2012
January 2012
January 6
Seen and Recommend
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Starring: Muhammet Uzuner, Yilmaz Erdogan, Taner Birsel
Synopsis: A group of men set out in search of a dead body in the Anatolian steppes.
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Would Like to See
Norwegian Wood
Director: Anh Hung Tran
Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Kiko Mizuhara
Synopsis: Upon hearing the song “Norwegian Wood,” Toru remembers back to his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki’s girlfriend.
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Maybe See
The Flowers of War
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Christian Bale, Ni Ni and Zhang Xinyi
Synopsis: A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan’s rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.
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Not Interested
The Devil Inside
Director: William Brent Bell
Starring: Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth
Synopsis: In Italy, a woman becomes involved in a series of unauthorized exorcisms during her mission to discover what happened to her mother, who allegedly murdered three people during her own exorcism.
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Roadie
Director: Michael Cuesta
Starring: Ron Eldard, Bobby Cannavale, Jill Hennessy
Synopsis: After 20 years on the road with Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy Testagros returns to his hometown to life with his ailing mother.
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It’s About You
Director: Ian & Kurt Markus
Starring: John Mellencamp, Kurt Markus
Synopsis: This is a personal journey film about singer/songwriter John Mellencamp. It was made during his summer 2009 tour with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
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Others
Beneath the Darkness (Image Entertainment)
January 13
Maybe See
Beauty and the Beast 3D
Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Starring: Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury
Synopsis: Belle, whose father is imprisoned by the Beast, offers herself instead and discovers her captor to be an enchanted prince.
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The Iron Lady
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Starring: Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Anthony Head
Synopsis: A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.
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Contraband
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster
Synopsis: A security guard with financial troubles considers a return to his smuggling ways when an associate offers a potentially lucrative opportunity.
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Miss Bala
Director: Gerardo Naranjo
Starring: Stephanie Sigman, Noe Hernandez, Irene Azuela
Synopsis: The story of a young woman clinging on to her dream to become a beauty contest queen in a Mexico dominated by organized crime.
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Albatross
Director: Niall MacCormick
Starring: Felicity Jones, Jessica Brown Findlay, Sebastian Koch
Synopsis: Beth, a bookish teenager, befriends Emilia, an aspiring novelist who has just arrived in town. Emilia soon begins an affair with Beth’s father that threatens to have devastating consequences.
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The Divide
Director: Xavier Gens
Starring: Lauren German, Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Biehn, Courtney B. Vance, Rosanna Arquette
Synopsis: Survivors of a nuclear attack hole up for days in the basement of their apartment building, where fear and dwindling supplies wear away at them.
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Sing Your Song
Director: Susanne Rostock
Starring: Harry Belafonte
Synopsis: Most people know the lasting legacy of Harry Belafonte, the entertainer. This film unearths his significant contribution to and his leadership in the civil rights movement in America and to social justice globally.
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Not Interested
Loosies (11th)
Director: Michael Corrente
Starring: Peter Facinelli, Jaimie Alexander and Michael Madsen
Synopsis: A young pickpocket in the New York subways, living a fast & free lifestyle is confronted by a woman he had a one night affair with, claiming to be pregnant with his child.
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Joyful Noise
Director: Todd Graff
Starring: Queen Latifah, Dolly Parton, Keke Palmer
Synopsis: Two choir members have differing opinions on how to win the national choir competition.
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Others
Don’t Go in the Woods (Tribeca Film)
Northeast
Vettai
January 20
Seen and Recommend
Pina
Director: Wim Wenders
Starring: The dance company of Pina Bausch
Synopsis: Wenders pays tribute to the memory of dance director/choreographer Pina Bausch, as members of her company perform her dances and provide remembrances about her.
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The Pruitt-Igoe Myth
Director: Chad Freidrichs
Synopsis: The Pruitt-Igoe Myth explores the social, economic and legislative issues that led to the decline of conventional public housing in America while tracing the personal and poignant narratives of several of the project’s residents.
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Pick of the Week
Haywire
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender
Synopsis: A black ops super soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and set up during a mission.
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Seen, Can’t Recommend
Coriolanus
Director: Ralph Fiennes
Starring: Gerard Butler, Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Brian Cox, Vanessa Redgrave
Synopsis: A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.
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Maybe See
Red Tails
Director: Anthony Hemingway
Starring: Bryan Cranston, David Oyelowo and Cuba Gooding Jr.
Synopsis: The story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American pilots to fly in a combat squadron during World War II.
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Underworld: Awakening
Director: Måns Mårlind, Björn Stein
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Michael Ealy and Sandrine Holt
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Not Interested
Crazy Horse
Director: Frederick Wiseman
Starring: Philippe Decouflé, Daizy Blu, Philippe Katerine
Synopsis: A cinéma vérité look inside Paris’ Crazy Horse, a club that boasts the greatest and most chic nude dancing in the world.
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Watching TV with the Red Chinese
Director: Shimon Dotan
Starring: Ryan O’Nan, Leonardo Nam, Gillian Jacobs, James Chen
Synopsis: In New York City in 1980, Dexter Mitchell plays half-willing big brother to his neighbors, a trio of exchange students from the People’s Republic of China.
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Others
Ultrasuede (Tribeca Film)
January 27
Seen and Recommend
We Need to Talk About Kevin
Director: Lynne Ramsey
Starring: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
Synopsis: The mother of a teenage boy who went on a high-school killing spree tries to deal with her grief – and feelings of responsibility for her child’s actions.
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Pick of the Week
Man on a Ledge
Director: Asger Leth
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell
Synopsis: An ex-cop framed turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. However, unbeknownst to the NYPD on the scene, the suicide attempt is a cover up for the biggest diamond heist ever pulled.
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Maybe See
The Grey
Director: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, James Badge Dale
Synopsis: In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders.
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The Wicker Tree
Director: Robin Hardy
Starring: Christopher Lee, Graham McTavish, Honeysuckle Weeks, Clive Russell, Keira McMillan
Synopsis: Director Robin Hardy’s reimagining of his eerie 1973 film, The Wicker Man.
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Rampart
Director: Oren Moverman
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Sigourney Weaver
Synopsis: Set in 1999 Los Angeles, veteran police officer Dave Brown, the last of the renegade cops, works to take care of his family, and struggles for his own survival.
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The Theatre Bizarre
Directors: Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Jeremy Kasten, Tom Savini, Richard Stanley
Starring: Udo Kier, Virginia Newcomb
Synopsis: Young Enola Penny is obsessed with a long abandoned theatre, hosted by an eerie human puppet named Peg Poett who will introduce Penny to six tales of the bizarre.
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Not Interested
Declaration of War
Director: Valérie Donzelli
Starring: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, César Desseix
Synopsis: A young couple wrestle with their child’s cancer diagnosis.
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One for the Money
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Starring: Katherine Heigl, Jason O’Mara, Daniel Sunjata
Synopsis: Unemployed and newly-divorced Stephanie Plum lands a job at her cousin’s bail-bond business, where her first assignment puts her on the trail of a wanted local cop from her romantic past.
