Secrecy

"Secrecy", recommended by Kenneth Turan

Smart and unexpected, "Secrecy" combines thoughtful interviews with an elegant visual look to produce an incisive examination of some of the key issues of our time.

Co-directed by historian Peter Galison and filmmaker Robb Moss, this documentary's subject is how much secrecy we really need. It asks whether it's OK to use methods inconsistent with our values to protect our democracy, or whether those methods will leave us with no democracy left to protect. No matter which side of this issue you are on, "Secrecy" will leave you considering ideas you may not have thought of before.

Read the full review of Secrecy by Kenneth Turan of the LA Times

Religulous

A recommendation for "Religulous" from Kenneth Turan:

" Religulous," the new documentary starring Bill Maher and directed by Larry Charles, doesn't take the time to define its title, but Maher has said elsewhere that it is a combination of "religious" and "ridiculous." By joining the two, the filmmakers have come up with a handy way to underline their preoccupation with the gullibility of true believers. Read the entire review at the LA Times

Religulous Opened October 1, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 41 min.
Cast: Bill Maher
Director: Larry Charles
Genres: Satire, Religions & Belief Systems, Comedy, Spirituality & Philosophy

Patti Simith: Dream of Life

Carina Chocano recommends "Patti Smith" Dream of Life".

Steven Sebring's "Patti Smith: Dream of Life" is a dream of a movie; gauzy, free-associative and reverberant. Shot over 11 years by a commercial photographer who befriended the poet, rock star, activist and "godmother of punk" in the mid-'90s, when Smith returned to New York following the death of her husband, it drifts and floats between footage of her as a young woman in the '60s and '70s and rambling home-movie-like footage of her life today. Read the entire review at the LA Times

Synopsis: Patti Smith: Dream of Life
Twelve years in the making, the first film directed by fashion photographer Steven Sebring stitches together layer upon layer of human experience to paint a portrait of Patti Smith, the artist as a tireless and dynamic worker for music, poetry , peace, family and friends.

Cast: Patti Smith
Director: Steven Sebring
Genres: Biography, Vocal Music, Music
Opened August 8, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 49 min.

Show times from Fandango.com

Happy-Go-Lucky

At time like this when most of us could do with being cheered-up, perhaps Kenneth Turan's recommendation of "Happy-Go-Lucky" could just be the tonic we need:

" Happy-Go-Lucky" is something different from virtuoso British writer-director Mike Leigh. For what feels like the first time in his more than 35 years of bringing an exceptional level of insight and intensity to the exploration of human behavior, Leigh has put a thoroughly happy person front and center in one of his films...Played by Sally Hawkins in a performance that won the Silver Bear for best actress at the Berlin Film Festival, Poppy practically defines irrepressible. With a personality as distinctive as her wacky clothing style, Poppy is the kind of person who completely means it when she says "Hello there, cheer up" to a flower whose head she stops from drooping. Read the entire review at the LA Times

Synopsis of "Happy-Go-Lucky"
Poppy is an irrepressibly free-spirited school teacher who brings an infectious laugh and an unsinkable sense of optimism to every situation she encounters as a single woman in London. When Poppy’s commuter bike is stolen, she signs up for driving lessons with Scott (Eddie Marsan), who turns out to be her polar opposite – a fuming, uptight cynic who takes himself extremely seriously. As the tension of their weekly lessons builds, Poppy’s story takes alternately hilarious and serious turns -- careening from flamenco classes to first dates--becoming a touching, truthful and deeply life-affirming exploration of one of the most mysterious and often the most elusive of all human emotions: happiness.

Cast: Sally Hawkins, Eddie Marsan, Alexis Zegerman, Sinead Matthews, Kate O'Flynn
Director: Mike Leigh
Genres: Slice of Life, Comedy Drama
Opened October 10, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 58 min. R- language
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Rachel Getting Married

Another critics' choice recommendation from LA Times movie critic Kenneth Turan this time for "Rachel Getting Married".

Welcome for any number of reasons, this is a gratifying return to his independent film roots for Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme, a powerful screenwriting debut for Jenny Lumet, a Herculean job of handheld cinematography by Declan Quinn and a career changing performance by Anne Hathaway, of all people, as an ultra-troubled young woman let out of rehab for her sister's wedding. (Kenneth Turan's review of "Rachel Getting Married")

Synopsis of "Rachel Getting Married"
When Kym (Anne Hathaway) returns to the Buchman family home for the wedding of her sister Rachel (Rosemarie Dewitt), she brings a long history of personal crisis and family conflict along with her. The wedding party’s abundant cast of friends and relations have gathered for an idyllic weekend of feasting, music and love, but Kym — with her black-humor and knack for bombshell drama — is a catalyst for long-simmering tensions in the family dynamic.

Cast: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin, Tunde Adebimpe, Debra Winger
Director: Jonathan Demme

Opened October 3, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 53 min. R - language and brief sexuality
Genres: Comedy, Ensemble Film

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A Girl Cut in Two

Kenneth Turan recommends "A Girl Cut in Two" in his capsule review:

Claude Chabrol’s film is unquestionably the work of a master. As well it should be, given that the celebrated French filmmaker ha produced more than 50 features in half a century of directing. If you don’t believe all that experience can come in handy, this involving and intelligent film will change your mind. Starting with a turn-of-the-century American romantic triangle, Chabrol has transferred the story to contemporary France and turned it into a study of the confounding nature of the human heart, of the way innocence and corruption can be at such devastating cross purposes that, as one character puts it, “love is the only crime that gives a life sentence.” (Kenneth Turan's review of "A Girl Cut in Two")

Synopsis "A Girl Cut in Two"

The French master of suspense Claude Chabrol returns with the razor-sharp, darkly seductive, A GIRL CUT IN TWO. Gabrielle Deneige (Ludivine Sagnier) is an independent, ambitious TV weather girl torn between her love of a distinguished author several decades her senior (Francois Berléand), and the attentions of a headstrong, potentially unstable young suitor (Benoit Magimel). An unspoken past between the two men heightens tensions, and though she's initially certain of her love for one them, the see-saw demands and whims of both men keep confusing - and darkening - matters. Before long she's encountering emotional and societal forces well beyond her control, inexorably leading to a shocking clash of violence and passion. Inspired by the sensational Gilded Age murder of Madison Square Garden architect Stanford White, A GIRL CUT IN TWO is trademark Chabrol: fiendishly entertaining and impossible to shake.


Cast: Ludivine Sagnier, Benoît Magimel, François Berléand, Mathilda May, Caroline Sihol
Director: Claude Chabrol

Opened August 15, 2008 Runtime:1 hr. 54 min
Genres: Black Comedy, Comedy Thriller, Comedy

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