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2/8- GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

A journalist gets tangled in the underworld when he is hired to write the saga of a powerful family.

Starring:
Michael Nyqvist,
Noomi Rapace,
Peter Haber,
Lena Endre,
Marika Lagercrantz.

Directed
Produced by: Peter Nadermann, Ole Sondberg, Soren Staermose.

Guest Director: Niels Arden Oplev

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(L-R, Actor Edward Norton, Rolling Stone Critic Peter Travers and Writer, Star, Director Tim Blake Nelson (O' Brother Where Art Thou), discuss the new film LEAVES OF GRASS)

Credit: Bridget Laudien

2/1-LEAVES OF GRASS

Edward Norton stars in this taught thriller from actor-director Tim Blake Nelson (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?). Bill Kincaid left his native Oklahoma years ago and has since become a professor at an Ivy League school, but his past comes back to haunt him when he returns home for his twin brother's funeral. But his twin isn't dead, and he's going to draw his brother into a plot that is sure to fail and drag Bill down with him. LEAVES OF GRASS also stars Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss.

Cast:
Edward Norton,
Tim Blake Nelson,
Susan Sarandon,
Richard Dreyfuss,
Keri Russell

Director: Tim Blake Nelson
Screenwriter: Tim Blake Nelson


Guest: Edward Norton and Tim Blake Nelson


Edward Norton

Host Peter Travers.

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A PROPHET

The rise through the criminal ranks of a young orphan of North African origin, who has only known a prison life and who will become, with the help of the Corsican mafia and an influential Imam, the ultimate crime kingpin of all of France's immigrant suburbs.



Starring: Niels Arestrup,
Gilles Cohen,
Sonia Hell,
Hichem Yacoubi,
Antoine Basler.



Directed by: Jacques Audiard.
Produced by: Pascal Caucheteux, Martine Cassinelli.

Host: Karen Durbin

Double Feature:

TERRIBLY HAPPY



Robert Hanson (Jakob Cedergren) is a Copenhagen police officer who, following a nervous breakdown, is transferred to a small provincial town to take on the mysteriously vacated Marshall position and subsequently gets mixed up with a married femme fatale. Robert’s big city temperament makes it impossible for him to fit in, or understand the uncivilized, bizarre behavior displayed by the townspeople. Quickly spiraling downward into an intense fable blending cutting edge dark humor with classic noir elements, "Terribly Happy" displays a unique, often macabre vision of the darkest depths to which people will go to achieve a sense of security and belonging.



Cast:
Jakob Cedergren,
Kim Bodnia,
Lene Maria Christensen,
Lars Brygmann

 

Director: Henrik Ruben Genz

Henrik Ruben Genz graduated in 1995 from the National Film School of Denmark. Of his documentaries and short feature films, the most successful has been "Theis & Nico" which brought him an Oscar® nomination and a Glass Bear at the Berlinale.

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1/18 -Opening Night!

YELLOW HANKERCHIEF

"Brett Hanson is an ex-convict, just released from prison after serving six years for manslaughter and now adrift in a world of new freedoms and responsibilities. Finding initial difficulties in reconciling himself to a troubled past, Brett crosses paths with lonely and troubled teenager Martine and her new 'ride' Gordy. The trio head out in the same car and direction--Martine to cut loose and get away from her family, Gordy to get closer to Martine, and Brett who must decide whether he wants to return to his troubled past and an uncertainty with May, the woman that he left behind. Once on the road, the trio find their relationships forging and changing in myriad ways, but it is Brett's story and his need to reconcile his past to his future that drives the two young people to reassess their own passages as well.
Distributors: Samuel Goldwyn Films, Dodi Film Productions. "

Starring:
William Hurt,
Maria Bello,
Eddie Redmayne,
Kristen Stewart,
Marco St John



Directed by: Udayan Prasad.
Produced by: Lillian Birnbaum, Arthur Co

Host: Alison Bailes

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Fall 2009 Recap

Peter Travers and Magnolia's Matt Cowal discuss THE ECLIPSE

12-7 - THE ECLIPSE

Ciarán Hinds (THERE WILL BE BLOOD) stars in this chilling drama that earned him the Best Actor prize at the Tribeca Film Festival. The Belfast-born actor plays a widower who experiences disturbing nightmares. An encounter with two authors (played by Aidan Quinn and Iben Hjejle) brings them all closer to a haunting reality that should be confined to horror novels



Starring:
Ciaran Hinds,
Iben Hjejle,
Aidan Quinn

Director: Conor McPherson
Screenwriter: Conor McPherson, Billy Roche
Producer: Rob Walpole

HOST PETER TRAVERS

Studio: MAGNOLIA PICTURES

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Peter Travers chats with Cheryl Hines about her directorial debut SERIOUS MOONLIGHT along with Producer Andy Ostroy.

