The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
USA/New Zealand, 180 minutes
Peter Jackson directs.
Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen & Viggo Mortensen star.
As Sauron wages his final siege, the residents of Middle Earth have never been more desperately in need of their King. The Fellowship and the forces behind them have come at last to the greatest battle of all. With little hope of winning, their struggle shifts to distracting Sauron and allowing Frodo to complete his quest. With intimate, emotional stories set against an epic backdrop, The Return of the King concludes the compelling journey at the heart of J. R. R. Tolkien’s revered trilogy. Produced, co-written, and directed by Peter Jackson, the film recounts this heroic quest and reveals how, through courage, commitment, and determination, even the least of us can change the world. With an all-star cast including Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler and Elijah Wood, the final installment in this highly praised triptych provides an emotionally satisfying conclusion. (USA/New Zealand, 180 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of New Line Cinema)

In America
Ireland/UK, 103 minutes
Jim Sheridan directs.
Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Emma & Sarah Bolger star.
In America is Oscar® nominated writer-director Jim Sheridan’s (My Left Foot, In the Name of the Father) intimate look at a Irish family’s pursuit of dreams in New York City. Told through the eyes of Christy, the eldest of two young daughters, the film is a coming-of-age story about her parents, a young couple setting up a new life in America. While their parents struggle, Christy and Ariel find their new home to be a magical place where anything can happen. As the family heads for crisis, the two girls find an unlikely friend and ally in their mysterious neighbor Mateo. Sheridan and his two daughters wrote the incredibly rich script, based in part on their own autobiographical experiences coming to the United States. Featuring scene-stealing performances by real-life sisters Emma and Sarah Bolger as Christy and Ariel, In America offers a compelling tale of a contemporary immigrant family reconciling realities in their land of dreams. (Ireland/UK, 103 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Fox Searchlight)

The Human Stain
USA/Germany/France, 106 minutes
Robert Benton directs.
Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris & Gary Sinise star.
Coleman Silk (Anthony Hopkins), a distinguished professor at a prestigious New England college, has had his professional life shattered by allegations of racism. His personal life fares no better, having been infected with the cancer of a lie he has been living for fifty years. With his career and reputation in ruins, Silk begins a dynamic resurrection through two new relationships. The first is a friendship with a writer named Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise) whom he intrigues with his story. However, it is his scandalous relationship with Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman), an abused, working-class woman, that throws Silk’s life further into turmoil. Based on Philip Roth’s acclaimed novel and directed by Academy Award- winning director Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer, Places in the Heart), The Human Stain is an artful, in-depth exploration of the depths of identity and adaptation. (USA/Germany/France, 106 min. rated R, courtesy of Miramax Films)

Cold Mountain
USA/Romania, 152 minutes
Anthony Minghella directs.
Jude Law, Nicole Kidman & Renee Zellweger star.
Directed by Academy Award® winner Anthony Minghella (The English Patient), Cold Mountain is based on Charles Frazier’s acclaimed novel of the same name. Set in the waning days of the Civil War, Inman (Jude Law) is a wounded, disillusioned confederate soldier on a perilous journey home to his mountain home and Ada (Nicole Kidman), the sweetheart he left behind. Along the way he encounters a diverse set of characters with an equally wide array of motives. Meanwhile, Ada, with the help a young drifter named Ruby (Renee Zellweger), struggles to save her father’s farm and survive in a world devoid of its former certainties. With its stellar cast rounded out by Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Ray Winstone and others, Cold Mountain presents a vanished American landscape, magnificent in its solitude, savagery and splendor. (USA/Romania, 152 min. Not yet rated, courtesy of Miramax Films)

The Company
USA/Germany, 112 minutes
Robert Altman directs.
Neve Campbell, Malcolm McDowell & James Franco star.
With The Company director Robert Altman (Gosford Park) teams up with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and actors Neve Campbell and Malcolm McDowell to create an airy, colorful and penetrating behind-the-scenes look at a ballet company. From the rehearsal studio to artistic politicking to actual performances, this intimate pas de deux between Altman’s fluid, expressive camera and the cast captures the life force of ballet. Based on her own experiences with the National Ballet of Canada, Campbell and screenwriter Barbara Turner (Pollack) developed the story of a young woman poised to become a principal dancer. With exceptional insight, McDowell plays the company’s autocratic artistic director, nurturing with one hand while demanding with the other. This collaborative expression embraces a multitude of characters, with their own desires and ambitions, choreographed by Altman’s encompassing vision. (USA/Germany, 112 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

