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Front Page Marriage Story Contents Editioral Favourite Films of 2019 Favourite Film: MARRIAGE STORY Other Favourites: KNIVES OUT, AGNES BY VARDA, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
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Favourite Directors of 2019 Favourite Director:NOAH BAUMBACH (Marriage Story).Other Favourites RIAN JOHNSON (Knives Out), AGNES VARDA (Agnes by Varda) QUENTIN TARANTINO (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood)
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Favourite Actors of 2019 Favourite Actor: ADAM DRIVER (Marriage Story). Other Favourites: CHRISTIAN BALE (Le Mans '66), DANIEL CRAIG (Knives Out), LEONARDO DICAPRIO (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood)
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Favourite Actresses of 2019 Favourite Actress: ANA DE ARMAS (Knives Out). Other Favourites: SCARLETT JOHANSSON (Marriage Story), MARGOT ROBBIE (Once Upon A Time in Hollywood), JAMIE LEE CURTIS (Knives Out)
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Filmfest Follower - Sundance 2020 A glance at the Sundance Film Festival and its scheduled programme.
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Coming Soon A look at some of the films which you can look forward to seeing over the next few months inc: PARASITE * THE PHOTOGRAPH * THE TRUTH * NO TIME TO DIE * THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW.
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DVD Of the Month. DVDs of the Month: ADALEN 31 and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
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Back Cover (Poster) Marriage Story
PHOTO CREDITS: NETFLIX:1,4,32 LIONSGATE:5 IMDB:8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19 CINE TAMARIS: 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: We would like to thank the following for their help in providing material for this magazine. Eloise Fuller at Grapevine Digital, Nicki Foster at Premiercomms.com, Jane Knox at Netflix
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EDITORIAL Hello, 2020. We have another exiting year of movies that will entice you to your nearest arthouse cinema. This magazine will guide you to the best. Before we contemplate the future, Let’s take a retrospective look at our favourite films, directors, actors and actresses of 2019. Our cover feature is a scene from MbM’s Favourite Film of The Year: Marriage Story. A beautifully acted and directed movie that has captivated audiences and jury judges around the world. Next month we will all know if the film will win an Academy Award. When we really love a film, just reading about it makes it come back to us and replay in our minds. I hope you get the same feeling when you read reviews in MbM. Further features are FilmFest Follower which spotlights Sundance Film Festival, the first of the major international film festivals of the year. There is also 2 DVDs of the month.
Enjoy the read. Happy New Year!
Brian Mills
Magazine Editor
Paul Ridler
Magazine Designer
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FAVOURITE FILM OF 2019 MARRIAGE STORY Directed by Noah Baumbach Starring: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern
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Golden Globes, USA 2019: Best Performance by an Actress- Scarlett Johansson. Best Performance by an Actor - Adam Driver Netflix reopened the previously closed Paris Theatre in New York to exclusively play Marriage Story Marriage Story was the first Netflix film to be granted the longest theatrical release of 30 days Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson did 50 takes of the fight scene in Charlie’s apartment When Noah Baumbach’s partner Greta Gerwig first saw Marriage Story in the cutting room, she sent Noah a photo of herself crying after the opening montage In comparison to the rest of the film, the opening “What I love about…” montages were shot hand-held. This was to highlight the ordinary moments that often go unnoticed during a day but are pointed out by someone who loves you. It also sets up how these ordinary moments don’t go away even though circumstances change.
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OTHER FAVOURITE FILMS OF 2019
KNIVES OUT Directed by Rian Johnson Starring: Daniel Craig, Ana de Armas, Christopher Plummer, Chris Evans
A whodunnit that cuts deeper than most whodunnits you’ve ever seen. A film that adds humour to the rich cinematic concoction portrayed by a glittering cast that producers dream of getting. When Benoit Blanc is first seen by the audience, he is sitting in the study listening to Lieutenant Elliott question the Thrombey family members, playing the same note on the piano at seemingly random intervals. The piano notes are actually not random at all; after Balanc hits the piano key Lieutenant Elliott always asks the same question (What time did you arrive at the house) hitting the piano key was Blanc’s way of signalling to Elliott when he wanted him to ask the question. Tagline: Everyone has a motive. No one has a clue. American Film Institute Awards: Winner. National Board of Review USA: Winner. Philadelphia Film Festival: Audience Award: Winner.
