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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 Ritz Philadelphia Movie Guide, with all-new programming from September 18 through December 17! |
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In this quirky dark comedy inspired by a real life story you will hardly
believe is actually true, astonishing revelations about a top-secret wing
of the U.S. military come to light when a reporter encounters an enigmatic
Special Forces operator on a mind-boggling mission. Reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan
McGregor) is in search of his next big story when he encounters Lyn Cassady
(George Clooney), a shadowy figure who claims to be part of an experimental
U.S. military unit. According to Cassady, the New Earth Army is changing the
way wars are fought. A legion of "Warrior Monks" with unparalleled
psychic powers can read the enemy's thoughts, pass through solid walls, and
even kill a goat simply by staring at it. Now, the program's founder, Bill
Django (Jeff Bridges), has gone missing and Cassady's mission is to find him.
Intrigued by his new acquaintance's far-fetched stories, Bob impulsively decides
to accompany him on the search. When the pair tracks Django to a clandestine
training camp run by renegade psychic Larry Hooper (Kevin Spacey), the reporter
is trapped in the middle of a grudge match between the forces of Django's
New Earth Army and Hooper's personal militia of super soldiers. An eye-opening
and often hilarious exploration of the government's attempts to harness paranormal
abilities to combat its enemies, inspired by Jon Ronson's non-fiction bestseller
of the same name. Official
Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
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Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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In writer/director Götz Spielmann's powerful drama two seemingly divergent
storylines intersect and become inextricably linked in unexpected ways. Alex
(Johannes Krisch), an ex-con dreaming of a better life, and his girlfriend
Tamara (Irina Potapenko), a Ukrainian prostitute, both work in a Vienna brothel,
hiding their relationship from the boss. In a country village a few hours
away Susanne (Ursula Strauss) and her police officer husband Robert (Andreas
Lust) lead a tranquil life, lacking only a child. Desperate to rescue Tamara
from her job at the brothel, Alex robs the bank in Robert's village; Robert
stumbles across them and a stray bullet leads to accidental murder. Featuring
superlative acting in a character-driven story about moral choices and their
consequences, Revanche (Revenge) reveals a profound understanding of
human nature. Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. Official
Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz East
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| The award-winning drama Skin tells one of the most unusual and moving true stories to emerge from apartheid South Africa. Sandra Laing (Sophie Okonedo, The Secret Life of Bees) is a black child born in the 1950s to white Afrikaners (Sam Neill, Alice Krige) who are unaware of their black ancestry. Her parents are rural shopkeepers serving the local black community, who lovingly bring her up as their 'white' little girl. But at the age of ten, Sandra is driven out of white society. The film follows Sandra's thirty-year journey from rejection to acceptance, betrayal to reconciliation, as she struggles to define her place in a changing world. Official Web Site |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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Photographed on location in Philadelphia in a rich verité style,
The New Year Parade follows Jack (Greg Lyons) and Kat (Jennifer Welsh)
over the course of a year as their parents separate, struggle with their decisions,
and eventually divorce. As past indiscretions are exposed, Jack and Kat question
their own identities while struggling to build meaningful relationships. Writer/director
Tom Quinn's acclaimed drama steps back from the broadly discussed but barely
understood term "divorce," instead emphasizing the small moments
of change that many young people experience. Winner of 8 film festival awards,
including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative at the Slamdance Film Festival.
Official Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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A grieving couple retreat to 'Eden,' their isolated cabin in the woods, where
they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature
takes its course and things go from bad to worse… Willem Dafoe and Charlotte
Gainsbourg (winner of the Best Actress Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival)
give brave, outstanding performances in the new provocation from writer/director
Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville). Antichrist
is a totally uncompromising psychological horror film conceived and made while
the director was experiencing emotional challenges in his own life. Reviewing
the intense and controversial film at its Cannes premiere, Roger Ebert called
it "powerfully made" and continued: "The performances by Willem
Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg are heroic and fearless…Von Trier's visual
command is striking…And if you can think beyond what he shows to what
he implies, its depths are frightening…Von Trier has reached me and shaken
me." Official
Web Site Sam Adams's Philadelphia City Paper 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 Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz Five
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An extraordinary life of adventure, celebrity and continuing mystery comes
to light in Amelia, a vast, thrilling account of legendary aviation
pioneer Amelia Earhart (two time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank). After
becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, Amelia was thrust into
a new role as America's sweetheart—the legendary "goddess of light,"
known for her bold, larger-than-life charisma. Yet, even with her global fame
solidified, her belief in flirting with danger and standing up as her own,
outspoken woman never changed. She was an inspiration to people everywhere,
from First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Cherry Jones) to the men closest to her
heart: her husband, promoter and publishing magnate George P. Putnam (Richard
Gere), and her long time friend and lover, pilot Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor).
