Spring 2010 Critic's Choice Series

February 1st - April 25th, 2010

Showtimes are 5:00pm Monday-Friday and 1:00pm Saturday & Sunday!

**CLICK ON POSTERS TO ACCESS OFFICIAL MOVIE SITE WHEN AVAILABLE.

Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus  (PG13)

Genre: Action/Adventure, Art/Foreign and Science Fiction/Fantasy

Cast:  Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, Colin Farrell, Christopher Plummer

Director:  Terry Gilliam

Synopsis:   Dr. Parnassus has the extraordinary gift of inspiring the imaginations of others. Helped by his traveling theatre troupe, including his sarcastic and cynical sidekick Percy and versatile young player Anton, Parnassus offers audience members the chance to transcend mundane reality by passing through a magical mirror into a fantastic universe of limitless imagination. However, Parnassus' magic comes at a price. For centuries he's been gambling with the devil, Mr. Nick who is coming to collect his prize -- Parnassus' precious daughter, Valentina on her upcoming 16th birthday. Oblivious to her rapidly approaching fate, Valentina falls for Tony, a charming outsider with motives of his own. In order to save his daughter and redeem himself, Parnassus makes one final bet with Mr. Nick, which sends Tony and Valentina and the entire theatre troupe on a ride of twists and turns, in and out of London and the Imaginarium's spectacular landscape.

Rating:  PG-13 for violent images, some sensuality, language and smoking.

LINK TO OFFICIAL IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS WEBSITE

The Messenger  (R)

Genre:  Drama, Romance and War

Cast:   Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker

Director:  Oren Moverman

Synopsis:   U.S. Army officer Will Montgomery has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia, to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.

Rating:  R for language and some sexual content/nudity.

LINK TO OFFICIAL THE MESSENGER WEBSITE

Brothers  (R)

Genre:  War Drama

Cast:   Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, Sam Shepard, Mare Winningham

Director:  Jim Sheridan

Synopsis:  Thirty-something Captain Sam Cahill and his younger brother Tommy Cahill, are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, the aptly named Grace, with whom he has two young daughters. Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who's always gotten by on wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison, at Sam's farewell dinner with their parents, Elsie and Hank Cahill, a retired Marine. Shipped out to Afghanistan, Sam is presumed dead when his Black Hawk helicopter is shot down in the mountains. At home in suburbia, the Cahill family suddenly faces a shocking void, and Tommy tries to fill in for his brother by assuming newfound responsibility for himself, Grace, and the children.

Rating:  R for language and some disturbing violent content.

Crazy Heart  (R)

Genre:  Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation

Cast:  Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, James Keane (II), Anna Felix

Director:  Scott Cooper

Synopsis:   Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who's had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can't help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man's crazy heart.

Rating:  R for language and brief sexuality.

LINK TO OFFICIAL THE MESSENGER WEBSITE

The Last Station  (R)

Genre:  Art/Foreign, Adaptation and Biopic

Cast:   Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, Anne-Marie Duff, James McAvoy

Director:  Michael Hoffman

Synopsis:   Set in the last tumultuous years of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy's life, centers on the battle for his soul waged by his wife Sofya Andreyevna and his leading disciple Vladimir Cherkov. Torn between his professed doctrine of poverty and chastity and the reality of his enormous wealth, his thirteen children and a life of hedonism, Tolstoy makes a dramatic flight from his home. Too ill to continue beyond the tiny rail station at Astapovo, he believes that he is dying alone, while over one hundred newspapermen camp outside awaiting hourly reports on his condition.

Rating:  R for scene of sexuality/nudity.

LINK TO OFFICIAL THE LAST STATION WEBSITE

A Single Man  (R)

Genre:   Drama & Adaption

Cast:   Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Nicholas Hoult, Matthew Goode, Ryan Simpkins

Director:  Tom Ford

Synopsis:   In Los Angeles 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis George Falconer, a 52 year old British college professor is struggling to find meaning to his life after the death of his long time partner, Jim. George dwells on the past and cannot see his future as we follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters, ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley, a 48 year old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions about the future. A young student of George's, Kenny, who is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him a kindred spirit. A romantic tale of love interrupted the isolation that is an inherent part of the human condition and ultimately the importance of the seemingly smaller moments in life.

Rating:  R for some disturbing images and nudity/sexual content.

LINK TO OFFICIAL A SINGLE MAN WEBSITE

Nine  (PG13)

Genre:  Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation

Cast:   Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Stacie 'Fergie' Ferguson and Judi Dench

Director:  Rob Marshall

Synopsis:  World famous film director Guido Contini reaches a creative and personal crisis of epic proportion while balancing the numerous women in his life including his wife, his mistress, his film star muse, his confidant and costume designer, an American fashion journalist, the whore from his youth and his mother.

Rating:  PG-13 for sexual content and smoking.

LINK TO OFFICIAL NINE WEBSITE

Nancy Jo

This concludes the Spring 2010 Critic's Choice Series.

I thank you for your continued patronage of this series.

Due to a decrease in attendance, we will not host a Fall Series,
but we will continue on with the Spring Series annually!

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions,
please feel free to email me directly

nancyjosmith@centurylink.net

Thank you & I hope to see you at the movies!