Author: Boston SNFC Newsletter

Set in rural occupied France during World War II, War of the Buttons tells the tale of pre-teen rebel Lebrac (newcomer Jean Texier) and the “war” he leads between two rival kid gangs from neighboring villages. Once Lebrac falls for Violette (Ilona Bachelier), a young Jewish girl who is new in town and in danger of being exposed by the Nazis, the children are faced with putting their own conflicts aside to protect her and confront the very real war happening around them. Directed by Academy Award nominee Christophe Barratier (The Chorus, Paris 36), War of the Buttons features model/actress Laetitia Casta (Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life, Arbitrage), actor/filmmaker Guillaume Canet (Farewell, Tell No One) and The Well-Digger’s Daughter star Kad Merad. The film is produced and co-written by Thomas Langmann (Academy Award winner for The Artist). Based on the beloved 1912 novel by Louis Pergaud.

Boozy writer Marty (Colin Farrell) is a man in search of a screenplay. He has a catchy title but no story to go along with it. Marty has a couple of oddball buddies, Hans (Christopher Walken) and Billy (Sam Rockwell), who make a living by kidnapping rich people’s dogs, then returning them and collecting the reward. However this time, the fur flies when Hans and Billy kidnap the beloved pooch of a gangster (Woody Harrelson), and Marty uses the ensuing events as fodder for his screenplay.

On Nov. 4, 1979, Iranian revolutionaries storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. Amid the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge with the Canadian ambassador. However, knowing that its only a matter of time before the refugees are found and very likely executed, the government calls on extractor Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) to rescue them. Mendezs plan: to pose as a Hollywood film producer scouting locations in Iran and use the refugees as his crew.

In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.

IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED YOU BUY TICKETS IN ADVANCE: http://www.coolidge.org/content/master

Exclusive 70mm Boston engagement!

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for, folks. If the reviews are to be believed, Paul Thomas Anderson’s new film, The Master, is a “landmark American film” (The Daily Telegraph) that “will cause the lame to walk and the blind to see” (The Guardian). In a move befitting such an occasion, the Coolidge has temporarily outfitted our projection booth with 70mm equipment that will allow our audiences to see the film as the director intended it. We are proud to serve as the exclusive 70mm venue for the Greater Boston Area.

Here’s some information about the movie itself: After returning from the Second World War, and having witnessed many horrors, a charismatic intellectual, Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), creates a faith-based organization in an attempt to provide meaning to his now landlocked life. His teachings gather a devout following and he becomes known as “The Master”. His right-hand man Freddie Sutton (Joaquin Phoenix), a former drifter and bad boy sailor, begins to question both the belief system and The Master himself.

If its a funeral lets have the best funeral ever. On April 2nd, 2011, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM played its final show at Madison Square Garden. LCD frontman James Murphy had made the conscious decision to disband one of the most celebrated and influential bands of its generation at the peak of its popularity, ensuring that the band would go out on top with the biggest and most ambitious concert of its career. The instantly sold out, near four-hour extravaganza did just that, moving the thousands in attendance to tears of joy and grief, with New York Magazine calling the event a marvel of pure craft and TIME magazine lamenting we may never dance again. SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS is simultaneously a document of a once-in-a-lifetime performance and an intimate portrait of Murphy as he navigates both the personal and professional ramifications of his decision.

A man who cant sort out the wreckage of his life wonders what sort of future he deserves in this drama adapted from a novel by Pierre Drieu La Rochelle. Anders (Anders Danielsen Lie) is a struggling writer from a successful family who stumbled into bad habits and is soon to be released from a treatment center for drug addiction. Describing himself as a spoiled brat who (messed) up, Anders has pinned his hopes for the future on a job at a magazine in Oslo, and after being discharged he heads into the city. There he meets up with an old friend, Thomas (Hans Olav Brenner), who has turned his back on drug-fueled carousing and now looks after his children; their conversation makes it obvious Anders isnt feeling comfortable on the outside, and his job interview is little short of disastrous. As Anders wanders Oslo and crosses paths with former friends and acquaintances, most of whom dont seem especially happy to see him, he ponders the future that lies before him and contemplates taking his own life. Oslo, August 31st was directed by Joachim Trier, a cousin of noted filmmaker Lars von Trier; the film was an official selection at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

For bike messenger Wilee (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), dodging speeding cars, evading crazy cabdrivers, and blowing by millions of cranky pedestrians is all in a day’s work. Wilee is one of the best in a dangerous job, and his bike of choice is a Fixie, a lightweight, single-gear unit without brakes. Though Wilee knows that one day he may end up as a smear on the pavement — he is unprepared for what happens after his last run of the day turns into a life-or-death chase through Manhattan.

When 22-year-old Chris (Emile Hirsch) finds himself in debt to a drug lord, he hires a hit man to dispatch his mother, whose $50,000 life insurance policy benefits his sister Dottie (Juno Temple). Chris finds Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a creepy, crazy Dallas cop who moonlights as a contract killer. When Chris can’t pay Joe up front, Joe sets his sights on Dottie as collateral for the job. The contract killer and his hostage develop an unusual bond. Like from a modern-day, twisted fairy tale, “Killer Joe” Cooper becomes the prince to Dottie’s Cinderella. Based on the play by Pulitzer and Tony Award winner Tracy Letts, Killer Joe is a garish, provocative black comedy from Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection) and also stars Thomas Hayden Church and Gina Gershon