25.03.2009, 23:30
(Dieser Beitrag wurde zuletzt bearbeitet: 25.03.2009, 23:30 von elSalvadore.)
Hier mal eine ausführlichere (unvollständige) Liste der Filme, welche ich mir dieses Jahr gerne anschauen möchte:
Sternchen-Legende: Mehr Sternchen -> höhere(s) Erwartung / Interesse
12 ****
In theaters: March 4, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
# Cast: Sergei Makovetsky, Nikita Mikhalkov
Trailer
Story: 12 characters. 12 truths. The story of 12 jurors discussing a verdict to pass on an 18 year old Chechen boy whether he is guilty of 1st degree murder of his step-father ”” an officer of the Russian army. The film thinks aloud about today;s life, about the need to hear the next of kin and help that person before its too late. The action of the picture unveils in one room ”” a gym adjusted for jury deliberations.
500 Days of Summer ***
In theaters: July 24, 2009
# Genre: Romance, Comedy
# Director: Marc Webb
# Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Clark Gregg, Minka Kelly, Matthew Gray Gubler
Trailer
Story: Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn”t. This post modern love story is never what we expect it to be ”” it”s thorny yet exhilarating, funny and sad, a twisted journey of highs and lows that doesn”t quite go where we think it will. When Tom, a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic, is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer dumps him, he shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days “together” to try to figure out where things went wrong. His reflections ultimately lead him to finally rediscover his true passions in life.
9 ***
In theaters: September 9, 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Shane Acker
# Cast: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly
Trailer
Story: 9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened.
Adoration ***
In theaters: May 8, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Romance
# Director: Atom Egoyan
# Cast: Devon Bostick, Arsinee Khanjian, Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard, Noam Jenkins
Trailer
Story: ADORATION speaks to our connections-with each other, with our family history, with technology and with the modern world. Sabine (ARSINÉE KHANJIAN), a high school French teacher, gives her class a translation exercise based on a real news story about a terrorist who plants a bomb in the airline luggage of his pregnant girlfriend. The assignment has a profound effect on one student, Simon (DEVON BOSTICK), who lives with his uncle (SCOTT SPEEDMAN). In the course of translating, Simon re-imagines that the news item is his own family”s story, with the terrorist standing in for his father.
Adventureland **
In theaters: April 3, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Comedy
# Director: Greg Mottola
# Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig
Trailer
Story: It”s the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), an uptight recent college grad, can”t wait to embark on his dream tour of Europe. But when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) announce they can no longer subsidize his trip, James has little choice but to take a lowly job at a local amusement park. Forget about German beer, world-famous museums and cute French girls-James” summer will now be populated by belligerent dads, stuffed pandas, and screaming kids high on cotton candy. Lucky for James, what should have been his worst summer ever turns into quite an adventure as he discovers love in the most unlikely place with his captivating co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart), and learns to loosen up.
Brothers at War *
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Documentary
# Director: Jake Rademacher
# Cast: Jake Rademacher, Capt. Isaac Rademacher, Jenny Rademacher, Sgt. Joseph Rademacher, Danelle Fields
Trailer
Story: BROTHERS AT WAR is an intimate portrait of an American family during a turbulent time. Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake”s exploits as he risks everything-including his life-to tell his brothers” story. Often humorous, but sometimes downright lethal, BROTHERS AT WAR is a remarkable journey where Jake embeds with four combat units in Iraq. Unprecedented access to U.S. and Iraqi combat units take him behind the camouflage curtain with secret reconnaissance troops on the Syrian border, into sniper “Hide Sites” in the Sunni Triangle, through raging machine gun battles with the Iraqi Army. Ultimately, the film follows his brothers home where separations and life-threatening work ripple through their parents, siblings, wives and children. BROTHERS AT WAR provides a rare look at the bonds and service of our soldiers on the frontlines and the profound effects their service has on the loved ones they leave behind.
The Brothers Bloom *
# Director: Rian Johnson
# Cast: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo
Trailer
Story: The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job - showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.