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OTHER FAVOURTE FILMS OF 2019
VARDA BY AGNES Directed by Agnes Varda “Varda by Agnes” is a unique film exploring her work in fine arts creating “installations, atypical triptychs” and “shacks of cinema” made out of strips of celluloid from her films. And it sheds light on a neglected phase of her career, Varda’s stunning early work as a photographer in which she captured images of Fidel Castro, a young Catherine Deneuve and more quotidian scenes in black and white. The film had its World Premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on the 13th February 2019. “It’s a way of saying goodbye,” she said at the premiere. “I have to prepare myself to say goodbye and go away. It’s fine.” “I’m very fascinated by people, people in the street, people in my street. Wherever I travel or wherever I work, I really have a feeling that it’s interesting to approach people. But mostly the ones on the side, the overlooked people…I think so many people have light on them and photo and film, advertising, so I like the feeling that other people, simple people, deserve to be looked at very carefully.” Rosalie Varda worked closely with her mother for the last 10 years of her life. “She was 90 years old. She had a beautiful life. She worked really hard, she passed away in her house with her family.”
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OTHER FAVOURITE FILMS OF 2019
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Directed by Quentin Tarantino Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
American Film Institute 2020 Winner: Movie of the Year Opened on 21st May 2019 at the Cannes Film Festival Before the film premiered at Cannes, Quentin Tarantino begged of Cannes crowds to avoid spoilers for later audiences in a statement made on social media; “I love cinema, it’s the journey of discovering a story for the first time. I’m thrilled to be here in Cannes to share “Once Upon A time in Hollywood” with you the festive audience. The cast and crew have worked so hard to create an original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way. Thank you.” When Sharon goes to a showing of her movie “The Wrecking Crew” (1968). The filmmakers chose to use the actual film, rather than recreating the scenes with Robbie. The real Sharon Tate briefly appears on screen.
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FAVOURITE FILM DIRECTOR OF 2019 NOAH BAUMBACH
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Director of “Marriage Story” Son of two film critics, Georgia Brown and Jonathan Baumbach Fourteen years after making drama after his parents’ divorce, Baumbach gives the same treatment to his own split from Jennifer Jason Leigh, following Adam Driver’s New York theatre director and Scarlett Johansson’s LA-native actor through the travails of a bicoastal separation. Brutally close to the bone and sometimes raucously comic. It’s earned the best reviews of his career. Often works with his life partner Greta Gerwig. He borrowed techniques from “Jules and Jim” I love the camera there. We did that in “Frances Ha” when she is reading to her best friend Sophie; the camera moves over and she’s knitting. There’s something about the logic of the camera move; the voiceover says something, then you move and reveal the other side. It’s almost funny and it has such a point of view – you know that the director knows exactly what he’s doing. The lightness of spirit was something I thought about for “Frances”.
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OTHER FAVOURITE FILM DIRECTORS OF 2019
RIAN JOHNSON
DIRECTOR OF “KNIVES OUT” His first feature film was “Brick” and was the metaphorical building block that launched his career. He is a director, writer, and musician, among other areas of expertise. He always shoots in 35mm. In his movies works with cinematographer Steve Yedlin. We see the main character read a book or driving a car at least once on the film. Wrote the screenplay for “Brick” in 1997, He waited for financing for six years and then in 2003 his parents paid to have the film produced. I bristle a little when the argument for film gets into the nostalgia ghetto. Film is still the highest quality and best-looking image capture medium available. I don’t think it always will be. The digital image will get better, and it will eventually surpass the quality of the film image, but it isn’t there yet. Daniel Craig was the first actor he cast in “Knives Out”
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OTHER FAVOURITE FILM DIRECTORS OF 2019
AGNES VARDA
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Agnes Varda was born on May 30,1928 in Brussels, Belgium as Arlette Varda. She legally changed her name from Arlette to Agnes when turned 18 Varda used the skills she homed in her early career as a photographer to create some of the most nuanced, thought-provoking films of the last fifty years. She is believed to have presaged the French Mew Wave with her first film, “La Pointe Courte”, long before creating one of the movements benchmarks, “Cleo from 5 to 7”. Trademark: bob-shaped bobbed hair. She was married to Jacques Demy. Mother of actor Mathieu Demy (with Jacques). Mother of Rosalie Demy (with Antoine Bourseiller). Member of the official jury at the 58th Cannes international film festival 2005. Member of the official competition jury at the 40th Venice international film festival 1983. She died on March 27th, 2019 in Paris, France. Her last film was “Varda by Agnes”.
