alby and Elias’ sentimental trip down memory lane becomes an unsolicited lesson in the perils of living in the past. (Emerging Pictures)
|
||
ExpiredJune 20, 2008The sight of a dark-suited municipal employee doling out parking violations stirs a primal hate in all but the most enlightened souls. And the meter maid, Claire, knows it. The film revolves around Claire, a kind soul who resents having to enforce the law at all times, and Jay, an angry Traffic Officer who loves his job, it being the perfect outlet for his anger and frustrations. Coming both from a place of despair and loneliness, Claire and Jay meet and engage in a tumultuous and twisted relationship, which will eventually teach them that love can spread magic seeds of redemption and hope, even in the most unlikely of souls. By the end, Claire is faced with the question of whether to engage or to run…(MRC Releasing)
|
||
Medicine for MelancholyJune 20, 2008A love story of bikes and one-night stands told through two African-American twenty-something's dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco-a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American city. [IFC Films]
|
||
Brick LaneJune 20, 2008Nazneen’s life is turned upside down at the tender age of seventeen. Forced into an arranged marriage to an older man, she exchanges her Bangladeshi village home for a block of flats in London’s East End. In this new world, pining for her home and her sister, she struggles to make sense of her existence – and to do her duty to her husband. A man of inflated ideas (and stomach), he sorely tests her compliance. Told from birth that she must not fight her fate, Nazneen submits, devoting her life to raising her family and slapping down her demons of discontent. Until the day that Karim, a hot-headed local man, bursts into her life. Against a background of escalating racial tension, they embark on an affair that finally forces Nazneen to take control of her life. Set in multicultural Britain, Brick Lane is a truly contemporary story of love, cultural difference, and ultimately, the strength of the human spirit. (Sony Pictures Classics)
|
||
Kit Kittredge: An American GirlJune 20, 2008Bright, inquisitive and generous, Kit is a natural born leader. But her happy childhood is abruptly interrupted when her father loses his care dealership and must leave to Cincinnati to look for work. Kit and her mother Margaret are left to manage on their own, growing vegetables, selling eggs and even taking an assortment of boarders. When Kit’s mother and the boarders become the latest victims in a string of robberies, the Kittredges face losing their house to foreclosure. Determined to recover the stolen money, Kit recruits her friends to help her track down the culprit. Together they uncover plot that goes gar be yond Cincinnati. (Picturehouse)
|
||
Beauty in TroubleJune 13, 2008Beauty in Trouble explores a young woman’s romantic dilemma: torn between a primal connection and the need to provide for her children, she loves two men. Set against the back drop of the recent floods in Prague, Beauty in Trouble is full of unexpected twists, humor and amazing performances culminating in a surprising and paradox ending. (Menemsha Films)
|
||
The HappeningJune 13, 2008It begins with no clear warning. It seems to come out of nowhere. In a matter of minutes, episodes of strange, chilling deaths that defy reason and boggle the mind in their shocking destructiveness, erupt in major American cities. What is causing this sudden, total breakdown of human behavior?For Philadelphia high school science teacher Elliot Moore what matters most is finding a way to escape the mysterious and deadly phenomenon. (Twentieth Century Fox)
|
||
My WinnipegJune 13, 2008Have you ever wanted to relive your childhood and do things differently? Guy Maddin casts B-movie icon Ann Savage as his domineering mother in attempt to answer that question in My Winnipeg, a hilariously wacky and profoundly touching goodbye letter to his childhood hometown. A documentary (or "docu-fantasia" as Maddin proclaims) that inventively blends local and personal history with surrealist images and metaphorical myths, the film covers everything from the fire at the local park which lead to a frozen lake of distressed horse heads to pivotal and factually heightened scenes from Maddin's own childhood, all laced with a startling emotional honesty. My Winnipeg is Maddin's most personal film and a truly unique cinematic experience, winning the best Canadian film at the Toronto International Film Festival and the opening night selection of the Berlin Film Festival's Forum. [IFC Films]
|
||
Quid Pro QuoJune 13, 2008Isaac Knott is a Public Radio reporter in New York City. When he was eight, his mother and father died in an automobile accident that left him in a wheelchair. On air, Isaac recounts how he recently received an anonymous tip from someone identified only as "Ancient Chinese Girl." She tells him a perfectly able-bodied man walked into an emergency ward downtown, and attempted to bribe a doctor into amputating his leg. As Isaac investigates the eerie tip, he encounters Fiona who, through her own quandary, leads Isaac to a netherworld of people afflicted with a perverse desire to be disabled. Like a contemporary noir detective film, Quid Pro Quo follows Isaac as he embarks on a dream-like journey to pull back the layers of what makes people feel whole. (Magnolia Pictures)
|
||
You Don't Mess with the ZohanJune 6, 2008 |
||
The Go-GetterJune 6, 2008Mercer steals a car to escape his small Oregon town and find his older brother after a tragic loss in the family. Once on the road he becomes attached to phone calls from Kate, the forgiving and mysterious girl who owns the car he stole. With her voice as guidance Mercer travels across the former Wild West to find a new sense of belonging. A crazy trip to Reno with Joely and odd encounters with his brother’s former friends soon make Mercer realize that everything he’s looking for may not be on the road, but on the other end of the phone. With a soundtrack by M. Ward and some other big names in the indie music scene and shot in the beautiful plains of the Mid-West, The Go-Getter is a road trip about finding love in the strangest of ways. (Peace Arch Entertainment)
