December 2009 Movies

Made for Each Other

The independently financed comedy stars Christopher Masterson as a man who, three months into a sexless marriage, cracks and has a one-night stand. He decides the only just way to rectify his mistake is to get his wife (Phillips) to cheat on him. With the help of his best friend (Levine), he sets out to find the right man (Warburton) to bed the missus. Danny Masterson will play an attorney waiting to handle what he figures is a sure-fire divorce.

Patrick Warburton, Bijou Phillips, Eric Lord, Danny Masterson, Christopher Masterson, Sam Levine, George Segal

Brothers

One of two brothers is sent to fight in Afghanistan while the other "black sheep" brother becomes caretaker to his wife and child.

Natalie Portman, Michael De Luca, Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tucker Tooley, Bailee Madison, Jim Sheridan, Joni Sighvatsson

Armored

A young armored car guard is persuaded by his veteran cohorts to empty the truck of its $10 million haul.

Sam Raimi, Matt Dillon, Columbus Short, Skeet Ulrich, Nimrod Antal, Dan Farah, Laurence Fishburne, Josh Donen

Everybody's Fine

Robert De Niro plays a widower who realizes his only connection to his children was through his deceased wife. So, he decides to take a trip to reconnect with his kids, and discovers they are living far from perfect lives.

Kate Beckinsale, Robert De Niro, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Drew Barrymore, Kirk Jones, Gianni Nunnari, Katherine Moennig

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham’s job as a Career Transition Counselor–he fires people–has kept him airborne for years. Although he has come to despise his line of work, he has come to love the culture of what he calls "Airworld," finding contentment within pressurized cabins, anonymous hotel rooms, and a wardrobe of wrinkle-free slacks. With a letter of resignation sitting on his boss’s desk, and the hope of a job with a mysterious consulting firm, Ryan Bingham is agonizingly close to his ultimate goal, his Holy Grail: one million frequent flier miles. But before he achieves this long-desired freedom, conditions begin to deteriorate.

Anna Kendrick, George Clooney, Ted Griffin, Vera Farmiga, Joe Medjuck, Jason Reitman, Michael Beugg, Ivan Reitman

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call...

In the movie, a re-imagining of the original movie starring Harvey Keitel, Nicolas Cage stars as a "cop on the edge". Val Kilmer will play his partner while Xzibit will play a baddie named "Big Fade".

Nicolas Cage, Val Kilmer, Eva Mendes, Jennifer Coolidge, Edward R. Pressman, Alan Polsky, Shawn Hatosy, Avi Lerner

Until the Light Takes Us

A documentary chronicling the history, ideology and aesthetic of Norwegian black metal.

Serious Moonlight

A high-powered attorney duct tapes her adulterous husband to the toilet right before their home is invaded by burglars.

Kristen Bell, Justin Long, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Andy Ostroy, Michael Roiff

Transylmania

Spoof horror in which a group of college kids do a semester abroad in Romania and realise that if the partying doesn't kill them, the vampires just might!

James DeBello, Jennifer Lyons, David Hillenbrand, Scott Hillenbrand, Patrick Cavanaugh, Paul Kim, Tony Denman

One Peace at a Time

Filmed in 20 countries, the documentary explores the insights of Nobel Laureates and others about improving the world.

Turk Pipkin

Paa

A politician's relationship with his unusually developed son - the child suffers from a disease that causes him to age rapidly, rendering him an old man.

Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, R. Balki

The Princess and the Frog

A musical set in the greatest city of them all, New Orleans, "The Princess and the Frog" marks Disney's return to the timeless art form of traditional animation. The film teams Ron Clements and John Musker, creators of "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," with Oscar-winning composer Randy Newman to tell the most beautiful love story ever told ... with frogs, voodoo, and a singing alligator.

John Goodman, John Musker, John Lasseter, Ron Clements, Keith David, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Cummings, Rob Edwards

Invictus

The film tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country. Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's underdog rugby team as they make an unlikely run to the 1995 World Cup Championship match.

Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, Gary Barber, Tim Moore, Mace Neufeld, Lori McCreary, Anthony Peckham

Did You Hear About the Morga...

The story is about a New York couple who witness a murder and consequently are put into a witness-protection program in Wyoming.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Hugh Grant, Marc Lawrence, Sam Elliott, Elisabeth Moss, Michael Kelly, Martin Shafer, Liz Glotzer

The Slammin' Salmon

A restaurant owner and former heavyweight champ pits his wait staff against each other in a "Glengarry Glen Ross"-like competish.

Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Jay Chandrasekhar, Michael Clarke Duncan, Erik Stolhanske, Peter E. Lengyel, Richard Perello

The Lovely Bones

The story of Susie Salmon, a young girl who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. She witnesses the effect of her loss on her loved ones, while her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again.

Mark Wahlberg, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Philippa Boyens, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon

A Single Man

The story is about a gay man (Colin Firth), who tries to go about his normal routines after the death of his partner. Matthew Goode will play Firth's former boyfriend, and Julianne Moore will be his friend.

Colin Firth, Matthew Goode, Tom Ford, Julianne Moore, David Scearce

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye...

A man acts out a play in his mind and kills his mother.

Willem Dafoe, Michael Shannon, Michael Peña, Chloë Sevigny, Brad Dourif, David Lynch, Werner Herzog, Herbert Golder

Tenderness

The film follows a violent teenager, Eric, whose life intertwines with Lori, a 16-year-old runaway who can't resist his charm. Crowe will play Lieutenant Cristofuoro, a cop who sets out to unravel Eric's complex past.

Russell Crowe, John Penotti, Jon Foster, Fisher Stevens, Tim Williams, Laura Dern, Howard Meltzer, Emil Stern

Rocket Singh: Salesman of th...