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Lula, Son of Brazil
Directors: Fábio Barreto, Marcelo Santiago
Starring: Rui Ricardo Diaz, Glória Pires, Juliana Baroni
Synopsis: The true story of a working class boy who moves to the nation’s financial capital at a young age and becomes one the most influential politician in Brazil’s history.
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Others
How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster (First Run)
February 2012
February 3
Seen and Recommend
The Innkeepers
Director: Ti West
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis
Synopsis: A horror-thriller centered on the last two employees at a haunted hotel that’s going out of business.
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Kill List
Director: Ben Wheatley
Starring: Neil Maskell, MyAnna Buring and Harry Simpson
Synopsis: Nearly a year after a botched job, a hitman takes a new assignment with the promise of a big payoff for three killings. What starts off as an easy task soon unravels, sending the killer into the heart of darkness.
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Pick of the Week
The Woman in Black
Director: James Watkins
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Janet McTeer, Ciaran Hinds
Synopsis: A young lawyer travels to a remote village to organize a recently deceased client’s papers, where he discovers the ghost of a scorned woman set on vengeance.
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Maybe See
Chronicle
Director: Josh Trank
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Michael Kelly, Alex Russell
Synopsis: Three high school friends gain superpowers after making an incredible discovery. Soon, though, they find their lives spinning out of control and their bond tested as they embrace their darker sides.
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W.E.
Director: Madonna
Starring: Abbie Cornish, Oscar Isaac, Natalie Dormer
Synopsis: A two-tiered romantic drama focusing on the affair between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson and a contemporary romance between a married woman and a Russian security guard.
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Not Interested
Big Miracle
Director: Ken Kwapis
Starring: Drew Barrymore, John Krasinski, Kristen Bell
Synopsis: A small town newspaper reporter writes about three California gray whales trapped in the Arctic Circle in that unites a Cold War-era United State and USSR in an effort to rescue them.
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Others
Dysfunctional Friends
Windfall (First Run)
February 10
Seen and Recommend
Chico and Rita
Director: Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal
Starring: Mario Guerra, Limara Meneses, Eman Xo Oña
Synopsis: Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero – brings heartache and torment.
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Pick of the Week
Perfect Sense
Director: David Mackenzie
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green and Connie Nielsen
Synopsis: A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
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Maybe See
Safe House
Director: Daniel Espinoza
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds, Robert Patrick
Synopsis: When a CIA-operated safe house is targeted by a group of bad guys, the facility’s house-sitter is tasked with the dangerous job of moving the criminal who is being hidden there to another secure location.
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In Darkness
Director: Agnieszka Holland
Starring: Robert Wieckiewicz, Benno Fürmann, Agnieszka Grochowska
Synopsis: A dramatization of one man’s rescue of Jewish refugees in the Nazi-occupied Polish city of Lvov.
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Not Interested
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman
Synopsis: Two Jedi Knights uncover a wider conflict when they are sent as emissaries to the blockaded planet Naboo.
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The Vow
Director: Michael Sucsy
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum, Sam Neill
Synopsis: A car accident puts Paige (McAdams) in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo (Tatum) works to win her heart again.
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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
Director: Brad Peyton
Starring: Josh Hutcherson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine
Synopsis: Sean Anderson partners with his mom’s boyfriend on a mission to find his grandfather, who is thought to be missing on a mythical island.
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Undefeated
Director: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
Starring: Bill Courtney, O.C. Brown, Montrail Brown
Synopsis: A documentary on an underdog football team who look to reverse their fortunes with coach Bill Courtney.
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Others
The Miners’ Hymns (Icarus Films)
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu (UTV Communications)
Short Term Shaddi (UTV Communications)
King Fu Joe (Indican)
February 17
Pick of the Week
The Secret World of Arrietty
Director: Hiromasa Yonebayashi
Studio: Studio Ghibli
Starring: Mirai Shida, Ryûnosuke Kamiki and Shinobu Ôtake
Synopsis: 14-year-old Arrietty and the rest of the Clock family live in peaceful anonymity “borrowing” from their house’s human inhabitants.
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Maybe See
The Lady
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Michelle Yeoh, David Thewlis, Jonathan Raggett
Synopsis: The story of pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and the academic and writer Michael Aris; a true story of love set against political turmoil.
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This Means War
Director: McG
Starring: Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoo, Chris Pine
Synopsis: Two CIA operatives wage an epic battle against one another after they both fall in love with the same woman.
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba
Synopsis: As Johnny Blaze hides out in Eastern Europe, he is called upon to stop the devil, who is trying to take human form.
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Michael
Director: Markus Schleinzer
Starring: Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Christine Kain
Synopsis: A drama focused on five months in the life of pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
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Others
On the Ice (On the Ice LLC)
Thin Ice (ATO Pictures)
February 24
Pick of the Week
The Forgiveness of Blood
Director: Joshua Marston
Starring: Refet Abazi, Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej
Synopsis: After years of bitterness and disputes over a tract of land, two Albanian families find themselves teetering on the brink of a full-blown feud.
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Maybe See
Act of Valor
Director: Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh
Starring: Roselyn Sanchez, Emilio Rivera, Nestor Serrano
Synopsis: An elite team of Navy SEALs embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent.
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Not Interested
Wanderlust
Director: David Wain
Starring: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Malin Ackerman
Synopsis: An urban couple branches out to live a more counter-culture lifestyle.
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Gone
Director: Heitor Dhalia
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Jennifer Carpenter, Wes Bentley
Synopsis: When her sister disappears, Jill is convinced the serial killer who kidnapped her two years ago has returned, and she sets out to once again face her abductor.
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Good Deeds
Director: Tyler Perry
Starring: Tyler Perry, Gabrielle Union, Thandie Newton
Synopsis: Right before his wedding, an affluent man (Perry) develops complicating feelings for a single mom.
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Others
Neon Flesh (Tribeca Film)
Around June (Indican)
Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya (UTV Communications)
February 29
Seen and Recommend
This Is Not a Film
Director: Jafar Panahi, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Starring: Jafar Panahi
Synopsis: Filmmaker Jafar Panahi is under house arrest, banned from filmmaking for 20 years, labeled as a dissident by the Iranian government – this documentary captures a day in his life.
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March 2012
March 2
Seen and Recommend
Snowtown
Director: Justin Kurzel
Starring: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris
Synopsis: When 16 year-old Jamie begins a friendship with a charismatic man, his world becomes threatened by his loyalty and fear of his newfound father figure, John Bunting: Australia’s most notorious serial killer.
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Pick of the Week
The Lorax
Director: Chris Renaud, Kyle Balda
Starring: Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Danny DeVito, Taylor Swift, Willow Smith
Synopsis: An environmentalist tries to save the forest from a greedy clothing manufacturer.
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Maybe See
Being Flynn
Director: Paul Weitz
Starring: Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore, Paul Dano, Olivia Thirlby, Lili Taylor.
Synopsis: During his twenties, a young man works at various homeless shelters in Boston, where he often intersects with his brilliant but troubled father.
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Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
Director: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim
Starring: Eric Wareheim, Tim Heidecker, John C. Reilly
Synopsis: Two guys get a billion dollars to make a movie, only to watch their dream run off course. In order to make the money back, they then attempt to revitalize a failing shopping mall.
