November 2009 Movies

With Yosuke Eguchi • Kazuaki Kiriya • Takashige Ichise • Tetsurô Takita

A highly stylized movie based on the life of legendary 16th century ninja and bandit Ishikawa Goemon.

With Yoav Shamir

An Israeli director travels the world to find out what anti-Semitism means in the modern world.

With James Marsden • Cameron Diaz • Gillian Jacobs • Frank Langella • Richard Kelly • Ted Field • Sue Baden-Powell • Terry Dougas • Basil Hoffman • Richard Matheson • Paris Kasidokostas Latsis

What if someone gave you a box containing a button that, if pushed, would bring you a million dollars...but simultaneously take the life of someone you don't know? Would you do it? And what would be the consequences? The year is 1976. Norma Lewis is a teacher at a private high school and her husband, Arthur, is an engineer working at NASA. They are, by all accounts, an average couple living a normal life in the suburbs with their young son...until a mysterious man with a horribly disfigured face appears on their doorstep and presents Norma with a life-altering proposition: the box. With only 24 hours to make their choice, Norma and Arthur face an impossible moral dilemma. What they don't realize is that no matter what they decide, terrifying consequences will have already been set in motion. They soon discover that the ramifications of this decision are beyond their control and extend far beyond their own fortune and fate.

With Jim Carrey • Colin Firth • Robert Zemeckis • Cary Elwes • Steve Starkey • Fionnula Flanagan • Bob Hoskins • Robin Wright • Jack Rapke

"Disney's A Christmas Carol", a multi-sensory thrill ride re-envisioned by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, captures the fantastical essence of the classic Dickens tale in a groundbreaking 3-D motion picture event. Ebenezer Scrooge (Jim Carrey) begins the Christmas holiday with his usual miserly contempt, barking at his faithful clerk (Gary Oldman) and his cheery nephew (Colin Firth). But when the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come take him on an eye-opening journey revealing truths Old Scrooge is reluctant to face, he must open his heart to undo years of ill will before it’s too late.

With George Clooney • Kevin Spacey • Jeff Bridges • Ewan McGregor • Peter Straughan • Rebecca Mader • Grant Heslov • Paul Lister

Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady (Academy Award winner George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the way wars are fought. A legion of “Warrior Monks” with unparalleled psychic powers can read the enemy’s thoughts, pass through solid walls, and even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program’s founder, Bill Django (Oscar® nominee Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady’s mission is to find him.

Intrigued by his new acquaintance’s far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks Django to a clandestine training camp run by renegade psychic Larry Hooper (two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey), the reporter is trapped in the middle of a grudge match between the forces of Django’s New Earth Army and Hooper’s personal militia of super soldiers. In order to survive this wild adventure, Bob will have to outwit an enemy he never thought possible.

With Joe Carnahan • Milla Jovovich • Olatunde Osunsanmi • Jeff Levine • Terry Robbins • Elias Koteas • Corey Johnson • Enzo Cilenti • Paul Brooks

In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document...until now.

Structured unlike any film before it, "The Fourth Kindis" a provocative thriller set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, where—mysteriously since the 1960s—a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered.

Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.

Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, "The Fourth Kind" exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film.

With Jonah Tulis • Blake J. Harris

Thirty-two regional winners meet in a Rock-Paper-Scissors championship.

With Paula Patton • Lee Daniels • Lenny Kravitz • Sherri Shepherd • Amina Robinson • Damien Paul • Gary Magness • Sarah Siegel-Magness • Nealla Gordon • Chyna Layne • Gabourey Sidibe

With sheer audacity and utter authenticity, director Lee Daniels tackles "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" and creates an unforgettable film that sets a new standard for cinema of its kind. Precious Jones (Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe) is a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father's child - for the second time. She can't read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being fat. Her home life is a horror, ruled by a mother (Mo'Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious's instincts tell her one thing: if she's ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources. Don't be misled - "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" is not a film wallowing in the stillness of depression; instead, it vibrates with the kind of energy derived only from anger and hope. The entire cast are amazing; they carry out a firestorm of raw emotion. Daniels has drawn from them inimitable performances that will rivet you to your seat and leave you too shocked to breathe. If you passed Precious on the street, you probably wouldn't notice her. But when her story is revealed, as Daniels does in this courageous film, you are left with an indelible image of a young woman who - with creativity, humor, and ferocity - finds the strength to turn her life around.