|
||
Mongol: The Rise of Genghis KhanJune 6, 2008Mongol illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan. Based on leading scholarly accounts and Mongol delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. Mongol shows us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor. (Picturehouse)
|
||
Take OutJune 6, 2008 |
||
Savage GraceMay 30, 2008Savage Grace, based on the award winning book, tells the incredible true story of Barbara Daly, who married above her class to Brooks Baekeland, the dashing heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Beautiful, red-headed and charismatic, Barbara is still no match for her well-bred husband. The birth of the couple's only child, Tony, rocks the uneasy balance in this marriage of extremes. Tony is a failure in his father's eyes. As he matures and becomes increasingly close to his lonely mother, the seeds for a tragedy of spectacular decadence are sown. Spanning 1946 to 1972, the film unfolds in six acts. The Baekelands' pursuit of social distinction and the glittering 'good life' propels them across the globe. We follow their heady rise and tragic fall against the backdrop of New York, Paris, Cadaques, Mallorca and London. (IFC First Take)
|
||
Sex and the CityMay 30, 2008Carrie Bradshaw, successful author and everyone’s favorite fashion icon-next-door, is back, her famously sardonic wit intact and sharper than ever, as she continues to narrate her own story about sex, love and the fashion-obsessed single women in New York. Sex and the City finds Carrie, Samantha, Charlote and Miranda four years after the hit HBO series ended, as our favorite friends continue to juggle jobs and relationships while navigating motherhood, marriage and Manhattan real estate. (New Line Cinema)
|
||
The StrangersMay 30, 2008 |
||
The Unknown WomanMay 30, 2008A Russian woman named Irena calculatedly insinuates herself into the lives of a young, affluent Italian family. Stopping at nothing to become the couple’s trusted maid and the beloved nanny to their fragile young daughter, Irena risks everything in her quest to uncover the truth about the family. Like an intricately constructed jigsaw puzzle, The Unknown Woman reveals piece by piece the enigma of Irena’s past. (Outsider Pictures)
|
||
The Children of Huang ShiMay 23, 2008Based on real events, The Children of Huang Shi is a sweeping but intimate story set against war-torn China in the 1930's. The film centers on a young English journalist, an American nurse and the leader of a Chinese partisan group who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60 orphaned children, leading them on an extraordinary journey across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility and courage. (Sony Picture Classics)
|
||
The Edge of HeavenMay 21, 2008Nejat initially disapproves of his widower father Ali`s choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But the young professor warms to her when he learns that most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies. After Yeter`s accidental death, Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter`s daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, much to the displeasure of her conservative mother, Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Passionate Lotte abandons everything to help Ayten. A tragic event brings Susanne to Istanbul to help fulfill her daughter`s mission. (Strand Releasing)
|
||
Sangre De Mi SangreMay 16, 2008A young Mexican immigrant, Pedro, journeys to New York City in search of the successful father he's never met, only to have his belongings and identity stolen by a conniving thief, Juan. As Pedro is left alone and unable to communicate in a country foreign to him, Juan cons his way into the home of Pedro's father, Diego, finding a man just as flawed as he is. While Juan attempts to reinvent himself, Pedro's only hope lies with a mysteriously complex prostitute, Magda, as he frantically searches for his identity. [IFC First Take]
|
||
RepriseMay 16, 2008Phillip and Erik stand at the mailbox, two cocky, grinning rebels full of 20-year-old verve and dreams, their whole lives hanging in the balance at this singular moment. Each is about to ship off his first novel to publishers, each is hoping to become a wildly influential cult author, each has a vision of a new life of nonstop intensity, brilliance, romance, and nightclubbing. Fast-forward six months. These reveries have crashed, hard, into reality. Phillip, whose novel garnered instant acclaim and turned him into a mini-celebrity, has had a terrifying breakdown and is just about to be released from a psychiatric hospital. Erik, who never sold his novel, is still pecking away, determined to follow in the footsteps of his undying hero, a reclusive but idolized writing genius, no matter what it takes. Reprise explores not just what happens to Phillip and Erik as they pick up the pieces, but what might have happened to them, what they imagine could happen, what they fear will possibly happen, and why they can't see what's actually happening. [Miramax Films]
|
||
Lion's DenMay 15, 2008 |
||
The Tracey FragmentsMay 9, 2008Based on screenwriter Maureen Medved's novel of the same name, The Tracey Fragments uses highly inventive and dynamic Mondrian-like split screens to tell the story of why 15-year-old Tracey Berkowitz is riding out a blizzard in the back of a city bus, naked except for the tattered curtain she's wrapped in, and looking for her missing brother (whom she fears she has hypnotized).