Coraline **
In theaters: February 6, 2009
# Genre: Animation (Stop Motion), Adventure, Fantasy
# Director: Henry Selick
# Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Ian McShane, Keith David
Trailer
Story: From Henry Selick, visionary director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and based on Neil Gaiman”s international best-selling book, comes a spectacular stop-motion animated adventure - the first to be originally filmed in 3D! Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is bored in her new home until she finds a secret door and discovers an alternate version of her life on the other side. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life and the people in it - only much better. But when this seemingly perfect world turns dangerous, and her other parents (including her Other Mother voiced by Teri Hatcher) try to trap her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination and bravery to escape this increasingly perilous world - and save her family.
Gigantic ***
In theaters: April 3, 2009
# Genre: Comedy
# Director: Matt Aselton
# Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander
Trailer
Story: Brian Weathersby (PAUL DANO) is a 28 year-old salesman at a high-end Swedish mattress company. The afterthought child to elderly parents (ED ASNER, JANE ALEXANDER), and the youngest son in a trio of successful brothers, a shady oil man (IAN ROBERTS), a surgeon (ROBERT STANTON), Brian is searching for his place in the world. Unfulfilled by his work he spends a good portion of his day pursuing his goal of someday adopting a baby from China. He gets swept up in a romance with the lovely but misguided Harriet Lolly (ZOOEY DESCHANEL) when she comes in to his store one day and falls asleep on one of the beds. To win her over, he must compete with her bear of a father, Al Lolly, (JOHN GOODMAN) an art-collecting loudmouth with a bad back and deep pockets. GIGANTIC is a funny, surreal love story about the anxiety that comes when two people with crazy families collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.
Gran Torino **
In theaters: December 2008
# Genre: Clint Eastwood
# Director: Clint Eastwood
# Cast: Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastw.. äh.. Trailer
Story: Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.
The Haunting in Connecticut *
In theaters: March 27, 2009
# Genre: Thriller, Horror
# Director: Peter Cornwell
# Cast: Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan, Amanda Crew, Elias Koteas
Trailer
Story: Based on a chilling true story, Lionsgate”s THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT charts one family”s terrifying, real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner”s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now, unspeakable terror awaits when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the dead, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.
The International **
In theaters: February 13, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Tom Tykwer
# Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, BrÃan F. O”Byrne
Trailer
Story: In The International, a gripping thriller, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are determined to bring to justice one of the world”s most powerful banks. Uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities, Salinger and Whitman follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as their targets will stop at nothing – even murder – to continue financing terror and war.
Knowing *
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Action, Mystery
# Director: Alex Proyas
# Cast: Nicolas Cage
Trailer
Story: A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
Lorna's Silence **
In theaters: July 31, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
# Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Alban Ukaj, Fabrizio Rongione, Jeremie Renier
Trailer
Story: The destiny of a woman caught between love and the law of the underworld. Lorna, (Arta Dobroshi), a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her boyfriend, Sokol (Alban Ukaj). In order to do so, she becomes an accomplice in a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione). Fabio has set up a false marriage between Lorna and Claudy (Jérémie Renier) allowing Lorna to get her Belgian citizenship. However, she is then asked to marry a Russian mafioso who”s ready to pay hard cash to also get his hands on those vital Belgian identity papers. Fabio intends to kill Claudy in order to speed up the second marriage. But will Lorna remain silent?
Máncora ***
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Ricardo de Montreuil
# Cast: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo
Trailer
Story: From the director of “La Mujer de Mi Hermano” (My Brothers Wife), and the writer of “Voces Inocentes” (Innocent Voices) comes Máncora, a tender and pulsating road-trip drama that delicately traces the shifting emotional boundaries between three disconnected souls. Máncora introduces us to Santiago, a 21-year old from Lima who is haunted by his fathers recent and unexpected suicide. Suffocating in the chill of a grey Lima winter, Santiago decides to take refuge in Mancora, a beach town in the north of the country where summer never ends. Right before his departure, Santiago receives an unexpected visit from his stepsister Ximena, a vibrant, sexy Spanish photographer and her husband Iñigo, a brash art collector from New York. The tranquility of their getaway is quickly shattered by a powerful act of boundary-crossing and betrayal, which threatens to transform their relationship forever and turn Mancora in to a paradise lost.