With Ray McKinnon • Hal Holbrook • Scott Teems

An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm.

With John Cusack • Danny Glover • Thandiwe Newton • Woody Harrelson • Amanda Peet • Mark Gordon • Oliver Platt • Roland Emmerich • Harald Kloser • Dean Semler • Chiwetel Ejiofor • Michael Wimer • Larry Franco • Volker Engel • Marc Weigert • Aaron Boyd • Ute Emmerich

Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. "2012" is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

With Tom Sturridge • Philip Seymour Hoffman • January Jones • Debra Hayward • Nick Frost • Kenneth Branagh • Rhys Ifans • Liza Chasin • Bill Nighy • Jack Davenport • Ralph Brown • Chris O'Dowd • Richard Curtis • Tim Bevan • Eric Fellner • Hilary Bevan-Jones

Inspired by the British pirate radio revolution in the '60s, the majority of the film's shoot will take place in a large rusty metal fishing trawler moored off the coast of England in the very waters that kept the rock of the '60s booming into the U.K.

In 1966 -- arguably British pop music's finest era -- the BBC played only two hours of rock and roll every week. But pirate radio blasted rock and pop from the high seas 24 hours a day. And 25 million people -- more than half the population of Britain -- listened to these pirates every single day.

"The Boat That Rocked" is an ensemble comedy in which the romance takes place between the young people of the '60s and pop music. It's about a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz. Leading the cast are Philip Seymour Hoffman as The Count, a big, brash, American god of the airwaves; Bill Nighy as Quentin, the boss of Radio Rock -- a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea that's populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs; Rhys Ifans as Gavin, the greatest DJ in Britain who has just returned from his drug tour of America to reclaim his rightful position; Nick Frost as Dave, an ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny co-broadcaster; and Kenneth Branagh (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Hamlet) as British Minister Dormandy, a fearsome government official out for blood against the drug takers and lawbreakers of a once-great nation.

With Paula Patton • Lee Daniels • Lenny Kravitz • Sherri Shepherd • Amina Robinson • Damien Paul • Gary Magness • Sarah Siegel-Magness • Nealla Gordon • Chyna Layne • Gabourey Sidibe

With sheer audacity and utter authenticity, director Lee Daniels tackles "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" and creates an unforgettable film that sets a new standard for cinema of its kind. Precious Jones (Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe) is a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father's child - for the second time. She can't read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being fat. Her home life is a horror, ruled by a mother (Mo'Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious's instincts tell her one thing: if she's ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources. Don't be misled - "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" is not a film wallowing in the stillness of depression; instead, it vibrates with the kind of energy derived only from anger and hope. The entire cast are amazing; they carry out a firestorm of raw emotion. Daniels has drawn from them inimitable performances that will rivet you to your seat and leave you too shocked to breathe. If you passed Precious on the street, you probably wouldn't notice her. But when her story is revealed, as Daniels does in this courageous film, you are left with an indelible image of a young woman who - with creativity, humor, and ferocity - finds the strength to turn her life around.

With Woody Harrelson • Ben Foster • Jena Malone • Samantha Morton • Oren Moverman • Alessandro Camon

In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.

With Carla Gugino • Adrianne Palicki • Sebastian Gutierrez

A serpentine day in the life of ten seemingly disparate women: a porn star, a flight attendant, a psychiatrist, a masseuse, a bartender, a pair of call girls, etc. All of them with one crucial thing in common. Trouble.

With Cate Blanchett • George Clooney • Meryl Streep • Scott Rudin • Bill Murray • Michael Gambon • Wes Anderson • Helen McCrory • Noah Baumbach • Jason Schwartzman • Jarvis Cocker • Eric Anderson • Wally Wolodarsky

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (George Clooney and Meryl Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost.

With Emmy Rossum • Alan Cumming • Rooney Mara • Zach Gilford • Ana Gasteyer • Mary Jane Skalski • Adam Salky • David Brind • Jason Orans

Three very different teenagers discover that, even in the safe world of a suburban prep school, no one is who she or he appears to be.

With Joseph Gordon-Levitt • Lynn Collins • Scott McGehee • David Siegel (II)

A young couple find one seemingly ordinary July 4th cleaved in two by the flip of a coin on the Brooklyn Bridge.

