Production Co: Lowland Pictures, AST Studios
Runtime: 90 min
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Movie Release: 20 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Tara Subkoff
Writers: Tara Subkoff, Tara Subkoff
Stars: Chloë Sevigny, Taryn Manning, Natasha Lyonne
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
#HORROR is a film about the lives of six young women, Sam, Georigie, Sofia, Francesca, Cat and Eva played by our young ensemble of emerging actresses. Their world is one of money, success, ease and decadence. This is a film about the HORROR of cyberbullying. This film is a integral insight on the pressure that girls take on as they grow in a world that is increasingly dependent on the promotion and attention that social media platforms provide yet prevent bullying. as well as the roles that parents must play regarding controlling their child's use of the internet and bullying plays such a terrifying role in society. These young woman are telling this story inside a glass mansion, filled with millions of dollars of artwork, as if they were living in a contemporary museum with artworks including works by Urs Fischer, Rob Pruitt, Dan Colen, Franz West, Steven Shearer.
Production Co: CBS Films, Groundswell Productions, Imagine Entertainment
Genre: Comedy
Movie release : 13 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Jessie Nelson
Writer: Steven Rogers (screenplay)
Stars: Olivia Wilde, Amanda Seyfried, Marisa Tomei
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
When four generations of the Cooper clan come together for their annual Christmas Eve celebration, a series of unexpected visitors and unlikely events turn the night upside down, leading them all toward a surprising rediscovery of family bonds and the spirit of the holiday.
Production Co: Anonymous Content, Participant Media
Runtime: 128 min
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Movie Release: 6 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Tom McCarthy
Writers: Tom McCarthy (screenplay), Josh Singer (screenplay)
Stars: Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Mark Ruffalo
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber, Brian d'Arcy James and Stanley Tucci, SPOTLIGHT tells the riveting true story of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe investigation that would rock the city and cause a crisis in one of the world's oldest and most trusted institutions. When the newspaper's tenacious "Spotlight" team of reporters delves into allegations of abuse in the Catholic Church, their year-long investigation uncovers a decades-long cover-up at the highest levels of Boston's religious, legal, and government establishment, touching off a wave of revelations around the world. Directed by Academy Award-nominee Tom McCarthy, SPOTLIGHT is a tense investigative dramatic-thriller, tracing the steps to one of the biggest cover-ups in modern times.
Review
The awards season may just have found its first forerunner. In a 2015 movie year that has been average at best without any standout films initiating awards conversation, Tom McCarthy's Spotlight rising above the heap to assert itself as one of 2015's best.
With an all-star cast including Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Live Schreiber, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci and Billy Crudup, Spotlight shines a light on a 2001 investigation by The Boston Globe's on the sexual abuse within the Catholic Church.
Michael Keaton plays Walter Robinson who leads the Globe's investigative unit with Michael Rezendes (Ruffalo), Sacha (McAdams) and Matt Carrol (Brian d'Arcy James). Under a new editor Marty Baron (Schreiber), the team begins to unfold a horrific pattern of child sexual abuse by the church that was muted and covered up by high priced lawyers and payoffs to victim's families. As Walter probes further and further into the events (the setting is after the events the 9/11) the investigation reveals layers and layers of injustice of Catholic Priests that were aided by the highest powers of the church in an effort to keep the story muted.
It all starts with a featured column about Catholic priest John Geoghan who was accused of abusing over 100 boys. A civil suit is filed but the details of the abuse were ordered sealed by the courts. Schrieber's Baron puts the team of reporters on the case and within days the evil that lurked with the sacred rooms of local churches begins to reveal is foul and despicable face.
The investigation goes on for months as the team hits roadblock upon roadblock taking one step forward for every two steps back. But the story eventually breaks and the emotionally exhausted team is eventually able to bring to light one of the more depressing and important stories of the early new century.
Michael Keaton was really good in last year's Birdman and named himself many awards and an Academy Award nomination for his part. In Spotlight, he may be even better. Under the direction of Tom McCarthy (Win Win, The Station Agent), Keaton shines and carries a performance of determination, frustration and redemption that is delivered with precision.
