AUGUST 13, 2021
<Click film’s poster to see info/trailer>
FREE GUY
Directed By: Shawn Levy
Studio: 20th Century Studios
In “Free Guy,” a bank teller who discovers he is actually a background player in an open-world video game, decides to become the hero of his own story… one he rewrites himself. Now in a world where there are no limits, he is determined to be the guy who saves his world his way… before it is too late.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Joe Keery, and Taika Waititi
Genre: Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi
Country: USA | Canada | Japan (English)
Rating: PG-13 (for strong fantasy violence throughout, language and crude/suggestive references)
Runtime: 115 minutes
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DON’T BREATHE 2
Directed By: Rodo Sayagues Mendez
Studio: Sony Pictures
The sequel is set in the years following the initial deadly home invasion, where Norman Nordstrom (Stephen Lang) lives in quiet solace until his past sins catch up to him.
Starring: Stephen Lang, Brendan Sexton III, Madelyn Grace, Rocci Williams, and Stephanie Arcila
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Country: USA | Serbia (English)
Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, gruesome images, and language)
Runtime: 98 minutes
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RESPECT
Directed By: Liesl Tommy
Studio: MGM
Following the rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom, RESPECT is the remarkable true story of the music icon’s journey to find her voice.
Starring: Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, Marlon Wayans, Audra McDonald, Marc Maron, Tituss Burgess, Saycon Sengbloh, Hailey Kilgore, Skye Dakota Turner, Tate Donovan, and Mary J. Blige
Genre: Biography | Drama | Music
Country: USA | Canada (English)
Rating: PG-13 (for mature thematic content, strong language including racial epithets, violence, suggestive material, and smoking)
Runtime: 145 minutes
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CODA
Directed By: Sian Heder
Studio: Apple TV+
Seventeen-year-old Ruby (Emilia Jones) is the sole hearing member of a deaf family — a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents (Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur) and working on the family’s struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother (Daniel Durant). But when Ruby joins her high school’s choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles (Ferdia Walsh-Peelo). Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster (Eugenio Derbez) to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.
Starring: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Daniel Durant, Eugenio Derbez, and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo
Genre: Drama | Music
Country: USA (English)
Rating: PG-13 (for strong sexual content and language, and drug use)
Runtime: 111 minutes
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BECKETT
Directed By: Ferdinando Cito Filomarino
Studio: Netflix
While vacationing in Greece, American tourist Beckett (John David Washington) becomes the target of a manhunt after a devastating accident. Forced to run for his life and desperate to get across the country to the American embassy to clear his name, tensions escalate as the authorities close in, political unrest mounts, and Beckett falls even deeper into a dangerous web of conspiracy.
Starring: John David Washington, Boyd Holbrook, Vicky Krieps, and Alicia Vikander
Genre: Action | Crime | Drama | International | Thriller
Country: Italy | Brazil | Greece (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 108 minutes
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THE KISSING BOOTH 3
Directed By: Vince Marcello
Studio: Netflix
It’s the summer before Elle heads to college, and she’s facing the hardest decision of her life: whether to move across the country with her dreamy boyfriend Noah or fulfill her lifelong promise to go to college with her BFF Lee. Whose heart will Elle break?
Starring: Joey King, Joel Courtney, Jacob Elordi, Taylor Zakhar Perez, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Meganne Young and Molly Ringwald
Genre: Comedy | Romance
Country: USA | UK (English)
Rating: TV-14
Runtime: 102 minutes
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The Lost Leonardo
Directed By: Andreas Koefoed
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
THE LOST LEONARDO tells the inside story behind the Salvator Mundi, the most expensive painting ever sold at $450 million, claimed to be a long-lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci. From the moment it is purchased from a shady New Orleans auction house, and its buyers discover masterful brushstrokes beneath its cheap restoration, the fate of the Salvator Mundi is driven by an insatiable quest for fame, money and power. But as its price soars, so do questions about its authenticity. Is this multi-million dollar painting actually by Leonardo — or do certain power players simply want it to be? Unravelling the hidden agendas of the world’s richest men and most powerful art institutions, THE LOST LEONARDO reveals how vested interests became all-important, and the truth secondary.
