The Place Beyond the Pines

One moment can define your life. In The Place Beyond the Pines, a crime drama from the acclaimed director of Blue Valentine, one fateful decision will forge two mens’ legacies for generations to come.

Luke (Academy Award-nominee Ryan Gosling) is a free-spirited stunt motorcyclist who travels from city to city with the carnival. After meeting his former lover Romina (Eva Mendes) in New York, he discovers that in his absence she has born a son—his son. Realizing the gravity of his past choices, Luke decides to abandon the carnival to settle down and raise his son correctly. When his new employer Robin (Ben Mendelsohn) learns of his driving talents, Robin proposes a string of bank heists to make a little extra cash on the side. That’s when Luke runs up against Avery Cross.

Avery (Bradley Cooper) is an ambitious young cop seeking to make a name for himself in a menacingly corrupt department. When he learns about the series of robberies, he pushes to lead the investigation. Soon Avery and Luke become locked in a tense chase that will have repercussions for both them and their sons for years to come.

Written by Derek Cianfrance, Ben Coccio, and Darius Marder and directed by Derek Cianfrance, The Place Beyond the Pines will see a limited theatrical release on March 29, 2013. This Focus Features drama also stars Rose Byrne, Ray Liotta, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen, and Mahershala Ali. Rated R for language throughout, some violence, teen drug and alcohol use, and a sexual reference.

The English Teacher

Where’s the fun in life if you don’t take a few risks? In The English Teacher, Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is about to have her carefully balanced world turned upside down. A forty-year-old unmarried high school teacher in rural Pennsylvania, Linda lives alone with her cats and her books, preferring the company of great literature to real-life drama. But when one of her former students returns home, she finds that she may have to give up her quiet life of books if she wants to help him succeed in the real world.

Jason Sherwood (Michael Angaro) had been one of Linda’s best pupils, but now he has fallen upon hard times. Forced to move back in with his parents after failing as a playwright in New York, Jason is about ready to switch careers and go to law school. But Linda can’t bear to watch one of her star pupils abandon his dreams, so she agrees to stage one of his plays as a high school drama production, directed by flamboyant drama teacher Carl Kapinas (Nathan Lane). With her career and reputation on the line, will Linda be able to find the courage to fight for what she knows is right?

Written by Dan and Stacy Charlton and directed by Craig Zisk, The English Teacher will be released into limited theaters on May 17, 2013. This Cinedigm comedy also stars Greg Kinnear and Lily Collins.

Disconnect

Every family wants to be closer. Every couple has secrets. Everyone is fighting to get ahead. Every cause has an effect. In Disconnect, a dozen lives collide as they search for meaning, justice, and connection.

Three interconnected stories, three chances for redemption. A busy lawyer (Jason Bateman) spends all day glued to his cell phone, neglecting his family in order to maintain his wealth of professional contacts. A naive couple (Alexander Skarsgard and Paula Patton) try to connect with strangers over the internet, and they get their identity stolen for their troubles. An ambitious journalist (Andrea Riseborough) wants to write a story about a teenager performing on an adult-only website, but their interaction jeopardizes both her career and his life. As each story progresses, three worlds clash, with lives hanging in the balance. Disconnect explores the dark side of connectedness—and highlights the many ways in which we can lose ourselves in today’s increasingly wired world.

Written by Andrew Stern and directed by Academy-Award nominated Henry-Alex Rubin, Disconnect will see a limited theatrical release on April 12, 2013. This LD Entertainment drama also stars Hope Davis, Frank Grillo, Michael Nyqvist, Max Thieriot, Colin Ford, Jonah Bobo, and Haley Ramm. Rated R for sexual content, some graphic nudity, language, violence, and drug use (some involving teens).

Leonie

In Leonie, a mother’s courage and a clash of cultures inspires her to transcend both. Based on a true story, the film follows the trials and tribulations of Leonie Gilmour, the mother of renowned sculptor Isamu Noguchi and acclaimed dancer Ailes Gilmour. With a life that spanned continents, cultures, and wars, Leonie Gilmour’s inspiring tale is a model of courage, passion, and the pursuit of freedom.

Seeking to overcome the oppressive gender roles in early 20th Century America, Leonie (Emily Mortimer) meets famed Japanese poet Yone Noguchi (Shido Nakamura) and agrees to be his editor. Soon their relationship turns intimate. But when Leonie becomes pregnant, Yone abandons her to return to Japan, leaving Leonie to fend for herself. With few opportunities in America, Leonie follows Yone to Japan—but discovers that turn-of-the-century Japan is even less forgiving towards unmarried mothers than America. Cast off by Yone, Leonie learns to adapt to life as an unwed mother in a foreign culture despite terrible poverty and repression.

Written by Hisako Matsui and David Weiner and directed by Hisako Matsui, Leonie will have a limited theatrical release on March 22, 2013. This Monterey Media drama also stars Christina Hendricks, Nichole Hiltz, Jay Karnes, Mary Kay Place, and Jan Milligan. Rated PG-13 for brief sexuality, partial nudity and brief language.

Byzantium

“Do we steal time, or buy it with blood?” From the creator of Interview with a Vampire comes Byzantium, a fresh take on the vampire trope that explores family, commitment, and the terrible price that secrets can bear.

