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He launched a host of today’s comedy superstars in the ‘90s on the HBO series Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam. Now, Russell Simmons returns to the network for All Def Comedy, taped before a live audience Sept. 7 at the Avalon Theatre in Los Angeles. Hosted by Tony Rock, with DJ Drama, the uncensored special features stand-up performances in a variety of styles from up-and-coming comics, discovered at ADD’s weekly comedy showcase: Chris Powell, Zainab Johnson, Kevin Tate, and Robert Powell, as well as HBO’s Def Comedy Jam veteran Tony Roberts.
Paul “OtaKing” Johnson drops a real treat in the form of this “Star Wars: TIE Fighter” animated short. Complete with appropriately radical electric guitar solos and impressive attention to detail, “TIE Fighter” casts the forces of the Galactic Empire not in the role of disposable cannon fodder seen in the Star Wars films, but as near-suicidally reckless angels of death. Johnson animated this 7-minute short over the course of “four years’ worth of weekends,” and his love and attention-to-detail shows.
Eight-year-old Cal desperately craves attention from her childish father, and is prone to running away. John is a lonely widower whose life is filled with fear. When they meet one weekend in the shining woods of New England, their lives change forever.
A weekend trip to the woods for a bachelorette party turns deadly when a nearby train accident causes a chemical reaction that overtakes the secluded valley. But waiting out the disaster inside could prove to be just as dangerous as being outdoors.
Little Rebekah is fascinated by the man her neighbors call Jesus and she wants to hear all he has to say. But her mother, Sarah, wants Rebekah to keep her distance from the man some call Master and others label a heretic. Sarah has heard rumors that some factions wish to harm Jesus of Nazareth. But Rebekah is persistent, and one day she brings Jesus home to meet her mother and grandfather – a simple act that will forever change all their lives.
The prestigious Danish filmmaker Bille August, winner of an Academy Award and two Palme d’Or in Cannes, returns with a highly personal drama. Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother’s decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.
An intimate portrait of a group of very different suicide bombers working for Al Qaeda in Syria. From the Saudi who loves singing and fried chicken, to a 26-year-old white British convert who worries a lot about his new wife, this remarkable film embeds with an unlikely bunch of “martyrdom seekers”, each waiting for their turn to go on a final mission, known by Jihadis as ‘Dugma’.
In 1974, 24 year-old Francis Wetherbee, a bank teller who is the subject of small-town envy and gossip, disappears from her hometown of Smithville, Texas two weeks after her fiance’s bank is robbed. Her car is dredged from the bottom of a local river but it yields no clues. After a vigorous but futile search for the missing woman, the authorities give up, and Francis recedes into legend–until the case is revisited nearly 40 years later when key figures in her life come forward with theories and clues surrounding her disappearance. The film then morphs from documentary style to narrative as the odyssey of Francis’ life unfolds for the audience and the truth is revealed.
The story takes place within Neo Tokyo in the year 2025, five years after a severe terrorist attack at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Students possessing special abilities are forced into serving an elite anti-terrorist unit created by the United Nations, fighting against threats including other ability users. If these agents fail their mission, they will be killed along with their families, who have bombs planted within their heads. One member of this covert ops unit, a Swedish girl by the name of Anthea Kallenberg, seeks to find who she really is.
Pong is a high-school geek who belongs to a group of high school outcasts known as the “Invisibles”, and enjoys letting his imagination run wild by drawing cartoons. May-Who is also one of the “Invisibles” and has an extraordinary secret: an ability to discharge electricity like a Tesla coil. Whenever her heart beats faster than 120 beats per minute her body releases a powerful electricity charge. Pong accidentally learns about this and promises to keep it a secret in exchange for helping each other win over their own high-school crushes.
A look at the War on Terror and the threat it’s causing to our civil liberties and political discourse. Academy Award nominee James Cromwell presents Janek Ambros’ directorial debut. The feature doc tackles the War on Terror’s impact on civil liberties and the strange coalition it’s creating between the progressive left and libertarian right. The doc examines the NSA, drones, the war on journalism and other encroachments on civil liberties started by the Bush era and expanded by the Democratic establishment.
One week before proposing to his girlfriend, Kyle, a down-on-his-luck romantic, discovers that she’s been sleeping with another man. Unemployed, saddled with debt, and depressed, Kyle embarks on a funny yet affecting journey to recovery that involves living in his car, bottom-of-the-barrel jobs, therapy, online dating, and Kyle’s own wild, fantastical, and snarky imagination.
Captain Grace Garland (Mumford), a decorated U.S. veteran, returns home after two tours of Search and Rescue in Afghanistan. After being separated from her beloved K9 partner, Grace must rediscover the magic of Christmas. When she finds herself stranded in the town of River’s Crossing a couple weeks before Christmas, the local judge, Joe Peterson (Faris), offers her a place to stay on his property and takes it upon himself to show Grace everything she has been missing; Christmas, family, community, and love.
