THE EX

theEX

The Story:
Tom Reilly (Zach Braff) and his wife Sofia (Amanda Peet) are in for some major changes now that they have a newborn. As a lawyer, Sofia has always provided a comfortable living while Tom has contributed love, support and the occasional paycheck. When Sofia decides to be a stay-at-home mom all that changes.

Tom moves the family to Ohio to work for his father-in-law (Charles Grodin) as an ‘Assistant Associate Creative’ for “Sunburst Communications.” His boss Chip (Jason Bateman) happens to still carry a torch for Sofia from their high school days. Each time Tom gains some ground at the firm, Chip wheels in and steals his thunder. Dirty tricks and sabotage abound creating an atmosphere of fierce paranoia that eventually threatens Tom and Sofia’s relationship.

Chip will stop at nothing to see Tom defeated while no one but Tom can see Chip for the evil genius he is. Through it all Tom’s esteem is depleted, his manhood challenged (by a surprisingly large adversary) and he’s watching his family slip away.

Starring:
Zach Braff, Amanda Peet, Jason Bateman, Charles Grodin, Mia Farrow, Donal Logue, Amy Poehler, Amy Adams.

Directed By:

Jesse Peretz

Release:

2007

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THE LIFE BEFORE HER EYES

the life before her eyes

The Story:
Imaginative, impetuous and wild Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) can’t wait for her adult life to begin. Whiling away the final days of high school in the lush springtime, Diana tests her limits with sex and drugs as her more conservative friend Maureen (Eva Amurri) watches with concern.

But Diana’s aura of invincibility is shattered when a senseless act of violence erupts at school, forever changing the lives of the two best friends.

They face life and death at the end of a rampaging student's gun barrel one sunny school day.
Michael (John Meguro), the kid with the gun, bursts into the bathroom, and forces Diana and Maureen to make a Choice decision about who will be permitted to live and who will die.

Fifteen years later, a grown Diana (Uma Thurman) is still trying to come to terms with the traumatic events of that fateful day.

On the surface, the adult Diana has made a picture perfect life for herself. She’s still living in the sleepy Connecticut suburb she grew up in with her husband Paul (Brett Cullen), a professor at the local college. Her beautiful young daughter, Emma (Gabrielle Brennan), is smart and creative, and possesses a fiercely independent streak reminiscent of her mother. But all is not well—as the anniversary of her adolescent trauma approaches, the darkness that Diana has tried to escape closes in. Meanwhile, her husband has become increasingly absent, her daughter has taken to hiding from teachers, and worst of all, Diana’s own grip on reality is starting to falter.

Starring:
Uma Thurman, Evan Rachel Wood, Eva Amurri, Gabrielle Brennan, Brett Cullen

Directed By:
Vadim Perelman

Release:
2008

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SEX AND BREAKFAST

sexandbreakfast

The Story:
Meet James (Macaulay Culkin) and Heather (Alexis Dziena). Their relationship isn't working. A cold distance has grown between them and their intimate moments feel forced. Heather is a take-charge problem solver who sometimes gets too carried away for her own good. She's determined to make her relationship with James work, even if it means being overbearing or making questionable decisions. James has recently started to discover that he's easily manipulated. He can't remember if this is the way he's always been, but he's going to do something about it in this relationship, that's for damn sure.

Meet Ellis (Kuno Becker) and Renee (Eliza Dushku). Their relationship isn't working. The spark of passion they once felt has started to fade and both are fearful that this could mark the beginning of the end. Renee is thoughtful and honest, but recently she's found herself feeling slightly isolated and bored with Ellis. At times Ellis comes off as brash or thick with machismo, but he's essentially a sensitive guy whose primary concern is ensuring that he and Renee remain loyal to each other through what seems to be a turbulent phase in their relationship.

Tension grows when Dr. Wellbridge (Joanna Miles) offers her experimental treatment to rekindle the cooling relationship. On the doctor's orders, the couples embark on a partner swap that leaves some thrilled and others thwarted. After a series of mishaps fueled by jealousy, confusion, and insecurities, they soon find that true love and lasting relationships are ultimately about more than sex and breakfast.