|
||
ViceMay 9, 2008Detective Max Walker (Madsen) was once a highly respected cop until he lost his wife and his life unraveled. Haunted by her memory and harboring his rage, Walker has nothing left to lose. He is a loose cannon waiting for an excuse to explode. A drug bust operation goes awry. A large haul of heroin is discovered by Walker and his team, including Salt (Hannah) and Sampson (Williamson). The bust attracts a great deal of heat after several people are killed and one gang member escapes from the scene. Murder and mayhem ensue. The officers involved in the bust are being killed off one by one. No cop is safe. With no suspects in sight, a bewildered Walker joins forces with Salt to investigate the slaughter of his team. What follows is a series of twists, intrigue, and foul play. When it is discovered that some drugs from the bust went missing, the cops start to look among themselves for the killer. Trust is compromised, comradeship dissolves, and friends turn their guns on one another until the last man is standing and the truth is revealed. (41 INC.)
|
||
The BabysittersMay 9, 2008Sixteen-year-old Shirley Lyner is an honor student working as a babysitter and saving for college. She's developed a crush on Michael Beltran, the father of two of her babysitting regulars. One night on the way home, Michael and Shirley kiss, and he pays her a little something extra. They continue their affair, using the nights Shirley babysits to cover for their time together. Soon Shirley finds herself becoming a high school Heidi Fleiss, taking a percentage every time one of her friends babysits for the married men. But it's only a matter of time before Shirley starts to lose control of her operation and her tightly wound world begins to unravel. (Peace Arch Entertainment)
|
||
The FallMay 9, 2008Los Angeles, circa 1920s: A little immigrant girl finds herself in a hospital recovering from a fall. She strikes up a friendship with a bedridden man, who captivates her with a whimsical story that removes her far from the hospital doldrums into the exotic landscapes of her imagination. Making sure he keeps the girl interested in the story, he interweaves her family and people she likes from the hospital into his tale. (Roadside Attractions)
|
||
Frontier(s)May 9, 2008Alone in a Paris plagued by deadly race riots, young, beautiful Yasmine is looking for a way out. In her desperation, she turns to her shady ex-boyfriend. Together with his two thug friends, they pull off a bold heist and head for the border. With the police close behind, they hide out in a seemingly peaceful inn. But the mysterious innkeeper is hiding a secret more terrifying than anything they could ever imagine. Trapped in an endless maze of tunnels crawling with hungry subhuman cannibals, they must fight to survive their bloody initiation into the innkeeper's evil family cult. (After Dark Films)
|
||
NoiseMay 9, 2008David is a successful lawyer who can't stand the fact that Manhattan is a place where it's too noisy to get a good night's sleep, listen to classical music, or even make love to his wife without disturbance. Every time David hears a car alarm going off, he swings into action. Adopting the guise of "The Rectifier," he engages in acts of vandalism that satisfy him immensely but which generate no end of grief from his wife. They also make him politically controversial when he provokes the ire of the city's arrogant mayor. (THINKFilm)
|
||
Turn the RiverMay 9, 2008 |
||
Before the RainsMay 9, 2008Set in 1930s southern India against the backdrop of a growing nationalist movement, Before the Rains is about an idealistic young Indian man who finds himself torn between his ambitions for the future and his loyalty to the past when people in his village learn of an affair between his British boss and a village woman. (Roadside Attractions)
|
||
Battle for HadithaMay 7, 2008November 19, 2005, Haditha, Iraq: Iraqi insurgents bomb a convoy of US Marines, resulting in the death of their most popular officer. His young, enraged Marine buddies carry out a brutal retaliation. Their violent house search leads to the massacre of 24 people, many of whom are women and children--tragic causalities of a war they cannot control. The Marines, too, are victims, attacked, wounded, and forced to respond in the way they have been trained. But when events occur at great speed and under extreme stress, can Marines in the line of fire be accused of murder? (HanWay Films)
|
||
The FavorMay 2, 2008An unmarried photographer living in New Jersey receives a phone call from a woman who broke his heart 25 years ago. A week later, he has loved her and lost her all over again, and her troubled teenage son is living with him. The Favor is an intimate family drama that explores the fabric of human relationships and what we will do for the ones we love. Variety calls it a "gently wrought tearjerker" with strong performances by Tony-award-winning actor Frank Wood and newcomer Ryan Donowho. (7th Art Releasing)
|
||
Fugitive PiecesMay 2, 2008Based on the international best-selling novel by Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces is a poetic and emotionally charged film about love, loss, and redemption. The film tells the story of Jakob Beer, a man whose life is haunted by his childhood experiences during World War II. As a child in Poland, Jakob is orphaned during wartime, only to be saved by a compassionate Greek archeologist. Over the course of his life, he attempts to deal with the losses he has endured. Through his writing and his discovery of true love, Jakob is ultimately freed from the legacy of his past. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
|
||
