Featured Films:
Mother and Child
Playing its theme of parenthood in different keys like a graceful chorale, Mother and Child features a stellar cast interpreting a story by one of America's finest contemporary dramatists. Annette Bening shines as Karen, a woman grown bitter by habit since she gave up her daughter for adoption years ago. Naomi Watts is her daughter Elizabeth, now a sleek lawyer with a lust for power games. She talks her way into a job at a firm led by Paul (Samuel L. Jackson, playing a rare character who doesn't hold the upper hand). This mother and daughter don't know each other, but their natures seem to fit together. All that's missing is human warmth. This comes in the form of Kerry Washington as Lucy, a baker longing for a child of her own. Passionate about parenthood to a degree that her husband Joseph (David Ramsey) questions, she finally decides they must adopt.
Writer-director Rodrigo García is a sophisticated storyteller and a master of the multi-character narrative. Having begun as a cinematographer in the nineties on films including Mi Vida Loca and Four Rooms and working as a writer, director and producer ever since, he has moved effortlessly between the big and small screens, crafting gems of U.S. independent cinema like Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her, then bringing a series such as In Treatment to North American television. As he unfolds the threads of his story, it's clear they must intersect, but how? The pleasure comes in watching García's characters grow and evolve. When Karen meets Paco (Jimmy Smits, who also appears in Backyard in the Contemporary World Cinema programme this year), his easygoing nature proves a challenge for her usual suspicions. And when Elizabeth discovers she can no longer exploit people and leave as she always did, she reaches out for whatever grounding she can find in her life. Mother and Child becomes increasingly satisfying as it goes because these characters reveal themselves more and more with each scene. The ending is what screenwriters might call a surprise, but audiences will find a revelation.
Multiple Sarcasms
Gabriel is a man who on the surface has it all-successful professional life as an architect, a beautiful wife, Annie, and a devoted young daughter, Elizabeth. But slowly it dawns on him that he is not really happy. Gabriel decides that he wants to write a play about the sorry state of his life. He quits his job, gets a pushy literary agent friend to represent him and starts writing. Although his marriage ends in a divorce, the play is success and although his life is different than it was, he is happier.
Middle Men
Jack Harris has a faithful and loving wife, two beautiful children, and a successful career fixing problem companies. When an associate calls him about an opportunity to help turn around a business that has fallen into trouble, he decides to take the job. Little does he know, it is a decision that will change his life in ways he never expected. Jack meets with Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby, two genius but troubled men who have invented a way to sell adult entertainment over the internet. The plan was brilliant but the execution wasn't -- they were making money hand-over-fist and losing it just as fast. Seeing the potential, Jack agrees to partner with Buck and Wayne, devising a way to bill the entertainment through a third party, taking the guilt out of the ultimate guilty pleasure. Before he knows it, he finds himself caught between the Russian mob, a 23 year-old porn star, the FBI, and losing his family in the process of becoming rich. Witness a story so outrageous, you won't believe it's true. A story that proves business is a lot like sex...getting in is easy, pulling out is hard.
9000 Needles
Forty year old Devin Dearth is a successful businessman, loving husband, father of three, and champion bodybuilder. He and his family reside in the small community of Central City, Kentucky where they live the picture book “American Dream”. That is until Devin suffers a devastating stroke, leaving him paralyzed on his right side, unable to walk, with difficulty speaking, double vision and unable to care for himself or his family. As Devin moves from from ICU to in-patient rehabilitation, and eventually into home care he and his family quickly discover the cinfines of the American health care system.Due to the lack of resources, both financial and scope of care, Devin's window for recovery begins to close. In search of an answer, Devin's brother Doug proposes they travel to Tianjian, China, to participate in a stroke rehabilitation program which integrates Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine to successfully treat stroke victims. A program both affordable and promising. They decide to take the leap.
9500 Liberty
In July of 2007, Prince William County, Virginia became “ground zero” in America’s explosive battle over immigration policy when elected officials adopted a law requiring police officers to question anyone they thought was “probably” undocumented. 9500 Liberty reveals the startling vulnerability of a local government targeted by national anti-immigration networks using the internet to frighten and intimidate lawmakers and citizens. Alarmed by a climate of fear and racial division, residents form a resistance using YouTube videos and virtual townhalls, setting up a real life showdown in the seat of county government. The devastating social and economic impact of the “Immigration Resolution” is felt in the lives of real people in homes and in local businesses. But the ferocious fight to adopt and then reverse this policy unfolds inside government chambers, on the streets, and on the Internet. 9500 Liberty provides a front row seat to all three battlegrounds.
