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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 Landmark’s San Diego Film Calendar, with all-new programming from May 21 through August 19! |
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Winner of 7 Goya Awards (Spain’s equivalent of the Oscar), Agora is a breathtaking, English-language historical drama directed and co-written by Academy Award-winner Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside). The film is set in ancient Egypt under Roman rule, where violent religious upheaval in the streets of Alexandria spills over into the city’s famous Library. Trapped inside its walls, the brilliant and beautiful astronomer Hypatia (Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener) and her disciples fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World. Among these disciples are two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and Davus (Max Minghella), Hypatia’s young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians. Official Web Site Filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar explores 4th century Alexandria |
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| Countdown to Zero traces the history of the atomic bomb from its origins to the present state of global affairs: nine nations possessing nuclear weapons capabilities with others racing to join them, with the world held in a delicate balance that could be shattered by an act of terrorism, failed diplomacy, or a simple accident. Written and directed by acclaimed documentarian Lucy Walker (The Devils Playground, Blindsight), the film features an array of important international statesmen, including President Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf and Tony Blair. It makes a compelling case for worldwide nuclear disarmament, an issue more topical than ever with the Obama administration working to revive this goal today. Official Web Site |

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| Jack Rebney is the most famous man you've never heard ofan RV salesman whose hilarious, foul-mouthed outbursts, recorded during the filming of an RV sales video, circulated underground on VHS tapes in the 1990s before turning into a full-blown internet phenomenon. Today, the 4-minute "Winnebago Man" video has been seen by more than 20 million people worldwide, and is regarded as one of the first and funniest viral videos. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer goes in search of Rebneyand finds him living alone on a mountain top, unaware of his fame. Winnebago Man is a laugh-out-loud look at viral culture and an unexpectedly poignant tale of one man's response to unintended celebrity. Official Web Site |
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In The Kids Are All Right, comedic surprise is combined with poignant emotional truth in a funny, vibrant, and richly drawn portrait of a modern family. Nic and Jules (Annette Bening and Julianne Moore) are married and share a cozy suburban Southern California home with their teenage children, Joni and Laser (Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson). Nic and Julesor, when referred to jointly by Joni, "Moms"gave birth to and raised their children, and built a family life for the four of them. As Joni prepares to leave for college, 15-year-old Laser presses her for a big favor. He wants Joni, now 18, to help him find their biological father; the two teenagers were conceived by artificial insemination. Against her better judgment, Joni honors her brother's request and manages to make contact with "bio-dad" Paul (Mark Ruffalo), an easygoing restaurateur. The kids find themselves drawn to the confirmed bachelor's footloose styleespecially in contrast to Nic, a principled doctor who has long established their house rules. Jules, who has been looking to start a new career in landscaping, also strikes up a rapport with Paul. As Paul comes into the lives of the forthright four, an unexpected new chapter begins for them as family ties are defined, re-defined, and then re-re-defined. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko (High Art, Laurel Canyon). Official Web Site Alison Gang's San Diego Union-Tribune review... |

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Restrepo is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley. The movie focuses on a remote 15-man outpost, "Restrepo," named after a platoon medic who was killed in action. It was considered one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military. This is an entirely experiential film: the cameras never leave the valley; there are no interviews with generals or diplomats. The only goal is to make viewers feel as if they have just been through a 94-minute deployment. This is war, full stop. The conclusions are up to you. Directed by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger (author of "The Perfect Storm"). Official Web Site
Filmmaker Tim Hetherington recalls Afghanistan in 2007 Anders Wright's San Diego City Beat review... |
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In the highly anticipated second installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy (following The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo), Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) is a wanted woman. A researcher and a Millennium journalist about to expose the truth about the sex trade in Sweden are brutally murdered, and Salander's prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behavior makes her an official danger to society—but no one can find her anywhere. Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), editor-in-chief of Millennium, will not believe what he hears on the news. Knowing Salander to be fierce when fearful, he is desperate to get to her before she is cornered and alone. As he fits the pieces of the puzzle together, he comes up against some hardened criminals, including the chainsaw-wielding 'blond giant' (Micke Spreitz)—a fearsomely huge thug who can feel no pain. Digging deeper, Blomkvist also unearths some heart-wrenching facts about Salander’s past life. Committed to psychiatric care aged 12, declared legally incompetent at 18, this is a messed-up young woman who is the product of an unjust and corrupt system. Yet Lisbeth is more avenging angel than helpless victim. Official Web Site Director Daniel Alfredson on shooting two films in one hundred days Alison Gang's San Diego Union-Tribune review... |
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Still single seven years after the breakup of his marriage, John (John C. Reilly) has all but given up on romance. But at the urging of his ex-wife and best friend Jamie (Catherine Keener), John grudgingly agrees to join her and her fiancé Tim (Matt Walsh) at a party. To his and everyone else's surprise, he actually manages to meet someone: the gorgeous and spirited Molly (Marisa Tomei). Their chemistry is immediate. The relationship takes off quickly but Molly is oddly reluctant to take the relationship beyond John's house. Perplexed, he follows her home and discovers the other man in Molly's life: her son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). A 21-year-old new age musician, Cyrus is his mom's best friend and shares an unconventional relationship with her. Cyrus will go to any lengths to protect Molly and is definitely not ready to share her with anyone, especially John. Before long, the two are locked in a battle of wits for the woman they both love—and it appears only one man can be left standing when it's over. Written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, the iconoclastic filmmaking team behind Sundance Film Festival favorite The Puffy Chair, Cyrus takes an insightful and funny look at love and family in contemporary Los Angeles. Official Web Site
Filmmakers Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass on their first studio film |