Mister LonelyMay 2, 2008Only Harmony Korine could weave Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe, her daughter Shirley Temple, and flying nuns into a hypnotically funny and truly poignant tale of the instability behind fanaticism and the redemption we can hope to find in one another. The film follows a lonely Michael Jackson impersonator who is invited by a beautiful Marilyn Monroe to a commune in the Scottish Highlands full of other impersonators, including the Queen of England, Madonna, Sammy Davis Jr., and James Dean. In a parallel storyline, the incomparable Werner Herzog plays a Latin American priest who learns his missionary of nuns can literally fly. (IFC Films)
|
||
RedbeltMay 2, 2008Set on the west side of the Los Angeles fight world, a world inhabited by bouncers, cage fighters, cops, and special forces types, Redbelt is the story of Mike Terry, a jujitsu teacher who has avoided the prize-fighting circuit, choosing instead to pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai's code. Terry and his wife, Sondra, struggle to keep the business running to make ends meet. On a dark, rainy night, an accident at the academy between an off-duty officer and a distraught lawyer puts in motion a series of events that will change Terry's life dramatically and introduce him to a world of promoters and to movie star Chet Frank. Faced with this, in order to pay off his debts and regain his honor, Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life. (Sony Classics)
|
||
Son of RambowMay 2, 2008Son of Rambow is a hilariously fresh and visually inventive take on friendship, family, film heroes, and the death-defying adventures of growing up in the video age. The story takes place in 1980s Britain, where young Will Proudfoot is raised in isolation among The Brethren, a puritanical religious sect in which music and TV are strictly forbidden. When Will encounters his first movie, a pirated copy of Rambo: First Blood, his imagination is blown wide open. Now, Will sets out to join forces with the seemingly diabolical school bully, Lee Carter, to make their own action epic, devising wildly creative, on-the-fly stunts, not to mention equally elaborate schemes for creating a movie of total commitment and nonstop thrills while hiding out from The Brethren. When school popularity finally descends on Will and Lee in the form of, oui, the supercool French exchange student, Didier Revol, their remarkable new friendship and precious film are pushed, quite literally, to the breaking point. (Paramount Classics/Vantage)
|
||
XXYMay 2, 2008For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15-year-old Alex, who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son, Alvaro (Martin Piroyanski). Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity and forces both families to face their worst fears. (Film Movement)
|
||
VivaMay 2, 2008Viva is a cult freak-out retro 1970's spectacle, about a bored housewife who gets sucked into the sexual revolution. Abandoned by her perfect Ken-doll husband, Barbi is dragged into trouble by her girlfriend, who spouts women's lib as she gets Barbi to discard her bra and go out on the town. Barbi becomes a Red Riding Hood in a sea of wolves, and quickly learns a lot more than she wanted to about the different kinds of scenes going on in the wild '70's, including nudist camps, the hippie scene, orgies, bisexuality, sadism, drugs, and bohemia. Viva is a highly stylized film that draws on classic exploitation cinema for its look and characters. Saturated to the hilt with vibrant color, and exquisitely detailed in its depiction of the period, Viva looks like a lost film from the late '60s, even down to the campy and self-assured performances, the big lighting, the plethora of negligées, and the delirious assortment of Salvation Army ashtrays, lamps, fabrics, and bric-a-brac. Whether you're looking for naked people dancing, alcoholic swingers, stylish sex scenes, a sea of polyester, Hammond organ jams, glitzy show numbers, white horses, blondes in the bathtub, gay hairdressers, or psychedelic animation, Viva has it all!
|
||
DealApril 25, 2008Set against the world of high stakes poker, DEAL follows the story of Alex Stillman, a cocky, hotshot, card-playing senior at Yale University. Alex dreams of becoming a professional Texas Hold'em poker player but does not yet have the skill to master the table. Fortunately for him, a chance encounter introduces Alex to retired poker legend, Tommy Vinson. Tommy was at the top of his game twenty years ago but gave it all up in order to save his family. Upon meeting Alex, Tommy realizes he can regain his own self-confidence, pride and a poker championship title by turning Alex into his protege. The two pair up and master every tournament they enter. The winning streak and friendship between the two is eventually thwarted by the interference of a Las Vegas call girl, Michelle. The pair eventually part ways and separately prepare for the World Poker Tour. Only one will take home the championship title. (MGM)
|
||
DeceptionApril 25, 2008A simple enough question, but how Jonathan McQuarry answers it will change his life forever. A corporate auditor adrift in a sea of New York's power elite, Jonathan's work is his entire life. But a chance meeting with Wyatt Bose, a charismatic corporate lawyer, introduces Jonathan to a decadent playground for Manhattan's executive upper crust. For these power brokers, whose eighteen-hour workdays leave no time for a personal life, there's "The List" - a sex club, of sorts, where the right cell-phone number and four simple words ("Are you free tonight?") can lead to an evening's sexual fulfillment. It's a world of "intimacy without intricacy," as Jonathan's first conquest (or vice versa) explains to him, and through The List Jonathan discovers a side of himself that he didn't know existed. But an affair with a ravishing and mysterious stranger known to Jonathan only by her first initial 'S', will expose him to yet another world he never imagined - one of betrayal, treachery and murder. (20th Century Fox)
|
||
