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Juno

Juno (Ellen Page) is a Mid-Western highschooler, who decides one day, out of boredom or curiosity, to have sex with her friend Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera), a member of her school's track team. She likes him well enough, but isn't hung up on him. This one time encounter results in Juno's pregnancy. She and her best friend Leah (Olivia Thirlby) decide to take control of the situation by browsing for prospective adoptive parents in the local Pennysaver newspaper, and Juno settles on seemingly the perfect, affluent couple Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner) who is desperate to have a child. Junos sensitive father (J.K. Simmons) and stepmother (Allison Janney) are very supportive of her and help Juno with her decision to give the baby up for adoption. Juno and her father check out Mark and Vanessa Loring to see if they are the right couple. As time moves closer to having the baby, Juno grows more into a woman, yet she is still a teenager with all the same problems and a few more.

Cast: Ellen Page, Michael Cera.

Running Time: 96 min

Academy Award: Best Original Screenplay.

Official site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/juno/

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THE DARJEELING LIMITED

Wes Anderson, the creator of RUSHMORE and THE ROYAL TANNENBAUMS, offers another quirky, melancholic riff on familial ties and father issues in THE DARJEELING LIMITED. Francis (Owen Wilson) has invited his brothers, Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and Peter (Adrien Brody), to join him on a train trip for a spiritual quest through India. The brothers have been estranged since their father's sudden death, and each is now embroiled in his own personal drama. Jack is being toyed with by his two-timing girlfriend, Peter's wife is about to give birth, and Francis recently survived a car crash that nearly killed him. As the train chugs its way across India, the brothers try to reconnect, but mainly end up arguing and sharing pharmaceuticals. Francis admits that the real reason he lured them there is because he wants them to visit their mother (Anjelica Huston), who is living in a convent in the Himalayas. Peter and Jack are none too pleased with this plan, and immediately want to go home. The trip hits another snag when they are kicked off the train for a series of offenses. Stranded with their mountain of matching luggage, Peter and Jack are now insistent upon leaving. However, they suddenly find themselves brought together by an deadly accident involving some Indian children. The tragedy unites them, and they decide to continue on to their mother. Their visit with her proves revelatory, and they begin their journey homeward free of both their literal and metaphorical baggage.
The film bears all of Anderson's trademark touches--stilted comedic dialogue, blunted emotions, and bizarre set pieces that pay subtle homage to the 1970s. Though the film is a bit quieter and less madcap than his previous work, it is still sure to delight his many fans. 

Cast:  Owen Wilson    Adrien Brody   Jason Schwartzman   
Running Time: 90 minutes

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Be Kind Rewind  

Jerry (Jack Black) is a junkyard worker who attempts to sabotage a power plant he suspects of causing his headaches. But he inadvertently causes his brain to become magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of all the movies in his friend's (Mos Def) store. In order to keep the store's one loyal customer, an elderly lady with a tenuous grasp on reality, the pair re-create a long line of films including The Lion King, Rush Hour, Ghostbusters, When We Were Kings, Back to the Future, Driving Miss Daisy, and Robocop , putting themselves and their townspeople into it. They become the biggest stars in their neighborhood.

Cast: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Mia Farrow, Melonie Diaz

Running Time: 101 minutes

Official site:http://www.bekindmovie.com

Lars and the Real Girl      Genre: Comedy

When Lars Lindstrom (Ryan Gosling) introduces his brother Gus and sister-in-law Karin to his new friend Bianca, who he met on the internet, their immediate response is shock and disbelief. Has Lars, the sweet, socially challenged introvert gone completely mad - they meet Bianca and see a doll, but Lars sees a friend.

Bianca isn’t a real woman at all but a Real Doll, how will they explain this to the residents of the sleepy Midwestern US town they’ve grown up in and currently reside? Karin and Gus consult the town’s family physician, Dr. Dagmar Berman (Patricia Clarkson), who advises them to go along with it. Lars is experiencing a delusion and in order to help him through this crisis, they and the townsfolk need to get onboard.

What follows is an emotional, comical, transformative journey for Lars and the people around him.

Written by Six Feet Under scribe Nancy Oliver, Lars and the Real Girl also stars Paul Schneider and Kelli Garner. Lars is directed by Craig Gillespie (Mr. Woodcock) with Sidney Kimmel producing, along with John Cameron and Sarah Aubrey. William Horberg, Peter Berg and Bruce Toll serve as executive producers. 

