Subscribe to CommentsApril 2011
April 1st
Source Code
Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga
View trailer
Rubber
Director: Quentin Dupieux
Starring: Stephen Spinella, Jack Plotnick, Wings Hauser
View trailer
SUPER
Director: James Gunn
Starring: Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon
View trailer
In a Better World
Director: Susanne Bier
Starring: Mikael Persbrandt, Wil Johnson, Eddy Kimani
View trailer
Cat Run
Director: John Stockwell
Starring: Paz Vega, Janet McTeer, Christopher McDonald
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Queen to Play – view trailer
Trust – view trailer
Not Interested
Hop – view trailer
Insidious – view trailer
April 8th
Hanna
Director: Joe Wright
Starring: Saorsie Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett
View trailer
Meek’s Cutoff
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Starring: Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood)
View trailer
Your Highness
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: James Franco, Natalie Portman, Danny McBride, Zooey Deschanel
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Arthur – View trailer
Not Interested
Born to Be Wild – view trailer
The Ceremony – view trailer
Soul Surfer – view trailer
April 15th
The Princess of Monpensier
Director: Bernard Tavernier
Starring: Mélanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
The Conspirator – view trailer
Not Interested
Rio – view trailer
Scream 4 – view trailer
April 22nd
Incendies
Director: Denis Villaneuve
Starring: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette
View trailer
Stake Land
Director: Jim Mickle
Starring: Danielle Harris, Kelly McGillis, Connor Paolo
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold – View trailer
African Cats – View trailer
Not Interested
Water for Elephants – View trailer
Born to Be a Star
Madea’s Big Happy Family – View trailer
April 29th
13 Assassins
Director: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada and Yûsuke Iseya
View trailer
Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Director: Werner Herzog
View trailer
Dylan Dog: Dead of Night
Director: Kevin Monroe
Starring: Brandon Routh, Anita Briem, Sam Huntingdom
View trailer
Not Interested
Fast Five – View trailer
The Prom – View trailer
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil – View trailer
May 2011
May 6th
Hobo With a Shotgun
Director: Jason Eisener
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Gregory Smith, Rob Wells
View trailer
The Beaver
Director: Jodie Foster
Starring: Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Everything Must Go – View trailer
Not Interested
Thor – View trailer
Something Borrowed – View trailer
Jumping the Broom – View trailer
May 13th
Hesher
Director: Spencer Susser
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Rainn Wilson
View trailer
Not Interested
Bridesmaids – View trailer
Priest – View trailer
May 20th
Midnight in Paris
Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, Owen Wilson
View trailer
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Director: Rob Marshall
Starring; Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Geoffrey Rush
View trailer
May 27th
The Tree of Life
Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain, Sean Penn
View trailer
Not Interested
The Hangover Part II – View trailer
Kung Fu Panda 2 – View trailer
June 2011
June 3rd
Submarine
Director: Richard Ayoade
Starring: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins and Paddy Considine
Synopsis: 15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.
View trailer
X-Men: First Class
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
Synopsis: In 1962, Charles Xavier starts up a school and later a team, for humans with superhuman abilities. Among them is Erik Lensherr, his best friend… and future archenemy.
View trailer
Beautiful Boy
Director: Shawn Ku
Starring: Maria Bello, Michael Sheen, Alan Tudyk
Synopsis: A married couple on the verge of separation are leveled by the news their 18-year-old son committed a mass shooting at his college, then took his own life.
View trailer
Film Socialisme
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Catherine Tanvier, Christian Sinniger and Jean-Marc Stehlé
Synopsis: A symphony in three movements. A satire on modern society. An essay on the breakdown of language. The idle rich on a cruise ship. A family entering politics. A photo barrage of European history. No comment.
View trailer
Beginners
Director: Mike Mills
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Mélanie Laurent
Synopsis: A young man is rocked by two announcements from his elderly father: that he has terminal cancer, and that he has a young male lover.