Calendar Girls
UK, 108 minutes
Nigel Cole directs.
Helen Mirren & Julie Walters star.
Calendar Girls is inspired by the true story of a group of aging English women who bare all for charity and become international celebrities as a result. Best friends Chris (Helen Mirren) and Annie (Julie Walters) are devastated when Annie’s husband dies of leukemia. To relieve her grief, Chris enlists the support of her fellow Women’s Institute members in an unorthodox fundraising initiative for the local hospital. What begins as an offbeat local philanthropic effort changes their lives forever. Moving through a world that is new to them, from the Yorkshire Dales to the intense media spotlight of Hollywood, their journey becomes a funny and poignant meditation on the seductive nature of celebrity and its many pitfalls. At its core, though, it is a testament to the enduring power of love and friendship.(UK, 108 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Touchstone Pictures)

Big Fish
USA, 120 minutes
Tim Burton directs.
Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup & Jessica Lange star.
In Big Fish, director Tim Burton brings his inimitable imagination to a relationship between a father and son. Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) has always been a teller of tall tales about his oversized life as a young man (Ewan McGregor), when his wanderlust led him on an unlikely journey from a small Alabama town, around the world, and back again. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the delirious as he weaves epic tales about giants, blizzards, a witch, and conjoined-twin lounge singers. With his stories, Bloom charms almost everyone except for his estranged son Will (Billy Crudup). When his mother tries to reunite them, Will must learn how to separate fact from fiction as he comes to terms with his father’s great feats and great failings. Big Fish is one part father-son conflict and one part Southern storytelling driven by Tim Burton’s magical, skewed vision, rounded out by an all-star cast including Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, and Danny DeVito. (USA, 120 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Columbia Pictures)

The Statement
Canada/France, 120 minutes
Norman Jewison directs.
Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling & Alan Bates star.
In this contemporary political thriller, director Norman Jewison’s (Hurricane, Moonstruck) latest film sheds light on some of the darkest corners of France’s religious and political establishment. The Statement is the story of Pierre Brossard (Michael Caine) who, as a young man, was a Nazi executioner under the Vichy regime. Having never been brought to trial, he has lived an anonymous and peaceful life sheltered by right-wing elements in the Catholic Church. As a new investigation into his crimes is launched, Brossard is caught between hired hit men and equally zealous police investigators. To stay one step ahead of his pursuers, the sly old fox desperately tries to figure out the motives and identities of those on his tail as he seeks atonement for his horrible crimes. Caine leads a stellar cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Charlotte Rampling, John Neville and Alan Bates. (Canada/France, 120 min. Not yet rated, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

Fog of War
USA, 105 minutes
Errol Morris directs.
With Robert McNamara.
A key figure in contemporary American history, Robert McNamara has been both a witness and a participant in some of the 20th century’s most important events. Serving as Secretary of Defense and central adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, McNamara played an important role in some of the Cold War’s most momentous events, including the Bay of Pigs and America’s escalating role in Vietnam. Structured as eleven lessons from McNamara’s life, master documentarian Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control) draws on a variety of rich source material consisting of interviews, rare archival footage, historical manuscripts, and taped conversations between McNamara and the presidents he served. Backed by Philip Glass’ haunting original musical score, Morris presents a fascinating document about history, morality, and a man trapped by events he helped shape. (USA, 105 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

The Barbarian Invasions
Canada/France, 100 minutes
Denys Arcand directs.
Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau & Marie-Josée Croze star.
In this smart and touching film, Canadian writer-director Denys Arcand once again exhibits his unique blend of biting social satire and affectionate insight into our all-too-human nature. Re-uniting the characters (and original cast) from The Decline of the American Empire, Arcand revisits Rémy Girard and his circle of friends and lovers 17 years later. At the center is history professor Rémy, forced to confront matters of life and death. He carries on with brio, squabbling with his former wife and estranged son, drawing his unruly circle about him, still energetically clutching at life’s bittersweet pleasures and prickly problems with a grip that’s part fond embrace and part wrestling hold. With its wryly engaging group portrait and telling observations of modern life, Arcand’s refreshingly intelligent film rewards those who haven’t seen his prior work as richly as those who have. (Canada/France, 100 min. rated R, courtesy of Miramax Films)

