STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING

STARTING OUT IN THE EVENING

The Story:
All that remains for Leonard Schiller (Frank Langella) is to finish the novel he has been laboring on for almost ten years. With his four earlier books out of print, he has learned to starve himself of the desire for the success he was once so close to, though beneath this practice lives a pull for his work to be rediscovered.

His solitary writer’s life is shaken by the arrival of Heather (Lauren Ambrose), an ambitious graduate student who persuades him that she can use her thesis to spur a rediscovery of his work. But as her inquiry proceeds, Heather displays a profound personal interest in Leonard, which unsettles him and stirs up his long-dormant need for intimacy.

Meanwhile, Leonard’s daughter Ariel (Lili Taylor) reconnects with her ex-boyfriend Casey (Adrian Lester), a man Leonard firmly disapproves of. Leonard’s encounters with Heather lead him down an unfamiliar path that threatens his writing, his health, and his relationship to his daughter. But in living out in the open, in the evening of his life Schiller puts into practice the core theme of his novels — life is not designed for our comfort but for our struggle, for in struggle there is growth.

Starring:
Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Lili Taylor, Karl Bury, Anitha Gandhi, Sean T. Krishnan, Jessica Hecht, Adrian Lester

Directed By:
Andrew Wagner

Release:
2007

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KNUCKLE DRAGGERS

KNUCKLE DRAGGERS

The Story:
Ethan (Ross McCall) has just been dumped. His beautiful girlfriend (Jennifer Alden) is tired of waiting for the life she wants, even though Ethan is working towards a dream she should have long since understood. He's devastated but his brother Kyle (Paul J. Alessi) sees this as an opportunity to mold a new Kyle out of his brother. I think we've all known a Kyle, a guy who goes through life barreling through women five or six at a time, conquering but never achieving anything. That's not exactly who you want as your corner man in this kind of fight, or at least, not in the real world.

Ethan wants his old life back, but Kyle convinces him to play the field first. It doesn't help. Of course, Kyle may not be everything (or the one thing) he makes himself out to be, either, so that casts even more doubt on his sage advice. He believes, and cites university studies to the effect, that man and women are the same beasts now they were before the dawn of civilization, and that the same things motivate them in relation to the opposite sex.

Starring:
Ross McCall, Paul J. Alessi, Amie Barsky, Danielle Nicolet, Justin Baldoni, Jennifer Alden, Omar Gooding

Directed By:
Alex Ranarivelo

Release:
2009

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SPIRAL

SPIRAL

The Story:
Portland in the fall is a solitary city. A city where a lonely man can lose himself, insulated beneath the cold, and the clouds, and the rain. Mason (Joel David Moore) is just such a man. A gifted artist, Mason is never-the-less neurotic and reclusive, living a life of anonymity, working from a drab cubicle in a florescent-lit phone bank, repeating the same meaningless conversation with faceless strangers ad nauseam.

Mason is never truly noticed by anyone, save his boss, Berkeley (Zachary Levi), not quite a friend, but a sole source of companionship in an otherwise isolated existence. That is, until he meets a gregarious co-worker named Amber (Amber Tamblyn), a girl struggling with her own loneliness and need to define herself. Amber's jovial demeanor and seemingly carefree attitude provides a sort of catharsis for Mason, and allows his true gifts to come to light as she poses forhis art.

It is an unlikely, and unusual courtship that helps Mason find peace for possibly the first time in his life. But as Mason's defenses lower, and the man inside is revealed, there may be something behind the surface darker than anyone expected. For not everything that is hidden should be found, and not every love is meant to be. And you can't paint over your past...

Starring:
Joel David Moore, Amber Tamblyn, Zachary Levi, Tricia Helfer

Directed By:
Adam Green

Release:
2008

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THE BOX

THE BOX

The Story:
Norma and Arthur Lewis (Cameron Diaz and James Marsden), a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. But, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.

Starring:
Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Gillian Jacobs, James Rebhorn, Michael Zegen,
Andrew Levitas

Directed By:
Richard Kelly

Release:
2009

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THE JAMMED

The JAMMED (Australia)

The Story:
Three vulnerable young women are lured to Melbourne on the promise of big money working as table dancers. The reality: forced prostitution to repay usurious fees charged for their falsified immigration papers. Events open with Crystal (Emma Lung) awaiting deportation after escaping from a sexual slavery syndicate that's also ensnared Chinese innocent Rubi (Sun Park) and Vanya (Saskia Burmeister), a brittle Russian.

Urging the frightened girl to tell officials everything is Ashley Hudson (Veronica Sywak), a local office worker whose involvement unfolds in a busy series of flashbacks and fast-forwards. Stuttering initially with too many characters and side stories, narrative moves to firmer ground as Ashley comes into focus.

Stuck in a boring insurance job and carrying emotional baggage following a recent split with her b.f., she's drawn into the seedy scene by a chance meeting with Rubi's distraught mother, Sunee (Amanda Ma), who's flown in on a hopeless rescue mission.With police contact out of the question for fear of reprisals against family. Ashley reluctantly agrees to help search, and is soon drawn into the dark underworld of this cultured city as she tries to rescue three girls from a trafficking syndicate.

