Now Playing Synopsis: Nine years after Before Sunset, their highly-regarded sequel to Before Sunrise, director Richard Linklater reteams with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy for Before Midnight, which finds their characters together raising twin daughters. Jesse (Hawke) attempts to maintain a relationship with Hank, his teenage son from his first marriage, but their bond is strained even though Hank has just spent the summer with his dad and step-family. Meanwhile, Celine (Delpy) must make a difficult decision about her career. As with Before Sunset, Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy share credit for the screenplay. Before Midnight screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival as well as the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Prior, Charlotte Prior Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

Opens Friday, Jun 21, 2013 Synopsis: Two very different men trying to restart their lives strike up a friendship in this independent drama from writer and director Chad Hartigan. Martin Bonner (Paul Eenhoorn) is in his late fifties and newly single after a painful divorce that has cost him nearly all his savings. Looking for a fresh start, Martin has relocated to Reno, NV, where he lands a job with a charitable organization that helps recently released convicts transition to productive lives on the outside. When not busy with work, Martin referees children's soccer games, tries to repair his relationships with his adult son and daughter, and buys and sells knickknacks on eBay, and if he sometimes seems puzzled by the nuts and bolts of his new life, he also seems to have achieved some sort of peace of mind. Martin's organization has been working with Travis (Richmond Arquette), who spent twelve years in prison after killing someone while driving drunk; Travis doesn't feel comfortable with Steve (Robert Longstreet), a counselor who is well-meaning but frequently proselytizes about his faith, but he finds a kindred spirit in Martin. As Martin and Travis get to know one another, they each find themselves learning about the hard work of starting a new life following traumatic circumstances. This Is Martin Bonner received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the Next Audience Award. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Robert Longstreet, Sam Buchanan, Demetrius Grosse Movie Details Movie Review

Opens Friday, Sep 13, 2013 Synopsis: A woman is faced with an ethical paradox if she wants to repair her failing marriage in this drama from director Andrew Dosunmu. Adenike (Danai Gurira) is a Yoruba woman who has left West Africa for Brooklyn, New York, and has just married a fellow emigrant, restaurateur Ayodele (Isaach De Bankole). Ayodele is eager to have children, and at their wedding, his mother (Bukky Ajayi) even names their first child George. However, a year and a half later, Adenike has been unable to conceive, even though the couple has been trying regularly. Ayodele is growing increasingly frustrated with his wife, and Adenike isn't sure where to turn. When Adenike confides to her sister-in-law Sade (Yaya Alafia) about her troubles and the toll they've taken on her peace of mind, Sade makes a surprising suggestion -- she's convinced the problem lies with Ayodele, not Adenike, and that his brother Biyi (Tony Okungbowa) could be persuaded to step in and help. Mother Of George received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Cast: Danai Gurira, Isaach de Bankolé, Yaya Alafia, Anthony Okungbowa, Bukky Ajayi Movie Details Movie Review

Now Playing Synopsis: If there is a consensus about anything among environmental activists, it's that's nuclear power is dangerous, and its tremendous downsides cancel out any possible advantages as a source of energy. Or at least that's how most people see the issue. The truth is there is a small but growing number of environmental experts who believe that despite well-known disasters such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, it is possible to generate safe and cost-effective power using nuclear materials with a minimum of waste and without the inefficiencies of renewable methods such as wind and solar, which at current levels cannot meet public demand. A handful of leading voices in the environmental movement, among them Stewart Brand, Gwyneth Cravens, Richard Rhodes, and Michael Shellenberger, are now promoting nuclear power as a "green" energy source, and filmmaker Robert Stone (who presented a history of the ecology movement in the film Earth Days) gives them a chance to present their side of the argument in the documentary Pandora's Promise. The film received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Cast: Stewart Brand, Mark Lynas, Michael Shellenberger Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

Now Playing Synopsis: Filmmaker Morgan Neville pays homage to some of the greatest vocalists you've never heard of in this documentary. While the lead singers in rock, pop, and R&B are the ones who get the glory, knowledgeable music fans will tell you the backing vocalists often add the touches that make a performance truly memorable, and though many backup singers have the respect of their peers in the music business, they're all but unknown to the average listener. Twenty Feet From Stardom pays homage to some of these unsung heroes, including Darlene Love (the uncredited lead voice on some of Phil Spector's most memorable productions of the 1960s), Merry Clayton (who contributed a striking vocal cameo on the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter", Lisa Fischer (who has appeared on albums by Sting, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin, as well as touring with the Rolling Stones, and the Waters Family (they sang with Michael Jackson on the album {^Thriller} and lent their voices to the films The Lion King and Avatar). The film also includes interviews with such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Mick Jagger on the role backing vocalists play in music and the music business, while a number of veteran singers share their stories of the ups and downs of their careers. Twenty Feet From Stardom received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

