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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 Film Calendar, with all-new programming from March 18 through June 17! |
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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 Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
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Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
Must End Thursday, March 18!
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| Prodigal Sons tells the story of three fascinating siblings: filmmaker Kim, a transgender woman; Todd, a gay man; and Marc, their adopted brother who discovers he’s the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. The bond between longtime rivals Marc and Kim, which defies both Kim’s gender and Marc’s pedigree, exists as the fascinating heart of the film, and is orbited by a colorful, articulate cast of characters, including jailhouse chaplains, Montana farmers, intrigued high school classmates, and Orson Welles’ soul-mate Oja Kodar, among others. Carol, the remarkably resilient mother who accepts her children’s surprises with grace and optimism, provides a strong backbone for the family, as well as a clear-eyed entry-point to this drama of Wellesian proportions. All along the way surprising revelations abound: Marc’s innate savant ability to play the piano, Kim’s smooth acceptance from schoolmates and community, and their younger brother Todd’s well-adjusted attitude about being gay. After pulling for this family through its trials and tribulations, we learn that a poignant sense of hope will carry them through. Official Web Site |
Thursday, March 18 at the Ritz at the Bourse
Discount Cards Accepted at All Red Riding Shows!
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Red Riding: 1974 is the first entry in an ambitious, dark and thrilling trilogy of interlinking films set in Northern England in the 1970s and ‘80s. 1974 in Yorkshire is a time of paranoia, mistrust and institutionalized police corruption. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford (Andrew Garfield, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit that characterizes a police investigation into a series of child abductions. Based on the true-life manhunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Also starring Rebecca Hall, Sean Bean, David Morrissey and John Bradshaw. Directed by Julian Jarrold (Brideshead Revisited, Becoming Jane). Official Web Site Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review... |
Thursday, March 18 at the Ritz at the Bourse
Discount Cards Accepted at All Red Riding Shows!
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Red Riding: 1980 is the second entry in an ambitious, dark and thrilling trilogy of interlinking films set in Northern England in the 1970s and ‘80s. In 1980, the “Ripper” has tyrannized Yorkshire for six long years and with the local police failing to make any progress, the Home Office sends in Manchester officer Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine) to review the investigation. Having previously made enemies in the Yorkshire force while investigating a shooting incident in 1974, Hunter finds himself increasingly isolated when his version of events challenges their official line on the Ripper. Also starring Warren Clarke, Maxine Peake, David Morrissey and Eddie Marsan. Directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire, The King). Official Web Site Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review... |
Wed & Thu, March 17 & 18
at the Ritz at the Bourse
Discount Cards Accepted at All Red Riding Shows!
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Red Riding: 1983 is the third entry in an ambitious, dark and thrilling trilogy of interlinking films set in Northern England in the 1970s and ‘80s. In 1983, another young girl has disappeared and Detective Chief Superintendent Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey) recognizes some alarming similarities to the abductions in 1974, forcing him to come to terms with the fact that he may have helped convict the wrong man as being the Yorkshire Ripper. When local solicitor John Piggott (Mark Addy) is persuaded to fight this miscarriage of justice he finds himself slowly uncovering a catalogue of cover ups. Also starring Sean Bean, Warren Clarke, Shaun Dooley, Lisa Howard, Jim Carter, Sean Harris and Michelle Dockery. Directed by Anand Tucker (When Did You Last See Your Father?, Hilary and Jackie). Official Web Site Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
Must End Thursday, March 18!
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A love story at its core, The Yellow Handkerchief is about three strangers of two generations who embark on a road trip through post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana. Brett Hanson (William Hurt), dealing with a painful past, crosses paths with Martine (Kristen Stewart), a troubled teenager, and her new "ride" Gordy (Eddie Redmayne). The trio head out together, each motivated by their own reasons: Brett must decide whether he wants to return to the uncertainty of his life and his ex-wife May (Maria Bello) for whom he longs, Martine yearns to escape her family, and Gordy hopes to get close to Martine. Along the way, relationships forge and change in a myriad of ways, leading to the possibility of second chances at life and love. Directed by Udayan Prasad (My Son the Fanatic). Official Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz Five
Must End Thursday, March 18!
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An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film, Ajami is a brave, apolitical look at Jews and Arabs in Jaffa's multi-ethnic Ajami neighborhood—a searing debut by Israeli and Palestinian co-directors Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani, whose balanced perspective and use of non-professional local actors lend a palpable authenticity to a complex, cross-cultural drama. Shakespearian in its scope and themes—revenge, loyalty, hope and despair—the film draws us into the lives of two brothers fearing assassination; a young Palestinian refugee working illegally to cover his mother's medical expenses; and a Jewish cop obsessed with finding his missing brother. Through its unprecedented authenticity and immediacy, Ajami forces us to look at the Middle East conflict through the commonality of the human condition—and the tragic consequences of enemies living as neighbors. Official Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz Five
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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 |
Now Playing at the Ritz East
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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 Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges stars
as the richly comic, semi-tragic romantic anti-hero Bad Blake in the debut
feature film from writer-director Scott Cooper. 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 (Maggie
Gyllenhaal), 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. Co-starring Colin Farrell
and Robert Duvall. Official
Web Site Steven Rea's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz East
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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 Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Now Playing at the Ritz at the Bourse
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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 |
Now Playing at the Ritz Five
Must End Thursday, March 18!