Starring: Jerry Saltz, Martin Kemp, Alexandra Bregman, Doug Patteson, and Robert K. Wittman
Genre: Documentary | International
Country: Denmark | France (English & French)
Rating: PG-13 (for nude art images)
Runtime: 96 minutes
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EMA
Directed By: Pablo Larraín
Studio: Music Box Films
After a shocking incident upends her family life and marriage to a tempestuous choreographer, Ema, a reggaeton dancer, sets out on an odyssey of personal liberation, in this incendiary drama about art, desire, and the modern family from director Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Neruda).
Starring: Mariana Di Girolamo, Cristian Suares, Gael García Bernal, Paola Giannini and Santiago Cabrera
Genre: Drama | International | Music | Romance
Country: Chile (Spanish)
Rating: R (for strong sexual content, nudity and language)
Runtime: 107 minutes
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Buckley’s Chance
Directed By: Tim Brown
Studio: Vertical Entertainment
A year after the loss of his father, 12-year-old Ridley and his mother, Gloria, move from New York City to Western Australian to live with Ridley’s estranged grandfather. Ridley ends up lost, deep in the Outback without a soul in sight. He comes across a wild dog, entangled in an old barbed-wire fence. As he saves the dingo from certain death, the two form an unexpected bond and embark on an epic journey of adventure and survival to find their way home.
Starring: Bill Nighy, Victoria Hill, Martin Sacks, Milan Burch, Julia Billington, Ben Wood, Kelton Pell and Anthony Gooley
Genre: Family | International
Country: Canada | Australia (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 95 minutes
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Crime Story
Directed By: Adam Lipsius
Studio: Saban Films
Starring Academy Award® winners Richard Dreyfuss (The Goodbye Girl) and Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite). When ex-mob boss Ben Myers (Dreyfuss) is targeted in a home robbery, he goes on a deadly rampage of vengeance. But with his family caught in the crosshairs, Myers must finally face the consequences of his dark past in this action-packed crime thriller.
Starring: Mira Sorvino, Richard Dreyfuss, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Cress Williams, and Derek Russo
Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller
Country: USA (English)
Rating: R (for violence, language and some sexual content)
Runtime: 98 minutes
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White As Snow
Directed By: Anne Fontaine
Studio: Cohen Media Group
Claire, a young woman of great beauty, arouses the uncontrollable jealousy of her stepmother Maud, who goes so far as to plan her murder. Rescued at the last moment by a mysterious man who takes her in on his farm, Claire decides to remain in the village, a decision that will awaken the emotions of its inhabitants… One, two, and soon seven men will fall under her spell! For her, it is the beginning of a radical emancipation that is both carnal and emotional.
Starring: Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Huppert, Charles Berling, and Damien Bonnard
Genre: Comedy | Drama | International
Country: France | Belgium (French)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 112 minutes
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Charming The Hearts of Men
Directed By: S.E. DeRose
Studio: Gravitas Ventures
A romantic drama set during the politically charged early 60s where a sophisticated woman returns to her Southern home town and discovers her options are limited yet discrimination is plentiful. With the help of a Congressional ally, she inspires historic legislation which allows opportunities and protections never before afforded to women.
Starring: Sean Astin, Anna Friel, Kelsey Grammer, and Diane Ladd
Genre: Drama | History
Country: USA (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 107 minutes
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Not Going Quietly
Directed By: Nicholas Bruckman
Studio: Greenwich Entertainment
A rising star in progressive politics and a new father, 32-year-old Ady Barkan’s life is upended when he is diagnosed with ALS. But after a confrontation with powerful Senator Jeff Flake on an airplane goes viral, catapulting him to national fame, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation political movement called “Be a Hero.” Together, they barnstorm across the country and empower people to confront their elected officials with emotional, personal stories to demand healthcare justice and Ady holds groundbreaking interviews with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Through his journey, Ady discovers that collective action and speaking truth to power offers hope for his family and millions of others.
