Winter 2009
Winter 2009
2/9 - TWO LOVERS
Two Lovers is a 2009 American drama film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Vinessa Shaw. It is directed by James Gray and set in Brighton Beach in New York. It premiered in competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival in May. This film is Gray's third to enter the competition at this festival. It will have a limited theatrical release on February 13, 2009.
Cast:
Joaquin Phoenix
Gwyneth Paltrow
Vinessa Shaw
Isabella Rossellini
Moni Moshonov
Elias Koteas
Jay O. Sanders
Writers
James Gray Screenplay
Ric Menello Screenplay
Producers
Todd Wagner Executive Producer
Mark Cuban Executive Producer
Marc Butan Executive Producer
Agnes Mentre Executive Producer
Donna Gigliotti Producer
Anthony Katagas Producer
James Gray Producer
Guest: Writer/Director/Producer- JAMES GREY
Host: Peter Travers
Official site: link
Indie Superstar Patricia Clarkson (PIECES OF APRIL, STATION AGENT), drops by to talk about PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND.
Sussan Cordero
2/2- PHOEBE IN WONDERLAND
"Phoebe in Wonderland" is the fantastical tale of Phoebe (Elle Fanning), a young girl who longs to be in the school production of Alice in Wonderland. After her peculiar drama teacher Miss Dodger (Patricia Clarkson) casts her, Phoebe struggles to control her behavior so her Principal (Campbell Scott) won't kick her out. As Phoebe's stress mounts, her behavior grows worse, creating intense pressure on her parents Hillary and Peter (Felicity Huffman and Bill Pullman). Hillary, who already feels a failure in both her personal and professional life, desperately tries to understand and help her daughter. But this connection proves elusive as Phoebe begins retreating to an imaginary fantasy world peopled by characters from Alice in Wonderland, a world which grows increasingly disturbing and treacherous. As Alice observes to the Caterpillar, "It is very confusing being so many different sizes in a day," and in the end both Hillary and Phoebe (under Miss Dodger's tutelage) must try to navigate the strange, painful, exhilarating transformation from chrysalis to butterfly.
Director: Daniel Barnz
Screenwriter: Daniel Barnz
Cast:
Elle Fanning,
Felicity Huffman,
Patricia Clarkson,
Campbell Scott,
Bill Pullman
GUEST - Patricia Clarkson
Patricia Clarkson
Host: PETER TRAVERS2nd Feature:
SUNSHINE CLEANING
Once the high school cheerleading captain who dated the quarterback, Rose Lorkowski now finds herself a thirty something single mother working as a maid. Her sister Norah is still living at home with their dad Joe, 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.
Cast:
Amy Adams,
Emily Blunt,
Alan Arkin,
Steve Zahn,
Clifton Collins Jr
Directed by: Christine Jeffs
Produced by: Marc Turtletaub, Glenn Williamson, Peter Saraf
Official Site: Link
1-26 - CHOP SHOP
Full of naturalistic performances and exquisite handheld photography, CHOP SHOP shows a side of New York that is rarely seen in films about the Big Apple. Its characters, mostly immigrants, inhabit a landscape of rubbish-strewn alleys, deafening expressways, and rusted steel. Manhattan's skyscrapers and the stands of Shea Stadium loom forever on the horizon. Though some may find the film's unsparing depiction of poverty difficult to watch, the film is never hopeless, and the humanity of its characters always shines through. Altogether, it achieves an air of documentary-like authenticity that convinces the viewer that, long after the screen goes black, the lives of its characters will continue.
Cast:
Alejandro Polanco,
Isamar Gonzales,
Rob Sowulski,
Carlos Zapata
Produced by:
Peter Saraf,
Jeb Brody,
Lisa Muskat
Guests:
ALEJANDRO POLANCO
DIRECTOR RAMIN BAHRANI
Alejandro Polanco and director Ramin Bahrani (Photo: Cannes Film Festival)
Bahrani's second feature film, was hailed by Roger Ebert as "a masterpiece" and was on his top films of 2008. On countless other top ten films of 2008 lists, Chop Shop was also recently nominated for a Gotham Award and two Independent Spirit Awards, including best director. In 2008, Bahrani won the Acura "Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award.
2nd Feature:12
One juror on a murder trial manages to convince his fellow colleagues that the case is not as clear cut as it might have seemed in the courtroom.Cast:
Nikita Mikhalkov
Mikhail Yefremov
Sergei Garmash
Viktor Verzhbitsky
Valentin Gaft
Sergei Gazarov
Alexii GorbunovDirector:
Nikita Mikhalkov
Producers:
Nikita Mikhalkov
Leonid Vereschagin
Star Ledger & NYFC's Circle Chairman Steven Whitty & Israeli Producer Adi Ezroni Disusse Being Help Captive By The Cambodian Government While Shooting HOLLY.