In the summer of 1937, Amelia set off on her most daunting mission yet: a
solo flight around the world that she and George both anxiously foresaw as
destined, whatever the outcome, to become one of the most talked-about journeys
in history. Directed by Mira Nair (The Namesake, Monsoon Wedding).
Official Web
Site Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz East
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The new dramatic comedy from the Coen Brothers (Burn After Reading, Fargo)
is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson
Airplane is on the radio and "F-Troop" is on TV. It is 1967, and
Larry (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university,
has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving
him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous colleagues, Sy (Fred
Melamed), who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry.
Larry's unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch,
his son Danny (Aaron Wolf) is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew
school, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is filching money from his
wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy blithely
make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a
burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances
for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying
to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue
him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing
nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different
rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous
person—a mensch—a serious man? Official
Web Site Sean Burns's Philadelphia Weekly review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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Since the birth of movies, New York has long been cinema's dream city—its
teeming populace of one-of-a-kind characters, its stone-and-glass skyscrapers
rocketing towards the heavens, its subterranean cultures and its rooftop love
affairs all making for the perfect backdrop to all manner of action, comedy,
drama and poetry. Directed by an eclectic group of some of today's most imaginative
filmmakers, including Mira Nair, Yvan Attal, Brett Ratner, Natalie Portman
and Fatih Akin, New York, I Love You is a collective film that invites
the audience into the intimate lives of New Yorkers as they grapple with,
delight in and search for love. Their stories are woven together to form a
colorful, lyrical collage not only of the city—but of the deep yearning
for love and human connections that sustain everyone within it. All-star cast
includes Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Andy Garcia, Hayden Christensen, Natalie
Portman, Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Ethan Hawke, Anton Yelchin, James
Caan, Olivia Thilrlby, Julie Christie, John Hurt, Shia LaBeouf, Shu Qi, Burt
Young, Chris Cooper, Robin Wright Penn, Eva Ammuri, Eli Wallach and Cloris
Leachman. Official
Web Site Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz Five
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A little girl who is sent with her sister to an orphanage in the heart of
France, who waits in vain every Sunday for her father to come for her…
A cabaret performer with a weak voice who sings to an audience of drunken
soldiers… A humble seamstress, who stitches hems at the back of a provincial
tailor's shop… A young, skinny courtesan, to whom protector Étienne
Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde) offers a safe haven, amongst the idle and
decadent… A woman in love who knows she will never be anyone’s wife,
refusing marriage even to Arthur 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola), the man
who returned her love… A rebel who finds the conventions of her time
oppressive, and instead dresses in her lovers' clothes… This is the story
of Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (Audrey Tautou, Amélie),
who begins her life as a headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey
becomes the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a
timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. Official
Web Site Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| In Capitalism: A Love Story, filmmaker Michael Moore (Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine, Roger & Me) tackles an issue he has been examining throughout his career: the disastrous impact of corporate dominance on the everyday lives of Americans (and by default, the rest of the world). Moore explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what he has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country—the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions. Official Web Site |
Saturday Midnight Movies Return
to the Ritz at the Bourse!
