IFC Entertainment » All Films

A Burning Hot Summer

ccostales — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:47:39 +0000

On a burning summer’s night, a sports car crashes headlong into a tree.

The previous year… Paul meets the painter Frédéric through a mutual friend. Frédéric lives in Italy with Angèle, the actress with whom he is deeply in love. While working as an extra, Paul befriends an assistant – Roland and falls in love with Elisabeth, another extra.

Frédéric invites Paul and Elisabeth to stay in Rome. He shows Paul a photo of the grandfather who raised him and, during dinner, introduces Roland to Angèle, who seems troubled by his presence. Later, in a hotel, Angèle sleeps with Roland. Time passes. Angèle leaves Frédéric.

Elisabeth falls pregnant with Paul’s child. Frédéric seeks a divorce. Paul and Elisabeth leave Rome. Elisabeth’s baby is born. When Paul meets Frédéric by chance in Paris, the painter tells him that Angèle and Roland have broken up. That night, Paul is woken by a phone call: Frédéric has had a terrible accident….

As he lies delirious in hospital, the ghost of his grandfather appears to Frédéric. When Paul arrives, the painter confides that the crash was no accident: without Angèle, life has become unbearable. Paul leaves, and Frédéric dies. On a burning summer’s day, in a small village churchyard, Paul watches as his friend’s body is laid to rest.

The Tortured

ccostales — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:29:29 +0000

Craig and Elise had all the ingredients for an ideal life: a great marriage, a wonderful five-year-old son, a charming home and a bright future.

Then, on one sunny day, their perfect world is irrevocably shattered . Leaving their five year old son, Ben, alone for only a moment, Craig is horrified to see him being abducted from their own front yard. Sadly, the desperate police search for the kidnapper proves to be in vain when the child is found dead. Craig is wracked with guilt and Elise cannot forgive him. Their relationship crumbles under the strain and Elise moves out – leaving each of them alone in their private hell.

Months later, a chance tip leads police to the suspect’s door, catching him red-handed with another victim. Although Ben’s murderer is soon brought to trial, the grieving parents are stunned when his sentence is considerably reduced by a plea bargain. Utterly shocked and reunited by their outrage, Craig and Elise agree that they cannot live another day until they rectify this miscarriage of justice. Together they decide to seek their own retribution, hatching a plot to kidnap the man and subject him to the same monstrous acts he perpetrated against their helpless son.

Sexual Chronicles Of A French Family

ccostales — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:25:51 +0000

Breakfast times where the morning silence is sometimes too heavy, where at dinner everything is talked about except sex, where the routine of a contemporary family is disturbed when Romain, the youngest son, is caught masturbating during Biology class filming himself with his iphone. He is going to be suspended from school. Romain explains to his mother that it was a dare the students, guys and girls, have amongst themselves, all for the fun of it. He just stupidly got caught.
Sex having been a taboo subject in the family until now suddenly becomes a real subject of interest and we become involved in the intimate lives of each person of this family, the parents, the 18, 20 and 22 year old children and the grandfather.

Cherry

ccostales — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:14:57 +0000

This bold debut film by author Stephen Elliott, a visual love letter to San Francisco, is the story of high school student Angelica (a mesmerizing Ashley Hinshaw), whose choices lead her from a depressing home life and dead-end job in Los Angeles to the fetish-filled Bay Area adult film world. A stepfather with dark motives lurks in the background, as Angelica watches over her younger sister and questions her options. In memorable supporting roles are Festival favorite Lili Taylor as Angelica’s manic and opportunistic mother, Jonny Weston as her sexy but sleazy boyfriend and Dev Patel as best friend and much-needed nonsexual support. The vibrant cast also includes James Franco as a coke-addicted attorney who spots Angelica in a strip club, and Heather Graham as a female porn director who launches “Cherry’s” adult film career with mixed feelings. A gritty and defiantly voyeuristic look at the life of a youth who never loses her innocence, even as she gyrates for the camera, Cherry captures a rare point of view, urging us to consider the delicate tension between body and self by focusing on society’s most sought after objects of desire.

Your Sister’s Sister

ccostales — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 22:13:16 +0000

Emily Blunt, Rosemarie Dewitt and Mark Duplass star in YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, a new comedy about romance, grief and sibling rivalry. A year after his brother Tom’s death, Jack (Duplass) is still struggling emotionally. When he makes a scene at a memorial party, Tom’s best friend Iris (Blunt) offers up her family cabin on an island in the Pacific Northwest so Jack can seek catharsis in solitude. Once there, however, he runs into Iris’ sister Hannah (Dewitt) who is reeling from the abrupt end of a seven-year relationship and finds solace in Tom’s unexpected presence. A blurry evening of drinking concludes with an awkward sexual incident, made worse by Iris’ sudden presence at the cabin the next morning. A twisted tale of ever-complicated relationships is set in motion with raw, hilarious and emotional performances from the all-star cast.

Area 407

ccostales — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:32:10 +0000

AREA 407 features lost footage too real for reality and too disturbing for fiction. Following two teenagers flying from New York to Los Angeles on New Years Eve, a nightmare quickly begins when their plane hits extreme turbulence mid-flight. The relentless weather attack causes panic and terror amongst the passengers until the plane ultimately crashes in a remote government-testing area. The handful of survivors from the crash, bloody and disoriented, are then insistently pursued in the darkness by unknown predators that, unbeknownst to them, are part of the government’s top-secret Mesa Experiment.

Gimme The Loot

ccostales — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:05:06 +0000

Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from the Bronx, are the ultimate graffiti-writers. When a rival gang buffs their latest masterpiece, they must hatch a plan to get revenge by tagging an iconic NYC landmark, but they need to raise $500 to pull off their spectacular scheme. Over the course of two whirlwind, sun-soaked summer days, Malcolm and Sofia travel on an epic urban adventure involving black market spray cans, illicit bodegas, stolen sneakers, a high stakes heist, and a beautiful, stoned girl whose necklace is literally their key to becoming the biggest writers in the City.

The Pact

ccostales — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 21:00:02 +0000

After their mother passes away, sisters Nicole and Annie reluctantly return to their childhood home to pay their last respects. While staying overnight in the house, the sisters sense a mysterious presence in their midst: noises startling them in the night, objects moving about, a fallen picture of an unknown woman posed next to their mother. Annie begins experiencing a series of intense and disturbing dreams – visions that lead her to uncover something terrible about her mother’s past that is finally revealing itself.

The Samaritan

ccostales — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 21:37:08 +0000

After twenty‐five years in prison, Foley (Samuel L. Jackson) is finished with the grifter’s life. When he meets an elusive young woman named Iris (Ruth Negga), the possibility of a new start looks real. But his past is proving to be a stubborn companion: Ethan (Luke Kirby), the son of his former partner, has an ingenious plan and he wants Foley in. The harder Foley tries to escape his past, the tighter he is ensnared in Ethan’s web of secrets, until it becomes all too clear to Foley that some wrongs can never be made right.

Penumbra

ccostales — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:04:34 +0000

Combining stylistic elements of classic Polanski with a contemporary vision that rivals anyone working in horror today, the Bogliano brothers’ PENUMBRA is a superbly realized South American horror slow-burner. Marga is a highly motivated, arrogant and successful businesswoman on assignment in Buenos Aires — a city she hates and whose people she loathes. While in the Argentina capital on a day the whole population is waiting to view a rare solar eclipse she must also find a new tenant for her family’s decrepit apartment. Rapidly losing her patience waiting for one applicant she runs into the mysterious Jorge lurking outside the front door of the place who informs her that he has a client willing to pay four times what she is asking in rent. There’s one catch — the paperwork must be signed immediately. As greedy Marga waits to complete the transaction several of Jorge’s associates suspiciously appear at the apartment ready to strip the wallpaper. And what’s behind the décor signals a startling fate worse than death — or should that be life!

Peace, Love & Misunderstanding

ccostales — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:00:52 +0000

Directed by two‐time Academy Award nominee Bruce Beresford, Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding stars Academy Award winning Jane Fonda, two‐time Academy Award nominated Catherine Keener, international heartthrob Chace Crawford, and Sundance’s “breakout star” Elizabeth Olsen. A comedy about an uptight New York City lawyer who takes her two spirited teenagers to her hippie mother’s farmhouse in the countryside for a family vacation. What was meant to be a weekend getaway quickly turns into a summer adventure of romance, music, family secrets, and self‐discovery.