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OTHER FAVOURITE FILM DIRECTORS OF 2019
QUENTIN TARANTINO
Director of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”. At the age of 29, he was an occasional actor, video store clerk, and pop-culture enthusiast, wrote and directed his debut feature, “Reservoir Dogs” in which he co-starred as one of a group of bank robbers involved in a caper that goes terribly wrong. ”Reservoir Dogs” was accepted for the Sundance Film Festival. Winner of an Oscar for the screenplay for “Pulp Fiction” Tarantino went into seclusion to create his most ambitious project yet: “Kill Bill Vol 1 & Vol 2” Trademarks: often casts comedians in small roles. Quote: “on the Cannes Film Festival I just like Cannes. It’s like the whole planet is checking your movie out - boom! – and at one time, and – bam! – it either works or it doesn’t. And especially when i’m there- it’s the closet thing to Muhammed Ali having a championship fight.”
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FAVOURITE ACTOR ADAM DRIVER STAR OF “MARRIAGE STORY”
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Has been compared to the great actors of the 70s Robert de Niro, Dustin Hoffman.
Martin Scorcese called him “One of the finest, if not the finest actor of his generation”.
He lives a low-key life in Brooklyn with his wife, Joanne Tucker and their son, and is increasingly picky about the work he accepts. “The stakes are different. It really has to be worth it, because you have to be gone a lot.”
San Diego born, Driver’s family moved to Mishawaka, Indiana, following his parent’s divorce, a difficult experience which he admitted he drew on for his performance in “Marriage Story” if only because the film’s protagonist, Charlie, behaves in the opposite way to his own father, fighting for custody and making every effort to stay in his young son’s life.
Driver will shortly be seen as Kylo Ren in the final chapter of the Star Wars Saga: “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”.
He has just wrapped on Leos Carax’s “Annette” which is about a stand-up comedian & his wife who have a 2-year-old daughter with a surprising gift.
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTORS OF 2019
CHRISTIAN BALE STAR OF LE MANS ‘66
His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries throughout bale’s childhood, including England, Portugal and the United States. Bale acknowledges the constant changes was one of the influences on his career choice.
His first acting job was a cereal commercial in 1983.
The following year he debuted on the West End stage in “The Nerd”, while a role in the 1986 NBC miniseries “Anastasia: the Mystery of Anna” caught Steven Spielberg’s eye, leading to bale’s role in “Empire of the Sun”.
It earned him a special award by the national board of review for best performance by a juvenile actor.
In 2004, Bale dropped a reported 60+ Pounds for his role in “The Machinist”.
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTORS OF 2019
DANIEL CRAIG STAR OF “KNIVES OUT”
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From the age of 6, Craig started acting in school plays, making his debut in the Frodsham Primary School production “Oliver!”. His mother was the driving force behind his artistic aspirations. The first Bond film he saw was “Live and Let Die” with his father. In 1988 he attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and he studied alongside Ewan McGregor and Alistair McGowan. Craig made his film debut in 1992 in “The Power of One”. It was in 2001 that he shot to fame playing a supporting role in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and in 2004 in “Layer Cake”, in the leading role. In October 2006, he played James Bond in “Casino Royale”. He returned two years later as 007 in “Quantum of Solace”. His next film will be “No Time to Die”. For Bond fans it will be another in the franchise which is 00 heaven!
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTORS OF 2019
LEONARDO DICAPRIO “I hate speaking in front of large audiences. I don’t know where it came from…but its just this gut-wrenching fear of slipping up and doing something horrible”. Frequently plays men who have suffered a loss or trauma. It wasn’t until his role in “Romeo + Juliet” in 1966 that he became a household name. The following year, he starred in another movie about doomed lovers, “Titanic” which became the highest grossing movie of all, and cemented DiCaprio’s reputation as a teen heart-throb 2012, played a villain in in “Django Unchained” and then tragic literary character Jay Gatsby in “The Great Gatsby” and then Jordan Belfort in “the wolf of wall street”. Often appears in the films of Martin Scorcese. Robert De Niro & Jack Nicholson are his favourite actors.