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A triangle of trouble! Who Framed Roger Rabbit · Sat, Nov 14 Mia Farrow in Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby · Sat, Nov 21 "Tequila!" Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure · Sat, Nov 28 Rober De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver · Sat, Dec 5 Visit Fantasia! The NeverEnding Story · Sat, Dec 12 |
Starts Friday, November 13
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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A fashionable contemporary art gallerist in Chelsea, New York falls for a
brooding new music composer in this comic take on the state of contemporary
art. Adam Goldberg (Two Days In Paris) plays the composer, whose work
calls for paper crumpling, glass breaking and bucket kicking. Marley Shelton
(Grindhouse) plays the gorgeous Chelsea gallerist, whose latest show
features an artist (Vinnie Jones, Snatch) who employs taxidermy and
household objects. Further complicating the affair is the composer's brother
Josh (Eion Bailey, "Band of Brothers"), whose highly commercial
art work—the financial backbone of the gallery—is sold to corporate
clients discreetly out of the gallery's back room. Directed and co-written
by Jonathan Parker (Bartleby). Official
Web Site Director/co-writer Jonathan Parker on creativity and success |
Starts Friday, November 13 at the Ritz Five
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| Pirate Radio is a high-spirited, laugh-out-loud ensemble comedy from filmmaker Richard Curtis (screenwriter of Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill, and writer/director of Love Actually), spinning the irreverent yet fact-based tale of a seafaring band of rogue rock and roll deejays whose "pirate radio" captivated and inspired 1960s Britain. Broadcasting live 24/7 from an old tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea (just beyond British jurisdiction), Radio Rock sends out a vibrant and unifying signal to millions across the nation. The Radio Rock roster, overseen by unflappable station owner Quentin (Bill Nighy), includes a risk-prone American known only as The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman); mystic deejay royalty Gavin (Rhys Ifans); slyly amorous Dave (Nick Frost) and others. One night in 1966, Quentin's teenaged godson Carl (Tom Sturridge) comes aboard. While Carl harbors romantic aspirations that he hopes will be fulfilled during one of the biweekly visits by Radio Rock's prettiest fans, he also hopes to find out more about his long-absent father… As the ship sails on and rocks out, what Carl and the freewheeling, free-loving Radio Rock gang don't know is that back in London, a landlocked government minister (Kenneth Branagh) has embarked on a vehement crusade to silence their signal—permanently. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, November 13
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| Adapted and directed by John Krasinski (Away We Go, "The Office"), Brief Interviews With Hideous Men is a darkly funny and disturbing exploration of men and their complex relationships with women. A graduate student (Julianne Nicholson) endeavors to explore the male psyche for her thesis by interviewing a cross-section of men. The men’s twisted and revealing stories are juxtaposed against the backdrop of her own experience. As she begins to listen closely to the men around her, she must ultimately reconcile herself to the darkness that lies below the surface of human interactions. Based on the book by David Foster Wallace, the film features an all-star cast that includes Timothy Hutton, Ben Shenkman, Christopher Meloni, Ben Gibbard, Will Arnett, Chris Messina, Bobby Cannavale, Will Forte, Dennis O'Hare, Lou Taylor Pucci and Max Minghella. Official Web Site |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, November 13
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| Raquel (Catalina Saavedra), age 42, has worked over twenty years for the well-to-do and numerous Valdes family, and on the surface seems like the perfect maid, almost part of the family. But she is controlling and territorial, carrying on a private war with the family's headstrong teenage daughter, and suffering frequent headaches and dizziness. The mother cannot bear to fire the woman who helped raise her children, so instead she hires a second maid to help Raquel. This alarms Raquel, who sees the newcomer as a threat and instantly sets out to drive her away. Her childish but ruthless tactics quickly succeed, but the family then hires an older and tougher maid who proves much harder to oust. Raquel meets her match with the third new maid, Lucy (Mariana Loyola), an enthusiastic and self-confident young woman who, attacked by Raquel, retaliates with affection and humor, helping her to find a new outlook on life. Saavedra is magnificent as the grumpy Raquel, seething with loneliness, anger, and jealousy, yet always managing to retain our sympathy. Winner of two prestigious awards at the Sundance Film Festival. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, November 13
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| In the new comedy from director/co-writer Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre), Michael Angarano stars as Benjamin, a teenager being home-schooled by his eccentric mother (Jennifer Coolidge). A loveable loner, Benjamin's passion for writing leads him on an offbeat and hilarious journey as his story first gets ripped off by legendary fantasy novelist Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clement), and then is adapted into a disastrous movie by the small town's most prolific homespun filmmaker. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, November 20
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| In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who 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 (Woody Harrelson) 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 (Samantha Morton), 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. Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Oren Moverman, The Messenger brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity. Official Web Site |
Newly Restored 35mm Print! One Week Only!