View trailer (redband)
Not Interested
Project X
Director: Nima Nourizadeh
Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown
Synopsis: 3 high school seniors throw a birthday party to make a name for themselves. As the night progresses, things spiral out of control as word of the party spreads.
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Others
Last Days Here (IFC)
Black Butterflies (Tribeca Film)
March 9
Pick of the Week
John Carter
Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Willem Dafoe, Mark Strong
Synopsis: Civil War vet John Carter is transplanted to Mars, where he discovers a lush, wildly diverse planet whose main inhabitants are 12-foot tall green barbarians.
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Maybe See
Footnote
Director: Joseph Cedar
Starring: Shlomo Bar-Aba, Lior Ashkenazi, Aliza Rosen
Synopsis: Eliezer and Uriel Shkolnik are father and son as well as rival professors in Talmudic Studies. When both men learn that Eliezer will be lauded for his work, their complicated relationship reaches a new peak.
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Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Director: Lasse Hallström
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt, Amr Waked
Synopsis: A fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik’s vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert and embark son an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.
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Jiro Dreams of Sushi
Director: David Gelb
Starring: Jiro Ono, Sukiyabashi Ono
Synopsis: 85 year old sushi master Jiro Ono works tirelessly in his world renowned restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, relentlessly pursuing his lifelong quest to create the perfect piece of sushi.
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The Bully Project
Director: Lee Hirsch
Synopsis: The Bully Project is the first feature documentary film to show how we’ve all been affected by bullying, whether we’ve been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness.
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Not Interested
Think Like a Man
Director: Tim Story
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Arielle Kebbel, Jerry Ferrara
Synopsis: A romantic comedy centered on a relationship expert who cannot keep his own love life in order.
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Others
The Decoy Bride (IFC)
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jane (Adopt Films)
Silent House (Open Road)
March 16
Seen and Recommend
The Kid With a Bike
Directors: Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
Starring: Thomas Doret, Cécile De France, Jérémie Renier
Synopsis: Abandoned by his father, a young boy is left in a state-run youth farm. In a random act of kindness, the town hairdresser agrees to foster him on weekends.
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Pick of the Week
Jeff Who Lives at Home
Director: Jay & Mark Duplass
Starring: Jason Segal, Ed Helms, Judy Greer
Synopsis: Dispatched from his basement room on an errand for his mother, slacker Jeff might discover his destiny (finally) when he spends the day with his brother as he tracks his possibly adulterous wife.
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Maybe See
21 Jump Street
Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Starring: Johnny Depp, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum
Synopsis: An undercover police unit consisting of young looking officers infiltrate high schools to control youth crime.
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Not Interested
Mirror Mirror
Director: Tarsem
Starring: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer
Synopsis: A dark twist on the classic fairy tale, in which Snow White and the seven dwarfs look to reclaim their destroyed kingdom.
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Others
Gerhard Richter Painting (Kino Lorber)
Detachment (Tribeca Film)
Casa de mi Padre (Pantelion Films)
The Understudy (Indican)
March 23
Pick of the Week
The Hunger Games
Director: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth
Synopsis: A young girl joins a survival contest in order to save her community in a dystopian future.
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Definitely See
The Raid: Redemption
Director: Gareth Evans
Starring: Iko Uwais, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian
Synopsis: Deep in the heart of Jakarta’s slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world’s most dangerous killers and gangsters. An elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it.
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Others
444: Last Day on Earth (IFC)
Brake (IFC)
The Trouble with Bliss (Variance)
The Island President (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
Musical Chairs (Paladin)
March 30
Maybe See
Intruders
Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring: Clive Owen, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl
Synopsis: A horror/thriller centered on the origin of the monsters that are born in childhood and are passed on by the family.
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View trailer 2
Turn Me On, Dammit!
Director: Jannicke Systad Jacobsen
Starring: Helene Bergsholm, Henriette Steenstrup and Malin Bjørhovde
Synopsis: 15-year-old Alma is consumed by her hormones and fantasies that range from sweetly romantic images of Artur, the boyfriend she yearns for, to daydreams about practically everybody she lays eyes on.
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L!fe Happens
Director: Kat Coiro
Starring: Krysten Ritter, Kate Bosworth and Rachel Bilson
Synopsis: A comedy centered on two best friends, Kim and Deena, who fight to maintain normalcy in their lives after Kim gets pregnant and has a baby.
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The Deep Blue Sea
Director: Terence Davies
Starring: Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russell Beale
Synopsis: The wife of a British Judge is caught in a self-destructive love affair with a Royal Air Force pilot.
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Not Interested
Wrath of the Titans
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy
Synopsis: Perseus embarks on a treacherous quest into the underworld to rescue Zeus, who has been targeted for capture by his traitorous son, Ares, and his brother, Hades.
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Goon
Director: Michael Dowse
Starring: Seann William Scott, Jay Baruchel, Liev Schreiber
Synopsis: Labelled an outcast by his brainy family, a bouncer overcomes long odds to lead a team of under performing misfits to semi-pro hockey glory, beating the crap out of everything that stands in his way.
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Others
The Island President (Samuel Goldwyn)
Foreign Letters
April 2012
April 6
Pick of the Week
Damsels in Distress
Director: Whit Stillman
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody
Synopsis: A comedy about a trio of beautiful girls as they set out to revolutionize life at a grungy American university
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Maybe See
Titanic 3D
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Billy Zane, Victor Garber
Synopsis: A boy and a girl from differing social backgrounds meet during the ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic.
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Not Interested
American Reunion
Director: Jon Hurwitz, Hayden Schlossberg
Starring: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Seann William Scott
Synopsis: Jim, Michelle, Stifler, and their friends reunite in East Great Falls, Michigan for their high school reunion.
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Others
We Have a Pope (IFC)
ATM (IFC)
Detention (Samuel Goldwyn)
The Binary Universe (Indican)
April 13
Pick of the Week
Cabin in the Woods
Director: Drew Goddard
Producer: Joss Whedon
Starring: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth
Synopsis: A group of friends at a cabin retreat scratch the surface of something so massive and horrific that they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out.
View trailer
Would Like to See
Little White Lies
Director: Guillaume Canet
Starring: Marion Cotillard, François Cluzet, Benoît Magimel
Synopsis: A near-fatal accident leaves one friend in the hospital while the rest go on their annual vacation. But their secrets and personal grief threaten to drive them apart.
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Maybe See
Monsieur Lazhar
Director: Philippe Falardeau
Starring: Mohamed Fellag, Sophie Nélisse and Émilien Néron
Synopsis: At a Montréal public grade school, an Algerian immigrant is hired to replace a popular teacher who committed suicide in her classroom. While helping his students deal with their grief, his own recent loss is revealed.
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Not Interested
The Three Stooges
Directors: Peter & Bobby Farrelly
Starring: Sean Hayes, Will Sasso, Chris Diamantopoulos, Jane Lynch
Synopsis: While trying to save their childhood orphanage, Moe, Larry, and Curly inadvertently stumble into a murder plot and wind up starring in a reality TV show.