Citizen Gangster

ccostales — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:19:16 +0000

The first feature from writer/director Nathan Morlando, CITIZEN GANGSTER is based on the true story of Edwin Boyd (Scott Speedman), the man who became postwar Toronto’s most famous criminal. Edwin Boyd has returned from WWII and is dismayed by public indifference towards veterans and humiliated by his inability to fulfill his dream of being a Hollywood star or provide for his children and wife Doreen (Kelly Reilly). Seeing only disappointment in the face of his policeman father (Brian Cox), Eddie is desperate and starts to rob banks. But what starts as friendly and flirtatious robberies, performed while wearing thick makeup, evolves over time into a career that when mixed with a gang of small time criminals is not unlike that of Clyde Barrow or Butch Cassidy, in which crime and love are mixed to get explosive results.

CITIZEN GANGSTER is the powerful true story of one man’s rise from obscurity to criminal celebrity — and the dangerous price he pays for it.

Entrance

ccostales — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:05:56 +0000

ENTRANCE is a subtle psychological thriller centered upon Suzy (Suziey Block), a young woman in Los Angeles who can’t get comfortable in her own skin. She’s haunted by nostalgia, has no real friends, and finds herself wandering aimlessly through life in the city. Suzy now feels stuck, her part-time-turned-full-time job at a coffee house was never meant to be forever. With each day she finds it increasingly difficult to put on a smile for strangers while making their lattes. Her alienation begins to stretch into the deeper corners of her life. She comes to find herself unable to connect with anyone, let alone her roommate Karen, whose life Suzy wishes was her own.

Soon, what should be the simplest of everyday interactions twist and distort into the threatening. Suzy can’t shake the gnawing suspicion that a true menace grows just outside her field of vision. She falls hard out of love with the city, but it doesn’t want to let her go. When she scrambles to take control of her life, her anxiety rises to a fever pitch that boils over into awaking nightmare.

ENTRANCE is about how the simple darkness on the edges of our lives can so easily give way to the naked horror of existence. The film explores the destructive nature of paranoia and the limits of perception. It is an intimate character study directed by Dallas Hallam and Patrick Horvath with a formalist restraint. The subtle performances throughout are buttressed by Suziey Block, whose fearless execution injects both terror and poise as ENTRANCE climbs from spark to inferno.

Polisse

ccostales — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:43:33 +0000

Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival and nominated for 13 César Awards, POLISSE follows the daily lives of a tight-knit team of men and women working in the Child Protection Unit of the Parisian police. Basing her richly textured script on real child investigation cases, writer- directoractor Maïwenn has gathered an accomplished ensemble cast of French actors who convey the emotional strain of the unit’s work with gritty realism. They not only deal with the stress of their jobs but the inevitable fall-out in their personal lives - breakdowns, divorce and adulterous relations within the force. In between, there are frequent flashes of humor as the team attempts to diffuse daily realities. As the cases,confessions and interrogations pile up, the squad members have only each other
as support as they face an uphill battle against both criminals and bureaucracy.

How to Survive a Plague

ccostales — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:23:40 +0000

“How To Survive A Plague” is the untold story of the efforts that turned AIDS into a mostly manageable condition – and the improbable group of young men and women who, with no scientific training, infiltrated government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry, and helped identify promising new compounds, moving them through trials and into drugstores in record time. These drugs saved their lives and ended the darkest days of the epidemic, while virtually emptying AIDS wards in American hospitals.

These activists’ efforts created a paradigm for patient empowerment and health care activism that has since been replicated in the fight against many other diseases from breast cancer to heart disease. And as AIDS spread to Africa, India, and Asia, these activists helped open local groups, exporting AIDS activism to press for better, and more accessible, treatment.

Their story stands as a powerful inspiration to future generations, a road map, and a call to arms. Science has yet to find a cure, and without rejuvenated vigilance, transmission is on the rise – most remarkably, among young gay men who are ignorant of how AIDS activists beat back a plague, and along the way changed the world.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

ccostales — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 16:49:33 +0000

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY is the first feature-length film about the internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist, Ai Weiwei. In recent years, Ai has garnered international attention as much for his ambitious artwork as his political provocations. AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY examines this complex intersection of artistic practice and social activism as seen through the life and art of China’s preeminent contemporary artist.

From 2008 to 2010, Beijing-based journalist and filmmaker Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai Weiwei. Klayman documented Ai’s artistic process in preparation for major museum exhibitions, his intimate exchanges with family members and his increasingly public clashes with the Chinese government. Klayman’s detailed portrait of the artist provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

The Moth Diaries

ccostales — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 22:16:21 +0000

Acclaimed director Mary Harron (AMERICAN PSYCHO, THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE) returns with the chilling story of Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl who, haunted by her father’s suicide, enrolls in an elite boarding school for girls. Before long, Rebecca’s friendship with the popular Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of a dark and mysterious new student named Ernessa (Lily Cole). Lucy falls under Ernessa’s spell and becomes emotionally and physically consumed by her glamorous new friend. Rebecca, whose overtures of concern are rejected by Lucy, finds herself lost and confused. She begins to develop a crush on her handsome English teacher, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman) and immerses herself in the Gothic vampire novel Carilla for his class. Rebecca starts to suspect that Ernessa is a vampire, but, despite the suspicious deaths that begin to occur, her fears are treated as simple girlish jealousy. As the bodies of young girls pile up and the line between reality and the supernatural starts to blur, Rebecca decides to take matters into her own hands and get rid of Ernessa. Who can say what is real and what is unreal to the heart consumed by passion and a mind afire with loss? Based on the bestselling novel by Rachel Klein, THE MOTH DIARIES is a harrowing story of the anxieties, lusts and fears of adolescence.

Trishna

ccostales — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:51:13 +0000

Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel Tess of the D’Ubervilles, master filmmaker Michael Winterbottom’s newest film stars Frieda Pinto who soars as Trishna in her most revealing performance yet.

Trishna lives with her family in a village in Rajasthan, India’s largest state. As the eldest daughter, she works in a nearby resort to help pay the bills. Jay (Riz Ahmed, FOUR LIONS) is the wealthy son of a property developer. When he takes up managing a resort at his father’s request, he meets Trishna at a dance and their fates cross. Jay finds every opportunity to win Trishna’s affection and she accepts his efforts with shy curiosity. But when the two move to Mumbai and become a couple, Jay’s deep family bond threaten the young lovers’ bliss.

Shot with Winterbottom’s agile camera, Trishna is a powerful look at the tension between ancient privilege and modern equality, between codes of urban and rural life and ultimately a hymn to both the glory and the tragedy that comes with beauty in all forms.

The Corridor

ccostales — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:14:37 +0000

They’ve been the best of buddies for more than a decade, but now they’re changing – getting married, getting promoted, going bald, going insane. During a male-bonding weekend, they will discover a spectral corridor through the woods – an impossible hallway where none should be. It will lead these five men into fear, into betrayal, and into the biggest change of them all: by weekend’s finish… they’ll be dead.

Brake

ccostales — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:27:29 +0000

Jeremy Reins (Dorff) is about to have a very bad day. He wakes up in total darkness, confused and disoriented. The only light comes from the blood-red digital numbers ticking away above his head. Jeremy quickly realizes he’s in trouble. It’s hard to breath. He can barely move. And no one will answer his cries for help. Then, he hears the sound of an engine and it all becomes clear…he’s trapped in the trunk of a moving car.

As his captors reveal themselves and their motives, Jeremy realizes he won’t be set free until he gives up the whereabouts of “Roulette,” a secret location where the U.S. President is taken in the event of a terrorist attack.

ATM

ccostales — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 15:27:27 +0000

After leaving their company Christmas Party together, David Hargrove and Emily Brandt’s impromptu first date takes an unexpected turn when their coworker, Corey, asks them to make a late-night stop at an ATM. What should be a routine transaction turns into a desperate struggle for survival when an unknown man appears outside the vestibule. With the wintry temperatures dipping below freezing, and the morning sunrise still hours away, they have no choice but to play the man’s deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

Last Days Here

ccostales — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:13:07 +0000

Cult rock legend Bobby Liebling has been churning out genre-defining hard rock for over 36 years as the lead singer of the band Pentagram. Various acts of self-destruction, multiple band break-ups, and botched record deals have condemned his music to obscurity. Frozen for decades in his parents’ basement, Bobby is finally discovered by the heavy metal underground. With the help of Sean ‘Pellet’ Pelletier, his friend and manager, Bobby struggles to overcome his demons.