Director: Craig Gillespie

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson

Runtime: 106 minutes

Official Site: http://www.larsandtherealgirl-themovie.com/

Gone Baby Gone               Genre: Drama

Based on the novel by MYSTIC RIVER author Dennis Lehane, GONE BABY GONE marks the directorial debut of actor Ben Affleck. Featuring a solid cast that includes Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, and Affleck's brother Casey in the lead role as a private detective, GONE BABY GONE centers on the disappearance of a young girl in the working class neighborhood of Dorchester in South Boston. With plenty of twists and turns, the movie works as a solid crime thriller, but it's as a study of a place--and one's ability to either accept and embrace or ultimately break free from it--that the film flowers. Beneath the movie's street-tough justice and cop shop politics sits a very complicated view of the world, which Affleck delves into unflinchingly, thanks in large part to his ability to extract some excellent performances from his cast. Casey Affleck offers a nice mix of both steely resolve and vulnerability, while Harris presents a strong performance as a conflicted, emotionally tortured cop. Of particular note is Amy Ryan as the mother of the abducted girl. Her character's outrageous foul-mouthed demeanor ultimately ends up feeling both tragic and pathetic, with the only appropriate reactions being either pity or rage. It makes for an uncomfortable but affecting dichotomy. GONE BABY GONE signifies a confident and impressive turn behind the camera for one of Hollywood's more contentious stars. A Boston native himself, Affleck takes great care in evoking his city's entirety, from its undeniably ugly underbelly, to what feels like an almost primordial sense of community. It speaks to Affleck's substance as a director, and of good things to come.  

Cast: Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, John Ashton 

Director: Ben Affleck

Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

Official Site: http://video.movies.go.com/gonebabygone/

Forgetting Sarah Marshall           Genre:    Romantic comedy

The ultimate romantic disaster movie

Nicholas Stoller's FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is a romantic disaster comedy produced by the same team that made such hits as THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP, headed by writer, director, and producer Judd Apatow. When he gets suddenly and unceremoniously dumped by his longtime girlfriend, television star Sarah Marshall (VERONICA MARS lead Kristen Bell), composer Peter Bretter (FREAKS AND GEEKS alum Jason Segel) is devastated. Miserably depressed, he seeks solace in tawdry one-night stands, but he is desperate to win Sarah back. On the advice of his stepbrother, Brian (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE's Bill Hader), Peter heads off to Hawaii for a much-needed vacation, but he gets even more freaked out when he discovers that Sarah and her new beau, wild and wacky British singing sensation Aldous Snow (comedian Russell Brand), are staying there as well. Mired in sadness, Peter is befriended by hotel employee Rachel Jansen (THAT '70S SHOW's Mila Kunis), who encourages him to get back his life and pursue his own dreams, which include staging a Dracula musical with puppets. But Peter is blinded by his desire for Sarah even as he grows closer to Rachel and starts hanging out with some of the hotel's odder personalities, including Chuck (Paul Rudd), a drug-addled surf instructor, and Matthew (SUPERBAD's Jonah Hill), a drug-dealing restaurant worker obsessed with Snow. Segel, who gets fully naked several times in the film, wrote the screenplay, a sharp blend of comedy and drama, and is solid in his first major starring role. Stoller, making his feature-film directorial debut, gets the most out of his diverse cast and beautiful setting, especially Jack McBrayer and Maria Thayer as a newlywed couple having some bizarre sexual problems, and Billy Baldwin as Sarah's costar in the television show CRIME SCENE: SCENE OF THE CRIME. FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL is an outrageously funny yet touchingly sweet movie.

Cast:  Jason Segel, Kristen Bell, Mila Kunis, Bill Hader, Paul Rudd

Running Time:   110 min

Official Site: http://www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com/

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Earth

How well do we know planet Earth? Using the most advanced film-making methods ever developed, earth takes us on a tour of our home as we’ve never seen it before.

Five billion years ago, a massive asteroid crashed into the young Earth. The impact was so great that it tilted the entire planet at an angle of twenty-three and a half degrees. But far from being a catastrophe, this cosmic accident was crucial to creating life and the world as we know it today. Without the Earth’s tilt, we wouldn’t have such a spectacular variety of landscapes, or such extremes of hot and cold. We wouldn’t have the changing seasons. And most importantly, we wouldn’t have the perfect conditions for life.

Using the Sun as a guide, we setout on a truly global journey. On the way, we meet three mothers struggling to bring up their young. In the Arctic, a polar bear family awakens to the first sunlight of spring. Will they find food before the ice on which they live melts? Half a world away, in the heat of the Kalahari, an elephant mother and her calf find water after a danger-filled trek across the desert. But they just share the pool with a pride of lions. Will their uneasy truce last? For the final leg of the journey, we follow a humpback whale mother. She must keep her calf safe on their 6,000 km migration from the equator to Antarctica.