Available on DVD 1/27.
Winter Series Opener:
1-20 - HOLLY
Set in Cambodia, depicts child prostitution through the non-sexual, complex relationship between Holly, a beautiful 12-year-old Vietnamese girl, and Patrick, an obsessive 40-year-old American stolen artifacts dealer.
Cast:
Ron Livingston,
Virginie Ledoyen,
Udo Kier,
Christopher Penn,
Thuy Nguyen
Director: Guy Moshe
Produced by: Amit Kort, Adi Ezroni, Guy Jacobson
Guest:
Producer Adi Ezroni
Adi EzroniOfficial Site: Link
Fall 2008 Season Recap
12/1 - FINAL SCREENING - LAST CHANCE HARVEY
"Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson star in writer/director Joel Hopkins' gentle romantic drama Last Chance Harvey. Hoffman plays a man at the end of his rope, for whom nothing is seemingly going right. While in London for his daughter's wedding, he meets Thompson, and strikes up an unlikely relationship with her. This film marks the second collaboration between its two lead actors (following the 2006 Stranger Than Fiction)" ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Cast:
Dustin Hoffman,
Emma Thompson,
Kathy Baker,
James Brolin
Director: Joel Hopkins
Producer:
Jawal Nga,
Tim Perell,
Nicola Usborne
HOST - STEPHEN WHITTY
GUEST - Producer Tim Perell
Official Site: Link
11/24 - CAKE EATERS
Set in small-town America over the course of two days, the contemporary tale centers on two dysfunctional families thrown together by the return of one family's prodigal son, forcing the clans' members to battle old ghosts and work through emotional issues as they search for love at any cost.
Cast::
Jayce Bartok,
Aaron Stanford,
Kristen Stewart,
Bruce Dern,
Elizabeth Ashley
Directed by: Mary Stuart Masterson
Produced by: Carol Morris, Patrick R. Morris, Elisa Pugliese
GUEST - DIRECTOR MARY STUART MASTERSON
HOST - DAVID EDELSTEIN (CBS-TV)
Official Site: Link
Ethan Hawke sits with Peter Travers and discusses his latest film, What Doesn't Kill You
Photo: Bridget Laudien
Photo: Bridget Laudien
11/17 - WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU
For two boys on the crime-filled streets of Boston's Southie neighborhood, a life on the wrong side of the law seems like a natural choice. But as the two childhood friends (played by Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke) grow up, the stakes grow larger and they begin working for one of the top men in Boston's underworld (writer/director Brian Goodman). When both of them end up in jail for their sins, they think it's time to change their ways--but will it last? Amanda Peet and Donnie Wahlberg costar in this drama, which Wahlberg also co-wrote.
Cast:
Mark Ruffalo,
Ethan Hawke,
Amanda Peet,
Will Lyman
Director: Brian Goodman
Host: PETER TRAVERSGuest: ETHAN HAWKE
Official Site www.yarifilmgroup.com
2nd feature - MILK
Oscar Winning Best Actress ELLEN BURSTYN (ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, etc),
drops by to talk about her many projects, (STONE ANGEL, LOVELY STILL, "W", GRETA, OUR LADY OF VICTORY).
Photos Courtesy of Bridget Laudien
11/10 STONE ANGEL
Hagar Shipley escapes from home when her son Marvin and daughter in law Doris tell her she must move into nursing care. She sets out on a preposterous journey in search of a way to reconcile herself to her tumultuous past. Vulnerable to an aging brain, it becomes hard for Hagar to differentiate past from present and we come to know her as the passionate and rebellious bride in a remote prairie town whose proud father disowns her when she marries the "wrong sort". Struggling to get to the safe haven of an abandoned house she remembers near the ocean, Hagar can't stop from reflecting on how her sprawling life was full of twists and joys denied.
Cast:
Ellen Burstyn,
Christine Horne,
Cole Hauser,
Kevin Zegers,
Ellen Page,
Dylan Baker
Director: Kari Skogland
Screenwriter: Margaret Laurence, Kari Skogland
HOST - PETER TRAVERS
GUEST - ELLEN BURSTYN
Official Site: Link
NY Film Critic Marshall Fine chats with GARDENS OF THE NIGHT Director Damian Harris.
Photos Courtesy of Lynn Butler
11/3 - GARDENS OF THE NIGHT
Leslie struggles with a hand to mouth existence on the streets of San Diego with only her childhood friend Donnie to look after her. Both of them are trying to cope with the trauma of having been abducted and held captive by two men nine years earlier. As an eight-year-old girl, Leslie was abducted through trickery by an older man Alex, and his young accomplice Frank. Leslie was held captive in their house along with an eight-year-old boy named Donnie, who believed his mentally unstable mother sold him to Alex.The children create a bond with each other, managing to escape into a fantasy world they create in their bedroom. Years later Leslie and Donnie, now seventeen years old, are living as street-kids and struggling to cope with what they suffered through, having been affected by the experience differently. Donnieâ??s feelings for Leslie are those of any teenager in love, however, Leslie's perception of love has been severely mutated through her relationship with Alex and her instinct is to run from Donnie. Can she not only survive this horrific experience, but be set free from its terrible shackles?
