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Check out the latest exclusive engagements and premieres, including the best in new indies, foreign films, documentaries and restored classics, by downloading a PDF of the Nuart Theatre Movie Guide, with all-new programming from January 15 through April 15! |
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| From visionary director Tim Burton comes the epic fantasy adventure Alice in Wonderland, a magical and impressive twist on some of the most beloved stories of all time. Johnny Depp stars as the Mad Hatter and Mia Wasikowska as 19-year-old Alice, who returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting her with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course the Mad Hatter. Alice embarks on a fantastical journey to find her true destiny and end the Red Queen's reign of terror. Also starring Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Crispin Glover. Director Tim Burton (Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands) captures the wonder of Lewis Carroll's beloved Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871) with stunning, avant-garde visuals and some of the most charismatic characters in literary history. Official Web Site |
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Ran is the twenty-seventh film from director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, The Seven Samurai). In its epic scale, stylistic grandeur and tragic contemplation of human destiny, it brings together the great themes and gorgeous images of the director's life work. A brilliantly conceived meditation on Shakespeare's King Lear, crossed with the history of Japan's 16th-century Civil Wars and the legend of Mori, a feudal warlord with three sons, the film's title translates as "chaos" or "turmoil." Tatsuya Nakadai stars the Great Lord Hidetora Ichimonji, an aging ruler who decides to abdicate and divide his land equally among his three sons, unleashing an intense power struggle as his sons and daughters-in-law scheme for power and revenge. A spectacular adventure punctuated by epic battle scenes, at the time of its original release Ran was the most expensive film ever made in Japan, with a visual splendor that's still breathtaking today. Official Web Site Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |
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Condemned to six years in prison, 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim), part Arab, part Corsican, cannot read or write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts. Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang who rules the prison, he is given a number of "missions" to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader's confidence in the process. But Malik is brave and a fast learner, daring to secretly develop his own plans. Directed and co-written by Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped, Read My Lips). Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. Official Web Site Director Jacques Audiard on the common language of film Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |
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Roman Polanski directs this atmospheric and suspenseful political thriller based on the novel The Ghost by Robert Harris. When a successful British ghostwriter, The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan), his agent assures him it's the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start—not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang's long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident. The Ghost flies to the East Coast of the United States to work on the project, but the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA—a war crime. The controversy brings reporters and protesters swarming to the island mansion where Lang is staying with his wife, Ruth (Olivia Williams), and his personal assistant, Amelia (Kim Cattrall). As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA—and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind. Also starring Timothy Hutton, Eli Wallach, Tom Wilkinson and James Belushi. Official Web Site Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |
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In 1954, U.S. marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), are summoned to the hospital for the criminally insane on remote and barren Shutter Island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate the disappearance of a female murderer. Marshall Daniels is especially keen on cracking the case, for he has personal matters at stake. He suspects rampant unsavory (and illegal) treatment practices at the institution, but then clashes with Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), who refuses him access to hospital records. As a fierce storm cuts off both communication with and escape to the mainland, and dangerous criminals break loose on the island, Daniels’s grasp of the clues, his memory, his trust in his partner, and his wits begin to unravel. From Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese. Also starring Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams and Max von Sydow. Official Web Site Betsy Sharkey's Los Angeles Times review... |

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The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s unrecognized heroes: the technicians of a bomb squad who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives doing one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. Three members of the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle insurgents and one another as they search for and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad—in order to try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans alike. Their mission is clear—protect and save—but it’s anything but easy, as the margin of error when defusing a war-zone bomb is zero. This thrilling and heart-pounding look at the psychology of bomb technicians and the effects of risk and danger on the human psyche is a fictional tale inspired by real events by journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special bomb unit in Iraq. In Iraq, it is soldier vernacular to speak of explosions as sending you to “the hurt locker.” Acclaimed director Kathryn Bigelow brings together groundbreaking realistic action and intimate human drama in a landmark film starring Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, with cameo appearances by Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly and Guy Pearce. Winner of 6 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Official