Roman de gareApril 25, 2008Best-selling author Judith Ralitzer is researching unlikely places to find characters for her next bestseller. As luck would have it, a serial killer with a penchant for magic tricks has just escaped from a high-security prison…providing the perfect source material for an intricately plotted, mood mystery. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
|
||
Then She Found MeApril 25, 2008Adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes her feature directing debut with Then She Found Me, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth mother, who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students, only to find that the mystery to life's questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation. (THINKFilm)
|
||
Stuff and DoughApril 23, 2008Ovidiu, a young man who runs his own business selling snacks and soft drinks out of his parents' apartment, wants to expand and buy a kiosk, but he doesn't have the "dough." A local mafioso offers him an impressive amount of money for an apparently simple job: he has to take a bag to Bucharest to a specific address. It seems, however, that the bag contains some "stuff" that concerns other people, too. Convinced at first that he has sold only his services, Ovidiu will understand that he has in fact sold his soul. (Mitropoulos Films)
|
||
88 MinutesApril 18, 2008In 88 Minutes, Dr. Jack Gramm, a college professor who moonlights as a forensic psychiatrist for the FBI. When Gramm receives a death threat claiming he has only 88 minutes to live, he must use all his skills and training to narrow down the possible suspects, who include a disgruntled student, a jilted former lover, and a serial killer who is already on death row, before his time runs out. (TriStar Pictures)
|
||
Forgetting Sarah MarshallApril 18, 2008Struggling musician Peter Bretter has spent six years idolizing his girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall. He's the guy left holding her purse in paparazzi photos and accidentally omitted from award acceptance speeches. But his world is rocked when she dumps him and he finds himself alone. After an unsuccessful bout of womanizing and an on-the-job nervous breakdown, he sees that not having Sarah may just ruin his life. To clear his head, Peter takes an impulsive trip to Oahu, where he is confronted by his worst nightmare: His ex and her tragically hip new British-rocker boyfriend, Aldous, are sharing his hotel. But as he torments himself with the reality of Sarah's new life, he finds relief in a flirtation with Rachel, a beautiful resort employee whose laid-back approach tempts him to rejoin the world. He also finds relief in several hundred embarrassing, fruity cocktails. For anyone who has ever had their heart ripped out and cut into a billion pieces comes a hilarious, heartfelt look at relationships. Part romantic comedy, part disaster film, Forgetting Sarah Marshall is the world's first romantic disaster comedy. (Universal Pictures)
|
||
The Life Before Her EyesApril 18, 2008The Life Before Her Eyes is an intense and visually evocative drama about the loss of youth, investigating how a single moment in time can define an entire life. Based on Laura Kasischke's visionary novel, the story hinges on a pivotal confrontation: two high school girls held captive by a gunman and forced to make the terrifying choice as to who will live and who will die. The Life Before Her Eyes explores the reverberations stemming from the collision of past and future, reality and dream. Life can end in an instant--yet the echoes of possible futures remain inescapable. Moving backward and forward in time, it combines the dramatic intensity of Sophie's Choice with the eerie mystery of a ghost story like The Others. (Magnolia)
|
||
Smart PeopleApril 11, 2008Professor Lawrence Wetherhold might be imperiously brilliant, but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy. His teenage daughter is an acid-tongued overachiever who follows all too closely in dad's misery-loving footsteps, and his adopted, preposterously ne'er-do-well brother has perfected the art of freeloading. A widower who can't seem to find passion in anything anymore, not even the Victorian literature in which he's an expert, Lawrence seems to be sleepwalking through a very stunted middle age. When his brother shows up unexpectedly for an extended stay just as he accidentally encounters a former student, Janet, the circumstances stir him from his deep freeze, with often comical, sometimes heartbreaking consequences for himself and everyone around him. [Miramax]
|
||
Remember the DazeApril 11, 2008On the last day of classes in the teenage wasteland of suburbia in 1999, a diverse group of students copes with its undetermined fate over a 24-hour period. Some are comfortably college bound, while others continue to romanticize their own nonsensical pipe dreams. All the while, they find safety in numbers as they enjoy their last night of adolescence. (Freestyle Releasing)
|
||
Dark MatterApril 11, 2008Liu Xing is a Chinese science student pursuing a PhD in the US in the early 1990s. Driven by ambition yet unable to navigate academic politics, Liu Xing is inexorably pushed to the margins of American life until he loses his way. Liu Xing arrives at a big Western university with plans to study the origins of the universe. In the beginning, everything is looking up. He finds other Chinese students to share a cheap apartment with him, and flirts with an attractive American girl who works in a local tea shop. When the head of the department, Jacob Reiser, welcomes Liu Xing into his select cosmology group, it seems that only hard work stands between him and a bright future in American science. At an orientation for foreigners sponsored by a local church, Joanna Silver, a wealthy patron of the university, notices the earnest student, and an unspoken bond forms between them. Liu Xing becomes Reiser's protege, accompanying him to a prestigious conference