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An aspiring British screenwriter embarks on a surreal recovery mission after an elusive serial murderer known as the Karaoke Killer (Darrell Hammond) steals the car containing the latest draft of his original screenplay in this dark comedy from writer/director Steven Kampmann (The Couch Trip and Stealing Home). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Reiko Aylesworth, Krysten Ritter, Mike Starr, Darrell Hammond, Larry Hankin
- Director(s): Steven Kampmann
- MPAA Rating: NYR
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A disturbed London security guard becomes obsessed with The Human Centipede, and decides to follow in Dr. Heiter's footsteps by creating his own abomination in this self-referential sequel to the controversial horror hit. As a young boy, Martin (Laurence R. Harvey) was sexually and psychologically abused. Even though his father now languishes in prison, the damage done to him was far beyond repair. These days, Martin works the graveyard shift at a subterranean parking garage and lives at home with his loathsome mother. Meanwhile, his lonesome job affords him the perfect opportunity to indulge in his favorite pastime -- compulsively watching director Tom Six's sick horror classic The Human Centipede. And when Martin isn't watching the film, he can usually be found with his favorite scrapbook, which is bulging with Human Centipede memorabilia. Now, Martin's movie obsession is about to lead him down a frightening path of dark and deviant behavior; using Dr. Heiter's medical blueprints as his inspiration, Martin rents a warehouse and begins collecting victims to create his own version of the Human Centipede. But unlike Dr. Heiter, Martin is not an experienced surgeon and doesn't have state-of-the-art medical equipment at his disposal. Alas, Martin only has some duct tape, a staple gun, and some other basic household items. It may not be ideal, but it's enough to get the job done. And once Martin has all 12 pieces of the centipede -- including a very special one whom fans of the first film will immediately recognize -- his masterpiece will be complete. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast:
- Director(s): Tom Six
- MPAA Rating: NYR
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Award-winning filmmaker Steve James delivers another powerful look at life in urban America with this documentary. As gang violence became more common (and deadly) in the city of Chicago, social workers, activists, and educators founded a group called CeaseFire in 2000 to help curb the tide of aggression. CeaseFire's counselors work with at-risk youth in communities heavily impacted by violence to teach them that there are better ways to resolve personal conflicts than with guns, believing that the biggest problem isn't gangs but the notion of violent retribution so deeply ingrained in their culture. Many of CeaseFire's volunteers have backgrounds in youth gangs and understand all too well the lives of the people they work with, and in The Interrupters James spends a year following a handful of CeaseFire activists as they try to educate teenagers about the true consequences of gun violence one person at a time, sometimes with immediate success, sometimes with frustrating results. The Interrupters received its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi...Read More
- Cast:
- Director(s): Steve James
- MPAA Rating: NR
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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas star Johnny Depp returns to the wild world of Hunter S. Thompson in writer/director Bruce Robinson's adaptation of the Gonzo journalist's "lost" autobiographical novel of the same name. Dejected over life in New York City and at bitter odds with the Eisenhower-era conventions of the 1950s, nomadic journalist Paul Kemp (Depp) flees to Puerto Rico, where he quickly lands a job as a reporter for a San Juan newspaper. Drawing inspiration from author Ernest Hemingway's popular theory about "The Lost Generation," the newly liberated journalist develops a taste for rum as he becomes slowly entangled in the lives of American beauty Chenault (Amber Heard) and her shady husband, Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart), a wealthy real-estate developer. Later, as Sanderson's underhanded business dealings begin to emerge, Kemp's principles come into focus, and his writing style begins to mature in ways he never dreamed possible. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Rispoli, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins
- Director(s): Bruce Robinson
- MPAA Rating: R
