Let My People Go! released on January 11, 2013

Let My People Go!

Let My People Go! is a 2011 film directed by Mikael Buch. It premiered at the 2011 Montreal World Film Festival and was released in December 2011 in France. Let My People Go! is a 2011 film directed by Mikael Buch. It premiered at the 2011 Montreal World Film Festival and was released in December 2011 in France. It was released in the United States in 2013 by Zeitgeist Films and grossed $18,529 domestically.







Initial release: December 28, 2011 (France)
Director: Mikael Buch
Running time: 100 minutes Cine21
Music composed by: Éric Neveux
Screenplay: Christophe Honoré, Mikael Buch





Directed by Mikael Buch
Produced by Philippe Martin [disambiguation needed]
Geraldine Michelot
Editing by Simon Jacquet
Studio Les Films Pelleas
Distributed by Les Films du Losange and Zeitgeist Films
Release dates
August 22, 2011 (Montreal World Film Festival)
December 28, 2011 (France)
Running time 86 minutes
Country France
Language French




At Passover, Reuben, a French-Jewish man living in Finland with his Nordic boyfriend, finds himself back in Paris with his zany family after a lovers' quarrel.uben (Nicolas Maury) is a French Jewish gay man (think Pee Wee Herman meets David Sedaris) living in a candy-colored world in Finland with his lover Teemu (Jarkko Niemi), where Ruben works as a postman. One fateful day three days before Passover, Ruben tries to deliver an envelope of euros to a widower, who refuses to accept it, and collapses on his lawn. Teemu and Ruben fight over what to do with the cash and Ruben heads to Paris to think, and to celebrate Passover with his mother (played by Carmen Maura). Back home, Teemu is trying to get to the bottom of things--or should we say the top?-- while Ruben discovers in Paris that a certain someone has missed Ruben more than he knew. Jean-Luc Bideau, Didier Flamand, and Jean-Christophe Bouvet appear; Bouvet as the Commissaire has to mediate a poignant love call from jail.








Let My People Go! is the most delightful movie I've seen in ages. Nicolas Maury is so utterly adorable, so sweetly, innocently, devastatingly sexy, so fascinating to watch every second he's on screen, that I wish he'd already starred in dozens of movies so I could watch them all. Since he hasn't, I'll have to sift through the few in which he has appeared in smaller roles.

His seemingly unselfconscious charm makes this whole movie a great joy to watch, and I can't imagine it without him at its heart - but everybody else in it and behind it is so good that I'd give it a try anyway.

Maury plays Reuben Steiner (spelled Ruben in the credits), a gay French Jew living in Finland with Teemu, his Finnish husband. His scheme to start a sauna business has failed and he's working as a mailman.

A man on his mail route gives him an envelope containing almost 200,000 euro and then appears to drop dead. Teemu gets angry at Ruben for taking the money and kicks him out, so he returns to spend Passover with his highly eccentric but very loving family in Paris.

It's a farce, much like a very modern version of a 30s screwball comedy, but all the main characters are so lovable and real that the totally unreal stuff that happens doesn't matter.

There are no bad performances (his mother is played by Almodóvar's longtime muse Carmen Maura), no villains in the story except a pig-headed in-law and a couple of snarky cops, but they're negligible. A scene near the end in which the rottweiler-like police chief reads Ruben's love letter (in English) to Teemu over the phone is priceless.

A brilliant screenplay (co-written with director Mikael Buch by the divine Christophe Honoré), mostly in French and Finnish with fairly good English subtitles; and an interesting score with songs by Devendra Banhart, Noah and the Whale and others.

I rented the movie, but I loved it so much that I've ordered a copy to watch many times over. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Gangster Squad released on January 11, 2013

Gangster Squad

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and-if he has his way-every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons. Gangster Squad is a 2013 American action crime film directed by Ruben Fleischer, from a screenplay written by Will Beall. It starred Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, and Sean Penn. The film is loosely based on the story of Los Angeles Police Department officers and detectives forming a group called the "Gangster Squad unit" who attempt to keep the city safe from Mickey Cohen and his gang during the 1940s and '50s. It was originally set to be released September 7, 2012,but in the wake of the 2012 Aurora shooting, the release date was changed to January 11, 2013 by Warner Bros. Pictures.While the film, characters, and events are mostly fictionalized, the LAPD did have a unit called the "Gangster Squad" which was created when Clemence B. Horrall was the LAPD's Chief of Police. A similar theme is the basis of a 1996 film, Mulholland Falls, and a 2013 television miniseries, Mob City.