View trailer
Not Interested
Love, Wedding, Marriage – view trailer
June 10th
Super 8
Director: J.J. Abrams
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Elle Fanning, Amanda Michalka, Kyle Chandler
Synopsis: After witnessing a mysterious train crash, a group of friends in the summer of 1979 begin noticing strange happenings going around in their small town, and begin to investigate into the creepy phenomenon.
View trailer
Discussing Super 8 on the Cinecast
The Trip
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Starring: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Margo Stilley
Synopsis: Steve Coogan has been asked by The Observer to tour the country’s finest restaurants, but after his girlfriend backs out on him he must take his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon.
View trailer
My Review
Not Interested
Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer – View trailer
June 17th
Green Lantern
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard
Synopsis: A test pilot is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe.
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
The Art of Getting By – View trailer
Not Interested
Mr. Popper’s Penguins – View trailer
Buck – View trailer
June 24th
Cars 2
Director: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis
Starring: Owen Wilson, Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer
Synopsis: Lightning McQueen and his pit boss Mater head overseas to compete in the World Grand Prix. As the action revs up, Mater becomes involved in an adventure of his own: a case of international espionage that will take him across Europe and into Japan.
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Bad Teacher – View trailer
A Better Life – View trailer
June 29th
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Tyrese Gibson
Synopsis: The Autobots learn of a Cybertronian spacecraft hidden on the Moon, and race against the Decepticons to reach it and learn its secrets, which could turn the tide in the Transformers’ final battle.
View trailer
July 2011
July 1st
Terri
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Starring: Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly
Synopsis: A comedy centered on the relationship between oversized teen misfit Terri (Wysocki) and his well-meaning vice principal (Reilly) who takes an interest in him.
View trailer
Not Interested
Larry Crowne – View trailer
Monte Carlo – View trailer
July 8th
Ironclad
Director: Jonathan English
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Jason Flyming
Synopsis: In 13th-century England, a small group of Knights Templar fight to defend Rochester Castle against the tyrannical King John (Paul Giamatti).
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
The Ward – View trailer
Project Nim – View trailer
Horrible Bosses – View trailer
Not Interested
Zookeeper – View trailer
Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest – View trailer
July 15th
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Director: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson
Synopsis: The end begins as Harry, Ron, and Hermione return to Hogwarts to find and destroy the final horcruxes. But when Voldemort finds out about their mission, the battle we’ve all known has been coming — Harry vs. Voldemort — looms large on the horizon.
View trailer
Winnie the Pooh
Director: Stephen J. Anderson, Don Hall
Starring: Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson and John Cleese
Synopsis: While out looking for some honey, Winnie the Pooh is pulled into a quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit.
View trailer
Tabloid
Director: Errol Morris
Synopsis: A documentary on a former Miss Wyoming who is charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – View trailer
July 22nd
Another Earth
Director: Mike Cahill
Starring: Brit Marling, Mike Cahill
Synopsis: On the night of the discovery of a duplicate planet in the solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
View trailer
Sarah’s Key
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Mélusine Mayance, Niels Arestrup
Synopsis: In modern-day Paris, a journalist (Kristen Scott Thomas) finds her life becoming entwined with a young girl whose family was torn apart during the notorious Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup in 1942.
View trailer
Captain America: The First Avenger
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson
Synopsis: After being deemed unfit for military service during WWII, Steve Rogers (Evans) volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, the Sentinel of Liberty — a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.
View trailer
Not Interested
Friends with Benefits – View trailer
July 29th
Cowboys & Aliens
Director: Jon Favreau
Starring: Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig, Olivia Wilde
Synopsis: In Silver City, Arizona, Apache Indians and Western settlers must lay their differences aside when an alien spaceship crash lands in their city.
View trailer
The Guard
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle
Synopsis: An unorthodox Irish cop (Brendan Gleeson) is paired with a straight-laced FBI agent (Don Cheadle) to investigate an international drug-smuggling ring.