Forced to hit the road after a pair of bloody killings, a mother and daughter escape and seek shelter in a faraway coastal town. The mother, Clara (Gemma Arterton), seduces a lonely local man named Noel (Daniel Mays) and convinces him to let them stay in his guesthouse. The daughter, Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan), meets a boy at her new high school and soon begins to fall for him. However, their quiet new life gets turned upside down when Eleanor reveals the truth to her crush—she and her mother are vampires.

Written by Moira Buffini and directed by Neil Jordan, Byzantium will see a limited theatrical release in the U.S. later in 2013. This IFC Films horror thriller also stars Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller, and Caleb Landry Jones.

 

 

Stuck In Love

Stuck in Love tells the story of a family struggling to cope with divorce. Three years ago Erica (Jennifer Connely) left her husband Bill (Greg Kinnear) for a younger man, leaving scars that her family has yet to overcome. Bill, an acclaimed novelist, still pines for Erica day and night. He obsesses about her constantly, spies on her when he should be working, and sets a place for her at the table every Thanksgiving.

Their children have taken the divorce pretty hard as well. Deeply wounded by her mother’s perceived abandonment, 19-year-old Samantha (Lily Collins) has built a wall between herself and love. She pursues only brief hookups and one-night stands, even when a classmate for whom she has developed feelings tries to start a relationship. Her 16-year-old brother Rusty (Nat Wolff) has become the exact opposite: needy, clingy, and eager to throw himself into love. He gets his chance when he saves his crush Kate (Liana Liberato) from an abusive boyfriend, but he’s so blinded by love that he fails to see how troubled Kate really is.

When Samantha comes home from college with news that she has published her first novel, she inadvertently reopens old wounds and sparks new drama. As the family tries desperately to come to terms with their problems, Kate begins to spin out of control—and it will take the family’s combined efforts to help her.

Written and directed by Joshua Boone, Stuck In Love will see a limited theatrical release on June 14, 2013. This Millennium Entertainment comedy/drama also stars Kristen Bell, Logan Lerman, Rusty Joiner, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Stephen King. Rated R for language, teen drug use and alcohol use, and some sexual content.

Frances Ha

Growing old is getting old in Frances Ha, an indie comedy about a New York girl trying to find her feet. Frances (Greta Gerwig) lives her life moment-to-moment. She works for a dance company but isn’t much of a dancer; she resides in New York but doesn’t really have a place of her own. She yearns for so much more than she already has—and yet she manages to remain lighthearted and upbeat. What’s the use of having dreams if you can’t stop and smell the flowers once in a while?

Told in a series of black-and-white vignettes, Frances Ha is a portrait of a young woman searching for meaning in a large and confusing world. Ambition, failure, redemption—Frances is willing to follow her dreams even as her opportunities dwindle. Because if she doesn’t make it, sometimes the journey is more important than the destination.

Written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig and directed by Noah Baumbach, Frances Ha will see a limited theatrical release in LA/NY on May 17, 2013. This IFC Films comedy also stars Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen, and Patrick Heusinger. Rated R for some sexual content and brief drug use.

The Silence

Based upon a novel by Jan Costen Wagner, The Silence tells the story of a serial killer’s effect on the local community. Twenty-three years ago, a young girl named Pia was brutally raped and murdered, her body abandoned in a wheat field. The case remained unsolved, and over the years it became all-but-forgotten—until another young girl named Sinikka is found missing on the anniversary of Pia’s death, her bicycle left in the same spot. Now it is up to Krischan (Burghart Klaussner), the detective in the Pia murder, to reopen the case and solve these parallel crimes before the killer strikes again.

While the investigation continues, Sinikka’s parents are left in an agonizing state of uncertainty. Is their daughter still alive? And if so, what unspeakable acts have been perpetrated against her? Sinikka’s disappearance has reopened old wounds for Pia’s parents as well. As time runs out, everyone fears that they might have to relive the nightmare that happened all those years ago.

Written and directed by Baran bo Odar, The Silence will have a limited theatrical release on March 8, 2013. This German-language Music Box Films crime thriller also stars Ulrich Thomsen, Wotan Wilke Mohring, Katrin Sass, and Sebastian Blomberg.

Prisoners

What would you do if your child went missing? That is the question facing Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) in Prisoners after his six-year old daughter Anna and her friend Joy disappear. As the hours drag on, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhall) is brought in to solve the case. Tension erupts between the two immediately. Dover, a deer-hunting survivalist, suspects that the brash young detective isn’t giving the case his full attention. When Loki releases their only suspect due to lack of evidence, Dover decides that he will have to take matters into his own hands.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With his child’s life at stake, Dover kidnaps their only suspect and begins to torture him for information. The frantic Dover is willing to do whatever it takes to bring back his daughter, but as the captivity continues, Dover begins to wonder if he has the right man. In his race for answers, has he turned himself into the very monster he wants to destroy? What cost must he pay to ensure his daughter’s safety?

Written by Aaron Guzikowski and directed by Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners will open in theaters on September 20, 2013. This Warner Bros. Pictures thriller also stars Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, and Paul Dano.