The Obvious:
The Dark Knight Batman (Christian Bale) teams with Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) to continue dismantling Gotham City’s criminal organizations in this sequel to Batman Begins. But a psychotic new villain known as the Joker (Heath Ledger) threatens to undo all their good work. The star-studded cast includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Michael Hall, Michael Caine and Eric Roberts.
Possibilities:
Peter and the Wolf When a wolf threatens the safety of a tiny Russian village, young outcast Peter — whose only friend is a duck — becomes an unlikely hero in this masterful, dialogue-free adventure set to Sergei Prokofiev’s classic 1936 score. Filmmaker Suzie Templeton transplants the action of the classic folktale to contemporary Russia, which she illustrates with beguiling stop-motion animation. The film won the 2008 Oscar for Best Animated Short.
City Girl Influential German auteur F.W. Murnau directs this 1930 silent-era drama, which stars Charles Farrell as Lem Tustine, the son of a Minnesota farmer whose been given the difficult task of selling his family’s wheat crop. Lem’s mission takes him to Chicago, where he meets and marries city girl Kate (Mary Duncan), and brings her home to the Tustine farm in lieu of the windfall of cash the family had been hoping for.
Sunrise Director F.W. Murnau’s emotional odyssey stars George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor as a country couple whose marriage is threatened when O’Brien falls prey to cosmopolitan temptress Margaret Livingston’s feminine wiles. Imbued with an intoxicating ambiance in style and substance, the lyrical silent film — which is, by turns, quixotic, blissful, sensual and terrifying — chalked up Academy Awards for Best Actress (Gaynor) and Best Cinematography.
The Shuttered Room / It! This double feature of 1960s horror films delivers star power along with the shocks. Gig Young and Carol Lynley are a young couple investigating a sinister secret in their inherited New England home in The Shuttered Room (1967), an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that also stars Oliver Reed. Then, creepy London museum curator Arthur Pimm (Roddy McDowall) awakens the golem, a centuries-old demonic clay figure, to do his bidding in 1966’s It!
Chamber of Horrors / The Brides of Fu Manchu Terror abounds in this 1966 double feature that stars two of the genre’s most sinister villains. Famed for its “Fear Flasher” and “Horror Horn” gimmicks in its theatrical run, Chamber of Horrors stars Patrick O’Neal as a killer who replaces his hand with set of terrifying tools. As the title villain in The Brides of Fu Manchu, Christopher Lee kidnaps the daughters of the world’s foremost scientists and demands that the men build him a death ray.
The Elder Son After being fired from the symphony, Russian clarinetist Max (Rade Serbedzija) receives a visit from a young man (Shane West) claiming to be his long-lost son. In reality a wanted car thief, the young man tries to fit in with Max’s family while avoiding the authorities. As Max rejoices at the return of his missing child, his attractive daughter, Lolita (Leelee Sobieski), starts getting closer to her newfound brother.
Europa When American pacifist Leopold Kessler (Jean-Marc Barr) journeys to post-World War II Germany, he lands a job as a sleeping-car conductor on the nightmarish Europa railway line, where he discovers a group of partisans violently resisting the Allied occupation. Though he steadfastly remains neutral, before long, his lover (Barbara Sukowa) reveals a secret that forces to him make a stand. Lars von Trier directs this surrealistic thriller.
Open Window Engaged professionals Peter (Joel Edgerton) and Izzy (Robin Tunney) have always been there for each other. But when Izzy is brutally raped in the couple’s home, she begins to fall apart emotionally, leaving a helpless Peter to watch her spin out of control. As time passes, Izzy struggles to piece her life back together with the help of her parents (Elliott Gould and Cybill Shepherd) and therapist (Shirley Knight).
Make It Happen Small-town dancer Lauryn Kirk (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) moves to Chicago with big plans to win admission to the prestigious Chicago School of Music and Dance. But when her dreams take a detour, she’s forced to make ends meet as a burlesque dancer. It’s not the stage she wanted, but it’s the only stage she’s got — and she’s taking it by storm. Honey director Darren Grant helms this coming-of-age story from Duane Adler (Save the Last Dance).
Anamorph NYPD detective Stan Aubray (Willem Dafoe) is obsessed with catching a serial killer whose slayings resemble a case Aubray solved years earlier. But the bizarre crime scenes require Aubray to study everything — including his own dark past — in a new light. The intricately plotted psychological thriller also stars Scott Speedman as a young maverick detective and Clea DuVall as a woman with a mysterious history.