Harpreet Singh Bedi is a fresh graduate trying to find a balance between the maddening demands of the 'professional' way, and the way of his heart.

Ranbir Kapoor, Jaideep Sahni, Shimit Amin

Larger Than Life in 3D

Live concert footage of the Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper and Relentless7 and Gogol Bordello, shot at the three-day Austin City Limits festival in October 2009.

Lawrence Jordan

Broken Embraces

"Broken Embraces" is a four-way tale of amour-fou, shot in the style of '50s American film noir at its most hard-boiled, and will mix references to works like Nicholas Ray's "In a Lonely Place" and Vincente Minnelli's "The Bad and the Beautiful," with signature Almodóvar themes such as Fate, the mystery of creation, guilt, unscrupulous power, the eternal search of fathers for sons, and sons for fathers.

Penelope Cruz, Pedro Almodovar, Angela Molina, Kiti Manver, Blanca Portilla, Chus Lampreave

A Town Called Panic

During one of their adventures, Cowboy, Indian and Horse discover a strange and fascinating underwater world. While there, a conflict with the habitants is solved with the physical and geographical distribution of the two worlds.

Stephane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Veronique Dumont, Bouli Lanners

Crazy Heart

A down-on-his-luck, alcoholic country music singer is able to get his life and career back on track through his relationship and experiences with a female reporter

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, Scott Cooper, Jeff Bridges, Judy Cairo, Robert Carliner, Brian Gleason, Jeff Yapp

Ricky

When Katie, an ordinary woman, meets Paco, an ordinary man, something magical happens: a love story. From this union an extraordinary child is born: Ricky.

Francois Ozon

Avatar

"Avatar" is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people.

Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, James Cameron, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Jon Landau, Wes Studi

Nine

Famous film director Guido Contini reaches a creative and personal crisis and has to balance the numerous women in his life, including his wife, his mistress, his film-star muse, his agent and his mother.

Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Penelope Cruz, Anthony Minghella, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Day-Lewis

The New Daughter

The movie, based on a short story by noted horror-thriller writer John Connolly, follows a single dad who has moved his two children to a remote farm where a strange mound in the surrounding fields appears to be the key to his daughter's increasingly ominous behavior.

Kevin Costner, Luiso Berdejo, John Travis, Ivana Baquero

The Young Victoria

The film follows the early years of Queen Victoria's reign and her romance with Prince Albert.

Martin Scorsese, Thomas Kretschmann, Jim Broadbent, Paul Bettany, Graham King, Emily Blunt, Rupert Friend, Mark Strong

Fall Down Dead

Police are on the trail of a serial killer – following clues that are as barbaric as they are "artistic". They have called the criminal the "Picasso Killer": death is his inspiration, the carved bodies of his victims are his works of art.

Jon Keeyes, Dominique Swain, Udo Kier, David Carradine, Mehmet Gunsur, R. Keith Harris

Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham’s job as a Career Transition Counselor–he fires people–has kept him airborne for years. Although he has come to despise his line of work, he has come to love the culture of what he calls "Airworld," finding contentment within pressurized cabins, anonymous hotel rooms, and a wardrobe of wrinkle-free slacks. With a letter of resignation sitting on his boss’s desk, and the hope of a job with a mysterious consulting firm, Ryan Bingham is agonizingly close to his ultimate goal, his Holy Grail: one million frequent flier miles. But before he achieves this long-desired freedom, conditions begin to deteriorate.

Anna Kendrick, George Clooney, Ted Griffin, Vera Farmiga, Joe Medjuck, Jason Reitman, Michael Beugg, Ivan Reitman

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The...

Alvin, Simon and Theodore compete against The Chipettes in the $100,000 Battle of the Bands.

Justin Long, Jason Lee, Anna Faris, Matthew Gray Gubler, Wendie Malick, Zachary Levi, David Cross, Betty Thomas

It's Complicated

Meryl Streep will play a recent empty-nester who runs a successful bakery restaurant, who finds herself romantically torn between her persuasive exhusband (Alec Baldwin) and her new friend and architect played by Steve Martin.

Scott Rudin, Lake Bell, Meryl Streep, John Krasinski, Nancy Meyers, Hunter Parrish, Zoe Kazan, Steve Martin

Nine

Famous film director Guido Contini reaches a creative and personal crisis and has to balance the numerous women in his life, including his wife, his mistress, his film-star muse, his agent and his mother.

Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Rob Marshall, John DeLuca, Penelope Cruz, Anthony Minghella, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Daniel Day-Lewis

Sherlock Holmes

In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle's most famous characters, "Sherlock Holmes" sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.

Robert Downey Jr., Guy Ritchie, Rachel McAdams, Jude Law, Kelly Reilly, Lionel Wigram, Mark Strong, Dan Lin

The Imaginarium of Doctor Pa...

Dr. Parnassus has the gift of guiding the imaginations of others. With his traveling theater troupe, Parnassus offers audience members the chance to transcend reality by passing through a magical mirror.

Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Andrew Garfield, Samuel Hadida, Jude Law, Tom Waits, Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer

The Lovely Bones

The story of Susie Salmon, a young girl who is murdered but continues to observe her family on Earth after her death. She witnesses the effect of her loss on her loved ones, while her killer skillfully covers his tracks and prepares to murder again.

Mark Wahlberg, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Philippa Boyens, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon

The White Ribbon

Strange events happen at a rural school in the north of Germany during the year 1913, which seem to be ritual punishment.

Theo Trebs, Michael Haneke, Ulrich Tukur, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka, Margaret Menegoz, Michael Katz, Susanne Lothar