NOVEMBER 17, 2023
<Click film’s poster to see info/trailer>
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Directed By: Francis Lawrence
Studio: Lionsgate
Experience the story of THE HUNGER GAMES — 64 years before Katniss Everdeen volunteered as tribute, and decades before Coriolanus Snow became the tyrannical President of Panem. THE HUNGER GAMES: THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS & SNAKES follows a young Coriolanus (Tom Blyth) who is the last hope for his failing lineage, the once-proud Snow family that has fallen from grace in a post-war Capitol. With his livelihood threatened, Snow is reluctantly assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a tribute from the impoverished District 12. But after Lucy Gray’s charm captivates the audience of Panem, Snow sees an opportunity to shift their fates. With everything he has worked for hanging in the balance, Snow unites with Lucy Gray to turn the odds in their favor. Battling his instincts for both good and evil, Snow sets out on a race against time to survive and reveal if he will ultimately become a songbird or a snake.
Starring: Tom Blyth, Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Hunter Schafer, Josh Andrés Rivera, and Viola Davis
Genre: Action | Adventure | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller | War
Rating: PG-13 (for strong violent content and disturbing material)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 157 minutes
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Trolls Band Together
Directed By: Walt Dohrn
Studio: Universal Pictures + DreamWorks Animation
Poppy discovers that Branch was once part of the boy band ‘BroZone’ with his brothers, Floyd, John Dory, Spruce and Clay. When Floyd is kidnapped, Branch and Poppy embark on a journey to reunite his two other brothers and rescue Floyd.
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Icona Pop, Anderson .Paak, Ron Funches, Kenan Thompson, Kunal Nayyar, Walt Dohrn, Eric André, Kid Cudi, Daveed Diggs, Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer, Andrew Rannells, RuPaul and Zosia Mamet
Genre: Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Music
Rating: PG (for some mild rude and suggestive humor)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 92 minutes
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Next Goal Wins
Directed By: Taika Waititi
Studio: Searchlight Pictures
Directed by Academy Award Winner Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor: Ragnarok), NEXT GOAL WINS follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for their brutal 31-0 FIFA loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hires down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around in this heartfelt underdog comedy.
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Oscar Kightley, Kaimana, David Fane, Rachel House, Beulah Koale, Will Arnett, and Elisabeth Moss
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Sport
Rating: PG-13 (for some strong language and crude material)
Country: USA | UK (English)
Runtime: 103 minutes
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May December
Directed By: Todd Haynes
Studio: Netflix
Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, Gracie Atherton-Yu and her husband Joe (twenty-three years her junior) brace themselves for their twins to graduate from high school. When Hollywood actress Elizabeth Berry comes to spend time with the family to better understand Gracie, who she will be playing in a film, family dynamics unravel under the pressure of the outside gaze. Joe, never having processed what happened in his youth, starts to confront the reality of life as an empty-nester at thirty-six. And as Elizabeth and Gracie study each other, the similarities and differences between the two women begin to ebb and flow. Set in picturesque and comfortable Camden, Maine, May December is an exploration of truth, storytelling, and the difficulties (or impossibility) of fully understanding another person.
Starring: Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, Charles Melton, D. W. Moffett, Piper Curda, and Elizabeth Yu
Genre: Comedy | Drama
Rating: R (for some sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 117 minutes
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Saltburn
Directed By: Emerald Fennell
Studio: MGM
Academy Award winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family’s sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.
Starring: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, and Archie Madekwe
Genre: Comedy | Drama | Thriller
Rating: R (for strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, some disturbing violent content, and drug use)
Country: USA | UK (English)
Runtime: 127 minutes
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Thanksgiving
Directed By: Eli Roth
Studio: TriStar Pictures
After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts — the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the killer and survive the holidays… or become guests at his twisted holiday dinner table?
Starring: Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon
Genre: Horror | Mystery | Thriller
Rating: R (for strong bloody horror violence and gore, pervasive language and some sexual material)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 107 minutes
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Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story
Directed By: Gelila Bekele & Armani Ortiz
Studio: Amazon Studios
Writer, actor, filmmaker, studio head and media titan, Tyler Perry, is America’s consummate multihyphenate. But underneath this entertainment behemoth is a man working humbly to heal his childhood trauma by transforming his pain into promise. Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story, a nod to his mother’s love, is a tender and intimate portrait of visionary and innovator Tyler Perry: his harrowing but faithful road to the top of an industry that didn’t always include him. With unfettered access, directors/filmmakers Gelila Bekele and Armani Ortiz lead us into the inner-world of a man, whose story has never fully been told, as he becomes a father and a media mogul with a mission to pave his own road to the top. The product is a profound lesson on remembering where you came from to know where you want to go.