View trailer
The Future
Director: Miranda July
Starring: Miranda July, Hamish Linklater, David Warshofsky
Synopsis: When a couple (July and Linklater) decides to adopt a stray cat their perspective on life changes radically, literally altering the course of time and space and testing their faith in each other and themselves.
View trailer
Attack the Block
Director: Joe Cornish
Starring: Nick Frost, Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway
Synopsis: Moses (John Boyega) and the rest of his teen gang look to protect Wyndham Tower — their housing estate — from an alien invasion.
View trailer
The Devil’s Double
Director: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier
Synopsis: Forced to become the body double of Uday Hussein, Latif Ahmed (Cooper) bears witness to daily life under Saddam Hussein’s reign, from lavish extravagances to sadistic acts of brutality.
View trailer
Crazy Stupid Love
Director: Glenn Ficara, John Requa
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
Synopsis: A married guy (Carell) tries to balance handling a crisis with his wife (Moore), attending couples therapy, and maintaining his relationship with his kids.
View trailer
Not Interested
The Smurfs – view trailer
August 2011
August 5th
Bellflower
Director: Evan Glodell
Starring: Evan Glodell, Tyler Dawson, Jessie Wiseman
Synopsis: Woodrow (Glodell) and Aiden (Dawson) devote their time to building flame-throwers and weapons of mass destruction, part of their preparation for the global apocalypse.
view trailer
Mysteries of Lisbon
Director: Raúl Ruiz
Starring: Adriano Luz, Maria João Bastos, Ricardo Pereira
Synopsis: Follows a jealous countess, a wealthy businessman, and a young orphaned boy across Portugal, France, Italy and Brazil where they connect with a variety of mysterious individuals.
view trailer
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Brian Cox, John Lithgow.
Synopsis: An origin story set in present day San Francisco, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy.
view trailer
Not Interested
The Change-Up – view trailer
August 12th
Littlerock
Director: Mike Ott
Starring: Atsuko Okatsuka, Cory Zacharia, Rintaro Sawamoto
Synopsis: Stuck in Littlerock, CA, after a vacation travel mishap, brother and sister Atsuko and Rintaro try to navigate a world cut off by language, but connected in wordless ways.
View trailer
The Help
Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Mary Steenburgen, Mike Vogel, Allison Janney, Sissy Spacek, Chris Lowell.
Synopsis: A look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behavior is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.
view trailer
Maybe a Rental
30 Minutes or Less – view trailer
Not Interested
Final Destination 5 – view trailer
Glee Live! 3D – view trailer
August 19th
One Day
Director: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson
Synopsis: Emma meets Dexter on their night of their college graduation: July 15th, 1989. And for the next two decades, very July 15th reveals how the two are faring in life and love.
view trailer
Mozart’s Sister
Director: René F&ecute;ret
Starring: Marie Féret, Marc Barbé and Delphine Chuillot
Synopsis: Imagined account of the early life of Maria Anna ‘Nannerl’ Mozart (Marie Féret), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right.
Maybe a Rental
Fright Night – view trailer
Amigo – view trailer
Not Interested
Conan the Barbarian – view trailer
Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World – view trailer
August 26th
Colombiana
Director: Olivier Megaton
Writer: Luc Besson
Starring: Zoe Saldana, Michael Vartan, Callum Blue
Synopsis: Cataleya Restrepo, who was raised in the U.S. by her uncle to be a top-tier assassin, looks to settle with the Colombian drug lord who executed her parents when she was 10 years old.
View trailer
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
Director: Troy Nixey
Producer: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison
Synopsis: A young girl (Madison) sent to live with her father (Pearce) and his new girlfriend (Holmes) discovers creatures in her new home who want to claim her as one of their own.
View trailer
Brighton Rock
Director: Rowan Jaffe
Starring: Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Andy Serkis
Synopsis: Charts the headlong fall of Pinkie, a razor-wielding disadvantaged teenager with a religious death wish.
View trailer
Our Idiot Brother
Director: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel
Synopsis: A pot bust sends nice-guy Ned to jail, and returns home to discover that his girlfriend has left. Homeless and unemployed, his divides his time by couch-surfing at the homes of his three sisters — and causing chaos in each of their lives.