Starring: Ady Barkan, Tracey Corder, Elizabeth Jaff, and Racheal King
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 96 minutes
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THE EAST (2021)
Directed By: Jim Taihuttu
Studio: Magnet Releasing
During the post-WW2 Indonesian War of Independence, a young Dutch soldier joins an elite unit led by a mysterious captain known only as “The Turk.” When the fighting intensifies, the young soldier finds himself questioning — and ultimately challenging — his commander’s brutal strategy to stop the resistance.
Starring: Martijn Lakemeier, Marwan Kenzari, Jonas Smulders, and Abel van Gijlswijk
Genre: Drama | International | Thriller | War
Country: Netherlands | Belgium | Indonesia | USA (English, Japanese, Dutch, & Indonesian)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 137 minutes
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Battle For Afghanistan
Directed By: Pavel Lungin
Studio: Samuel Goldwyn Films
1989. The end of the Soviet-Afghan war. The USSR begins to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. Soviet General Vasilyev’s son – a pilot named Alexander – is kidnapped by the Mujahideen after his airplane crashes. As a result, the 108th Motor Rifle Division’s long awaited return home is put on hold for one last mission: bring the General’s son back. Based on true events, the previously untold story of this tragic withdrawal reveals the complexity of human nature during wartime.
Starring: Kirill Pirogov, Yan Tsapnik, Mikhail Kremer, and Aleksandr Kuznetsov
Genre: Action | Drama | International | War
Country: Russia (Russiann)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 113 minutes
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The Stairs
Directed By: Peter “Drago” Tiemann
Studio: Cinedigm
A frightening tale about a group of hikers hunted by a sinister presence in the woods. Twenty years after the mysterious disappearance of an 11-year-old boy and his grandfather, a group of friends find themselves along the same trail, unaware of a long-forgotten evil lurking just beyond the tree line. What started as a week-long adventure with friends, quickly turns into a terrifying fight for survival as they come face to face with the thing that nightmares are made of.
Starring: Kathleen Quinlan, John Schneider, Russell Hodgkinson, and Trin Miller
Genre: Horror | Sci-Fi
Country: USA (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 92 minutes
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Whelm
Directed By: Skyler Lawson
Studio: Endrow Pictures
“Whelm” is a thriller set deep in the Great Depression where two estranged brothers get tangled in a rivalry between a legendary bank robber and an eccentric young criminal. Through a series of bizarre occurrences, they are forced to claim allegiance to one, as they hunt down the other. As they dig deeper for the truth they find that they are part of a larger historic scheme.
Starring: Francesca Anderson, Delil Baran, Ronan Colfer, and Jacob Eaton
Genre: Thriller
Country: USA (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 114 minutes
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SPARKLING: The Story of Champagne
Directed By: Frank Mannion
Studio: Gravitas Ventures
The film is a love letter to the joys and pleasures of champagne. Major champagne houses featured include Pol Roger (Winston Churchill famously drank over 40,000 bottles in his lifetime), Bollinger (appearing in 15 James Bond movies), as well as Piper-Heidsieck (Marilyn Monroe’s favorite), Taittinger, JAY-Z’s Armand de Brignac, Cristal, Veuve Clicquot and Queen Elizabeth II’s vineyard at Windsor. It explores the legend of the French monk, Dom Perignon, who famously declared “I can taste the stars” when he discovered champagne, and examines the theory that the English actually invented champagne decades before Dom Perignon. It also looks at the impact of climate change. The champagne region is gradually becoming too hot leading to the likes of Pommery and Taittinger acquiring vineyards in southern England where the chalk soil is the same as the champagne region.