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FAVOURITE ACTRESS Of 2019
ANA DE ARMAS
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Leading actress in “Knives Out”. At age 14, began her studies at the National Theatre School of Havana, where she graduated after 4 years. At the age of 16, made her first film, “Virgin Rose.” A few titles later, she moved to Spain when she was 19. She only spoke Spanish before moving to the USA and pushed herself to audition for parts that she had to speak English. The first Blade Runner is a cool movie. It’s a classic. Just be part of the sequel was such an honour and a beautiful experience’. Ana is a sought-after actress and she has already completed 4 films since “Knives Out”. “Sergio” Set in the chaotic aftermath of the US invasion of Iraq As Paloma in the new James Bond film, “No Time to Die”. As Andrea in ‘The Night Clerk’ And as Norma Jean in “Blonde”, a fictionalized chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe.
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTRESSES Of 2019
SCARLETT JOHANSSON
Leading actress – “Marriage Story” She made her professional acting debut at the age of eight in the off-broadway production of “Sophistry” with Ethan Hawke at New Yorks’s Playwrights Horizons. She made her film debut at the age of nine, as Jon Ritter’s character’s daughter in their fantasy comedy “North”. In 1988, she gained widely spread attention in “The Horse Whisperer”, directed by Robert Redford. She played Grace MacLean, a teenager traumatized by a riding accident. In 2004, she was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: “Girl With A Pearl Earring” & “Lost In Translation” with Bill Murray. Won Best Actress Award at Venice for “Lost In Translation”. Was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 Her favourite movie is “Auntie Mame”. It’s a great thing to get older and learn. I don’t feel bound in any way by how many years I’ve lived. I identify just as much with my 86-year-old grandmother as I do with my sister. “I just adore Woody Allen. We have a lot in common. We’re New Yorkers, Jewish. We have a very easygoing relationship”.
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTRESSES Of 2019
MARGOT ROBBIE
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Leading actress in “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” Raised in Queensland, Australia to Scottish parents, spending most of her time on her grandparents’ farm. In her late teens, she moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Austrailia to pursue an acting career. She played the character Donna Freedman in the long -running Soap Opera “Neighbours” (1985). She set off for Hollywood and quickly won the role of Laura Cameron in the ABC series “Pan Am”. She made her big screen debut in 2013 in the film, “About Time”, Directed by Richard Curtis. Same year she co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorcese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street”. In 2014, she founded her production company, Luckychap Entertainment. She appeared in the romantic-drama, “Suite Francaise”. Nominated for a Golden Globe for portraying figure skater Tonya Harding in “I Tonya”.
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OTHER FAVOURITE ACTRESSES Of 2019
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Leading role in “Knives Out”. Daughter of Tony Curtis & Janet Leigh. Got her big break in 1978 when she won the role of Laurie Strode in “Halloween”. She starred in one of the biggest action films ever, “True Lies” for which she won a Golden Globe for her performance. Was a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1992. She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard on September 3, 1998. Author of a children’s book: “This Is Me” For me, I just show up and do what I do. And for me it has to be real – anything I do, I don’t care what it is. On “Halloween”, I can remember, John Carpenter’s first and only real direction to me was. “I want people to believe this is a real person.” All I care about is trying to make anything real – and then because I’m brave, I’ll try anything.
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SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2020 JANUARY 23 – FEBRUARY 2
U.S. DRAMATIC COMPETITION THE 40-YEAR OLD VERSION Directed by Radha Blank Starring: Radha Blank, Peter Kim, Oswin Benjamin, Reed Birney A down-on-her-luck New York playwright decides to reinvent herself and salvage her artistic voice the only way she knows how: by becoming a rapper at age 40
BLAST BEAT Directed by Esteban Arango Starring: Moises Arias, Mateo Arias, Daniel Day Kim Kali Uchis After their family emigrates from Colombia during the summer of ’99, a metalhead science prodigy and his deviant younger brother do their best to adapt to new lives in America
CHARM CITY KINGS Directed by Angel Manuel Soto Starring: Jahi Di’ Allo Winston, Meek Mill, Will Catlett Mouse desperately wants to join The Mid night Clique, the infamous Baltimore dirt bike riders who rule the summertime streets. When Midnight’s leaser, Blax, takes 14-year-old Mouse under his wing, Mouse soon finds himself torn between the straight-and-narrow and a road filled with fast money and violence.