View trailer
Maybe a Rental
Higher Ground – View trailer
August 31st
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Director: Joann Sfar.
Starring: Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta
Synopsis: A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.
September 2011
September 2nd
Pick of the Week
The Debt
Director: John Madden
Starring: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, Tom Wilkinson
Synopsis: In 1965, Mossad agent Rachel Singer was part of a secret mission to capture and bring to trial the Surgeon of Birkenau, a Nazi war criminal. In present-day Singer travels to Eastern Europe to seek out the truth behind the mission.
View trailer
Seen and Recommend
Love Crime
Director: Alain Corneau
Starring: Ludivine Sagnier, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patrick Mille
Synopsis: Power execs Scott Thomas and Sagnier make a great business team, until professional and personal competition turns their relationship into a nasty feud with some unexpected twists.
View trailer
Definitely See
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Director: Tsui Hark
Starring: Tony Leung Ka Fai, Chao Deng, Carina Lau
Synopsis: An exiled detective is recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that threaten to delay the inauguration of Empress Wu.
View trailer
Maybe See
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Director: Joann Sfar
Starring: Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta
Synopsis: A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.
View trailer
Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee TIles
Director: Jon Foy
Stars: Justin Duerr, Colin Smith, Steve Weinik
Synopsis: An urban mystery unfurls as one man pieces together the surreal meaning of hundreds of cryptic tiled messages that have been appearing in city streets across the U.S. and South America.
View trailer
Apollo 18
Director: Gonzallo López-Gallego
Producer: Timur Bekmambetov
Synopsis: Decades-old found footage from an abandoned NASA mission to the moon reveals the existence of alien life.
View trailer
Not Interested
Shark Night 3D
Director: David R. Ellis
Starring: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack
Synopsis: A weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana Gulf turns into a nightmare for seven vacationers as they are subjected to shark attacks.
View trailer
September 9th
Pick of the Week
Contagion
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow
Synopsis: The Center for Disease Control dispatches an international team of doctors to stop an airborne virus from spreading around the world.
View trailer
My review
Maybe See
Warrior
Director: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Nick Nolte
Synopsis: The youngest son of an alcoholic former boxer returns home, where he’s trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament – a path that puts the fighter on a collision corner with his older brother.
View trailer
Tanner Hall
Directors: Francesca Gregorini, Tatiana von Furstenberg
Starring: Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Brie Larson
Synopsis: Tanner Hall is a vivid peek into the private world of an all-girls boarding school. In a cozy, but run down New England, the knot of adolescent complexity is unraveled through the coming of age stories of four teen-age girls.
View trailer
Not Interested
Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star
Director: Tom Brady
Starring: Nick Swardson, Don Johnson, Christina Ricci
Synopsis: A kid from the Midwest moves out to Hollywood in order to follow in his parents footsteps — and become a porn star.
view trailer
Creature
Director: Fred Andrews
Starring: Mehcad Brooks, Serinda Swan, Daniel Bernhardt
Synopsis: In the back country of Louisiana, a group of friends unearth a terrible secret that unleashes a monster from the depths of the swamp.
view trailer
September 16
Seen and Recommend
Drive
Director: Nicholas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
Synopsis: A Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a get-away driver for the criminal underground finds himself on the run from after a botched job.
view clip (do NOT watch the trailer floating around; it’s spoilery)
My Review
Maybe See
Restless
Director: Gus van Sant
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryo Kase
Synopsis: The story of a terminally ill teenage girl (Wasikowska) who falls for a boy (Hopper) who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot from WWII (Kase).
View trailer
Straw Dogs
Director: Rod Lurie
Starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård
Synopsis: L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.
View trailer (warning, reports say it gives the whole movie)
Not Interested
I Don’t Know How She Does It
Director: Douglas McGrath
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer
Synopsis: A comedy centered on the life of Kate Reddy, a finance executive who is the breadwinner for her husband and two kids.
