Summer Releases and Must Sees

Looking forward to seeing these after watching the trailers on itunes... And proud that this summer's box office wont be based solely on blow-em-up blockbusters. There are a collection of high quality films here. Can't wait to see them.

(All synopses taken from itunes movie trailers website)

CYRUS http://www.foxsearchlight.com/cyrus

Directed by Mark and Jay Duplass

Starring John C. Reily, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener and Matt Walsh

With John’s social life at a standstill and his ex wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcee finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life – her son. 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.

SOLITARY MAN http://www.solitarymanmovie.com/

Directed by Brian Koppelman and David Levien

Starring Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito, Mary-Louise Parker, Jenna Fischer, Imogen Poots, and Jesse Eisenberg

When the film opens, Ben's on the verge of a comeback, but some of the same motivations that led to his demise are threatening to take him down again. He's divorced from Nancy, his college sweetheart and the one person who knows him better than anyone. Although he still finds the time to hang out with his daughter Susan and his adoring grandson, she breaks off contact when she discovers he's seeing one of her friends. His girlfriend Jordan is the daughter of a very influential businessman who's on the board of a major auto manufacturer. If Ben can just keep his hubris in check for a little while longer, he will be back as big as ever. But circumstances place him in very close proximity with the one girl he shouldn't touch, throwing everything into jeopardy.

THE KILLER INSIDE ME http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/the-killer-inside-me

Directed by Michael Winterbottom

Starring Casey Affleck, Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Simon Baker, Bill Pullman, Ned Beatty, and Elias Koteas

From director Michael Winterbotton comes THE KILLER INSIDE ME which has electrified audiences at the Sundance, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. Based on the classic novel by legendary pulp writer Jim Thompson, THE KILLER INSIDE ME tells the story of handsome, unassuming small town sheriff’s deputy Lou Ford (Casey Affleck). A quiet charmer of his idyllic West Texas town, Ford has a simple life and a pretty girl (Kate Hudson) to come home to. But when the job brings him face to face with a gorgeous prostitute (Jessica Alba) on the edge of town, Ford's fragile world cracks – unbridling his own dark urges. In THE KILLER INSIDE ME'S blacker–than–noir universe, nothing is ever what it seems. From the acclaimed director of A MIGHTY HEART and 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, THE KILLER INSIDE ME is a thrill–ride that Stanley Kubrick called "the most chilling and believable first–person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered."

YOU AGAIN

Directed by Andy Fickman

Starring Kristen Bell, Jimmy Wolk, Odette Yustman, Sigourney Weaver, Jamie Lee Curtis and Betty White

No matter how old you are, you never get over high school. Successful PR pro Marni (KRISTEN BELL) heads home for her older brother’s (JIMMY WOLK) wedding and discovers that he’s marrying her high school arch nemesis (ODETTE YUSTMAN), who’s conveniently forgotten all the rotten things she did so many years ago. Then the bride’s jet—setting aunt (SIGOURNEY WEAVER) bursts in and Marni’s not—so—jet—setting mom (JAMIE LEE CURTIS) comes face to face with her own high school rival. The claws come out and old wounds are opened in this crazy comedy about what happens when you’re reunited with the one person you’d like to forget.

DADDY LONG LEGS

Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie

Starring Ronald Bronstein, Sage Ranaldo and Frey Ranaldo

After months of being alone, sad, busy, sidetracked, free, lofty, late and away from his kids, Lenny (Ronald Bronstein), 34 with graying frazzled hair, picks his kids up from school. Every year he spends of couple of weeks with his sons Sage (Sage Ranaldo), 9, and Frey (Frey Ranaldo), 7. Lenny juggles his kids and everything else all within a midtown studio aparment in New York City. He ultimately faces the choice of being their father of their friend with the idea that these two weeks must last 6 months. In these two weeks, a trip upstate, visitors from strange lands, a mother, a girlfriend, “magic” blankets, and complete lawlessness seem to take over their lives. The film is a swan song to excuses and irresponsibilities; to fatherhood and self—created experiences, and to what its like to be truly torn between being a child and being an adult.

