Wednesday, July 1 – 8:00 PM
SIN NOMBRE
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
WithMarco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado
USA/Mexico, 2009, 96 minutes, in Spanish, with English subtitles, rated R.

Sayra is a beautiful Honduran teenager heading with her father through Mexico, en route by train, to what she hopes is a better life in America. Casper is a teenage member of a vicious street gang, hoping to outrun his former life and vile associates. When he and two fellow gang members steal aboard the train, he meets Sayra and his fate begins to turn…

Winner, 2009 Sundance Film Festival Directing and Cinematography Awards

“El Norte. The North. It is a lodestar for some of those south of our border, who risk their lives to come here. Sin Nombre, which means "without a name," is a devastating film about some of those who attempt the journey. It contains risk, violence, a little romance, even fleeting moments of humor, but most of all, it sees what danger and heartbreak are involved. It is riveting from start to finish.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“An elegant, heartbreaking fable, equal parts Shakespearean tragedy, neo-Western and mob movie, but without the pretension of those genres. Fukunaga, who also wrote the script, has made one of the most memorable directorial debuts in recent memory.”  “Sin Nombre is pure filmmaking: a great story told in beautiful images.” 
– Dan Zak, The Washington Post

“By Hollywood standards Sin Nombre is a very small movie, shot on a tight budget in Mexico, but it's a very big deal. This astonishing debut feature announces the arrival of a lavishly gifted filmmaker, Cary Joji Fukanaga.”  “The scope is epic and the achievement, though solidly grounded in conventional storytelling, is a revelation.”
– Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal

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Wednesday, July 8 – 8:00 PM
PARIS 36
Directed by Christophe Barratier
With Gerard Jugnot, Corvis Cornillac, Kad Merad
France, 2008, 120 minutes, in French with English subtitles, rated PG-13

The year is 1936 and three old friends attempt to save the music hall that employs them as a left-wing government rises to power in Paris. Pigoil has lost his stagehand’s job, but together with Jacky, Milou, and a rising chanteuse named Douce they breathe new life into the neighborhood and theatre that bind them. Outside the theater, intense class struggles, rising fascism, unemployment and political antagonism abounds.

“An irresistible and impeccable period musical set against the political and economic turmoil of France in the mid-'30s.” “Paris 36 has a beguilingly authentic sound and offers a blend of impassioned sentiment and harsh, even brutal grit.” – Kevin Thomas, The Los Angeles Times

“The blue-collar residents of a Paris suburb may be out of work. They may be caught in a power play amid communists, socialists, and fascists. But our plucky common men and women sing, they dance. They love their neighborhood music hall, the Chansonia, and will do anything to ensure its vaudeville tradition won't end. In short, the financial crisis and social upheaval of 1930’s France never looked so appealing” – Ethan Gilsdorf, Boston Globe

“Barratier's subject matter can't help but recall such pics as "Children of Paradise," "Moulin Rouge" and recent Gallic hit "La Vie en rose." Yet the helmer brings a distinctive sensibility to the proceedings, embracing the artifice of late-1930s French cinema with an ingratiating earnestness that depends more on rock-solid ensemble work than on a single, galvanizing perf.” – Eddie Cockrell, Variety

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Wednesday, July 15 – 8:00 PM
SUGAR
Directed by Anna Boden , Ryan Fleck
With Algenis Perez Soto, Rayniel Rufino, Andre Holland, Ann Whitney
U.S.A., 2008, 120Minutes, rated R

Miguel “Sugar” Santos, a young pitcher at a training camp in the Dominican Republic, is recruited to a minor -league club in Iowa where he finds that he must prove himself on the field in front of demanding crowds, while also dealing with the surprises of both the game and life. Through his eyes, we see what it means to be a young man full of desire and potential.