The Merry Gentleman **
In theaters: May 1, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Michael Keaton
# Cast: Kelly MacDonald, Michael Keaton, Tom Bastounes, Bobby Canavale
Trailer
Story: Running away from a troubled marriage, Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) hopes to find anonymity with a new home and a new job in Chicago. Despite friendly flirtation from co-workers and others, the shy and reserved Kate keeps her distance, avoiding questions about her sudden arrival and her recent past. When Kate meets Frank Logan (Michael Keaton), the two discover unexpected satisfaction in their mutual shared silence. Haunted by the troubling choices he has made, Frank finds a kindred spirit in the younger Kate, and, for a moment, the two seem destined to redeem and remake each other. As the holidays and New Year pass against an urban landscape that seems both breathtakingly beautiful and starkly quiet, Kate and Frank”s friendship becomes one of necessity and survival. But, neither lonely soul can escape the lives they have left behind. As events unfold and the painful truth slowly emerges, Frank is forced to face the man he truly is, while Kate struggles to become the woman she needs to be.
Monsters vs. Aliens ***
In theaters: March 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
# Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland
Trailer
Story: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!
O'Horten ***
In theaters: May 15, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Bent Hamer
# Cast: Bard Owe
Trailer
Story: The moment the train leaves the station without engineer ODD HORTEN (Bard Owe) aboard, he realizes that the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. Horten has been forced to retire after 40 years of traveling a very stable rail, and the platform does not feel like a safe place anymore. His orderly, solitary existence is about to give way to a future of unlikely adventures and puzzling dilemmas: will Horten ever travel by plane? Will he finally sell his prized boat? How does Horten end up in a pair of women”s red high-heeled shoes? Will he survive a nighttime drive with a blindfolded man at the wheel? Proof positive that there is humor to be found in aging, and we don”t have to be elderly Norwegians to identify, laugh and embrace life in all its idiosyncratic splendor. O”HORTEN is Bent Hamer”s wonderfully skewed view of the human condition and gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal appeal.
The Reader ***
In theaters: December 10, 2008
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Stephen Daldry
# Cast: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
Trailer
Story: THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from “The Odyssey”, “Huck Finn”, and “The Lady with the Little Dog.” Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life – this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna”s past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives.
Sex Positive **
In theaters: June 12, 2009
# Genre: Documentary
# Director: Daryl Wein
# Cast: Richard Berkowitz, Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, Larry Kramer, Ardele Lister, Krishna Stone
Trailer
Story: Explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M- hustler-turned-AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic as a community leader, demanding a solution to the problem before anyone else would pay attention. However, it was not Berkowitz” voice alone that sparked contention. Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, a controversial virologist and AIDS doctor, postulated that AIDS was more complicated than just a new virus. With Sonnabend”s theory in tow, Berkowitz fought, alongside beloved activist and musician Michael Callen, for safer sex practices without giving up on sex altogether.
Sherman's Way ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
# Director: Craig Saavedra
# Cast: James Le Gros, Enrico Colantoni, Michael Shulman, Brooke Nevin, Donna Murphy
Trailer
Story: SHERMAN”S WAY starts with two strangers forced into a road trip of convenience only to veer off the path into a quirky exploration of friendship, fatherhood and the task of finding one”s place in the world – a world in which one wrong turn can change your destination. The discord begins when Sherman, (Michael Shulman) a young, uptight Ivy-Leaguer, finds himself stranded on the West Coast with an eccentric stranger and washed-up, middle-aged former athlete Palmer (James Le Gros) in an attempt to make it down to Beverly Hills in time for a career-making internship at a prestigious law firm. The two couldn”t be more incompatible. Palmer is a reckless charmer with a zest for life; Sherman is an arrogant snob with a sense of entitlement. The only thing this odd couple seems to share is the refusal to accept responsibility for their lives. Soon, Sherman meets the free spirited Addy (Brooke Nevin) who is unlike anyone he”s ever known. As a romance ensues, Sherman discovers what he”s made of and what life is really all about.
Sin Nombre ***
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Foreign
# Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
# Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Diana Garcia
Trailer
Story: Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young Honduran woman, Sayra (Paulina Gaytan), joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she crosses paths with a teenaged Mexican gang member, El Casper (Edgar M. Flores), who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates. Together they must rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives.