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An Ohio family man experiences a series of disturbing visions that gradually begin to weigh on his marriage and community when he begins obsessively constructing a heavily fortified storm shelter. Curtis LaForche (Michael Shannon) has a good life. He lives in a beautiful house with his loving wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), and their deaf six-year-old daughter, Hannah (Tova Stewart), but begins to sense that something ominous is on the horizon when the dark clouds of swelling storms begin invading his dreams. Taciturn, Curtis refuses to discuss the dreams with anyone, but feels compelled to dig out a massive storm shelter with the help of a good friend (Shea Whigham). Meanwhile, as Samantha grows increasingly concerned with Curtis' erratic behavior, the local rumor mill begins to churn. Are Curtis' dreams a prophetic omen of things to come, or is he perhaps headed down the same dark road as his mother, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when she was approximately the same age that he is now? ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Tova Stewart, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon
- Director(s): Jeff Nichols
- MPAA Rating: R
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A recent college graduate keeps stumbling as she steps out into the real world in this independent comedy drama. Aura (Lena Dunham) has just graduated from a university in the Midwest, receiving a degree in film theory that even she seems to realize is essentially worthless. With no real prospects she returns home to her mother, Siri (Laurie Simmons), a successful photographer living in New York City. Aura's 17-year-old sister, Nadine (Grace Dunham), is about to graduate from high school and is choosing which college to attend in the fall; Aura is ostensibly back home to help Siri and Nadine during a hectic time, but they don't appear to particularly need or want her assistance. Aura befriends Jed (Alex Karpovsky), a minor celebrity thanks to his surreal YouTube videos, who insists he's in New York to take meetings for an upcoming TV project; he soon invites himself into Aura's bedroom as a semi-permanent guest, though he clearly has no interest in any sort of romantic or sexual relationship. With little else to do, Aura takes a job at a nearby restaurant and becomes smitten with Keith (David Call), one of the cooks; while he seems attracted to her, he also has a girlfriend and it isn't until they're both stoned one night that he makes his move in a rather unusual setting. Tiny Furniture was written and directed by Lena Dunham, who also plays Aura; Laurie Simmons and Grace Dunham are her mother and sister in real life as well as in the film, which was mostly shot in Simmons' actual apartment. The film was named Best Narrative Feature at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Lena Dunham, Merritt Wever, Amy Seimetz, Alex Karpovsky, David Call
- Director(s): Lena Dunham
- MPAA Rating: NR
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3 (2012)
A husband and wife are both tempted into infidelity, but they have more in common than they'd imagine in this comedy drama from German filmmaker Tom Tykwer. Hanna (Sophie Rois) and Simon (Sebastian Schipper) are a married couple in their early forties; she's the host of a television talk show and he's an engineer. Though Hanna and Simon get along well, the spark has clearly gone out of their relationship and both find themselves casually fantasizing about other people. When Hanna meets Adam (Devid Striesow), a handsome scientist with a background in genetics, she finds herself powerfully attracted to him, and they begin having an affair. This happens as Simon is struggling with the death of his mother and the news that he has testicular cancer. After surgery returns him to health, Simon is enjoying a swim at a public pool when he meets Adam; while Simon has never been attracted to men before, something about Adam strikes a connection within him, and before long the two are involved with one another. Adam has no idea that Hanna and Simon are married, and neither Simon nor Hanna realize that their spouse is also being unfaithful, but how long can this go on before the three parties all understand what's happening? Drei (aka Three) received its North American premiere at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Sophie Rois, Sebastian Schipper, Devid Striesow, Angela Winkler, Hans-Uwe Bauer
- Director(s): Tom Tykwer
- MPAA Rating: NR
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Christmas gets green as pot-smoking pals Harold and Kumar reunite for a hilariously hazy holiday adventure set six years after the events of the previous film. It's been a long time since Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) escaped from Guantanamo Bay, and these days they're just not as tight as they used to be. But as they each prepare to celebrate Christmas Eve with their new best buds, Kumar receives a very special delivery that should have gone to Harold. Always the dutiful friend, Kumar does his best to see that the package reaches its intended destination by the time sleigh bells start ringing. Unfortunately, while making the delivery Kumar causes Harold's family Christmas tree to go up in flames. Thankfully for Harold, the in-laws are away for the evening, giving him just enough time to track down a replacement and avoid the wrath of his wife's temperamental father. With the clock counting down to Christmas and the family returning home soon, Harold and Kumar race though New York City on a mad dash to find the perfect substitute tree. Neil Patrick Harris returns for more raunchy fun in a sequel also featuring Danneel Harris, David Krumholtz, and Eddie Kaye Thomas. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Neil Patrick Harris, Patton Oswalt, Danny Trejo