“It is both sad and hopeful, but the film’s sorrow and its optimism arise from its rarest and moist thrilling quality, which is its deep and humane honesty.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“This one slice of the American experience amounts to one of the best films of the year.” –Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“A baseball movie, a stranger-in-a-strange land movie, a movie about real people facing real challenges in the real world, Sugar is all that and more.” – Stephen Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Sugar is that sweetest of films: A sensitive and memorable story that surprises at every turn. This fascinating character study of a 19-year-old pitcher from the Dominican Republic who makes it into the minor leagues is authentic and poignant. Claudia Puig, USA Today

“With the moving, absorbing drama Sugar, Boden and Fleck not only avoid the sophomore slump, they demolish it, delivering a film of rare intelligence, beauty and compassion.”
– Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

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Wednesday, July  22 ­– 8:00 PM
ADVENTURELAND
Directed by Greg Mottola
With Jesse Eisenberg,  Kristen Stewart,  Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig
U.S.A. 2009, 107 minutes, rated R

James post-collegiate plans are put on hold; it’s 1987 and a recession has cast its pall. Unable to find work, he takes a job at an amusement park near home in Pittsburgh and finds himself immediately smitten with co-worker Em. Ultimately, his receptive soul, romanticized view of love, and a dose of self-confidence guide him on his path towards adulthood and the “real world.”

“A sweet, sharp coming-of-age romance, Adventureland is a little warmer, a little funnier and a lot more truthful than the last 20 or 30 of its ilk. Especially its Hollywood ilk.”
­– Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“Mottola, the director of Superbad, works with rare feeling and flow. He shows every bit as loving and pinpoint-perfect an observational eye for the late '80s as George Lucas did for the end of the greaser era in American Graffiti and Richard Linklater did for the free-ride '70s in Dazed and Confused.” “A-“ – Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“The thing to know about Adventureland is not just that it has goals above its station but that it actually achieves them. With the help of a talented cast led by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart and a potent soundtrack, writer-director Greg Mottola has taken that most overdone of contemporary genres, the coming-of-age story, and made it engaging, bittersweet and even fun.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“The path to adulthood is lined with disappointment, but for a young man with an open heart, and a measure of self-confidence, to say nothing of a degree in comp lit, things will most likely be O.K.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“A young adult romantic comedy with a sweetness and delicacy that lifts it out of its genre” – Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor

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Wednesday, July  29 – 1:00 PM & 8:00 PM
RUDO Y CURSI
Directed by Carlos Cuaron
With Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Dolores Heredia
USA/Mexico, 2008, 103 minutes, in Spanish with English subtitles, rated R

Beto and Tato are half brothers who are plucked from the obscurity of a banana plantation and turned into professional soccer players in Mexico City. They struggle with big-city fame, fortune and temptation. Neither is equipped to deal with their respective successes, and this plays out, among other ways, in a climatic fraternal showdown. Ultimately, they learn about the consequences of taking a game much too seriously.

“The intimate movie hums with a back-in-the-hood vibe that gets the two stars playing contentedly, and delightfully, for the love of local filmmaking” – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“The arrival of the puckishly entertaining, fleet-of-foot drama-comedy Rudo y Cursi deserves a hearty welcome. The story of close-but-competitive brothers seeking personal glory in professional soccer, it marks the directorial debut of Alfonso Cuarón's younger brother Carlos -- the pair wrote (and Alfonso directed) the nimbly sexy Y Tu Mamá También -- and reveals a family steeped in filmmaking talent.”
– Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

“Hilarious, satirical and melancholy, Rudo y Cursi may not go as deep as Y Tu Mamá También, but it has a similar vivacity. It turns this tale of brotherly bonds and sibling rivalry—a veiled allegory of the Cuarón boys themselves?—into one of the year's most memorable offerings.” – David Ansen, Newsweek

“It's a pleasure to watch the chemistry and engaging humor between actors who clearly enjoy each other's company.” “An undeniably entertaining rags-to-riches-to-rags comedy.” – Claudia Puig, USA Today