The Soloist ***
In theaters: April 24, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Joe Wright
# Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx
Trailer
Story: A schizophrenic (Jamie Foxx), is a homeless musician from Skid Row, Los Angeles who dreams of playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Through "chance," he meets a journalist (Robert Downey Jr.), who tries to help this mentally disturbed man get "back on his feet"
Sunshine Cleaning ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Comedy
# Director: Christine Jeffs
# Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn
Trailer
Story: A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy Sunshine Cleaning. Directed by Christine Jeffs (Rain, Sylvia), this uplifting film about an average family that finds the path to its dreams in an unlikely setting screened in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Academy Award winner Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other”¦specialized situations.
Surveillance *
In theaters: June 26, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Jennifer Lynch
# Cast: Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins
Trailer
Story: It”s been a hell of a day on the highway. When Federal Officers Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman) arrive at Captain Billing”s office, they have three sets of stories to figure out and a string of vicious murders to consider. One zealot cop, a strung out junkie and an eight year old girl all sit in testimony to the roadside rampage, but as the Feds begin to expose the fragile little details each witness conceals so carefully with a well practiced lie, they soon discover that uncovering ”˜the truth” can come at a very big cost”¦
Taken ***
In theaters: January 23, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Action
# Director: Pierre Morel
# Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky
Trailer
Story: TAKEN stars Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, an ex-government operative who has less than four days to find his kidnapped daughter, who has been taken on her first day of vacation in Paris.
Tokyo Sonata ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
# Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Kai Inowaki, Haruka Igawa
Trailer
Story: Set in contemporary Tokyo, TOKYO SONATA is a story of an ordinary Japanese family of four. The father, Ryuhei Sasaki, like any other Japanese businessman, is faithfully devoted to his work. His wife Megumi manages the house and struggles to retain a bond with Takashi, her oldest son who is in college, and the youngest, Kenji, a sensitive boy in elementary school. The quiet unraveling of the family begins when Ryuhei unexpectedly loses his job. Facing completely unfamiliar circumstances, he decides not to tell his family and begins his lonely sojourn into the world of the secretly unemployed.
Up ***
In theaters: May 29, 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Pete Docter
# Cast: Christopher Plummer
Trailer
Story: By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn”t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.
Die Liste wird u.u. noch erweitert.
Sternchen-Legende: Mehr Sternchen -> höhere(s) Erwartung / Interesse
12 ****
In theaters: March 4, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Nikita Mikhalkov
# Cast: Sergei Makovetsky, Nikita Mikhalkov
Trailer
Story: 12 characters. 12 truths. The story of 12 jurors discussing a verdict to pass on an 18 year old Chechen boy whether he is guilty of 1st degree murder of his step-father ”” an officer of the Russian army. The film thinks aloud about today;s life, about the need to hear the next of kin and help that person before its too late. The action of the picture unveils in one room ”” a gym adjusted for jury deliberations.
500 Days of Summer ***
In theaters: July 24, 2009
# Genre: Romance, Comedy
# Director: Marc Webb
# Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Clark Gregg, Minka Kelly, Matthew Gray Gubler
Trailer
Story: Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Girl doesn”t. This post modern love story is never what we expect it to be ”” it”s thorny yet exhilarating, funny and sad, a twisted journey of highs and lows that doesn”t quite go where we think it will. When Tom, a hapless greeting card copywriter and hopeless romantic, is blindsided after his girlfriend Summer dumps him, he shifts back and forth through various periods of their 500 days “together” to try to figure out where things went wrong. His reflections ultimately lead him to finally rediscover his true passions in life.
9 ***
In theaters: September 9, 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Shane Acker
# Cast: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly
Trailer
Story: 9 takes place in a world parallel to our own, in which the very legacy of humanity is threatened.
Adoration ***
In theaters: May 8, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Romance
# Director: Atom Egoyan
# Cast: Devon Bostick, Arsinee Khanjian, Scott Speedman, Rachel Blanchard, Noam Jenkins
Trailer
Story: ADORATION speaks to our connections-with each other, with our family history, with technology and with the modern world. Sabine (ARSINÉE KHANJIAN), a high school French teacher, gives her class a translation exercise based on a real news story about a terrorist who plants a bomb in the airline luggage of his pregnant girlfriend. The assignment has a profound effect on one student, Simon (DEVON BOSTICK), who lives with his uncle (SCOTT SPEEDMAN). In the course of translating, Simon re-imagines that the news item is his own family”s story, with the terrorist standing in for his father.