Starring: Tyler Perry, Ozzie Areu, Ari Emanuel, Whoopi Goldberg, Mellody Hodson, Debra Lee, and Gayle King
Genre: Documentary
Rating: PG-13 (for thematic material and strong language)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 115 minutes
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The Disappearance of Shere Hite
Directed By: Nicole Newnham
Studio: IFC Films
Shere Hite’s 1976 bestselling book, The Hite Report, liberated the female orgasm by revealing the most private experiences of thousands of anonymous survey respondents. Her findings rocked the American establishment and presaged current conversations about gender, sexuality, and bodily autonomy. So how did Shere Hite disappear?
Starring: Dakota Johnson and Shere Hite
Genre: Documentary
Rating: R (for sexual material, nudity/graphic nudity and some language)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 116 minutes
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The Goldsmith
Directed By: Vincenzo Ricchiuto
Studio: Cinephobia Releasing
A trio of desperate criminals break into the isolated country house of an elderly goldsmith and his wife. But their chosen targets turn out to be far less defenseless than they seem.
Starring: Stefania Casini, Tania Bambaci, Stefano Fregni, Giuseppe Pambieri, and Gianluca Vannucci
Genre: Horror | International | Thriller
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Italy (Italian)
Runtime: 89 minutes
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Dashing Through the Snow
Directed By: Tim Story
Studio: Disney+
Eddie Garrick (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) is a good-hearted man who has turned his back on Christmas due to a traumatic childhood experience. At the request of his wife Allison Garrick (Teyonah Parris), from whom he is separated, Eddie takes his 9-year-old daughter Charlotte (Madison Skye Validum) to work with him on Christmas Eve, where they meet a mysterious man in a red suit named Nick (Lil Rel Howery). Eddie, who is a social worker, thinks the man is delusional and needs professional help, but when he evokes the wrath of a local politician (Oscar Nuñez), he and his daughter are taken on a magical adventure that just might restore his faith in Christmas.
Starring: Lil Rel Howery, Ludacris, Madison Skye Validum, Teyonah Parris, Oscar Nuñez, Ravi Patel, and Mary Lynn Rajskub
Genre: Comedy | Family | Fantasy
Rating: PG (for some thematic elements and action)
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 92 minutes
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Fallen Leaves
Directed By: Aki Kaurismäki
Studio: MUBI
In modern-day Helsinki, two lonely souls in search of love meet by chance in a local karaoke bar. However, the pair’s path to happiness is beset by numerous obstacles — from lost numbers to mistaken addresses, alcoholism, and a charming stray dog.
Starring: Martti Suosalo, Alma Pöysti, Jussi Vatanen, Alina Tomnikov, and Janne Hyytiäinen
Genre: Comedy | Drama | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Finland | Germany (Finnish & Arabic)
Runtime: 81 minutes
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Leo
Directed By: Robert Marianetti, Robert Smigel, & David Wachtenheim
Studio: Netflix
Actor and comedian Adam Sandler (Hotel Transylvania, The Wedding Singer) delivers signature laughs in this coming-of-age animated musical comedy about the last year of elementary school — as seen through the eyes of a class pet. Jaded 74-year-old lizard Leo (Sandler) has been stuck in the same Florida classroom for decades with his terrarium-mate turtle (Bill Burr). When he learns he only has one year left to live, he plans to escape to experience life on the outside but instead gets caught up in the problems of his anxious students — including an impossibly mean substitute teacher. It ends up being the strangest but most rewarding bucket list ever….
Starring: Adam Sandler, Bill Burr, Cecily Strong, Jason Alexander, Rob Schneider, Allison Strong, and Jo Koy
Genre: Animation | Comedy | Family | Musical
Rating: PG (for rude/suggestive material and some language)
Country: USA | Australia (English)
Runtime: 102 minutes
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When Time Got Louder
Directed By: Connie Cocchia
Studio: Gravitas Ventures
Abbie departs for college, leaving behind her parents and her brother Kayden, who has autism and is non-verbal. As she explores her newfound independence, Abbie feels guilty when her family struggles to care for her brother in her absence.
Starring: Willow Shields, Lochlyn Munro, Elizabeth Mitchell, Jonathan Simao, and Ava Capri
Genre: Drama | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Canada (English)
Runtime: 114 minutes
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Best. Christmas. Ever!
Directed By: Mary Lambert
Studio: Netflix
Every Christmas Jackie sends a boastful holiday newsletter that makes her old college friend Charlotte feel like a lump of coal. When a twist of fate lands Charlotte and her family on Jackie’s snowy doorstep just days before Christmas, she seizes the opportunity to prove her old friend’s life can’t possibly be that perfect.