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Others
Post Mortem (Kino Lorber)
Badass (Samual Goldwyn)
Falling Apart (Indican)
April 20
Maybe See
Lockout
Director: James Mather, Stephen St. Leger
Writer: Luc Besson
Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare
Synopsis: A man is wrongly convicted of conspiracy against the U.S. He’s offered his freedom if he can rescue the president’s daughter from an outer space prison.
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Goodbye First Love
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve
Starring: Lola Créton, Sebastian Urzendowsky and Magne-Håvard Brekke
Synopsis: A chronicle of the romance between Camille and Sullivan, which begins during their adolescence.
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Not Interested
The Lucky One
Director: Scott Hicks
Starring; Zac Efron, Blythe Danner, Taylor Schilling
Synopsis: A Marine travels to North Carolina after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.
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A Thousand Words
Director: Brian Robbins
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Ariel Winter, Kerry Washington
Synopsis: A blasé guy learns that he has only 1,000 words left to speak before he will die.
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The Moth Diaries
Director: Mary Harron
Starring: Scott Speedman, Sarah Bolger and Lily Cole
Synopsis: A teenage girl at a boarding girl suspects her roommate is a vampire.
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Chimpanzee
Directors: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Synopsis: A nature documentary centered on a family of chimps living in the Ivory Coast and Ugandan rain forests.
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Others
Escape from M.S. One (Open Road)
April 27
Seen and Recommend
Headhunters
Director: Morten Tyldum
Starring: Aksel Hennie, Synnøve Macody Lund, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Synopsis: An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary.
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Mamitas
Director: Nicholas Ozeki
Starring: E.J. Bonilla, Veronica Diaz-Carranza, Josue Aguirre
Synopsis: The day Jordin is suspended from school for insulting a teacher, he meets Felipa, a bookish, no-nonsense New York girl who sees past the swaggering facade.
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Pick of the Week
Sound of My Voice
Director: Zal Batmanglij
Starring: Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Brit Marling
Synopsis: A journalist and his girlfriend get pulled in while they investigate a cult whose leader claims to be from the future.
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Maybe See
Bernie
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine
Synopsis: In small-town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she’s alive.
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The Five Year Engagement
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Starring: Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Alison Brie
Synopsis: A comedy that charts the ups and downs of an engaged couple’s relationship.
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The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Director: Peter Lord
Studio: Aardman Animation
Starring: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Synopsis: A hapless band of pirates compete for the Pirate of the Year award.
View trailer
The Raven
Director: James McTeigue
Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans
Synopsis: A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe’s life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer’s stories.
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Safe
Director: Boaz Yakin
Starring: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon, James Hong
Synopsis: A former elite agent (Statham) endeavors to rescue a 12-year-old girl (Chan).
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Others
Elles (Kino Lorber)
Inventing Our Life: The Kibbutz Experiment (First Run)
Payback (Zeitgeist)
Restless City (AFFRM)
Warriors of the Rainbow: Seddiq Bale (China Lion)
May 2012
May 4
Pick of the Week
The Avengers
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson
View trailer
Not Interested
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Director: John Madden
Starring: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, Dev Patel
Synopsis: A story set in Bangalore and centered around the workers and residents at Dunroamin, a home for the elderly.
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Others
First Position (IFC)
A Little Bit of Heaven (Millennium Entertainment)
The Perfect Family (Variance Films)
May 11
Maybe See
Dark Shadows
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jackie Earle Haley, Eva Green, Chloe Moretz
Synopsis: A gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts.
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Others
The Cup (Myriad Pictures)
Dangerous Ishhq (Reliance Big Pictures)
Girl in Progress (Lionsgate)
God Bless America (Magnolia)
Nobody Else But You (First Run)
Where Do We Go Now? (Sony Classics)
May 18
Maybe See
Battleship
Director: Peter Berg
Starring: Alexander Skarsgård, Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch
Synopsis: A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in order to discover and thwart their destructive goals.
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Not Interested
Hysteria
Director: Tanya Wexler
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce
Synopsis: A romantic comedy based on the truth of how Mortimer Granville devised the invention of the first vibrator in the name of medical science.
View trailer
The Dictator (Wed.)
Director: Larry Charles
Starring: Anna Faris, Megan Fox, Sacha Baron Cohen
Synopsis: The heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed.
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What to Expect When You’re Expecting
Director: Kirk Jones
Starring: Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz
Synopsis: A look at the lives of five couples as they prepare to become parents.
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Others
American Animal (Screen Media)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (Samuel Goldwyn)
Never Stand Still: Dancing at Jacob’s Pillow (First Run)
Polisse (IFC)
The Samaritan (IFC)
Virginia (Entertainment One)
May 25
Pick of the Week
Moonrise Kingdom
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban
Synopsis: A pair of lovers flee their New England town, which causes a local search party to fan out and find them.
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Maybe See
Oslo, August 31st
Director: Joachim Trier
Starring:
Synopsis: One day in the life of Anders, a young recovring drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
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Men in Black 3
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin
Synopsis: Agent J time-jumps back to the 1960s, where an alien with its sights on the younger version of Agent K poses a threat to the future of the MIB organization — and humankind’s very existence.
View trailer
Not Interested
Chernobyl Diaries
Director: Bradley Parker
Producer: Oren Peli
Starring: Jesse McCartney, Jonathan Sadowski, Olivia Dudley
Synopsis: Six tourists hire an extreme tour guide who takes them to abandoned city Pripyat, the former home to the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, but they are not alone.
Others
The Intouchables (Weinstein Company)
OC87 (Fisher-Klingenstein Films)
June 2012
June 1
Pick of the Week
Snow White and the Huntsman
Director: Rupert Sanders
Starring: Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth
Synopsis: In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.
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Not Interested
Battlefield America
Director: Chris Stokes
Starring: Marques Houston, Mekia Cox, Christopher Jones
Synopsis: A young businessman hires an instructor to turn a group of misfit kids into a team on the underground dance competition circuit.
View trailer
Piranha 3DD
Director: John Gulager
Starring: Christopher Lloyd, Katrina Bowden, Danielle Panabaker
Synopsis: After the events at Lake Victoria, the pre-historic school of blood-thirsty piranhas make their way into a newly opened waterpark.
View trailer
Others
Five Broken Cameras (Kino Lorber)
Pink Ribbons, Inc. (First Run)
Rowdy Rathore (UTV Communications)
June 8
Pick of the Week
Prometheus
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, Idris Elba, Noomi Rapace
Synopsis: A team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a journey to the darkest corners of the universe.
View trailer
Definitely See
Safety Not Guaranteed
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake M. Johnson, Karan Soni
Synopsis: Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel.
View trailer
Maybe See
Lola Versus
Director: David Wain
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Zoe Lister Jones, Hamish Linklater
Synopsis: Dumped by her boyfriend just three weeks before their wedding, Lola enlists her close friends for a series of adventures she hopes will help her come to terms with approaching 30 as a single woman.
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Not Interested
Bel Ami
Director: Declan Donnellan, Nick Ormerod
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Christina Ricci, Uma Thurman, Kristin Scott Thomas
Synopsis: A chronicle of a young man’s rise to power in Paris via his manipulation of the city’s most influential and wealthy women.