View trailer
September 23rd
Maybe See
Killer Elite
Director: Gary McKendry
Starring: Jason Statham, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen
Synopsis: When his mentor (Robert De Niro) is taken captive, a retired member of Britain’s Elite Special Air Service (Jason Statham) is forced into action. His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader (Clive Owen).
View trailer
Moneyball
Director: Bennett Miller
Starring: Brad Pitt, Robin Wright, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Synopsis: The story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
view trailer
Not Interested
Abduction
Director: John Singleton
Starring: Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins, Alfred Molina
Synopsis: A thriller centered on a young man who sets out to uncover the truth about his life after finding his baby photo on a missing persons website.
view trailer
Dolphin Tale
Director: Charles Martin Smith
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Harry Connick, Jr.
Synopsis: A story centered on the friendship between a boy and a dolphin whose tail was lost in a crab trap.
view trailer
September 30th
Seen and Recommend
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
Director: Eli Craig
Starring: Alan Tudyk, Tyler Labine
Synopsis: In the mountains of West Virginia, hillbilly pals Tucker and Dale look to drink, fish, and relax at their cabin retreat, until their encounter with a group of college kids turns into a bloody, deadly misunderstanding.
There is a trailer on YouTube. Do not watch it. It gives away everything, and this film is too good and fun for that.
Definitely See
50/50
Director: Jonathan Levine
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston
Synopsis: A comedic account of a 27-year-old guy’s cancer diagnosis, and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
View trailer
Take Shelter
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain
Synopsis: Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
View trailer
Would Like to See
Dream House
Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, Naomi Watts
Synopsis: As Will Atenton (Craig) and his family relocate to a quaint New England town, they soon learn that a mother and her two children were murdered in the same residence.
View trailer, but be warned, it’s pretty spoilery
Not Interested
Margaret
Director: Kenneth Lonergan
Starring: Anna Paquin, Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis: A young woman (Paquin) witnesses a bus accident, and is caught up in the aftermath, where the question of whether or not it was intentional affects many people’s lives.
View trailer
What’s Your Number?
Director: Mark Mylod
Starring: Anna Faris, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans
Synopsis: A woman looks back at the past twenty men she’s had relationships with in her life and wonders if one of them might be her one true love.
View trailer
Courageous
Director: Alex Kendrick
Starring: Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes
Synopsis: As law enforcement officers, they face danger every day. Yet when tragedy strikes close to home, these fathers are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, and their faith.
View trailer
October 2011
October 7th
Pick of the Week
The Ides of March
Director: George Clooney
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Synopsis: An idealistic staff member (Gosling) for presidential hopeful (Clooney) gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.
View trailer
Not Interested
Real Steel
Director: Shawn Levy
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand
Synopsis: A boxing drama set in the near-future where 2,000-pound humanoid robots do battle.
View trailer
The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence
Director: Tom Six
Starring: Laurence R. Harvey, Ashlynn Yennie, Dominic Borelli
Synopsis: To escape his dreary existence, Martin loses himself in the fantasy world of the cult horror film The Human Centipede, fetishizing the meticulous surgical skills of the gifted Dr. Heiter, who inspires Martin to attempt the unthinkable.
View trailer
October 14th
Pick of the Week
The Skin I Live In
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes
Synopsis: A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.
View trailer
Maybe See
The Thing
Director: Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen
Synopsis: At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson.
View trailer
Trespass
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Cam Gigandet
Synopsis: As they’re held for ransom, a husband and wife’s predicament grows more dire amid the discovery of betrayal and deception.
View trailer
Not Interested
Footloose
Director: Craig Brewer
Starring: Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid
Synopsis: City kid Ren McCormack moves to a small town where rock ‘n’ roll and dancing have been banned, and his rebellious spirit shakes up the populace.
View trailer
The Big Year
Director: David Frankel
Starring: Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Steve Martin
Synopsis: Three avid bird watchers compete to spot the rarest birds in North America at a prestigious annual event.