It’s Jolie’s (Burton) first time going back home to Louisiana since her devastating break-up with Foster Burke). Seeing him is inevitable as their parents run the town’s annual Christmas Market together, but when she discovers Foster is bringing home a new girlfriend, Jolie cannot bear the thought of going home alone and seeing them together. Her best friend Naomi (Ackles) suggests that Jolie bring her flaky brother, Jack (Buckley), home for Christmas as he has no plans this year. Jolie, a professional web designer, is hesitant; so, Naomi, a lawyer, creates a Christmas contract to give them both something they want—a buffer for those awkward moments around Jolie’s ex and a website to help sell Jack’s upcoming novel. Unbeknownst to them, the Christmas contract proves to be so much more than what they signed up for.
Shy 18-year-old Misty (Misty Mundae) is staying with her aunt Inga (Julian Wells) for a week in the country. Naïve and innocent, yet on the verge of sexual discovery, Misty wants to learn all she can from her seductive aunt about the desires that have begun to stir within her. Misty loses her virginity to the teenage boy next door, and it whets her appetite for further sensual adventures. So when she discovers that Inga prefers the company of beautiful women, it unleashes Misty’s deepest yearnings to see and experience each and every pleasure that lies at her fingertips. How far will Misty go…and with whom?
When Elliot, a brash 23-year-old living carefree in New York City, meets the sensible Mia and receives a damning diagnosis all in the same week, his world is turned completely upside down. But as their love blossoms amidst the chaos of his treatment, they discover that Elliot’s illness is not the real test of their relationship – it’s everything else.
A hapless man seeking treatment for his crippling back pain discovers a very unusual talent and unexpected love.
On the beaches of Kenya they’re known as “Sugar Mamas” — European women who seek out African boys selling love to earn a living. Teresa, a 50-year-old Austrian and mother of a daughter entering puberty, travels to this vacation paradise. She goes from one Beach Boy to the next, from one disappointment to the next and finally she must recognize: On the beaches of Kenya love is a business.
A Greek shopkeeper discovers something about his family’s past when his mother embraces an Albanian worker.
DHL Founder and billionaire Larry Hillblom seemed to have vanished into thin air when he failed to return from a routine flight in his vintage Seabee over the Pacific. After his disappearance, a dark side of Larry emerged. Even before he was officially declared dead, bar girls throughout Southeast Asia came forward claiming to have had children by Larry and seeking a piece of his vast fortune. BILLIONAIRE unravels the secretive and scandalous life of this enigmatic and reclusive tycoon. The battle over his estate took on epic proportions, pitting impoverished, teenage prostitutes against Larry’s former business associates and several of the largest law firms in the world. In the end it is a David and Goliath story, as a surprising hero emerges to untangle the web and discover the startling truth.
Look around you for items marked ‘Made in the USA’. How many items did you find? Could the loss of manufacturing jobs be a vital reason why our economy is struggling? Does ‘Made in the USA’ mean anything anymore? After witnessing the tragic effects caused by a factory shutdown in his hometown of Ravenswood, WV, Josh Miller takes off across the country for 30 days on an epic journey into the heart of America seeking to discover the answers to these questions.
A womanizing yet lovable loser, Charlie, a waiter in his early 30’s who dreams of selling his book entitled “7 STEPS OF HEALING THE MALE BROKEN HEART” finds himself still working in restaurants to survive in the Big Apple. Low on cash, he’s left with no other choice but to look for a roommate to share his tiny studio. Surprisingly, the first person to answer the ad is his ex and only love of his life Pam, who broke his heart and disappeared without reason and the inspiration behind his book. The Pam he remembered was a youthful spirit with lots of money who is now broke and disheveled. A new story begins and it is up to Charlie to find out why she ran out on him and what’s happened to her over the past three years. With a potential new love in his life, he must gather the strength to help Pam get back on her feet without rekindling old feelings.
A couple of college students decide to sign up for pharmaceutical testing of a new allergy drug to make some extra cash for their spring break trip. They quickly discover their two week stay will not be as easy as they first believed and fight to save themselves from the grips of the facility.
This “Best Fiction Film Winner”* follows Valentine, a female assassin who is trapped in a room with one of her marks during the last few minutes of his life. The moment changes her own life as she vows to give up the business and seek redemption by finding the son of the man she has killed. But once in the small desert town of “Godfree”, which may or may not be stranger than the world she has just left, her old life returns to haunt her. Convinced she has joined forces with an elusive ex-assassin named “Cupid”, her former comrades hunt her down and soon discover that some things are not what they appear…. *Hollywood Documentary And Fiction Film Festival (2006)
Emilka meets the slightly-older Maciek out at a club one night. He shows Emilka—who was brought up by a single mom—a whole new world filled with desire, passion, restlessness and rebellion. The girl moves in with him and at first everything seems just perfect, but gradually Emilka discovers her separate identity, and starts to grow apart from him. When her dream of becoming a singer comes true, Maciek feels threatened. A toxic love game begins, full of lust and jealousy.
