Starring: Julia Garner, Joseph Cross, C.S. Lee
A minimalist odyssey about a lonely man, his robothead companion, and a determined young woman hiking across a desert planet in search of a mythical lake. Winner of the Cinematography Award at the 2017 Los Angeles Film Festival.
The sparkling, pitch perfect performances from Julia Garner (Netflix’s Ozark) and Joseph Cross (HBO’s Big Little Lies), the out of this world photography and the original score from Neon Indian’s Alan Palomo make this quirky, emotional adventure of connection and understanding a pure delight.
Starring: Toni Collette, Gabriel Byrne, Alex Wolff
When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited. Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage gone to hell.
Oscar Snubs
Toni Collette not getting a Best Actress nomination for her role as Annie in Ari Aster’s debut Hereditary is as crazy as the last twenty minutes of this film. The range, depth, silence, and guts she brought to this grieving mother stands heads above the rest. We worry this is another genre bias but, Toni, you already won in our hearts.
Starring: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson, Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny
Lena, a biologist and former soldier, joins a mission to uncover what happened to her husband inside Area X – a sinister and mysterious phenomenon that is expanding across the American coastline. Once inside, the expedition discovers a world of mutated landscape and creatures, as dangerous as it is beautiful, that threatens both their lives and their sanity.
From visionary writer and director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later) and based on the acclaimed best-selling Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer.
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis
Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full power…and her true destiny.
For the 13th consecutive year, Shorts HD and Magnolia Pictures present the Oscar-Nominated Short Films, opening on Feb. 9th. This is your annual chance to predict the winners (and have the edge in your Oscar pool)! A perennial hit with audiences around the country and the world, don’t miss this year’s selection of shorts. The Academy Awards take place Sunday, March 4th.
Dear Basketball – Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant, USA, 5 minutes
Negative Space – Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, France, 5 minutes
Lou – Dave Mullins and Dana Murray, USA, 7 minutes
Revolting Rhymes – Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer, UK, 29 minutes
Garden Party – Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon, France 7 minutes
Lost Property Office (additional film) – Daniel Agdag, Australia, 10 minutes
Weeds (additional film)
“From filmmaker Penelop Spheeris comes this fast-paced, humorous and oftentimes outrageous look at the Heavy Metal scene, THE DECLINE OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION PART II: THE METAL YEARS. Candid and uncensored interviews of metal bands including: Medadeth, Faster Pussycat, Lizzy Borden, London, Odin and Seduce (who are all seen in performance), along with Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Poison and members of Aerosmith, Kiss and Motorhead, result in fascinating footage about the lives, dreams and fans of these heavy metal stars.
Shot in Los Angeles, the film is a music-filled, cinematic collage of such eccentric moments as Gene Simmons (Kiss) being interviewed in a lingerie shop, Chris Holmes (W.A.S.P.) in his swimming pool and a daring “heavy metal beauty queen” contest at a local hot spot.
A bizarre slice of life that’ ssure to intrigue both metal and non-metal fans alike, The Metal Years is a one-of-a-kind documentary that will hook its viewers from start to finish”
– The back of The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years VHS tape.
Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine…
When I was little… my father was famous.
Itto Ogami, The Lone Wolf, works as the shogun’s decapitator; the man responsible for finishing the noble act of harakiri. As the shogun becomes increasingly erratic and paranoid, he sends a team of assassins after Ogami, whose wife falls to the shogunate’s blades. Marked for death, Ogami and his surviving son travel the Japanese countryside working as an assassin for hire.
Hardly for purists, Shogun Assassin is kind of a remix. Cobbled together from the first two of the six Lone Wolf and Cub films, Shogun Assassin streamlines the original story for the grindhouse set. Redubbed in a spooky, guttural English, the film also features a new score that’s all droning, moody Moog. A cult classic since its release, Shogun Assassin has worked its way back into popular culture at large. It’s the favorite film of The Bride’s daughter in Kill Bill Vol. 2, and was heavily sampled in Wu-Tang Clan member GZA’s landmark album, Liquid Swords. Shogun Assassin perfectly encapsulates everything that the nine from Staten Island were going for: dark, dirty and violent.
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, N’Bushe Wright, Kris Kristofferson
When Blade’s mother was bitten by a vampire during pregnancy, she did not know that she gave her son a special gift while dying: All the good vampire attributes in combination with the best human skills. Blade and his mentor Whistler battle an evil vampire rebel (Deacon Frost) who plans to take over the outdated vampire council, capture Blade and resurrect voracious blood god La Magra.
Starring: Jessica Rothe, Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine
Special midnite screenings of time-twisted slasher HAPPY DEATH DAY for Groundhog Day weekend!
A teenage girl, trying to enjoy her birthday, soon realizes that this is her final one. That is, if she can figure out who her killer is. She must relive that day, over and over again, dying in a different way each time. Can she solve her own murder?