And so life on Earth goes on. A story played out billions of times a day, 365 days a year, as the Earth moves through the seasons, every living creature bending to the power of the Sun. No film has ever captured the epic scope of the drama of an entire planet, yet told it with heart-breaking and heart-warming intimacy of real animal characters. Until now…

Running time: 85 minutes

Official Site:  http://hoytsdistribution.ninemsn.com.au/hoytsdistribution/movie1/synopsis.asp

Un Secret                    Genre:    Drama

The exploration of a dark family secret and a story of passionate love, through the inner journey of Francois, a lonely child who invents a brother for himself and dreams up his parents’ past. On his fifteenth birthday, a family friend’s shocking revelations finally enable the young boy to move on and build his life.

Director:    Claude Miller

Cast:  Ludivine Sagnier (Moliere, Swimming Pool), Cecile de France (The Spanish Apartment, Russian Dolls), Patrick Bruel (Pretty Things), Julie Depardieu, Mathieu Amalri

Running Time:    100 minutes

Official Site: http://www.unsecret-lefilm.com/  

Then She Found Me

Adapted from Elinor Lipman's novel of the same name, "Then She Found Me" is Helen Hunt's directorial debut and a hit of the 2007 Toronto Film Festival, with Hunt starring alongside Colin Firth, Bette Midler and Matthew Broderick in a very funny and deeply moving story about the way we create families both by blood and by choice.

April Epner (Hunt) is thirty-nine years old. Her biological clock is not so much ticking as sounding an alarm; her charming but immature husband, Ben (Matthew Broderick), decides their recent marriage is a mistake; and her ailing adoptive mother, whom April has been nursing through her illness, dies. As if this weren’t enough to deal with, a brassy, overbearing local talk-show host named Bernice Graves (Bette Midler) shows up out of the blue, announcing herself as April's biological mother. And she has incredible news: April is the result of a one-night stand Bernice had with Steve McQueen nearly forty years ago.

Devastated on the one hand and bewildered on the other, April finds solace from her rapidly unravelling life in a growing relationship with Frank (Colin Firth), a handsome, warm and suddenly single dad whose wife recently abandoned him and their children. As this new relationship blossoms, April's general state of confusion gets considerably worse when she finds out that she is pregnant.

Hunt is wonderful as the gentle, determined April, who battles through emotional minefields in order to find herself at peace with the world. As the boisterous Ben, Broderick is all boyish charm, while Firth captures Frank's stiff upper lip magnificently. And Midler displays characteristic bombast as Bernice, a force of nature who gusts into April's life and throws it into disarray. Her larger-than-life presence forces April to question her neat, self-made identity, bringing up spectres of the past she had long learned to live without. With "Then She Found Me", Hunt combines her glowing screen presence with impressive directorial finesse, marking a new high in an already accomplished career.

Cast: Helen Hunt, Bette Midler, Colin Firth, Matthew Broderick, Ben Shankman

Running time: 100 minutes

21                        Genre: Drama

Inspired by a true story, 21 mixes Las Vegas casino wheeling and dealing with college-kid angst: think OCEAN'S ELEVEN via THE PAPER CHASE. Kevin Spacey is crafty MIT professor Micky Rosa, who trains brainiac students to count cards and then flies them out to Vegas to raid the blackjack tables between classes. At first they rake in a bundle, but then catch the unwanted attention of tough-guy security chief, Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne) who wants to prove himself before he's replaced by face recognition software. Super math genius Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) originally joins the ring in order to come up with the $300,000 he needs for tuition money, but he's also gaga over the ring's resident babe, Jill (Kate Bosworth). When he finds out Professor Rosa hasn't been dealing entirely from a straight deck, Ben's high-end shopping spree dreams turn sour (though card counting is not illegal) and the battle of wits is on, no second chances given. Spacey is in his preternaturally calm, morally compromised element, stealing scenes left and right; Fishburne brings the hangdog depth; and everything bubbles over the 24-karat rocks, courtesy of director Robert Luketic (LEGALLY BLONDE). 21 is based on the bestseller BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE by Ben Mezrich.

