Momma’s Man

Azazel Jacobs’ MOMMA’S MAN chronicles the increasingly anxious dilemma of Mikey (Matt Boren), a young husband and father who stops off at his parents’ loft during a business trip to New York and finds himself emotionally unable to leave. One of the most acclaimed films of this year's Sundance Film Festival, Jacobs' third feature is both a tribute to his parents (avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs and painter Flo Jacobs, who play Mikey’s mother and father) and an acutely perceptive, slyly humorous take on a universal experience: the fear of growing up.

Ghost Town

In the comedy "Ghost Town," Bertram Pincus (Ricky Gervais) is a man whose people skills leave much to be desired. When Pincus dies unexpectedly, but is miraculously revived after seven minutes, he wakes up to discover that he now has the annoying ability to see ghosts. Even worse, they all want something from him, particularly Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who pesters him into breaking up the impending marriage of his widow Gwen (Téa Leoni).

Real Time

REAL TIME is about a hit man (Randy Quaid) who gives a compulsive gambler (Jay Baruchel) one hour to live. The movie takes place in real time and its ultimate subject is what we do with the time we have in this world. The film begins when Andy, a hyperactive compulsive gambler, is plucked off the street by the calm yet imposing Reuban. Reuban tells Andy that he’s been dispatched to kill him. Andy doesn’t believe him at first. He figures it’s just another one of Reuban’s scare tactics to get him to pay off his gambling debt. After a few punches to the head and a gun held to his face, Andy finally gets it. Reuban is really going to kill him - but not before Andy gets an hour to do whatever he’d like before he dies. Reuban is a little surprised when Andy chooses to spend his hour looking for a hooker, seeking revenge on a former boss and trying to find his old Playdough barber shop toy at Grandma’s. But as we move closer to the deadline, we see there is more to Andy than we first thought and Reuban turns out to have a secret or two of his own. REAL TIME is produced by January Films, Devonshire Productions and APB Pictures. The film is financed by Serendipity Point Films, Telefilm Canada, Corus Entertainment, Astral Media, Ontario Media Development Corporation and Rogers Telefund. Maximum Films willdistribute the film in Canada and act as worldwide sales agent.

Allah Made Me Funny

This landmark concert film follows three acclaimed comedians on stage and off as they lift the veil to reveal the humorous side of what it’s really like to be American and Muslim. Mo Amer, Azhar Usman, and Preacher Moss poke fun at themselves, their communities, government, human nature and the tricky predicament of living in post- 9/11 America. Featuring music of rising indie scene artists, Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert is rollicking good fun and gives people of all cultural backgrounds an opportunity to laugh hard, drop their guard, and open their minds.

Sukiyaki Western Django

Famed Japanese auteur Takashi Miike, who is best known for cult classics such as Audition, Ichi: the Killer, and Children of Lost Souls, brings a fresh new look at the beloved spaghetti Western genre in Sukiyaki Western Django. Two clans, Genji, the white clan led by Yoshitsune, and Heike, the red clan led by Kiyomori, battle for a legendary treasure hidden in a poor mountain town. One day a lone gunman, burdened with deep emotional scars but blessed with incredible shooting skills, drifts into town. Expectations reach a boiling point as everyone wonders which gang the gunman will finally decide to join. Dirty tricks, betrayal, desire, and love collide as the situation erupts into a final, explosive showdown.

An American Carol

The American spirit is celebrated in the outrageous and totally irreverent comedy An American Carol from David Zucker, the master of movie satire (Airplane!, The Naked Gun, Scary Movie 3 and 4).

Local Color

A successful artist looks back with loving memories on the summer of his defining year, 1974. A talented, but troubled eighteen year old art student befriends an elderly alcoholic genius painter who has turned his back on not only art, but life. The two form, what appears to be at first a tenuous relationship. The kid wants to learn all the secrets the master has locked away inside his head and heart. Time has not been kind to the old master. His life appears pointless to him until the kid rekindles his interest in his work and ultimately gives him the will to live. Together, they give one another a priceless gift. The kid learns to see the world through the master’s eyes. And the master learns to see life through the eyes of innocence again. This story is based on a real life experience.

Humboldt County

At the edge of the continent and on the margins of society is a region of California known to some as “The Lost Coast.” It is there, in HUMBOLDT COUNTY, that Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong) - a promising yet disillusioned medical student failed by his professor (Peter Bogdanovich) - stumbles upon a remote community of counterculture marijuana farmers and a warmly embracing, yet eccentric family played by Frances Conroy, Fairuza Balk, Chris Messina, Brad Dourif, and newcomer Madison Davenport. From directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs, who also co-wrote the screenplay, HUMBOLDT COUNTY is a story of the human soul in search of happiness, and the unexpected places we can sometimes call home.