Starring:
Emma Lung, Veronica Sywak, Saskia Burmeister, Masa Yamaguchi, Todd MacDonald, Andrew S. Gilbert, Kate Atkinson, Anna Anderson, Sun Park, Amanda Ma, Alison Whyte

Directed By:

Dee McLachlan

Release:
2007

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TEETH

TEETH

The Story:
In a small town near to a nuclear power facility, the chaste Dawn O' Keefe (Jess Weixler) is raised with her dysfunctional stepbrother Brad (John Hensley) by her mother that is sick and her stepfather.

Dawn is a teenage spokesperson for a Christian Abstinence group called The Promise. She attends groups with her two friends, Gwen (Julia Garro) and Phil (Adam Wagner). One evening after giving her speech talking about the purity ring those in the group wear and what it means, she is introduced to Tobey (Hale Appleman) and finds him attractive.

The four begin going out as a group, and Dawn has fantasies of marrying Tobey, although after acknowledging the attraction they agree that they cannot spend time together. Soon after they give in and meet at a local swimming hole. After swimming together, they go in to a cave to get warm and begin kissing. Tobey then forces himself on Dawn; in the panic her vagina bites off his penis. Horrified, he stumbles away and she flees the scene. After a Promise meeting, she meets her classmate Ryan (Ashley Springer) at a dance; they talk, and he drops her off at her home.

Dawn researches Vagina dentata and realizes she may have it, then she visits a gynaecologist, Dr. Godfrey (Josh pais), in an attempt to find out what is happening to her. Finding out that she is a virgin, he attempts to take advantage of her by saying he is performing a test, when what he is really doing is molesting her. She panics, and her vagina bites off the fingers on his right hand. He screams “vagina dentata” in his pain.

On her way back, she sees someone driving in Tobey's car, and she goes back to visit the pool. When she gets there she sees the police bringing up Tobey's body. At home, her ill mother, Kim O'Keefe (Vivienne Benesch), collapses, while Dawn's stepbrother, Brad (John Hensley), and his girlfriend, Melanie (Nicole Swahn), continue to have sex while she lies on the floor. Kim is taken to the hospital.

She goes to Ryan, seeking help for no one else will listen to her. The two successfully have sex. The following morning they have sex again, but mid-coitus Ryan’s friend calls, and Dawn learns that he had a wager on having sex with her. In her anger, her vagina bites off his penis, and she leaves him to call his mother for help.

Dawn learns her mother has died, and after her stepfather, Bill (Lenny von Dohlen), attempts to throw Brad out, Brad sets his dog on Bill. Dawn meets her stepfather and Melanie at the hospital, and emboldened by her power, she goes back home to seek revenge. Dawn puts on make-up and goes to her stepbrother, and they engage in sex. In the middle of the act, Brad recalls when he was younger and his finger was bitten by Dawn, that it wasn’t her mouth that bit him. As he realizes this, Dawn’s vagina bites off his penis. Dawn leaves him to bleed to death.

Dawn cycles away from home, but her bike sustains a puncture, so she begins hitchhiking. She gets a lift from an old man (Doyle Carter), but when she reaches the next gas station and tries to get out, he locks the doors. He licks his lips as if to ask for a sexual favor to release her; Dawn hesitates, and then looks towards the camera with a seductive smile.

Starring:
Jess Weixler, John Hensley, Josh Pais, Hale Appleman, Ashley Springer, Vivienne Benesch, Lenny Von Dohlen, Nicole Swahn, Julia Garro, Adam Wagner.

Directed By:
Mitchell Lichtenstein

Release:
2007

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DUPLICITY

DUPLICITY

The Story:
The Cold War has thawed, and for CIA agents seeking to make an easy mint, the real money is in multinational corporations. CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) and Ray Koval (Clive Owen) are both racing to secure the formula for a product that will bring untold wealth to the company that lands the patent first as the stakes begin to rise, and their passions start to flare.

Meanwhile, their mutual employers, industry giant Howerd Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and trailblazing CEO Dick Garsil (Paul Giamatti) start resorting to some seriously underhanded tactics in hope of gaining an advantage over the competition. Loners by definition of their own careers, Claire and Ray engage in a series of schemes and double-crosses while contending with the fact that their mutual attraction could ultimately jeopardize their entire missions.

Starring:
Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Giamatti, Denis O’Hare, Tom McCarthy, Carrie Preston, Rick Worthy

Directed By:
Tony Gilroy

Release:
2009

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WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU

WHAT DOESN'T KILL YOU

The Story:
Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke), are friends who grew up like brothers on the gritty streets of south Boston. They do whatever it takes to survive, living by the code of their dog-eat-dog neighborhood. Petty crimes and misdemeanors grow into more serious offenses and eventually, they fall under sway to organized crime boss Pat Kelly (Brian Goodman).