Nods to All the President's Men will be inevitable. But that was a different era. A different movie. Spotlight is fresh and invigorating in its painfully frustrating subject matter. Audiences should leave with a renewed belief that investigative reporting is of monumental importance and that stories such as the one originating in 2001 Massachusetts are still out there clouded in red tape secrecy and muffled whispers. It is painful to watch at times. Trusted bonds between people, children, parents and the institution that promotes the opposite to what it sometimes preaches are disgusting revelations that are brought to the screen with sizzling effects.
The entire cast from top to bottom is perfectly cast. And McCarthy doesn't populate his frames with unnecessary spectacular visuals. Spotlight is instead very straight forward. Focused and driven.
Spotlight will be nominated for Best Picture and Keaton should get a nod for Actor. Ruffalo may also sneak his way onto ballot sheets. But whether Spotlight wins any hardware is unimportant as long as we recognize the importance of films such as these. A few years ago I would guess that 99% of the population knew nothing about the Iran hostage rescue highlighted in Ben Affleck's Argo. Spotlight should have the same effect acting as a docudrama that is both highly entertaining and educational at the same time. It is both a very good film and an important one.
Production Co: Rajshri Productions
Genre : Drama, Romance
Movie Release : 12 November 2015 (India)
Director: Sooraj R. Barjatya
Writers: Sooraj R. Barjatya (story), Aash Karan Atal (dialogue)
Stars: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher
Country: India
Language: Hindi
Storyline
A king, who is loved by his subjects, wants to lead a normal life away from all the responsibilities and his kingdom, while his step brother plans to steal the throne from him. But things are changed when the king finds out the common man who looks exactly like him and they change their identities with each other temporarily.
Trivia
Harshali Malhotra (of Bajrangi Bhaijaan fame) was signed for the film and shot for some posters. Upon getting selected for Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Harshali's mother wanted her to opt out of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo and work exclusively for Bajrangi Bhaijaan. She spoke to Salman Khan about this problem and Salman obliged. Salman spoke to Sooraj about the situation and all was worked out.
"What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy" (original title)
Production Co: Wildgaze Films
Runtime: 96 min
Genre: Documentary
Movie Release: 6 November 2015 (USA)
Director:David Evans
Writer:Philippe Sands
Stars:Niklas Frank, Philippe Sands, Horst von Wächter
Country: UK
Language: English
Storyline
Three men travel together across Europe. For two of them the journey involves a confrontation with the acts of their fathers, who were both senior Nazi officers. For the third, the eminent human rights lawyer and author Philippe Sands, it means visiting the place where much of his own Jewish family was destroyed by the fathers of the two men he has come to know. It is an emotional, psychological exploration of three men wrestling with their past, the present of Europe - and conflicting versions of the truth.
Production Co: Groundswell Productions, ShivHans Pictures
Runtime: 124 min
Genre: Biography, Drama
Movie Release: 6 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Jay Roach
Writers: John McNamara, Bruce Cook (book)
Stars: Bryan Cranston, Elle Fanning, Diane Lane
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
The successful career of Dalton Trumbo- a Hollywood 1940s screenwriter ends when he blacklisted by the US government and national film studios because of his communism belief, that forced him and the other blacklisted Hollywood figures to struggle against them in order to gain justice, freedom, and of course, their own reputation.
Review
In theory, "Trumbo" is an incredible true story that should be prime fodder for a great movie. Cranston has his moments and you have to laud his attention to detain in channeling Trumbo's unique voice and mannerisms. Unfortunately, he's so committed that his character borders on being a caricature. "Trumbo" works well enough as a general survey of Trumbo's life and career, a primer on a complicated man who endured a terrible injustice, but it fails to really engage with the material, to dig deep for significant themes and salient meanings. At one point in the film, a producer lam-basts Trumbo for turning in a script that lacks genius -- the same could be said of "Trumbo" the film, which meets the bare minimum for these sorts of outings, despite a wealth of essential material. All I Will Say In Short It's a Must Watch Movie.