View trailer
My Afternoons with Marguerite
Director: Jean Becker
Starring: Gérard Dépardieu, Gisèle Casadesus
Synopsis: An illiterate and lonely man bonds with an older and well-read woman.
View trailer
October 21st
Pick of the Week
The Three Musketeers
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Starring: Mads Mikkelson, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz
Synopsis: D’Artagnan (Lerman) and his musketeer comrades Athos (Macfadyen), Porthos (Stevenson) and Aramis (Evans) thwart the plans of Royal Prime Minister Richelieu to usurp the King’s power.
View trailer / View trailer 2
Definitely See
Martha Marcy May Marlene
Director: Sean Durkin
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson
Synopsis: Haunted by painful memories and increasing paranoia, a damaged woman (Olsen) struggles to re-assimilate with her family after fleeing an abusive cult.
View trailer
Maybe See
Red State
Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Michael Parks, Melissa Leo, John Goodman
Synopsis: Set in Middle America, a group of teens receive an online invitation for sex, though they soon encounter fundamentalists with a much more sinister agenda.
View trailer
Johnny English Reborn
Director: Oliver Parker
Starring: Rowan Atkinson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West
Synopsis: Johnny English goes up against international assassins hunting down the Chinese premier.
View trailer
Not Interested
Paranormal Activity 3
Director: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Synopsis: A couple are pursued by an evil spirit in their own home. In an attempt to unveil the mystery, they install cameras throughout the house to capture the strange paranormal activity occurring.
View trailer
The Mighty Macs
Director: Tim Chambers
Starring: Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton
Synopsis: In the early 70s, Cathy Rush becomes the head basketball coach at a tiny, all-girls Catholic college. Though her team has no gym and no uniforms, Coach Rush looks to steer her girls to their first national championship.
View trailer
October 28th
Seen and Recommend
Sidewalls (aka Medianeras) (Wednesday)
Director: Gustavo Taretto
Starring: Javier Drolas, Pilar López de Ayala, Inés Efron
Synopsis: A drama about two neighbors who cross paths but never meet.
View trailer
Pick of the Week
In Time
Director: Andrew Niccol
Starring: Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried, Cillian Murphy
Synopsis: People stop aging at 25 but are genetically-engineered to live only one more year; those with means may have a shot at immortal youth. In this world, a young man accused of murder goes on the run with a hostage.
View trailer
Would Like to See
The Rum Diary
Director: Bruce Robinson
Starring: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, Aaron Eckhart
Synopsis: A freelance journalist finds himself at a critical turning point in his life while writing for a run-down newspaper in the Caribbean, as he tries to carve out a more secure niche for himself amidst a group of lost souls all bent on self-destruction.
View trailer
Maybe See
Anonymous
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, David Thewlis
Synopsis: A political thriller set at the cusp of the Essex Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I, and centered on the Earl of Oxford, Edward De Vere (Ifans), positioned here as the author of William Shakespeare’s plays.
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Like Crazy
Director: Drake Doremus
Starring: Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, Jennifer Lawrence
Synopsis: A British college student falls for an American student, only to be separated from him when she’s banned from the U.S. after overstaying her visa.
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Not Interested
Puss in Boots
Director: Chris Miller
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis
Synopsis: A story about the events leading up to the sword fighting cat’s meeting with Shrek and his friends.
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November 2011
November 4th
Pick of the Week
My Week With Marilyn
Director: Simon Curtis
Starring: Michelle Williams, Dominic Cooper, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson
Synopsis: Colin Clark, an employee of Sir Laurence Olivier’s, documents the tense interaction between Olivier and Marilyn Monroe during production of The Prince and the Showgirl.
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Maybe See
Young Goethe in Love
Director: Philipp Stözl
Starring: Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein, Moritz Bleibtreu
Synopsis: After aspiring poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe fails his law exams, he’s sent to a sleepy provincial court to reform. Instead, he falls for Lotte, a young woman who is promised to another man.
