Archive for November, 2014

The Babadook

Friday, November 28th, 2014

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 48

Language: English

Director: Jennifer Kent

Plot: Six years after the violent death of her husband, Amelia (Essie Davis) is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her ‘out of control’ 6 year-old, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel’s dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both.When a disturbing storybook called ‘The Babadook’ turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he’s been dreaming about. His hallucinations spiral out of control, he becomes more unpredictable and violent. Amelia, genuinely frightened by her son’s behaviour, is forced to medicate him.But when Amelia begins to see glimpses of a sinister presence all around her, it slowly dawns on her that the thing Samuel has been warning her about may be real.THE BABADOOK is a psychological thriller in the tradition of Polanski’s classic domestic horrors (Rosemary’s Baby, The Tenant, Repulsion).Using her award winning short horror Monster as a springboard, writer/director Jennifer Kent developed the script for her feature film debut at the Binger Lab in Amsterdam with assistance from SCREEN NSW and SCREEN AUSTRALIA.

 

Story of My Death

Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 138

Language: Catalan

Director: Albert Serra

Plot: In his dying days, Casanova lives solemnly with his servant in rainy, moody 18th century Europe. Before he dies he meets a dark force in the form of Dracula, and together they discuss life’s greatest pleasures.

 

Antarctica: a Year On Ice

Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 120

Language: English

Director: Anthony Powell

Plot: ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE is a visually stunning journey to the end of the world with the hardy and devoted people who live there year-round. The research stations scattered throughout the continent host a close-knit international population of scientists, technicians and craftsmen. Isolated from the rest of the world, enduring months of unending darkness followed by periods when the sun never sets, Antarctic residents experience firsthand the beauty and brutality of the most severe environment on Earth. Capturing epic battles against hellacious storms, quiet reveries of nature’s grandeur, and everyday moments of work and laughter, this unique documentary shows a steadfast community thriving in a land few humans have experienced. Using specially modified cameras and spectacular time-lapse photography, filmmaker Anthony Powell captures the splendor of the region like no film before. ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE gives testament to the planet’s natural wonders, humanity’s thirst for adventure, and the emotional extremes that accompany a year within the last pristine wilderness on the planet.

 

Touch The Wall

Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 156

Language: English

Director: Grant Barbeito

Plot: TOUCH THE WALL is the story of two Olympic swimmers – Gold-Medalist Missy Franklin and Silver-Medalist Kara Lynn Joyce – and their journey to the 2012 London Olympics. When the veteran Joyce joins teenager Franklin and her age-group swim club, everything changes. The veteran Kara finds a new start and a world-class training partner Missy finds a veteran and older sister to learn from. Together they train, compete, and support each other until the pool becomes too big for the two of them. Thrown apart by coach and circumstance, they reunite at Olympic Trials to redefine what it means to win..to request a theatrical screening in your city http://bit.ly/ttwtugg

 

Penguins of Madagascar

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

Genre: Animation

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 152

Language: English

Director: Simon Smith

Plot: Super spy teams aren’t born…they’re hatched. Discover the secrets of the greatest and most hilarious covert birds in the global espionage biz: Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private. These elitists of the elite are joining forces with a chic undercover organization, The North Wind. Led by handsome and husky Agent Classified (we could tell you his name, but then…you know), voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. Together, they must stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine, voiced by John Malkovich, from destroying the world as we know it.

 

Horrible Bosses 2

Wednesday, November 26th, 2014

Genre: Comedy

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 168

Language: English

Director: Sean Anders

Plot: Fed up with answering to higher-ups, Nick (Bateman), Dale (Day) and Kurt (Sudeikis) decide to become their own bosses by launching their own business in “Horrible Bosses 2.” But a slick investor soon pulls the rug out from under them. Outplayed and desperate, and with no legal recourse, the three would-be entrepreneurs hatch a misguided plan to kidnap the investor’s adult son and ransom him to regain control of their company.