Monsieur Ibrahim
France, 94 minutes
François Dupeyron directs.
Omar Sharif & Pierre Boulanger star.
Set in Paris during the early 1960s, 16-year-old Momo (Pierre Boulanger) is coming of age amidst the colorful denizens of his neighborhood, a seedy but vibrant red light district. He lives alone with his father, a remote man apparently unschooled in parenting basics. Equipped only with a radio blaring the latest American rock and roll and an inquisitive eye for the ladies, Momo is left largely to his own devices in negotiating approaching manhood. He soon finds support and love in an unlikely friend. In what may possibly be his most charming and memorable performance, Omar Sharif plays the title role of Monsieur Ibrahim, a worldly and wise neighborhood shopkeeper who has watched the boy grow up and now takes him under his wing. Together, the two embark on a rich emotional journey that will transform both their lives. Director Dupeyron and a marvelous cast present a deeply poignant and affecting reminiscence on the hope and promise of youth. (France, 94 min. rated R, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

Veronica Guerin
USA/Ireland/UK, 92 minutes
Joel Schumacher directs.
Cate Blanchett, Gerard McSorley & Ciarán Hinds star.
With this latest feature, director Joel Schumacher (Batman, Tigerland) offers a probing look at the gritty Irish underworld by exploring the true life story of a journalist who was murdered in her search for the truth. In the mid-1990s, Dublin was nothing short of a war zone, with a few powerful drug lords battling for control. Their most fearsome opponent, however, was not the police but the courageous journalist Veronica Guerin. Covering the crime beat with a ferocious intensity, she investigated and exposed the pushers, all the while balancing her responsibilities to home and family with those to readers and country. She became a national folk hero in Ireland, and each attempt on her life only galvanized her legend. Cate Blanchett gives a gripping, superlative performance as the altruistic, headstrong journalist while quietly underscoring the reporter’s sometimes reckless drive and personal motivations. (USA/Ireland/UK, 92 min. rated R, courtesy of Touchstone Pictures)

The Triplets of Belleville
France/Belgium/Canada, 81 minutes
Sylvain Chomet directs.
The spirits of Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and other animation anarchists are alive and kicking in this slyly humorous visual feast which swings to a nostalgic and decidedly quirky beat. Champion has trained all his life to be a cyclist; his sights are set on winning the Tour de France. Enter some dastardly and very Gallic archvillains. To the rescue, in a whimsical series of adventures, come his enterprising grandma, her canine sidekick, and the Triplets of Belleville, an aging 30s music hall act still gleefully performing on an eccentric range of instruments. From a cultural penchant for frog legs to Fred Astaire, this playfully bizarre universe teems with droll visual caricatures and homages. And all are meticulously rendered in a hand-drawn style reminiscent of classic French comics. Celebrating image, sound, and music to marvelous effect, Chomet’s virtually wordless debut offers a wonderfully uncanny adventure for adults. (France/Belgium/Canada, 81 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

21 Grams
USA, 125 minutes
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directs.
Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro & Naomi Watts star.
Following his Oscar®-nominated Amores Perros, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has again teamed with screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga Jordan for 21 Grams. This highly acclaimed film whose title is a reference to the amount of weight a person loses at the moment of death introduces Paul, Christina and Jack, three characters struggling emotionally with the weight of living in the wake of devastating losses. Suddenly, their lives are thrown together in a story that takes each of them to the heights of love, the depths of revenge, and the promise of redemption. Featuring a wonderfully complex narrative and brilliant, and much lauded, performances by Sean Penn, Naomi Watts and Benicio Del Toro, 21 Grams is a hauntingly elegant examination of life in our contemporary world. (USA, 125 min. rated R, courtesy of Focus Features)

Girl with a Pearl Earring
UK/Luxembourg, 95 minutes
Peter Webber directs.
Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth & Tom Wilkinson star.
Through the eyes of kitchen maid Griet (Scarlett Johansson), we are drawn into the world of the 16th century painter Johannes Vermeer (Colin Firth). As he struggles obsessively with his craft, Vermeer also must balance the interests of his miserly mother-in-law, his corruptly sensual patron (Tom Wilkinson), and his beautiful but unhappy wife. The illiterate Griet – unworldly and a world apart from Vermeer in social standing – nonetheless assists and enables the painter in unexpected ways. As she becomes a part of his work, their growing intimacy spreads disruption and jealousy within his ordered household and beyond. Based on Tracy Chevalier’s beloved novel, Peter Webber’s debut feature film is a splendid vision of the period that richly evokes a Vermeer painting with its textures and colors. (UK/Luxembourg, 95 min rated PG-13, courtesy of Lions Gate Films)