Adventureland **
In theaters: April 3, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Comedy
# Director: Greg Mottola
# Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds, Martin Starr, Kristen Wiig
Trailer
Story: It”s the summer of 1987, and James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg), an uptight recent college grad, can”t wait to embark on his dream tour of Europe. But when his parents (Wendie Malick and Jack Gilpin) announce they can no longer subsidize his trip, James has little choice but to take a lowly job at a local amusement park. Forget about German beer, world-famous museums and cute French girls-James” summer will now be populated by belligerent dads, stuffed pandas, and screaming kids high on cotton candy. Lucky for James, what should have been his worst summer ever turns into quite an adventure as he discovers love in the most unlikely place with his captivating co-worker Em (Kristen Stewart), and learns to loosen up.
Brothers at War *
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Documentary
# Director: Jake Rademacher
# Cast: Jake Rademacher, Capt. Isaac Rademacher, Jenny Rademacher, Sgt. Joseph Rademacher, Danelle Fields
Trailer
Story: BROTHERS AT WAR is an intimate portrait of an American family during a turbulent time. Jake Rademacher sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake”s exploits as he risks everything-including his life-to tell his brothers” story. Often humorous, but sometimes downright lethal, BROTHERS AT WAR is a remarkable journey where Jake embeds with four combat units in Iraq. Unprecedented access to U.S. and Iraqi combat units take him behind the camouflage curtain with secret reconnaissance troops on the Syrian border, into sniper “Hide Sites” in the Sunni Triangle, through raging machine gun battles with the Iraqi Army. Ultimately, the film follows his brothers home where separations and life-threatening work ripple through their parents, siblings, wives and children. BROTHERS AT WAR provides a rare look at the bonds and service of our soldiers on the frontlines and the profound effects their service has on the loved ones they leave behind.
The Brothers Bloom *
# Director: Rian Johnson
# Cast: Rachel Weisz, Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo
Trailer
Story: The Brothers Bloom are the best con men in the world, swindling millionaires with complex scenarios of lust and intrigue. Now they've decided to take on one last job - showing a beautiful and eccentric heiress the time of her life with a romantic adventure that takes them around the world.
Coraline **
In theaters: February 6, 2009
# Genre: Animation (Stop Motion), Adventure, Fantasy
# Director: Henry Selick
# Cast: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Ian McShane, Keith David
Trailer
Story: From Henry Selick, visionary director of THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and based on Neil Gaiman”s international best-selling book, comes a spectacular stop-motion animated adventure - the first to be originally filmed in 3D! Coraline Jones (Dakota Fanning) is bored in her new home until she finds a secret door and discovers an alternate version of her life on the other side. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life and the people in it - only much better. But when this seemingly perfect world turns dangerous, and her other parents (including her Other Mother voiced by Teri Hatcher) try to trap her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination and bravery to escape this increasingly perilous world - and save her family.
Gigantic ***
In theaters: April 3, 2009
# Genre: Comedy
# Director: Matt Aselton
# Cast: Zooey Deschanel, Paul Dano, John Goodman, Ed Asner, Jane Alexander
Trailer
Story: Brian Weathersby (PAUL DANO) is a 28 year-old salesman at a high-end Swedish mattress company. The afterthought child to elderly parents (ED ASNER, JANE ALEXANDER), and the youngest son in a trio of successful brothers, a shady oil man (IAN ROBERTS), a surgeon (ROBERT STANTON), Brian is searching for his place in the world. Unfulfilled by his work he spends a good portion of his day pursuing his goal of someday adopting a baby from China. He gets swept up in a romance with the lovely but misguided Harriet Lolly (ZOOEY DESCHANEL) when she comes in to his store one day and falls asleep on one of the beds. To win her over, he must compete with her bear of a father, Al Lolly, (JOHN GOODMAN) an art-collecting loudmouth with a bad back and deep pockets. GIGANTIC is a funny, surreal love story about the anxiety that comes when two people with crazy families collide unexpectedly and fall for each other.