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I Am Love tells the story of the wealthy Recchi family, whose lives are undergoing sweeping changes. Eduardo Sr. (Gabriele Ferzetti), the family patriarch, has decided to name a successor to reign over his massive industrial company, surprising everyone by splitting power between his son Tancredi (Pippo Delbono), and grandson Edo (Flavio Parenti). But Edo dreams of opening a restaurant with his friend Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini), a handsome and talented chef. At the heart of the family is Tancredi's wife Emma (Tilda Swinton), a Russian immigrant who has adopted the culture of Milan. An adoring and attentive mother, her existence is shocked to the core when she falls quickly and deeply in love with Edo's friend and partner Antonio, and embarks on a passionate love affair that will change her family forever. Official Web Site
Writer/director Luca Guadagnino on the visual language of film David Elliott's San Diego News Network review... |
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Winner of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize and Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, this tense, naturalistic thriller follows 17-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence, The Burning Plain) as she confronts the local criminal underworld and the harsh Ozark wilderness in order to track down her father, who has put up the family homestead for his bail. Featuring a star-making performance by Lawrence, Winter's Bone is one of the most-critically acclaimed films of the year. Directed and co-written by Debra Granik. Official Web Site Director Debra Granik on the importance of location to a story David Germain's San Diego Union-Tribune review... |
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Sat, July 31: The Spice Girls in Spice World Sat, Sept 4: The new midnight cult sensation! The Room |
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Get Low is inspired by the true story of Felix "Bush" Breazeale, who attracted national attention when he threw himself a living funeral party in 1938 in Roane County, Tennessee. For years, townsfolk have been terrified of the backwoods recluse known as Felix Bush (Robert Duvall). One day, Felix rides to town with a shotgun and a wad of cash, saying he wants to buy a funeral—a "living funeral," in which anyone who ever had heard a story about him will come to tell it, while he takes it all in. Sensing a big payday in the offing, fast-talking funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) enlists his gentlemanly young apprentice, Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black), to win over Felix's business. Buddy discovers that behind Felix's surreal plan lies a very real and long-held secret that must get out. As the funeral approaches, the mystery—which involves the widow Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek), the only person in town who ever got close to Felix, and the Illinois preacher Charlie Jackson (Bill Cobbs), who refuses to speak at his former friend's funeral—only deepens. But on the big day, Felix is in no mood to listen to other people spinning made-up anecdotes about him. From Aaron Schneider, director of the Academy Award-winning short Two Soldiers. Official Web Site
Director Aaron Schneider on bringing a film's elements together |
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| In The Concert, the new comedy from Radu Mihaileanu (Live and Become), Alexei Guskov stars as Andrei Filipov, a once celebrated Russian conductor of the Bolshoi who has hit rock bottom, working as a depressed custodian and drinking too much. But when he intercepts an invitation meant for a former orchestra to perform in Paris, Andrei masterminds a plan to pose as the leader of the group in order to make a triumphant return to the music scene. With a motley bunch of former musicians at his side, Andrei sets off for Paris to fulfill his destiny and return to his glory as a great conductor. Along the way, he will reunite with a young, beautiful violin virtuoso (Mélanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds) who holds the key to his past and to his future. With a message of hope and making the most of second chances, The Concert promises to be one of the most uplifting and entertaining films of the year. Also starring François Berléand (the Transporter series). Official Web Site |

