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NOTES ON:
Third and Fourth Quarter BNF Film Polling List
April 14, 2015
ENGLISH SPEAKING
1. ‘71 - 2015 - Roadside Attractions - Dir: Yann Demange
Chgo Trib 4*; IMDB 7.2; Meta 83; RT 97/84
A young British soldier is accidentally abandoned by his unit following a terrifying riot on the
streets of Belfast in 1971. Unable to tell friend from foe, the raw recruit must survive the night
alone and find his way to safety through a disorienting, alien and deadly landscape. “This film is
one of the very best....a Belfast-set manhunt thriller that puts us in the precarious situation of a
British private stranded behind enemy lines. Swift and exciting, with no taste for the usual war
movie heroics” (Michael Phillips).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2614684
2. Big Eyes - 2014 - Weinstein - Dir. Tim Burton
IMDB 7.0; Metascore 62; RT 71/70%
BIG EYES is based on the true story of Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who was one of the
most successful painters of the 1950s and early 1960s. The artist earned staggering notoriety by
revolutionizing the commercialization and accessibility of popular art with his enigmatic
paintings of waifs with big eyes. The truth would eventually be discovered though: Keane's art
was actually not created by him at all, but by his wife, Margaret (Amy Adams).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1126590
3. Danny Collins - 2015 - Dir Dan Fogelman
IMDB 7.6; Metascore 58; RT 73/71%
Al Pacino stars as aging 1970s rocker Danny Collins, who can't give up his hard-living ways.
But when his manager (Christopher Plummer) uncovers a 40 year-old undelivered letter written
to him by John Lennon, he decides to change course and embarks on a heartfelt journey to
rediscover his family, find true love and begin a second act.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772288
4. The End of the Tour - 2015 - A24 - Dir: James Ponsoldt
IMDB 8.5, Meta 76, RT 93/NR. A magazine reporter recounts his travels with author David
Foster Wallace during a promotional book tour.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3416744
5. Far From the Madding Crowd - May 2015 limited - Fox Searchlight - Dir: Thomas
Vinterberg. The Guardian 3/5*
Adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, a beautiful and independent young woman attracts three
very different suitors. This timeless story of Bathsheba's choices and passions explores the
nature of relationships and love - as well as the human ability to overcome hardships through
resilience and perseverance. Filmed in/near Dorset
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2935476
6. Love & Mercy - 2014 - Roadside Attractions - Dir: Bill Pohland
IMDB 7.5; Metacritic 83; RT 86% want to see
LOVE & MERCY presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer,
songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era defining catalog of Wilson's music,
the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose
success came at extraordinary personal cost. (C) Roadside Attractions
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903657
7. Man From Reno - 2014 - English/Japanese - Gravitas Ventures - Dr. David Boyle
IMDB 7.3; Metacritic 73; RT 95/91
A stranger in the increasingly strange city of San Francisco, Japanese crime novelist Aki (Ayako
Fujitani - Tokyo!) is unsure of precisely what role she has to play in a real-life murder mystery
involving ambiguous MacGuffins and amorphous identities. Unfolding in lonely places such as
bookshops and hotel bars, Dave Boyle's (Surrogate Valentine, White On Rice, Big Dreams Little
Tokyo) moody thriller uncovers exhilarating new takes on genre conventions. Consequently, it's
an alluring l'homme fatal who supplies Aki with the breadcrumb trail of clues that entices her
into a labyrinthine plot of sinister dealings.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2287170
8. Mommy - 2015 - Roadside Attractions - Dir: Xavier Dolan
RT 91/92, IMDB 8.3, RT
A widowed single mother raising her violent son alone finds new hope when a mysterious
stranger asserts herself into the household.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3612616
9. Please Be Normal – 2014 – CinemaFlix – Dir: Haik Kocharian
IMDb 7.6; NYT 5/5 stars; RT NR/50
A young, struggling playwright and theater director, Victor, and his girlfriend, Mary, are
expecting their first child. As Mary's father keeps buying them things they could never afford,
Victor's sense of entrapment grows. His inner struggle to meet their expectations guides him
towards a way of life he is unwilling to accept, pushing him towards an escape.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2436540
10. Queen and Country - 2015 - BBC Worldwide Americas - Dir: John Boorman
RT 84/64, IMDB 6.8, Meta 68, Ebert.com 3 1/2*
Bill Rohan is grown up and drafted into the army where and his eccentric best mate, Percy,
battle their snooty superiors on the base and look for love in town.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2392810
11. Rosewater - 2014 - Open Road Films - Dir: Jon Stewart
IMDB 6.7; Meta 66; RT 75/71
Rosewater follows the Tehran-born Bahari, a journalist with Canadian citizenship, who in 2009
returned to Iran to interview Mousavi, challenger to president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He