Gran Torino **
In theaters: December 2008
# Genre: Clint Eastwood
# Director: Clint Eastwood
# Cast: Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastw.. äh.. Trailer
Story: Walt Kowalski is a widower who holds onto his prejudices despite the changes in his Michigan neighborhood and the world around him. Kowalski is a grumpy, tough-minded, unhappy an old man, who can't get along with either his kids or his neighbors, a Korean War veteran whose prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino he keeps in mint condition. When his neighbor Thao, a young Hmong teenager under pressure from his gang member cousin, tries to steal his Gran Torino, Kowalski sets out to reform the youth. Drawn against his will into the life of Thao's family, Kowalski is soon taking steps to protect them from the gangs that infest their neighborhood.
The Haunting in Connecticut *
In theaters: March 27, 2009
# Genre: Thriller, Horror
# Director: Peter Cornwell
# Cast: Virginia Madsen, Kyle Gallner, Martin Donovan, Amanda Crew, Elias Koteas
Trailer
Story: Based on a chilling true story, Lionsgate”s THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT charts one family”s terrifying, real-life encounter with the dark forces of the supernatural. When the Campbell family moves to upstate Connecticut, they soon learn that their charming Victorian home has a disturbing history: not only was the house a transformed funeral parlor where inconceivable acts occurred, but the owner”s clairvoyant son Jonah served as a demonic messenger, providing a gateway for spiritual entities to crossover. Now, unspeakable terror awaits when Jonah, the boy who communicated with the dead, returns to unleash a new kind of horror on the innocent and unsuspecting family.
The International **
In theaters: February 13, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Tom Tykwer
# Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, BrÃan F. O”Byrne
Trailer
Story: In The International, a gripping thriller, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are determined to bring to justice one of the world”s most powerful banks. Uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities, Salinger and Whitman follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as their targets will stop at nothing – even murder – to continue financing terror and war.
Knowing *
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Action, Mystery
# Director: Alex Proyas
# Cast: Nicolas Cage
Trailer
Story: A teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.
Lorna's Silence **
In theaters: July 31, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
# Cast: Arta Dobroshi, Alban Ukaj, Fabrizio Rongione, Jeremie Renier
Trailer
Story: The destiny of a woman caught between love and the law of the underworld. Lorna, (Arta Dobroshi), a young Albanian woman living in Belgium, has her sights set on opening a snack bar with her boyfriend, Sokol (Alban Ukaj). In order to do so, she becomes an accomplice in a diabolical plan devised by mobster Fabio (Fabrizio Rongione). Fabio has set up a false marriage between Lorna and Claudy (Jérémie Renier) allowing Lorna to get her Belgian citizenship. However, she is then asked to marry a Russian mafioso who”s ready to pay hard cash to also get his hands on those vital Belgian identity papers. Fabio intends to kill Claudy in order to speed up the second marriage. But will Lorna remain silent?
Máncora ***
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Ricardo de Montreuil
# Cast: Jason Day, Elsa Pataky, Enrique Murciano, Phellipe Haagensen, Liz Gallardo
Trailer
Story: From the director of “La Mujer de Mi Hermano” (My Brothers Wife), and the writer of “Voces Inocentes” (Innocent Voices) comes Máncora, a tender and pulsating road-trip drama that delicately traces the shifting emotional boundaries between three disconnected souls. Máncora introduces us to Santiago, a 21-year old from Lima who is haunted by his fathers recent and unexpected suicide. Suffocating in the chill of a grey Lima winter, Santiago decides to take refuge in Mancora, a beach town in the north of the country where summer never ends. Right before his departure, Santiago receives an unexpected visit from his stepsister Ximena, a vibrant, sexy Spanish photographer and her husband Iñigo, a brash art collector from New York. The tranquility of their getaway is quickly shattered by a powerful act of boundary-crossing and betrayal, which threatens to transform their relationship forever and turn Mancora in to a paradise lost.