Starring:
Macaulay Culkin, Kuno Becker, Eliza Dushku, Alexis Dziena, Joanna Miles

Directed By:
Miles Brandman

Release:
2007

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SNARVEIEN (DETOUR)

S N A R V E I E N (DETOUR) (Norway)

The Story:
Driving back to Norway, Lina (Marte Cristensen) and Martin (Sondre Krogtoft Larsen) reach a roadblock where a policeman tells them to take a detour deep into the Swedish forest. But soon one creepy incident after another leaves them stranded in the dark woods and everything seems much too bizarre to be accidental…

What Lina and Martin don’t know is that they are under constant video surveillance and have been cast in the leading roles of a live Internet snuff movie with a definitive end.

Starring:
Marte Germaine Christensen, Sondre Krogtoft Larsen, Jens Hultèn, Malin King, Jeppe Beck Laursen, Johan Hedenberg, Inga D. Harrie, Knut Walle, Mikkel Gaup

Directed By:

Severin Eskeland

Release:

2009

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THE BABYSITTERS

THE Babysitters

The Story:
High school senior Shirley Lyner (Katherine Waterston) keeps her life in a nice, orderly manner. She likes her right angles. She likes knowing where things are. She likes the expected, not the surprises. As Shirley is fond of saying, “everything and everyone has a place”.

Michael Beltran (John Leguizamo) has a different outlook on life. The father of two, Michael married Gail (Cynthia Nixon), the ‘party-girl’ who turned out to be the responsible one in the family. He works a job he doesn’t like, misses the occasional AA meeting, and longs for a little of the excitement he used to know.

When Michael drives Shirley home from babysitting the first night, they both find something they need in each other. Michael wants someone, anyone, to think of him as fascinating and funny and vital. Shirley wants someone to think of her as grown up. Michael and Shirley share a forbidden kiss.

For Michael, guilt over the kiss leads him to overpay Shirley for her babysitting services. When they eventually have sex, he gives her $200. This paves the way for the enterprising Shirley to enlist her best friend, Melissa (Lauren Birkell), as a “baby sitter” for Michael’s pal Jerry (Andy Comeau). Before long Shirley is running a teenage prostitution ring and demanding 20 percent of her girls’ earnings.

Her business is threatened by Nadine (Halley Wegryn Gross), a new recruit who balks at paying Shirley a percentage and steals her clients, and by the emotional instability of Nadine’s half sister, Brenda (Louisa Krause), who begins to come apart after being given Ecstasy at a weekend orgy. So while “business” is soon booming, so too are greed, envy and jealousy threatening to spiral Shirley’s carefully constructed world wildly out of control.

Starring:
John Leguizamo, Katherine Waterston, Cynthia Nixon, Andy Comeau, Lauren Birkell, Louisa Krause, Denis O'Hare, Halley Wegryn Gross, Ethan Phillips, Alexandra Daddario, Spencer Treat Clark, Jason Dubin, Harold Fort, Michael Yavnielli, Andi Potamkin

Directed By:
David Ross

Releases:
2007

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EL ORFANATO (THE ORPHANAGE)

EL ORFANATO - THE ORPHANAGE (Spain)

The Story:
Laura (Belén Rueda) spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage by the seaside, cared for by the staff and fellow orphans whom she loved as brothers and sisters.
Now, thirty years later, she returns with her husband Carlos (Fernando Cayo) and Simon (Roger Príncep), their 7-year-old son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children.

Shortly after they move, Simon begins telling his parents of several new invisible friends that he has made, which his parents attribute to an overactive imagination coupled with isolation from other children his age. When a strange elderly woman shows up at the house claiming to be a social worker and asking questions about Simón, then turns up again in the backyard one night.

On the day of the party welcoming the school's new residents,Laura has a disturbing encounter with a mysterious child wearing a burlap mask, she realizes that Simon has gone missing.

Convinced both that she's seen a ghost and that the old woman has something to do with
Simón's disappearance, Laura begins to consult with paranormal expert Aurora (Geraldine Chaplin) after the authorities fail to locate him.

Starring:
Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Geraldine Chaplin, Montserrat Carulla, Mabel Rivera, Roger Príncep

Directed By:
Juan Antonio Bayona

Release:
2008

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