With Tony Leung • Chow Yun-Fat • Chang Chen • John Woo • Zhang Fengyi

In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minister Cao Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale, led by the Prime Minister, himself. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance. Numerous battles of strength and wit ensued, both on land and on water, eventually culminating in the battle of Red Cliff. During the battle, two thousand ships were burned, and the course of Chinese history was changed forever.

With Anna Kendrick • Kristen Stewart • Robert Pattinson • Jackson Rathbone • Ashley Greene • Justin Chon • Peter Facinelli • Mark Morgan • Michael Welch • Elizabeth Reaser • Edi Gathegi • Nikki Reed • Bill Burke • Sarah Clarke • Christian Serratos • Catherine Hardwicke • Heather Parry • Greg Mooridian • Melissa Rosenberg • Stephanie Meyer • Elliot Davis

Twilight" is an action-packed, modern day love story between a vampire and a human. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother remarries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn't expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she's ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than a mountain lion, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands – and he hasn't aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he's immortal. But he doesn't have fangs, and he doesn't drink human blood; Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for – a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will Edward and Bella do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre), the Cullens' mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for her?

With Sandra Bullock • Lily Collins • Tim McGraw • Quinton Aaron • Kathy Bates • Broderick Johnson • Molly Smith • Gil Netter • Jae Head • John Lee Hancock • Andrew Kosove • Erwin Stoff • Tim Bourne

"The Blind Side" depicts the remarkable true story of Michael Oher, a homeless African-American youngster from a broken home, taken in by the Touhys, a well-to-do white family who help him fulfill his potential. At the same time, Oher's presence in the Touhys' lives leads them to some insightful self-discoveries of their own. Living in his new environment, the teen faces a completely different set of challenges to overcome. As a football player and student, Oher works hard and, with the help of his coaches and adopted family, becomes an All-American offensive left tackle.

With Dakota Fanning • Kristen Stewart • Taylor Lautner • Robert Pattinson • Jackson Rathbone • Cam Gigandet • Graham Greene • Michael Sheen • Daniel Cudmore • Cameron Bright • Chris Weitz • Peter Facinelli • Gillian Bohrer • Wyck Godfrey • Alex Meraz • Christopher Heyerdahl • Charlie Bewley • Edi Gathegi • Patrick Wachsberger • Erik Feig • Melissa Rosenberg • Chaske Spencer • Bronson Pelletier • Kiowa Gordon • Tyson Houseman • Jamie Campbell-Bower

In "New Moon", Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black. Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and finds her loyalties tested.

With Paula Patton • Lee Daniels • Lenny Kravitz • Sherri Shepherd • Amina Robinson • Damien Paul • Gary Magness • Sarah Siegel-Magness • Nealla Gordon • Chyna Layne • Gabourey Sidibe

With sheer audacity and utter authenticity, director Lee Daniels tackles "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" and creates an unforgettable film that sets a new standard for cinema of its kind. Precious Jones (Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe) is a high-school girl with nothing working in her favor. She is pregnant with her father's child - for the second time. She can't read or write, and her schoolmates tease her for being fat. Her home life is a horror, ruled by a mother (Mo'Nique) who keeps her imprisoned both emotionally and physically. Precious's instincts tell her one thing: if she's ever going to break from the chains of ignorance, she will have to dig deeply into her own resources. Don't be misled - "Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire" is not a film wallowing in the stillness of depression; instead, it vibrates with the kind of energy derived only from anger and hope. The entire cast are amazing; they carry out a firestorm of raw emotion. Daniels has drawn from them inimitable performances that will rivet you to your seat and leave you too shocked to breathe. If you passed Precious on the street, you probably wouldn't notice her. But when her story is revealed, as Daniels does in this courageous film, you are left with an indelible image of a young woman who - with creativity, humor, and ferocity - finds the strength to turn her life around.

With Dwayne Johnson • Justin Long • Gary Oldman • Seann William Scott • John Cleese • Jessica Biel • Jorge Blanco • Joe Stillman • Guy Collins • Ignacio Pérez Dolset

The inhabitants of Planet 51 live in fear of alien invasion. Their paranoia is realized when an astronaut arrives from Earth. Befriended by a young resident, he has to avoid capture in order to recover his spaceship and try to return home.

With Woody Harrelson • Ben Foster • Jena Malone • Samantha Morton • Oren Moverman • Alessandro Camon

In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.