Web Site Director Kathryn Bigelow on the importance of casting the perfect actor |
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After almost fifty years of marriage, Countess Sofya (Helen Mirren), the devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and
secretary of Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer), suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name
of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his
noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism
and even celibacy. When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy's trusted disciple,
Chertkov (Paul Giamatti)—whom she despises—may have secretly convinced
her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to
the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous
outrage. Into this minefield wanders Tolstoy's worshipful new assistant, the
young, gullible Valentin (James McAvoy). In no time, he becomes a pawn, first
of the scheming Chertkov and then of the wounded, vengeful Sofya as each plots
to undermine the other's gains. Complicating Valentin's life even further
is the overwhelming passion he feels for the beautiful, spirited Marsha (Kerry
Condon), a free thinking adherent of Tolstoy's new religion whose unconventional
attitudes about sex and love both compel and confuse him. A tale of two romances,
one beginning, one near its end, The Last Station is a complex, funny,
rich and emotional story about the difficulty of living with love and the
impossibility of living without it. Official
Web Site Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |

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Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in
the category of Best Animated Short and more! Program includes: French
Roast (France), in which an uptight businessman in a fancy Parisian café
who is about to pay his check finds out that he has lost his wallet; Granny
O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty (Ireland), in which a grandmother loses the
plot as she tells her version of "Sleeping Beauty" to her terrified
granddaughter; The Lady and the Reaper (Spain), in which a sweet old
lady who is waiting for death so she can see her beloved husband once again
is invited to enter death's domain—if someone doesn't ruin it for her;
Academy Award winner Logorama (Argentina), featuring spectacular car chases, an intense
hostage crisis, and wild animals rampaging through the city; and A Matter
of Loaf and Death (UK), the latest adventure from Nick Park, in which
Wallace & Gromit start a new bread baking business. Although business
is booming, Gromit is concerned by the news that a dozen local bakers have
'disappeared' this year, so he turns sleuth to protect his master and solve
the escalating murder mystery. Program also features three bonus shorts: Pixar's
Partly Cloudy (USA), Poland's The Kinematograph and Canada's
Runaway. Official
Web Site Mark Olsen's Los Angeles Times article... |

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Don't miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in
the category of Best Live Action Short! Program includes: The Door
(Ireland), about a father who attempts to come to terms with the devastating
affects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster; Instead of Abracadabra (Sweden),
about a man named Tomas who is a bit too old to still be living at home with
his parents, but his failure to become a magician leaves him with no other
choice. At his father's 60th birthday party Tomas gives him, and all his guests,
a quite bizarre show; Kavi (India/USA), in which a boy in India who wants
to play cricket and go to school is instead forced to work in a brick kiln
as a modern-day slave. Unsatisfied with his fate, Kavi must either accept
what he's always been told, or fight for a different life even if he's unsure
of the ultimate outcome; Miracle Fish (Australia), in which 8-year-old
Joe has a birthday he will never forget. After friends tease him, he sneaks
off to the sick bay, wishing everyone in the world would go away. He wakes
up to find his dream may have become a reality; and Academy Award winner The New Tenants
(Denmark/USA), in which a prying neighbour, a glassy-eyed drug dealer, and a husband
brandishing both a weapon and a vendetta make up the welcome wagon. Amidst
the as-yet-unopened boxes and the hopes for a fresh start for the two men,
it might just be the worst moving day ever. Their new apartment reveals its
terrifying history in a film that is by turns funny, frightening and unexpectedly
romantic. Vincent D'Onofrio and Kevin Corrigan star. Official Web Site Mark Olsen's Los Angeles Times article... |
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Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, A
Single Man is the story of George Falconer (Colin Firth), a 52-year-old British
college professor who is struggling to find meaning to his life after the
death of his longtime partner, Jim (Matthew Goode). 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 leads him to decide if there
is a meaning to life after Jim. George is consoled by his closest friend Charley
(Julianne Moore), a 48-year-old beauty who is wrestling with her own questions
about the future. A young student of George's, Kenny (Nicholas Hoult), who
is coming to terms with his true nature, stalks George as he feels in him
