The Charles Theatre: Thursday, July 29, 2010 

Scroll down for all the films coming soon. Call 410-727-3456 to verify.
admission • discounts • list of all films



RESTREPO


Showtimes:
TBA



Filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington pay a visit to Afghanistan's Korengal Valley to spend a year with the Second Platoon, a besieged squadron who dubbed their stronghold Outpost Restrepo in honor of their fallen comrade PFC Juan Restrepo. An al-Qaeda and Taliban stronghold, Korengal Valley sees some of the fiercest fighting in the War on Terror. At Outpost Restrepo, every shot fired is personal, and every target hit a gift to a fallen friend.


 

MIC MAC


Showtimes:
TBA


From the director of Amelie....


An underground lair serves as the point of inspiration for this deeply whimsical fantasy comedy (with echoes of Jodorowsky's Rainbow Thief) from French cause célèbre Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie, The City of Lost Children). The locale is post-9/11 Europe. As arms dealers go head to head with one another in a series of violent skirmishes -- suggesting that an apocalyptic cataclysm may be lingering on the horizon -- the unfortunate Bazil (Dany Boon) still reels from the long-ago death of his father from a roadside bomb, an event that left him orphaned as a boy. Now employed in a low-paying job as a video-store clerk, and still trying to determine how he fits into the scheme of things, he gets hit by a stray bullet from a drive-by shooting and promptly lands in the hospital. Upon release, he finds himself broke and unemployed. Hope soon crops up, however, in the form of Placard (Jean-Pierre Marielle), an ex-convict living in a scrap dump with a motley group of social outcasts -- all of whom welcome Bazil with warmth, compassion, and hospitality. Sure of his place for the first time in his life, Bazil joins forces with them to turn the dump into a lovely underground home, filled to the rafters with extraordinary inventions and sculptures. Soon after, the possibility of revenge against the munitions manufacturers responsible for Bazil's dad's death presents itself.


 

KISSES


Showtimes:
TBA



From director Lance Daly ('Last Days in Dublin', 'The Halo Effect') comes the story of two young runaways living on the fringes of Dublin who discover both beauty and danger in the big city. Featuring two incredible breakthrough performances by Shane Curry and Kelly O'Neill, 'Kisses' is a tale of two children who test the limits of what life can become and in the process learn what they can do for each other. Kylie lives with 5 siblings and an overworked mother. Next door, Dylan is growing up with an abusive father and the memory of his runaway brother. One day, after a violent altercation with his father, Dylan and Kylie flee. Together they make their way to the magical lights of downtown Dublin to search for Dylan's brother and the hope of a new life. Dublin, as shown through the innocent eyes of our young protagonists, is a kaleidoscope of magic, wonder and mystery. But as the night wears on, Dublin takes on a darker character and the two children learn that they have to rely on the kindness of strangers and the sagely wisdom of Bob Dylan to persevere.


 

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED


Showtimes:
TBA



An abduction takes a number of unexpected turns in this independent thriller from Britain. Vic (Eddie Marsan) and Danny (Martin Compston) are a pair of ex-cons who spend several days elaborately soundproofing and reinforcing the walls of a small apartment. Vic is hard-edged and domineering with a fierce suspicious streak, while Danny is weak-willed and will do nearly anything Vic asks of him. We soon learn what Vic and Danny were planning as they grab a young woman off the street, take her back home and tie her to the bed. The young woman is named Alice Creed (Gemma Arterton), and she comes from a wealthy family; after taking some snapshots of her, Vic fires off a ransom demand to her father, asking for £2 million in exchange for Alice's safe return. Vic is convinced he's executing the perfect crime, but it becomes apparent that not everything is going as planned; Alice is smarter and more resourceful than he imagined, and Danny's allegiances can be manipulated in ways Vic never anticipated.


 

Wild Grass


Showtimes:
TBA



Alain Resnais, one of the towering figures of the French New Wave, demonstrates he still has plenty to say in this drama based on a novel by Christian Gailly. Marguerite (Sabine Azéma) is a successful dentist with a busy practice and an offbeat hobby, flying small airplanes. One day, while running errands, Marguerite loses her wallet, and it's found by Georges (André Dussollier), a seemingly happy man with a wife, Suzanne (Anne Consigny), and two children (Vladimir Consigny and Sara Forestier). As Georges looks through the wallet and examines the photos of Marguerite, he finds he's fascinated with her and her life, and soon his curiosity about her becomes an obsession. Georges' attempts to integrate himself into Marguerite's life begin to alarm her, and she hires a private security team (Mathieu Amalric and Michel Vuillermoz) to keep him away, but Georges is determined that his new love for her will not be denied. Les Herbes Folles (aka Wild Grass) received its world premiere at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival


 

FAREWELL


Showtimes:
TBA



In the vein of The Lives Of Others and based on an incredible true story, FAREWELL is an espionage film about events that changed history. In 1981, Colonel Grigoriev (Kusturica) of the KGB, disenchanted with the Communist ideal, decides he is going to change the world. Discreetly, he makes contact with Pierre (Canet), a French engineer working in Moscow and little by little passes on documents to him - mainly concerning the United States - containing information which would constitute the most important Cold War espionage operation known to date. During a period of two years, French President, Francois Mitterrand and US chief Ronald Reagan were to personally vet the documents supplied by this source in Moscow, to whom the French Secret Service gave the codename Farewell. Farewell smuggled out information that would cause ructions that sounded the death bell of the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall would fall before the end of the 80s. In his own way, Farewell managed to change the world, by avoiding traditional espionage methods too well known to the KGB and by not asking for any financial compensation whatsoever, much too capitalist for his taste. He simply followed his destiny, so that a new world might dawn for his fellow Russians, but especially for his son.


