2009.4.24 NOW PLAYING
Monsters and Aliens (18)Animation, Sci-Fi / 94 / English
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Antonia’s Line (18)
Drama / 100 / Dutch
Antonia (Willeke van Ammelrooy) returns to the anonymous village of her birth in Holland, where she establishes and fosters an intimate matriarchal community. There, she reaches out to people living in seclusion, including a young woman who has been raped by her brother.
The film covers a wide range of themes from death and religion to lesbianism and intimacy. It won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Toronto International Film Festival People’s Choice award and the Nederlands Film Festival Golden Calf award. Filmed in Belgium.
Black Ice (18)
Drama / 104 / Finnish
Saara (Outi Maenpaa), a middle-aged doctor, discovers on her 40th birthday that her husband, Leo (Martti Suosalo), an architect and a professor. is seeing one of his female students, a young woman named Tuuli (Ria Kataja). Saara pretends that she does not know about the affair and finds herself attending Tuuli’s martial arts class, after which the two become fast friends.
Tuuli begins to open up to Saara, who hides her feelings of anger and jealousy and hatches a plan to take revenge on Tuuli and her husband.
Director-writer Petri Kotwica spent six years planning for the film, which was released in 2007. It won six awards, including best film at Finland’s Jussi Awards, and has been nominated for five.
Admiral (15)
War Drama / 123 / Russian
Admiral Kolchak (Konstantin Khabenskiy) is a respected war hero, beloved husband and loving father. The drama begins when one day he sees Anna (Elizaveta Boyarskaya), the love of his life. She is also his best friend’s wife. As his heartache intensifies, a revolution arises around him, threatening his life but cementing his destiny as a historic Russian leader.
White Tuft, the Little Beaver (PG)
Family / 77 / French
This film tells the tale of a beaver couple and their life in a dam. As the seasons pass, they have children, gather food, play, swim and protect their young from predators. One day, one of the young members of this forest family gets lost and the parents, in a panic, set off on a search. This suspenseful wildlife film features real animals and innovative photography. The family-friendly film was released in February 2008 in France and promises to be a touching adventure for young and old alike.
Tokyo Sonata (12)
Drama / 119 / Japanese
Kenji (Inowaki Kai), a sixth grader in elementary school, has a secret: He is learning to play the piano. His father, Ryuhei Sasaki (Teruyuki Kagawa), does not like the idea, but he, too, has a secret. In fact, the whole family appears to be hiding something. Kenji’s father has been fired but still pretends to go to work, his mother, Megumi Sasaki (Kyoko Koizumi), disappears with a stranger for a time and his brother has hopes of enlisting in the U.S. Army. As this ordinary Japanese family slowly disintegrates and begins to reassemble, there are unexpected lessons to be learned about family and life. The film, which was released in 2008, has won 10 awards at festivals around the world.
Cherry Blossoms: Hanami (18)
Romance / 127 / German
One day, Trudi (Hannelore Elsner) learns that her husband Rudi (Elmar Wepper) is dangerously ill, but she does not tell him. Still hiding the truth, she casually suggests that they visit their children in Berlin. Upon discovering that their children do not care about their parents, Rudi and Trudi go to the Baltic Sea, when tragedy strikes, leaving Trudi dead. Left alone, Rudi vows to live the life Trudi wanted to live, but is shocked to discover that she wanted something completely different from what he imagined.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Drama, Romance / 96 / English
Rebecca Hall plays Vicky, who, with her freewheeling best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), decides to while away the summer in Barcelona. Like many a good short story, the film is able to stay short and punchy and we learn in the film’s opening lines that Vicky is “grounded and realistic” and seeks “seriousness and stability” in a man, whereas Cristina is a risky romantic who’s not quite sure what she’s looking for. Woody Allen tackles his mission here in a quiet, casual way, with none of the soaring instrumentals and fanfare of Hollywood. The film provides an escape, but in the end pleasantly deposits its audience - and characters - back in the same mundane place where we started.
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