Directed by Don Argott and Demian Fenton (“Rock School, “The Art of the Steal”), LAST DAYS HERE chronicles the triumphs and downfalls of this underground icon who finds himself at the crossroads of life and death.

4:44 Last Day on Earth

ccostales — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:08:09 +0000

In a large apartment high above the city lives our couple. They’re in love. She’s a painter, he’s a successful actor. Just a normal afternoon - except that this isn’t a normal afternoon, for them or anyone else. Because tomorrow, at 4:44 am, give or take a few seconds, the world will come to an end far more rapidly than even the worst doomsayer could have imagined. The ﬁnal meltdown will come, not without warnings, but with no means of escape. There will be no survivors.

As always, there are those who, as their ﬁnal cigarette is being lit and the blindfold tightened, will still hope against hope for some kind of reprieve. For a miracle. Not our two lovers. They - like the majority of the Earth’s population - have accepted their fate; the world is going to end.<

Asylum Blackout

ccostales — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:05:37 +0000

George, Max and Ricky are in a rock band. Between small gigs and rehearsals, they hope for their big breakthrough. In the meanwhile, someone has to pay the bills! So they work in the kitchen of a high security asylum. Good pay, minimum risk - they have no physical contact with the inmates. One night, just before dinner time, a big storm shuts down the security system, the doors open and the lunatics break loose. Help is on its way and should soon arrive. They just have to wait for it…and survive until then.

The Decoy Bride

ccostales — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:05:03 +0000

When the wedding of internationally famous film star Lara Tyler (ALICE EVE) to tweedy English author James Arber (DAVID TENNANT) is sabotaged by a paparazzo, they decide to relocate the event to the one place where the world’s press won’t find them: the sleepy Island of Hegg, as featured in James’ bestselling novel The Ornithologists Wife. But to the shock of Lara’s P.A Steve Korbitz (MICHAEL URIE), the reality of the island is different from the romanticised picture James has created (without ever visiting), and he has to transform this fantasy world before the superstar arrives.

However, dilapidated buildings and greedy islanders are the least of the problems that the wedding party and their Hollywood entourage have to deal with, as Marco (FEDERICO CASTELLUCCIO) the ingenious paparazzo tracks them down in his mission to photograph the celebrity wedding of the year.

Steve and his assistant Emma (SALLY PHILLIPS) must find a decoy bride and think that local girl Katie (KELLY MACDONALD) will be an ideal replacement. But when Katie meets James, sparks fly, dresses get ruined and love gets complicated.

Will Katie be able to fool the awaiting media and live up to being a stand-in for the world’s most famous movie star? Can an ordinary girl fill the most famous Manolos on the planet? And whatever will happen to her pledge never, under any circumstances, to fall in love again?

Perfect Sense

ccostales — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 19:11:12 +0000

A hit at Sundance ‘11 and winner of the Ediburgh Film Festival’s prize for Best New British Feature, the amazing genre creation directed by David Mackenzie stars Eva Green and Ewan McGregor as witnesses to the end of the world– strangers who form a desperate romantic connection in the face of an apocalyptic epidemic of sensory loss.

First Position

ccostales — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:38:37 +0000

Every year, thousands of aspiring dancers enter one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions, the Youth America Grand Prix, where lifelong dreams are at stake. In the final round, with hundreds competing for only a handful of elite scholarships and contracts, practice and discipline are paramount, and nothing short of perfection is expected. Bess Kargman’s award-winning documentary, FIRST POSITION, follows six young dancers as they prepare for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet, struggling through bloodied feet, near exhaustion and debilitating injuries, all while navigating the drama of adolescence. A showcase of awe-inspiring talent, tenacity and passion, FIRST POSITION paints a thrilling and moving portrait of the most gifted young ballet stars of tomorrow.

Declaration of War

ccostales — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:15:50 +0000

The opening night film at this year’s Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival, this exuberant and deeply moving film follows a new couple, Romeo (Jérémie Elkaïm) and Juliette (Valérie Donzelli), who must face the ultimate test when they discover their newborn child is very ill. Gathering their friends and family together, they confront this ordeal together as a form of warfare. Donzelli infuses the story with unexpected verve using a host of cinematic techniques, music and heartbreaking performances that results in a film about a contemporary couple who surprises even themselves with their ability to fight not only for the life of their child but for each other. Drawing on the real life experiences of Donzelli and co-star/co-writer Elkaïm and what they went through when their own son fell ill, the film will bring tears to your eyes and dazzle you with its contagious vitality.

A critical and box office hit at home, DECLARATION OF WAR is France’s official entry for Best Foreign Language Film for the 2011 Academy Awards®.DECLARATION OF WAR, Donzelli’s second feature, firmly establishes her as one of France’s greatest new talents.

The Loneliest Planet

ccostales — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:01:46 +0000

Alex and Nica are young, in love and engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, they are backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia. The couple hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek, and the three set off into a stunning wilderness, a landscape that is both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed. Walking for hours, they trade anecdotes, play games to pass the time of moving through space. And then, a momentary misstep, a gesture that takes only two or three seconds, a gesture that’s over almost as soon as it begins. But once it is done, it can’t be undone. Once it is done, it threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and about themselves. All the while, they are not alone. They are always with the guide, who witnesses their every move. The film plays off the relationship between young travelers and the places they travel to, between guide and guided. But at heart, it is a love story — a tale about betrayal, both accidental and deliberate, about masculinity, failure and the ambiguities of forgiveness.

My Piece of the Pie

ccostales — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:58:16 +0000

Writer/director Cédric Klapisch (L’auberge Espagnole) returns with the energetic and insightful My Piece of the Pie, a contemporary drama with a comedic edge, a timely social bent, and a surprising twist. Actress Karin Viard (Time Out, Avenue Montaigne) is mesmerizing as fiery single mother France, a blue-collar worker who loses her job when the local factory in her French seaside town closes down. Faced with having to support her three children, with no job prospects in sight, France enrolls herself in a housekeeper training program and lands a position cleaning the Paris apartment of handsome but cocky power broker Steve (Gilles Lellouche, Mesrine, Point Blank). France strikes more gold as the perpetual bachelor also hires her to watch his son for a few weeks. Being a part of the millionaire lifestyle, however servient, is not so bad. But what really lies behind Steve’s bullish business ways and brash demeanor? Is he as innocent as France would like him to be? Is she?

Boldly intertwining the theme of personal accountability in today’s money-driven world and a witty odd-couple story, Klapisch steadily unravels how seemingly harmless decisions in business and in life have broader consequences than what one would ever imagine.

Albatross

ccostales — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:50:50 +0000

ALBATROSS is the story of Emelia Conan-Doyle (Jessica Brown Findlay, Downton Abbey), a cheeky force of nature and the 17 year old heir to the legacy of Arthur Conan Doyle. Harboring an ambition to follow in the literary footsteps of her grandfather, Emelia writes while working at a stuffy seaside hotel populated by another blocked novelist Jonathan (Sebastian Koch), his put-upon wife (Julia Ormond) and their daughter Beth (Felicity Jones, LIKE CRAZY). Instigating a whirlwind of change, Emilia first befriends and emancipates the bookish daughter Beth (Jones), alarms her career frustrated mother (Ormond), before bewitching Jonathan himself.

A Lonely Place To Die

ccostales — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:13:08 +0000

A group of climbers have made a grim discovery high up in the mountains. They have found an eight year old girl buried amongst the peaks: buried alive. Terrified, de-hydrated and unable to speak a word of English, she is the victim of an elaborate kidnapping plot. Alison, the group leader, puts it to her party to rescue her. But more dangerous than the terrain, more dangerous than the kidnappers is the father of the girl himself, a ruthless Serbian war criminal who has hired mercenaries to guarantee her safe return: brutal professional killers who will destroy anything that gets in their way. Alison and her party are in for the fight of their lives to do the right thing and bring the girl down off the mountains to safety…

Loosies

krkail — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:18:13 +0000

A young New York pickpocket Bobby (Peter Facinelli) is confronted by a woman (Jamie Alexander) with whom he has a passionate one-night affair. She tells him she’s pregnant, and Bobby is forced to reevaluate a lifetime of missteps, take responsibility for his new child and win over the girl who might just be perfect for him.