The Secret Life of Bees

THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, based on the New York Times best selling novel and set in South Carolina in 1964, is the moving tale of Lily Owens (Fanning) a 14 year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother (Burton). To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father (Bettany), Lily flees with Rosaleen (Hudson), her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters (Latifah, Okonedo and Keys), Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping.

Ping Pong Playa

Christopher “C-DUB” Wang is a suburban guy who sports an urban swagger, waxes political on all things Asian American, and clings to pipe dreams of a career as a pro basketball player. Blaming genetics for his failure to make the NBA, C-dub lives at home, works a dead- end job, and squirms in the shadow of his older brother, Michael, a doctor and ping pong champion. With a family-run store devoted to all things ping pong and a mom who teaches it at the local Chinese Community Center, the Wang’s entire world revolves around the sport. But despite the family legacy, C- dub opts to spend his free time playing video games and daydreaming about get-rich quick schemes with his best friend JP Money. C-dub is kicked back into reality when his mom and Michael are hurt in a car accident, leaving his father to watch over the store and forcing C-dub to take over his mom’s ping pong class of misfits. C- dub starts to appreciate the benefits of ping pong when he starts using the class to make some extra money on the side and befriending one of the kids who happen to have a beautiful older sister. But when the Wang family livelihood is threatened by a rival ping pong player’s attempt to lure the kids away, C-dub begins to take things more seriously. With the National Golden Cock coming up and an injured Michael unable to defend his title, C-dub must become the player he pretends to be and defend his family’s ping pong dynasty.

Year of the Fish

In this modern-day adaptation of Cinderella, newcomer David Kaplan transposes the fairytale’s archetypical characters to a vibrant urban setting: a massage parlor in New York’s Chinatown specializing in ‘happy endings’. An optimistic young girl travels alone to New York City where she hopes to earn money to send home to her ailing father. Expecting work in a beauty salon, the girl is instead delivered into the hands of her father’s distant cousin, an embittered woman who runs a seedy massage parlor. The girl surrenders her passport as collateral for her ‘debt’ and is informed of her duties. When she refuses to do the requisite sex work, the girl accepts her fate as the operation’s browbeaten servant, her only solace a magical goldfish given to her by a sidewalk fortuneteller. Sprinkled with fantasy, romance and suspense, YEAR OF THE FISH is presented in a delicately layered animation style that evokes a painting come to life. The film’s first-rate ensemble cast includes Ken Leung (LOST, X-MEN 3, RUSH HOUR), Tsai Chin (THE JOY LUCK CLUB), acclaimed Broadway veteran Randall Duk Kim (THE MATRIX RELOADED, the upcoming DRAGONBALL), and introduces An Nguyen.

Stealing America Vote by Vote

For more than thirty years, exit polls accurately predicted election results. Over the last ten years that reliability has disappeared. What’s going on? The last two presidential elections both came down to a relatively small number of votes, and in both elections the integrity of the voting process has been called into question. With the upcoming election looking to be similarly close, the time has come to ask the questions: What happened in 2000 and 2004? What, if anything, has changed since? And what can be done to ensure a fair and honest tabulation of votes in 2008? This film brings together behind-the-scenes perspectives from the U.S presidential election of 2004 - plus startling stories from key races in 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2006. The film sheds light on a decade of vote counts that don’t match votes cast - uncounted ballots, vote switching, under-votes, an many other examples of election totals that warrant serious investigation. This film unveils patterns of anomalies at every level of the electoral process. Controversial partnerships perpetuate a secretive environment, as relevant facts and figures remain hidden from view. As a result, most Americans have no real sense of the threat to fair elections. As seemingly unrelated pieces of the puzzle come together, a chilling picture emerges: of widespread, artfully crafted “glitches” that, in the final tallies, have the capacity to alter election results.

The Boy In the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a fictional story that offers a unique perspective on how prejudice, hatred and violence affect innocent people, particularly children, during wartime. Through the lens of an eight-year-old boy largely shielded from the reality of World War II, we witness a forbidden friendship that forms between Bruno, the son of Nazi commandant, and Schmuel, a Jewish boy held captive in a concentration camp. Though the two are separated physically by a barbed wire fence, their lives become inescapably intertwined. The imagined story of Bruno and Shmuel sheds light on the brutality, senselessness and devastating consequences of war from an unusual point of view. Together, their tragic journey helps recall the millions of innocent victims of the Holocaust.