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Not Interested
Tower Heist
Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Té Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe
Synopsis: When a group of hard working guys find out they’ve fallen victim to a wealthy business man’s Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.
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A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Starring: Kal Penn, John Cho, Neil Patrick Harris
Synopsis: Six years after their Guantanamo Bay adventure, stoner buds Harold Lee and Kumar Patel cause a holiday fracas by inadvertently burning down Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree.
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November 11th
Seen and Recommend
Melancholia
Director: Lars von Trier
Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland
Synopsis: Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide into the Earth.
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Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within
Director: José Padilha
Starring: Wagner Moura, Irandhir Santos, André Ramiro
Synopsis: Capt. Nascimento is the leader of Rio de Janeiro’s BOPA Squad, a special police battalion designed to deal with critical situations. Soon Nascimento and his crew set out to clean out the bad apples in power with the same ruthlessness they showed the criminals in the private sector.
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My review
Maybe See
Immortals
Director: Tarsem
Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, John Hurt
Synopsis: Theseus (Cavill) is a mortal man chosen by Zeus to lead the fight against the ruthless King Hyperion (Rourke), who is on a rampage across Greece to obtain a weapon that can destroy humanity.
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J. Edgar
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench
Synopsis: As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.
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Not Interested
The Conquest
Director: Xavier Durringer
Starring: Denis Podalydès, Florence Pernel, Bernard Le Coq
Synopsis: A look at French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise to power.
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Jack and Jill
Director: Dennis Dugan
Starring: Adam Sandler, Katie Holmes, Al Pacino
Synopsis: A family man is forced to deal with his twin sister from the Bronx comes to Los Angeles for a visit — then won’t leave.
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November 18th
Pick of the Week
The Descendants [11/16]
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard
Synopsis: With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
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Not Interested
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1
Director: Bill Condon
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner
Synopsis: The Quileute and the Volturi close in on expecting parents Edward and Bella, whose unborn child poses different threats to the wolf pack and vampire coven.
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Happy Feet Two
Director: George Miller
Starring: Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Pink
Synopsis: Mumble the penguin has a problem: his son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters The Mighty Sven, a penguin who can fly!
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November 23rd
Pick of the Week
The Artist
Director: Michel Hazanavicius
Starring: Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell
Synopsis: Hollywood, 1927: As silent movie star George Valentin wonders if the arrival of talking pictures will cause him to fade into oblivion, he sparks with Peppy Miller, a young dancer set for a big break.
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Definitely See
A Dangerous Method
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Michael Fassbender
Synopsis: A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.
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Hugo
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Chloe Moretz, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer
Synopsis: Set in 1930s Paris, Hugo Cabret (Butterfield) is an orphan who lives in the walls of a Paris train station. When he meets a curious girl and the owner of toy booth inside the station, his life — and his most precious secret — are put in jeopardy.
View trailer.
The Muppets
Director: James Bobin
Starring: Emily Blunt, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Adams
Synopsis: When an oilman hatches a plan to raze the Muppet Theater, Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of their friends reunite and, with the help of some of their biggest fans, decide to stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever to save it.
View teaser trailer / View trailer
Maybe See
Arthur Christmas
Director: Sarah Smith, Barry Cook
Studio: Aardman Animation
Starring: James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy
Synopsis: On Christmas night at the North Pole, Santa’s youngest son looks to use his father’s high-tech operation for an urgent mission.
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December 2011
December 2nd
Seen and Recommend
Outrage
Director: Takeshi Kitano
Starring: ‘Beat’ Takeshi, Kippei Shiina, Ryo Kase
Synopsis: Tokyo’s Yakuza clans, today just as likely to be playing the stock market as shaking down pachinko parlors, struggle for control in the face of constant betrayal and ever-changing allegiances.
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Pick of the Week
Shame
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Michael Fassbender
Synopsis: A drama centered on 30-something Brandon, his myriad sexual escapades, and what happens when his wayward younger sister moves in with him.
