For movies opening December 9, 2011
BIG BUDGET FILMS
New Year’s Eve (PG-13 for profanity and sexual references) Serendipitous romantic comedy, ala Love Actually and Valentine’s Day, examining the relationships issues of a number of New Yorkers whose lives intersect as midnight approaches. Ensemble cast includes Robert de Niro, Ashton Kutcher, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank, Katherine Heigl, Zac Efron, Abigail Breslin, Jessica Biel, Seth Meyers, Ludacris and Josh Duhamel.
The Sitter (R for crude humor, coarse sexuality, violence, drug use and pervasive profanity) Jonah Hill stars in the title role of this raunchy road comedy about a suspended college student-turned-babysitter who takes the three kids left in his care (Max Records, Landry Bender and Kevin Hernandez) out for a wild night of debauchery all around the island of Manhattan. With Sam Rockwell, Ari Graynor and Method Man.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (R for violence, profanity, sexuality and nudity) Screen adaptation of John le Carre’s classic, espionage thriller, set at the height of the Cold War, about a disgraced, former head of British intelligence (Gary Oldman) who comes out of retirement to catch the Soviet mole who has infiltrated the agency’s highest echelons. With Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Toby Jones and John Hurt.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
Fanny, Annie & Danny (Unrated) Dysfunctional family drama about the tension which builds when three siblings (Jill Pixley, Carlye Pollack and Jonathan Leveck) return home for the holidays to their overbearing mother (Colette Keen) and emasculated father (George Killingsworth). With Nancy Carlin, Don Schwartz and Anne Darragh.
I Melt with You (R for profanity, violence, sexuality and pervasive drug use) Midlife crisis drama about the annual retreat taken by four, former college buddies (Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, Christian McKay and Thomas Jane) who agree to follow through with a macabre pact they entered into as classmates a quarter-century earlier. With Carla Gugino, Sasha Grey and Arielle Kebbel.
Knuckle (R for profanity and violence) Fight club documentary, shot over a 12-year period and narrated by Ian Palmer, chronicling the clandestine, Irish tradition of brutal, bare-knuckle boxing.
London River (Unrated) WMD drama about a white Christian woman (Brenda Blethyn) and a black Muslim man (Sotigui Kouyate) who discover that her missing daughter and his missing son had been living together at the time of the terrorist attacks on London’s subways and buses in the summer of 2005. Support cast includes Francis Magee, Roschdy Zem and Marc Baylis. (In English, French and Arabic with subtitles)
Red Hook Black (Unrated) Slice-of-life drama set against the backdrop of the Brooklyn waterfront where we find residents dealing with issues ranging from incest to sibling rivalry to the economy. Cast includes Kyle Fields, Danielle Lozeau, James Jackson and Victoria Negri.
Seducing Charlie Barker (R for sexuality and pervasive profanity) Social satire of NYC’s entertainment industry revolving around a married actor (Stephen Barker Turner) who suffers a fall from grace following a fling with a shallow social climber (Heather Gordon). With Daphne Zuniga, Steve Cell and Liam Vincent.
W.E. (Unrated) Madonna wrote and directed this flashback flick revisiting the forbidden romance of divorcee Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) and King Edward VIII (James D’Arcy) as reflected upon six decades later through the eyes of an American Southerner (Abbie Cornish) stuck in an abusive marriage. With Katie McGrath, Oscar Isaac and Richard Coyle.
We Need to Talk about Kevin (R for violence, disturbing behavior, sexuality and profanity) Ezra Miller plays the troubled title character in the screen adaptation of Lionel Shriver’s sobering best seller about a Columbine-style, high school massacre. With Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Siobhan Fallon.
Young Adult (R for profanity and sexuality) Bittersweet romance drama about a recently-divorced writer of children’s literature (Charlize Theron) who moves back to her tiny Minnesota hometown to win back her happily-married, high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson) only to instead form an unusual bond with another classmate (Patton Oswalt) left emotionally and physically scarred since senior year by an unfortunate tragedy. Movie marks the reunion of Juno’s creative team of director Jason Reitman, scriptwriter Diablo Cody and cinematographer Eric Steelberg.