The Human Centipede 2

ccostales — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:31:39 +0000

Despite being banned in the UK, the wait is over for the most controversial movie of the year, Tom Six’s follow up to the cult horror smash, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 (FULL SEQUENCE)! The opening night selection of Fantastic Fest 2011, the film ups the ante with a brute force unparalleled in motion pictures today. The iconic Dr. Heiter has inspired a real-life protege, the sickly, disturbed security guard Martin– who takes his gory inspiration from the original film to horrific new extremes…and one-ups the doctor with his pièce de résistance, one of the actresses from THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE (FIRST SEQUENCE), Ashlynn Yennie.

The Catechism Cataclysm

ccostales — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:18:55 +0000

Storytelling in all its forms is skewered in THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. In this divinely bizarre and funny tale, wild characters infuse stories within stories until the lines between the Bible, Mark Twain, and campfire tales are hilariously blurred.

Father Billy (Steve Little), an eccentric young priest, is forced to take a sabbatical by his superiors when he is discovered telling inappropriate parables to his flock. Billy tracks down his high-school idol Robbie (Robert Longstreet), who begrudgingly agrees to a canoe trip. On the water, the two men reminisce about Billy’s days as the keyboardist in a Christian band and Robbie’s as a guitarist for a metal band. When night approaches, they realize they have lost their way–and that’s when things get weird.

Buoyed by commanding comedic performances by Steve Little (EASTBOUND & DOWN) and Robert Longstreet (GREAT WORLD OF SOUND) and deft handling by director Todd Rohal, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM shines a light on the power of absurd fiction. THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM is a production of Rough House Pictures (David Gordon Green, Danny McBride, Jody Hill).

London Boulevard

ccostales — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 14:45:39 +0000

The directorial debut of William Monahan, the Oscar^®-winning screenwriter of The Departed, London Boulevar follows an ex-con trying to make a fresh start in a relationship with a reclusive actress. A sexy, stylish gangster thriller bristling with wit and brutal intrigue, London Boulevard stars Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley as star-crossed lovers who run afoul of one of London’s most vicious crime bosses.

Saint

ccostales — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:03:01 +0000

Unfortunately, Saint Nicholas is not the jolly joy-giver you thought he was. Turns out he’s a bloodthirsty priest who, whenever there’s a full moon in December, will try to slaughter as many children as possible.

Kill List

ccostales — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:08:37 +0000

From director Ben Wheatley (DOWN TERRACE), KILL LIST is a mind-blowing genre concoction being called the “#1 Horror Film of the Year” (Bloody-Disgusting). A brilliant blend of family drama, hitman action-thriller and terrifying psychological horror film, KILL LIST tells the story of an ex-soldier turned contract killer who is plunged into the heart of human darkness. Eight months after a disastrous hit job in Kiev left him physically and mentally scarred, Jay (Neil Maskell) is pressured by his partner Gal (BIFA Winner Michael Smiley), into taking a new assignment. As they descend into the bizarre, disturbing world of the contract, Jay’s world begins to unravel until fear and paranoia sending him reeling towards a horrifying point of no return.

House of Pleasures

ccostales — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:45:26 +0000

For his fifth film, Bertrand Bonello (TIRESIA) depicts a highly cinematic and atmospheric look at the final days of a turn of the century brothel when much of the Parisian sex trade was confined to grand maisons, populated by elegant madams and vetted clientele (including French filmmakers Jacques Nolot (BEFORE I FORGET) and Xavier Beauvois (OF GODS AND MEN)). Within L’Apollonide’s walls, Bonello tracks the lives of the Madam (Noemie Lvovsky) and close to a dozen girls among them: Madeline (Alice Barnole) who is horribly disfigured by a client and becomes known as “the woman who laughs”, Clotilde (Celine Sallette) the veteran who longs to be a “respectable woman” and Pauline (Iliana Zabeth), the newcomer whose eyes are quickly opened to reality. Despite the fact that desire often mixes with danger and disease rears its ugly head, the film is filled with moments of intimacy and camaraderie amongst the girls. Using a bag of cinematic techniques which include split screen, time shifts and a modern soundtrack, Bonello has made a provocative and beautiful film on not only the world’s oldest profession but also a commentary on history as remembered by art and literature.

WE HAVE A POPE

ccostales — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:42:37 +0000

Nanni Moretti (THE SON’S ROOM, CARO DIARIO) joins forces with the great French actor Michel Piccoli (CONTEMPT, I’M GOING HOME) to tell the story of Melville, a cardinal who suddenly finds himself elected as the next Pope. Never the front runner and completely caught off guard, he panics as he’s presented to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square. To prevent a world wide crisis, the Vatican’s spokesman calls in an unlikely psychiatrist who is neither religious or all that committed, played by Moretti, to find out what is wrong with the new Pope. As the world nervously waits outside, inside the therapist tries to find a solution. But Cardinal Melville is adamant: he does not want the job, or at least needs time to think it over. What follows is a marvelous insight into the concept of a human being existing behind the title of God’s representative on Earth. HABEMUS PAPAM is the latest film by Moretti to make wonderful use of humor while dealing with serious issues and continue to showcase his deep humanism.

Into the Abyss

ccostales — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:40:16 +0000

In his fascinating exploration of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas, master filmmaker Werner Herzog (Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Grizzly Man) probes the human psyche to explore why people kill—and why a state kills. In intimate conversations with those involved, including 28-year-old death row inmate Michael Perry (scheduled to die within eight days of appearing on-screen), Herzog achieves what he describes as “a gaze into the abyss of the human soul.” Herzog’s inquiries also extend to the families of the victims and perpetrators as well as a state executioner and pastor who’ve been with death row prisoners as they’ve taken their final breaths. As he’s so often done before, Herzog’s investigation unveils layers of humanity, making an enlightening trip out of ominous territory.

Sleeping Beauty

ccostales — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:35:56 +0000

Jane Campion presents SLEEPING BEAUTY, the bold and provocative directorial debut of Julia Leigh, an official selection of the Cannes, Toronto and Chicago film festivals. Featuring a phenomenal breakthrough performance by Emily Browning, this coolly shocking retelling of the classic myth poses its heroine as a rarified sex-worker, confronting ideas of feminine sexuality with bravado and precision.

The Kid With A Bike

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:28:59 +0000

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Globe nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, the deeply moving new film by the Dardenne brothers (L’enfant, Rosetta) delves into the emotional life of troubled 11-year-old Cyril (newcomer Thomas Doret). When his father (Jérémie Renier) abandons him, Cyril obsessively searches for his bicycle - placing his last bit of hope in this symbol of their relationship. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser (Cécile de France - Clint Eastwood’s HEREAFTER), who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him. With his wild, unpredictable behavior and his disastrous search for father figures, Cyril risks losing her - though she refuses to give up without a fight. Full of heartbreaking betrayals and unexpected grace, THE KID WITH A BIKE is a film about a child, abandoned to the elements, learning to become good.

The Snowtown Murders

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:24:29 +0000

Based on horrifying crimes discovered in Snowtown, Australia in 1999, THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS is Justin Kurzel’s directorial debut, a stark journey into a brutal subculture of suspicion, addiction and violence. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes’ Critics Week, the film follows Elizabeth Harvey (Louise Harris), a mother raising her three boys in a poor suburb. After her latest boyfriend displays pedophilic tendencies, she takes up with a new man, hoping for security but instead welcoming an even more vicious predator into her home. John Bunting (Daniel Henshall) is the moral compass of a self-appointed neighborhood watch who, fueled by cigarettes and beer, cast judgments on those living around them. Bunting enlists his crew in acts of sadistic vigilantism on those he considers deviants, and in the process takes Elizabeth’s son Jamie (Lucas Pittaway) under his wing. THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS is an uncompromising film focused on the relationship between vulnerable teenager and a father figure who is revealed to be the worst kind of bully.

Pina

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:15:11 +0000

“Dance, dance, or we are lost.” Pina Bausch’s final words summarize her life and provide the inspiration for acclaimed director Wim Wenders’ (WINGS OF DESIRE, BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB) breathtaking tribute to the legendary choreographer. Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal elevated dance into brilliantly subversive new expressive realms, and in this exhilarating film Wenders captures the raw, heart-stopping intensity of the movement and in stunning 3D transforms it into a transcendent cinematic experience. An official selection of the Berlinale, Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals, and now Germany’s official entry for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, PINA features interviews with and performances by Bausch’s beloved original company members, and offers an indelible image of an artist who went the full distance in her uncommonly rich creative life.