Initial release: January 11, 2013 (USA)
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Running time: 113 minutes
Adapted from: Gangster Squad
Cinematography: Dion Beebe


Directed by Ruben Fleischer
Produced by Bruce Berman
Ruben Fleischer
Dan Lin
Kevin McCormick
Jon Silk
Michael Tadross
Screenplay by Will Beall
Based on Tales from the Gangster Squad 
by Paul Lieberman
Starring Josh Brolin
Ryan Gosling
Sean Penn
Nick Nolte
Emma Stone
Anthony Mackie
Giovanni Ribisi
Michael Peña
Robert Patrick
Music by Steve Jablonsky
Cinematography Dion Beebe
Editing by Alan Baumgarten
James Herbert
Studio Village Roadshow Pictures
Lin Pictures
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release dates
January 11, 2013
Running time 113 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $60 million 

Box office $105,200,903


Los Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who runs the city.It's 1949 Los Angeles, and gangster Mickey Cohen has moved in, with the intention of controlling all criminal activity in the city. He has bought local judges and police, and no one is willing to cross him or testify against him. Everyone except Seargant John O'Mara, a former World War II soldier, whose goal is to settle with his family in a peaceful Los Angeles. Police Chief William Parker decides to form a special unit whose mission is to take down Cohen, and chooses O'Mara to lead the unit. O'Mara chooses 4 cops and asks another cop and vet, Jerry Wooters to join him but Wooters is not interested. But when he witnesses the murder of a young boy by Cohen's people, he joins them, and they decide to take apart Cohen's organization. Cohen wonders if a rival is going after him, but eventually he realizes it's the cops



Glossy, slick, bloody, violent, dumb, crowd-pleasing, and undeniably entertaining. Filled with every gangster genre cliché rolled into one, GANGSTER SQUAD ain't high art, nor is it aiming to be. It seemed as if director Fleischer was trying to tell this story in the most fun possible way, and he succeeds with flying colors. The film is at its best when its loud and dumb but falters when it tries to be anything more than that.

The cast seems like they're having fun, especially Sean Penn who has a field day with his role as the villain Mickey Cohen. The lines he's given are pure gold. Josh Brolin does a great job as the lead and Ryan Gosling is charming and charismatic as usual. However, Emma Stone is underused with a thankless role, but it's nice that she's in the film anyway. Overall, GANGSTER SQUAD is fun entertainment. No judgments, little pretense.

Struck by Lightning Released on January 11, 2013

Struck by Lightning

Struck by Lightning is a 2012 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written by and starring Chris Colfer, also based on his novel, and directed by Brian Dannelly. Struck by Lightning is a 2012 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written by and starring Chris Colfer, also based on his novel, and directed by Brian Dannelly. After high school senior Carson Phillips is struck by lightning and killed in his high-school parking lot, he recounts the way he blackmailed his classmates into contributing to his literary magazine.

Initial release: January 11, 2013 (USA)

Director: Brian Dannelly

Running time: 90 minutes

Screenplay: Chris Colfer

Initial DVD release: May 21, 2013 (USA)

Directed by Brian Dannelly

Produced by David Permut

Mia Chang

Rob Aguire

Chris Colfer

Written by Chris Colfer

Starring Chris Colfer

Allison Janney

Christina Hendricks

Sarah Hyland

Carter Jenkins

Brad William Henke

Rebel Wilson

Angela Kinsey

Polly Bergen

Dermot Mulroney

Music by Jake Monaco

Cinematography Bobby Bukowski

Editing by Tia Nolan

Studio Permut Presentations

Distributed by Tribeca Film

Release dates

April 2012 (Tribeca)

December 19, 2012 (VOD)

January 11, 2013

Running time 84 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Box office $28,378

A young man recounts the way he blackmailed his fellow classmates into contributing to his literary magazine. A high school boy desperate to escape the idiocy of the people in his hometown trys to create a way in which he can move to New York, attend the college of his dreams and do something other than live in the foot steps of his drunken, divorced mother. Along the way he blackmails his fellow students into contributing to his literary magazine and discovers what its like to feel accomplished. Does he get accepted into the college of his dreams? Is he going to make a difference and follow his life goal? Written by Jo J.