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne 

Running time:  2 hrs

Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/21/ 

Shine a light                 Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

he music of the Rolling Stones has lit up the soundtrack to so many Martin Scorsese films ("Gimme Shelter" has appeared in no less than three of his features--GOODFELLAS, CASINO, and THE DEPARTED) that it's little surprise to find the director teaming up with the legendary rockers for this concert recording. SHINE A LIGHT begins with a few glimpses of the preparation that went into the recording of the show, which was staged over two nights at New York City's Beacon Theatre in 2006. Scorsese also includes some candid footage of the Stones doing a pre-show meet-and-greet with guests Bill and Hillary Clinton, which highlights some of the different personality traits in the band. Keith Richards and Ron Wood are the clowns, always goofing around; Mick Jagger is the consummate professional, always polite to a fault; Charlie Watts caries a real air of dignity, as befits someone who enjoys a dual career as a noted jazz musician. The bulk of the movie is dedicated to the multi-camera shoot at the Beacon, which captures the Stones playing some of their biggest hits and a few lesser-known numbers. Special guests such as Jack White, Buddy Guy, and Christina Aguilera are ushered on at various points in the show, and the concert footage is broken up by some amusing vintage footage of the band. By using so many cameras, Scorsese captures a side of the Stones that is rarely seen, such as Watts turning to camera and puffing out his cheeks and Richards offering encouraging words to Jack White as he exits the stage. SHINE A LIGHT provides a welcome glimpse into the Stones' world at this advanced stage in their career, and continues Scorsese's obsession (see also: NO DIRECTION HOME and THE LAST WALTZ) with documenting some of the most influential characters in rock & roll.

Starring: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Christina Aguilera

Director: Martin Scorsese

Running time: 120 minutes

Official Site: http://www.shinealightmovie.com/

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What Happens in Vegas                Genre: Comedy

Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher star as strangers who wake up a married couple after a crazy night in Las Vegas in director Tom Vaughn's (STARTER FOR 10) feature film. Joy (Diaz) is the type of woman who makes plans to make plans. She's expecting a marriage proposal, but her live-in boyfriend, Mason (Jason Sudeikis), has other ideas. When he dumps her, Joy heads to Vegas to forget her troubles with her friend Tipper (Lake Bell) and discovers her fun, spontaneous side. Unfortunately, she also wakes up with recently unemployed Jack (Kutcher) as her husband. The two quickly decide to divorce, but the plot thickens when Jack wins a $3 million slot jackpot using Joy's quarter. Since neither one of them wants to give up the cash, they each try to drive the other to file for divorce and give up the bounty. But love has a funny way of appearing when you least expect it, and in acting their worst, Joy and Jack actually bring out the best in each other. Diaz and Kutcher have nice onscreen chemistry and make a very photogenic couple. Treat Williams stars as Jack's difficult-to-please father, while Rob Corddry is Jack's best friend, Hater. Queen Latifah and Dennis Miller appear briefly as a marriage counselor and divorce court judge, respectively. The Vegas scenes are flashy and fun--just like Sin City--and the settings for the New York City scenes differentiate nicely between Joy's organized, structured life and Jack's less serious, happy-go-lucky attitude.

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Dennis Farina, Michelle Krusiec

Running time: 1 hr 39 mins 

Official Site: http://www.whathappensinvegasmovie.com/

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Iron Man                     genre: Action/Adventure

For both comic book fans and those who can't tell the Green Lantern from the Green Arrow, IRON MAN is the type of summer blockbuster whose appeal lasts far beyond the season. Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy and genius who puts as much effort into chasing skirts as he puts into chasing his next big idea. A trip to Afghanistan to sell weapons quickly devolves into chaos, and Stark finds himself at the mercy of a warlord who wants him to build a missile. Instead, Stark creates a powerful suit of armor, turning him into Iron Man and allowing him to escape. When he returns to America, his assistant Pepper Pots (Gwyneth Paltrow), friend Rhodey (Terrence Howard), and right-hand man Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) all marvel at the change in the man they knew. IRON MAN is the first film to be self-financed by Marvel Studios, and they should be proud of their freshman effort. They didn't take any obvious routes with choosing the cast or crew, and it pays off. Director Jon Favreau, who also has a small role in the film, is best known for directing ELF, but his first action-driven effort is nearly flawless. Casting Downey was gutsy but inspired: this is his first big action picture as well, but the wit he displays in films such as the cult hit KISS KISS, BANG BANG works perfectly for the character of Stark. IRON MAN features nods to its beloved source material, as well as to the classic animated series of the 1960s. But even for the uninitiated, this film provides an interesting entry into the Marvel superhero's universe.

