OPENING THIS WEEK
BIG BUDGET FILMS
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse This is episode three in the fantasy saga. It opens with high school graduation fast approaching, and Kristen Stewart as Bella, being forced to choose between her love of a vampire, played by Edward Pattinson, and her friendship with a werewolf, played by Taylor Lautner. The Pacific Northwest finds itself once more plagued by a string of mysterious slayings. With Anna Kendrick, Dakota Fanning and Bryce Dallas Howard. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is rated PG-13 for intense violence and some sensuality.
The Last Airbender M. Night Shyamalan directs this initial offering in a live- action trilogy based on the popular, animated TV show “Avatar.” First installment in the sci-fi fantasy series opens with the world at war and on the brink of destruction and revolves around the attempt of a young boy (Noah Ringer) to restore peace with the help of a couple friends (Nicola Peltz and Jackson Rathbone) and a flying bison (Dee Bradley Baker). With Dev Patel, Ali Khan and Rohan Shah. The Last Airbender is Unrated.
INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS
The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector (Unrated) BBC-produced bio-pic chronicling the rise and fall of the legendary songwriter and music producer who worked with everyone from The Ronettes to The Righteous Brothers to The Beatles until he received a life sentence last year for the 2003 murder of Lana Clarkson, a down on her luck actress he picked up at a bar. The Agony and Ecstasy of Phil Spector is Unrated.
Beautiful Islands This is a climate change documentary that chronicles the dramatic effect of global warming on three isles located at different latitudes: Venice, Italy, Shishmaref, Alaska and Tuvalu, Polynesia. Beautiful Islands is rated PG for violence, mild epithets, smoking and brief nudity.
Great Directors Filmmaking is the focus of this documentary comprised of conversations with ten of the best living directors: John Sayles, David Lynch, Bernardo Bertolucci, Richard Linklater, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Catherine Breillat, Todd Haynes, Agnes Varda and Liliana Cavani. Great Directors is Unrated.
Love Ranch Fact-based drama, set in Reno in the Seventies, revolving around the tempestuous marriage of the couple (Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci) who opened Nevada’s first legal brothel. Directed by Taylor Hackfford (Ray) with a support cast featuring Gina Gershon, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Ling Bai, Bryan Cranston and Scout Taylor-Compton. Love Ranch is R for violence, sexuality and pervasive profanity.
Only When I Dance (Unrated) Inspirational documentary examines the exploits of a couple of black teenagers, Irlan Santos da Silva and Isabela Coracy Alves Nascimento Santos, whose dedication to ballet enables them to enter international competitions and thereby escape the barrio of Rio de Janeiro. (In Portuguese and English with subtitles). Only When I Dance is Unrated.
