A small town in the 1970s in southern Germany. Michaela, 21, has grown up in a deeply religious family, with a kind but weak father and a cold-hearted, distant mother. Despite her years-long battle with epilepsy, Michaela burns to leave home and study at the university. There, her first taste of freedom, her budding love for Stefan and her friendship with Hanna crack open the shell of faith and family within which she had always felt secure and protected. The result is a breakdown. Not a normal epileptic attack, but a frightening onrush of grotesque faces and voices. Afraid of being sent back home to her family, Michaela seeks help from a priest who reinforces her conviction that she is possessed. Though Stefan and Hanna entreat her to seek psychiatric help, they are unable to break through the dense religious and moral ties binding Michaela to her family, and leave her to her fate…
Requiem
The Prestige
From acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan (”Memento,” “Batman Begins”), comes a mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
From the time that they first met as young magicians on the rise, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) were competitors. However, their friendly competition evolves into a bitter rivalry making them fierce enemies-for-life and consequently jeopardizing the lives of everyone around them. Full of twists and turns, “The Prestige” is set against the backdrop of turn-of-the-century London, the exceptional cast includes two-time Oscar® winner Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie.
Marie Antoinette
Oscar®-winning Sofia Coppola brings to the screen an imaginative interpretation of the life of France’s legendary teenage queen Marie Antoinette. When betrothed to King Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman), the naïve Marie Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst) enters the opulent French court which is steeped in conspiracy and scandal. Without guidance, adrift in a dangerous world, the young girl rebels against the isolated atmosphere at Versailles and becomes France’s most misunderstood monarch.
Nearing Grace
The Nearing family seems to be dealing with the death of their mother by making every bad choice possible. Henry (Gregory Smith) busies himself with the lapses in judgment available to an intelligent high school boy: falling hard for the school vixen (Jordana Brewster), failing to notice the attractions of the girl next door (Ashley Johnson), and allowing his existential ruminations to distract him from any actual schoolwork.
In association with John Wells Productions comes Whitewater Films’ second feature, “Nearing Grace.” Director Rick Rosenthal leads a stellar cast including Gregory Smith, Jordana Brewster, Ashley Johnson, and David Morse down an emotional and humorous path of teen sexuality in the late 1970s.
The Marine
WWE wrestling champion John Cena makes his motion picture debut in this rugged action thriller. Cena is John Triton, a heroic Marine who returns home after being discharged- against his will- from the Iraq War. Stateside, he finds himself back in action, when his wife (Kelly Carlson) is kidnapped by a murderous gang led by the merciless Rome (Robert Patrick). With everything on the line, the Marine will stop at nothing to carry out his toughest and most important mission.
Man of the Year
What would happen if one of the nation’s funniest men became its leading one? Oscar® winner Robin Williams reunites with the director of “Good Morning, Vietnam” to answer just that question in the comic tale of an entertainer’s accidental rise to power, “Man of the Year.”
Acerbic performer Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) has made his career out of skewering politicians and speaking the mind of the exasperated nation on his talk show. He cracked scathing jokes at a fractured system night after night…until he came up with a really funny idea: why not run for president himself?
After a flip comment, Dobbs ignites a grassroots movement that puts him on the ballot. Hot on the campaign trail, he debates elected drones and says exactly what frustrated voters have often thought. Nov. 2nd later, the muckraker wins–only to learn that a computer voting error gave him the victory. With time ticking on the inaugural clock, Dobbs has a big decision to make: should he go back behind the mike or stay in the Oval Office?
This election season, comic actors including Laura Linney, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum and Lewis Black join Williams in a pulled-from-the-headlines comedy. Together with Oscar® winner Barry Levinson (”Rain Man,” “Wag the Dog”), they’ll show the world that–only in America–a comedian can become the country’s next president and our “Man of the Year.”
Employee of the Month
For customers of Super Club, the largest high-volume, bulk-discount retailer in the country, membership has its privileges. For workers at the cavernous store, the most coveted honor is the “Employee of the Month” award, and having one’s photo immortalized on the wall of fame in the staff lounge.
Enter Zack Bradley (Dane Cook) and Vince Downey (Dax Shepard), two ultra competitive Super Club workers whose ten years of employment have resulted in drastically different career paths. While Vince – with the aid of his trusty sidekick Jorge (Efren Ramirez) — has advanced to become head cashier and winner of 17 consecutive “E of M” awards, Zack is the ultimate slacker whose scruffy appearance and laid back attitude has made him popular with his colleagues, but kept him stuck in the lowly ranks of the store’s box boys. The duo’s longtime rivalry comes to a bitter head when Amy (Jessica Simpson) – a beautiful new cashier with a reputation of only dating “Employee of the Month” winners – transfers to the store, immediately becoming the object of both Zack and Vince’s affection and often comical gamesmanship.
While Vince instantly impresses Amy with his crowd pleasing, flamboyant style behind his checkstand register, Zack’s feeble attempts to charm his beautiful new co-worker quickly backfire against him. With the race to win Amy’s affections slipping away, Zack determines his only chance rests in winning the store’s next “Employee of the Month” award. A battle to the end, “Employee of the Month” shows that the only failure in life is when one fails to try.
El Cortez
“El Cortez” is the story of an autistic man who attempts to start a new life after his incarceration. After five years in a prison for the criminally insane, Manny (Lou Diamond Phillips) returns to Reno. He moves into a motel and takes a job as a clerk at the Hotel El Cortez. He is befriended by Popcorn (Bruce Weitz), a crippled prospector who seeks his help to persuade Russo (Peter Onorati), a wealthy gambler, to invest in Popcorn’s gold mine. But Manny cannot escape his past. He is hounded by Arnie (James McDaniel), the vengeful cop who arrested him. Arnie leans on Manny to keep tabs on Jack (Glenn Plummer), a dealer who is staying at the hotel. In the meantime Jack’s girlfriend, Theda (Tracy Middendorf), learns about the gold mine and starts putting the moves on Manny. Soon Manny is caught in a labyrinth that leads to a murderous triple cross.
The Departed
“The Departed” is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costello’s confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department as an informer for the syndicate, is rising to a position of power in the Special Investigation Unit. Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operations he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that there’s a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin are suddenly in danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy – and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
“A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints” is a coming-of-age drama about a boy growing up in Astoria, N.Y., during the 1980s. As his friends end up dead, on drugs or in prison, he comes to believe he has been saved from their fate by various so-called saints.