where he makes an impressive debut. He is drawn to the study of dark matter, an unseen substance that shapes the universe, but it soon becomes clear that his developing theories threaten the Reiser model. Excited by the possibility of a breakthrough, Liu Xing is deaf to warnings that he must first pay his dues. Soon he is eclipsed within the department by Laurence, a more dutiful Chinese student, and is forced to go behind Reiser's back to publish his discoveries. When his article draws ire instead of accolades, Liu Xing turns to Joanna, who naively encourages him on his collision course. Liu Xing clings to the idea of American science as a free market of ideas, and of American society as wide open to immigrants. But in the end, his dissertation is rejected, and the girl in the tea shop brushes him off. His roommates find jobs, leaving him behind. Too proud to accept help from Joanna and unwilling to return home to his parents, Liu Xing becomes a ghostlike presence at the university. Left alone with his shattered dreams, he explodes in a final act of violence. (First Independent Pictures)
|
||
Street KingsApril 11, 2008In Street Kings, a police thriller directed by David Ayer, Keanu Reeves plays Tom Ludlow, a veteran LAPD Vice detective. Ludlow sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington. Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker plays Captain Wander, Ludlow's supervisor, whose duties include keeping him within the confines of the law and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs (Hugh Laurie). Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery-Homicide detective (Chris Evans) to track Washington's killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Their determination pays off when the two detectives track down Washington's murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice. (Fox Searchlight)
|
||
The VisitorApril 11, 2008In a world of 6 billion people, it takes only one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy's follow-up to his award-winning directorial debut "The Station Agent," we get to know Walter Vale, a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City. Through newfound connections with virtual strangers, Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life. (Overture Films)
|
||
Chaos TheoryApril 11, 2008Frank Allen, celebrated author of the bestseller The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer, has perfected the art of living via a foolproof system of timetables and index cards. In fact, his daily “to do” lists are legendary. A man known for playing it safe, Frank doesn’t believe in spontaneity. Every choice he makes is deliberate––designed to contribute to a well-ordered, predictable life. But life, as he soon learns, never adheres to a strict schedule. Frank is about to discover that not even an efficiency expert armed with timetables and index cards can change the serendipitous nature of family and friendship, love and forgiveness. (Warner Bros.)
|
||
The TakeApril 11, 2008John Leguizamo plays Felix, a loving family man who is thrust into the middle of a dangerous armed robbery when his truck is hijacked. Framed and left for dead by Adell, Tyrese Gibson's character at the crime scene, Felix miraculously survives the violent attack--only to have his life irrevocably changed. What is the true price of justice? When FBI Agents Perelli (Bobby Cannavale) and Baxter (Matthew Hatchette) suspect this may be an inside job, Felix must risk losing his family and wife (Rosie Perez) forever, descending into the underbelly of East LA to clear his name, as well as exact revenge. (Destination Films)
|
||
Tuya's MarriageApril 4, 2008Set in the remote inner Mongolian grassland, Tuya's Marriage is the moving tale of Tuya (Nan Yu,) the iron-willed wife of Bater, a herdsman who has been paralyzed. Tuya takes up the sole responsibility to make a living for her family, but her hard labor endangers her health. Faced with a harsh reality, the couple decides to divorce so that Tuya can seek a better life. Imposing her own conditions--her new husband will have to take care of Bater, their children, and their herding land--the strong-minded, stubborn, but gentle Tuya embarks on an arduous and at times unintentionally comic search for a new husband in this Mongolian design for living. She meets suitors who are rich but disingenuous or likable but shy, and keeps her family together against insurmountable odds. Wrenching and beautiful, Tuya's Marriage is the indelible portrait of a strong woman determined to save her family, herself, and their ancient way of life. (Music Box Films)
|
||
Flight of the Red BalloonApril 4, 2008A highlight at the 2007 Cannes, Toronto, and New York film festivals, Flight of the Red Balloon is the latest masterpiece from Hou Hsiao Hsien. Inspired by Albert Lamorisse's 1956 Academy Award-winning classic, Flight of the Red Balloon, Hou expands on that film's key elements--a young boy, a red balloon, and Paris--to weave an achingly beautiful tale about the mysteries of familial bonds and the lingering effects the past has on us all. Simon, a precocious young boy, must deal with the increasing fragility of his mother, the loving yet preoccupied Suzanne. Completely immersed in her own tribulations, Suzanne hires Song, a Taiwanese film student, to help care for Simon. Together with Song, a unique extended family is formed, utterly interdependent yet lost in separate thoughts and dreams mirrored by a delicate, shiny red balloon. (IFC First Take)
|
||
