An unprecedented blend of real-life heroism and original filmmaking, Act of Valor stars a group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a powerful story of contemporary global anti-terrorism. Inspired by true events, the film combines combat sequences, up-to-the minute battlefield technology and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate action adventure. Act of Valor takes audiences deep into the secretive world of elite, highly trained group of warriors in the modern world. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the U.S., a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the valiant men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitment to country, team and their families back home. Each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the deadly terror plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from Ukraine to Somalia. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track the terrorist ring to the U.S.-Mexico border, where they engage in an epic firefight with an outcome that has potentially unimaginable consequences for the future of America.
Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, In the Land of Blood and Honey tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kosti) and Ajla (pronounced Ayla) (Zana Marjanovi), two Bosnians from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a Bosnian Serb police officer, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim artist, are together before the war, but their relationship is changed as violence engulfs the country. Months later, Danijel is serving under his father, General Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade erbedija), as an officer in the Bosnian Serb Army. He and Ajla come face to face again when she is taken from the apartment she shares with her sister, Lejla (Vanesa Glodjo), and Lejla’s infant child by troops under Danijel’s command. As the conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship changes, their motives and connection to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. In the Land of Blood and Honey portrays the incredible emotional, moral and physical toll that the war takes on individuals as well as the consequences that stem from the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict.
In 1980, a young scientist named Victor DeNoble was hired by a major tobacco company. Fourteen years later, he was testifying in front of Congress that, despite the sworn testimony of the industry’s chief executives, nicotine was addictive… and the research he did could prove it. Addiction Incorporated tells the true story of how one of the most important whistleblowers of our time dropped a bombshell on one of America’s most powerful industries- a bombshell that still reverberates today. If you think you know the story, if you think you know the science, and if you think you know Big Tobacco’s next steps, this incendiary documentary will prove you wrong on all counts.
For the young dancers at the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions, lifelong dreams are at stake. With hundreds competing for 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.
Boys will be boys. And if provoked in the right way, parents will become children. Such is the tale of Carnage, the latest film by infamously exiled Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski, adapted from the Olivier Award- and Tony Award-winning play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza. Oscar winner Jodi Foster and Oscar nominee John C. Reilly play the Longstreets, parents of a 15-year-old boy who is injured after fighting with a friend and classmate, the son of the Cowans, played by Oscar winners Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz. What starts as a civil meeting between conscientious parents turns into a war of words where no opponent comes out unscathed in this entertaining social satire.
As the film starts, we see the children on the playground from an objective distance. Although both the teens play the aggressor at one point or another, the Longstreet child is left injured, setting the balance of power for the adults. Later, at the home of the Longstreets, the two sets of parents collaborate on a written summary of the playground incident. The victim’s parents encourage a harsher characterization and the Cowans object. With mild dissent, an alternate depiction is inserted and the Cowans prepare to leave until, in a gesture of goodwill, they are invited back for a slice of pie. The forced cordial nature of their interaction is palpable and over the course of the next 80 minutes, minor every-day irritants creep into their conversation, causing each character’s facade to crumble.
A lot has been made of Shame, the controversial second film—or rather, the second controversial film—from British filmmaker Steve McQueen, way before its release.
A journey into the life of a sex addict named Brandon, played by Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, 2009) who came to fame in McQueen’s award-winning first feature Hunger (2008), we were told to imagine uninhibited scenes of sex and masturbation, the graphicness of which is odious depending on your sensibilities (more on that later). On another front, there was some concern that the only woman Brandon tries to have an actual relationship with is African-American (Nicole Beharie, The Express, 2008), as black audiences don’t want to see her get “turned out” (for lack of a less pejorative term) or for Brandon to find his soul in between a black woman’s legs, as happens pretty often in cinema (more on this later, as well).
The Descendants is the latest quirky comedy from writer/director Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt). It is based upon the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, which finds Matt King, a white descendant of Hawaiian royalty, dealing with several life-defining scenarios, including his family’s inheritance of Hawaii’s most valuable land; his wife’s coma-inducing boating accident; and the fact that he doesn’t really know—and therefore, cannot handle—his children. His life is further complicated once he learns that his wife was having an affair at the time of her accident, which drives him to embark on an impulse-driven journey to find his wife’s lover, and possibly closure. George Clooney plays King in this coming-of-middle-age comedy that touches on the true meaning of family.
Martha Marcy May Marlene is a psychological thriller about a young woman’s reintegration with society after escaping a farm-based commune with cult tendencies. Martha, who is renamed Marcy May by the cult in a common indoctrination tactic, escapes the commune physically, but is trapped mentally and emotionally by the cult’s brainwashing. Throughout the story, Martha’s past haunts her present and loosens her hold on reality.
Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the Super Hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012.
Expect audience reactions to the film Drive to be wildly polarized. From the advertisements and marketing, viewers are probably expecting to see the new Ryan Gosling actioner as a slightly repackaged, art-house reworking of The Transporter (2002). However, when I saw the movie recently, the audience was clearly (and in some cases, loudly) baffled, laughing at odd moments while shifting uncomfortably during others. Indeed, the film is set to confound expectations, for Drive is a fever-dream neo-noir film masquerading as cheap, commercial multiplex fodder. It is a mysterious, subversive work of art, veering close to the edge of self parody while also playing its material in ardent sincerity. With this essay, I want to explore Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film Drive as a metatextual exercise, and as such, will reveal spoilers along the way.
