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 Francisco Film Calendar, with all-new programming from August 13 through November 11!

Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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

Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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 Devil’s 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

Now Playing at the Lumiere Theatre
Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer and star Jack Rebney In Person Fri & Sat, Jul 30 & 31 at 7:00 & 9:15pm! Joined by Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray Fri at 7:00pm!

Jack Rebney is the most famous man you've never heard of—an 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 Rebney—and 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

New 35mm Print!
Now Playing at the Lumiere Theatre

Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton) is Orlando, the melancholy, fiercely independent, and always humanistic poet whose story begins when Queen Elizabeth I—wonderfully played by Quentin Crisp—takes a shine to the beautiful boy. There are several amazing things about Orlando, not the least of which is that he is immortal, has the tendency to slip into death-like sleeps for long periods of time and, halfway through the 18th century, changes into a woman. Based on the novel by Virginia Woolf, the author's wit is deftly matched by director Sally Potter's translation of it to the screen. With spectacular sets and costumes, Orlando is lush to look at while retaining a charming intimacy. Spanning four centuries to the present, Orlando mixes history with dramatized events—such as a great freeze during the 17th century that encases England in ice—resulting in fairy-tale enchantment and witty metaphor. Potter's signature vignette style takes Orlando on journeys both physical and emotional—as a patron to a mooching poet (Heathcote Williams), an ambassador to the Middle East, and a lover of an American explorer (Billy Zane)—in which he learns about all varieties of life, society, and gender in all of their complexities. Official Web Site

Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema

A group of young drama students are recruited to work in a new haunted house attraction led by impresario Walston Rey (Jeff Combs) whose revolutionary new holographic system allows monsters to be projected throughout the house in an infinite number of variations. As a marketing tool the house Walston has chosen was once the scene of a grizzly massacre perpetrated by Miss Darrode (Diane Salinger) fourteen years ago. Slowly the group begins to realize things are not what they appear as the house locks down and the attractions begin to attack them with murderous intent. The dwindling team must work frantically to shut down the system and understand what is going on. Could it all be just a computer malfunction, an attempt to ruin Walston or has the spirit of Miss Darrode been awakened to take care of some unfinished business.... Directed by Darin Scott. Official Web Site

Now Playing at the Clay Theatre

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 Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review...

50th Anniversary! New 35mm Print!
Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema
Co-Sponsored by the San Francisco Film Society

"All you need is a girl and a gun." —Jean-Luc Godard. Paris, Film Noir, Sex and Cool have never been more beautifully evoked than in these ninety minutes which shook the world. Godard's first feature film, written by François Truffaut (with Claude Chabrol as technical advisor), the harbinger of the French New Wave, was both a jazz-like improvisation on American crime thrillers (it's dedicated to Monogram Pictures)...and a revolution. Featuring now-legendary performances from Jean-Paul Belmondo as the Bogart-inspired small-time hood living on the edge and Jean Seberg as la petite américaine who casually sleeps with him and just as casually betrays him, Breathless is funny and daring and just as much a breath of fresh air today as it was on its release five decades ago. Audaciously reinventing the grammar of movies, Breathless transformed cinema overnight and instantly put Godard in the rarified company of Picasso, Joyce, Brecht, Stravinsky, et al. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Breathless, Rialto Pictures is presenting a stunning new 35mm restoration—the first ever in the film's history. Official Web Site G. Allen Johnson's San Francisco Chronicle article...

Now Playing at the Bridge Theatre

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 Jules—or, 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 style—especially 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 Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review...

Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema

Agathe Villanova (director Agnès Jaoui, The Taste of Others) is a feminist and recent entrant to the political scene. She returns to her childhood home in the South of France to spend ten days helping her sister Florence sort out their mother’s affairs following her death a year earlier. Agathe doesn’t like the region and left it as soon as she could, but for reasons of gender balance in electoral lists, she's been parachuted back there for the next elections. The house is home to Florence (Pascale Arbillot), her husband and her children. There is also Mimouna (Mimouna Hadji), the housekeeper whom the Villanovas brought back from Algeria when it became independent. Mimouna’s son, Karim (Jamel Debbouze), and his friend Michel Ronsard (Jean-Pierre Bacri) decide to make a documentary about Agathe Villanova, for a collection of programs on "successful women". It's August. It's grey and it's raining. It's not normal. But then again, nothing is normal.... Official Web Site Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review...

Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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 Amy Biancolli's San Francisco Chronicle review...

Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema

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 Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun-Times review...

Now Playing at the Lumiere Theatre

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 Amy Biancolli's San Francisco Chronicle review...

Now Playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

The highly acclaimed documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work takes the audience on a year-long ride with legendary comedian Joan Rivers in her 76th year of life—peeling away the mask of an iconic comedian and exposing the struggles, sacrifices and joy of living life as a ground breaking female performer. The film is an emotionally surprising and revealing portrait of one the most hilarious and long-standing career women ever in the business. Directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg (The Devil Came on Horseback). Official Web Site Filmmakers Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg on pop icon Joan Rivers Mick LaSalle's San Francisco Chronicle review...

Now Playing at the Opera Plaza Cinema

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 Nyqvist) 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

Uncut Version!
Sat, July 31 at Midnight at the Bridge Theatre!

Novelist Barry Gifford's saga of lovers on the run gets filtered through the singular eye of screenwriter/director David Lynch (Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet), becoming a Molotov cocktail of comedy, sex and violence. Nicolas Cage is Sailor, whose sharkskin jacket symbolizes his individuality and belief in personal freedom; Laura Dern is Lula, who may just be his one true love. Out to make sure their relationship doesn't last: a rogues gallery of characters, played by Diane Ladd, Harry Dean Stanton, Willem Dafoe and Isabella Rossellini.

Sat, July 31 at Midnight at the Clay Theatre!
With The Bawdy Caste LIVE!

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

Midnight Movies at the Bridge Theatre!

Sat, Jul 31: Adults Only! Uncut Version! Wild at Heart Sat, Aug 7: Ralph Bakshi's animated musical journey American Pop

Starts Friday, August 6 at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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

Starts Friday, August 6 at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

Directed by acclaimed documentary filmmaker Anthony Geffen and featuring the vocal talents of narrators Liam Neeson, Hugh Dancy, the late Natasha Richardson, Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman, The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest is a breathtaking mountaineering adventure that seeks to provide answers to the enduring mystery of the death of George Mallory on Mount Everest. In 1999, renowned American mountaineer Conrad Anker made a discovery that reverberated around the globe. High in Mount Everest's "death zone," he found the remarkably preserved body of George Mallory—75 years after the British explorer mysteriously vanished during his attempt to become the first man to summit the world's tallest peak. In the quest for answers, Anker returns to Everest in 2007 with British climbing prodigy Leo Houlding, replicating as closely as possible Mallory's fateful expedition. Far more than a documentary about mountain climbing, The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest tells the passionate story of a man torn between two overwhelming and competing loves: his wife and the mountain that ultimately took his life. Told through revealing letters between Mallory and his beloved Ruth, the film combines previously unseen archival photos and film footage with the present-day story of Anker's expedition. Official Web Site Director Anthony Geffen on following in the tracks of a climbing legend

Starts Friday, August 6 at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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

One Week Only!
Starts Friday, August 6 at the Lumiere Theatre

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

Starts Friday, August 13 at the Embarcadero Center Cinema

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

One Week Only!
Starts Friday, August 13
at a San Francisco Landmark Theatre

In this heartwarming and hilarious crowd-pleaser, Göran (Gustaf Skarsgård) is a doctor who's always wanted to become a father. He is married to his partner, Sven (Torkel Petersson), and they have been cleared for adoption by Swedish authorities. But no country seems to be willing to give a child to a homosexual couple. Göran refuses to give up his dream of having what so many others take for granted—a real family. Then Göran and Sven receive a letter with an offer from social services to take care of "Patrik, age 1.5," a Swedish child who needs a new family. They happily accept the offer and prepare the nursery for the baby's arrival. On the day that little Patrik is expected to arrive, a lanky teenager (Thomas Ljungman) rings their doorbell. He says his name is Patrik and that he has come to live with them. They realize, horror-struck, that their little baby Patrik is actually a juvenile delinquent; there has been a clerical error and a decimal point was misplaced. "Patrik, age 1.5" is actually "Patrik, age 15." And to add insult to injury, he is also homophobic! Official Web Site

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