Author: Boston SNFC Newsletter

At a Montreal public grade school, an Algerian immigrant is hired to replace a popular teacher who committed suicide in her classroom. While helping his students deal with their grief, his own recent loss is revealed.

“Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.”

Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a quiet yet enthralling documentary that chronicles the life of Jiro Ono, the most famous sushi chef in Tokyo. For most of his 85 years, Jiro has been perfecting the art of making sushi. He works from sunrise to well beyond sunset to taste every piece of fish; meticulously train his employees; and carefully mold and finesse the impeccable presentation of each sushi creation. Although his restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro only seats ten diners, it is a phenomenon in Tokyo that has won the prestigious 3-Star Michelin review, making him the oldest Michelin chef alive. Jiro Dreams of Sushi chronicles Jiro’s life as both an unparalleled success in the culinary world, and as a loving yet complicated father of two. Jiro Dreams of Sushi explores the passion required to run and maintain a legendary sushi restaurant, and one son’s journey to eventually take his father’s place at the head of the culinary dynasty. (Fully subtitled)

Rama, a member of a special forces team, arrives at a rundown apartment block with a mission to remove its owner, a notorious drug lord. The building has become a sanctuary to killers, gangsters, and thieves seeking accommodation in the one place they know they cannot be touched by the police. When a spotter blows their cover, Rama and his team must fight their way through every floor and every room not just to complete their mission but to survive their bloody ordeal.

In Indonesian with English subtitles.

This is likely to be a big film, so you should strongly consider pre-buying tickets!

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Sixteen year old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister’s place to enter the games, and is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy when she’s pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

When cops Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) join the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go under cover as high-school students. They trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, and set out to shut down a dangerous drug ring. But, as time goes on, Schmidt and Jenko discover that high school is nothing like it was just a few years earlier — and, what’s more, they must again confront the teenage terror and anxiety they thought they had left behind.

From acclaimed director Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden, Europa Europa) comes In Darkness, an Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. The drama is based on the true story of Leopold Socha (Robert Wieckiewicz), a sewer worker and petty thief in Lvov, a Nazi occupied city in Poland, who one day encounters a group of Jews trying to escape the liquidation of the ghetto. He hides them for money in the labyrinth of the town’s sewers beneath the bustling activity of the city above. What starts out as a straightforward and cynical business arrangement turns into something very unexpected: the unlikely alliance between Socha and the Jews as the enterprise seeps deeper into Socha’s conscience. The film is also an extraordinary story of survival as these men, women and children all try to outwit certain death during 14 months of ever increasing and intense danger.

Co-Presented by The Brattle and the Independent Film Festival of Boston 2012 (which is coming up soon – April 27May 7 – iffboston.org):

The newest from acclaimed British director Ben Wheatley (Down Terrace), KILL LIST is an intricately constructed film that almost begs to be seen more than once. A brilliant blend of family drama, crime thriller and terrifying psychological horror, KILL LIST tells the story of an ex-soldier turned contract killer who is plunged into the heart of human darkness. Eight months after a disastrous job in Kiev, Jay (Maskell) is pressured by his partner Gal (Smiley) into taking a new assignment. Neither man, however, no matter how hardened they may be, has any idea just how dark and twisted this new job is.

The film wisely avoids extraneous exposition, leaving the audience asking questions at the same time (and sometimes with the same level of desperation) as Jay and Gal. Wheatleys direction treats family confrontation and armed showdowns with a naturalistic shooting style, drawing us into Jays paranoid worldview before pulling the rug out from under us with a stunningly shocking ending. We can practically guarantee that this is one of those films that you will be talking about for weeks after seeing it.

Meet Dave Brown (Woody Harrelson), a cop long ago unleashed from the rules of the Los Angeles Police Department. Roving the streets in his black-and-white cruiser, he governs and punishes at will. His home life is a riddle. Somehow he has fathered children with two sisters (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon). Somehow he still lives casually with them both, slipping in and out of a family life that’s as tangled as his long career on the force. His own daughter calls him Date Rape. That’s because, years ago, Brown may have killed a rapist and gotten away with it. The shadow of the incident still haunts him, so when his Rampart division gets caught up in a corruption scandal, Brown makes an easy target. As the controversy seeps through the department and into city hall, this hardened, reckless officer finds himself at the center of a sordid L.A. story. Following up on The Messenger, writer/director Oren Moverman assembles an impressive team of talent for Rampart. The script is co-written by crime fiction legend James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential). The cast includes Ben Foster (also in The Messenger), Robin Wright, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Buscemi and Ice Cube. Although based on a real LAPD scandal from the nineties, Rampart easily transcends reportage.