NOW PLAYING ONLY IN THEATERS

Goodbye First Love

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:08:46 +0000

Mia Hansen-Love returns with GOODBYE FIRST LOVE, an acutely perceptive portrait of a bright young woman in the wake of her first romance. Fifteen-year-old Camille (Lola Creton) is a serious girl who has fallen in love with the cheerful Sullivan (Sebastian Urzendowsky), an older boy who returns her feelings, mostly, but wants to be free to explore the world. When he leaves her to travel, she is devastated, but develops over the following years, into a more fully formed woman, with new interests and a new love - and the possibility that she’ll be less defenseless when Sullivan enters her life again. Hansen-Love’s follow up to the award-winning THE FATHER OF MY CHILDREN is filled with scenes that showcase her extraordinary ability to evoke moods and feelings. The story of a young woman’s first romance is made into a singular experience, familiar in its broad strokes and yet so specific that it feels uniquely personal.

The Forgiveness of Blood

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:44:08 +0000

Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, the powerful second feature from Joshua Marston (MARIA FULL OF GRACE) tells the story of an Albanian family caught up in a blood feud. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a carefree teenager in a small town with a crush on the school beauty and ambitions to start his own small internet business. His world is suddenly up-ended when his father becomes entangled in a dispute that leaves a fellow villager murdered. According to a centuries-old code of law known as the Kanun, Nik’s family owes a life in return. Nik finds himself the prime target and becomes confined to home while his younger sister Rudina (Sindi Laçej) is forced to leave school and take over their father’s business. Marston transports us into a world rarely seen on screen, where tradition and modernity clash putting young lives in the balance.

Beloved

ccostales — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:39:43 +0000

Starring Catherine Deneuve and (her real-life daughter) Chiara Mastroianni, this sly and exquisitely romantic musical drama from Christophe Honoré (Love Songs, Dans Paris) spans over three decades as it follows a mother and daughter’s misadventures in love. In the ‘60s, Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) leaves Paris to re-join her Czech husband Jaromil (Rasha Bukvic) in Prague, but his infidelities and the arrival of Russian tanks in the city lead her back to France. Thirty years later we follow the romance of Madeleine’s daughter, Vera, who falls in love with a musician (Paul Scneider) in London who is incapable of devoting himself to her. Meanwhile in Paris, a re-married Madeleine (Deneuve) has rekindled her love affair with Jaromil (Milos Forman). Louis Garrel and Paul Schneider also star in this light-hearted but ultimately moving exploration of the changing nature of relationships, with music by Alex Beaupain (Love Songs).
The film was the closing night selection of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Chalet Girl

ccostales — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:50:47 +0000

Pretty tomboy Kim (Felicity Jones) used to be a champion skateboarder, but now she flips burgers to support herself and her dad. Opportunity comes knocking when she flukes a winter-long catering job in one of the plushest ski chalets in the Alps. At first, Kim is baffled by this bizarre new world of posh people, vintage champagne, epic mountains and waist deep powder. Then Kim discovers snowboarding, and her natural talent soon sees her training for the end-of-season competition, with a chance to win major prize money. But before she can become a champion again, Kim needs to overcome her deepest fears – and figure out what’s going on with Jonny (Ed Westwick), her boss’ handsome but apparently unavailable son.

A Spanking In Paradise

ccostales — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 14:41:09 +0000

Newcomer Wayne Thallon writes and directs this award-winning scandalous dark comedy. Young human rights lawyer Justin has a month to kill before moving to America. Catching up with his family in Scotland seems as good of an idea as any—that is, until he finds himself running his uncle’s brothel. In the underbelly of Edinburgh, Justin must navigate a bizarre world of half-naked women, angry bodybuilders, and scam artists that happen to enjoy a good spanking. Starring new Scottish talent Andrew Hawley and Simon Weir, and inspired by Thallon’s own childhood, this film is sure to take you on one sexy, dangerous ride!

Dead Hooker In A Trunk

ccostales — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:44:42 +0000

Set in beautiful Vancouver, four friends set out on an everyday errand and end up in a fight for their lives when they discover the body of a dead hooker left in their trunk.

Lead by a sexy, impulsive badass, her distant geek twin sister, their bible thumping, jesus-loving goody two shoes friend, and a chaotic, rock star Junkie pal, the group has to put aside their differences to dispose of the body before they’re next.

Thrown into their own personal purgatory, they face off against persistent police, a sleazy motel manager, chainsaw wielding triads, and a brutal serial killer. All the while they are followed by a mysterious Cowboy Pimp who wants to claim the corpse for his own.

Will they uncover the truth behind the body and be able to stand up to their demons? Buckle up and get ready for the ride of your life filled with gun fights, extreme violence, blood, guts, gore, and goats.

Undocumented

ccostales — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:20:36 +0000

A documentary crew following a group of illegal immigrants across the U.S./Mexican border are captured by radical patriots who force them to film executions of those same illegal immigrants.

Sidewalls

ccostales — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 16:12:36 +0000

SIDEWALLS is a clever romantic comedy examining with charm how the architecture of a city conditions the lives of two of its residents. Taretto pays homage to the city of Buenos Aires as he reflects on how urban chaos, as well as new technologies, can unite people but also keep them apart (as the sidewalls of the title). Mixing animation, photography and graphic art he reveals the characters’ isolation and anxieties that are a staple of modern life in a noisy city that nonetheless has an irresistible charm.

Burke and Hare

ccostales — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:18:06 +0000

From John Landis, the director of ANIMAL HOUSE and THE BLUES BROTHERS, BURKE & HARE is adark comedy/thriller staring Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry and Isla Fisher as the unfortunate denizens of 19th century Edinburgh, a setting rife with murder, theft, prostitution, corpse snatching, experimental medicine, and of course Shakespeare.

The Black Power Mixtape

ccostales — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:41:15 +0000

THE BLACK POWER MIXTAPE 1967-1975 mobilizes a treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish journalists who came to the US drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution. Gaining access to many of the leaders of the Black Power Movement—Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver among them—the filmmakers captured them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews. Thirty years later, this lush collection was found languishing in the basement of Swedish Television. Director Göran Olsson and co-producer Danny Glover bring this footage to light in a mosaic of images, music and narration chronicling the evolution one of our nation’s most indelible turning points, the Black Power movement. Music by Questlove and Om’Mas Keith, and commentary from prominent African- American artists and activists who were influenced by the struggle — including Erykah Badu, Harry Belafonte, Talib Kweli, and Melvin Van Peebles — give the historical footage a fresh, contemporary resonance and makes the film an exhilarating, unprecedented account of an American revolution.

Weekend

ccostales — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:05:46 +0000

Winner of Audience Awards at both SXSW and Outfest 2011 and the opening night selection of Brooklyn’s acclaimed BAMcinemafest, WEEKEND is a startlingly authentic love story, featuring the talents of two incredible new actors and the unique work of a fresh new voice in filmmaking, Andrew Haigh.

After meeting one lonely Friday night at a bar, Russell (Tom Cullen) and Glen (Chris New) find themselves caught up in an lost weekend full of sex, drugs, and intimate conversation. Although they have conflicting ideas of what it is they want from life and certainly how to get it, they form a startling emotional connection that will resonate throughout their lives.

Julia’s Eyes

ccostales — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:40:45 +0000

Julia, a woman suffering from a degenerative sight disease, finds her twin sister Sara, who has already gone as a result of the same disease, hanged in the basement of her house…

Everything points to suicide, but Julia is compelled to investigate what she intuitively feels is a murder case. Determined to retrace her sister’s final steps, she is drawn into a maze of hidden threats and spiralling dread - a dark world that seems to hide a mysterious, malevolent presence. As Julia begins to uncover clues to the truth of her sister’s death, she is convinced that someone is watching her - someone who means her terrible harm. Those close to her begin to disappear and then to die. Her sight gone, confined to her sister’s house, Julia finds herself trapped in a nightmare from which she cannot awake. Will she survive?

Love Crime

ccostales — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 22:38:41 +0000

The final film from director Alain Corneau (SERIE NOIRE, TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE), LOVE CRIME pits the fiery talents of Ludivine Sagnier (A GIRL CUT IN TWO) and Oscar-nominee Kristin Scott Thomas (THE ENGLISH PATIENT) against each other in a deliciously twisted tale of office politics that turn, literally, cut-throat.

When Christine, a powerful executive (Scott Thomas), brings on a naive young ingénue, Isabelle (Sagnier), as her assistant, she delights in toying with her naivete and teaching her hard lessons in a ruthless professional philosophy. But when the protege’s ideas become tempting enough for Christine to pass one as her own, she underestimates Isabelle’s ambition and cunning– and the ground is set for all out war. In this devilish, propulsive thriller, Corneau sets up a the scenery expertly and his actors devour it.