DINNER IN AMERICA Directed by Adam Rehmeier Starring: Kyle Gallner, Emily Skeggs, Pat Healy, Griffin Gluck An on-the-lam punk rocker and a young woman obsessed with his band go on an unexpected and epic journey together through the decaying suburbs of the American Midwest.
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THE EVENING HOUR Directed by Braden King Starring: Philip Ettinger, Stacy Martin, Cosmo Jarvis Cole Freeman maintains an uneasy equilibrium in his rural Appalachian town, looking after the old and infirm while selling their excess painkillers to local addicts. But when an old friend returns with plans that upend the fragile balance and identify he’s so painstakingly crafter; Cole is forced to take action.
FAREWELL AMOUR Directed by Ekwa Msangi Starring: Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Zainab Jah, Jayme Lawson Reunited after a 17-year separation, Walter, an Angolan immigrant, is joined in the U.S. by his wife and teenage daughter. Now absolute strangers sharing a one-bedroom apartment, they discover a shared love of dance that may help overcome the emotional distance between them.
MINARI Directed by Lee Isaac Chung Starring: Steven Yeun, Han Yeri, Youn Yuh Jung, Will Patton David, a 7-year-old Korean-American boy, gets his life turned upside down when his father decides to move their family to rural Arkansas and start a farm in the mid-1980s, in this charming and unexpected take on the American Dream.
MISS JUNETEENTH Directed by Channing Godfrey Peoples Starring: Nicole Beharie, Kendrick Sampson, Alexis Chikaeze Turquoise, a former beauty queen turned hardworking single mother, prepares her rebellious teenage daughter for the “Miss Juneteenth’ pageant, hoping to keep her from repeating the same mistakes in life that she did.
NEVER RARELY SOMETIMES ALWAYS Directed by Eliza Hittman Starring: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Theodore Pellerin An intimate portrayal of two teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania. Faced with unintended pregnancy and a lack of local support, Autumn and her cousin Skylar embark on a brave, fraught journey across state lines to New York City.
NINE DAYS Directed by Edson Oda Starring: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Bill Skarsgard In a house distant from the reality we know, a reclusive man interviews prospective candidates-personifications of human souls-for the privilege that he once had to be born.
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PALM SPRINGS Directed by Max Barbakow Starring: Andy Samberg, Christin Milioti, J.K. Simmons. When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honour Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated the next morning when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other.
SAVE YOURSELVES! Directors: Alex Huston Fletcher & Eleanor Wilson Starring: Sunita Mani, John Reynolds, Ben Sinclair, Johanna Day A young Brooklyn couple head upstate to disconnect from their phones and reconnect with themselves. Cut off from their devices, they miss the news that the planet is under attack.
SHIRLEY Directed by Josephine Decker Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhbarg, Odessa Young A young couple moves in with the famed author, Shirley Jackson, and her Bennington College professor husband, Stanley Hyman, in the hope of starting a new life but instead find themselves fodder for a psycho drama that inspires Shirley’s next novel.
SYLVIE’S LOVE Directed by Eugene Asher Starring: Tessa Thompson, Nnamdi Asomugha, Eva Longoria Years after their summer romance comes to an end, an aspiring television producer and a talented musician cross paths, only to find their feelings for each other never changed. With their careers taking them in different directions, they must choose what matters most.
WANDER DARKLY Directed by Tara Miele Starring: Sienna Miller, Diego Luna, Beth Grant, Aimee Carrero New parents Adrienne and Matteo are forced to reckon with trauma amidst their troubled relationship. They must revisit the memories of their past and unravel haunting truths in order to face their uncertain future.
ZOLA Directed by Janicza Bravo Starring: Taylor Paige, Riley Keough, Nicholas Braun, Colman Domingo Two girls bond and become fast friends. But what’s supposed to be a trip from Detroit to Florida turns into a weekend from hell.
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U.S. DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION CODE FOR BIAS Directed by Shalina Kantayya Exploring the fallout of MIT Media Lab researcher Joy Buolamwini’s startling discovery that facial recognition does not see dark-skinned faces accurately and her journey to push for the first-ever legislation in the U.S. to govern against bias in the algorithms that impact us all.
DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD Directed by Kirsten Johnson With this inventive portrait, a cameraperson seeks a way to keep her 86 -year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humour, she celebrates Dr. Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
A THOUSAND CUTS Directed by Ramona S. Diaz Nowhere is the worldwide erosion of democracy, fuelled by social media disinformation campaigns, more starkly evident than in the authoritarian regime of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Journalist Maria Ressa places the tools of the free press-and her freedom-on the line in defense of truth and democracy.
BE WATER Directed by Bao Nguyen In 1971, after being rejected by Hollywood, Bruce Lee returned to his parents’ homeland of Hong Kong to complete four iconic films. Charting his struggles between two worlds, this portrait explores questions of identity and representation through the use of rare archival, interviews with love ones and Bruce’s own writings.
BLOODY NOSE, EMPTY POCKETS Directed Bill & Turner Ross In the shadows of the bright lights of Las Vegas, it’s last call for a beloved dive bar called known as the Roaring 20s. A document of real people, in unreal situation, facing an uncertain future. America at the end of 2016
BOYS STATE Directed by Jesse Moss & Amanda McBaine In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
THE COST OF SILENCE Directed by Mark Manning An industry insider exposes the devastating consequences of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and uncovers systemic corruption between government and industry to silence the victims of a growing public health disaster. Stakes could not be higher as the Trump administration races to open the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling.
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CRIP CAMP Directed by Nicole Newnham & Jim LeBrecht Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
WORLD PREMIERES SUMMERTIME Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada Starring: 19 Get Lit Poets In the heat of the summer, the lives of 25 strangers collide. A love letter to Los Angeles written and performed by a collective of young spoken word poets.
DOWNHILL Directed Nat Faxon & Jim Rash Starring: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Will Ferrell, Zach Woods, Zoe Chao, Miranda Otto. Barely escaping an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced to re-evaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.
SOME KIND OF HEAVEN Directed by Lance Oppenheim Behind the gates of a palm tree-lined fantasyland, four residents of America’s largest retirement community, The Villagers, FL., strive to find happiness and meaning.
SPREE Directed by Eugene Kotlyarenko Starring: Joe Keery, Sasheer Zamata, David Arquette, Kyle Mooney, Misha Barton, Josh Ovaille Kurt Kunkle, a rideshare driver thirsty for followers, has figured out a deadly plan to go viral. As his disturbing livestream is absurdly embraced by the social media hellscape, a comedienne emerges as the only hope to stop this rampage.
DREAM HORSE Directed by Euros Lyn Starring: Toni Collette, Damien Lewis Jan, a cleaner and bartender, decides on a whim to breed a racehorse in her Welsh village. As the horse rises through the ranks against all odds, Jan and the townspeople are pitted against the racing elite in a nail-biting race for the national championship.
FALLING Directed by Viggo Mortensen Starring: Lance Henriksen, Viggo Mortensen, Terry Chen. When 80-year-old independent farmer Willis travels to Las Vegas for an indefinite stay with John and his family, two vet’s different worlds collide. Mentally declining, Willis’ abrasiveness is both caustic and funny bringing old wounds from the past and years of mutual mistrust to the surface. 24
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THE FATHER Directed by Florian Zeller Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Imogen Potts Anthony is 80 years old. He lives alone in London and refuses the nurses that his daughter tries to impose upon him. Yet help is becoming more pressing, as she has decided to move to Paris. At once comedic and profound, this is a moving story of our human condition.
FOUR GOOD DAYS Directed by Rodrigo Garcia Starring: Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, Stephen Root, Joshua Leonard Ten years of opioids have left Molly’s life in shambles. A new drug may give her a chance to break free if she is able to stay clean for four days, with the help of her mother Deb, a tough, clear-eyed woman. Their love will be tested to the limits.
THE GLORIAS Directed by Julie Taymor Starring: Julianne Moore, Alicia Vikander, Bette Midler, Janelle Monae An equal rights crusader, journalist and activist: Gloria Steinem embodies these and more. From her role in the revolutionary women’s rights movement to her travels throughout the U.S. and around the world. Steinem has made an everlasting mark on modern history. A non-traditional chronicle of a trailblazing life.
