All is Lost
Robert Redford is brilliant in his role as a nameless man who must survive after his sailboat sinks, leaving him lost at sea. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square.
American Hustle
When the FBI decides to recruit con artists to infiltrate the Jersey mob and crooked powerbrokers, things get interesting in a hurry in this well-acted film starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.
Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) has traded his old anchor job in for a modern cable news position. He is joined by his original team; Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), weather man Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), street reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and sports reporter Champ Kind (David Koechner). If you laughed at the original, you’ll laugh at this one as well. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.
The Armstrong Lie
In 2008, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks, Taxi to the Dark Side, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) set out to make a documentary about Lance Armstrong’s comeback to the world of competitive cycling. An unprecedented scandal, however, would rewrite both the Armstrong legend and Gibney’s film. At Chez Artiste and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
Blue Is the Warmest Color (La vie d’Adèle)
Adèle (Adèle Exarchopoulos) is a young woman whose longings and ecstasies and losses are charted across a span of several years. At 15, she is approaching adulthood and dreams of experiencing her first love. A handsome male classmate falls hard for her, but an unsettling erotic reverie upsets the romance before it begins. Adèle imagines that the mysterious, blue-haired girl she encountered in the street slips into her bed and possesses her with overwhelming pleasure. That bluehaired girl is a confident older art student named Emma (Léa Seydoux), who will soon enter Adèle’s life for real, making way for an intense and complicated love story. Rated NC-17. At Chez Artiste and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
Blue Jasmine
Cate Blanchett gives a powerhouse performance in writer/ director Woody Allen’s new dramatic comedy. She plays New York socialite Jasmine (a name she chose herself), a beautiful, neurotic, self-centered and vastly self-deluding woman who, having lost all her money, in desperation has come to stay with her sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in her modest San Francisco apartment. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square. — Landmark Theatres
The Book Thief
This film tells the story of a spirited and courageous young girl who transforms the lives of everyone around her when she is sent to live with a new family in World War II Germany. Young Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) embarks upon a journey marked by discovery, courage, friendship — and the power to triumph over the most daunting obstacles. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
The Broken Circle Breakdown
An intensely moving portrait of a relationship from beginning to end, propelled by a soundtrack of foot-stomping bluegrass, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a romantic melodrama of the highest order. When an unexpected tragedy hits a new family, everything they know and love is tested. At SIE Film Center.
Dallas Buyers Club
Matthew McConaughey stars in Dallas Buyers Club as real-life Texas cowboy Ron Woodroof, whose free-wheeling life was overturned in 1985 when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. Rated R. At Esquire, Colony Square and Century. — Landmark Theatres
Delivery Man
Loser David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) is quietly going about his life when he finds out that the sperm he donated 20 years earlier has created 533 kids. He’s in debt to the mob and his pregnant girlfried finds no humor in his situation. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks.
Frozen
When the snow queen traps a tiny kingdom in eternal winter, Anna and Kristoff, accompanied by Sven the reindeer and a comical snowman that has trouble keeping his head, set out to end the spell. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.
Gravity
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star in this visually stunning film that strands two astronauts in space. Rated PG-13. At Century and Colony Square.
The Great Beauty
Gorgeously photographed in Rome and Tuscany, The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza) is a dazzling, lyrical and at times surreal dramatic comedy, like a modern-day La Dolce Vita. The magnetic Toni Servillo plays dapper journalist Jep Gambardella, slick and soulful, who has been a permanent fixture in Rome’s literary and social circles since the legendary success of his one and only novel. When his 65th birthday coincides with a shock from the past, Jep finds himself taking stock of his life. At SIE Film Center and Boedecker.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
See review on page 47. Rated PG-13. At Century, Twin Peaks and Colony Square.
Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Jennifer Lawrence dazzles in this adventure sequel. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen brothers craft this story of a homeless young folk singer trying to create a name for himself in the Greenwich Village of the 1960s. Rated R. At Mayan and Century.