endured personal risk by sending footage of the street riots to the BBC. He was arrested by
police led by a man identifying himself as "Rosewater," who tortured and interrogated him over
the next 118 days.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2752688
12. Slow West - 2015 - UK/New Zealand - A24- Dir: John Maclean
IMDB 8.4, Meta 76, RT 100/NR
This film follows a 16 year old boy on a journey across 19th century frontier America in search
of the woman he loves, while accompanied by mysterious traveler Silas.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3205376
13. Testament of Youth - 2015 - Sony Pictures Classics - Dir: James Kent
RT 84/NR; IMDB 7.2; Meta 75
A searing story of love and war. Based on Vera Brittain’s autobiographical account of working
as a nurse at the Front in WWI., this is the incredible true story of one young woman's struggle to
survive the horrors of war, which robbed her of everyone and everything she held dear, but was
ultimately unable to break her extraordinary spirit.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1441953
14. Tracks - 2014 - Weinstein Co. - Dir: John Curran
Chgo Trib 3.5*; imdb 7.2; Meta 78; RT 81/78
Tells the remarkable true story of Robyn Davidson, a young woman who leaves her life in the
city to make a solo trek through almost 2,000 miles of sprawling Australian desert. Accompanied
by only her dog and four unpredictable camels, she sets off on a life-changing journey of
self-discovery. (“Subject, setting align in beautiful film adaptation” - Michael Phillips)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2167266
15. The Water Diviner - 2015 - Australia - Warner Bros.- Dir: Russell Crowe
RT 79/NR, IMDB 8.0 A man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his 3 missing sons.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3007512
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
16. The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and
Disappeared - 2014 - Sweden (Swedish et al) - Music Box Films- Dir: Fellix Herngren
IMDB 7.1, RT 69/82
Based on the internationally best-selling novel by Jonas Jonasson, the unlikely story of a 100year-old man who decides it’s not too late to start over. For most people it would be the
adventure of a lifetime, but Allan Karlsson’s unexpected journey is not his first. For a century
he’s made the world uncertain, and now he is on the loose again.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2113681
17. About Elly - 2015 - Iran (Persian) - Cinema Guild - Dir. Asghar FarhadI
RT 100/NR, IMDB 8.2, Meta 76, The Guardian 4*
A gripping mystery set among a group of friends who go on a holiday retreat to the Caspian Sea.
Elly is brought along in hopes of setting her up with recently divorced Admad. Seemingly trivial
lies start accumulating and suddenly come back in full force when Elly suddenly vanishes. Her
mysterious disappearance sets in motion a series of deceptions and revelations threaten to shatter
everything they hold dear.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1360860
18. Bad Hair - 2014 - Venezuela (Spanish) - Cinema Tropical - Dir: Mariana Rondon
Chgo Trib 3*; RT 94/70; imdb 6.9; Meta 74
A nine-year-old boy's preening obsession with straightening his hair elicits a tidal wave of
homophobic panic in his hard-working mother. The more Junior tries to look sharp and make his
mother love him, the more she rejects him. She tries to correct her son's obsession by "setting an
example," a cruel moment which was meant to be a lesson. Junior finds himself cornered, face to
face with a painful decision.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3074610
19. Clouds of Sils Maria - 2014 - France (English, French, et al) - IFC Films - Dir: Olivier
Assayas. IMDB 6.8, RT 92/NR, Meta 78
A veteran actress comes face to face with an uncomfortable reflection of herself when she agrees
to take part in a revival of the play that launched her career 20 years earlier.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2452254
20. Diplomatie (aka Diplomacy) - 2014 - French/German - Zeitgeist Films - Dir: Vorker
Schlöndorff. IMDB 7.1; Meta 72; RT 93/83
In the summer of 1944, Hitler gives orders that Paris should not fall into enemy hands, or if it
does, then 'only as a field of rubble'. General von Choltitz already has mines planted on the Eiffel
Tower, etc. However, at dawn on 25 August, Swedish Consul General Nordling steals into
German headquarters through a secret underground tunnel and there starts a tension-filled game
of cat and mouse as Nordling tries to persuade Choltitz to abandon his plan.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3129564
21. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem - 2014/5 - Israel (Hebrew, French) - Music Box
Films - Dir: Ronit & Schlomi Ekabetz. IMDB 7.9; Chgo Trib 3.5*; Meta 91; RT 100/96
In Israel only rabbis can legitimate a marriage or its dissolution, but it’s only possible with full
consent from the husband, who in the end has more power than the judges. Viviane has been
applying for divorce, but her husband will not agree. His cold intransigence, her determination to
fight for her freedom, and the ambiguous role of the judges shape a procedure in which tragedy