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| Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel takes a revealing look at the outspoken, flamboyant founder of the Playboy empire. When Hugh Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1953, he became a champion of the sexual revolution and, immediately, the forces of Church and State initiated a war against him that raged over the decades. Hefner is revealed both as a hedonistic playboy, and, more importantly, the man who's been a groundbreaking advocate and catalyst for civil rights, the First Amendment and human rights. With humor and insight, the film captures Hefner's fierce battles with the government, the religious right and militant feminists. Compelling interviews with a remarkable Who's Who of 20th Century American pop culture, along with rare footage, present a brilliant and entertaining snapshot of the life of an extraordinary man and the controversies that surrounded him. Directed by Brigitte Berman, Academy Award winner for the documentary feature Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got. Official Web Site |
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Engaging, emotional and riveting, Farewell is an intricate and highly
intelligent thriller pulled from the pages of history—about an ordinary
man thrust into the biggest theft of Soviet information of the Cold War. A
piece of history largely unknown until now, Farewell begins in 1981,
when U.S./Soviet relations are at their lowest point in more than a decade.
A French businessman based in Moscow, Pierre Froment (French director Guillaume
Canet, Tell No One), makes an unlikely connection with Grigoriev (Palme
d'Or and Golden Bear winner Emir Kusturica, Underground), a senior
KGB officer disenchanted with what the Communist ideal has become under Brezhnev.
Grigoriev begins passing him highly sensitive information about the Soviet
spy network in the U.S. Torn between the fear of putting his wife (Alexandra
Maria Lara) and children in danger and the desire to know more, Froment brings
the documents to the French government. Soon, the flow of information reaches
the White House and brings the Soviet regime to the tipping point of collapse,
forcing the KGB to escalate its search for the leak, and placing the two men
and their families in extreme peril. Directed by Christian Carion, the Academy
Award nominated filmmaker of Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas). Official
Web Site Director Christian Carion discusses Farewell, a man of many facets |
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| Mesrine: Killer Instinct (Part 1 of two parts) introduces us to Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), a loyal son and dedicated soldier back home in France and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido (Gerald Depardieu) Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder. After pulling off an audacious heist he and his lover Jeanne (Cecile de France) flee to Canada where the opportunity of one big payout lures him out of hiding and propels his towards international notoriety. Directed by Jean-François Richet. Official Web Site |
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| The Extra Man, from filmmakers Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini (American Splendor), follows Louis Ives (Paul Dano), a lonely dreamer who fancies himself the hero of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. When a deeply embarrassing incident forces him to leave his job at an exclusive Princeton prep school, Louis heads to New York City to make a fresh start. He quickly finds a 9 to 5 job at an environmental magazine, where he encounters an entrancing, green-obsessed co-worker Mary (Katie Holmes). But, what really sparks Louis imagination is his new home life. He rents a room in the ramshackle apartment of Henry Harrison (Kevin Kline), a penniless, wildly eccentric and brilliant playwright. When Henrys not dancing alone to obscure music or singing operettas, hes performingwith great panachethe duties of an "extra man," a social escort for the wealthy widows of Manhattan high society. The two men develop a volatile mentorship, which leads to a series of urban adventuresencountering everything from a leaping lion to a wildly jealous hirsute neighbor to drunken nonagenarians to a shady Swiss hunchback. Official Web Site |

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| In writer/director Todd Solondz's part sequel/part variation on his acclaimed film Happiness, three sisters and the people they love struggle to find their places in an unpredictable and volatile world where the past haunts the present and imperils the future. The question of forgiveness and its limits threads throughout a series of intersecting love stories, offering clarity and, perhaps, alternatives to the comforts of forgetting. Ten years have passed since a series of shocking and catastrophic revelations shattered the world of the Jordan family. Now, ghosts circle and loom, trouble and console as sisters Joy (Shirley Henderson), Trish (Allison Janney), and Helen (Ally Sheedy) are each embroiled in their own unique dilemmas. As these characters and storylines dovetail, expand and collide, they create an emotionally resonant portrait of prisoners of love and life. Alternately hilarious and tragic, outrageous and poignant, Life During Wartime is an audacious comedy with unexpected resonance. Co-starring Ciaran Hinds, Michael Lerner, Chris Marquette, Rich Pecci, Charlotte Rampling, Paul Reubens, Dylan Riley Snyder, Renee Taylor and Michael Kenneth Williams. Official Web Site |
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| All About Evil is the feature film debut of writer/director Joshua Grannell (better known as midnight movie impresario Peaches Christ). The comic thriller tells the wickedly delirious tale of Deborah Tennis (Natasha Lyonne), a mousy librarian who inherits her father's beloved but old movie house in San Francisco. In order to save the family business, she discovers her inner serial killer and starts turning out a series of grisly short films. Quickly cultivating a rabid legion of gore fans, Deborah makes it a "family" affair by recruiting a nefarious crew to execute her devious plan: the loyal Mr. Twigs (Jack Donner), psychotic twins Veda and Vera (Jade and Nikita Ramsey) and hygienically challenged Adrian (Noah Segan). Her biggest fan, high school student Steven (Thomas Dekker of the recent box office hit A Nightmare on Elm Street), doesn't realize the murders in the movies are real. As Deborah's "actors" keep disappearing, will he catch the blame for the dastardly deeds of this fame obsessed auteur? Rounding out the cast is Cassandra Peterson, better known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and John Waters superstar Mink Stole (Pink Flamingos, Serial Mom). Official Web Site |
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The Room is an electrifying American black comedy about love, passion,
betrayal and lies, starring writer/director Tommy Wiseau as a successful banker
with a great respect for—and dedication to—the people in his life,
especially his future wife Lisa (Juliette Danielle). As the film depicts friendships
and relationships in the lives of its five major characters, it raises life's
real and most-asked question: "Can you really trust anyone?" A midnight
cult sensation, this quirky black comedy has been running for over 6 years
in Los Angeles and is ready to take the rest of the country by storm. You'll
want to be there for the devastation it will leave in its wake! Official
Web Site Anders Wright's San Diego City Beat review... |