Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen – (PG13) Sam Witwicky again joins with the Autobots against their sworn enemies, the Decepticons. (Opened Wednesday June 24, 2009)
My Sister’s Keeper – (PG-13) After their daughter is stricken with leukemia, a couple conceives a younger sister who can provide a donor match, but the family is torn apart when, after years of medical procedures, the healthy younger sibling sues her parents for the right to decide how her body is used.
Cheri – (R) It is turn of the century in Belle Epoque Paris and a scandalous romp is underfoot. The tale begins as the ravishing Lea contemplates retirement from her renowned stature as Paris’s most envied seductress to the rich and famous. Her plans are cut short when she is approached by a former courtesan and arch rival, the barb-throwing gossip Charlotte Peloux, who encourages Lea to teach her disaffected 19 year-old son a thing or two about women. The resulting escapades involve power struggles over sex, money, age and society — and unexpectedly, love itself — as a boy who refuses to grow up collides with a woman who realizes she cannot stay young forever.
The Hurt Locker – (R) In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge of Bravo Company are at the volatile center of the war, part of a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that account for more than half of American hostile deaths and have killed thousands of Iraqis. A high-pressure, high-stakes assignment, the job leaves no room for mistakes, as they learn when they lose their team leader on a mission. When Staff Sergeant William James takes over the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are never reliable for long. Is James really a swaggering cowboy who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the margin of error is zero – or is he a consummate professional who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision? As the fiery chaos of Baghdad swirls around them, the men struggle to understand and contain their new leader long enough for them to make it home. They have only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster will strike.
Life is Hot in Cracktown – (R) The gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday. Marybeth is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married. Manny works two jobs: the late shift in an all night bodega surrounded by young junkies, drug dealers and prostitutes, and as a security guard in a Welfare hotel. At home his wife, Concetta, takes care of his sick infant son and makes their grimy rundown apartment as much of a home as she can. Willy, ten years old, lives in the Welfare hotel with his sister, mother and her violent boyfriend. Willy begs on the street so he and Susie can buy some fast food to eat. Romeo, a street tough, roams the streets with his gang. Upset over the murder of his younger brother, and feeling partially responsible for not being there during the shooting, he terrorizes anyone who comes in his path. These four stories come together in a powerful climax of love and salvation, showing that despite the obstacles of life in the inner-city, humanity and hope can still prevail. Based on Buddy Giovinazzo’s best-selling novel, “Life is Hot in Cracktown,” the vignettes show how crack cocaine has infiltrated the streets of urban America.
Quiet Chaos – (NR) Pietro is a successful executive, happily married and father of a 10-year old daughter, Claudia. One day, after having saved the lives of two women who were drowning, he arrives home only to discover his wife has suddenly died. From that moment on his life changes radically. Pietro takes Claudia to school on her first day back and decides spontaneously to wait for her until classes are over. He sits in his car, wanders in the park and has coffee at a nearby cafe.
for the dozens of fans that showed up. The novel is Conrad’s first attempt at professional writing.