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11-30 - SERIOUS MOONLIGHT

"After she arrives at her country home for a romantic weekend getaway, things don't go exactly as planned for high-powered Manhattan lawyer Louise. First, her husband of 13 years, Ian, tells her that he's leaving her for a younger woman. Then, one thing leads to another, and pretty soon Ian finds himself held captive by an oddly cool Louise who explains that she won’t release him until he professes his love for her and commits to working on their marriage. And that's when things really start to go wrong. The unexpected arrival of an opportunistic young gardener and Ian's impatient mistress only serve to complicate the crisis even further, while somehow forcing Louise and Ian to reckon with their past and realistically deal with their future."

Cast:
Meg Ryan,
Timothy Hutton,
Kristen Bell,
Justin Long



Director: Cheryl Hines
Screenwriter: Adrienne Shelly



Producers: Andy Ostroy, Michael Roiff
Executive producers: Cliff Chenfeld, David Graff

Host: Perter Travers

Official Site

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TEARDROP DIAMOND


Peter Travers and our guest, Director Jodie Markell

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11/23 - TEARDROP DIAMOND

THE LOSS OF A TEARDROP DIAMOND is a new drama based on a recently rediscovered original screenplay by legendary writer Tennessee Williams. Starring Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Evans, the Paladin release will open in New York and Los Angeles in late December, with expansion to major markets following in early 2010. Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn, Academy Award-nominee Ann-Margret, Mamie Gummer, and Will Patton co-star in the film which was directed by award-winning short filmmaker and stage and screen actress Jodie Markell, in her feature debut.

Cast:
Bryce Dallas Howard,
Chris Evans,
Ann-Margret,
Will Patton,
Ellen Burstyn



Director: Jodie Markell
Screenwriter: Tennessee Williams

Host: Peter Travers
Guest: Director Jodie Markell

Bonus Double Feature

UP IN THE AIR



From Jason Reitman, the Oscar® nominated director of "Juno," comes a comedy called "Up in the Air" starring Oscar® winner George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years: reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams.

Cast:
George Clooney,
Vera Farmiga,
Anna Kendrick,
Jason Bateman,
Tamala Jones,
Chris Lowell

Director: Jason Reitman
Screenwriter(s): Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Official Site

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11-16 - ME AND ORSON WELLS



In a whirlwind week in 1937 in New York City, a young aspiring actor named Richard is thrown into the middle of Orson Welles Mercury Theatre Company on the eve of the opening of Welles historic staging of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. During this week he will find romance with a worldly older woman, becomes immersed in a creative experience few are afforded and learn the downside of crossing the imperious, brilliant Welles. Richard is about to grow up fast.



Starring:
Zac Efron,
Christian McKay,
Ben Chaplin,
Claire Danes
Kelly Reilly.

Directed by: Richard Linklater.



Holly Gent Palmo - Screenplay (adaptation)
Vincent Palmo Jr - Screenplay (adaptation)
Robert Kaplow - Source Material (from novel: "Me and Orson Welles")


Steve Christian - Executive Producer
John Sloss - Executive Producer
Steve Norris - Executive Producer
Anne Carli - Producer
Marc Samuelson - Producer
Richard Linklater - Producer


Host: Karen Durbin
Guest: WRITER ROBERT KAPLOW

Official Site

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11-9 - PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE



Rebecca Miller (The Ballad of Jack & Rose) adapts her own novel with this comedy drama about a woman who begins a second life after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Robin Wright Penn, Julianne Moore, Winona Ryder, Alan Arkin, Monica Bellucci, Maria Bello, and Keanu Reeves headline the Plan B Entertainment production. - Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide



Cast:
Robin Wright Penn
Julianne Moore
Winona Ryder
Alan Arkin
Monica Bellucci
Maria Bello
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Keanu Reeves



Director, Screenwriter, Book Author
Rebecca Miller
Producer: Lemore Syvan
Executive Producer(s)
Jean Luc De Fanti
Samantha Horley



Host: Karen Durbin
Guest(s)
Cameron Leel
Lemore Syvan:
     Lemore Syvan is an independent film producer and founder of New York-based production company Elevation Filmworks. Since 1990 Syvan has produced 20 independent films and has collaborated with many notable filmmakers in the independent film community. Syvan's films have won the Grand Jury Award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival, as well as the National Board of Review, the John Cassavetes Spirit Award and various awards by Festivals across the U.S. and the world.