MeduzotApril 4, 2008Poignant, often witty, and exceedingly cinematic, Jellyfish tells the story of three very different Tel Aviv women whose intersecting stories weave an unlikely portrait of modern Israeli life. Batya, a catering waitress, takes in a child apparently abandoned at a local beach. Batya is one of the servers at the wedding reception of Keren, a bride who breaks her leg escaping a locked toilet stall, ruining her chance at a dream Caribbean honeymoon. And attending the event with an employer is Joy, a non-Hebrew-speaking domestic worker who has guiltily left her son behind in her native Philippines. As this distaff trio separately wend their way through Israel's most cosmopolitan city, they struggle with issues of communication, affection, and destiny--but at times find uneasy refuge in its tranquil seas. (Zeitgeist Films)
|
||
LeatherheadsApril 4, 2008Dodge Connolly is a charming, brash football hero determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after his players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dodge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford, America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton aims to prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections. As the new game of pro football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must fight to keep his guys together and get the girl of his dreams. Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter... (Universal)
|
||
Meet BillApril 4, 2008Bill's a doormat if ever there was one, a man reduced to being a mere accessory to his family by working a dead-end job at his father-in-law's bank and arguing about his overindulgent love for chocolate with his wife, Jess, who is loathe to explain her "friendship" with the local news anchorman. But Bill's fate begins to change when he becomes a mentor to a self-assured boy who engineers Bill's recovery with the help of a cute lingerie salesgirl named Lucy (Jessica Alba). Together, the trio confronts Bill's hapless life with humor and energy while forcing him to capture his dream of being financially independent and self-confident. Meet Bill is a film about what it means to let go of your inhibitions and find the path you're destined for. (First Look Pictures)
|
||
My Blueberry NightsApril 4, 2008After a rough breakup, Elizabeth (Norah Jones) sets out on a trip across America, leaving behind a life of memories, a dream, and a soulful new friend, a cafe owner, all to search for something to mend her broken heart. Waitressing her way through the country, Elizabeth befriends others whose yearnings are greater than hers, including a troubled cop, his estranged wife, and a down-on-her luck gambler with a score to settle. Through these individuals, Elizabeth witnesses the true depths of loneliness and emptiness, and begins to understand that her own journey is part of a greater exploration within herself. [The Weinstein Company]
|
||
Sex and Death 101April 4, 2008 |
||
Water LiliesApril 4, 2008It's summer, and the girls' winning synchronized swimming team is in full swing at the vast municipal swimming pool and social hub in the Paris suburb of Cergy. It's here that Floriane, a shapely blonde with come-hither looks, is a valued performer and star of the social set. Although Marie isn't on the team, is small for her age, and is flat-chested, she becomes Floriane's confidante and cover for the budding siren's assignations, often at the expense of Marie's best friend, Anne. The aching doubts and offhanded cruelty of 15- and 16-year-old girls is on full display in this rich coming-of-age tale. [Koch Lorber Films]
|
||
21March 28, 2008Ben Campbell is a shy, brilliant MIT student who, needing to pay school tuition, finds the answers in the cards. He is recruited to join a group of the school's most gifted students that heads to Vegas every weekend armed with fake identities and the know-how to turn the odds at blackjack in their favor. With unorthodox math professor and stats genius Micky Rosa leading the way, they crack the code. By counting cards and employing an intricate system of signals, the team can beat the casinos big-time. Seduced by the money, the Vegas lifestyle, and his smart and sexy teammate, Jill Taylor (Kate Bosworth), Ben begins to push the limits. Though counting cards isn't illegal, the stakes are high, and the challenge becomes not only keeping the numbers straight, but staying one step ahead of the casinos' menacing enforcer, Cole Williams. (Columbia Pictures)
|
||
Chapter 27March 28, 2008On December 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman shocked the world by murdering the beloved purveyor of peace, 40-year-old musician and activist John Lennon, outside The Dakota, his New York apartment building. Chapman's motives were fabricated from pure delusion, fueled by an obsession with the fictional character Holden Caulfield and his similar misadventures in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. In one instant, an anonymous, mentally unstable 25-year-old, a socially awkward Beatles fan who had fluctuated between idealizing Lennon and being overcome with a desire to kill him, altered the course of history. Jared Leto, 60 pounds heavier for the role, bears an uncanny physical resemblance to the real Chapman, who remains incarcerated in Attica Correctional Facility on a guilty plea. Aside from a Larry King interview in 1992, he has never spoken with the media. However, Chapman did reveal the mechanics of his unraveling over three fateful days in New York City to crime journalist Jack Jones. Those interviews were published in 1992 as Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, a book of Chapman's recollections of his unthinkable act of violence. From this text, the film Chapter 27 is based. (Peace Arch Entertainment)
|
||