The Merry Gentleman **
In theaters: May 1, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Michael Keaton
# Cast: Kelly MacDonald, Michael Keaton, Tom Bastounes, Bobby Canavale
Trailer
Story: Running away from a troubled marriage, Kate Frazier (Kelly Macdonald) hopes to find anonymity with a new home and a new job in Chicago. Despite friendly flirtation from co-workers and others, the shy and reserved Kate keeps her distance, avoiding questions about her sudden arrival and her recent past. When Kate meets Frank Logan (Michael Keaton), the two discover unexpected satisfaction in their mutual shared silence. Haunted by the troubling choices he has made, Frank finds a kindred spirit in the younger Kate, and, for a moment, the two seem destined to redeem and remake each other. As the holidays and New Year pass against an urban landscape that seems both breathtakingly beautiful and starkly quiet, Kate and Frank”s friendship becomes one of necessity and survival. But, neither lonely soul can escape the lives they have left behind. As events unfold and the painful truth slowly emerges, Frank is forced to face the man he truly is, while Kate struggles to become the woman she needs to be.
Monsters vs. Aliens ***
In theaters: March 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
# Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Kiefer Sutherland
Trailer
Story: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!
O'Horten ***
In theaters: May 15, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Bent Hamer
# Cast: Bard Owe
Trailer
Story: The moment the train leaves the station without engineer ODD HORTEN (Bard Owe) aboard, he realizes that the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. Horten has been forced to retire after 40 years of traveling a very stable rail, and the platform does not feel like a safe place anymore. His orderly, solitary existence is about to give way to a future of unlikely adventures and puzzling dilemmas: will Horten ever travel by plane? Will he finally sell his prized boat? How does Horten end up in a pair of women”s red high-heeled shoes? Will he survive a nighttime drive with a blindfolded man at the wheel? Proof positive that there is humor to be found in aging, and we don”t have to be elderly Norwegians to identify, laugh and embrace life in all its idiosyncratic splendor. O”HORTEN is Bent Hamer”s wonderfully skewed view of the human condition and gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal appeal.
The Reader ***
In theaters: December 10, 2008
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Stephen Daldry
# Cast: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
Trailer
Story: THE READER opens in post-WWII Germany when teenager Michael Berg becomes ill and is helped home by Hanna, a stranger twice his age. Michael recovers from scarlet fever and seeks out Hanna to thank her. The two are quickly drawn into a passionate but secretive affair. Michael discovers that Hanna loves being read to and their physical relationship deepens. Hanna is enthralled as Michael reads to her from “The Odyssey”, “Huck Finn”, and “The Lady with the Little Dog.” Despite their intense bond, Hanna mysteriously disappears one day and Michael is left confused and heartbroken. Eight years later, while Michael is a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is stunned to find Hanna back in his life – this time as a defendant in the courtroom. As Hanna”s past is revealed, Michael uncovers a deep secret that will impact both of their lives.
Sex Positive **
In theaters: June 12, 2009
# Genre: Documentary
# Director: Daryl Wein
# Cast: Richard Berkowitz, Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, Larry Kramer, Ardele Lister, Krishna Stone
Trailer
Story: Explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a revolutionary gay S&M- hustler-turned-AIDS activist in the 1980s, whose incomparable contribution to the invention of safe sex has never been aptly credited. Berkowitz emerged from the epicenter of the epidemic as a community leader, demanding a solution to the problem before anyone else would pay attention. However, it was not Berkowitz” voice alone that sparked contention. Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, a controversial virologist and AIDS doctor, postulated that AIDS was more complicated than just a new virus. With Sonnabend”s theory in tow, Berkowitz fought, alongside beloved activist and musician Michael Callen, for safer sex practices without giving up on sex altogether.
Sherman's Way ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
# Director: Craig Saavedra
# Cast: James Le Gros, Enrico Colantoni, Michael Shulman, Brooke Nevin, Donna Murphy
Trailer
Story: SHERMAN”S WAY starts with two strangers forced into a road trip of convenience only to veer off the path into a quirky exploration of friendship, fatherhood and the task of finding one”s place in the world – a world in which one wrong turn can change your destination. The discord begins when Sherman, (Michael Shulman) a young, uptight Ivy-Leaguer, finds himself stranded on the West Coast with an eccentric stranger and washed-up, middle-aged former athlete Palmer (James Le Gros) in an attempt to make it down to Beverly Hills in time for a career-making internship at a prestigious law firm. The two couldn”t be more incompatible. Palmer is a reckless charmer with a zest for life; Sherman is an arrogant snob with a sense of entitlement. The only thing this odd couple seems to share is the refusal to accept responsibility for their lives. Soon, Sherman meets the free spirited Addy (Brooke Nevin) who is unlike anyone he”s ever known. As a romance ensues, Sherman discovers what he”s made of and what life is really all about.