 

THE DRY LAND


Showtimes:
TBA



A soldier comes home from the war but can't find peace in his heart and mind in this independent drama. James (Ryan O'Nan) returns to his hometown in Texas after serving a long hitch in Iraq, and is warmly welcomed by his wife, Sara (America Ferrera), and best friend, Michael (Jason Ritter). However, his homecoming party is awkward and it's clear James is not the same as he was before he left. Sara's father, David (Benito Martinez), arranges for James to get a job working beside Michael at a meat processing plant, but when an argument with a co-worker turn violent, James' life goes into a tailspin and Sara leaves him. James still hasn't come to terms with his experiences in Iraq, and a reunion with one of his Army buddies, Raymond (Wilmer Valderrama), convinces him he needs to make contact with Henry (Diego Klattenhoff), a fellow soldier who was part of an incident that scarred them both. The Dry Land was the first feature film from writer and director Ryan Piers Williams, and received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.


 

LEBANON


Showtimes:
TBA



A handful of soldiers take a claustrophobic journey into the heart of war in this drama from Israeli writer and director Samuel Maoz. It's June 1982, and Israel is launching an invasion of Lebanon. Four men assigned to take part in the first strike are put on the same tank detail -- Assi (Itay Tiran) is the commanding officer, Shmulik (Yoab Donat) is a gunner new to the outfit, Hertzel (Oshri Cohen) keeps the weapons loaded, and Yigal (Michael Moshonov) drives the machine. After being given their orders by Jamil (Zohar Strauss), the men set out towards the Lebanese border, recognizing little of what goes on outside beyond what can be seen through Yigal's tiny window; they occasionally stop to help fellow Israelis hurt in battle, but for the most part, they roll relentlessly onward, occasionally arguing amongst themselves, until they arrive at their destination, a town already bombed into rubble by the Israeli Air Force. Few of their allies remain in the city, putting the soldiers in a perilous situation when a band of Syrian resistance fighters lay siege to the tank. Levanon (aka Lebanon) was an official selection at the 2009 Venice International Film Festival.


 

A FILM UNFINISHED


Showtimes:
TBA



Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.


 

HOWL


Showtimes:
TBA



It's San Francisco in 1957, and an American masterpiece is put on trial. Howl, the film, recounts this dark moment using three interwoven threads: the tumultuous life events that led a young Allen Ginsberg to find his true voice as an artist, society's reaction (the obscenity trial), and mind-expanding animation that echoes the startling originality of the poem itself. All three coalesce in a genre-bending hybrid that brilliantly captures a pivotal moment-the birth of a counterculture.


 

JACK GOES BOATING


Showtimes:
TBA



Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his feature directorial debut with this romantic comedy adapted from Bob Glaudini's off-Broadway play. In addition to directing, Hoffman assumes the role of the titular stoner, who falls in love with another pothead named Connie (Amy Ryan). The supporting cast includes John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega, both of whom reprise their original stage roles.


 

Restored Print

BRIGHTON ROCK


Showtimes:
Saturday, July 31 - Noon; Monday, August 2 - 7 PM; Thursday, August 5 - 9PM.


1947 John Boulting. Richard Attenborough, Carol Marsh, Hermione Baddeley, William Hartnell. Based on the novel by Graham Greene. 86 m.


On a sunny Whitsun bank holiday at the slightly tacky seaside resort of Brighton (the title refers to a local hard candy), people are dancing to the bands on the pier, and the shooting galleries, souvenir stands, and tea rooms are packed with day-trippers. But “Kolly Kibber,” busy caching newspaper giveaway cards around town, keeps looking over his shoulder for Richard Attenborough’s mystical psycho “Pinkie,” razor-wielding teenage head of a racecourse gang (“one of the most vicious pieces of work to ever slink across a cinema screen” – Total Film), so ruthless that he’d actually (yecch!) marry naïve, underage waitress Carol Marsh just to tie up a crime’s loose end. But blowsy blonde Hermione Baddeley keeps asking all these questions. The Boulting Brothers’ (John alternated with identical twin Roy as director and producer) adaptation of Graham Greene’s serious thriller was scripted by the author himself, after he was dissatisfied with Terence Rattigan’s first, happily-ended draft. Breakthrough starring screen role for future Oscar-winning director (Gandhi) Attenborough, who had played the same role on stage four years earlier (see also: 10 Rillington Place) — plus dazzling location shooting, with crowds of seemingly unseeing holiday-goers in the background of chase scenes across major intersections; but also with the blackest of Noir treatments for this darkest of British Noirs (Film Forum)