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Madagascar 3
Director: Eric Darnell
Starring: Jada Pinkett Smith, Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer
Synopsis: Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo join a traveling circus in an effort to get back home to New York.
View trailer
Others
Double Trouble (China Lion)
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding (IFC)
June 15
Not Interested
Rock of Ages
Director: Adam Shankman
Starring: Tom Cruise, Bryan Cranston, Malin Akerman
Synopsis: A small-town girl arrives in Hollywood at the height of the 1980s rock-music scene.
View trailer
That’s My Boy
Director: Sean Anders, John Morris
Starring: Adam Sandler, Leighton Meester, Susan Sarandon, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Milo Ventimiglia
Synopsis: A disagreeable father moves in with his son before he’s about to get married.
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Others
Your Sister’s Sister (IFC)
Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present (Music Box Films)
Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap (Indomina Media)
The Woman in the Fifth (ATO Pictures)
June 22
Pick of the Week
Brave
Director: Mark Andrews
Starring: Kelly McDonald, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane
Synopsis: Scottish princess, Merida, defies her parents by persuing an interest in archery, but inadvertently jeopardizes her father’s kingdom in the process.
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Definitely See
To Rome With Love (formerly Nero Fiddled, formerly Bop Decameron)
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Alec Baldwin, Ellen Page, Jesse Eisenberg, Penelope Cruz, Roberto Benigni
Synopsis: A quartet of vignettes set in Rome.
View trailer
Would Like to See
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Dominic Cooper and Jimmi Simpson
Synopsis: President Lincoln’s mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers.
class=”lbpModal”>View trailer
Might See
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
Director: Lorene Scafaria
Starring: Keira Knightley, Adam Brody, Steve Carell, Connie Britton, Melanie Lynskey, Patton Oswalt, Gillian Jacobs, Rob Corddry.
Synopsos: As an asteroid nears Earth, a man finds himself alone after his wife leaves in a panic. He decides to take a road trip to reunite with his high school sweetheart.
View trailer
Others
The Invisible War (Cinedigm Entertainment)
Kumare (Kino Lorber)
June 29
Pick of the Week
Take This Waltz
Director: Sarah Polley
Starring: Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman
Synopsis: A funny, bittersweet and heart-wrenching story about a woman struggling to choose between two different types of love.
View trailer
Definitely See
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Director: Benh Zeitlin
Starring: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, Levy Easterly
Synopsis: Faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures called aurochs, six-year-old Hushpuppy leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother.
View trailer
Would Like to See
Unforgivable
Director: André Téchiné
Starring: André Dussollier, Carole Bouquet, Mélanie Thierry
Synopsis: A mystery writer hires an ex-con to tail his much-younger bisexual wife, and then ends up hiring his wife’s former lover, a female detective, when his daughter goes missing.
View trailer
Maybe See
Magic Mike
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Alex Pettyfer, Olivia Munn
Synopsis: An upstart male stripper is taken under the wing of a more experienced colleagues.
View trailer
Not Interested
People Like Us
Director: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Chris Pine, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer
Synopsis: A man is tasked with delivering $150,000 of his deceased father’s fortune to the sister he has never met.
View trailer
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Witness Protection
Director: Tyler Perry
Starring: Tyler Perry, Eugene Levy, Denise Richards
Synopsis: A Wall Street investment banker who has been set up as the linchpin of his company’s mob-backed Ponzi scheme is relocated with his family to Aunt Madea’s southern home.
View trailer
Ted
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Starring: Mila Kunis, Mark Wahlberg, Seth MacFarlane
Synopsis: A story centered on a man and his teddy bear, who comes to life as the result of a childhood wish.
View trailer
Others
Neil Young Journeys (Sony Classics)
Last Ride (Music Box Films)
July 2012
July 6
Pick of the Week
The Amazing Spider-Man (Tuesday)
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen
Synopsis:
View trailer
Maybe See
Savages
Director: Oliver Stone
Starring: Blake Lively, Trevor Donovan, John Travolta
Synopsis: Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
View trailer
Others
Katy Perry: Part of Me (Paramount)
China Heavyweight (Zeitgeist)
Crazy Eyes (Strand)
July 13
Maybe See
The Imposter
Director: Bart Layton
Starring: Adam O’Brian, Anna Ruben, Cathy Dresbach
Synopsis: A documentary centered on a young Frenchman who convinces a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who went missing for 3 years.
View trailer
Alps
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Aris Servetalis, Johnny Vekris, Ariane Labed, Aggeliki Papoulia
Tagline: When the end is here the Alps are near.
View trailer (use captions for subtitles)
Trishna
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Freida Pinto, Riz Ahmed, Roshan Seth
Synopsis: The story of the tragic relationship between the son of a property developer and the daughter of an auto rickshaw owner.
View trailer
Not Interested
Ice Age: Continental Drift
Directors: Steve Martino, Mike Thurmeier
Starring: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo
Synopsis: Manny, Diego, and Sid embark upon another adventure after their continent is set adrift. Using an iceberg as a ship, they encounter sea creatures and battle pirates as they explore a new world.
View trailer
Others
Ballplayer: Pelotero (Strand)
Red Lights (Millennium Ent.)
Three Stars (Music Box Films)
Union Square (Dada Films)
July 20
Pick of the Week
The Dark Knight Rises
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gary Oldman, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Juno Temple, Morgan Freeman, Matthew Modine
Synopsis:
View trailer
Others
Grassroots (Samuel Goldwyn)
War of the Buttons (Weinstein)
The Well-Digger’s Daughter (Kino Lorber)
July 27
Pick of the Week
Easy Money (aka Snabba Cash)
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Matias Varela, Dragomir Mrsic
Synopsis: A three-tiered story centered around drugs and organized crime, and focused on a young man who becomes a runner for a coke dealer.
View trailer
Maybe See
Killer Joe
Director: William Friedkin
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Gina Gershon, Thomas Hadon Church
Synopsis: When a debt puts a young man’s life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.
View trailer
Not Interested
Ruby Sparks
Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Starring: Paul Dano, Annette Bening, Alia Shawkat, Antonio Banderas
Synopsis: A young novelist struggling with writer’s block finds a love interest in a most unusual way.
View trailer
Step-Up Revolution
Director: Scott Speer
Starring: Kathryn McCormick, Adam G. Sevani, Ryan Guzman, Alyson Stoner
Synopsis: Emily comes in Miami to become a professional dancer. She sparks with Sean, leader of a dance crew whose neighborhood is threatened by Emily’s father’s development plans.
View trailer
The Watch (formerly Neighborhood Watch)
Director: Akiva Shaffer
Starring: Jonah Hill, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn
Synopsis: Suburban dads form a neighborhood watch group to get time away from their families, only to discover a conspiracy.
View trailer
Others
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (IFC)
Klown (Drafthouse)
Searching for Sugar Man (Sony Classics)
August 2012
August 3
Pick of the Week
Total Recall
Director: Len Wiseman
Starring: Colin Farrell, Bokeem Woodbine, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Biel, Bill Nighy, Ethan Hawke
Synopsis: A factory worker begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall – a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they choose.