Cast:  Robert Downey, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Shaun Toub, Gwyneth Paltrow

Director: Jon Favreau 

Running time: 2 hrs 6 mins 

Official Site: http://ironmanmovie.marvel.com/

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Happy go lucky               genre - comedy

Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a 30-year-old Londoner with a bright outlook on life. She loves her job, she loves her friends, she loves her freedom. Mike Leigh's new film follows her over a few weeks one spring as she learns to drive and embarks on a new romance.

Nearly four years after his dark period drama “Vera Drake,” iconic Brit helmer Mike Leigh is back with “Happy-Go-Lucky,” his mellowest work yet, and his most purely entertaining. Effervescent comedy offers a lighthearted slice of life seen through eyes of a free-spirited London schoolteacher, replete with lessons of various sorts and humorous comparisons of teaching methods. Less pointed and edgy than anything in Leigh’s oeuvre except “Career Girls,” it still gets by on its own diverting charms. Opening in Blighty on April 18, brightly designed pic should come near Leigh’s best domestic grosses and will be appreciated in arthouses worldwide.

Cast: Scott - Eddie Marsa    Heather - Sylvestra le Touzel     Flamenco instructor - Karina Fernandez
Tim - Samuel Roukin    Helen - Caroline Martin      Jamie - Oliver Maltma

Director: Mike Leigh

Running time: 2 hrs 

Official Site: http://www.happy-go-lucky-movie.co.uk/

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The Counterfeiters                  Genre: Crime, Drama, War

The true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, counterfeiter extraordinaire and bohemian. After getting arrested in a German concentration camp in 1944, he agrees to help the Nazis in an organised counterfeit operation set up to help finance the war effort.

It was the biggest counterfeit money scam of all time. Over 130 million pounds sterling were printed, under conditions that couldn't have been more tragic or spectacular. During the last years of the war, as the German Reich saw that the end was near, the authorities decided to produce their own banknotes in the currencies of their major war enemies. They hoped to use the duds to flood the enemy economy and fill the empty war coffers. At the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, two barracks were separated from the rest of the camp and the outside world, and transformed into a fully equipped counterfeiter?s workshop. ?Operation Bernhard? was born. Prisoners were brought to Sachsenhausen from other camps to implement the plan: professional printers, fastidious bank officials and simple craftsmen all became members of the top-secret counterfeiter commando. They had the choice: if they cooperated with the enemy, they had a chance to survive, as first-class prisoners in a ?golden cage? with enough to eat and a bed to sleep in. If they sabotaged the operation, a sure death awaited them. For THE COUNTERFEITERS, it was not only a question of saving their own lives, but also about saving their conscience as well?

Running time: 95 mins

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Children of the Silk road     Genre: Drama

Based on real events, CHILDREN OF THE SILK ROAD is a sweeping but intimate story set against war-torn China in the 1930’s. The film centers on a young English journalist (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers), an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60-orphaned, children leading them on an extraordinary journey, across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert. Along the way they discover the true meaning of love, responsibility and courage.

From the moment I read the screenplay about George Hogg in China and his untimely death, I knew it was a story that I wanted to tell.  Eight years followed as the script was developed and the cast and Chinese crew assembled. We spent six extraordinary months exploring China to find locations and then late in 2006 we started filming.  At the same time we were finding many of the ‘children’ whom Hogg had rescued. They all remember him with profound love and devotion and seem to recall so much about the man who saved them all those years ago.
Roger Spottiswoode, director.

Cast: Michelle Yeoh, Radha Mitchell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Running time: 114 mins

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull                  Genre: Action/Adventure

When we last saw Indiana Jones on screen, it was 1938, and the world stood on the brink of war as Dr. Jones chased down evildoers to find the Holy Grail. Nineteen years later, he’s cracking his whip again, and many things have changed ... but some have remained the same. Again, the world is at a precipice, this time caused by the specter of nuclear annihilation, and Indy’s struggle is once again to ensure that a precious, mysterious object remains safe from those bent on destroying humanity. 

Cast: Harrison Ford, Ray Winstone, Shia LaBeouf, Cate Blanchett, Karen Allen

Director: Steven Spielberg

Running time: 2 hrs 4 mins

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Mamma Mia!                 Genre: Comedy