 

Phobia

Tuesday, November 25th, 2014

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 62

Language: English

Director: Rory Douglas Abel

Plot: Jonathan MacKinlay is a man trapped inside his home by his own mind. Suffering from agoraphobia, caused by a car accident that took his wife’s life his existence has been reduced to a monotonous repetition of identical days. As his dread and self-loathing escalate, an onslaught of gruesome visions and twisted, waking nightmares begins to gnaw away at his last shred of sanity. Are these ghastly visions imaginary, private demons…or is he being victimized by a very real entity of infinite terror and unspeakable evil?

 

Reach Me

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 141

Language: English

Director: John Herzfeld

Plot: A motivational book written by a mysterious man (Tom Berenger) goes viral and quickly gains popularity, inspiring a group of people that includes a journalist (Kevin Connolly), his editor (Sylvester Stallone), a former inmate (Kyra Sedgwick), a hip-hop mogul (Nelly), an actor (Cary Elwes) and an undercover cop (Thomas Jane) to re-evaluate their choices and decisions by confronting their fears in hopes of creating more positive lives. REACH ME also stars Terry Crews, Danny Aiello, Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Cohan, Ryan Kwanten, Tom Sizemore, and is written/directed by John Herzfield. The film is produced by Rebekah Chaney, Cassian Elwes, John Herzfield, and Buddy Patrick.

 

All Relative

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Comedy

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 121

Language: English

Director: J.C. Khoury

Plot: Availabile Same Day as Theaters. When Harry (Jonathan Sadowski), a graduate student in New York City, meets Grace (Sara Paxton), he immediately falls for her. With the help of some dating tips from a seductive divorcée (Connie Nielsen), Harry successfully courts Grace. But when he’s introduced to her parents, a shared secret turns his world into a living nightmare. Forced to survive a weekend riddled with tension and socially awkward moments, the bonds of both couples are tested to their breaking point in this wildly engaging mix of comedy and drama.

 

V/H/S: VIRAL

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 71

Language: English

Director: Justin Benson

Plot: A police chase after a deranged ice cream truck has captivated the attention of the greater Los Angeles area. Dozens of fame—obsessed teens flock to the streets with their video cameras and camera phones, hell—bent on capturing the next viral video. But there is something far more sinister occurring in the streets of L.A. than a simple police chase. A resounding effect is created onto all those obsessed with capturing salacious footage for no other purpose than to amuse or titillate. Soon the discovery becomes that they themselves are the stars of the next video, one where they face their own death.

 

Food Chains

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 139

Language: English

Director: Sanjay Rawal

Plot: There is more interest in food these days than ever, yet there is very little interest in the hands that pick it. Farmworkers, the foundation of our fresh food industry, are routinely abused and robbed of wages. In extreme cases they can be beaten, sexually harassed or even enslaved – all within the borders of the United States.

Food Chains reveals the human cost in our food supply and the complicity of the supermarket industry. Supermarkets earn $4 trillion globally and have tremendous power over the agricultural system. Over the past 3 decades they have drained revenue from their supply chain leaving farmworkers in poverty and forced to work under subhuman conditions. Yet supermarkets take no responsibility for this.

The film carries a powerful call to action for every viewer to demand that retailers use their power to eradicate abuse in their supply chains.

The narrative of the film focuses on an intrepid and highly lauded group of tomato pickers from Southern Florida – the Coalition of Immokalee Workers or CIW – who are revolutionizing farm labor. Their story is one of hope and promise for the triumph of morality over corporate greed – to ensure a dignified life for farm workers and a more humane, transparent food chain.

 

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Action-Adventure

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 64

Language: English

Director: Francis Lawrence

Plot: The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

 

The Imitation Game

Friday, November 21st, 2014

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 108

Language: English

Director: Morten Tyldum

Plot: In THE IMITATION GAME, Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, the genius British mathematician, logician, cryptologist and computer scientist who led the charge to crack the German Enigma Code that helped the Allies win WWII. Turing went on to assist with the development of computers at the University of Manchester after the war, but was prosecuted by the UK government in 1952 for homosexual acts which the country deemed illegal.