Starts Friday, November 20
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| Brimming with action while incisively examining the nature of truth, Rashomon is perhaps the finest film ever made about the philosophy of justice. Through an ingenious use of camera and flashbacks, director/co-writer Akira Kurosawa (The Seven Samurai, Ran) reveals the complexities of human nature as four people recount different versions of the same story: the murder of a man (Masayuki Mori) and the rape of his wife (Machiko Kyo). The great Toshiro Mifune gives a commanding performance as a bandit in an eloquent masterwork that revolutionized film language and introduced Japanese cinema to the world. The basis for this stunning new restoration was a 35mm print created in 1962 from the original camera negative. Scanned at 4K resolution, that 47-year-old print has been meticulously cleaned both digitally and by hand, complete with a new, seamless soundtrack. Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1951 Venice Film Festival. Official Web Site |
Starts Wednesday, November 25
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| Viggo Mortensen leads a stellar cast (including Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce) in the epic, post-apocalyptic tale of the survival of a father (Moretensen) and his young son (newcomer Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they journey across a barren America that was destroyed by a mysterious cataclysm. A masterpiece of adventure, The Road is adapted from author Cormac McCarthy's (No Country for Old Men) beloved, best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, which boldly imagines a future in which men are pushed to the worst and the best that they are capable of—a future in which father and son are sustained by love. Directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition). Official Web Site |
Starts Wednesday, November 25
at the Ritz East
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| Visionary director Wes Anderson's first animated film utilizes classic handmade stop-motion techniques to tell the story of the best-selling children's book by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach). Mr. and Mrs. Fox (voices of George Clooney and Meryl Streep) live an idyllic home life with their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) and visiting young nephew Kristopherson (Eric Anderson). But after 12 years, the bucolic existence proves too much for Mr Fox’s wild animal instincts. Soon he slips back into his old ways as a sneaky chicken thief and in doing so, endangers not only his beloved family, but the whole animal community. Trapped underground and with not enough food to go around, the animals band together to fight against the evil Farmers—Boggis (Brian Cox), Bunce (Hugo Guinness) and Bean (Michael Gambon)—who are determined to capture the audacious, fantastic Mr. Fox at any cost. Also featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Wally Wolodarsky, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson and Jarvis Cocker. Official Web Site |
Starts Wednesday, November 25
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| In Werner Herzog's new film, Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is at scoring drugs—while playing fast and loose with the law. He wields his badge as often as he wields his gun in order to get his way. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina he becomes a high-functioning addict who is a deeply intuitive, fearless detective reigning over the beautiful ruins of New Orleans with authority and abandon. Complicating his tumultuous life is the prostitute he loves (played by Eva Mendes). Together they descend into their own world marked by desire, compulsion and conscience. The result is a singular masterpiece of filmmaking: equally sad and manically humorous. Official Web Site |
Starts Wednesday, November 25
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| Legendary action-cinema master John Woo and international superstar Tony Leung reunite for the first time since the 1992 classic Hard Boiled in this epic historical drama based on a legendary 208 A.D. battle that heralded the end of the Han Dynasty. Red Cliff opens as power hungry Prime Minister-turned-General Cao Cao (Zhang Fengyi) seeks permission from the Han dynasty Emperor to organize a southward-bound mission designed to crush the two troublesome warlords who stand in his way, Liu Bei (You Yong) and Sun Quan (Chang Chen). As the expedition gets underway, Cao Cao's troops rain destruction on Liu Bei's army, forcing him into retreat. Liu Bei's military strategist Zhuge Liang (Takeshi Kaneshiro) knows that the rebels’ only hope for survival is to form an alliance with rival warlord Sun Quan, and reaches out to Sun Quan’s trusted advisor, war hero Zhou Yu (Tony Leung). Vastly outnumbered by Cao Cao’s brutal, fast-approaching army, the warlords band together to mount a heroic campaign—unrivaled in history—that changes the face of China forever. A massive hit in Asia and the most expensive Asian film production of all time, Red Cliff is a breathtaking war epic that marks the triumphant return of John Woo. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, November 27
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| Frustrated with religious turmoil, fanaticism and fundamentalism, filmmaker Peter Rodger set out on a global quest to understand why the concept of God has become politicized. In his stunningly beautiful documentary film, Rabbis, Christian Fundamentalists, Catholic Priests, Buddhist Llamas, Hindu Swamis, Zen Masters, Muslim radicals, Shamans and ordinary people across the globe share their unique perspectives and understanding of God, along with several celebrities including Hugh Jackman, Seal, Ringo Starr, Sir Bob Geldof, Princess Michael of Kent, David Copperfield and Jack Thompson. The film is set amongst beautiful backdrops around the world, filmed in 23 countries over three years. From the 9th ward of New Orleans to the Guatemalan Jungle, to the Himalayan region of Ladahk, Rodger searches for the common thread in our diverse humanity and reveals that which often divides us can also unite us. The film features inviting faces and personalities that are a touching reminder of the melting pot that we call humanity and the mystery that we have given many names. Official Web Site |
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