Meryl Streep leads an all-star cast in the feature-film adaptation of the beloved musical that has been seen by more than 30 million people in 160 cities and 8 languages around the world. Bringing the timeless lyrics and melodies of iconic super group ABBA to movie audiences, Summer 2008 is the season for Mamma Mia! The three women who created the worldwide smash stage hit--global producer Judy Craymer, writer Catherine Johnson and director Phyllida Lloyd--repeat their roles in bringing this joyful, musical story to the big screen. The Mamma Mia! film is produced by Judy Craymer and Gary Goetzman. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Amanda Seyfried and Dominic Cooper join Streep in this celebration of a mother, a daughter and three possible dads. An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna (Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends--practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya (Christine Baranski)--from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own. On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities. Inspired by the storytelling magic of ABBA's songs from "Dancing Queen" and "S.O.S." to "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me," Mamma Mia! is a celebration of mothers and daughters, old friends and new family found

Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters

Running time: 104 mins

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The Orphanage           Genre: thriller

It might come as no surprise that the producer of the Spanish supernatural thriller THE ORPHANAGE is none other than Mexican director Guillermo Del Toro (PAN'S LABYRINTH, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE), for his influence is felt greatly throughout the picture. Made by an entire crew of newcomers--director Juan Antonio Bayona, screenwriter Sergio G. Sanchez, director of photography Oscar Faura, composer Fernando Velazquez--THE ORPHANAGE is an extremely accomplished work. The story concerns Laura (Belen Rueda), who has returned with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and adopted child Simon (Roger Princep) to the large manor where she was raised in an orphanage as a child. Laura is determined to fix up the abandoned house and open it as a refuge for ill children. But from the moment she returns, the past begins to haunt her. It isn't long before she begins to see the children who she used to play with as a seven-year-old. And when Simon goes missing one afternoon, she's convinced that they have taken him hostage. What follows is a murky descent into Laura's mind, where she doesn't know what is real and what is a figment of her tortured imagination. Bayona brings Sanchez's complex script to life with the help of Faura's haunting imagery and Valazquez's atmospheric score. But what makes THE ORPHANAGE an even greater achievement is its insistence on being more than just a superficial scare-fest. Bayona and Sanchez are more interested in deeper themes of memory, loss, and grief, establishing Laura as a mother who feels guilt over not being able to protect her child from outside forces. The result is a film that is both unsettling and moving. 

Cast:  Belen Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin

Director: Juan Antonio Bayona

Running time: 1 hr 45 mins

Official Site: http://www.theorphanagemovie.com/

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The Happening     Genre - thriller

In this thriller, a couple goes on the run from an apocalyptic crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity.

One day in Central Park, people start to lose their trains of thought. They begin walking backward. They start killing themselves. This behavior spreads through Manhattan, and then all of the Northeast. Construction workers throw themselves from scaffolds. Policeman shoot themselves. The deaths are blamed on a "terrorist attack," but in fact no one has the slightest clue, and New York City is evacuated.

We meet Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), a Philadelphia high school science teacher; the quote was on his blackboard. We meet his wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel); his friend, Julian (John Leguizamo), and Julian's daughter, Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez). They find themselves fleeing on a train to Harrisburg, Pa., although people learn from their cell phones that the plague, or whatever it is, may have jumped ahead of them.

Cast:  Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo, Betty Buckley

Director:  M. Night Shyamalan

Official Site: http://www.whatishappening.com.au/

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Mongol                Genre: Drama

Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov ("Prisoner of the Mountains") illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan in his stunning historical epic, "Mongol". Based on leading historical accounts and a nominee for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 2008 Academy Awards, "Mongol" delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of legend, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. "Mongol" shows
us the making of an extraordinary man, and the foundation on which so much of his greatness rested: his relationship with his wife, Borte, his lifelong love and most trusted advisor.
Filmed in the very lands that gave birth to Genghis Khan, "Mongol" transports us back to a distant and exotic period in world history; to a nomad's landscape of endless space, climatic extremes and ever-present danger. In a performance of powerful stillness and subtlety, celebrated young Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu ("Zatoichi", "Last Life in the Universe") captures the inner fire that enabled a hunted boy to become a legendary conqueror. Asano's achievement is matched by those of his co-stars, including the radiant newcomer Khulan Chuluun as Temudgin's courageous, spirited wife Borte, and the Chinese actor Honglei Sun ("The Road Home") as the "Mongol" chieftain Jamukha, Temudgin's dearest friend and deadliest enemy. Masterfully blending action and emotion against some of the most arresting terrain on earth, Bodrov delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of survival and triumph, and a love story for the ages.

Cast: Tadanobu Asano, Honglei Sun, Khulan Chuluun, Odnyam Odsuren, Aliy A

Director: Sergei Bodrov

Running time: 2 hrs 6 mins 

Official Site: http://www.mongolmovie.com/

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Hancock                   Genre: Comedy

There are heroes… there are superheroes… and then there’s Hancock (Will Smith). With great power comes great responsibility – everyone knows that – everyone, that is, but Hancock. Edgy, conflicted, sarcastic, and misunderstood, Hancock’s well-intentioned heroics might get the job done...