This coming of age film was well written and showed one of the other sides of Actor/Writer/Producer Chris Colfer. He originally wrote it when he was about 18 and dipped into some very complicated matters such as divorce. I would recommend this to anyone of any age. Some matters, although they seem very childlike (like blackmailing others to get what you want), touch on some serious aspects such as how schools are run. Although it is unlikely for someone to get struck by lightning and die spontaneously, it does bring awareness to many problems. Rebel Wilson is incredible in this. Even in the end when half the theater was balling their eyes out and i had the equivalent of a glass full of water on my sweater from crying, she made everyone laugh literally out loud. Her one liners were all her; she was doing improv for pretty much the whole move. Recap: EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH THIS. its not sappy but its sad, its hilarious, and it touches one important subjects.

A HAUNTED HOUSE Released on January 11, 2013

A HAUNTED HOUSE

A Haunted House is a 2013 American spoof comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans. It was released on January 11, 2013.
Initial release: January 11, 2013. A Haunted House is a 2013 American spoof comedy film directed by Michael Tiddes and starring Marlon Wayans.It was released on January 11, 2013. The film is a parody of the "found footage" genre, such as the Paranormal Activity franchise and The Devil Inside. During interviews to promote the film, Wayans explained "it's not exactly a parody" but rather a movie with funny characters doing the opposite of what typical white people do in similar horror films.A sequel titled A Haunted House 2 is expected to be released on March 28, 2014.   





Director: Michael Tiddes
Initial DVD release: April 23, 2013 (USA)
Sequel: A Haunted House 2
Production company: IM Global


Directed by Michael Tiddes
Produced by Marlon Wayans
Michael Tiddes
Rick Alvarez
Written by Marlon Wayans
Rick Alvarez
Starring Marlon Wayans
Essence Atkins
Cedric the Entertainer
Nick Swardson
David Koechner
Dave Sheridan
Cinematography Steve Gainer
Editing by Suzanne Hines
Studio IM Global Octane
Wayans Bros. Entertainment
Baby Way Productions
Distributed by Open Road Films
Vertigo Films (UK only)
Release dates
January 11, 2013
Running time 86 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2.5 million[2]

Box office $59,896,033 (worldwide)

Malcolm and Kisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm - determined to keep his sex life on track - turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help. Malcolm and Kisha move into their dream home, but soon learn a demon also resides there. When Kisha becomes possessed, Malcolm - determined to keep his sex life on track - turns to a priest, a psychic, and a team of ghost-busters for help.


Whether or not this movie was stereotypical should be set aside for reviews. Focus on the main parts of this movie which were to utterly make fun of paranormal activity and the devil inside. I felt like this movie is under-rated. I thought they got straight into funny and absolutely making fun of paranormal activity 1 very quickly. The first scene was based on making fun of the camera work of paranormal activity in the bed room. Although these sorts of comedies are always a stupid sort of funny, I laughed throughout this movie, especially at the character of Chip the psychic; whose main goal is to bring out the gay demons in Malcolm the main character. I had a good laugh and if you can score some tickets for cheap its not a bad, make you laugh at stupid comedy, type of movie.

DARK TRUTH Released on January 4, 2013

DARK TRUTH

A Dark Truth is a 2012 action thriller film directed and written by Damian Lee, and produced by Gary Howsam and Bill Marks. The film stars Andy García, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker. A Dark Truth (also known as The Truth) is a 2012 action thriller film directed and written by Damian Lee, and produced by Gary Howsam and Bill Marks. The film stars Andy García, Kim Coates, Deborah Kara Unger, Eva Longoria and Forest Whitaker. It premiered at the 2012 Boston Film Festival and was released theatrically in the United States on January 4, 2013.