As Brian becomes increasingly lost in a haze of drugs and ‘jobs’, even the love he has for his wife (Amanda Peet) and his children does not seem like it will be enough to redeem him. Meanwhile, Paulie plans “one last heist” but knows it will take both of them to pull it off.

It seems that neither of the two men can break free of the vicious cycle that threatens to consume them, and as turf-war tensions begin to build, police detective Moran (Donnie Wahlberg) takes to the streets determined to clean them up once and for all. Will Brian and Paulie prove successful in earning some quick cash while staying off the detective's radar, or has their longtime lucky streak in dealing with the law finally dried up?

Starring:
Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke, Amanda Peet, Will Lyman, Brian Goodman, Donnie Wahlberg, Angela Featherstone, Lindsey McKeon

Directed By:
Brian Goodman

Release:
2008

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THE PROMOTION

THE PROMOTION

The Story:

At 33, Doug Stauber (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago. When the owners of the market announce they're opening a new branch near Doug's neighborhood, he applies to become manager of the new store, and both he and his wife Jen (Jenna Fischer) assume he's a shoo-in to get the job.

But Richard Wehlner (John C. Reilly), a gregarious recent hire at the store who has relocated to Illinois from Canada, announces he's also applying for the management position, and a keen rivalry develops between Doug and Richard even as they strive to act like friends on the surface. As the competition grows between the two, their personality flaws become increasingly evident -Doug's short temper, Richard's history of drug abuse and when Richard's wife Lori (Lili Taylor) leaves him, the contest starts taking an uncomfortable turn.

Starring:
Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor, Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, Bobby Cannavale

Directed By:
Steven Conrad

Release:
2008

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WEEKEND CU MAMA

WEEKEND CU MAMA (Weekend With My Mother) (Romania)

The Story:
15 years ago, Luiza (Medeea Marinescu) decided to make a fresh start in Spain. She left her 3-year-old daughter Cristina (Adela Popescu) in the care of her relatives and took off. When she returns to Romania, the woman learns some shocking truths that were kept hidden from her: Cristina ran away from home, is a drug addict and has a 2-year-old girl who lives in an orphanage. Overwhelmed by guilt, Luiza attempts to save her daughter and thus redeem the mistakes of her youth. To do that, she's got a tight time frame: one weekend...

Starring:
Medeea Marinescu, Adela Popescu, Tudor Istodor, Ion Sapdaru, Constantin Ghenescu, Gheorghe Dinica, Andi Vasluianu, Ecaterina Nazare, Nicoleta Costache Laura, Florin Zamfirescu

Directed By:
Stere Gulea

Release:
2009

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FRONTIER (S)

FRONTIER (S) (French)

The Story:
In Paris, during the riots due to the election of a conservative candidate to the presidency of France, the Muslin small thieves teenagers from the periphery Alex (Aurélien Wiik), Tom (David Saracino), Farid (Chems Dahmani), the pregnant Yasmine (Karina Testa) and her brother Sami (Adel Bencherif ) plan to run away from Paris to Amsterdam with a bag full of robbed money.

However, Sami is shot and the group split, with Alex and Yasmine going to the emergency of a hospital with Sami while Tom and Farid heads to the border with the money. Tom and Farid decide to stop in a bed and breakfast nearby the frontier, and are hosted by Gilberte (Estelle Lefébure) and Klaudia (Amélie Daure) that offer free room and sex to the newcomers.

They call Alex and Yasmine that are fleeing from Paris to join them in the inn, but sooner they discover that their hosts are sadistic cannibals of a Nazi family leaded by the deranged patriarch and former SS officer Le Von Geisler (Jean-Pierre Jorris) . They are trapped in an endless maze of tunnels crawling with hungry subhuman cannibals, they must fight to survive.

Starring:
Karina Testa, Aurélien Wiik, Patrick Ligardes, David Saracino, Maud Forget, Samuel Le Bihan, Chems Dahmani, Amélie Daure, Estelle Lefébure, Rosine Favey, Adel Bencherif, Joël Lefrançois

Directed By:
Xavier Gens

Release:
2007

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TRADE

TRADE

The Story:
When 13-year-old Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) is kidnapped by sex traffickers in Mexico City, her 17-year-old brother, Jorge (Cesar Ramos), sets off on a desperate mission to save her. Trapped by an underground network of international thugs who earn millions exploiting their human cargo, Adriana’s only friend throughout her ordeal is Veronica (Alicja Bachleda), a young Polish woman captured by the same criminal gang.

As Jorge dodges overwhelming obstacles to track the girl’s abductors, he meets Ray (Kevin Kline), a Texas cop whose own family loss leads him to become an ally. From the barrios of Mexico City and the treacherous Rio Grande border, to a secret internet sex slave auction and a tense confrontation at a stash house in suburban New Jersey, Ray and Jorge forge a close bond as they frantically pursue Adriana’s kidnappers before she is sold and disappears into a brutal underworld from which few victims ever return.

Starring:
Kevin Kline, Cesar Ramos Ceballos, Alicja Bachleda-Curus, Cesar Ramos, Paulina Gaitan

Directed By:
Marco Kreuzpaintner

Release:
2007

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