HERSELF Directed by Phyllida Lloyd Starring: Clare Dunne, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill Struggling to provide her daughters with a safe, happy home, Sandra decides to build one – from scratch. Using all her ingenuity to make her ambitious dream a reality, Sandra draws together a community to lend a helping hand to build her house and ultimately recover her own sense of self.
HORSE GIRL Directed by Jeff Baena Starring: Alison Brie, Debby Ryan, John Reynolds, Molly Shannon A socially awkward woman with a fondness for arts and crafts, horses and supernatural crime shows, finds her increasingly lucid dreams trickling into her waking life.
IRONBARK Directed by Dominic Cooke Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merah Ninidze, Rachel Brosnahan, Jessie Buckley The true story of a British businessman unwittingly recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. Forming an unlikely partnership with a Soviet officer hoping to prevent a nuclear confrontation, the two men work together to provide the crucial intelligence used to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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KAJILLIONAIRE Directed by Miranda July Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger Low-stakes grifters, Old Dolio and her parents invite a chipper young woman into their insular clan, only to have their entire world turned upside down.
THE LAST SHIFT Directed by Andrew Cohn Starring: Richard Jenkins, Shane Paul McGhie, Da’Vine Joy Randolph Stanley, an aging fast food worker, prepares to work his final graveyard shift after 38 years. When he’s asked to train his replacement, Jevon, Stanley’s weekend takes an unexpected turn.
THE LAST THING HE WANTED Directed by Dee Rees Starring: Anne Hathaway, Ben Affleck, Willem Dafoe, Rosie Perez A veteran D.C. journalist loses the thread of her own narrative when a guilt-propelled errand for her father thrusts her from byline to unwitting subject in the story she’s trying to break. Adapted from the Joan Didion novel of the same title.
LOST GIRLS Directed by Liz Garbus Starring: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Lola Kirke When Marie Gilbert’s daughter disappears, police inaction drives her own investigation into the gated Long Island community where Shannan was last seen. Committed to finding the truth, her search brings attention to over a dozen murdered sex workers Mari will not let the world forget. Inspired by true events.
THE NEST Directed by Sean Durkin Starring: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche Charismatic entrepreneur, Rory, relocates his family to England with dreams of profiting from booming 1980s London. But as his wife, Allison, struggles to adapt, and promise of a lucrative new beginning starts to unravel, the couple have to face the unwelcome truths lying beneath the surface of their marriage.
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN Directed by Emerald Fennell Starring: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Alison Brie, Connie Britton Everyone said that Cassie was a promising young woman…until something abruptly derailed her future. Nothing in Cassie’s life is as it appears: she’s smart, cunning, and living a double life by night. Now, Cassie has a chance to right the wrongs of the past in this thrilling take on revenge.
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SERGIO Directed by Greg Barker Starring: Wagner Moura, Ana de Armas, Garret Dillahunt, Will Dalton A sweeping drama set in the chaotic aftermath of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, where the life of top UN diplomat Sergio Viera de Melio hangs in the balance during the most treacherous mission of his career.
TESLA Directed by Michael Almereyda Starring: Ethan Hawke, Kyle Maclachlan, Eve Hewson Highlighting the Promethean struggles of Nikola Tesla, as he attempts to transcend entrenched technology-including his own previous work-by pioneering a system of wireless energy that will change the world.
UNCLE FRANK Directed by Alan Ball Starring: Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Peter Macdissi In 1973, when 18-yesr-old Beth and her uncle Frank take a road trip from Manhattan to Creckville, South Carolina for the family patriarch’s funeral, they’re unexpectedly joined by Frank’s lover Walid. A story about family, forgiveness and our inherent power to choose who we want to be.
WENDY Directed by Benh Zeitlin Starring: Devin France, Yashua Mack, Gage Naquin, Gavin Naquin Lost on a mysterious island where aging and time have come unglued, Wendy must fight to save her family, her freedom, and the joyous spirit of youth from the deadly peril of growing up. The classic story of Peter Pan is wildly reimagined in this ragtag epic.
WORTH Directed by Sara Colangelo Starring: Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, Amy Ryan Kenneth Feinberg, a powerful D.C. lawyer appointed Special Master of the 9/11 Fund, fights off the cynicism, bureaucracy, and politics associated with administering funds and, in doing so, discovers what life is worth. Based on true events.