a kindred spirit. A Single Man is 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. Directed and co-written
by acclaimed fashion designer Tom Ford (making his feature debut), based on
the novel by Christopher Isherwood. Official
Web Site Betsy Sharkey's Los Angeles Times review... |
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| An Education is the story of a teenage girl's coming-of-age set in 1961 London, a city caught between the drab, post-war 1950s and the glamorous, more liberated decade to come. Jenny (Carey Mulligan) stands on the brink of becoming a woman: a brilliantly witty and attractive 16-year-old whose suburban life is about to be blown apart by the utterly unsuitable 30-something David (Peter Sarsgaard). Urbane and witty, David manages to charm her conservative parents Jack (Alfred Molina) and Marjorie (Cara Seymour). David introduces Jenny to a glittering new world of classical concerts and late-night suppers with his attractive friend and business partner, Danny (Dominic Cooper) and Danny's girlfriend, the beautiful but vacuous Helen (Rosamund Pike). Just as Jenny's family's long-held dream of getting their brilliant daughter into Oxford seems within reach, Jenny is tempted by another kind of life. Written by Nick Hornby (About a Boy, High Fidelity) and directed by Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners). Official Web Site |
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From Jason Reitman, the director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking,
comes a dramatic comedy starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate
hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his
job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend
more time at home, just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward
for years—reaching ten million frequent flyer miles. When he falls for a simpatico fellow traveler (Vera Farmiga), his boss (Jason Bateman), inspired by a young, upstart efficiency expert (Anna Kendrick), threatens to permanently call him in from the road. Faced with the prospect of being grounded, which is at once terrifying and exhilarating, he begins to contemplate what it might actually mean to have a home. Official
Web Site Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |

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Avatar, a live action film from writer/director James Cameron
(Titanic, Aliens, The Terminator), features a new generation of immersive
special effects that take us to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where
a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads
an epic battle to save a civilization. The story's hero is Jake Sully (Sam
Worthington), a former Marine confined to a wheelchair. Bitter and disillusioned,
he's still a warrior at heart. All Jake ever wanted was something worth fighting
for, and he finds it in the place he least expected: on a distant world. Jake
has been recruited to join an expedition to the moon Pandora, which corporate
interests are strip-mining for a mineral worth $20 million per kilogram on
Earth. To facilitate their work, the humans use a link system that projects
a person's consciousness into a hybrid of humans and Pandora's indigenous
humanoids, the Na'vi. This human-Na'vi hybrid—a fully living, breathing
body that resembles the Na'vi but possesses the individual human's thoughts,
feelings and personality—is known as an "avatar." In his new
avatar form, Jake can once again walk. His mission is to interact with and
infiltrate the Na'vi with the hope of enlisting their help—or at least
their acquiescence—in mining the ore. Complications arise when Jake falls
in love with a beautiful Na'vi female (Zoe Saldana) who saves his life, leading
to an epic conflict that will decide nothing less than the fate of an entire
world. Winner of 3 Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Official Web
Site Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review... |
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In 1922 Dr. Albert C. Barnes created The Barnes Foundation in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, five miles outside of Philadelphia. His astounding collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art, intended to serve as an educational institution, includes 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos, 16 Modiglianis, and 7 Van Goghs. Dr. Barnes deliberately built his Foundation away from the city and cultural elite who scorned his collection as "horrible, debased art." But tastes changed, and soon the very people who belittled Barnes wanted access to his collection. When Barnes died in 1951, he left control of his collection to Lincoln University, a small African-American college, with strict instructions that the paintings may never be removed. More than fifty years later, a powerful group of moneyed interests have gone to court in a rancorous, Machiavellian attempt to take the art—recently valued at more than $25 billion—and move it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Official Web Site Director Don Argott on the passion of Dr. Albert C. Barnes |
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| Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for their latest electrifying thriller in Green Zone, a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate into unforeseen consequences. During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Hurrying from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission. Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region. At this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth. Official Web Site |