NOWHERE BOY http://nowhereboy.com/

Directed by Sam Taylor Wood

Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, Thomas Sangster and David Threlfall

Imagine… John Lennon's childhood. Liverpool 1955: a smart and troubled fifteen year—old is hungry for experience. In a family full of secrets, two incredible women clash over John: Mimi, the buttoned—up Aunt who raised him, and Julia, the prodigal mother. Yearning for a normal family, John escapes into the new and exciting world of rock n' roll where his fledgling genius finds a kindred spirit in the teenage Paul McCartney. Just as John begins his new life, tragedy strikes. But a resilient young man finds his voice — and an icon explodes into the world.

SPLICE http://www.splicethefilm.com/

Directed by Vincenzo Natali

Starring Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley

Superstar genetic engineers Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in splicing together DNA from different animals to create incredible new hybrids. Now they want to use human DNA in a hybrid that could revolutionize science and medicine. But when the pharmaceutical company that funds their research forbids it, Clive and Elsa secretly conduct their own experiments. The result is Dren, an amazing, strangely beautiful creature that exhibits uncommon intelligence and an array of unexpected physical developments. And though, at first, Dren exceeds their wildest dreams, she begins to grow and learn at an accelerated rate——and threatens to become their worst nightmare.

GROWN UPS

Directed by Dennis Digan

Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin Kames, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Salma Hayek and Maria Bello

Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, is a comedy about five friends and former teammates who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives (Salma Hayek, Maria Bello, Maya Rudolph) and kids in tow, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. Picking up where they left off, they discover why growing older doesn’t mean growing up.

IN MY SLEEP http://www.inmysleep.com/

Directed by Allen Wolf

Starring Philip Winchester, Lacey Chabert, Abigail Spencer, Kelly Overton, Michael Badalucco, Beth Grant and Tony Hale

In this edge—of—your—seat thriller, Marcus struggles with parasomnia, a rare sleepwalking disorder. After Marcus wakes up with blood on his hands and a knife at his side, he is startled to hear that a close friend has been found stabbed to death. Marcus frantically tries to put the pieces together – could he have murdered his close friend in his sleep to hide a secret between them? The police close in as Marcus investigates his own nocturnal activities, desperate to figure out what happens after he goes to sleep. His journey to uncover the truth leads him to a shocking revelation.

CROPSEY

Directed by and Starring Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio

Realizing the urban legend of their youth has actually come true, two filmmakers delve into the mystery behind five missing children and the real—life boogeyman linked to their disappearance in their hometown of Staten Island, New York. Growing up on Staten Island, filmmakers Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio had often heard the legend of ‘Cropsey.’ For the kids in their neighborhood, Cropsey was the escaped mental patient who lived in the old abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution, who would come out late at night and snatch children off the streets. Sometimes Cropsey had a hook for a hand, other times he wielded a bloody axe, but it didn’t matter, Cropsey was always out there, lurking in the shadows, waiting to get them. Later as teenagers, the filmmakers assumed Cropsey was just an urban legend: a cautionary tale used to keep them out of those abandoned buildings and stop them from doing all those things that teenagers like to do. That all changed in the summer of 1987 when a 13—year—old girl with Down syndrome, named Jennifer Schweiger, disappeared from their community. That was the summer all the kids from Staten Island discovered that their urban legend was real. Now as adults Joshua and Barbara have returned to Staten Island to create Cropsey, a feature documentary that delves into the mystery behind Jennifer and four additional missing children. The film also investigates Andre Rand, the real—life boogeyman linked to their disappearances. Embarking on a mysterious journey into the underbelly of their forgotten borough, these filmmakers uncover a reality that is more terrifying than any urban legend.

WAITING FOR 'SUPERMAN' http://www.WaitingForSuperman.com

Directed by Davis Guggenheim

For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public–education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children. Oscar®—winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR “SUPERMAN.” As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop—out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems. However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind.