View trailer
Seen and Recommend
Celeste and Jesse Forever
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Emma Roberts, Elija Wood
Synopsis: A divorcing couple tries to maintain their friendship while they both pursue other people.
View trailer
Not Interested
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
Director: David Bowers
Starring: Steve Zahn, Rachael Harris, Devon Bostick
Synopsis: School is out and Greg is ready for the days of summer, when all his plans go wrong. What on earth is he going to do all summer?
View trailer
Others
360 (Magnolia)
Sushi: The Global Catch (Alive Mind Cinema)
August 10
Pick of the Week
The Bourne Legacy
Director: Tony Gilroy
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Oscar Isaac, Joan Allen
Synopsis: Centered on a new CIA operative in the universe based on Robert Ludlum’s novels.
View trailer
Would Like to See
2 Days in New York
Director: Julie Delpy
Starring: Julie Delpy, Chris Rock, Albert Delpy
Synopsis: Manhattan couple Marion and Mingus, who each have children from prior relationships, find their comfortable family dynamic jostled by a visit from Marion’s relatives.
View trailer
Twixt (formerly Twixt Now and Sunrise)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Elle Fanning, Val Kilmer, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin
Synopsis: A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl.
View trailer
Might See
Red Hook Summer
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: Jules Brown, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, Toni Lysaith
Synopsis: A middle-class boy from Atlanta finds his worldview changed as he spends the summer with his deeply religious grandfather in the housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn.
View trailer
Not Interested
The Campaign (formerly Dog Fight)
Director: Jay Roach
Starring: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis
Synopsis: Two rival North Carolina politicians with presidential aspirations tangle with one another.
View trailer
Hope Springs (formerly Great Hope Springs)
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Steve Carell, Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones
Synopsis: After thirty years of marriage, a middle-aged couple attends an intense counseling weekend to decide the fate of their marriage.
View trailer
Others
Meet the Fokkens (Kino Lorber)
Nitro Circus the Movie 3D (Arc Entertainment)
$upercapitalist (Truly Indie)
Goats (Image Entertainment)
The Green Wave (Red Flag Releasing)
Max and the Junkmen (Rialto)
August 17
Pick of the Week
Cosmopolis
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Samantha Morton, Paul Giamatti
Synopsis: Follows a multimillionaire on a 24-hour odyssey across Manhattan.
View trailer
Definitely See
ParaNorman
Director: Chris Butler, Sam Fell
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, John Goodman
Synopsis: A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead, takes on ghosts, zombies and moronic grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.
View trailer
Maybe See
The Expendables 2
Director: Simon West
Starring: Jason Statham, Nicolas Cage, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Liam Hemsworth, Chuck Norris
Synopsis: Mr. Church reunites the Expendables for what should be an easy paycheck, but when one of their men is murdered on the job, their quest for revenge puts them deep in enemy territory.
View trailer
Chicken With Plums
Director: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Starring: Isabella Rossellini, Mattieu Amalric, Maria de Madeiros
Synopsis: After an argument with his wife, Nasser-Ali’s beloved tar (an Iranian instrument) was broken. He searches for a replacement, and, finding none, he vows to die.
View trailer
Robot & Frank
Director: Jake Schreier
Starring: Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler
Synopsis: Set in the near future, ‘Robot and Frank’ is an offbeat buddy movie about an elderly ex-jewel thief and his new caretaker robot.
View trailer
Not Interested
The Odd Life of Timothy Green (15th)
Director: Peter Hedges
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Garner, Ron Livingston
Synopsis: A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears.
View trailer
Sparkle
Director: Salim Akil
Starring: Jordin Sparks, Mike Epps, Derek Luke, Whitney Houston
Synopsis: Three sisters form a successful singing group and must deal with the fallout of fame and drugs.
View trailer
Others
The Awakening (Cohen Media Group)
Beloved (IFC)
Compliance (Magnolia)
Ek Tha Tiger (Yash Raj)
Why Stop Now? (IFC)
August 24
Pick of the Week
Premium Rush
Director: David Koepp
Starring: Jamie Chung, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon
Synopsis: In Manhattan, a bike messenger picks up an envelope that attracts the interest of a dirty cop, who pursues the cyclist throughout the city.
View trailer
Maybe See
Hit & Run
Director: David Palmer, Dax Shepard
Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Bradley Cooper
Synopsis: Former getaway driver Charlie Bronson jeopardizes his Witness Protection Plan identity in order to help his girlfriend get to Los Angeles. The feds and Charlie’s former gang chase them on the road.
View trailer
Not Interested
The Apparition
Director: Todd Lincoln
Starring: Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton
Synopsis: A couple are haunted by a supernatural presence that is unleashed during a college experiment.
View trailer
Others
General Education (Pelican House)
High Ground (Red Flag Releasing)
A Lonely Place for Dying (Humble Magi)
Samsara (Oscilloscope Pictures)
Sleepwalk with Me (IFC)
Wild Horse (Screen Media)
August 31
Pick of the Week
Lawless (formerly The Wettest County)
Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Gary Oldman, Shia LaBeouf, Mia Wasikowska, Guy Pearce
Synopsis: Set in the Depression-era Franklin County, Virginia, a bootlegging gang is threatened by authorities who want a cut of their profits.
View trailer
Not Interested
The Possession
Director: Ole Bornedal
Starring: Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick
Synopsis: A young girl buys an antique box at a yard sale, unaware that inside the collectible lives a malicious ancient spirit. The girl’s father teams with his ex-wife to find a way to end the curse upon their child.
View trailer
Others
The Ambassador (Drafthouse)
Breathing (Kino Lorber)
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (Indomina Media)
For a Good Time, Call… (IFC)
The Good Doctor (Magnolia)
Joker (UTV)
Little Birds (Millennium Ent.)
Oogiloves in the BIG Balloon Adventure (Kenn Viselman Presents)
Rebirth (China Lion)
The Tall Man (Image Entertainment)
September 2012
September 7
Pick of the Week
[rec] Genesis
Director: Paco Plaza
Starring: Leticia Dolera, Diego Martin, Javier Botet
Synopsis: A couple’s wedding day turns into a horrific events as some of the guests start showing signs of a strange illness.
View trailer
Would Like to See
The Words
Director: Brian Klugman, Lee Sternthal
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Ben Barnes, Jeremy Irons
Synopsis: A writer at the peak of his literary success discovers the steep price he must pay for stealing another man’s work.
View trailer
Maybe See
The Cold Light of Day
Director: Mabrouk El Mechri
Starring: Henry Cavill, Bruce Willis, Sigourney Weaver
Synopsis: A young American uncovers a conspiracy during his attempt to save his family, who were kidnapped while on vacation in Spain.
View trailer
Others
Girl Model (First Run)
Hello I Must Be Going (Oscilloscope Pictures)
Keep the Lights On (Music Box Films)
Las Acacias (Outsider Films)
Toys in the Attic (Hannover House)
September 14
Pick of the Week
Resident Evil: Retribution
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Michelle Rodriguez
Synopsis: Alice fights alongside a resistance movement in the continuing battle against the Umbrella Corporation and the undead.