Production Co: Bron Studios, RatPac Entertainment
Runtime: 123 min
Genre: Biography, Drama, Music
Movie Release: 27 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Marc Abraham
Writers: Marc Abraham (screenplay), Colin Escott (biography)
Stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Hiddleston, David Krumholtz
Country: USA
Language: English
James White (2015)
Runtime: 85 min
Genre: Drama
Movie Release: 13 November 2015 (USA)
Director: Josh Mond
Stars: Christopher Abbott, Cynthia Nixon, Scott Mescudi
Country: USA
Language: English
Production Co: BorderLine Films, Relic Pictures
Storyline
James White (Christopher Abbott) is a troubled twenty-something trying to stay afloat in a frenzied New York City. He retreats further into a self-destructive, hedonistic lifestyle, but as his mother (Cynthia Nixon) battles a serious illness James is forced to take control of his life. As the pressure on him mounts, James must find new reserves of strength or risk imploding completely.
Review
James White (Christopher Abbott) is caught in an endless cycle of self-destruction. He has just lost his father and fears losing his ailing mother (Cynthia Nixon) who he has been taking care of for years. He spends his days drinking, sleeping around and lashing out at others, doing anything to avoid confronting his grief and emotions, which he keeps under the surface, bubbling and waiting to burst. Life has been unfair to him, and this behaviour that manifested sabotages any chance of career or personal growth. He might be using his mother's condition as an excuse not to step out of his comfort zone and try harder in life, which is reasonable to some extent, but he can't seem to change. In his prime, he is jobless and taking his mother's couch as a bed.
This narratively loose drama doesn't offer anything particularly new in giving us a glimpse into the struggles, both internal and external, faced by James. There is not much closure or emotional reward to be given. This is summed up perfectly in one of the very few scenes in which we see James surrendering to his emotions, crying while repeatedly yelling "I don't know what to do".
The best aspect of the film is the acting. Nixon gives an authentic, heartbreaking performance that's understated. Abbott, on the other hand, is given a character that requires patience and sensitivity to sympathize with. James internalizes many complex emotions throughout the film and what goes on in his mind is not always clear to the audience. It's a tricky act to balance but Abbott pulls it off. Their mother-son relationship is the only thing that's certain in their lives and is the core of the film.
The film could have very well ended during its most powerful and stirring scene with James and his mother in the toilet. She can't get up, so they sit and talk about what their ideal life would be like and the future they had hope for. They feel at peace as both of them stay in this moment, still and smiling. This is when the bleak reality of the film truly sets in, as we see these people, both kind and full of dreams and desires, trapped in an unfortunate life.
Production Co: Fabula, Funny Balloons, Versatile
Runtime: 100 min
Genre: Drama
Movie Release : 1 October 2015 (Chile)
Director: Sebastián Silva
Writer: Sebastián Silva (screenplay)
Stars: Kristen Wiig, Alia Shawkat, Mark Margolis
Country: Chile | USA
Language: English | Spanish
Storyline
A close-knit trio navigates the idea of creating life, while at the same time being confronted with a brutal scenario that causes them to take a life.
Review
Films are like visiting a city. Mainstream movies cover the big attraction: Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedra, and Musée du Louvre. Indie films take you through the back streets and occasionally you get a tour of the underbelly of a city. "Nasty Baby" by filmmaker Sebastián Silva takes you on a back ally tour of the character of ordinary people. We all like to think we know what we will do in hypothetical situations. The truth is often we don't. This movie starts off pleasant enough with likable, real character; but from the start there is a slow burn that is building towards some unwanted destination. This movie takes you around the big attractions of a city and delivers you via the characters in places you would never expect to visit or would want to go. Check out "Nasty Baby" if you get a chance.
Production Co: Berlanti Productions, RatPac-Dune Entertainment
Runtime: 111 min
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Movie Release: 9 October 2015 (Indonesia)
Director: Joe Wright
Writers: Jason Fuchs, J.M. Barrie (characters)
Stars: Levi Miller, Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund
Country: USA | UK | Australia
Language: English
THE BUZZ: The focus here has remained on director Joe Wright's continual defense of casting Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily, a Native American princess in the works of J. M. Barrie, though there's an entirely different aspect of the movie to discuss: Are audiences interested in this origin tale? Box-office researchers and prognosticators say "not so much" and we saw a great line in one of the first reviews that read "[the story] explains that which needed no explanation." We do feel like Wright has created an incredible-looking take on Neverland, and that Hugh Jackman's performance alone should make the movie worth viewing, but we feel as though Pan could be the first box-office disappointment of the fall.
