A new month brings new movies to us film buffs. Let’s see what the beginning of October brings us!
Quick Peek
Coming to DVD/Blu-Ray–Tuesday, October 2
Grassroots
Peace, Love and Misunderstanding
Dark Shadows
Iron Sky
People Like Us
Sound of My Voice
Coming to Theaters–Friday, October 5
Taken 2
Frankenweenie
Pitch Perfect
The Paperboy
VHS
The House I Live In
The Oranges
Butter
Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
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Full Descriptions and Trailers
Coming to DVD–Tuesday
Grassroots
It’s 2001 before Twitter, before the flash mob and before Obama. A political unknown named Grant Cogswell (Joel David Moore) decides he must take down Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver (Cedric the Entertainer). Grant has only one dream, but it?s a big one: an elegant monorail gliding silently above the city’s wet streets, with only a tiny footprint – “like a kids’ lemonade stand!” – on the ground. He is apoplectic with rage over McIver’s mass transit proposal: a ground rail train he thinks will destroy lower class neighborhoods, wreak environmental harm on the local salmon population, and destroy the city. Grant has no campaign contributors, a tendency toward outbursts of profanity, and a snowball’s chance in hell – until he lures recently fired alternative-weekly reporter Phil Campbell (Jason Biggs) to run his campaign. Phil may be a political neophyte, but he has the tact that Grant lacks and a ‘what- the-hell-I-haven’t-got-anything-better-to-do’ attitude…until he recruits an army of wild-eyed young volunteers to back their unlikely crusade, and the impossible begins to happen.
Peace, Love & Misunderstanding
Diane (Cathernie Keener)is a conservative lawyer who, after splitting with her husband, takes her two teenage children, Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen) and Jake (Nat Wolff) to meet their estranged, eccentric grandmother Grace (Jane Fonda), the epitome of the term “free spirit” who lives in Woodstock, NY. Her personality was always so immense Diane felt there was rarely any room for anyone else. The film playfully depicts a string of new beginnings founded in letting go of the past. Diane isn’t sure what she came to Woodstock for, but what she finds is an open offer of motherly solace, the chance to bond with her children and perhaps the opportunity to open her heart to someone new. She meets a carpenter/singer/songwriter named Jude (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). He’s handsome, generous, impulsive, and really corny. He also clearly adores her. But is Diane ready for romance? Meanwhile her daughter also meets a local (Chace Crawford) who she connects with.
Dark Shadows
Transformed into a vampire and entombed for 200 years after betraying vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green), 18th century fishing magnate Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) returns to Collinwood Manor in 1972, only to find his once proud estate in ruins and his family plagued by macabre secrets. It was the year 1752 when Barnabas’ parents came to America to expand their business empire. But after establishing the thriving New England fishing town of Collinsport, the family experienced a series of misfortunes when Barnabas fell for the gorgeous Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcoate) and cast aside beautiful witch Angelique, who cursed him with eternal life and buried him deep in the earth. Returning home to Collinwood Manor after being dug up by a construction crew in 1972, Barnabas learns that Angelique has nearly driven his family out of business, and turned the townspeople against them. Determined matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) employs live-in psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter) and enchanting governess Victoria Winters (Heathcoate) to try and help young David Collins (Gully McGrath) get over the mysterious death of his beloved mother, but as Barnabas gets acquainted with his distant ancestors — including Elizabeth’s black-sheep brother Roger (Jonny Lee Miller) and headstrong teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz) — their suffering weighs heavily on his shoulders. Later, when Angelique learns that Barnabas has returned on a mission to restore his family to its former glory and fallen for the radiant Victoria (who is actually Josette reincarnate), she vows to make his suffering unimaginable if he should dare refuse her once again. Jackie Earle Haley, Bella Heathcote, and Gulliver McGrath co-star.
Iron Sky
In the last moments of World War II, a secret Nazi space program evaded destruction by fleeing to the Dark Side of the Moon. During 70 years of utter secrecy, the Nazis construct a gigantic space fortress with a massive armada of flying saucers.
When American astronaut James Washington (Christopher Kirby) puts down his Lunar Lander a bit too close to the secret Nazi base, the Moon Fuhrer (Udo Kier) decides the glorious moment of retaking the Earth has arrived sooner than expected. Washington claims the mission is just a publicity stunt for the President of the United States (Stephanie Paul), but what else could the man be but a scout for the imminent attack by Earth forces? The Fourth Reich must act!
Two Nazi officers, ruthless Klaus Adler (Gotz Otto) and idealistic Renate Richter (Julia Dietze), travel to Earth to prepare the invasion. In the end when the Moon Nazi UFO armada darkens the skies, ready to strike at the unprepared Earth, every man, woman and nation alike, must re-evaluate their priorities.
People Like Us
From DreamWorks Pictures comes ‘People Like Us,’ a drama/comedy about family, inspired by true events, starring Chris Pine (‘Star Trek’) as Sam, a twenty-something, fast-talking salesman, whose latest deal collapses on the day he learns that his father has suddenly died. Against his wishes, Sam is called home, where he must put his father’s estate in order and reconnect with his estranged family. In the course of fulfilling his father’s last wishes, Sam uncovers a startling secret that turns his entire world upside down: He has a 30-year-old sister Frankie whom he never knew about (Elizabeth Banks). As their relationship develops, Sam is forced to rethink everything he thought he knew about this family–and re-examine his own life choices in the process.
Sound of My Voice
In ‘Sound of My Voice,’ Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius), a couple and documentary filmmaking team, infiltrate a mysterious group led by an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (Brit Marling). Intent on exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the followers from her grip, Peter and Lorna start to question their objective and each other as they unravel the secrets of Maggie’s underworld.
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Coming to Theaters–Friday
Taken 2
In Istanbul, retired CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife are taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper Mills killed while rescuing his daughter.
Frankenweenie
Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.
Pitch Perfect
Beca, a freshman at Barden University, is cajoled into joining The Bellas, her school’s all-girls singing group. Injecting some much needed energy into their repertoire, The Bellas take on their male rivals in a campus competition.
The Paperboy
A reporter returns to his Florida hometown to investigate a case involving a death row inmate.
V/H/S
When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for.
The House I Live In
From the dealer to the narcotics officer, the inmate to the federal judge, a penetrating look inside America’s criminal justice system, revealing the profound human rights implications of U.S. drug policy.
The Oranges
The enduring friendship between the Walling and Ostroff families is tested when Nina, the prodigal Ostroff daughter, returns home for the holidays after a five-year absence and enters into an affair with David, head of the Walling family.
Butter
In small-town Iowa, an adopted girl discovers her talent for butter carving and finds herself pitted against an ambitious local woman in their town’s annual contest.
Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare
An investigative documentary that uncovers the U.S. healthcare system’s true design.