Last Days on Mars
It’s the final 19 hours of the first manned mission to Mars in search of signs of life, one that has lasted months without any major discoveries. The crew is tired and discouraged and bickering among themselves as they wrap up and prepare to go home. But when one crew member delays returning to the ship so he can collect a sample of an amazing discovery he has made — fossilized evidence of bacterial life — it soon leads to disaster, jeopardizing the mission and the lives of all the crew. Rated R. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
Nature Double-Feature: Fuzzy Baby Animals & Microworlds
Fuzzy Baby Animals features an assortment of animals in cute, cuddly, infant form. Spectacular visuals are coupled with furry little critters to create a riveting, heart-melting picture the entire family will enjoy. Microworlds examines the patterns, cycles and daily rituals that are repeated on every scale, both in nature and in the lives of all creatures, from the earthworms in our backyards to the alien beauty of a garden snail. (Run time for both combined is one hour). At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Nebraska
After receiving a sweepstakes letter in the mail, a cantankerous father (Bruce Dern) thinks he’s struck it rich, and wrangles his son (Will Forte) into taking a road trip to claim the fortune. Shot in black and white across four states, Nebraska tells the stories of family life in the heartland of America. Rated R. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
The Nutcracker: Mariinsky Theater
An innocent young girl is given a strange gift by her dubious uncle. It comes to life, leads a coordinated assault on a rodent infestation, and then takes the unsuspecting girl on a bizarre journey to a dreamworld in which various sweets come to life, take on ethnic stereotypes and perform short dance routines. Fun for the whole family! From the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg. Music by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Libretto by Marius Petipa after the tale by E. T. A. Hoffmann. Choreography by Vasily Vainonen, Alina Somova as “Masha the Princess” and Vladimir Shklyarov as “The Nutcracker Prince.” At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Out of the Furnace
Christian Bale plays Russell, a blue-collar guy who works at the local steel mill and also takes care of his sick father. When Russell’s brother Rodney (Casey Affleck) comes home from Iraq and gets involved with local bad guys and disappears, it’s up to Russell to solve the case. Rated R. At Century and Twin Peaks.
Philomena
The unparalleled Dame Judi Dench brings to life the story of a woman who gave away the child she conceived out of wedlock for adoption in the United States and her search, decades later, to find that son with the help of a BBC reporter. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Esquire. — Landmark Theatres
Saving Mr. Banks
Inspired by a true story, this film tells the tale of how Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) was finally able to convince the very difficult writer P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) to allow him to bring her book Mary Poppins to the big screen. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.
Thor: The Dark World
Thor battles to save Earth from really bad, evil things … again. It is a sequel after all. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks.
Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
Halloween meets Christmas Tim Burton style in this fun classic. At Esquire. — Landmark Theatres
Twelve Years a Slave
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man, is abducted and sold into slavery. Rated R. At Colony Square and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas
Madea pays her daughter a surprise visit in the boondocks for Christmas. but the surprise is on Madea when she sees what is really going on. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square and Twin Peaks.
Wadjda
An enterprising Saudi girl signs on for her school’s Koran recitation competition as a way to raise the remaining funds she needs in order to buy the green bicycle that has captured her interest. Wadjda is a movie of firsts. This first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia is the story of a young girl living in a suburb of Riyadh determined to raise enough money to buy the bike in a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. Even more impressive, Wadjda is the first feature film made by a female Saudi filmmaker. In a country where cinemas are banned and women cannot drive or vote, writer-director Haifaa Al Mansour has broken many barriers with her new film. Rated PG. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D
In this prehistoric adventure, Patchi, a little dinosaur in a world of big, mean dinosaurs, still manages to triumph and become the hero. Fun story, but the real delight of this film is the amazing portrayal of dinosaurs in their natural habitat looking more realistic than ever before. Rated PG. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.
Additional films showing at SIE Film Center include: 5-25-77; Love Actually; Holiday Market; Star Wars; Go For Sisters; Is the Man Who is Tall Happy?
The SIE Film Center will be closed Dec. 22-26.