With Nicolas Cage • Avi Lerner • Val Kilmer • Jennifer Coolidge • Shawn Hatosy • Eva Mendes • Fairuza Balk • Werner Herzog • Xzibit • Danny Dimbort • Trevor Short • Edward R. Pressman • Stephen Belafonte • Alan Polsky • Gabriel Polsky • Boaz Davidson • William Finkelstein • Elliot Lewis Rosenblatt

In Werner Herzog's new film "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans," Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs -- while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a deeply intuitive, fearless detective reigning over the beautiful ruins of New Orleans with authority and abandon. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). Together they descend into their own world marked by desire, compulsion, and conscience. The result is a singular masterpiece of filmmaking: equally sad and manically humorous.

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

"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.

With Andy Wachowski • Joel Silver • Rick Yune • Jon Jashni • William Fay • Rain • Lana Wachowski • Matthew Sand • Naomie Harris • Ben Miles Sho Kosugi • James McTeigue • Thomas Tull • J. Michael Straczynski • Grant HIll

Raizo is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them...and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow, Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi, to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive...and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.

With Cate Blanchett • George Clooney • Meryl Streep • Scott Rudin • Bill Murray • Michael Gambon • Wes Anderson • Helen McCrory • Noah Baumbach • Jason Schwartzman • Jarvis Cocker • Eric Anderson • Wally Wolodarsky

Mr. and Mrs. Fox (George Clooney and Meryl Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers - Boggis, Bunce and Bean - who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr Fox at any cost.

With John Travolta • Matt Dillon • Robin Williams • Seth Green • Walt Becker • Kelly Preston • Ella Travolta • Andrew Panay • Peter Abrams • Robert Levy • David Diamond • David Weisman • Garrett Grant • Conner Rayburn • Lori Loughlin

Two best friends—one unlucky-in-love divorcee (Robin Williams) and the other a fun-loving bachelor (John Travolta)—have their lives turned upside down when they’re unexpectedly charged with the care of six-year-old twins while on the verge of the biggest business deal of their lives. The not-so-kidsavvy bachelors stumble in their efforts to take care of the twins (newcomers Ella Travolta and Conner Rayburn), leading to one debacle after another, and perhaps to a new-found understanding of what’s really important in life.

With Charlize Theron • Viggo Mortensen • Robert Duvall • Steve Schwartz • Guy Pearce • John Hillcoat • Nick Wechsler • Paula Mae Schwartz • Joe Penhall

Academy Award nominee Viggo Mortensen, Academy Award winners Robert Duvall and Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and 12-year-old Kodi Smit McPhee star in the big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Road" – the story of a man (Mortensen) and his young son (Smit-McPhee) traveling through a desperate, post-apocalyptic world.

With Zac Efron • Claire Danes • Ben Chaplin • Christian McKay • George Coulouris • James Tupper • Richard Linklater

Zac Efron will star as high school senior Richard Samuels—an age and grade level the actor knows well—who, while walking the streets of Manhattan one day, comes across Orson Welles' still unopened Mercury Theater, where the Shakespearean auteur, pre-Citizen Kane, is staging a production of Julius Caesar. Richard lands a bit part in the play and does a lot of growing up during his brief time under Welles' tutelage.

With John Lasseter • John Goodman • Oprah Winfrey • John Musker • Keith David • Anika Noni Rose • Jenifer Lewis • Rob Edwards • Jim Cummings • Ron Clements • Peter Del Vecho • Greg Erb • Jason Oremland • Craig Sost

When the free-spirited, jazz-loving Prince Naveen of Maldonia comes to town a deal with a shady voodoo doctor goes bad and the once suave royal is turned into a frog. In a desperate attempt to be human again, a favor in exchange for a fateful kiss on the lips from the beautiful girl, Tiana, takes an unexpected turn and leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana to the banks of the almighty Mississippi and back in time for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. An unforgettable tale filled with music, humor and heart where two frogs—along with the help of a 200-year-old voodoo priestess, a love-sick Cajun firefly, and a trumpet-playing alligator—discover that what they want isn’t as important as what they need

With Paddy Considine • Julia Stiles • Jamie Thraves

A troubled young man retreats from the big city and his ex-wife for the tranquility of a small town. He is drawn into a relationship with a young woman whose boyfriend ends up dead, leaving the new arrival as a suspect.