Offcial Site

Double Feature!

PIRATE RADIO



Pirate Radio is the newest ensemble comedy from filmmaker Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and writer/director of Love Actually), spinning the irreverent yet fact-based tale of a seafaring band of rogue rock and roll deejays whose “pirate radio” captivated and inspired 1960s Britain. Playing the music that rocked a nation and a decade, the group boldly and hilariously defies the government that tries to shut them down.



Cast:
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Bill Nighy,
Rhys Ifans,
Nick Frost,
Kenneth Branagh



Directed by: Richard Curtis
Produced by:
Richard Curtis,
Debra Hayward,
Liza Chasin



Official Site

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Critic Karen Durbin (ELLE, NY TIMES) & Michel Wallace wrestle with the wonderful complexities of "Precious: Based on the Novel 'PUSH' by Sapphire"


Photo Credit: Lynn Butler

Michele Wallace who was born in Harlem in 1952 to parents Faith Ringgold (the artist) and Earl Wallace (deceased and a pianist), is Professor of English, Women's Studies and Film Studies at the City College and the CUNY Graduate Center where she has taught since 1989. Currently on sabbatical, she is working on her fourth book--Soul Pictures: Black Feminist Generations--on the women in her family. Previous books include Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman (1979), Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory (1990), Black Popular Culture (1992) and Dark Designs and Visual Culture (Duke UP 2004). She currently lives in Englewood NJ. Having completed a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies at New York University in 1999, she writes about film as often as possible. Current writings appear on her blogs featured at her website: http://www.michelefwallace.com

11-02 - PRECIOUS



Clareece "Precious" Jones is an overweight, illiterate African-American teen in Harlem. Just as she's about to give birth to her second child, Jones is accepted into an alternative school where a teacher helps her find a new path in her life.


Cast:
Mo'Nique ,
Paula Patton,
Mariah Carey,
Gabourey Sidibe,
Sherri Shepherd



Directed by: Lee Daniels
Produced by: Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Lisa Cortes



Host: Peter Travers
Guest: Writer Geoffrey Fletcher

Offcial Site

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Alison Bailes & Mira Nair (MONSOON WEDDING, NAMESAKE, MISSISSIPPI MASALA) discuss Mira's making of AMELIA.



Photo Credits: Lynn Butler


10-26 - AMELIA -



After becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into a new role as America's sweetheart - the legendary "goddess of light," known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own, outspoken woman never changed. She was an inspiration to people everywhere, from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the men closest to her heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam, and her long time friend and lover, pilot Gene Vidal. In the summer of 1937, Amelia set off on her most daunting mission yet: a solo flight around the world that she and George both anxiously foresaw as destined, whatever the outcome, to become one of the most talked-about journeys in history.

Cast:
Hilary Swank
Richard Gere
Ewan McGregor
Christopher Eccleston
Joe Anderson
Cherry Jones



Director - Mira Nair
Producer(s) -
Kevin Hyman
Lydia Dean Pilcher
Ted Waitt
Screenwriter, Executive Producer -
Ronald Bass
Executive Producer -Hilary Swank



Host: ALISON BAILES

Guest- MIRA NAIR Director


MIRA NAIR

Official Site

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Opening Night!

10 -19 - TROUBLED WATER

After serving his jail sentence for his part in a kidnapping gone wrong, Jan Thomas wants to put his troubled past behind him. He takes a job as an organist at a small church under an assumed name, and soon starts a rewarding, albeit somewhat awkward, relationship with the church's pastor, Anna. Any hopes of redemption quickly dissolve when Agnes appears at the church and recognizes Jan as the man who killed her son years ago.

Cast:
Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen,
Trine Dyrholm,
Ellen Dorrit Petersen,
Trond Espen Seim

Director: Erik Poppe
Producer: Finn Gjerdrum, Stein B. Kvae

Guest- Director. Erik Poppe



Host Alison Bailes (Reel Talk NBC-TC, More.com)