November 2014

The Overnighters

A modern-day Grapes of Wrath, award-winning documentary The Overnighters is an intimate portrait of job-seekers desperately chasing the broken American Dream to the tiny oil boom town of Williston, North Dakota. With the town lacking the infrastructure to house the overflow of migrants, a local pastor starts the controversial "overnighters" program, allowing down-and-out workers a place to sleep at the church. His well-meaning project immediately runs into resistance with his community, forcing the clergyman to make a decision which leads to profound consequences that he never imagined. 

October 2014

The Judge

In "The Judge," Robert Downey Jr. stars as big city lawyer Hank Palmer, who returns to his childhood home where his estranged father, the town's judge (Robert Duvall), is suspected of murder. He sets out to discover the truth and along the way reconnects with the family he walked away from years before.

October 2014

The Theory of Everything

Starring Eddie Redmayne ("Les Misérables") and Felicity Jones ("The Amazing Spider-Man 2"), this is the extraordinary story of one of the world's greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of - time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed. The film is based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking, and is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh ("Man on Wire"). 

September 2014

This is Where I Leave You

The dramatic comedy "This is Where I Leave You" is directed by Shawn Levy, and based on the hilarious and poignant best-selling novel by Jonathan Tropper. It features a starring ensemble cast including Golden Globe winner Jason Bateman ("Arrested Development"); Golden Globe and Emmy Award winner Tina Fey ("30 Rock"); and two-time Oscar (R) winner, multiple Golden Globe honoree and 2013 Emmy Award nominee Jane Fonda ("Klute," "Coming Home," HBO's "The Newsroom").

September 2014

Pride

PRIDE is inspired by an extraordinary true story. It's the summer of 1984, Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike, prompting a London-based group of gay and lesbian activists to raise money to support the strikers' families. Initially rebuffed by the Union, the group identifies a tiny mining village in Wales and sets off to make their donation in person. As the strike drags on, the two groups discover that standing together makes for the strongest union of all.

August 2014

Calvary

CALVARY's Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kelly Reilly) and reach out to help members of his church with their various scurrilous moral - and often comic - problems, he feels sinister and troubling forces closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.

July 2014

I Origins

I ORIGINS, the second feature film from writer and director Mike Cahill, tells the story of Dr. Ian Gray (Michael Pitt), a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab partner Karen (Brit Marling), they make a stunning scientific discovery that has far reaching implications and complicates both his scientific and spiritual beliefs. Traveling half way around the world, he risks everything he has ever known to validate his theory. Also starring Steven Yeun and Archie Panjabi.

June 2014

Begin Again

The latest film from writer-director John Carney (ONCE), BEGIN AGAIN is a soul-stirring comedy about what happens when lost souls meet and make beautiful music together. Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her long-time boyfriend Dave (Adam Levine) are college sweethearts and songwriting partners who decamp for New York when he lands a deal with a major label. But the trappings of his new-found fame soon tempt Dave to stray, and a reeling, lovelorn Gretta is left on her own. Her world takes a turn for the better when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record-label exec, stumbles upon her performing on an East Village stage and is immediately captivated by her raw talent. From this chance encounter emerges an enchanting portrait of a mutually transformative collaboration, set to the soundtrack of a summer in New York City. BEGIN AGAIN is produced and financed by Exclusive Media and produced by Anthony Bregman, Tobin Armbrust and Judd Apatow. 

June 2014

And So it Goes

There are a million reasons not to like realtor Oren Little (Michael Douglas), and that's just the way he likes it. Willfully obnoxious to anyone who might cross his path, he wants nothing more than to sell one last house and retire in peace and quiet -- until his estranged son suddenly drops off a granddaughter (Sterling Jerins) he never knew existed and turns his life upside-down. Clueless about how to care for a sweet, abandoned nine-year-old, he pawns her off on his determined and lovable neighbor Leah (Diane Keaton) and tries to resume his life uninterrupted. But little by little, Oren stubbornly learns to open his heart - to his family, to Leah, and to life itself - in this uplifting comedy from acclaimed director Rob Reiner.

May 2014

Cold in July

How can a split-second decision change your life? While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar, Freddy Russell. Although he's hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family's safety when Freddy's ex-con father, Ben, rolls into town; hell-bent on revenge. However, not all is as it seems. Shortly after Dane kills the home intruder, his life begins to unravel into a dark underworld of corruption and violence. Twists and turns continue to pile up as the film reaches its inevitable destination: a gore-soaked dead end. Michael C. Hall brings a shell-shocked vulnerability to his portrayal of Dane that contrasts perfectly with the grizzled "badasses" portrayed by Sam Shepard and Don Johnson. Directed with an excellent eye for the visual poetry of noir, this pulpy, southern-fried mystery is a throwback to an older breed of action films; one where every punch and shotgun blast opens up both physical and spiritual wounds. Cold in July is hard to shake as an east Texas summer.

May 2014

Chef

Chef Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) suddenly quits his job at a prominent Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity for its controlling owner (Dustin Hoffman), he is left to figure out what's next. Finding himself in Miami, he teams up with his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara), his friend (John Leguizamo) and his son to launch a food truck. Taking to the road, Chef Carl goes back to his roots to reignite his passion for the kitchen -- and zest for life and love. 

March 2014

King of Herrings

Directed by: Eddie Jemison

Cast: David Jensen, Joe Chrest, Laura Lamson, Eddie Jemison, Wayne Pere, Andrea  Frankle, John Mese, Carl Palmer

King of Herrings is an offbeat look at four Crescent City layabouts, who dream big in a small-change world of cards, women and endless cups of coffee. Their passionate blundering, like their rants, can be at once funny, poignant, ridiculous and heartbreaking. “Ditch” their self-appointed king, is an irascible son-of-a-bitch with a Napoleon complex and his pals love him for it. Until one day he pushes the self-tenured “Professor” too far. A game of threats, posturing and sexual ploys lead them down a dark but comic road in this exploration of what it is to be a man today. Filmed in black and white, this richly textured character study could be the bastard child of Woody Allen and Tom Waits, brought to life by an ensemble of real-life character actors who have known each other and worked together for over twenty-five years.

