Zero Dark Thirty

☆☆☆☆☆

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One of the Best Movies of the Year!
“Zero Dark Thirty” is the riveting story (directed by Kathryn Bigelow…Oscar winning director of “The Hurt Locker”) of the hunt and eventual assassination of Osama bin Laden.

Outstanding (Oscar Nomination) performance by Jessica Chastain, who plays the intelligence expert who dedicated 10 years of her life to finding the world’s most dangerous man.
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The interrogation depicted in the film has created a political controversy…which may have come between Bigelow and a Best Director nomination.

Rated R
2 hr. 37 min.

Visit the website and see the trailer.

The Impossible

☆☆☆☆1/2

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J.A. Bayona (“The Orphanage”) brings us the gripping and emotional story, based on one family’s actual experience, of the 2004 Thailand tsunami.
In an Academy Award nominated performance Naomi Watts stars as Maria, and Ewan McGregor stars as Henry…a mother and father who along with their three boys fight to survive one of the worst natural disasters of all time.

One of the best movies of 2012!

Amazing effects.
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Most viewers probably know the outcome.

Rated PG-13
1 hr. 47 min.

Visit the website and watch the trailer!

Academy Award Nominations 2013

Best Picture:
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Lincoln"
"Les Miserables"
"Life of Pi"
"Amour"
"Django Unchained"
"Argo"

Best Actor:
Daniel Day Lewis, "Lincoln"
Denzel Washington, "Flight"
Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"

Best Actress:
Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"
Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Supporting Actor:
Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Alan Arkin, "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"


Best Supporting Actress:
Sally Field, "Lincoln"
Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
Amy Adams, "The Master"

Best Director:
David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Michael Haneke, "Amour"
Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Original Screenplay:
"Zero Dark Thirty"
"Django Unchained"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Amour"
"Flight"

Best Adapted Screenplay:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

Best Animated Feature:
"Frankenweenie"
"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
"Paranorman"
"Brave"

Best Foreign Feature:
"Amour"
"A Royal Affair"
"Kon-Tiki"
"No"
"War Witch"

Best Visual Effects:
"Life of Pi"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"The Avengers"
"Prometheus"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Cinematography:
"Skyfall"
"Anna Karenina"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Costume Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Mirror Mirror"
"Snow White and the Huntsman"

Best Documentary Feature:
"Searching for Sugar Man"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Gatekeepers"
"5 Broken Cameras"
"The Invisible War"

Best Documentary Short:
"Open Heart"
"Inocente"
"Redemption"
"Kings Point"
"Mondays at Racine"

Best Film Editing:
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Life of Pi"
"Argo"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
"Hitchcock"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Miserables"

Best Music (Original Score):
"Anna Karenina"
"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Best Music (Original Song):
"Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
"Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
"Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
"Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"

Best Production Design:
"Anna Karenina"
"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"

Best Short Film, Animated:
"Adam and Dog"
"Fresh Guacamole"
"Head over Heels"
"Maggie Simpson in 'The Longest Daycare'"
"Paperman"

Best Short Film, Live Action:
"Asad"
"Buzkashi Boys"
"Curfew"
"Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)"
"Henry"

Best Sound Editing:
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Life of Pi"
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Sound Mixing:
"Argo"
"Les Misérables"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"

Any Day Now

☆☆☆1/2

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“Any Day Now” is the heart-wrenching story (based on true events) of Rudy (Alan Cumming) and Paul (Garret Dillahunt) a male couple in 1970’s Los Angles trying to adopt Rudy (Isaac Leyva) a loving teenage boy with Down syndrome.
Up against a biased legal system, the couple passionately fights for what’s best for Rudy.
Strong performances by the main characters: Cumming, Dillahunt, and Leyva
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This is the rare occasion where the film could stand to add another twenty minutes to help strengthen a story that just moves too quickly.

This one is a tear jerker…be ready.

Rated R
1 hr. 37 min.

Visit the website and watch the trailer.

Les Misérables

☆☆☆☆☆

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The best movie of 2012!

Tom Hooper (Academy Award®-winning director: “The King’s Speech”) gives us an outstanding stage to screen adaptation of one of the most popular Broadway plays of all time…“Les Miserables.”

Hooper makes the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), an ex-prisoner who breaks parole and is hunted for years by policeman…Javert (Russell Crowe) much more accessible…and consequently more enjoyable.

Outstanding cast (Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Russell Crowe) with stand-out performances by Hugh Jackman (Jean Valjean) and Anne Hathaway (Fantine).

Look for a few Academy Award nominations.

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While Crowe’s performance (specifically his singing voice) is good…it doesn’t always “keep-up” with the rest of the cast.

Rated PG-13
2 hr. 38 min.

Visit the official website and watch the trailer!