Murnau, Borzage & Fox This collection of classics contains 10 films from both the late-silent and early-talkie eras of cinema, eight of them directed by Frank Borzage and two directed by German auteur F.W. Murnau. Films include “Lucky Star,” “Liliom,” “Lazybones,” “7th Heaven,” “Song O’ My Heart” and more, starring renowned actors of the day, such as Spencer Tracy, Charles Farrell and Janet Gaynor.
The Dark Glow of the Mountains / Ballad of the Little Soldier / Precautions Against Fanatics This anthology includes three films from celebrated German auteur Werner Herzog, including “The Dark Glow of the Mountains,” a gripping examination of mountain climber Reinhard Messner’s relentless internal drive as he makes two challenging ascents. “Ballad of the Little Soldier” explores the plight of child soldiers in Nicaragua, and “Precautions Against Fanatics” features a comic, faux-documentary look at the world of horse racing.
Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands Proving that bad boys are hard to shake, this fanciful Brazilian comedy follows the adventures of Dona Flor (Sonia Braga), a conventional girl who weds a handsome ne’er-do-well (José Wilker) whose only saving grace is his talent in bed. When he dies suddenly, Flor remarries — but to his polar opposite: an exceedingly dull pharmacist (Mauro Mendonça). Soon, she finds herself longing for hubby No. 1 … and next thing you know, his ghost appears.
Documentaries and Music:
Fatboy: The Movie This candid documentary chronicles the efforts of overweight “regular Joe” Miles A. Forman to shed, once and for all, the extra 50 pounds that have burdened him for years. As Forman struggles to lose his excess baggage, he discovers — and exposes — the ugly underbelly of the profit-motivated weight-loss industry, along with the misconceptions that many Americans still hold about dieting and obesity.
Flow: For Love of Water From both local and global perspectives, this documentary examines the harsh realities behind the mounting water crisis. Learn how politics, pollution and human rights are intertwined in this important issue that affects every being on Earth. With water drying up around the world and the future of human lives at stake, the film urges a call to arms before more of our most precious natural resource evaporates.
Man on Wire Philippe Petit captured the world’s attention in 1974 when he successfully walked across a high wire between New York’s Twin Towers. This documentary (nominated for Best Doc for the Independent Spirit Awards) explores the preparations that went into the stunt as well as the event and its aftermath. Obsessed with the towers even before they were fully constructed, Petit sneaked into the buildings several times to determine the equipment he needed to accomplish his daring feat.
Poetry on Fire Celebrate the power of contemporary poetry with this showcase featuring performances by many of the country’s most respected African American spoken word artists, poets and wordsmiths. Performers include Sonya Sanchez, Jessica Care Moore-Poole, Cola Rum, Aqiyl, Queen Sheba, Grammy winners Cee-Lo Green (of Gnarls Barkley) and Common, former Public Enemy member Professor Griff and the legendary Amiri Baraka and the Last Poets
John Cage: 49 Waltzes for the 5 Boroughs Noted as one of John Cage’s more experimental works, the “49 Waltzes for the Five Boroughs” highlights the avant-garde artist’s foray into “chance music,” using random locations on the Hagstrom map of New York City as a schematic for the composition. Collaborating with composer Andrew Culver, Don Gillespie explores Cage’s piece by collecting the images and sounds found at the various locations and assembling them into one two-hour experience.
La Scala: A Documentary of Performances Widely regarded as “the most famous opera house in the world,” Milan’s La Scala Theatre has set the stage for many of the world’s most legendary performers and celebrated operatic and orchestral productions. Relive the history of the majestic venue with this exhilarating retrospective, composed of a collection of magnificent productions that includes works by Verdi, Bizet, Salieri, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Cilea, Giordano and Puccini.
Sound of the Soul Filmmaker Stephen Olsson examines Morocco’s annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music, a fascinating cultural event that invites musicians of all faiths from around the world to perform in this ancient Arab city. The film is a showcase for both the historic sites of Fez and the talented performers who hope their music can help audiences move beyond the political and religious differences that often keep their different cultures separated.
The Weird:
Attack Girls’ Swim Team vs. the Undead A lab mix-up accidentally swaps a vaccine with a virus that turns a high school full of students and teachers into flesh-eating zombies. But all is not lost: New student hottie Aki discovers that the swim team is immune to the plague. With the school rampaged by ravenous monsters, the girls engage in an over-the-top orgy of gory violence to save the day. Sasa Handa, Yuria Hidaka and Hiromitsu Kiba star in this comic creature feature.
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