Storyline
12-year-old orphan Peter is spirited away to the magical world of Neverland, where he finds both fun and dangers, and ultimately discovers his destiny -- to become the hero who will be forever known as Peter Pan.
Production Co: ImageMovers, Mel's Cite du Cinema, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
Runtime: 123 min
Genre: Adventure, Biography, Drama
Movie Release : 2 October 2015 (Indonesia)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writers: Robert Zemeckis (screenplay), Christopher Browne (screenplay)
Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Guillaume Baillargeon
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man - Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan. Robert Zemeckis, the director of such marvels as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future, Polar Express and Flight, again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story. With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry, The Walk is true big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. The film, a PG-rated, all-audience entertainment for moviegoers 8 to 80, unlike anything audiences have seen before, is a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, ...
THE BUZZ: This release week is interesting because it features two releases that are based on Oscar winning documentaries. James Marsh blended recreations and factual accounts of Philippe Petit's high-wire walk to great effect in Man on Wire, and now Robert Zemeckis brings a photorealistic touch to the story that finds Joseph Gordon-Levitt trying out a French accent. In terms of direct competition, it seems like The Walk's challenge will be to get people to stop talking about Everest's myriad achievements and to start paying more attention to this movie. And of course there's that movie about Matt Damon on Mars to contend with.
Production Co: Altar Identity Studios
Runtime: 103 min
Genre: Comedy, Romance
9 October 2015 (USA)
Director: Adriana Trigiani
Writer: Adriana Trigiani
Stars: Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg
Country: USA
Language: English
THE BUZZ: We're sort of feeling this small-town dramedy, a definite throwback to that sugar-sweetened era between Steel Magnolias and Fried Green Tomatoes. That audience still exists and they are criminally underserved by Hollywood, so the spinster Ave Maria Mulligan might nestle in for a good, long shelf life.
Storyline
Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, the tiny town of Big Stone Gap is home to some of the most charming eccentrics in the state. Ave Maria Mulligan is the town's self-proclaimed spinster, a thirty-five year old pharmacist with a "mountain girl's body and a flat behind." She lives an amiable life with good friends and lots of hobbies until the fateful day in 1978 when she suddenly discovers that she's not who she always thought she was. Before she can blink, Ave's fielding marriage proposals, fighting off greedy family members, organizing a celebration for visiting celebrities, and planning the trip of a lifetime-a trip that could change her view of the world and her own place in it forever.
Production Co: Groundswell Productions, Studio Solutions, Ulterior Productions
Runtime: 88 min
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Movie Release : 9 October 2015 (USA)
Director: Todd Strauss-Schulson
Writers: M.A. Fortin (screenplay), Joshua John Miller (screenplay)
Stars: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam DeVine
Country: USA
Language: English
THE BUZZ: The difference between this slasher and the recent Abigail Breslin/Wes Bentley movie is: Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, and company feel it's better to serve the horror audience some comedy with their homage to the 'final girl' trope. The cast is letter-perfect and director Todd Strauss-Schulson has a feel for comedy, so we're crossing our fingers for a true neo-classic experience.
Storyline
When Max (Taissa Farmiga) and her friends reluctantly attend a tribute screening of an infamous '80s slasher film that starred Max's late mother (Malin Akerman), they are accidentally sucked into the silver screen. They soon realize they are trapped inside the cult classic movie and must team up with the fictional and ill-fated "Camp Bloodbath" counselors, including Max's mom as the shy scream queen, to battle the film's machete-wielding, masked killer. With the body count rising in scene after iconic scene, who will be THE FINAL GIRLS left standing and live to escape this film?
