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Lore

Directed by Cate Shortland Produced by Karsten Stöter, Liz Watts, Paul Watts, Paul Welsh & Benny Dreschel Written by Shortland & Robin Mukherjee, based on the novel The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert Released by Music Box Films Germany/Australia/UK. 108 min. Not Rated German with English subtitles With Saskia Rosendahl, Kai Malina, Nele Trebs, Ursina […]

The Playroom

Directed by Julia Dyer Written by Gretchen Dyer Produced by Stephen Dyer & Angie Meyer Released by Freestyle Releasing USA 83 min. Not rated With John Hawkes, Molly Parker, Olivia Harris, Jonathon McClendon, Alexandra Doke, Ian Veteto, Jonathan Brooks, Lydia Mackay & Cody Linley In this mini Deadwood cast reunion, Molly Parker and John Hawkes […]

Side Effects

Directed by Steven Soderbergh Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Gregory Jacobs and Scott Z. Burns Written by Burns Released by Open Road Films USA. 106 min. Rated R Starring Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Catherine Zeta-Jones & Vinessa Shaw Steven Soderbergh has threatened for some time now to quit making movies. His latest, the […]

The Pirogue

Directed by Moussa Touré Produced by Éric Névé, Oumar Sy, and Adrien Maigne Written by Névé & David Bouchet, based on a story by Abasse Ndione Released by ArtMattan Productions French, Wolof & Al Pelaar with English subtitles Senegal/France. 87 min. Not rated With Souleymane Seye Ndiaye, Mame Astou Diallo, Laïty Fall & Babacar Oualy […]

Clandestine Childhood

Directed by Benjamín Ávila Produced by Luis Puenzo Written by Ávila & Marcello Müller Released by Film Movement Spanish with English subtitles. Argentina/Spain/Brazil. 110 min. Not rated With Teo Gutiérrez Moreno, Natalia Oreiro, César Troncoso, Ernesto Alterio & Cristina Banegas In his debut feature film, director Benjamín Ávila draws on his own childhood to create a […]

56 Up

Directed by Michael Apted Produced by Apted & Claire Lewis Released by First Run Features UK. 144 min. Not rated With 56 Up, the granddaddy of longitudinal documentaries, impressively reaches grandparenthood. Michael Apted’s first job was as a researcher selecting a cross-section of 14 British seven year olds for the 1964 U.K. TV documentary Seven […]

Fairhaven

Written & Directed by Tom O’Brien, based on a story by O’Brien & Chris Messina Produced by Massoumeh Emami USA. 81 min. Not rated With Chris Messina, Rich Sommer, Tom O’Brien, Sarah Paulson, Alexie Gilmore, Natalie Gold, Alicia Racine, Maryann Plunkett & Phyllis Kay Long gone are the days when Fairhaven, Massachusetts inspired epic tales […]

The Best of 2012

With so many end-of-the-year releases garnering awards and nominations, you might ask the various selection committees and critics groups, “Where have you been?” Going over their 10 best lists, some overlap is inevitable, but it’s as if they have had amnesia for 10 months, overlooking many films released before November. And if you had a […]

Django Unchained

Written & Directed by Quentin Tarantino Produced by Stacy Sher, Reginald Hudlin & Pilar Savone Released by the Weinstein Company USA. 165 min. Rated R With Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, Walton Goggins, Jonah Hill, Bruce Dern & Franco Nero A filmmaker’s love for his art can […]