View trailer
Definitely See
The Master
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, Laura Dern, Lena Endre, Rami Malek, Madisen Beaty
Synopsis: The relationship between a charismatic intellectual whose faith-based organization begins to catch on in America, and a young drifter who becomes his right-hand man.
View trailer
Maybe See
Finding Nemo 3D
Director: Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould
Synopsis: After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.
View trailer
Others
Barfi! (UTV)
Liberal Arts (IFC)
September 21
Maybe See
The House at the End of the Street
Director: Mark Tonderai
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue, Gil Bellows
Synopsis: A mother and daughter move to a new town and find themselves living next door to a house where a young girl murdered her parents. When the daughter befriends the surviving son, she learns the story is far from over.
View trailer
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Director: Stephen Chbosky
Starring: Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ezra Miller
Synopsis: An introvert freshman is taken under the wings of two seniors who welcome him to the real world.
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End of Watch
Director: David Ayer
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, America Ferrera, Anna Kendrick
Synopsis: A drama centered on the long-term friendship and partnership between two cops.
View trailer
Dredd
Director: Pete Travis
Starring: Lena Headey, Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby
Synopsis: In a violent, futuristic city, the police have the authority to act as judge, jury and executioner.
View trailer
Not Interested
Trouble With the Curve
Director: Robert Lorenz
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, John Goodman, Matthew Lillard
Synopsis: An ailing baseball scout in his twilight years takes his daughter along for one last recruiting trip.
View trailer
Others
Backwards (Dada Films)
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (Samuel Goldwyn)
How to Survive a Plague (IFC)
War of the Buttons (Weinstein)
September 28
Pick of the Week
Looper
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels
Synopsis: A killer who works for the mob of the future recognizes one of his targets as his future self.
View trailer
Maybe See
Pitch Perfect
Director: Jason Moore
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Synopsis: A comedy set in the world of college a Capella singing competitions.
View trailer
Not Interested
Hotel Transylvania
Director: Genndy Tartakovsky
Starring: Adam Sandler, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James
Synopsis: Dracula, who operates a high-end resort away from the human world, goes into overprotective mode when a boy discovers the resort and falls for the count’s teen-aged daughter.
View trailer
Won’t Back Down (formerly Learning to Fly, formerly Steel Town)
Director: Daniel Barnz
Starring: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Oscar Isaac
Synopsis: Two mothers team up to help make a difference at a local school.
View trailer
Others
Bringing Up Bobby (Monterey Media Inc.)
The Waiting Room (International Film Circuit)
October 2012
October 5
Pick of the Week
Frankenweenie
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Winona Ryder, Robert Capron and Catherine O’Hara
Synopsis: When young Victor’s pet dog Sparky (who stars in Victor’s home-made monster movies) is hit by a car, Victor decides to bring him back to life the only way he knows how.
Watch trailer
Maybe See
Wuthering Heights
Director: Andrea Arnold
Starring: Kaya Scodelario, Oliver Milburn, James Howson
Synopsis: A poor young English boy is taken in by the wealthy Earnshaw family where he develops an intense relationship with his young foster sister, Cathy.
View trailer
Taken 2
Director: Olivier Megaton
Starring: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen
Synopsis: In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.
View trailer
Not Interested
Butter
Director: Jim Field Smith
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Yara Shahidi, Ty Burrell
Synopsis: In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town’s annual contest.
View trailer
The Paperboy
Director: Lee Daniels
Starring: Zac Efron, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack
Synopsis: A reporter returns to his Florida hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate.
View trailer
Others
Bel Borba Aqui (Producers Distribution Agency)
Escape Fire (Roadside Attractions)
Fat Kid Rules the World (Outsider Films)
The House I Live In (Producers Distribution Agency)
Now, Forager (Argot Pictures)
The Revisionaries (Kino Lorber)
Trade of Innocents (Monterey Media, Inc.)
V/H/S (Magnolia)
October 12
Pick of the Week
Seven Psychopaths
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell
Synopsis: A screenwriter gets caught up in his pal’s dog-kidnapping plot.
View trailer
Definitely See
Argo
Director: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman
Synopsis: As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA ‘exfiltration’ specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.
View trailer
Maybe See
Sinister
Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone
Synopsis: Found footage helps a true-crime novelist realize how and why a family was murdered in his new home, though his discoveries put his entire family in the path of a supernatural entity.
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Not Interested
Middle of Nowhere
Director: Ava DuVernay
Starring: David Oyelowo, Omari Hardwick and Sharon Lawrence
Synopsis: A drama that follows a woman who changes her life in order to contend with her husband’s 8-year prison sentence.
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Here Comes the Boom
Director: Frank Coraci
Starring: Salma Hayek, Kevin James, Henry Winkler
Synopsis: A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school’s music program.
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Others
3,2,1…Frankie Go Boom (Variance Films)
Atlas Shrugged Part 2 (Atlas Distribution)
Excuse Me for Living (Dada Films)
Nobody Walks (Magnolia)
Photographic Memory (First Run)
Simon and the Oaks (The Film Arcade)
Special Forces (Entertainment One)
War of the Buttons (Weinstein Company)
October 19
Maybe See
Alex Cross
Director: Rob Cohen
Starring: Tyler Perry, Rachel Nichols, Jean Reno, Matthew Fox, Edward Burns
Synopsis: After Washington DC detective Alex Cross is told that a family member has been murdered, he vows to track down the killer. He soon discovers that she was not his first victim and that things are not what they seem.
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Bestiaire
Director: Denis Côté
Synopsis: Animals/People: Along the rhythm of the changing seasons they watch one another. Bestiary unfolds like a filmed picture book about mutual observation, about peculiar perception.
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The Sessions
Director: Ben Lewin
Starring: John Hawkes, Helen Hunt, William H. Macy
Synopsis: A man in an iron lung who wishes to lose his virginity contacts a professional sex surrogate with the help of his therapist and priest.
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Not Interested
Paranormal Activity 4
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Starring: Katie Featherston, Brady Allen
Synopsis:
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Others
All Together (Kino Lorber)
Brooklyn Castle (Producers Distribution Agency)
The Flat (IFC)
Led Zeppelin: Celebration Day (Omniverse Vision)
My Worst Nightmare (Strand)
Tai Chi Zero (Variance Films)
October 26
Pick of the Week
Cloud Atlas
Director: Tom Tykwer, Andy & Lana Wachowski
Starring: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Ben Whishaw, Doona Bae, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon.
Synopsis: Six stories set in a different time and place become intricately related to each other.
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Seen and Recommend
The Loneliest Planet
Director: Julia Loktev
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Hani Furstenberg, Bidzina Gujabidze
Synopsis: A local guide takes a young couple through a twisted backpacking trip across the Georgian wilderness.
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Maybe See
Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
Director: Michael J. Bassett
Starring: Kit Harington, Sean Bean, Malcolm McDowell
Synopsis: On the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever.
