Showtimes: Saturday 12:00. Monday 7:00. Thursday 9:00.

1955 Dir. Nicholas Ray. James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, Jim Backus, Ann Doran, William Hopper, Dennis Hopper, Edward Platt. 111m. Color. Cinemascope.

Nicholas Ray's moving 1955 tale of teenage romanticism thwarted by an adult world of televisions and atomic bombs established James Dean as America's first underage icon. Dean's alienation is perfectly expressed through Ray's vertiginous mise-en-scene: the suburban LA setting becomes a land of decaying Formica and gothic split-levels. An unmissable film, made with a delirious compassion. (Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader)

Showtimes: Friday 2:20, 4:40, 7:00, 9:45. Saturday & Sunday 11:45, 2:20, 4:40, 7:00, 9:45.

2007, USA. Dir: Tom McCarthy. Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass. 105 min. Rated PG-13.

Having lost his passion for teaching and writing, 62-year-old Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) fills the void by trying to learn to play classical piano. Sent to Manhattan to attend a conference, Walter is surprised to find a young couple has taken up residence in his apartment. Victims of a real estate scam, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman), a Syrian man, and Zainab (Danai Gurira), his Senegalese girlfriend, have nowhere else to go. In the first of a series of tests of the heart, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him. Touched by his kindness, the talented Tarek insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum. The instrument's exuberant rhythms revitalize Walter's faltering spirit and open his eyes to a vibrant world of local jazz clubs and Central Park drum circles. When Tarek is arrested as an undocumented citizen and held for deportation, Walter finds himself compelled to help his new friend with a passion he thought he had long ago lost.

Showtimes: Friday 2:00 4:40, 7:15, 9:50. Saturday & Sunday 11:40, 2:00 4:40, 7:15, 9:50.

2007, Russia/Germany. Dir: Sergei Bodrov. Asano Tadanobu, Khulan Chuluun, Honglei Sun. 126 min. Rated R.

Award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) illuminates the life and legend of Genghis Khan. Based on leading scholarly accounts, his stunning historical epic delves into the dramatic and harrowing early years of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the future conqueror is revealed not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader. In a performance of powerful stillness and subtlety, celebrated young Japanese actor Asano Tadanobu (Zatoichi, Last Life in the Universe) captures the inner fire that enabled a hunted boy to become a legendary conqueror. Masterfully blending action and emotion against some of the most arresting terrain on earth, Bodrov delivers an exciting and awe-inspiring tale of survival and triumph, and a love story for the ages. Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

Showtimes: Friday 2:10, 4:30, 7:10, 9:40. Saturday & Sunday 11:50, 2:10, 4:30, 7:10, 9:40.

2007, Canada. Dir: Yung Chang. 95 min. Not Rated.

In China, it is simply known as "The River." But the Yangtze—and the life that surrounds it—is undergoing a truly spectacular transformation wrought by the biggest hydroelectric dam in history, the Three Gorges Project. From the vantage point of a luxury "farewell cruise" that wends its way up the River, we are witness to the dramatic shift: peasant families are forced to relocate their entire lives as floodwaters steadily engulf their villages; young tour-boat employees warily grasp at a more prosperous future; Western tourists catch a final glimpse of a disappearing culture. Returning to the scene of his grandfather's riverbank youth, Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Yung Chang has crafted a singularly moving and cinematically breathtaking depiction of contemporary China and a disquieting glance into a future that awaits us all.

Showtimes: Friday 2:15, 4:50, 7:30, 9:50. Saturday & Sunday 11:45, 2:15, 4:50, 7:30, 9:50.

2008, Australia/China. Dir: Roger Spottiswoode. Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, David Wenham. 125 min. Rated R.

War-torn China in the 1930s is the setting for an epic based on true events. The drama centers on young English journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an American nurse (Radha Mitchell) and the leader of a Chinese partisan group (Chow Yun Fat) who meet in desperate and unexpected circumstances. Together they rescue 60 orphaned children, leading them on an extraordinary journey across hundreds of miles of treacherous terrain, through snow-covered mountains and an unforgiving desert.

Showtimes: Friday & Saturday 2:30, 4:45, 7:20, 9:30. Sunday 12:10, 2:30, 4:45, 7:20, 9:30.

2008, USA. Dir: Steve Conrad. Seann William Scott, John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor, Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, Bobby Cannavale, Rick Gonzalez, Chris Conrad. 90 min. Rated R.

John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott lend their deft comedic touch to the story of Doug and Richard, two mid-level Chicago supermarket employees who compete ruthlessly for a coveted managerial post at a new store location. Doug and Richard could not be more different, but going head-to-head in a contest of wits and will reveals how they have more in common than they once suspected.