- Director(s):
- MPAA Rating: R
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Director Roland Emmerich takes a break from his long string of big-budget disaster films with Anonymous, a historical drama that suggests Shakespeare was a fraud. Edward de Vere (Rhys Ifans) is an aristocrat who yearns to write poetry and plays, but due to social and political constraints, he is forced to use a front for his political-minded works because they subtly encourage Queen Elizabeth to alter her plan for succession in a way that is in direct opposition to her most-trusted political advisers. When drunken, illiterate, fame-hungry actor William Shakespeare (Rafe Spall) passes off the plays as his own, de Vere finds his man, but eventually he is blackmailed when the morally dubious thespian wants more and more. Anonymous screened at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, David Thewlis
- Director(s): Roland Emmerich
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
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An average American family suffers from a grave and unexpected loss that forces its members to confront past issues in this all-star ensemble drama from acclaimed director Dennis Lee (Jesus Henry Christ). Julia Roberts stars as Lisa Taylor, the wife of a college professor, Charlie (Willem Dafoe), living in the Midwest. As the tale opens, the aging couple are proud parents of two grown and reasonably successful children, Michael (Ryan Reynolds) and Ryne (Shannon Lucio). Then tragedy strikes: not long after Michael arrives in town (visiting from Manhattan), Lisa perishes in a fatal car accident, leaving the family bereft of its matriarch. As the devastated Taylors feebly attempt to cope with their loss, tensions resurface that have long boiled beneath the surface between Charlie and Michael; meanwhile, Michael's estranged wife, Kelly (Carrie-Anne Moss), turns up at the funeral to pay her respects to Lisa and gradually begins making amends with Michael. When Michael announces to the family that he's planning to publish a memoir about his childhood, Lisa's younger sister, Jane (Emily Watson), grows horrified that it will unearth devastating long-buried skeletons from the family's past; moreover, it seems that prior to her death, Lisa was guarding one major secret of her own that lingers just out of view and threatens to destroy everyone's sense of familial security when it finally comes to light. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Willem Dafoe, Emily Watson, Carrie-Anne Moss
- Director(s):
- MPAA Rating: R
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Director Tom Shadyac (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Bruce Almighty) reveals how his near-fatal cycling accident forever altered his perception of the Hollywood rat race, and inspired him to make some profound personal changes in a bid to create a better world. At first, doctors told Shadyac he might never walk again. Incredibly, just a few years later, the man behind some of Hollywood's biggest comedies was back on his feet. But his outlook on the world had been inexorably altered, and shortly thereafter, Shadyac relocated from his posh L.A. home to a modest mobile home community. In this film, we follow the filmmaker as he discusses his life-altering experience while attempting to gain a stronger grasp on the human condition by speaking with such noted thinkers as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and Lynne McTaggart. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi...Read More
- Cast: Raymond L. Anderson, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, Lynne McTaggart, Daniel Quinn
- Director(s): Tom Shadyac
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
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Please be advised that short sections of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1" contain flashing light sequences that may cause seizures in people who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy.
At last, Bella (Kristen Stewart) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) are getting married. When Jacob (Taylor Lautner) finds out that Bella wants to spend her honeymoon as a human, he is horrified -- for Edward's passion could accidentally kill her. Bella does indeed survive her honeymoon, but a new complication arises when she discovers that she's pregnant -- and the child is growing at an alarming rate. The pregnancy sets the wolves against Bella and Edward, but Jacob vows to protect his friend....Read More
- Cast: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli
- Director(s): Bill Condon
- MPAA Rating: PG-13
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