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Chasing Mavericks
Director: Curtis Hanson, Michael Apted
Starring: Jonny Weston, Gerard Butler, Elisabeth Shue
Synopsis: Surfer Jay Moriarity sets out to ride the Northern California break known as Mavericks.
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Not Interested
Fun Size
Director: Josh Schwartz
Starring: Victoria Justice, Johnny Knoxville, Chelsea Handler
Synopsis: When a troubled but whip-smart teen girl loses her oddball little brother on Halloween, she has one desperate night to track him down.
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Others
Orchestra of Exiles (First Run)
Pusher (Radius-TWC)
Starlet (Music Box Films)
The Zen of Bennett (Abramorama)
November 2012
November 2
Pick of the Week
Wreck-It Ralph
Director: Rich Moore
Starring: Jane Lynch, John C. Reilly, Dave Foley
Synopsis: Wreck-It Ralph longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix. Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy.
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Maybe See
The Man with the Iron Fists
Director: RZA
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cung Le, Lucy Liu
Synopsis: In feudal China, a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers.
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Not Interested
Flight
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Denzel Washington, James Badge Dale, Don Cheadle
Synopsis: An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.
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Others
The Details (Radius-TWC)
Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters (Zeitgeist)
High Ground (Red Flag Releasing)
Jack and Diane (Magnolia)
A Late Quartet (Entertainment One)
This Must Be the Place (Weinstein Company)
November 9
Pick of the Week
Skyfall
Director: Sam Mendes
Starring: Daniel Craig, Ralph Fiennes, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Synopsis: Bond’s loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.
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Others
Coming Up Roses (Dada Films)
In Another Country (Kino Lorber)
A Royal Affair (Magnolia)
When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep (China Lion)
November 16
Pick of the Week
Anna Karenina
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Kelly Macdonald, Aaron Johnson, Matthew Macfadyen, Emily Watson, Olivia Williams
Synopsis: Trapped in a loveless marriage, Anna, looks for a better life, but finds only a more complicated one.
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Maybe See
Lincoln
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Harris, James Spader, Sally Field
Synopsis: The sixteenth President of the United States guides the North to victory during the Civil War.
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Not Interested
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part 2)
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Synopsis: After the birth of Renesmee, the Cullens gather other vampire clans in order to protect the child from a false allegation that puts the family in front of the Volturi.
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Others
Jab Tak Hai Jaan (Yash Raj)
November 21
Pick of the Week
Hitchcock
Director: Sacha Gervasi
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johnasson, Jessica Biel, Michael Stuhlbarg
Synopsis: A love story between influential filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and wife Alma Reville during the filming of Psycho in 1959.
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Definitely See
Rust and Bone
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Marion Cotillard
Synopsis: The bones of the title are the bones in a boxer’s hands; once broken, they never heal properly, and the fighter’s career descends to bouts that have less to do with sport than survival. No referee, no rules, not even gloves.
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Maybe See
Life of Pi
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Suraj Sharma
Synopsis: After a shipwreck, Pi is found adrift in the Pacific Ocean on a 26-foot lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan and a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, all fighting for survival.
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Rise of the Guardians
Director: Peter Ramsey, William Joyce
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jude Law, Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, Alec Baldwin
Synopsis: Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and the Sandman band together to form a united front against the Bogeyman.
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The Silver Linings Playbook
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker.
Synopsis: After spending four years in a mental institution, a former teacher moves back in with his mother and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife.
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Not Interested
Red Dawn
Director: Dan Bradley
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Isabel Lucas, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck
Synopsis: A group of teenagers look to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers.
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Others
The Central Park Five (IFC)
November 30
Pick of the Week
Killing Them Softly
Director: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta
Synopsis: Jackie Cogan is a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protectedpoker game.
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Others
Addicted to Fame (Abramorama)
Beware of Mr. Baker (Snagfilms)
California Solo (Strand)
The Collection (LD Entertainment)
Dragon (Radius-TWC)
December 2012
December 7
Not Interested
Hyde Park on Hudson
Director: Roger Michell
Starring: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Williams, Elizabeth Marvel, Olivia Colman
Synopsis: The story of the love affair between FDR and his distant cousin Margaret Stuckley, centered around the weekend in 1939 when the King and Queen of the United Kingdom visited upstate New York.
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Playing for Keeps
Director: Gabriele Muccino
Starring: Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Judy Greer, Uma Thurman, Dennis Quaid
Synopsis: A former professional athlete with a weak past tries to redeem himself by coaching his son’s soccer team, only to find himself unable to resist when in scoring position with his players’ restless and gorgeous moms.
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Others
Deadfall (Magnolia)
December 14
Pick of the Week
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Hugo Weaving
Synopsis: Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit, journeys to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure taken from them by the dragon Smaug.
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December 21
Pick of the Week
Zero Dark Thirty) (on Wednesday)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Jessica Chastain, Rooney Mara
Synopsis: An account on the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the battled on his compound that resulted in his death.
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Maybe See
Amour
Director: Michael Haneke
Starring:
Synopsis: A retired couple deals with aftermath of the wife stuffering from a debilitating stroke.
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Monsters Inc 3D
Director: Pete Docter
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs
Synopsis: Monsters generate their city’s power by scaring children, but they are terribly afraid themselves of being contaminated by children, so when one enters Monstropolis, top scarer Sulley finds his world disrupted.
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Jack Reacher
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall
Synopsis: A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims.
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On the Road
Director: Walter Salles
Starring: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, Elisabeth Moss, Terrence Howard, Alice Braga
Synopsis: Young writer Sal Paradise has his life shaken by the arrival of free-spirited Dean Moriarty and his girl, Marylou.
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The Impossible
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts
Synopsis: An account of a family caught, with tens of thousands of strangers, in the mayhem of one of the worst natural catastrophes of our time.
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Not Fade Away
Director: David Chase
Starring: John Magaro, Will Brill, Jack Huston
Synopsis: Set in suburban New Jersey the 1960s, a group of friends form a rock band and try to make it big.
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Not Interested
This is 40
Director: Judd Apatow
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Megan Fox, Jason Segel, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann
Synopsis: A look at the lives of Pete and Debbie a few years after the events of Knocked Up.
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Others
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (Paramount)
December 25
Pick of the Week
Django Unchained (Tuesday)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo diCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Christophe Waltz
Synopsis: A slave-turned-bounty hunter sets out to rescue his wife from the brutal Calvin Candie, a Mississippi plantation owner.
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Definitely See
Les Miserables
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Emma Watson, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush
Synopsis: A musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel about a recently-released prisoner named Jean Valjean struggling to survive during the French revolution.
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Not Interested
The Guilt Trip (formerly My Mother’s Curse) (Tuesday)
Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Seth Rogen, Barbra Streisand, Adam Scott
Synopsis: An inventor and his mom hit the road together so he can sell his latest invention.
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Parental Guidance
Director: Andy Fickman
Starring: Billy Crystal, Bette Midler, Marisa Tomei
Synopsis: When his daughter goes away for work, a grandfather finds himself having to take care of his three grandkids using 21st century methods — though he soon resorts to an old-school style of parenting.
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Others
Promised Land (Focus Features) (28th)
Quartet (Weinstein Company) (28th)
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