Blackbird
Blackbird unfolds in mid-1990's manhatan. The picture dramatizes the ill-fated courtship between two melancholic heroin addicts-Gulf War veteran Bayliss and ex-stripper froggy as they fall in love and battle magnetizing addictions. The possiblity of redemption waxes strong from time to time, with hope for some semblance of a "normal life" lingering quietly in the background, but Bayliss and froggy never quite seem to find the strength and control to pull everything together. And in the end, they join one another on a downward spiral that leads inexorably twoard mutual self-destruction.
Drawing with Chalk
Drawing With Chalk tells the story of two factory workers, Jay and Matt who grew up together and had played in a rock band years prior but missed their shot at 'the big prize.'As they hit 40 they decide to give it one more try. As they begin the process, Jay struggles between his artistic dreams and his responsibilities to his wife Jasmin and son Bryan. Matt has his own demons to contend with as he battles depression and a universal fear of simply being too old to make it in an industry that thrives on youth. Eventually, Jay's fierce commitment to his music begins to take a toll on his family. He is ultimately faced with having to make a decision whether or not to say goodbye to one part of his life and begin a new journey with the other.
Gaia
Set & shot entirely on the Native American Reservations south of Phoenix Arizona, GAIA, is a brutally realistic, authentic slice of life, following a young woman’s journey to find inner peace. A group of Native Americans discover a young woman, Emily, left for dead, under the scorching sun of the barren Arizona desert and take her to the reservation. Through her relationship with American Natives, the land and the young Jerica, Emily manages to re-connect with her own innocence. Life throws up her challenges & Emily is forced to make a choice to either surrender and be reborn out of the chaos of her past, or to die in the grips of her darkness.
Jeffie Was Here
It's been a rough couple of years for Alan Mangold, a tightly-wound professor in his 30's who dreams of a better life beyond his shoebox apartment... if only he could complete his opus, 'Orphan Bastard.' When his Nana dies, Alan and his better half Amanda decide to post an internet ad at the university in hopes of finding a student to share the costs of the emergency cross country trip. Enter Jeffie: an inflammatory individual who fancies himself a scholar, a poet, and the embodiment of enlightened living. Jeffie is not at all the fresh-faced smiling twenty-something that his internet photo depicted. He rolls into the couple's life as a wheelchair-bound veteran with severe motion sickness, and treats them to repeated listens of his demo tape of radical political and environmental opinions. At first, the couple's travel companion seems to have responded randomly to their ad, but as the trip progresses, it becomes clear that Jeffie's presence relates to a web of tightly-held secrets between Alan and Amanda.
Nonames
NONAMES is a fact-based drama about Kevin Williams (James Badge Dale) and his childhood friends, a group of 20-somethings stuck in a state of arrested development in a dried up Midwestern town. After his mother's death, Kevin decides to make a life for himself in his childhood home despite his father's decision to move. In the wake of tragedy, Kevin must end his extended adolescence or lose all that he holds most dear. Haunted by unsettled scores, it becomes clear that he must leave the town he loves in order to save himself from it. A new beginning is only a bus ride away…Shot on location in Central Wisconsin, NONAMES focuses on the experiences of this group of friends growing up together while painting a subtle picture of the small town life. Showcasing performances with up and coming actors James Badge Dale (HBO’s The Pacific; AMC’s Rubicon) and Gillian Jacobs (NBC’s Community), introducing a talented ensemble cast and featuring a poignant supporting performance by veteran actor Barry Corbin, NONAMES is a beautiful coming of age drama about family, friends and the definition of home.
The Rivals
The Rivals” is a story of 'haves' versus 'have-nots .' Two towns in Maine that both resent and respect each other .Rumford is a blue-collar town in the rugged Western mountains, supported by a dying paper mill that is losing jobs almost daily. Cape Elizabeth is a wealthy, coastal paradise for doctors, lawyers, and type Apersonalities.Residents of these two towns only meet in one place: the High School Football field.Rumford's team has won 6 conference and 2 statechampionships in the last 20 years. Cape Elizabeth's team is onlythree years old, but the town has so much money and drive that they are alreadythreatening Rumford's football dynasty.The rivalry is personified in the two coaches: Rumford's legendary JimAylward vs. Cape Elizabeth's fiery young Aaron Filieo.For Filieo's “Cape kids” the future is bright and the newastro-turf is always green. Football is one of many distractions in a well-funded school respected for its academic excellence. Filieo must inspire privileged kids to to fight for something.