 

The Homestretch

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 247

Language: English

Director: Kirsten Kelly

Plot: Three homeless Chicago teenagers seasoned by rejection and life on the streets defy the odds to create a future, finding sympathy and support in surprising places. The filmmakers follow aspiring actor Roque, poet/painter Kasey, and Anthony, a rapper, poet and entrepreneur, into the haunting underworld of children cast off by broken or unfit families and left alone to navigate the perils of poverty and predation. As the three tenaciously fight for an education and eventual independence, the film powerfully explores surrounding issues of race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights.

 

Hard Sun

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 125

Language: English

Director: Canyon Prince

Plot: After the death of her parents, a young woman assumes primary guardianship of her special needs brother. But as she attempts to balance her new life with her brother and her own blossoming romance, it becomes painfully clear that life will only make room for one.

 

The Mule

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 98

Language: English

Director: Tony Mahony

Plot: It’s 1983. A naive man with lethal narcotics hidden in his stomach is detained by Australian Federal Police. Alone and afraid, ‘the Mule’ makes a desperate choice to defy his bodily functions and withhold the evidence…literally. And by doing so becomes a “human time-bomb,” dragging cops, criminals, lawyers and his mother into his impossible escapade. Inspired by true events.

 

Little White Lie

Thursday, November 20th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 142

Language: English

Director: Lacey Schwartz

Plot: Little White Lie tells Lacey Schwartz’s story of growing up in a typical upper-middle-class Jewish household in Woodstock, NY, with loving parents and a strong sense of her Jewish identity — despite the open questions from those around her about how a white girl could have such dark skin. She believes her family’s explanation that her looks were inherited from her dark-skinned Sicilian grandfather. But when her parents abruptly split, her gut starts to tell her something different. At age of 18, she finally confronts her mother and learns the truth. What defines our identity, our family of origin or the family that raises us? How do we come to terms with the sins and mistakes of our parents? Lacey discovers that answering those questions means understanding her parents’ own stories as well as her own. She pieces together her family history and the story of her dual identity using home videos, archival footage, interviews, and episodes from her own life. Little White Lie is a personal documentary about the legacy of family secrets, denial, and power of telling the truth.

 

PULP: A FILM ABOUT LIFE, DEATH & SUPERMARKETS

Wednesday, November 19th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 120

Language: English

Director: Florian Habicht

Plot: Though culminating with the farewell concert the band played to thousands of adoring fans in their hometown of Sheffield, England, PULP is by no means a traditional concert film or rock doc. As much a testament to the band as it is to the city and inhabitants of Sheffield, PULP weaves exclusive concert footage with man-on-the-street interviews and dreamy staged sequences to paint a picture much larger, funnier, moving, and life-affirming than any music film of recent memory.

 

Knightmare

Tuesday, November 18th, 2014

Genre: Horror

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 80

Language: English

Director: Anthony Palma

Plot: A group of former classmates, get together over a weekend for a high-school reunion. Putting the reunion together is Rebecca Crane a formerly shy girl that gained some national celebrity status after writing a coming-of-age book about a shy girl in high school. After a dozen or so guests show up, and dozens of drinks are consumed the party kicks off into full gear: people catch up, bicker, flirt, and eventually begin getting killed off one by one. At first, no one notices, but by Saturday evening the survivors are confronted by the killer- an unlikely former classmate that has harbored a deep grudge against the graduated class…

 

The Standbys

Monday, November 17th, 2014

Genre: Documentary

Release Year: 2014

Runtime: 127

Language: English

Director: Stephanie Riggs

Plot: A documentary revealing the under-appreciated, highly demanding world of Broadway Understudies and Standbys. Three undiscovered performers at various points in their careers get the chance of a lifetime. Their struggle is put into perspective through never-before-heard stories from celebrities who themselves were once Understudies or Standbys.