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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 Carrie Rickey's Philadelphia Inquirer review... |
Starts Friday, March 19 at the Ritz Five
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The most popular European film of 2009, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
is an award-winning mystery thriller based on Stieg Larsson's international
best-selling novel about a disgraced journalist and a troubled young female
computer hacker who investigate the mysterious disappearance of an industrialist's
niece. 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. Official
Web Site Director Niels Arden Oplev on making the best possible film |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, March 19
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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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 |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, March 19
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| Magic, fantasy and Celtic mythology come together in a riot of color and detail that dazzle the eyes in this sweeping story about the power of imagination and faith to carry humanity through dark times. Young Brendan lives in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids. But a new life of adventure beckons when a celebrated master illuminator arrives from foreign lands carrying an ancient but unfinished book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers. To help complete the magical book, Brendan has to overcome his deepest fears on a dangerous quest that takes him into the enchanted forest where mythical creatures hide. It is here that he meets the fairy Aisling, a mysterious young wolf-girl, who helps him along the way. But with the barbarians closing in, will Brendan's determination and artistic vision illuminate the darkness and show that enlightenment is the best fortification against evil? A new animated masterpiece from the producers of Kirikou and the Sorceress and The Triplets of Belleville. Featuring the voices of Brendan Gleeson, Mick Lally, Evan McGuire and Christen Mooney. Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. Official Web Site |
Starts Friday, March 19
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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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 |
Starts Friday, March 26 at the Ritz Five
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Greenberg brings actor Ben Stiller together with Academy Award-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) to tell the funny and moving tale of Roger Greenberg (Stiller). Single, fortyish and at a crossroads in his life, he finds himself in Los Angeles, house-sitting for six weeks for his more successful/married-with-children brother. In search of a place to restart his life, Greenberg tries to reconnect with old friends including his former bandmate Ivan (Rhys Ifans). But old friends aren’t necessarily still best friends, and Greenberg soon finds himself spending more and more time with his brother’s personal assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig), an aspiring singer and also something of a lost soul. Despite his best attempts not to be drawn in, Greenberg and Florence manage to forge a connection, and Greenberg realizes he may at last have found a reason to be happy. Official
Web Site Read a brief Q&A with writer/director Noah Baumbach |
Starts Friday, March 26
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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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 |
Starts Friday, March 26 at the Ritz Five
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A cinematic tour de force, Vincere is Italian master
Marco Bellocchio's (Good Morning, Night, Fists in the Pocket)
portrait of Benito Mussolini (Filippo Timi), and Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno),
the fiery woman who was his secret wife and the mother of his abandoned child.
The closely guarded story of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's secret lover
and son is revealed in fittingly operatic proportions. Thunderstruck by the
young Mussolini's charisma, Dalser gives up everything to help champion his
revolutionary ideas. When he disappears during World War I and later resurfaces
with a new wife, the scorned Dalser and her son are locked away in separate
asylums for more than a decade. But Ida will not disappear without a fight.
The film was a standout selection of the 2009 Cannes, Telluride, Toronto,
New York and AFI film festivals, and received awards for Best Director, Best
Actress and Best Actor at the Chicago International Film Festival. (Fully subtitled) Official
Web Site Filmmaker Marco Bellocchio focuses on the fixation of a woman for a man |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, March 26
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| In this twisted, darkly comic thriller, Robert Hanson (Jakob Cedergren) is a Copenhagen police officer who, following a nervous breakdown, is transferred to a small provincial town to take on the mysteriously vacated Marshal position. He subsequently gets mixed up with a married femme fatale (Lene Maria Christensen) who comes to him for help with her domestic problems. But can she be trusted? Robert’s big city temperament makes it impossible for him to fit in, or understand the uncivilized, bizarre behavior displayed by the townspeople. Quickly spiraling downward into an intense fable reminiscent of the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple and No Country for Old Men, Terribly Happy displays a unique, often macabre vision of the darkest depths to which people will go to achieve a sense of security and belonging. Denmark’s official Oscar selection and winner of 19 international awards, including the Silver Hugo (for director/co-writer Henrik Ruben Genz) at the Chicago International Film Festival. Official Web Site |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, April 2
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| Co-winner of the Freedom of Expression Award from the National Board of Review, Winner of the Special Jury Award at IDFA, and an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature, The Most Dangerous Man in America tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, who in 1971 concluded that the war is based on decades of lies, and leaks 7,000 pages of top secret documents to The New York Times—a daring act of conscience that leads directly to Watergate, President Nixon's resignation and the end of the Vietnam War. A riveting story of how this one man’s profound change of heart created a landmark struggle involving America’s newspapers, its president and Supreme Court. With Daniel Ellsberg, Patricia Ellsberg, Tony Russo, Howard Zinn, Hedrick Smith, John Dean and, from the secret White House tapes, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, who called Ellsberg “the most dangerous man in America.” Narrated by Ellsberg. Official Web Site |
One Week Only! Starts Friday, April 9
at the Ritz at the Bourse
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| The charismatic Gianni Di Gregorio (co-scenarist of the smash hit Gomorrah), stars in his directorial debut—an utterly charming tale of good food, feisty ladies and unlikely friendships during a very Roman holiday. Broke, and armed with only a glass of wine and a wry sense of humor, middle-aged Gianni resides with his 93-year-old mother in their ancient apartment. The condo debts are mounting, but if Gianni looks after the building manager’s mother during the Pranzo di Ferragosto (Italy’s biggest summer holiday, and the Feast of the Assumption), all will be forgiven. Then the manager also shows up with an auntie, and then a doctor friend appears with his mother in tow... Can Gianni keep four such lively mamas well fed and happy in these cramped quarters? Winner of numerous prizes at international festivals, including Best First Film at Venice and the Satyajit Ray Award at London, plus the Golden Snail at the Academy of Food and Film in Bologna, Mid-August Lunch is both warmly vibrant family drama and delicately balanced comedy of manners. (Fully subtitled) Official Web Site |
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