2/11      Safety Not Guaranteed (2012; USA; d. Colin Trevorrow)
Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) is Darius, one of two interns who set out with a magazine writer to discover the story of Kenneth, who has advertised for a companion to travel back in time with him. Darius, who still lives with her father, doesn’t have a real job, and doesn’t date, finds herself falling for Kenneth, a grocery store clerk/conspiracy theorist. Rene Rodriquez of The Miami Herald says, “Safety Not Guaranteed is droll and hilarious, but there isn’t a cheap laugh in it, and the ending is so perfect, it sends you soaring.”    (R, for language, including some sexual references; 86 min.)

2/18      Chico and Rita (2010; Spain/UK; d. Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal, Fernando Trueba)
“Drawn with a moody artistry, shaded by its Cuban musical roots, Chico & Rita is a buttery rich animated tale of love, jazz, showbiz, fame and politics in the late '40s and early '50s that is as catchy as its tunes,” says Betsy Sharkey in The Los Angeles Times. “This is definitely animation for grown-ups — its look is voluptuous, sexy and sultry; its Latin-inflected Dizzy Gillespie sound is seductive; and its story of young lovers whose passions are tested is timeless.” Set to the jazz beats of Gillespie, Cole Porter and Thelonious Monk, Chico and Rita play, sing and dance their way through Havana in its pre-Fidel days of big spenders, New York in the heyday of jazz, Paris when foreign musicians were hot, and Vegas in its early golden years in this 2010 Oscar nominee for Best Animated Feature. (PG, for language, nudity, sexual situations, drug use ; 94 min.)

2/25      White Elephant/Elefante blanco (2012; Argentina; d. Pablo Trapero)
Argentine director Pablo Trapero has fashioned a fast-paced, sometimes violent tale of two priests who minister to a sprawling slum outside Buenos Aires, seeking to combat violence with love. The white elephant of the title is the ruins of a tuberculosis hospital in the 1930s, long since abandoned but dominating the landscape of the toughest shantytown in Buenos Aires. “Trapero surpasses himself in capturing milieu,” observes Jay Weissberg of Variety. “From the diluvial rains that drench the slums inside and out to the ominous alleyways whose Dante-esque vision acts as a chilling comment on the lost and forgotten souls within, White Elephant is an impressive confirmation of Trapero’s ability to fill his scenes with style and mood.” (NR, language, violence; 110 min.)

 

3/4   The Sessions (2012; USA; d. Ben Lewin)

From Australian American film-maker, Ben Lewin, comes the true story of Mark O'Brien, a polio victim confined to an iron lung who, at 38, decides to lose his virginity at long last. For her turn as Mark's sex surrogate, Helen Hunt was honored with an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress; John Hawkes' lead portrayal received standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter said that The Sessions "argues in favor of living a full life, whatever one’s personal constraints, of not being intimidated by societal or religious dogma or, most of all, by one’s fears."  (R, for strong sexuality including graphic nudity and frank dialogue; 95 min.)

 

3/11      56 Up (2012; UK; d. Michael Apted)
Give me a child until he is seven, goes the Jesuit aphorism, and I will give you the man. 56 Up says it's nowhere near that simple, according to Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal. In 1964, a group of seven-year-old English children were interviewed for a documentary, 7 Up. Representing as wide an economic and class sample as possible, the children have since grown up and begun to grow older, with director Michael Apted filming interviews and releasing new documentaries every seven years since. Morgenstern concludes, “This unique enterprise, which began as a documentary experiment almost a half century ago, has grown into an inspiring testimonial to the unpredictability of the human spirit.”  (NR. a little profanity; 144 min.)

 

3/18      A Royal Affair (2012; Denmark/Sweden/Czech Republic; d. Nikolaj Arcel)

Based on the true story of a love triangle between the half-mad Danish King Christian III, his royal physician and mentor, Johann Struensee, and the young Queen Caroline Mathilda, the film has an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. The queen and the doctor embark upon romance and political intrigue as they plot to bring about freethinking radical changes in Denmark in the late 18th century. Connie Ogle of The Miami Herald calls the film “luxuriously romantic.” Tom Long of The Detroit News says it’s “a fascinating, stately thriller.”  (R, for sexual content, some violent images; 137 min.)

 

4/1        Chasing Ice (2012; USA; d. Jeff Orlowski)

Over a period of several years, National Geographic photographer James Balog used a time-lapse camera to record changing glaciers as they react to the effects of carbon emissions and climate change. The result is this stunningly visual documentary. Colin Covert, of The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, calls Chasing Ice “a grand adventure, a visual amazement and a powerful warning.”  (PG-13, for brief obscenity; 80 min.)

 

4/8        Neighbouring Sounds (2012; Brazil; d. Kleber Mendonça Filho)

A Brazilian culture of fear is exacerbated by a the constant onslaught of noise--barking dogs, howling babies, the incessant buzz of traffic. When a private security firm moves into the wealthy block where most of the action occurs, tensions only get higher. A.O. Scott of The New York Times calls Neighbouring Sounds a "revelatory debut" for the director that "accomplishes nothing less than the illumination of the peculiar state of Brazilian (and not only Brazilian) society."  (NR, nudity, sexuality, profanity ; 131 min.)

 

4/15        Nosferatu (1922; Germany; d. F.W. Murnau)
***Classic silent film with live music by the Andrew Alden Ensemble***
He sleeps in a coffin! His nails are claws and his teeth are . . . . But let’s not give away the whole plot. This is the first, arguably the best film incarnation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, made in the German Expressionist style, with its emphasis on shadows and disquieting camera angles. Roger Ebert (The Chicago Sun Times) notes that Nosferatu “doesn’t scare us, but it haunts us,” with images like Nosferatu’s ship arriving at port with coffins full of plague-infested earth, a dead crew and a flood of rats disembarking. Nosferatu walks, drinks, and dies again, to the sound of the Andrew Alden Ensemble, here at the Roxy, performing a new score that combines classical chamber music with a distinct edge of rock.  (NR, disturbing images and themes; 94 min.)

 

4/22        Betting the Farm (2012; USA; d. Cecily Pingree)
***Special appearance by the director, Cecily Pingree and company CEO Bill Eldridge ***

A group of Maine dairy farmers faced with the possibility of losing their livelihood when they are dropped by a national milk distributor, instead try their hands at launching an organic milk company - a gamble that will either ruin or save them. The Washington Post writes that the filmmakers capture the plight of the small farmer "with sensitivity and painterly beauty." Others call it "effective and dramatic," "beautifully crafted," and "nerve wracking." Director Cicely Pingree and company CEO Bill Eldridge will join us.  (NR, language; 85 min.)