Cast:  Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron, Eddie Marsan

Running time: 92 mins

Official Site: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/hancock/

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The painted veil

The third film version of Somerset Maughm's 1925 novel--directed by John Curran--is ripe with stunning Chinese locales and a smart turn from Naomi Watts as Kitty Fane, the aging English socialite who must put herself in strange and turbulent surroundings before she finds her true self. A complex and beautiful international production, this adaptation benefits greatly from the lack of restrictions that inhibited its previous incarnations in 1925 (with Greta Garbo) and in 1957 (as THE SEVENTH SIN). After pressure from her wealthy parents to settle down, Kitty marries mild-mannered bacteriologist Walter (Edward Norton), despite her lack of love for him. Shortly after their vows, he takes her to Shanghai, where she immediately has an affair with Charles Townsend (Liev Shrieber), an English Vice Consul. Walter becomes aware of Kitty's indiscretion and promptly whisks her away to the mountain village of Mei-tan-fu, where they befriend another English expat, the secretly decadent Deputy Commissioner Waddington (Toby Jones, in an extremely likable performance). Walter begins working to hold an encroaching cholera epidemic at bay---leaving Kitty to ponder her role in the situation as death looms over the village like a specter. A labor of love that took the better part of a decade for producer Norton and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner, THE PAINTED VEIL is a large, complex, and visually sumptuous production that employed a primarily Chinese crew on its intense location shoots. Norton's passion for the material is on full display, as he turns in another solid performance. Watts, however, who portrayed another unfaithful wife in Curran's previous film WE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (2004), is the heart of the film, all bee-stung lips and sweat on porcelain skin. Romantic, escapist entertainment in the best sense, THE PAINTED VEIL is yet more proof that there is an endless pool of silver screen potential in the classics of literature. 

Cast: Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, Yu Xia

Running time: 2 hours

The Seventh Seal

Antonius Block (Max Von Sydow), a knight, returns from a 10-year crusade with his squire, Jöns (Gunnar Björnstrand), to find his homeland ravaged by the plague. When the black-cloaked figure of Death (Bengt Ekerot) appears to claim them, Block, whose war experiences have left him cynical about the existence of God and the afterlife, challenges Death to a game of chess to stall for time and gain some insight into the meaning of life before passing on. The game is intermittently paused and resumed during the journey home while Block and Jöns meet several traveling companions, including a mute girl (Gunnel Lindblom) whom they save from a bandit, and a family of poor traveling players--Jof, a gentle visionary (Nils Poppe); his wife, Mia (Bibi Andersson); and their infant daughter. Block witnesses much suffering and anguish along the way (an encounter with a woman accused of witchcraft who is about to be burned at the stake is especially jarring) but also finds evidence of human kindness and love, prompting him to realize that even a single gesture of goodwill might make the long struggle of his existence worthwhile. The title of Ingmar Bergman's highly acclaimed allegorical film stems from the Book of Revelation. 

Cast: Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max Von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Bengt Ekerot, Nils Poppe

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Running time: 1 hr 36 mins 

Screens: Monday July 7th at 8:55pm

Wild Strawberries

WILD STRAWBERRIES is among Ingmar Bergman's most rich and contemplative films, a lyrical reflection on guilt and disappointment in the form of a spiritual journey. The movie stars Victor Sjöström as Professor Isak Borg, an elderly academic who takes a trip by car from Stockholm to Lund to receive an honorary university degree, accompanied by his daughter-in-law (Ingrid Thulin). Along the way, they meet various passengers who seem to be weighed down by unresolved ethical dilemmas. Meanwhile, Borg's own existential crisis is triggered by dreams and memories in which he is confronted with past disappointments, missed opportunities, and troubled personal relationships with those close to him--his son (Gunnar Björnstrand), his mother (Naima Wifstrand), and his late wife (Gertrud Fridh). The film features stunning imagery, most notably in the flashback, dream, and nightmare sequences, as well as an outstanding final film performance by Sjöström (who is also a famed Swedish director of the silent era). 