My Brother Is an Only ChildMarch 28, 2008Already a smash in its native Italy, My Brother is an Only Child, which was presented at this year's Cannes and Toronto film festivals, reunites director Daniele Luchetti with longtime collaborators Sandro Petraglia and Stefano Rulli, best known as screenwriters of the highly acclaimed The Best of Youth. Set in a small Italian town in the '60s and '70s, the film tells the story of two brothers who want to change the world--but in completely different ways. The elder, Manrico, is a handsome, charismatic firebrand who becomes the prime mover in the local Communist party. Accio, the younger, more rebellious brother, finds his own contrarian voice by joining the reactionary Fascists. What starts as a typical tale of sibling rivalry becomes a story of the polarizing and paralyzing politics of those turbulent times. The rift between the brothers is further intensified when Accio realizes that he loves his brother's girlfriend, Francesca, who like everyone else is blind to Manrico's increasingly dangerous ideas. (THINKFilm)
|
||
Stop-LossMarch 28, 2008 |
||
FlawlessMarch 28, 2008Flawless is a clever diamond-heist thriller set in swinging 1960s London. Demi Moore plays Laura Quinn, a bright, driven, and beautiful executive at the London Diamond Corporation who finds herself frustrated by a glass ceiling after years of faithful employment, as man after man is promoted ahead of her despite her greater experience. Michael Caine is Hobbs, the nighttime janitor at London Diamond who is virtually invisible to the executives who work there, but over the years has amassed a startling amount of knowledge about how the company runs. Hobbs has his own bone to pick with London Diamond and, observing Laura's frustration, convinces her to help him execute an ingenious plan to steal a hefty sum in diamonds. But unbeknownst to Laura, Hobbs plans go even further than he's let on, and together they set in motion a thrilling heist of dizzying proportions, the likes of which London has never seen. (Magnolia)
|
||
Shotgun StoriesMarch 26, 2008Son Hayes never speaks of the scars on his back. The shotgun pellets left under his skin make for a sporadic pattern of blue-black dots. The men he works with take bets on how he got them. His brothers, Boy and Kid Hayes, don't discuss it. His past, just like the scars, is never far behind him. This stands true for the memory of his father, a man who never bothered to give his children proper names. He left the three brothers, Son, Boy, and Kid, when they were young. Their last impressions of him were of a violent drunk who never hesitated to put his own needs ahead of his family's. The brothers were left to be raised by their mother, a hateful woman who to this day blames her children for the life she's been left with and the loss of the man she couldn't keep. Their father, having left the memory of his children as completely as he left their home, managed to move on and put his life back together. He sobered up, became a devout Christian, married a wonderful woman, and fathered four new sons--all of whom received proper names. His life became a model that most would aspire to--a man successful in business, community, and family--with his only true failing being the sons he turned his back on. (Liberation Entertainment)
|
||
AlexandraMarch 26, 2008In a desolate, sun-scorched corner of the world, an elderly woman has come to see her beloved grandson, a young officer stationed at a remote military outpost. With the enemy just beyond the compound, she wanders the barracks, observing the routine of military life, before making a sudden trip to the outlying countryside. (The Cinema Guild)
|
||
Boarding GateMarch 21, 2008Ex-prostitute Sandra is forced to flee London after a steamy S&M encounter with a debt-ridden ex-lover ends in violence. Fleeing to Hong Kong in search of a fresh start, she becomes involved with an attractive young couple, Lester and Sue, who promise to help her obtain papers and money. But nothing turns out as expected for Sandra, and she finds herself trapped in a sordid game of manipulation. (Magnet Films)
|
||
Love SongsMarch 21, 2008In the hope of sparking their stalled relationship, Ismael and Julie enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice. When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love. For Ismael, this means negotiating through the advances of Julie's sister and a young college student, one of whom may offer him redemption. Love Songs is a modern-day musical told through unforgettable songs sung entirely by the cast. (IFC First Take)
|
||
Irina PalmMarch 21, 2008Middle-aged Maggie must find a way to get enough money for her grandson’s lifesaving medical treatment. With all financial resources exhausted, Maggie tries her best to lift the dwindling hopes of her only son Tom and his wife Sarah. When a “Hostess Wanted” sign catches her eye, Maggie naively stumbles into a city sex club. The true job description is quite a surprise for the respectable, middle-class widow, even if she isn’t a prude. But unskilled Maggie accepts this as her fastest way to urgently needed cash and her very last option, having already sold her own home to pay for little Olly’s hospital bills. Shy Maggie has a rough start at “Sexy World,” more than just a train ride from her conservative suburb. Wisecracking colleague Luisa shows her the ropes and the two women strike a touching friendship. Tough guy owner Miki, a real ladies’ man, reveals a soft spot for dutiful Maggie, and transforms her into the much-in-demand and lucrative “Irina Palm.” Maggie courageously proves to herself that she’s not so old and useless after all. (Strand Releasing)
|
||
ShelterMarch 21, 2008Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach spends his days working a dead-end job and helping his needy sister care for her son. In his free time he surfs, draws, and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe, who lives on the wealthy side of town. When Gabe's older brother Shaun returns home, he is drawn to Zach's selflessness and talent. Zach falls in love with Shaun while struggling to reconcile his own desires with the needs of his family. (Regent Releasing)
|
-
Girls Lost
- Runtime: 106 min
-
Maktub
- Runtime: 100 min
-
Based on a True Story
- Runtime: 110 min

































































