Director Damian Harris, Tom Arnold and Cinematographer Paula HuidobroWriter: Damian Harris Screenplay
Director: Damian Harris Director
Cast member: Tom ArnoldProducers
Mark Amin Executive Producer
Todd Olsson Executive Producer
R.D. Robb Producer
Pascal Franchot Producer
Damian Harris Producer
Thomas L. Carter Co-Producer
Stephen Hens Co-ProducerGuest Director - Damian Harris
Host: MARSHALL FINE
City Lights: Link
Official Site: Link
US Weekly Magazine Critic, Thelma Adams & SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE Star - Dev Patel discuss the October 27th Screening.
Photos Courtesy of Lynn Butler
10/27 - SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE -The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much?
Distributors: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Cast:
Director: Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, Sunshine)
Dev Patel,
Irrfan Khan,
Anil Kapoor,
Madhur Mittal
Screenwriter: Simon Beaufoy
Producer: Christian Colson
GUEST: Dev Patel
Dev PatelHOST - PETER TRAVERS
Official Site: Link
10/20 - I LOVED YOU SO LONG
'Léa (Elsa Zylberstein) and Juliette (Kristin Scott Thomas) are sisters. The film begins with Léa, the younger sister by fifteen years, picking Juliette up at the airport. We soon realize that the two sisters are almost complete strangers... '
Casr:
Kristin Scott Thomas,
Elsa Zylberstein,
Serge Hazanavicius,
Laurent Grevill,
Frederic Pierrot
Director: Philippe Claudel
Screenwriter: Philippe Claudel
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
HOST - PETER TRAVERS
GUEST - DYLAN LEINER
2nd Feature:
LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
"A fragile, anxious boy, 12-year-old Oskar is regularly bullied by his stronger classmates but never strikes back. The lonely boy's wish for a friend seems to come true when he meets Eli, also 12, who moves in next door to him with her father."
Cast:
Kåre Hedebrant,
Lina Leandersson,
Per Ragnar,
Henrik Dahl,
Karin Bergquist,
Peter Carlberg,
Ika Nord,
Karl-Robert Lindgren,
Director: Tomas Alfredson
Screenwriter: John Ajvide Lindqvist
Producer: John Nordling, Carl Molinder
Composer: Johan Soderqvist
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Fall Season Opener:
10/14- BEFORE THE RAINS
"A love story told in three parts--linked by characters and events which alternate between contemporary London and Macedonia, in the former Yugoslavia. In the first section, a young Greek Orthodox monk hides an Albanian girl from her enemies; the second segment follows a London photo-agency employee torn between a Pulitizer Prize-winning war photographer and her husband; the last segment follows the photographer as he returns to his native Macedonian village, intent upon forgetting the horrors of war, only to discover that a fierce anti-Muslim ethnic hatred has already infected the once-peaceful Christian villagers"
Cast:
Linus Roache,
Rahul Bose,
Nandita Das,
Jennifer Ehle,
John Standing
Director: Santosh Sivan
Screenwriter: Cathy Rabin
Producer(s):
Doug Mankoff,
Andrew Spaulding,
Paul Hardart,
Tom Hardart,
Mark Burton
Your Host: STEPHEN WHITTY
Guest: Linus Roache
Linus Roache - Born in Manchester, the son of Coronation Street actor William Roache and actress Anna Cropper.[1] Roache is also a past member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1975, Roache appeared in Coronation Street playing his father's character Ken Barlow's son Peter. Roache joined the American TV series Law & Order as new Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter* No Surrender (1985) as Ulster Boy
* Link (1986) (uncredited)
* Priest (1994) as Father Greg Pilkington
* The Wings of the Dove (1997) as Merton Densher
* Venice Project (1999) as Count Jacko/Count Giaccomo
* Siam Sunset (1999) as Perry
* Best (2000) as Denis Law
* Pandaemonium (2000) - as Samuel Taylor Coleridge
* Hart's War (2002) as Capt. Peter A. Ross
* Gathering Storm (2002) (TV) as Ralph Wigram
* Beyond Borders (2003) as Henry Bauford
* Blind Flight (2003) as John McCarthy
* The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) as the "Purifier"
* 12 and Holding (2005) as Mr. Carges
* The Forgotten (2004) as Mr. Shineer
* Batman Begins (2005) as Dr. Thomas Wayne
* Find Me Guilty (2006) as Sean Kierney
* Before the Rains (2008) as Henry Moores
Studio: Roadside Attractions - Lions Gate