Vampires

ccostales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:22:16 +0000

They did it! They made a documentary on a bunch of vampires!

A family of vampires, bored with immortality, lives in Belgium, eats illegal immigrants, children, handicapped folk, and takes every
advantage they can suck out of the country’s social system. Samson, a seventies throwback, lives his 55th year like he’s forever 20. Grace, an eternal teenager bent on being human again, keeps committing suicide. George, the patriarch, manages as best he can, heading the eccentric family and its on-going squabbles with the neighboring vampires.

It turns out vampires must keep to a strict code. They are, for example, prohibited from sleeping with their leader’s wife. That’s where Samson went too far… Now he and his whole family are exiled to Quebec, where even vampires have to work for a living!

Spiderhole

ccostales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:45:16 +0000

An attractive, vivacious young artist, Molly, together with her three art student friends, embarks upon a mission to find an empty house in London, with the view to living as squatters, free from rent, and free to party. Having found the ideal squat, they break in and go about the merry business of dressing the stark interior to reflect their artistic selves. Darkness pervades their new dwelling place, a darkness through which they discover the full implications of their intrepid choice. A nightmare unfolds that traps the viewer and protagonists alike in a terrifying and unforgiving new reality. Who or what is orchestrating their bloody demise and why? The house appeared to be empty and yet a malevolent force is clearly at work.

Brighton Rock

ccostales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:30:32 +0000

Based on Graham Greene’s chilling 1938 novel, BRIGHTON ROCK is the hard-boiled, visually captivating debut film of Rowan Joffe. An official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, the film features an incredible cast of both British acting royalty and brilliant newcomers. Sam Riley (CONTROL) is the young antihero Pinkie, a cunning charmer trying to make his mark on the vicious gangland of Brighton. When a young waitress (Andrea Riseborough, who was nominated for 2 BIFAs for her breakthrough performance) stumbles on evidence that links Pinkie and his gang to a revenge killing, he draws her into a conned romance to keep
the loose end tied up. When Rose’s world-weary boss (Oscar-winner Helen Mirren) becomes suspicious of the enigmatic young man hanging around her charge, the tangled web becomes a deadly game of psychological cat-and-mouse – an atmostpheric mystery-noir that fully
captures the mood of Greene’s violent and sexually daring masterpiece.

Flypaper

ccostales — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:04:56 +0000

Tripp Kennedy (Patrick Dempsey) ambles into a bank near closing time, just as two different gangs unwittingly converge to rob it. A shoot-out erupts, and Tripp tackles the smart, pretty teller, Kaitlin (Ashley Judd), to protect her. The gangs–one clearly made up of pros and the other a couple of buffoons–have deadlocked themselves in a Mexican standoff. The bank’s security system starts the end-of-day lockdown and seals everyone into the building. As the night evolves, a hilarious game of cat and mouse ensues as Tripp and Kaitlin try to save the day, escape being killed, and avoid falling in love…almost.

The Shrine

ccostales — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 20:06:48 +0000

After a young American backpacker goes missing in Europe, a group of journalists link his disappearance to a remote village in Poland. They travel there hoping to get the story, but as they unravel the secrets behind this mysterious village, they are suddenly pursued by hostile locals. Unable to escape, they soon become the next victims of ritualistic human sacrifice. Forced into the gruesome reality of true survival horror, the journalists will discover that this village hides a much darker secret than they could ever imagine.

Autoerotic

ccostales — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:23:26 +0000

Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard’s AUTOEROTIC follows four interconnected Chicago couples as they explore the boundaries of self-pleasure and sexual exploration. Through a unique blend of outrageous comedy and in-your-face sex, AUTOEROTIC insightfully illuminates the private sexual lives of America’s urbanites.

The Myth of the American Sleepover

ccostales — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 16:09:55 +0000

An official selection of Cannes Critics Week and winner of the Special Jury Prize at SXSW, THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER is a youthful and tender coming-of-age drama from first-time writer/director David Robert Mitchell.

In the tradition of free-wheeling tributes to adolescence like DAZED & CONFUSED, the film follows four young people (a cast of brilliant young newcomers in their feature film debuts) on the last night of summer - their final night of freedom before the new school year starts. The teenagers cross paths as they explore the suburban wonderland they inhabit in search of love and adventure - chasing first kisses, elusive crushes, popularity and parties - and discover the quiet moments that will later resonate as the best in their youth.

Salvation Boulevard

ccostales — Wed, 25 May 2011 15:33:44 +0000

SALVATION BOULEVARD is a modern comedy based on the book of the same title by Larry Beinhart (WAG THE DOG) about Pastor Dan Day, a charismatic evangelical preacher (Pierce Brosnan) who has captivated a small western American town with his charm – and the promise of a sweet real estate development.

Carl (Greg Kinnear) is a former follower – not of Christ, but of the Grateful Dead – who has since become “found” in Dan’s Evangelical community, serving as one of the preacher’s great examples of spiritual and moral transformation. But Carl’s new belief system is turned upside down when he witnesses a sinful act that Pastor Dan’s doughy henchman (Jim Gaffigan) aims to cover up.

In the meantime, Carl finds himself on the run, torn between Honey (Marisa Tomei), a security guard who still follows the Dead and partakes in those pleasures, and his militantly devout wife (Jennifer Connelly, as you’ve never seen her) and her daughter (Isabelle Fuhrman), who is herself on the eve of taking a vow of sexual purity.

Puzzle

ccostales — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:01:16 +0000

Maria del Carmen is a forty-something housewife whose only concern over the past twenty years has been the well-being of her husband and of her now grown-up kids. But when she is offered a puzzle for her birthday, she suddenly discovers she has a very special gift: she can assemble puzzles really fast!

Intrigued by an ad “Looking for Partner for Puzzle Competitions” in her local store, she decides to live her new addiction fully, no matter how unsupportive her family is. Together with the author of the ad, a magnetic millionaire bachelor, she trains to the rules of the game, even if it means lying to her husband… Maria is determined to take things to a new level: she dreams of winning the national tournament and traveling to Germany for the World Puzzle Championship.

Tabloid

ccostales — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:43:11 +0000

Thirty years before the antics of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears were regular gossip fodder, Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney made her mark as a tabloid staple ne plus ultra. Morris follows the salacious adventures of this beauty queen with an IQ of 168 whose single-minded devotion to the man of her dreams leads her across the globe, into jail, and onto the front page. Joyce’s labyrinthine crusade for love takes her through a surreal world of kidnapping, manacled Mormons, risqué photography, magic underwear, and celestial sex—until her dream is finally realized in a cloning laboratory in Seoul, South Korea.

By turns funny, strange, and disturbing, TABLOID is a vivid portrayal of a phenomenally driven woman whose romantic obsessions and delusions catapult her over the edge into scandal sheet notoriety and an unimaginable life.

The Wave

ccostales — Wed, 18 May 2011 14:16:56 +0000

Germany today. During project week, high school teacher Rainer Wenger (Jürgen Vogel) comes up with an experiment in order to explain to his students how totalitarian governments work. A role-playing game with tragic results begins. Within a few days, what began with harmless notions like discipline and community builds into a real movement: THE WAVE. By the third day, the students start ostracizing and threatening others.

When the conflict finally erupts into violence at an intramural water polo game, the teacher decides to break off the experiment. But it’s too late. THE WAVE is out of control…

Acolytes

ccostales — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 18:13:44 +0000

Teenagers Mark (Sebastian Gregory) and James (Joshua Payne) are victims of Gary Parker (Michael Dorman), a local thug not much older than them who has brutalized and abused them all their lives. In their last year of high school, James and Mark find a way to stop being victims.

They’re going to kill Gary…

Love Wedding Marriage

ccostales — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:02:42 +0000

Mandy Moore is a marriage counselor whose life as a newly wed married to Kellan Lutz (Twilight) is turned upside down when she discovers her parents’ happy marriage is unexpectedly headed for divorce. Determined to reconcile her parents for their 30^th anniversary surprise party she stops at nothing plunging from one compromising situation to another. Will she destroy her own marriage and her professional life in her attempt to get her parents back together? Romantic Comedy veteran Dermot Mulroney directs.

We Are The Night

ccostales — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 15:29:39 +0000

Dennis Gansel, director of the critically acclaimed THE WAVE, explores a seething dark side of Berlin in the WE ARE THE NIGHT. Following a sect of seductive female vampires that hide out in the city’s alternative clubs, enjoying the luxury and pleasures their attained immortality provides them and wreaking horror on a string of unsuspecting victims, the film is a brilliantly stylized vision of the classic vampire myth — a sensual, charismatic thrill ride fascinated with all aspects of the night.