Sin Nombre ***
In theaters: March 20, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Foreign
# Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga
# Cast: Edgar Flores, Paulina Gaitan, Kristyan Ferrer, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Diana Garcia
Trailer
Story: Seeking the promise of America, a beautiful young Honduran woman, Sayra (Paulina Gaytan), joins her father and uncle on an odyssey to cross the gauntlet of the Latin American countryside en route to the United States. Along the way she crosses paths with a teenaged Mexican gang member, El Casper (Edgar M. Flores), who is maneuvering to outrun his violent past and elude his unforgiving former associates. Together they must rely on faith, trust and street smarts if they are to survive their increasingly perilous journey towards the hope of new lives.
The Soloist ***
In theaters: April 24, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Joe Wright
# Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx
Trailer
Story: A schizophrenic (Jamie Foxx), is a homeless musician from Skid Row, Los Angeles who dreams of playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Through "chance," he meets a journalist (Robert Downey Jr.), who tries to help this mentally disturbed man get "back on his feet"
Sunshine Cleaning ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Comedy
# Director: Christine Jeffs
# Cast: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Jason Spevack, Steve Zahn
Trailer
Story: A single mom and her slacker sister find an unexpected way to turn their lives around in the off-beat dramatic comedy Sunshine Cleaning. Directed by Christine Jeffs (Rain, Sylvia), this uplifting film about an average family that finds the path to its dreams in an unlikely setting screened in competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski (Academy Award nominee Amy Adams) now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah, (Golden Globe winner Emily Blunt), is still living at home with their dad Joe (Academy Award winner Alan Arkin), a salesman with a lifelong history of ill-fated get rich quick schemes. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades Norah to go into the crime scene clean-up business with her to make some quick cash. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other”¦specialized situations.
Surveillance *
In theaters: June 26, 2009
# Genre: Drama
# Director: Jennifer Lynch
# Cast: Julia Ormond, Bill Pullman, Pell James, Ryan Simpkins
Trailer
Story: It”s been a hell of a day on the highway. When Federal Officers Elizabeth Anderson (Julia Ormond) and Sam Hallaway (Bill Pullman) arrive at Captain Billing”s office, they have three sets of stories to figure out and a string of vicious murders to consider. One zealot cop, a strung out junkie and an eight year old girl all sit in testimony to the roadside rampage, but as the Feds begin to expose the fragile little details each witness conceals so carefully with a well practiced lie, they soon discover that uncovering ”˜the truth” can come at a very big cost”¦
Taken ***
In theaters: January 23, 2009
# Genre: Drama, Action
# Director: Pierre Morel
# Cast: Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Leland Orser, Jon Gries, David Warshofsky
Trailer
Story: TAKEN stars Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills, an ex-government operative who has less than four days to find his kidnapped daughter, who has been taken on her first day of vacation in Paris.
Tokyo Sonata ***
In theaters: March 13, 2009
# Genre: Foreign, Drama
# Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
# Cast: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyoko Koizumi, Yu Koyanagi, Kai Inowaki, Haruka Igawa
Trailer
Story: Set in contemporary Tokyo, TOKYO SONATA is a story of an ordinary Japanese family of four. The father, Ryuhei Sasaki, like any other Japanese businessman, is faithfully devoted to his work. His wife Megumi manages the house and struggles to retain a bond with Takashi, her oldest son who is in college, and the youngest, Kenji, a sensitive boy in elementary school. The quiet unraveling of the family begins when Ryuhei unexpectedly loses his job. Facing completely unfamiliar circumstances, he decides not to tell his family and begins his lonely sojourn into the world of the secretly unemployed.
Up ***
In theaters: May 29, 2009
# Genre: Animation
# Director: Pete Docter
# Cast: Christopher Plummer
Trailer
Story: By tying thousands of balloon to his home, 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen sets out to fulfill his lifelong dream to see the wilds of South America. Right after lifting off, however, he learns he isn”t alone on his journey, since Russell, a wilderness explorer 70 years his junior, has inadvertently become a stowaway on the trip.
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