Initial release: September 19, 2012

Director: Damian Lee

Running time: 106 minutes

Initial DVD release: March 5, 2013 (Italy)

Screenplay: Damian Lee

Directed by Damian Lee

Produced by Gary Howsam

Bill Marks

Written by Damian Lee

Starring Andy García

Kim Coates

Deborah Kara Unger

Eva Longoria

Forest Whitaker

Music by Jonathan Goldsmith

Cinematography Bobby Shore

Editing by William Steinkamp

Studio Vortex Words Pictures

Distributed by Magnolia Pictures

(USA theatrical)

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions

(USA all media)

Release dates

September 19, 2012 (Boston Film Festival)

January 4, 2013 (United States)

Running time 106 minutes

Country Canada

United States

Language English

Box office $5,750

A former CIA operative turned political talk show host is hired by a corporate whistle blower to expose her company's cover-up of a massacre in a South American village. 

A former CIA operative turned political talk show host is hired by a corporate whistle blower to expose her company's cover-up of a massacre in a South American village.

This is the first I've seen of movies on the particular subject of what major international corporations such as Bectel are doing to underdeveloped countries as regards their water. Well done treatment, great cast, excellent acting. No hamming or sensationalism, no gratuitous violence (not that there isn't enough to tell the story). Perhaps other reviewers don't consider water as exciting as blood diamonds or oil or uranium. Perhaps it's not. But it's certainly more important. This fictional presentation of the issue is a good start toward expanding popular awareness of one of the biggest problems facing us in this new century.

Not water shortages, critical though they are. Rather, soulless, nationless corporate greed. Seven out of ten.

56 UP Released on January 4, 2013

56 UP 

Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years. The Up Series is a series of documentary films produced by Granada Television that have followed the lives of fourteen British children since 1964, when they were seven years old. So far the documentary has had eight episodes spanning 49 years (one episode every seven years) and the documentary has been broadcast on both ITV and BBC

Genre Longitudinal study documentary
Directed by Paul Almond (Seven Up!)
Michael Apted (all subsequent films)
Starring Bruce Balden
Jackie Bassett
Symon Basterfield
Andrew Brackfield
John Brisby
Peter Davies
Susan Davis
Charles Furneaux
Nicholas (Nick) Hitchon
Neil Hughes
Lynn Johnson
Paul Kligerman
Suzanne (Suzy) Lusk
Tony Walker
Narrated by Douglas Keay
Michael Apted (all subsequent films)
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 8 (in 13 parts)
Production
Running time 40–135 mins. per film
769 mins. total
Broadcast
Original channel ITV (Granada Television) (1964–1991, 2005–)
BBC One (1998)

Original airing 5 May 1964-present


Director Michael Apted revisits the same group of British-born adults after a 7 year wait. The subjects are interviewed as to the changes that have occurred in their lives during the last seven years.


Personally, I would strongly suggest watching the films in order. While "56 Up" does provide some recaps, the cumulative effect of the series is built by watching each age in depth.

The 'Up Series' represents one of the most fascinating and unusual uses of film in cinema history - a documentary life-long chronicle of the lives of 14 people starting at 7 years old, revisiting them every seven years through age 56 (so far). While I could quibble, wishing for a bit more depth here and there (especially with the women, where there's a bit too much emphasis on love and marriage at the expense of all else), and by nature the later episodes sometimes have to speed through more than would be ideal,since they have to both catch the audience back up as well as moving the stories forward, no matter. It's really an astounding, moving, frightening and uplifting document. There's no way to watch this remarkable series of films without reflecting deeply on one's own life, and how you have changed (and stayed the same) over your own lifetime. 

While Michael Aped deserves every bit of credit he's received for this amazing piece of cultural anthropology,it's important to note the first film, 7 Up, was actually directed by Paul Almond, and Apted was a that point a researcher for the project.