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Maybe See
Sleeping Beauty
Director: Julia Leigh
Starring: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie.
Synopsis: A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.
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December 9th
Pick of the Week
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Starring: Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis: In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6’s echelons.
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Would Like to See
Young Adult
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody
Starring: Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson, J.K. Simmons
Synopsis: Soon after her divorce, a fiction writer returns to her small-town Minnesota home, looking to rekindle a romance with her ex, who is now married with kids.
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Maybe See
New Year’s Eve
Director: Garry Marshall
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Ashton Kutcher, Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Abigail Breslin, Josh Duhamel, Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer
Synopsis: The lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year’s Eve.
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Not Interested
The Sitter
Director: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jonah Hill, Sam Rockwell, Ari Graynor
Synopsis: A comedy about a college student on suspension who is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.
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December 16th
Pick of the Week
Carnage
Director: Roman Polanski
Starring: Kate Winslet, Christophe Waltz, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly
Synopsis: Tells the story of two sets of parents who decide to have a cordial meeting after their sons are involved in a schoolyard brawl.
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Definitely See
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Wednesday)
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Rooney Mara, Daniel Craig
Synopsis: Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Craig) is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for forty years by Lisbeth Salander (Mara), a young computer hacker.
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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Director: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Noomi Rapace
Synopsis: Sherlock Holmes (Downey Jr.) and his associate Dr. Watson (Law) take on their fiercest adversary, Professor Moriarty, aided in the matter by Holmes’s older brother, Mycroft (Fry).
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Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (Wednesday)
Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg
Synopsis: The IMF is shut down when it’s implicated in the bombing of the Kremlin, causing Ethan Hunt and his new team to go rogue to clear their organization’s name.
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Not Interested
Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip=Wrecked
Director: Mike Mitchell
Starring: Anna Faris, David Cross, Alyssa Milano
Synopsis: Playing around while aboard a cruise ship, the Chipmunks and Chipettes accidentally go overboard and end up marooned in a tropical paradise. They discover their new turf is not as deserted as it seems.
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December 23rd
Pick of the Week
The Adventures of TinTin: The Secret of the Unicorn (21st)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producer: Peter Jackson
Starring: Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg
Synopsis: Tintin, with the help of his dog, Snowy, discover a clue to a lost treasure that belonged to an ancestor of his friend, Captain Haddock.
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Would Like to See
War Horse (25th)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Benedict Cumberbatch
Synopsis: Follows a young man named Albert and his horse, Joey, and how their bond is broken when Joey is sold to the cavalry and sent to the trenches of World War One. Despite being too young to enlist, Albert heads to France to save his friend.
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The Darkest Hour (25th)
Director: Chris Gorak
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella
Synopsis: Five young Americans find themselves stranded in Moscow, fighting to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.
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Maybe See
We Bought a Zoo
Director: Cameron Crowe
Starring: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Elle Fanning
Synopsis: Set in Southern California, a father moves his young family to the countryside to renovate and re-open a struggling zoo.
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Albert Nobbs
Director: Rodrigo García
Starring: Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Brendan Gleeson, Janet McTeer.
Synopsis: Glenn Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th century Ireland. Some thirty years after donning men’s clothing, she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making.
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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (25th)
Director: Stephen Daldry
Starring: Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Max Von Sydow, James Gandolfini
Synopsis: A nine-year-old prodigy searches New York for the lock that matches a mysterious key left by his father when he was killed in the September 11 attacks.
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The Flowers of War
Director: Zhang Yimou
Starring: Christian Bale, Paul Schneider, Shigeo Kobayashi
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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December 30
Pick of the Week
A Separation
Director: Asghar Farhadi
Starring: Peyman Moaadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat
Synopsis: A couple has to make a decision to leave Iran to better the life of their child or to stay and take care of a parent suffering from Alzheimers; however, the couple’s marriage may end in divorce.
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Maybe See
Pariah (28th)
Director: Dee Rees
Starring: Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Aasha Davis
Synopsis: A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak, and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.
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