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The Art of the Steal
USA, 2009, 101 min.
The decades-long battle for control of the Barnes Foundation's near-priceless collection of impressionist art -- as waged by the city of Philadelphia against the collection's protectors -- is the riveting focus of Don Argott's documentary. Compulsory viewing, the film unspools like a thriller.... more
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Artois the Goat
USA, 2009, 110 min.
Lab technician Virgil embarks on an epic quest to create the greatest goat cheese the world has ever known and reclaim the heart of his beloved Angie. A felonious German baker, a grave-digging hermit and a tiny white goat color this journey of love, destiny and dairy products.... more
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The Big Gay Musical
USA, 2009, 90 min.
Tackling themes of love vs. sex, and featuring a real Broadway musical cast and a cameo by Michael Musto, excellent musical numbers and quality performances distinguish The Big Gay Musical as an icon of the genre. You'll leave the theater smiling and humming the tunes.... more
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City of Borders
USA, 2009, 66 min.
Set during the construction of the separation wall between Israel and the Palestinian territories, City of Borders documents Jerusalem's gay community's struggles to hold a gay pride celebration in the Holy City while the characters, and the country, contend with internal conflicts.... more
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Dumbstruck
USA, 2010, 85 min.
At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. But in this delightful, it's-all-true documentary, the characters are real.... more
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Expecting Mary
USA, 2009, 97 min.
Dan Gordon (screenwriter of Wyatt Earp and The Hurricane) marks his directorial debut with this effervescent dramedy about a pregnant teenage runaway who escapes the cosseting clutches of her parents and hits the road, where she finds a new kind of family.... more
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Garbage Dreams
USA, 2009, 79 min.
With no organized sanitation in Cairo, the Zabbaleen, a minority group in Egypt, have for generations collected and recycled the city's garbage. Now, suddenly, foreign companies move in, recycling ceases, and the three Zabbaleen boys have to fight for their families' survival.... more
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Handsome Harry
USA, 2009, 95 min.
An all-male study in gay denial, featuring a roster of gifted character actors, Handsome Harry is a psychological mystery about lost love, forgiveness and the stifling effect the "code of silence" has over men and their relationships.... more
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Happy Tears
USA, 2009, 91 min.
Demi Moore and Parker Posey star as a pair of polar opposite sisters coming together to care for their ailing father (Rip Torn), a rascally womanizer now shacked up with a crackbrained drifter (Ellen Barkin).... more
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I Love You Phillip Morris
USA, 2009, 100 min.
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor are madly in love in this deliriously daring and hilariously entertaining story of a con man (Carrey) continually breaking out of jail to be with his man (McGregor). Unlike anything else you will see this year. From the writers of the deliciously subversive Bad Santa... more
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Is It Just Me?
USA, 2010, 93 min.
Frustrated by his ongoing failure to meet Mr. Right, Blaine stumbles upon what might be his perfect match in an online chat room -- Xander, a sweet, hunky guy who's recently moved to LA. Smitten, Blaine then finds that he's been chatting to Xander under his go-go dancer roommate's profile.... more
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Junior
USA, 2009, 77 min.
Eddie "Junior" Belasco, 75, and Josey, his 99-year-old mother, might make the most co-dependent and heartwarming pair since Big Edie and Little Edie of Grey Gardens fame. Jenna Rosher's touching, laugh-out-loud documentary perfectly captures their endearing relationship for the ages.... more
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La Mission
USA, 2009, 118 min.
Peter Bratt's powerful and moving film is a love letter to the vibrancy and daily struggles of San Francisco's Mission District. Full of affection for its characters, it's is a redemptive story of one man's struggle to unlearn a lifetime of destructive habits when a secret brings him into conflict.... more
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Learning from Light: The Vision of I.M. Pei
USA, 2009, 84 min.
A revelatory documentary exploring the vision of I.M. Pei, the distinguished 90-year-old Chinese-American architect as he works on his latest commission, the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, one of the most complex building projects of his long career.... more
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The Lightkeepers
USA, 2010, 100 min.
Set in 1912 Cape Cod, the period romantic comedy tells the story of a lighthouse keeper who has disavowed any association with females, but who must deal with the unexpected appearance of two attractive women who move into a nearby cottage for the summer.... more
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The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
USA, 2009, 94 min.
On October 1, 1969, Daniel Ellsberg began smuggling a top-secret report about the history of the Vietnam War out of a safe in his office and, ultimately, into the pages of The New York Times. This gripping documentary explores the profound political and legal consequences that followed.... more
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My Dog Tulip
USA, 2009, 83 min.
This delightful animated adaptation of J.R. Ackerley's quirky 1947 memoir looks at the loving relationship between the author and his muse -- an Alsatian with a huge desire for doggie sex. The film's mordant wit and warmth make a winning combination.... more
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My Neighbor, My Killer
USA, 2009, 80 min.
Since 2001, the Gacaca Tribunals in Rwanda have tried to reconcile the victims and the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide; Anne Aghion has been there documenting things from the beginning. Here she shows predominantly female survivors confronting the men who murdered their families.... more
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Nine
USA, 2009, 110 min.
Nine weds music and magic in an adaptation of Federico Fellini's seminal sixties hit 8½, which portrayed a dissolute Italian director confronting a creative and personal crisis as he prepares to mount his latest film.... more
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On These Shoulders We Stand
USA, 2009, 75 min.
Not everything began with Stonewall. On These Shoulders We Stand is a historical account of early gay life and activism in Los Angeles told by the people who lived it.... more
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Precious
USA, 2009, 109 min.
Set in Harlem in 1987, Precious is a 16-year-old girl born into a world no one would want. She's pregnant for the second time and must wait hand-and-foot on her mother, a poisonously angry woman. Her only hope comes from a chance to attend an alternative school.... more
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Sergio
USA, 2009, 94 min.
In late 2003, a bomb blows up the UN headquarters in Iraq, trapping the head of the UN's mission -- an extraordinary diplomat named Sergio Vieira de Mello -- and dozens of others inside. This expertly paced, Oscar-shortlisted documentary tells what happened on that fateful day.... more
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Shoot the Hero
USA, 2009, 82 min.
When a young couple shops for wedding rings they accidentally become eyewitnesses to a jewelry store heist gone awry. A mob boss dispatches a mysterious hit man to find the couple and clean up the mess. What follows is an action-packed romp full of thugs, fights, laughs and love.... more
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Soundtrack for a Revolution
USA, 2009, 82 min.
Relive the American civil rights movement through the soul-stirring folk songs that fortified protestors struggling for equality. This powerful documentary pairs modern renditions with footage from the bitter days of segregation and emotional interviews with the people who fought through it.... more
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Today's Special
USA, 2009, 99 min.
In this super-feel-good foodie comedy, young Manhattan chef Samir rediscovers his heritage and his passion for life through the enchanting art of cooking Indian food.... more
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Waking Sleeping Beauty
USA, 2009, 86 min.
Don Hahn's engaging look at the resurgence of the Disney company's animation tradition features head honcho (at the time) Michael Eisner, animation guru Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and future geniuses Tim Burton and John Lasseter, all holding forth on the company's slide and rebirth.... more
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The Wildest Dream
USA, 2008, 94 min.
The Wildest Dream uses astonishing visuals to tell the intersecting stories of George Mallory, the first man to attempt a summit of Mount Everest, and Conrad Anker, the mountaineer who finds Mallory's frozen remains 75 years later.... more
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