Starring: Vitalie Taittinger, Bruno Paillard, Stephen Fry, and Oz Clarke
Genre: Documentary | International
Country: UK (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 88 minutes
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Raging Fire
Directed By: Benny Chan Chi-Shun
Studio: Well Go USA
Shan (Donnie Yen) is a highly respected hardline cop with a long history of success on dangerous cases. However, his past unexpectedly comes back to haunt him when a sting operation is attacked by a mysterious group of criminals led by Ngo (Nicholas Tse), his former protégé, a talented former officer who had once respected and admired Shan. However, a terrible mistake three years prior landed him in prison, quickly turning the once rising star into a furious man with a grudge, and the will to destroy everyone who had wronged him–including his former mentor.
Starring: Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse, Jeana Ho, and Ray Lui
Genre: Action | Crime | International
Country: Hong Kong | China (Cantonese)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 126 minutes
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Howling Village
Directed By: Takashi Shimizu
Studio: Epic Pictures
After her brother goes missing, Kanade, a young psychologist visits his last known location, an infamous haunted and cursed site known as ‘Howling Village’ to investigate his disappearance. Her investigation reveals that the village’s mysteries are connected to her family and works to uncover her family’s dark history.
Starring: Ayaka Miyoshi, Ryôta Bandô, Tsuyoshi Furukawa, and Renji Ishibashi
Genre: Horror | International | Mystery | Thriller
Country: Japan (Japanese)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 108 minutes
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Magnificent Coloring World
Directed By: Jake Schreier
Studio: House of Kicks
Chance the Rapper performs, transcending his craft into a message; one message of love.
Starring: Chance the Rapper and Haha Davis
Genre: Music | International
Country: USA (English)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 105 minutes
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Usedom: A Clear View of the Sea
Directed By: Heinz Brinkmann
Studio: Big World Pictures
For Berliners, the Baltic island of Usedom was once the most luxurious destination for excursions within striking distance of the city. This is where imperial Germany’s grand health resorts of Bansin, Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck were built. Heinz Brinkmann, who was born in Heringsdorf, traces the eventful history of his island. He talks about the magnificent villas on Europe’s longest beach promenade, about the expulsion of Jewish citizens by the Nazis and about Usedom being split into a German and a Polish half after the Second World War. During the GDR era, most of the spa architecture remained intact because of the lack of means to build something new. Since the fall of the Wall, however, investors have been trying to replace it with indistinguishable luxury residences. Brinkmann also asks people about conservation and change. We hear from the mayor infuriated by the architectural eyesores of recent years, a farmer who bought an island in the Achterwasser lagoon for his organic cattle, a Polish hotel manageress and other bridge-builders between the two countries. Brinkmann also quotes from his own 1992 Usedom film and compares the plans of his former protagonists with today’s reality. A discursive tour through a fractured paradise.
Starring: Hans-Uwe Bauer
Genre: Documentary | International
Country: Germany (German)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 95 minutes
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The Meaning of Hitler
Directed By: Petra Epperlein & Michael Tucker
Studio: IFC Films
THE MEANING OF HITLER is a provocative interrogation of our culture’s fascination with Hitler and Nazism set against the backdrop of the current rise of white supremacy, the normalization of antisemitism and the weaponization of history itself. Shot in nine countries, the film traces Hitler’s movements, his rise to power and the scenes of his crimes as historians and writers, including Deborah Lipstadt, Martin Amis, Sir Richard Evans, Saul Friedlander, Yehuda Bauer, and famed Nazi hunters Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, weigh in on the lasting impact of his virulent ideology. As fears of authoritarianism and fascism now abound, the film explores the myths and misconceptions of our understanding of the past, and the difficult process of coming to terms with it at a time in our history when it seems more urgent than ever.
Starring: Martin Amis, Yehuda Bauer, Richard Evans, and Saul Friedländer
Genre: Documentary
Country: USA (English & German)
Rating: Not Rated
Runtime: 92 minutes
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