HOLY ROLLERS http://holyrollersfilm.com/

Directed by Kevin Asch

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Ari Graynor, Danny A. Abeckaser, Q-Tip, Elizabeth Marvel and Jason Fuchs

Holy Rollers is inspired by actual events in the late nineties when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States. Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), a young Hasid from an Orthodox Brooklyn community reluctantly follows the path his family has chosen for him, awaiting a pending arranged marriage and studying to become a Rabbi. A charming neighbor, Yosef Zimmerman (Justin Bartha), senses Sam’s resistance and propositions him to transport ‘medicine’ for Jackie (Danny A. Abeckaser), an Israeli dealer, and his girlfriend, Rachel (Ari Graynor). Sam quickly demonstrates his business skill to his bosses, who instantly take Sam under their wing. Now exposed to the exciting and gritty worlds of Manhattan andAmsterdam nightlife, Sam begins to spiral deeper into their detrimental lifestyle, experimenting with ecstasy and then falling for Rachel. As the business grows, Sam’s double life begins to rip his family apart and the community becomes suspicious of his illegal activities. Sam slowly comes to realize the façade behind the easy money and parties. Caught between life as a smuggler and the path back to God, Sam goes on the run, forced to make a fatal decision that could bring the entire operation crashing down.

8: THE MORMON PROPOSITION http://www.mormonproposition.com/

Directed by Reed Cowan

8: The Mormon Proposition exposes the Mormon Church's historic involvement in the promotion and passage of California's Proposition 8 and the religion's secretive, decades—long campaign against gay rights. The film takes place in California and Utah as Mormons, following their prophet’s call to action, wage spiritual warfare with money and misinformation against gay citizens, doing everything they can to deny them of marriage and the rights that come with it. 8: The Mormon Proposition opens in theaters on June 18th, 2010, two years after the first gay marriages took place in California (June 17th, 2008).

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED http://www.whereisalicecreed.com

Directed by J. Blakeson

Starring Gemma Arterton, Martin Compston and Eddie Marsan

Two men — one in his twenties, the other nearer forty, both intensely focused on the task at hand — line the inside of a transit van with plastic. Shopping, they buy a drill, mattress and other supplies. In a small flat they assemble a bed for the mattress and staple foam insulation and board to the walls and windows of a bedroom. Then, their meticulous preparations complete, they kidnap a young woman. They drag her from the street into the back of the van and, with a bag over her head and ball gag in her mouth, take her back to the flat, tying her to the bed in the room they have converted into a prison cell. The kidnappers are Danny (Martin Compston) and Vic (Eddie Marsan), two ex—cons planning to make a mint on the ransom for the young woman. The younger, nervier of the two, Danny defers to the more experienced Vic, who acts with a steely conviction. Their hostage is Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), daughter of a rich businessman, chosen by Vic and Danny as their passport to a better life. Terrified and immobile at first, it soon becomes clear that Alice isn’t about to let her captors use her as capital without a fight. As determined to escape as Vic and Danny are to succeed, Alice enters into a battle of wills which strains the already fractious relationship between the two men. As the deadline for the exchange draws nearer, all three are brought close to breaking point, with Vic and Danny’s foolproof plan descending into a desperate struggle for survival.

HAPPINESS RUNS http://happinessruns.com/

Directed by Adam Sherman

Starring Mark L. Young, Hanna Hall, Jessie Piemons, Laura Peters, Shiloh Fernandez, Andie Macdowel and Rutger Hauer

A young man named Victor realizes the shortcomings of the utopian ideals on the hippie commune where he was raised. Victor’s mother is funding the commune where the guru Insley hypnotizes and seduces women with a technique he calls “running.” Insley manipulates the minds of these women so that they give him their bodies and all their worldly possessions. Victor’s childhood love, Becky, returns to take care of her deathly ill father. Victor, haunted by visions of Becky’s death, is desperate to save her and himself by escaping from the polygamous cult. Preoccupied with Insley’s free love philosophy, the adults of the community overlook the painful reality that the self destructive behavior of their children is most certainly due to early exposure to sex and drugs. To afford an escape, Victor tries to sell weed but is cut out by rivals competing for Becky’s affection. Finally, Victor is torn between getting money from his mother who is entirely under Insley’s influence, dealing with the violent drama of his drug—addled friends, and staying to save Becky as she spins out of control.