L’Amour Fou

ccostales — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 16:59:51 +0000

The public life of Yves Saint Laurent was as extravagant as it was decadent, as a design prodigy and then the grand coutourier of an fashion empire he influenced fifty years of style — but few are familiar with the private life of the legend. In Pierre Thoretton’s L’AMOUR FOU, Pierre Bergé, the man with which YSL shared four decades of his life and love, reflects on the equally extravagant history of their personal relationship. Framed around the 2009 auction of the priceless, elaborate art collection amassed by Yves and Pierre personally over several decades, this extraordinary documentary provides an unprecedented look at the life of a mythic personality, whose personal life matched his public for elegance, extravagance and passion.

An official selection of the Toronto and TriBeCa Film Festivals, L’AMOUR FOU is an un-missable film event for fans of documentary film and fashion die-hards alike.

The Trip

ccostales — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:11:46 +0000

THE TRIP brings director Michael Winterbottom and the hilarious Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, A COCK AND BULL STORY) back together in a side-splitting road comedy. The film follows the pair on a hysterical odyssey that has won over audiences at the Toronto and Tribeca Film Festivals, and has critics rolling in the aisles.

When Steve Coogan is asked by The Observer to tour the country’s finest restaurants, he envisions it as the perfect getaway with his beautiful girlfriend. But, when she backs out on him, he has no one to accompany him but his best friend and source of eternal aggravation, Rob Brydon. As the brilliant comic duo, freestyling with flair, drive each other mad with constant competition and showdowns of competing impressions (including dueling Michael Caines, Sean Connerys and Al Pacinos), the ultimate odd couple realize in the end a rich amount about not only good food, but the nature of fame, relationships and their own lives.

The Ledge

ccostales — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:05:14 +0000

CLICK HERE TO WATCH NOW!

One step can change a life forever in THE LEDGE, a sexy and suspenseful thriller, starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard.

After embarking on a passionate affair with his evangelical neighbor’s wife (Tyler), Gavin (Sons of Anarchy’s Hunnam) soon finds himself in a battle of wills that will have life or death consequences. As a nonbeliever, Gavin is lured by his lover’s husband (Insidious’s Wilson) to the ledge of a high rise and told he has one hour to make a choice between his life or the one he loves. Without faith in an afterlife, will he be able to make a decision? It’s up to police officer Hollis (Howard) to save both their lives, but the clock is ticking in this edge-of-your-seat film that will leave you gasping until the final frame.

Stake Land

ccostales — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:16:21 +0000

In a fierce, alternative vision of America’s bleak future, a young boy is about to learn how cruel the world can be. Martin was a normal teenage boy before the country collapsed in an empty pit of economic and political disaster.

And from the ashes rose a new breed of terror. A vampire epidemic has swept across what is left of the nation’s abandoned towns and cities, and it’s up to Mister, a death dealing, rogue vampire hunter, to get Martin safely north to Canada, the continent’s New Eden.

Welcome to Stake Land, kid…

Buck

ccostales — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 22:49:39 +0000

“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will.” So says Buck Brannaman, a true American cowboy and sage on horseback who travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems.

BUCK, a richly textured and visually stunning film, follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. A real-life “horse-whisperer”, he eschews the violence of his upbringing and teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment. Buck possesses near magical abilities as he dramatically transforms horses – and people – with his understanding, compassion and respect. In this film, the animal-human relationship becomes a metaphor for facing the daily challenges of life. A truly American story about an unsung hero, BUCK is about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds.

Kidnapped

ccostales — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:42:22 +0000

Jaime, Marta and their daughter Isabel, a well-off family, move to a luxurious new house. The parents are going through a rough patch but have decided to give their relationship one last chance.

On the first evening in their new home, a group of three hooded men burst into the house. Their objective: To get as much money as possible out of them in one night.

The Silent House - La Casa Muda

ccostales — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:35:22 +0000

Based on a true story that happened in the late 40’s in a small village in uruguay. Filmed in one single continuous shot of seventy eight minutes, “La Casa Muda” focuses on Laura, who, second by second, intends to leave a house which hides an obscure secret, unharmed.

“The Silent House is a different independent film in its genre, filmed with a digital camera in one single shot, without any cuts and in real time. It’s the first horror film in the world that discovers fear without tricks in one sequence of 78 minutes. It’s also the first feature film that was completely filmed with the digital camera Canon Mark II. This camera offers extraordinary possibilities as it can shoot in high definition real full Hd video, it transcends the limits of photography.”

X

ccostales — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:29:27 +0000

From the director of ACOLYTES, “X” is a sizzling thriller about love, chance, escape and the oldest profession in the world, as experienced by two beautiful women on one ugly night that will change their lives forever.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

ccostales — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:49:36 +0000

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, a breathtaking new 3D documentary from the incomparable Werner Herzog (ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, GRIZZLY MAN) follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. A hit at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS is an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago — almost twice as old as any previous discovery.

An Invisible Sign

ccostales — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:37:10 +0000

Mona Gray is a 20-year-old loner who, as a child, turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Mona now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises. ...

The Imperialists Are Still Alive

ccostales — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:45:51 +0000

A successful visual artist working in post-9/11 Manhattan, Asya lives the life of the hip and glamorous, replete with exclusive art parties, supermodels, and stretch limousines while she carefully follows the situation in the Middle East on television. Asya learns that her childhood friend, Faisal, has disappeared—the victim of a purported CIA abduction. That same night, she meets Javier, a sexy Mexican PhD student, and romance blossoms. Javier finds Asya’s conspiracy theories overly paranoid—but nothing in Asya’s world is as it seems. Asya’s life is reflective of the themes of cultural fusion, and the complications and humor that arise simultaneously out of everyday life.

Zeina Durra’s atmospheric debut feature is an alluring and intelligent look at the way the war on terror seeps into the texture of everyday American life. Gorgeous 16 mm grain imbues the film with an anachronistic feel that interestingly evokes times past. The Imperialists Are Still Alive! is an exceptional work and heralds the arrival of Durra as an exciting new directorial talent.

Wrecked

ccostales — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:13:12 +0000

Adrien Brody stars as a man who awakens in a mangled car-wreck at the bottom of a steep cliff. Injured and trapped inside, with no memory of how he got there or who he is, he must rely on his most primal instincts to survive. But as he attempts to free himself from the carnage and escape an impossible situation, a darker side is revealed. Even if he manages to survive, the man may have to face the horrible consequences of an earlier, forgotten life.

Park Benches

ccostales — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:46:03 +0000

With over 86 speaking parts, Podalydès has assembled an all-star, ensemble cast including Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, and Chiara Mastroianni in this film about the everyday lives of Parisians living in the wealthy suburb of Versailles. Park Benches is a witty, incisive examination of contemporary France and urban alienation that was a huge success on its theatrical release in France. The film is the final entry in Podalydès’ “Versailles Trilogy,” which also includes A Night in Versailles and Only God Sees Me. Denis Podalydès plays the protagonist in all three films, but each stands on its own and can be seen without being familiar with the others.

They’re Out of the Business

ccostales — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:27:58 +0000

A decade and a half after their seminal indie film launched meteoric filmmaking careers, Splick and Jason find themselves staring at their own individual, pre-midlife crises. Having not spoken to one another since a late-nineties falling out, they’re each grappling with the challenges of stalled careers and relationships, as the hands of time creep ominously past forty-o’clock.

Choose

ccostales — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 23:25:53 +0000

All is not well in sleepy suburbia….Woken in the middle of the night, teenager Sara finds her parents tied to their bed by a terrifying intruder. An intricate hour-glass filled with blood is placed before her and she is told that she has 60 seconds to choose which of her parents should die. If she doesn’t make the choice then both of them will perish at the hands of the deranged killer. Who is the scarred man and why has he chosen Sara and her family as his victims? Marcus Graves’ new slasher flick will have you squirming in your seat as the gruesome horror unfolds.