Victoria II
Production Co: MonkeyBoy, Deutschfilm, Radical Media
Runtime: 138 min
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Movie Release: 11 June 2015 (Germany)
Director: Sebastian Schipper
Writers: Olivia Neergaard-Holm, Sebastian Schipper
Stars: Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski
Country: Germany
Language: German | English | Spanish
THE BUZZ: Sebastian Schipper's single-shot crime epic has earned raves all over the world (it was a big winner at the Berlin International Film Festival) and having held our breath through the trailer many times, it's become one of the top movies on our fall radar. The soundtrack by Nils Frahm sounds like it deserves its own awards, too.
Storyline
While on holiday in Berlin, a young woman finds her flirtation with a local guy turn potentially deadly as their night out with his friends reveals its secret: the four men owe someone a dangerous favor that requires repaying that evening.
Production Co: Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, LStar Capital
Runtime: 103 min
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Movie Release 16 October 2015 (Indonesia)
Director: Rob Letterman
Writers: Darren Lemke (screenplay), Scott Alexander (story)
Stars: Jack Black, Odeya Rush, Halston Sage
Country: USA | Australia
Language: English
Storyline
Upset about moving from a big city to a small town, teenager Zach Cooper (Dylan Minnette) finds a silver lining when he meets the beautiful girl, Hannah (Odeya Rush), living right next door. But every silver lining has a cloud, and Zach's comes when he learns that Hannah has a mysterious dad who is revealed to be R. L. Stine (Jack Black), the author of the bestselling Goosebumps series. It turns out that there is a reason why Stine is so strange... he is a prisoner of his own imagination - the monsters that his books made famous are real, and Stine protects his readers by keeping them locked up in their books. When Zach unintentionally unleashes the monsters from their manuscripts and they begin to terrorize the town, it's suddenly up to Stine, Zach, and Hannah to get all of them back in the books where they belong.
Production Co: Klein Lewis Productions, Louverture Films
Runtime: 89 min
Genre : Documentary
Movie Release : 2015 (USA)
Director: Avi Lewis
Writer: Naomi Klein
Country: USA | Canada
Language: English
Storyline
What if confronting the climate crisis is the best chance we'll ever get to build a better world? Filmed over 211 shoot days in nine countries and five continents over four years, This Changes Everything is an epic attempt to re-imagine the vast challenge of climate change. The film presents seven portraits of communities on the front lines, from Montana's Powder River Basin to the Alberta Tar Sands, from the coast of South India to Beijing and beyond. Interwoven with these stories of struggle is Naomi Klein's narration, connecting the carbon in the air with the economic system that put it there. Throughout the film, Klein builds to her most controversial and exciting idea: that we can seize the existential crisis of climate change to transform our failed economic system into something radically better.
Production Co: Broken Road Productions, Brucks Entertainment, Oops Doughnuts Productions
Runtime: 93 min
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Movie Release : 30 October 2015 (USA)
Director: Christopher Landon
Writers: Emi Mochizuki (screenplay), Carrie Lee Wilson (screenplay) (as Carrie Evans)
Stars: Patrick Schwarzenegger, Halston Sage, Tye Sheridan
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
Three scouts, on the eve of their last camp-out, discover the true meaning of friendship when they attempt to save their town from a zombie outbreak.
Production Co: Participant Media, Smokehouse Pictures
Runtime: 108 min
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Movei Release : 30 October 2015 (USA)
Director: David Gordon Green
Writers: Peter Straughan (screenplay), Rachel Boynton (documentary)
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Billy Bob Thornton, Zoe Kazan
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
A feature film based on the documentary "Our Brand Is Crisis", which focuses on the use of American political campaign strategies in South America.
Production Co: 3 Arts Entertainment, Double Feature Films, PeaPie Films
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Movie Release : 23 October 2015 (USA)
Director: John Wells
Writers: Steven Knight (screenplay), Michael Kalesniko (story)
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy
Country: USA
Language: English
Storyline
Chef Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) had it all - and lost it. A two-star Michelin rockstar with the bad habits to match, the former enfant terrible of the Paris restaurant scene did everything different every time out, and only ever cared about the thrill of creating explosions of taste. To land his own kitchen and that third elusive Michelin star though, he'll need the best of the best on his side, including the beautiful Helene (Sienna Miller).