Opens Friday, Jun 14, 2013 Synopsis: Filmmaker Morgan Neville pays homage to some of the greatest vocalists you've never heard of in this documentary. While the lead singers in rock, pop, and R&B are the ones who get the glory, knowledgeable music fans will tell you the backing vocalists often add the touches that make a performance truly memorable, and though many backup singers have the respect of their peers in the music business, they're all but unknown to the average listener. Twenty Feet From Stardom pays homage to some of these unsung heroes, including Darlene Love (the uncredited lead voice on some of Phil Spector's most memorable productions of the 1960s), Merry Clayton (who contributed a striking vocal cameo on the Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter", Lisa Fischer (who has appeared on albums by Sting, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin, as well as touring with the Rolling Stones, and the Waters Family (they sang with Michael Jackson on the album {^Thriller} and lent their voices to the films The Lion King and Avatar). The film also includes interviews with such superstars as Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, and Mick Jagger on the role backing vocalists play in music and the music business, while a number of veteran singers share their stories of the ups and downs of their careers. Twenty Feet From Stardom received its world premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

Now Playing Synopsis: A family crisis puts a young woman in a difficult position in this drama from Israeli filmmaker Rama Burshtein. Esther (Renana Raz) is the daughter of an Orthodox Rabbi who follows her father's faith, and she and her husband Yochay (Yiftach Klein) are happy to soon be welcoming their first child into the world. Joy turns to sorrow when Esther dies in childbirth; Yochay is devastated, and despite their own heartache, her mother Rivka (Irit Sheleg) and younger sister Shira (Hadas Yaron) step forward to help the widower look after his newborn son. Esther's father Rabbi Aharon (Chaim Sharir) counsels Yochay that it would be best for him and his young son if he remarried as soon as he feels capable, but finding a fit mother is no simple task. Rivka comes up with what she feels is a perfect solution -- an arranged marriage between Yochay and Shira, who has already grown fond of the baby. Yochay isn't sure he's comfortable with wedding his sister-in-law, and Shira feels no better about it, preferring to save herself for a virgin like herself, but the demands of her family may weigh more strongly than her own desires. Lemale et ha'chalal (aka Fill the Void) received its American premiere at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Cast: Hadas Yaron, Yiftach Klein, Irith Sheleg, Chaim Sharir, Razia Israeli Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

...heart of "On the Ice," a thriller filmed in Barrow, Alaska, in 2010 with novice Inupiat actors. The 2011 Sundance Film festival entry will make its theatrical premiere Friday in New York and the Alaska cities of Anchorage and Fairbanks...

Now Playing Synopsis: Award-winning filmmaker Steve James delivers another powerful look at life in urban America with this documentary. As gang violence became more common (and deadly) in the city of Chicago, social workers, activists, and educators founded a group called CeaseFire in 2000 to help curb the tide of aggression. CeaseFire's counselors work with at-risk youth in communities heavily impacted by violence to teach them that there are better ways to resolve personal conflicts than with guns, believing that the biggest problem isn't gangs but the notion of violent retribution so deeply ingrained in their culture. Many of CeaseFire's volunteers have backgrounds in youth gangs and understand all too well the lives of the people they work with, and in The Interrupters James spends a year following a handful of CeaseFire activists as they try to educate teenagers about the true consequences of gun violence one person at a time, sometimes with immediate success, sometimes with frustrating results. The Interrupters received its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Cast: Eddie Bocanegra, Ameena Matthews, Ricardo Williams, Tio Hardiman, Gary Slutkin Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review

Now Playing Synopsis: Eddie Guerriero and Mitch Deprey were a pair of bohemian punk rock fans who moved from the Midwest to San Francisco in 1987, renting a decaying apartment in the lower Haight. Eddie and Mitch soon became fascinated with their neighbors, two elderly men who were also sharing an apartment and whose drunken, foul-mouthed tirades went on day and night. While they rarely met them face to face, Eddie and Mitch got to know snippy Peter and growling Raymond very well as their verbal battles bled through the walls. In time, Eddie and Mitch began recording Peter and Raymond's rants and passed cassettes of edited highlights to their friends. The hilarious and harrowing recordings developed a cult following among collectors of off the wall humor, and with the rise of the internet, the recordings began circulating around the world, far beyond Eddie and Mitch's ability to control their path. When the tapes became the inspiration for comic books, short films theater pieces, Eddie and Mitch found themselves at odds about how to capitalize on the viral phenomenon, while Peter and Raymond were largely oblivious to their strange notoriety. Filmmaker Matthew Bate examines the story of four men and their curious brush with semi-fame in Shut Up Little Man!: An Audio Misadventure. The film was an official selection at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Movie Details Play Trailer Movie Review