The Brothers Bloom

Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), Academy Award winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac), and Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi (Babel) star in The Brothers Bloom, a globe-trotting comedy about the last great adventure of the world’s best con men. Welcome to the world of The Brothers Bloom, where deception is an art and nothing is as it seems. The brothers have perfected the art of swindling fortunes through years of fraternal teamwork. Now they’ve decided to take on one last spectacular job—luring a beautiful and eccentric heiress into an elaborate plot that takes them around the world. For as long as they can remember, the Brothers Bloom have had only each other to depend on. From their childhood in a long series of gloomy foster homes to their highflying lives as international con artists, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody) have shared everything. Stephen brilliantly concocts intricate stories that the brothers live out, but he’s still searching for the perfect con, the one where “everyone gets what they want.” Meanwhile, Bloom yearns for “an unwritten life”—a real adventure, one not dreamed up by his old brother. Eager to retire, Bloom agrees to take part in one last grand scam. He insinuates himself into the life of Penelope (Rachel Wiesz), a bored, single New Jersey heiress. When a genuine romance begins to blossom between them, he is reluctant to exploit her naiveté, but Penelope has already taken the bait: She impulsively joins Bloom, Stephen and their “associate,” a sexy Japanese explosives expert named Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), on an ocean liner to Greece. Penelope is convinced she’s happened upon the adventure of a lifetime and offers to bankroll a million dollar deal. As the quartet makes their way from Athens to Prague to Mexico to St. Petersburg, Penelope quickly becomes addicted to the illicit thrills. But as Stephen’s elaborate web of deceit pulls tighter, Bloom begins to wonder if his brother has devised the most dangerous con of his life.

Forever Strong

Rick Penning (Sean Faris, *Never Back Down*) lives life just like he plays rugby; fast, hard-hitting and intense. When life on the edge lands him in jail, prison ward Marcus Tate (Sean Astin, *The Lord of the Rings*) offers him a chance to get back in the game by playing for his rival, Highland Rugby. Reluctantly Rick joins the team where he must adopt the grueling training schedule and unique code of conduct that Coach Gelwix (Gary Cole, *Office Space*) enforces, or finish out the season behind bars. Egos clash as bitter competitors struggle to become a team. An unlikely brotherhood is formed with his Highland teammates, just as Rick is released from jail and sent back home to rejoin his former team, coached by his overbearing father (Neal McDonough, *Minority Report*). Heading into a faceoff with Highland at the National Championship, Rick is forced to choose where his loyalty lies.

Battle In Seattle

In 1999, five days rocked the world as tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Seattle in protest of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Environmentalists, consumer advocates, labor unions, students, anarchists and pacifists all converged, bringing attention to how the WTO’s laws were affecting democracy around the world. Among them are Django (Andre Benjamin), Sam (Jennifer Carpenter), Lou (Michelle Rodriguez) and Jay (Martin Henderson). United in their desire to be heard and to make a difference, for these protesters, this is very personal and the stakes are higher than mere politics. A peaceful demonstration to stop the WTO talks quickly escalates into a full-scale riot and an eventual State of Emergency results. The streets are mayhem, the WTO is paralyzed. Caught in the crossfire are Seattle residents, including its beleaguered mayor (Ray Liotta), a riot cop on the streets (Woody Harrelson) and his pregnant wife (Charlize Theron). The choices they make will change their lives forever and prove, ultimately, that ordinary people can change the world. With his ensemble cast writer/director Stuart Townsend intertwines different points of view from a cross section of society – from protestors and police to delegates and doctors – who intentionally or accidentally find themselves on the streets of Seattle in those last days of the millennium. Townsend merges footage of the real event with his fictional narrative and, ultimately, Battle in Seattle illustrates that, even against incredible odds, ordinary people can change the world.

Harold

As a young teenager suffering from really early male-pattern baldness, Harold has never had it easy. Despite the efforts of his scattered mother —- and aggravated by his beauty-queen-mean sister - life is a trial for Harold. And now his teen angst is topping out: He’s facing his first day at a new high school in a new town. He’s not only going to be the “new kid,” but the “new weird bald kid.”