The Scenesters
An innovative and quirky murder mystery that both honors and deconstructs the conventions of the classic 'who-done-it?' film noir. A dark comedy that uses the 'found footage' approach to storytelling, the film compiles supposed 'real' clips from a variety of sources - courtroom transcripts, crime scene videography, news reports, etc - all detailing how a group of Los Angeles twentysomethings got mixed up in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a prolific serial killer. The film's soundtrack (and plot) features indie-rock favorites The Airborne Toxic Event, The Cribs, The Sonics, Wallpaper, Le Switch, and many many more.
The Joneses
If ever there was a film perfectly attuned to the current zeitgeist, it would be The Joneses. First-time writer-director Derrick Borte imbues a serious core theme – the wobbly undercurrents of a frenetic consumer culture – with humour, warmth and shots of clever, zesty fun.
Borte begins the film by showing us ourselves – or at least who we often aspire to be. We meet Steve Jones (David Duchovny), his wife, Kate (Demi Moore), and their children Jenn (Amber Heard) and Mick (Ben Hollingsworth) as they move into their monster home in an affluent suburb of a city somewhere in America. Friendly, confident and very good-looking, they are also loaded with the coolest, newest stuff.
The Joneses are much more than just the new neighbours. Within days, all four family members have insinuated their way into the community. Their most dedicated fans are their next-door neighbours Larry (Gary Cole) and Summer (Glenne Headly), a couple devoted to each other yet prone to keeping secrets as well. Despite the Joneses' success integrating into the community, soon the fissures in their family begin to spew. But it's not until an outright catastrophe occurs next door that they are forced to make choices about their priorities.
Duchovny is compelling as a man who doesn't really know who he is until it's almost too late, and Moore gives one of her best performances as a woman who uses her job as a shield against real emotional involvement. Cole and Headly are particularly affecting as a couple who have wholly committed themselves to the principles of the American dream but are ultimately betrayed by their own ideals.
Borte convincingly makes the case that as a society we have an almost unquenchable thirst to shop for the latest and the biggest everything, and he demonstrates how our possessions fill up the emotional hole where our self-worth should be. Given the events of the last year, there's no doubt that we need to figure out who we want to be, not what we want to buy.
DisneyNature Oceans
Disneynature, the studio that presented the record-breaking film "Earth," brings OCEANS to the big screen. Nearly three-quarters of the Earth's surface is covered by water and OCEANS boldly chronicles the mysteries that lie beneath. Directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzaud dive deep into the very waters that sustain all of mindkind, exploring the playful splendor and the harsh reality of the weird and wonderful creatures that live within. Featuring spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies, OCEANS offers an unprecedented look beneath the sea in a powerful yet enchanting motion picture.
Cyrus
Starring: John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and Matt Walsh. Still single seven years after the breakup of his marriage, John has all but given up on romance. But at the urging of his ex-wife and best friend Jamie, John grudgingly agrees to join her and her fiancé Tim at a party. To his and everyone else's surprise, he actually manages to meet someone: the gorgeous and spirited Molly. The relationship takes off quickly but Molly is oddly reluctant to take the relationship beyond John's house. Perplexed, he follows her home and discovers the other man in Molly’s life: her son, Cyrus. A 21-year-old new age musician, Cyrus is his mom's best friend and shares an unconventional relationship with her. Cyrus will go to any lengths to protect Molly and is definitely not ready to share her with anyone, especially John. Before long, the two are locked in a battle of wits for the woman they both love - and it appears only one man can be left standing when it's over.
Troll and Troll 2
Troll 2 is a 1990 horror film, directed by Claudio Fragasso, under the pseudonym Drake Floyd. During production, the film was known as Goblin[1], and some foreign releases of the movie were labeled as such, but upon release in the United States, the title was changed to Troll 2 in an attempt to help sell the film by connecting it to an established horror movie, the 1986 Empire Pictures film Troll. The two films, however, have no connection apart from the title. In fact, despite the title, no actual trolls appear in Troll 2. The plot concerns an American family, the Waits family, who are taking a trip to the country to visit a small town called "Nilbog" (goblin spelled backwards), but are plunged into a nightmare as they are relentlessly pursued by vegetarian goblins, who turn people into plants before they eat them. The cast includes Michael Stephenson, George Hardy, Margo Prey, Connie Young (here credited with her maiden name, Connie McFarland) and Jason F. Wright.
A full review of the original movie Troll is thrown in for good measure.
- Gone With The Twins
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Great coverage guys! I saw just about everything that played there! 23 films! woooo! World record!