Cracks

ccostales — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:17:29 +0000

CRACKS, the dazzling debut film from Jordan Scott (daughter of legendary director Ridley Scott), stars Eva Green as Miss G, a glamorous force in an idyllic British boarding school. The school’s most elite clique, led by Di (Juno Temple), rule the school and compete for the attention of Miss G, who thrives on the girls’ fascination and eggs them on with lessons in a scandalously liberated world view. But, when a beautiful Spanish girl, Fiamma (Maria Valverde), appears at the school, the girls are immediately threatened by the outsider’s perfect allure. Even Miss G, who loved being the most glamorous presence in her girls’ lives, becomes obsessed with, threatened and tantalized by Fiamma…

An official selection of the Toronto and London BFI Film Festivals, CRACKS is an elaborate drama teeming with psycho-sexual intrigue, featuring a terrific young cast and a blistering performance from Eva Green.

Mad Bastards

ccostales — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:04:17 +0000

Brendan Fletcher’s MAD BASTARDS follows TJ who is a “mad bastard,” and his estranged 13-year-old son Bullet who is on the fast track to becoming one, too. After being turned away from his mother’s house, TJ sets off across the country to the Kimberly region of northwestern Australia to make things right with his son. Grandpa Tex has lived a tough life, and now, as a local cop, he wants to change things for the men in his community. Crosscutting between three generations, the film is a raw look at the journey to becoming a man and the personal transformation one must make. Developed with local Aboriginal communities and fueled by a local cast, MAD BASTARDS draws from the rich tradition of storytelling inherent in Indigenous life. Using music from legendary Broome musicians “The Pigram Brothers”, Fletcher (who wrote and directed) poetically fuses the harsh realities of violence, healing, and family. The film will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 24. The film will be shown in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section.

These Amazing Shadows

ccostales — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 18:44:43 +0000

Paul Mariano and Kurt Norton’s THESE AMAZING SHADOWS asks the question: what do films like Casablanca, Blazing Saddles and West Side Story have in common? As the government-appointed protector of our cinematic legacy, the National Film Registry selects culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant works for preservation in the Library of Congress. From award-winning features to music videos, experimental films to home movies, each Registry selection reflects a truth of its time or a standout artistic vision. Through interviews with Registry board members, archivists, and notable filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Rob Reiner, John Waters, John Singleton, John Lasseter and Barbara Kopple, the filmmakers demonstrate the way film documents artistic and societal milestones. Guided by a true cinephile’s love of the medium and a treasure trove of archival footage, the film molds a cultural history from pieces of film, offering a microcosm of the work of the National Film Registry and making a powerful case for film preservation. The film will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 22. The film will be shown in the Documentary Premieres section.

Septien

ccostales — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:35:10 +0000

Michael Tully’s SEPTIEN follows Cornelius Rawlings who returns to his family’s farm eighteen years after disappearing without a trace. While his parents are long deceased, Cornelius’s brothers continue to live in isolation on this forgotten piece of land. Ezra is a freak for two things: cleanliness and Jesus. Amos is a self-taught artist who fetishizes sports and Satan. Although back home, Cornelius is still distant. In between challenging strangers to one-on-one games, he huffs and drinks the days away. The family’s high-school sports demons show up one day in the guise of a plumber and a pretty girl. Only a mysterious drifter can redeem their souls on 4th and goal. Triple-threat actor/writer/director Tully creates a backwoods world that’s only a few trees away from our own, complete with characters on the edge of sanity that we can actually relate to. A hero tale gone wrong, SEPTIEN is funny when it’s inappropriate to laugh, and realistic when it should be psychotic. The film will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 23.

Uncle Kent

ccostales — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:23:43 +0000

Joe Swanberg makes his first Sundance appearance with his most mature film, UNCLE KENT, an achingly true-to-life modern comedy about aging, loneliness, desire, and the awkward intimacies of online friendship. The film follows 40 year-old Kent (Kent Osborne) who is an unmarried children’s-show writer living alone with his cat in Los Angeles. He spends his days sketching gag cartoons and bouncing ideas off his hyperactive friend, Kev (Kevin Bewersdorf), and his nights staving off loneliness in Internet chat rooms. When one of Kent’s online acquaintances, environmental journalist Kate (Jennifer Prediger), crashes at his house for the weekend, he finds himself attracted to her coquettish manner and frank emotional openness but sexually frustrated by her fidelity to a distant boyfriend. Shot on location in Los Angeles, UNCLE KENT advances many themes and elements found in Swanberg’s early films (Hannah Takes The Stairs, Nights and Weekends, Alexander the Last), including freely improvised dialogue, art-mirrors-life setups, and a renewed emphasis on how technology and other social media enable (or disable) human connection. The cast includes previous collaborators Kent Osborne and composer/actor Kevin Bewersdorf, director Josephine Decker, and newcomer Jennifer Prediger. The film, which marks Swanberg’s Park City debut, will make its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and simultaneously on-demand on January 21.

Cold Weather

krkail — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:23:55 +0000

After abandoning a promising academic career in forensic science, a self-styled Sherlock Holmes, Doug (Cris Lankenau), returns to Portland to live with his more responsible big sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn). He lands a dead-end job working in an ice factory, but soon finds an opportunity to use his passion and skill in detective work when his ex-girlfriend, Rachel (Robyn Rikoon) goes missing. Enlisting a team of ramshackle slacker-sleuths, Doug leads his team down a complex trail of clues and increasingly close to the discovering the mysterious truth about Rachel.

COLD WEATHER is a charming mystery — simultaneously a rich detective story and an affecting tale of siblings uniting after years apart. With it’s own idiosyncratic spin on familiar genre conventions, the film features the lyrical style, lush camera work and naturalistic performances that have established director Aaron Katz (DANCE PARTY USA, QUIET CITY) as a major talent to watch. COLD WEATHER premiered to critical acclaim at the 2010 SXSW, San Francisco and Los Angeles Film Festivals.

In Her Skin

ccostales — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 23:03:30 +0000

This is a true story. Consumed with self-loathing, nineteen year old Caroline covets, stalks, abducts then murders fifteen year old Rachel Barber whom she considers “perfect”; everything she is not: beautiful, self-assured, happy. Rachel’s disappearance triggers an electric reaction from her parents and her boyfriend. Despite police indifference, they mount a very public campaign to find her. Ultimately they succeed. They “bring her home” to be buried.

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures

kdidhebani — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:38:56 +0000

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES follows independent filmmaker Chris Waitt as he interviews his ex-girlfriends in an attempt to find out why they dumped him. This revealing and humorous documentary sees the slacker filmmaker go on a sexual and emotional odyssey in a desperate quest to solve his innumerable problems.

Dream Home

ccostales — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:50:48 +0000

When she was a child, Cheng Lai-sheung (Josie Ho) could see Hong Kong’s famed Victoria Harbour from her apartment. But as time passed, the old buildings in front of her home were demolished to make way for a huge residential project that now blocks her view. Increasingly disappointed and upset, she vowed to one day save up enough money for her family to move into a new apartment with a magnificent sea view.

In order to get what she wants, she must take matters into her own hands…even if it means getting her hands seriously bloody.

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man

ccostales — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 15:18:36 +0000

Calm office worker Anthony, son of an American father and a Japanese mother, lives in Tokyo with his wife Yuriko and their little son Tom. Since Anthony’s mother died of cancer, his scientist father has been overly fearful for their health and rigidly subjects Anthony and Tom to monthly physicals. Walking home, Tom is killed in a hit and run before Anthony’s eyes. Losing their boy pushes Yuriko over the edge and triggers violent emotions in Anthony, whose body begins to transform. Little by little, his cells turn into iron. When the driver who killed Tom reappears and Anthony learns the truth about his father’s past experiments on human guinea pigs and about his mother’s death, Anthony mutates into a mass of metal – a human weapon fuelled by an uncontrollable rage.

Exorcismus

ccostales — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:41:34 +0000

Fifteen-year-old Emma Evans is like any other teenage girl; she thinks that her parents don´t understand her. She longs for independence and a life free of family ties and responsibilities and she is prepared to do anything to achieve it. But one day she will be forced to face up to the consequences of her actions.

Life seems to be carrying on as normal, until one day Emma starts experiencing frightening fits. Her parents are convinced that her problems are either medical or psychological, but when doctors´ tests are unable to draw any conclusions, the family is forced to look elsewhere for answers.

It all started off as a bit of fun, Emma never really believed it, but the truth is there is something dark and sinister within her, and it won´t take long to surface.

Peep World

ccostales — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 17:46:48 +0000

On the day of their father’s 70th birthday party, four siblings come to terms with the publication of a novel written by the youngest sibling that exposes the family’s most intimate secrets. The film stars Michael C. Hall, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Ben Schwartz, Judy Greer, Kate Mara, Taraji Henson, Lesley Ann Warren and Ron Rifkin.