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| The latest film from award-winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho (The Host) is a unique murder mystery about a mother's primal love for her son. Mother is a devoted single parent to her simple-minded twenty-seven-year-old son, Do-joon. Often a source of anxiety to his mother, Do-joon behaves in foolish or simply dangerous ways. One night, while walking home drunk, he encounters a school girl who he follows for a while before she disappears into a dark alley. The next morning, she is found dead in an abandoned building and Do-joon is accused of her murder. An inefficient lawyer and an apathetic police force result in a speedy conviction. His mother refuses to believe her beloved son is guilty and immediately undertakes her own investigation to find the girl’s killer. In her obsessive quest to clear her son’s name, Mother steps into a world of unimaginable chaos and shocking revelations. Official Web Site |

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| Oakdale's "Mystery Team" was once a spunky band of kid detectives dedicated to solving child-sized mysteries: Who put their finger in the pie? Who stole the tricycle? The town loved them for it. Now the Team is about to graduate from high school and move in to the real world, but they're still storming the playground to bust little kids. Needless to say, the town of Oakdale is sick of it. Each member of the Team has a supposed specialty: Jason (Donald Glover), the "Master of Disguise"; Charlie (Dominic Dierkes), the "Strongest Kid in Town"; and Duncan (D.C. Pierson), the "Boy Genius." But those skills may not be enough when one day a neighborhood girl asks the team to find out who killed her parents. The Team is taken for the first time into Oakdale's dark underbelly, where a violent cartel of drug lords and strippers will threaten their lives, strain their friendships, and put their team slogan "No case too hard, no case too tough" to the test. The debut feature from popular internet comedians Derrick Comedy. Official Web Site |
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Fri, Mar 12: Jeff Bridges in the Coen Bros' The Big Lebowski Fri, Mar 19: David Bowie & Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth Fri, Mar 26: Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction Fri, Apr 2: New 35mm print! The Princess Bride Fri, Apr 9: They outnumber the cops 3 to 1! The Warriors |
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| The longest-running midnight movie of all time stars Tim Curry as the kinky yet endearing “transsexual from Transylvania” Dr. Frank N. Furter, Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick as his hapless guests Brad and Janet, Meat Loaf as motorcycle-riding rough trade and author Richard O’Brien as the hunchbacked butler Riff Raff. It’s harmless musical fun—a delightful spoof of Hollywood horror movies and Old Dark House melodramas. All of our engagements feature live casts who perform scenes during the movie, and the audience is always welcome to respond to the on-screen action. The Rocky Horror Picture was the first—and is still the best—interactive movie experience! Official Web Site |

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| Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia), who previously filmed Neil Young for Heart of Gold, once again captures Young’s musical and spiritual soul—this time during two shows at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania during the Chrome Dreams II tour. Young surrounds himself with his favorite instruments, played at whim, and a stage set filled with personal icons: a small-scale model of a guitar shop, a red phone and other items. The feeling on the stage is of a favorite place where Young is able to create his music exactly as he wants, supported by long-time touring band friends Ben Keith, Ralph Molina, Rick Rosas, Pegi Young and Anthony "Sweet Pea" Crawford, plus an onstage painter portrayed by Eric Johnson. There are delicately offered acoustic numbers like "Sad Movies" and "Mexico"; mesmerizing electric travelogues into the artist's psyche ("No Hidden Path"); searing, chaotic anthems including "Like a Hurricane" and "Cinnamon Girl"; and rarely performed pieces like "Kansas" and "Ambulance Blues" that provide glimpses of Young's less public persona. Official Web Site |
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| Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvis) and the tattooed, ruthless computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from almost forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is based on the trilogy of books by Stieg Larsson and has sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Directed by Niels Arden Oplev (Worlds Apart). Official Web Site |
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Set in a quaint fishing community on the outskirts of New York City, City Island is a hilarious and touching tale about a family whose comfortable co-existence is upended by surprising revelations of past secrets and present day lies. Vince Rizzo (Andy Garcia) is a lifelong resident of the tiny, tradition-steeped Bronx enclave of City Island. A family man who makes his living as a corrections officer, Vince longs to become an actor. Ashamed to admit his aspirations to his family, Vince would rather let his fiery wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) believe his weekly poker games are a cover for an extramarital affair than admit he's secretly taking acting classes in Manhattan. When Vince is asked to reveal his biggest secret in class, he inadvertently sets off a chaotic chain of events that turns his mundane suburban life upside down. Inspired by the exercise, he decides to bring his long-lost ex-con son Tony (Steven Strait) home to meet the family, and it soon becomes clear that everyone — including his college student daughter (Dominik García-Lorido), teenaged son Vinnie, Jr. (Ezra Miller), charismatic acting partner (Emily Mortimer) and drama coach (Alan Arkin) — has something to hide. Written and directed by Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks, 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris). Official Web Site Writer/Director Raymond De Felitta finds beauty in the strangest places |