March 2014

Draft Day

On the day of the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver (Costner) has the opportunity to save football in Cleveland when he trades for the number one pick. He must quickly decide what he's willing to sacrifice in pursuit of perfection as the lines between his personal and professional life become blurred on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL.

February 2014

In Secret

Based on Émile Zola's scandalous novel, Thérèse Raquin, IN SECRET is a tale of obsessive love, adultery and revenge set in the lower depths of 1860s Paris. Therese (Elizabeth Olsen of "Martha Marcy May Marlene"), a sexually repressed beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin, Camille (Tom Felton of the "Harry Potter" franchise), by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin (two-time Academy Award winner Jessica Lange). Therese spends her days confined behind the counter of a small shop and her evenings watching Madame play dominos with an eclectic group. After she meets her husband's alluring childhood friend, Laurent (Oscar Isaac of "Inside Llewyn Davis"), she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences.

January 2014

At Middleton

Adam Rodgers' romantic comedy At Middleton tells the story of George (Andy Garcia) and Edith (Vera Farmiga), two people who seem to have nothing in common aside from the fact that each has a university-bound child. However, when they meet during a group campus tour, the two strangers escape from the pack and quickly form a special bond as they reminisce about their own college days, and open up about their lives. 

December 2013

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Ben Stiller directs and stars in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY, James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

November 2013

Nebraska

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) takes the helm for this black and white road trip drama starring Bruce Dern as a tempestuous Missouri father who's convinced he's won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes, and Will Forte as the son who grudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach costar.

October 2013

The Retrieval

2013 Phoenix Film Festival Winner:
Audience Award, Best Director, Best Ensemble 

Director: Chris Eska

Cast:  Ashton Sanders, Tishuan Scott, Keston John

1864: as war ravages the nation, on the outskirts of the Civil War business as usual continues for slave-owners and traders. THE RETRIEVAL follows Will, a fatherless 13 year-old boy, who survives by working with a white bounty hunter gang who sends him to earn the trust of runaway slaves and wanted freedmen in order to lure them back to the South. On a dangerous mission into the free North to find Nate, a fugitive freedman, things go wrong, and Will and Nate find themselves alone and on the run. As the bond between them unexpectedly grows, Will becomes consumed by conflicting emotions as he faces a gut-wrenching final decision: to betray the father figure he's finally found, or risk being killed by his gang. Thrilling, but grounded in historical research, THE RETRIEVAL serves as an insight into the little-told story of the grey area between slavery and emancipation, and the horrific moral dilemma that comes with being forced to betray your fellow man. 

October 2013

Romeo and Juliet

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth, Damian Lewis, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ed Westwick and Paul Giamatti

Directed by: Carlo Carlei

The families of Montague and Capulet use any excuse to publicly fight in the streets of Verona, drawing a strict rebuke from the Prince (Stellan Skarsgård).  But young Romeo (Douglas Booth) of the Montagues is not interested – he is far too in love with Rosaline, a cousin to the Capulets, a romance which his cousin Benvolio (Kodi Smit-McPhee) urges him not to pursue.  But that night, there is to be a masked celebration at the Capulet estate, and Romeo manages to secure an invitation.  The Capulet household prepares for the event, where Lord and Lady Capulet (Damian Lewis, Natascha McElhone) hope that their daughter Juliet (Hailee Steinfeld) will accept the advances of young Count Paris (Tom Wisdom).  A free spirit little interested in romance, Juliet seems more interested in bantering with her nurse (Lesley Manville) than listening to her parents.

At the ball, Romeo instantly forgets his feelings for Rosaline when he spies Juliet; she is likewise struck dumb when she sees Romeo.  They dance briefly, noted by Juliet’s cousin Tybalt (Ed Westwick), who is told by Lord Capulet to let them be and not start trouble.  Later, Romeo and Juliet are dismayed to learn that their new loves are of the rival family; undaunted, Romeo spies Juliet on her balcony and boldly declares his love for her.

With the help of Friar Laurence (Paul Giamatti), Romeo tries to conspire a way to pursue Juliet without incurring the wrath of his family, while Juliet relies on her nurse to discreetly deliver messages to her love.  But the bad blood between the two families is too strong:  in a street duel, an angry Tybalt slays Romeo’s beloved kinsman Mercutio (Christian Cooke).  Romeo, his passions unchecked, then kills Tybalt.  Hoping to put an end to the blood feud, the Prince banishes Romeo from Verona – but this is worse than death, because he will forever be separated from Juliet.  As the lovers grow more desperate, Friar Laurence attempts to hatch a plan that will allow them to be together forever – but will their boldness and bravery in love result in eternal happiness or tragedy?

September 2013

Parkland

Starring: Zac Efron, Tom Welling, James Badge Dale, Paul Giamatti, Jackie Earle Haley, Ron Livingston, Colin Hanks, Billy Bob Thornton, Mark Duplass, Austin Nichols

Directed by: Peter Landesman

Synopsis: Recounting the chaotic events that occurred in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963, the film weaves together the perspectives of a handful of ordinary individuals suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances: the young doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital; Dallas’ chief of the Secret Service; an unwitting cameraman who captured what became the most watched and examined film in history; the FBI agents who nearly had the gunman within their grasp; the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald, left to deal with his shattered family; and JFK’s security team, witnesses to both the president’s death and Vice President Lyndon Johnson’s rise to power over a nation whose innocence was forever altered.