vies with absurdity, and everything is brought out for judgment, apart from the initial request.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3062880
22. Human Capital - 2015 - Italy/France - Film Movement - Dir: Paolo Virzi
The destinies of two families are irrevocably tied together after a cyclist is hit off the road by a
jeep in the night before Christmas Eve.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2465578
23. In Bloom - 2014 - Georgia (Georgian) - Big World Pictures - Dir: Nana Ekvtimishvili [note:
not the film also titled “In Bloom” directed by C. Birkmeier]
Chgo Trib 3.5*; IMDB 8.0; Meta 72; RT 93/75
Set in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in 1992. Friends Eka and Natia look to leave childhood
behind as they ignore societal customs and work to escape their turbulent family lives. Shot on
location in Tbilisi.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2741806
24. Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter - 2015 - Japan (English, Japanese) - Amplify - Dir: David
Zellner. RT 89/NA; Chgo Trib 3*; IMDB 7.1; Meta 67
A lonely Japanese woman becomes convinced that a satchel of money buried and lost in a
fictional film (a VHS recording of the 1996 movie “Fargo”), is in fact, real. With a crudely
drawn treasure map and limited preparation, she escapes her structured life in Tokyo and
embarks on a foolhardy quest across the frozen tundra of Minnesota in search of her mythical
fortune. “A moody comic allegory about desperation, disconnection and dreams” (Chgo Trib).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3074732
25. Of Horses and Men - 2015 - Iceland/Germany/Norway (Icelandic et al) - Music Box
Films - Dir: Benedikt Erlingsson. RT 100/71, IMDB 7.0; meta 74
A country romance about the human streak in the horse and horse in human. Love and death
become interlaced with immense consequences. The fortunes of the people in the country
through the horses’ perception.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3074732
26. Tangerines - 2015 - Estonia (Estonian, Russian) - Samuel Goldwyn Films - Dir: Zaza
Urushadze. IMDB 8.6; RT 100/NR.
War in Georgia, Apkhazeti region in 1990. An Estonian man Ivo has stayed behind to harvest his
crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict in their miniature village wounded men are left behind,
and Ivo is forced to take them in. But they are from opposite sides of the war. This is touching
anti-war story about Estonians who find themselves in the middle of someone else's war. How do
they handle it? How do the enemies act under third-party roof? [Oscar nom: Best F-L film]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2991224
27. Timbuktu - 2015 - France (French et al) - Cohen Media Group - Dir: Abderrahmane
Sissako. IMDB 7.3, Meta 91, RT 99/82
A cattle herder and family who live in the dunes find their quiet lives abruptly disturbed by
Jihadists. [Oscar nom Best F-L film]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3409392
28. Zero Motivation - 2014 - Israel (Hebrew) - Zeitgeist Films - Dir: Talya Lavie
Chgo Trib 3*; RT 83/85; imdb 8.0; Meta 69
A zany, dark, & comedic portrait of everyday life for a unit of young, female Israeli soldiers. The
Human Resources Office at a remote desert base serves as the setting for this cast of characters
who bide their time pushing paper and battling in computer games, counting down the minutes
until they can return to civilian life. Amidst their boredom and clashing personalities, issues of
commitment - to friendship, love, and country - are handled with humor and sharp-edged wit.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3576084
DOCUMENTARIES
29. Merchants of Doubt - 2014 - Sony Pictures Classics - Dir: Robert Kenner
IMDB 7.0; Meta 71; RT 88/70; Chgo Trib 4*
Documentary takes audiences on a satirically comedic, yet illuminating ride into the heart of
conjuring American spin. Kenner lifts the curtain on a secretive group of highly charismatic,
silver-tongued pundits-for-hire who present themselves in the media as scientific authorities - yet
have the contrary aim of spreading maximum confusion about well-studied public threats
ranging from toxic chemicals to pharmaceuticals to climate change. “This enthralling film...is as
fascinating as it is horrifying” (Chgo Trib).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3675568
30. Red Army - 2015 - Sony – Dir: Gabe Polsky
IMDB 7.8, RT 96/90, Metascore 82
A story of sports and a political and cultural tale of hockey’s greatest team. It’s more than just
hockey, it’s about the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the successes and failures of Soviet life; a
very human and emotional experience for all the players, as told through the eyes of its captain,
Slava Fetisov.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3264102
31. The Wrecking Crew -- 2015 -- Magnolia Pictures -- Dir. Denny Tedesco
IMDB 8.0; RT 92/87
What the Funk Brothers did for Motown...The Wrecking Crew did, only bigger, for the West
Coast Sound. Six years in a row in the 1960's and early 1970's, the Grammy for "Record of the
Year" went to Wrecking Crew recordings. And now, THE WRECKING CREW tells the story in
pictures and that oh, so glorious sound. The favorite songs of a generation are all here, presented
by the people who made them for you.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185418