Cast: Victor Sjostrom, Bibi Andersson, Ingrid Thulin, Max Von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Running time: 1 hr 35 mins 

Screens: Monday July 21st at 8:55pm

SOLARIS

Director Andrei Tarkovsky's science fiction cult classic, presents an uncompromisingly unique and poetic meditation on space travel and its physical and existential ramifications. When a long-standing Russian space station hovering above the planet Solaris begins to report strange phenomena, Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis), an eager and intrepid cosmonaut, departs for the station in order to investigate. Warned by former Solaris specialists that the planet presents incomprehensible obstacles, Kelvin is nevertheless secure in his mission. However, the minute he steps foot onto the haunted and desolate space station, everything changes. Kelvin learns that of the three members left on board, one has killed himself and the remaining two have seemingly become schizophrenic recluses. When Kelvin's dead ex-wife appears out of the shadows, the reports that Solaris is a thinking being capable of reading human minds and materializing their desires and memories are proven true. As Kelvin joins the rest of the crew in a seemingly life-or-death struggle to understand this phenomena, Tarkovsky crafts a mind-altering earthbound space odyssey. Filled with visions of humanity versus itself, SOLARIS takes the philosophical investigations of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY to extravagant lengths and offers no answers except this: The only frontier humanity has yet to conquer is that of its own existence.

Director: Andre Tarkovsky

Running time: 1 hr 35 mins 

Screens: Sunday July 20th at 8:55pm

Yogis of Tibet

A fascinating new film focusing on the great yogis of Tibet, and their lives in retreat practicing secret self-transforming physical and mental exercises. Through these techniques they have developed extraordinary control over both mind and body. Normally these yogis are vowed to extreme secrecy to maintain the purity of their practices, but agreed to be interviewed, including one rare demonstration of yogic exercice and ability, to help preserve their fast vanishing culture.

This film includes an interview with the Dalai Lama and scenes from a meditation retreat by two yogis in caves at Lapchi, a place made famous by Milarepa. There are also interviews with many yogis, especially from the Drikung Kagyu lineage. These include the great master Drubwang Konchok Norbu Rinpoche, Chetsang Rinpoche, Chenga Rinpoche, Choje Togden Rinpoche, and Garchen Rinpoche.

"Remarkable!...A moving experience to watch these hermits speak so openly. The first film to explore this unique subject matter in depth." Jeff Cox, Snow Lion Publications.

"Spectacular yogic exercise footage never seen before and not likely to be seen elsewhere again. As close a peek as anyone can get to the ways of the mystical Tibetan yogis." Pema Thinley, Editor, Tibetan Review.

"Superb!...the best film we've seen on Tibet." Light of Consciousness Magazine.

Screens: Sunday July 20th at 7:00pm

Meetings with Remarkable Men

Based on the autobiographical book of the same name, Peter Brooks' Meetings With Remarkable Men is the story of the early years of Russian philosopher and magician George Gurdjieff and the people that led him to become a spiritual seeker and an inspiration to devoted followers around the world. Filmed in the mountains and deserts of Afghanistan, a Russian Prince (Terrence Stamp) directs Gurdjieff (Dragan Maksimovic) and a group of seekers to search for the teachings of an ancient Russian brotherhood called the Sarmound. The adventure leads them through the Gobi Desert and the Himalayas to a monastery where Gurdjieff learns self-expression through dancing and body movement, a technique he taught his followers many years later. 

Directed by Peter Brook 

Cast:  Dragan Maksimovic, Terence Stamp, Gerry Sundquist, Bruce Myers, Natasha Parry

Running time: 108 minutes

Screens: Monday July 14th at 8:55pm

Double feature

Himalayan Pilgrimage

Asia is home to the Himalayas, the highest mountain range on earth. Covering a distance of 2,700 kilometers, the Himalayas overlook the landscapes of six Countries: India, Nepal, Pakistan, China, Bhutan and Tibet. For thousands of years the people of these regions have considered the Himalayas to be a manifestation of divinity. Towering above all else on earth, the Himalayas reach out to touch the heavens. Himalayan Pilgrimage takes us through the Gandaki Valley - a place frozen in time. The Pilgrimage begins in Kathman du the capital city of Nepal, then moves on to Pokhara, then Jomsom and finally to the sacred shrine of Muktinatha.

Kumbha Mela  The Worlds Largest Act of Faith

On the occasion of Kumbha Mela, pilgrims from every nook and corner of India - speaking different languages and dialects, wearing distinctive markings on their foreheads, donning various types of dress and observing different manners and customs - meet together for a holy bath in the sacred waters. Wave after wave, the pilgrims formed a veritable river of humanity that flowed unto the banks of the Ganges at Allahabad to celebrate the greatest spiritual festival ever held - Kumbha Mela, the worlds largest act of faith.

Running time: 85 minutes

Screens: Sunday July 20th at 5:00pm