This new episode is as excellent as it's predecessors, revealing more surprising twists in turns as our group heads towards the end of mid-life, and stare into the realities of old age. Some old friends re-appear, some have continued in directions they had been going in, and some have changed course yet again. 

One thing that's interesting, and more present in this episode than earlier ones are some of the subjects questioning the objectivity and 'reality' of the series. There are interesting cases made that what we, the audience, sees isn't the truth of who these people are, but only a created character. It also (by proxy) makes one reflect on how much being in these films has affected the lives of the participants. Just as in physics, it seems to be true here as well, that the very act of being observed changes what is being observed.

All fascinating and thought-provoking stuff.

Texas Chainsaw 3D RELEASED ON 4 JANUARY 2013

Texas Chainsaw 3D

A young woman travels to Texas to collect an inheritance; little does she know that an encounter with a chainsaw-wielding killer is part of the reward.

Texas Chainsaw 3D is a 2013 American slasher film directed by John Luessenhop and written by Debra Sullivan and Adam Marcus.

Initial release: January 3, 2013 (Denmark, Croatia, Belgrade)

Director: John Luessenhop

Running time: 95 minutes

Initial DVD release: May 14, 2013 (USA)

Screenplay: Kirsten Elms, Debra Sullivan, Adam Marcus, Stephen Susco, Kim Henkel

Directed by John Luessenhop

Produced by Carl Mazzocone

Screenplay by Kirsten Elms

Adam Marcus

Debra Sullivan

Story by Stephen Susco

Adam Marcus

Debra Sullivan

Based on Characters 

by Tobe Hooper

Kim Henkel

Starring Alexandra Daddario

Dan Yeager

Tremaine Neverson

Tania Raymonde

Thom Barry

Paul Rae

Bill Moseley

Music by John Frizzell

Cinematography Anastas N. Michos

Editing by Randy Bricker

Studio Twisted Pictures

Nu Image

Millennium Films

Mainline Pictures

Distributed by Lionsgate

Release dates

January 4, 2013

Running time 92 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Budget $20,000,000 

Box office $39,093,317

After the first massacre in 1974, the townspeople suspected that the Sawyer family were responsible. A vigilante mob of enraged locals surrounded the Sawyer house, burning it to the ground and killing every last member of the family. Decades later a young woman named Heather learns that she has inherited a Texas estate from her grandmother. she decides to bring her friends along on the road trip to invesitgate her inheritance. On arrival she uncovers she has inherited a mansion but is yet to uncover the terrors that lurk in the basement below it.

Being the extremely huge Leatherface fan that I am, I have been looking forward to seeing this movie since the first posters came out. Literally have been counting down the days. I rushed to the theater on opening night super excited because the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D facebook page shared a lot of information about the making of the movie and I expected it to be the best one yet. HOWEVER....

I was so unbelievably disappointed in this movie it sickens me.

If someone didn't know anything about the previous TCM movies, they would think this was just your everyday horny teenager horror movie. I believed that the TCM movies were always better than that, but now my opinion has changed.

The movie started out good, and had some good background information to later understand the present scenes. However, once we met the main characters of the movie it was obvious that it wasn't going to meet my expectations. And the fact that Trey Sonz was in this movie(even though his acting skills WERE better than I expected) totally ruined it for me. Also the makers of the movie made a huge error with the the main character's age (should be at least 40.) The killings were not that severe, the only 3D parts were with the chainsaw (which didn't even happen that much), and Leatherface was turned into this sweet character that you began to feel bad for. And don't even get me started on how Heather was acting at the end of the movie.

The whole story line was completely changed. During the first half of the movie it is just like the other TCM movies, but the last half turns into some weird love/family reuniting story which I absolutely hated. Plus the other movies really portrayed the fact that the movie was based off a true story. This new TCM makes it seem more like a fantasy horror movie. It's all just very confusing and makes me feel like a woman with a glass of wine wrote the story line.

See for yourself if you like but if you are a die hard TCM fan like I WAS, then I highly expect you to be disappointed and don't spend money on it. Thank god I got movie theater gift cards for Christmas...