Starring: Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Matt Cedeño, and Jason Biggs
Genre: Comedy | Romance
Rating: TV-PG
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 80 minutes
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Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain
Directed By: Paul Briganti
Studio: Peacock
In PLEASE DON’T DESTROY: THE TREASURE OF FOGGY MOUNTAIN, John Goodman narrates the adventure of Ben, Martin, and John, three childhood friends turned deadbeat co-workers, who fend off hairless bears, desperate park rangers (Meg Stalter and X Mayo) and a hypocritical cult leader (Bowen Yang) in the hopes of finding a priceless treasure, only to discover that finding the treasure is the easiest part of their journey.
Starring: Nichole Sakura, John Goodman, Gaten Matarazzo, Sunita Mani, John Higgins, Ben Marshall, Conan O’Brien, Bowen Yang, and Cedric Yarbrough
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: — minutes
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EXmas
Directed By: Jonah Feingold
Studio: Freevee
When Graham decides to surprise his family by traveling home for Christmas, he is shocked to discover them already celebrating with an unexpected guest of honor, his ex-fiancée, Ali. The two exes battle it out to see who the family will pick to stay through Christmas Day and who must go. Let the holiday chaos begin!
Starring: Leighton Meester, Robbie Amell, Michael Hitchcock, Kathryn Greenwood, Veronika Slowikowska, and Steven Huy
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 93 minutes
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Pig Killer
Directed By: Chad Ferrin
Studio: Breaking Glass Pictures
Based on the terrifying true story of Robert ‘Willy’ Pickton, the pig farmer turned prolific lady-killer whose horrific crimes shocked the world. PIG KILLER graphically depicts Pickton’s felonious farmhouse of rape, torture, slaughter, and dismemberment of almost fifty women. With his herculean hog, Balthazar, by his side, Willy and his menagerie of colorful cohorts terrorized Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for almost two decades until his 2002 arrest that uncovered the most bizarre series of murders Canada has ever seen.
Starring: Jake Busey, Lew Temple, Bai Ling, Kate Patel, and Ginger Lynn
Genre: Comedy | Crime | Horror | Mystery
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 122 minutes
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Ever Deadly
Directed By: Chelsea McMullan & Tanya Tagaq
Studio: Kino Lorber
Throughout her ground-breaking career, Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq has always had an intimate relationship with the Nuna–the Land–a living, breathing organism present in her improvised performances. Hers is a voice that, according to the New York Times, “demands full attention, whether she’s whispering in her softest register or howling at the sky.” Ever Deadly weaves together intimate concert footage of Tagaq alongside moving personal reflections, stunning sequences filmed in Nunavut, and hand-drawn animation by Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona to seamlessly bridge history, landscapes, stories, and songs with pain, anger, and triumph–all through the expressions of one of the most innovative musical performers of our time.
Starring: Tanya Tagaq
Genre: Documentary | International
Rating: Not Rated
Country: Canada (English)
Runtime: 90 minutes
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Believer 2
Directed By: Jong-Yeol Baek
Studio: Netflix
A determined detective continues his search for the truth behind Asia’s largest drug organization and its elusive boss with whom he has unfinished business.
Starring: Seung-Won Cha, Kim Dong-young, Andreas Fronk, Han Hyo-joo, and Cho Jin-woong
Genre: Action | Crime | International | Thriller
Rating: TV-MA
Country: South Korea (Korean)
Runtime: 114 minutes
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That’s Funny
Directed By: Alex Grossman
Studio: Good Deed Entertainment
On the verge of a mid-life crisis, a former stand-up comedian believes an appearance on a popular late-night show will save his career, but ends up learning that the journey is more rewarding than the destination.
Starring: Brady Smith, Nicole Forester, Melanie Hutsell, Johnny Sneed, and Ginifer King
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 81 minutes
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Down in Dallas Town
Directed By: Alan Govenar
Studio: First Run Features
Down in Dallas Town is a startling film about the shifting terrain of public memory sixty years after the murder of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. Through interviews with people on the street and songs recorded to memorialize JFK in the mid-1960s, the film explores the impact of the assassination on issues in today’s world, from lingering conspiracy theories to the proliferation of gun violence, homelessness, and the scourge of K2. Personal narratives are juxtaposed with the sentiments articulated in blues, gospel, norteño, and calypso recordings to haunting affect. Especially poignant is the account of Mary Ann Moorman, who returns to the assassination site fifty years later and details the making of her Polaroid photograph of the fatal head shot that killed JFK as the motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza. This resonant new film by Alan Govenar confronts ways we come to terms with the past through the power of storytelling, image-making, and a songbook that is largely unknown.
Starring: Dorothy Elliot, R. Bruce Elliott, Alisa Flores, Baldo Flores, Renee Joseph Hall, and Mary Moorman
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not Rated
Country: USA (English)
Runtime: 73 minutes
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