Death Race

Terminal Island: The very near future. The world’s hunger for extreme sports and reality competitions has grown into reality TV bloodlust. Now, the most extreme racing competition has emerged and its contestants are murderous prisoners. Tricked-out cars, caged thugs and smoking-hot navigators combine to create a juggernaut series with bigger ratings than the Super Bowl. The rules of the Death Race are simple: Win five events, and you’re set free. Lose and you’re road kill splashed across the Internet. International action star Jason Statham leads the action-thriller’s cast as three-time speedway champion Jensen Ames, an ex-con framed for a gruesome murder. Forced to don the mask of the mythical driver Frankenstein, a Death Race crowd favorite who seems impossible to kill, Ames is given an easy choice by Terminal Island’s ruthless Warden Hennessey (Joan Allen): Suit up and drive or never see his little girl again. His face hidden by a hideous mask, one convict will enter an insane three-day challenge in order to gain freedom. But to claim the prize, Ames must survive a gauntlet of the most vicious criminals—including nemesis Machine Gun Joe (Tyrese Gibson)—in the country’s toughest prison. Trained by his coach (Ian McShane) to drive a monster Mustang V8 Fastback outfitted with 2 mounted mini-guns, flamethrowers and napalm, an innocent man will destroy everything in his path to win the most twisted spectator sport on Earth.

Cthulhu

Adapted from a story by H.P. Lovecraft. A Seattle history professor, drawn back to his estranged family on the Oregon coast to execute his late mother’s estate, is reacquainted with his best friend from childhood, with whom he has a long-awaited tryst. Caught in an accelerating series of events, he discovers aspects of his father’s New Age cult which take on a dangerous and apocalyptic significance.

Twilight

TWILIGHT is an action-packed, modern day love story between a vampire and a human. Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has always been a little bit different, never caring about fitting in with the trendy girls at her Phoenix high school. When her mother remarries and sends Bella to live with her father in the rainy little town of Forks, Washington, she doesn’t expect much of anything to change. Then she meets the mysterious and dazzlingly beautiful Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a boy unlike any she’s ever met. Intelligent and witty, he sees straight into her soul. Soon, Bella and Edward are swept up in a passionate and decidedly unorthodox romance. Edward can run faster than a mountain lion, he can stop a moving car with his bare hands - and he hasn’t aged since 1918. Like all vampires, he’s immortal. But he doesn’t have fangs, and he doesn’t drink human blood; Edward and his family are unique among vampires in their lifestyle choice. To Edward, Bella is that thing he has waited 90 years for - a soul mate. But the closer they get, the more Edward must struggle to resist the primal pull of her scent, which could send him into an uncontrollable frenzy. But what will Edward & Bella do when James (Cam Gigandet), Laurent (Edi Gathegi) and Victoria (Rachelle Lefevre), the Cullens’ mortal vampire enemies, come to town, looking for her?

In Search of a Midnight Kiss

From emerging, award-winning filmmaker Alex Holdridge and the producer of BEFORE SUNRISE and DAZED AND CONFUSED, IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS is a funny and bittersweet look at love, sex, and modern romance. With an unsold script, no concrete plans, and a love life reduced to getting caught in compromising positions (alone!), a twenty-nine-year aspiring writer, Wilson (Scoot McNairy) just had the worst year of his life. That is until his best friend, Jacob (Brian Matthew McGuire), browbeats him into posting a personal ad for New Year’s Eve on Craig’s List. When Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a sexy, sarcastic, and seemingly blind-date-from-hell responds, the two strangers embark on an unexpected, chaotic, and hilariously awkward journey through the black-and-white streets of Los Angeles hoping to meet the right one before the stroke of midnight. A truly original love letter to Los Angeles, IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS captures a lost downtown rarely seen on screen along with the hearts of critics and audiences alike.

Everybody Wants To Be Italian

Jake, a lovelorn fishmonger who has spent nearly a decade trying to win back his ex-girlfriend gets involved in a romantic case of mistaken ethnicity. It’s been eight years since Jake’s girlfriend left him, and despite the fact that she’s now married with three children, he refuses to move on. Fed up with their depressive pal’s unwillingness to let go of the past, Jake’s friends set him up on a blind date with a beautiful Italian woman from Boston’s North End. Though Jake is convinced that such a woman would never consider dating a non-Italian, a quick crash course in how to fake it may prove just the trick to helping him learn to love once again.

Patti Smith - Dream of Life

Dream of Life is a plunge into the philosophy and artistry of cult rocker Patti Smith. This portrait of the legendary singer, artist and poet explores themes of spirituality, history and self expression. Known as the godmother of punk, she emerged in the 1970’s, galvanizing the music scene with her unique style of poetic rage, music and trademark swagger. We follow this multitalented and private artist over 11 years of international travel, through her spoken words, performances, lyrics, interviews, paintings, and photographs. Dream of Life reveals a complicat ...