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COMING SOON Here are some of the films to get excited about over the next few months
FEBRUARY EMMA Directed by Autumn de Wilde Starring: Anya Taylor, Bill Nighy, Josh O’Connor Based on the classic Jane Austin novel.
MR JONES Directed by Agniezka Holland Starring: James Norton, Vanessa Kirby, Peter Sarsgaard A Welsh journalist breaks the new in the western media of the famine in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s.
PARASITE Directed by Bong Joon Ho Starring: Kang-ho Song, Sun-Kyun Lee, Yeo-Jeong Jo All unemployed, Ki-Taek and his family take peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks as they ingratiate themselves into their lives and entangled in an unexpected incident.
DARK WATERS Directed by Todd Haynes Starring: Anne Hathaway, Mark Ruffalo, Tim Robbins A corporate defence attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a long history of pollution.
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THE HISTORY OF THE KELLY GANG Directed by Justin Kurzel Starring: George MacKay, Essie Davis, Nicholas Hoult Based on Peter Carey’s novel. The story of Australian bush-ranger Ned Kelly and his gang as they flee from authorities during the 1870s.
MARCH CALM WITH HORSES Directed by Nick Rowland Starring: Barry Keoghan, Ned Dennehy, Niamh Algar In darkest rural Ireland, ex-boxer Douglas ‘Arm’ Armstronng has become the feared enforcer for the drug-dealing Devers Family, whilst also trying to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between two families, Arm’s loyalties are truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time.
MILITARY WIVES Directed by Peter Cattaneo Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Sharon Horgan, Emma Lownes With their partners away serving in Afghanistan, a group of women on the Home Front, form a choir and quickly find themselves at the centre of a media sensation and global movement.
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THE PHOTOGRAPH
MULAN
Directed by Ritesh Batra Starring: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra
Directed by Niki Caro Starring: Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Jet Li
A young Chinese maiden disguises A struggling street photographer in herself as a male warrior in order Mumbai, pressured to marry by his to save her father. A live-action grandmother, convinces a shy feature film based on Disney’s stranger to pose as his fiancée. ‘Mulan’. The pair develop a connection that transcends in ways they could not expect.
THE PAINTED BIRD
BACURAU Directed by Juliano Dornelles & Kleber Mendoca Filho
Directed by Vaclav Marhoul Starring: Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgard, Julian Sands
After the death of her grandmother, A young Jewish boy somewhere in Teresa comes home to her Eastern Europe seeks refuge during matriarchal village in a World War 2 where he encounters near-future Brazil to find a many different characters. succession of sinister events that mobilizes all of its residents.
THE TRUTH Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Juliette Binoche, Ethan Hawke A stormy reunion between a daughter and her actress mother, Catherine, against the backdrop of Catherine’s latest role in a sci-fi picture as a mother who never grows old.
A WHITE WHITE DAY Directed by Hlynur Palmason Starring: Ingmar Sigurdsson, Ida Mekkin Hlynsdottir In a remote Icelandic town, an off-duty police chief begins to suspect a local man for having had an affair with his wife, who recently died in a car accident.
APRIL
NO TIME TO DIE Directed by Cary Josi Fukunaga Starring: Ana de Armas, Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when his old friend from the CIA Felix Leiter turns up asking for help, leading Bond on the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW Directed by Joe Wright Starring: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Julianne Moore An agoraphobic woman living alone in New York begins spying on her new neighbours, only to witness a disturbing act of violence.
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DVD OF THE MONTH ADALEN 31 Directed by Bo Widerberg Starring: Peter Schildt, Roland Hedlund, Kerstin Tidelius, Martin Widerberg
A recreation of a strike and riot that altered the course of Swedish political life, seen through the eyes of an adolescent boy whose father dies in the events. During the strike, the strike-breakers are assaulted by the strikers. The military are th sent in on the 14 May 1931. There is a confrontation between demonstrators and the military who open fire and five people are killed and five injured.
SPECIAL FEATURES 16 paged booklet Interview with Bo Widerberg by M Langlois Filmography Winner Grand Prix Special Du Jury Festival De Cannes 1969
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DVD OF THE MONTH ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Directed by Quentin Tarantino Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
The 9th film of Quentin Tarantino Once Upon A Time in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. Once Upon A Time in Hollywood features a large ensemble and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.
EXTRAS
More Sights and Sounds of the ‘80s 7 Additional Scenes
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