The Station Agent
USA, 88 minutes
Tom McCarthy directs.
A man of few words, Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) is obsessed with two things: trains and solitude. Events soon conspire to present him with the opportunity to immerse himself in both – a new home in an abandoned rural train depot. But the seclusion Fin longs for proves elusive as he’s reluctantly drawn into the lives of two other chronic loners, Olivia (Patricia Clarkson), a forty-year-old artist struggling with her failed marriage, and Joe (Bobby Cannavale), a garrulous hot dog vendor. Somehow, this oddball trio forges an unlikely bond, despite the fact that each struggles mightily against the urge to connect. In this impressive feature debut, director-writer Tom McCarthy and a truly marvelous cast weave a gently beguiling spell that is charming, humorous, dramatic, and infused with a sweet humanity. Voted Audience Favorite Feature at Aspen Filmfest 2003. (USA, 88 min. rated R, courtesy of Miramax Films)

Shattered Glass
USA, 89 minutes
Billy Ray directs.
Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny & Steve Zahn star.
In the mid-90s Stephen Glass was a staff writer at the New Republic and one of the most sought-after young journalists in Washington who also wrote freelance features for the likes of Rolling Stone, Harper’s and George. That is, until it was exposed that about two dozen of Glass’s published stories were partially or completely made up. In his directorial debut, screenwriter Billy Ray (Hart’s War) chronicles the unraveling of Glass’s life and career in an intense study of this talented but flawed young man. Hayden Christensen turns in a multi-dimensional performance, alternating seductive and malevolent as he portrays Glass’s final days at the magazine, attempting to cover his trail while editor Charles Lane (Peter Sarsgaard) and fellow journalist Adam Penenberg of rival Forbes.com (Steve Zahn) race to expose him. What results is an insider’s view of the practice of journalism – not only its vices of vanity and obsessiveness, but also the idealism and loyalty that makes this film a universally human drama. Also starring Hank Azaria and Chloe Sevigny. (USA, 89 min. rated PG-13, courtesy of Lions Gate Films)

Sylvia
UK/USA, 100 minutes
Christine Jeffs directs.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Craig, Blythe Danner & Michael Gambon star.
In her second feature, acclaimed New Zealand director Christine Jeffs (Rain) explores the nature of love, passion, and creativity through an examination of the life of poet and novelist Sylvia Plath. Beginning with her meeting fellow poet Ted Hughes, the film chronicles their intense seven-year relationship, from the romantic courtship through a turbulent marriage to bitter separation. Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow plays the brilliant, troubled writer during her most productive period, when Plath’s creativity would flow in frenzied nocturnal writing sprees, the only time the impoverished artist could free herself from motherly duties to her two children. Paltrow gives an astonishing performance that allows the viewers a thoughtful glimpse into the enigmatic poet’s personality. Jeffs honors her subject as a heroine, while remaining even-handed in her treatment of this complex and tragic love story. Daniel Craig, Blythe Danner and Michael Gambon also star. (UK/USA, 100 min. rated R, courtesy of Focus Features)

The Cooler
USA, 101 minutes
Wayne Kramer directs.
William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin & Maria Bello star.
Far from the theme park atmosphere of Vegas’s new strip, the Shangri-La casino stands as a relic of old Vegas, the original sin city. Moving from crap table to card game is Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), a man so bankrupt of good luck the casino uses him to cool gamblers on a hot streak. Lootz performs this task as part of an arrangement to pay off his debts. Nearing the end of his commitment, he meets Natalie (Maria Bello), an aging but attractive cocktail waitress. The two fall in love, and Bernie’s luck starts to change. However, his old-school Vegas boss Shelly Kaplow, shrewdly played by Alec Baldwin, does not feel that the casino can afford to lose its cooler. Featuring brilliant performances from the marquee cast, The Cooler is a love story, with a tinge of noir, focused on an endangered species at the bottom of the Vegas food chain. (USA, 101 min. rated R, courtesy of Lions Gate Films)