The lives of three people intersect on a late bus ride that’s hijacked by a suicidal political flunky. Shingo is a miserable young desk cop bucking for homicide division. Tetsu is a restroom cleaning attendant who has a mentally ill father and a penchant for mischief. And Saki is a petulant druggist/chemist who was born without an eye and keeps her disfigurement hidden behind shades. Months after the hijacking, the trio lives re-intertwine as they playfully seek revenge for their unhappy lives, until the games become deadly serious.
Electrick Children tells the story of Rachel, a rambunctious girl from a polygamist colony in southern Utah. On Rachel’s 15th birthday, she finds a forbidden cassette tape. Having never seen anything like it before, Rachel plays the cassette tape, and finds glorious rock & roll thereupon. Weeks later, Rachel realizes a miracle has occurred- and the cassette tape must have something to do with it. She leaves her family and runs away to the closest city: Las Vegas. There she searches for the singer of the band on the cassette tape. She has a wild adventure and ultimately discovers who she really is: an ELECTRICK CHILD.
A trio of ruthless killers seeks refuge in a quiet suburban home, only to discover a destructive force that could spell their doom in this blood-drenched frightener from director James Tucker. They thought they had found the perfect hideout, but what they didn’t realize was that they had entered into the home of a truly terrifying family. But the folks downstairs are the least of their worries, because by the time these sadistic beasts discover the unearthly powers of the woman who dwells on the third floor, it’s already too late for any hope of survival.
Three miles north of Molkom, hidden deep in the lakeside forests of Sweden, lies Angsbacka; a 21st Century playground for adults. Once a year, their gates open to a thousand international participants, placed in ‘Sharing Groups’ at random. A Swedish celebrity, a Californian hippy, a Finnish grandmother and a back-packing Australian rugby coach, who stumbled on the wrong party, are amongst the group that take us on an unforgettably quirky, two-week emotional roller-coaster. Firewalking, Shamanism, Tantric Sex and myriad other physical, psychological and esoteric experiences, guide our unlikely heroes towards enlightenment, love, loathing and themselves. Will they ever be the same again?
RICHARD’S WEDDING is an ensemble comedy that explores how the most enduring friendships require a mixture of envy, love and ridiculous egomania disguised as self-contempt. Alex and Tuna are on their way to Richard and Phoebe’s wedding, to be reunited with a group of old friends. As they make their trek from Brooklyn to Central Park, they’re joined by an ever-increasing number of friends with their own set of misgivings, self-righteousness, and violently annoying iPhone Apps.
Jennifer Carpenter, Kristen Connolly and Alexander Poe star in a comedy about three New Yorkers struggling to uncover the truth behind their romantic entanglements. Disheartened by his latest relationship catastrophe, Graham (Poe) attempts to rekindle the spark with his ex-girlfriend, Laura (Connolly). In the attempt to win her back Graham discovers he has a unique problem: Laura and another one his ex-girlfriends (Carpenter) are dating the same guy.
Based on the classic adult manga of the same title, this film depicts the love between a stepbrother and sister discovered one weekend when their parents go away. The relationship must come to an end, but not before it changes their lives forever.
Secrets, murders and lies… all in the name of family. In the middle of nowhere sits the Armadillo Café.The once popular, but now desolate, café is run by a strange family led a troubled, booze-addled mother (Betty Buckley) and a disturbed family (Lori Heuring, Brad Renfro, Jonathon Schaech). Their dark secrets are threatened when Sarah (Clare Kramer) arrives, seeking answers to her past.Turmoil reigns and emotions boil over as the horrifying truth unravels and Sarah barely escapes with her life.
A youngster living in a stately home discovers the magical garden Mary, Colin & Dickon stumbled across years before – but faces a battle with the housekeeper over whether to nurture it.
Four friends Kalim (Angad Bedi), Gautam (Neil Bhoopalam), Maya (Kangana Ranaut) and Abhay (Randeep Hooda) form a gang called the “Ungli” gang which fights against corruption prevailing in society. Their job is to target corrupt people and punish them in a unique manner. Due to increased popularity and their high profile targets, they are sought by Mumbai police department as “wanted”. Their case is the responsibility of ACP Ashok Kale (Sanjay Dutt) and inspector Nikhil Abhyankar (Emraan Hashmi). Nikhil disguises himself as a college student and joins the ungli gang with the hidden motive of arresting them. But soon, his heart changes after learning the story of why ungli gang was formed. Meanwhile, Kaale is compelled to seek help from the gang when Nikhil helps him expose the gang’s greatest target, B.R. Dayal (Mahesh Manjrekar) and his son Anshuman.
Tanya is upset about her life when a coworker tells her a story about a former employee, Kelly Cage. Kelly Cage was a woman in free fall a glumly average thirty-something desperately seeking an escape from her horrible life. A former alcoholic loses her daughter, her high profile position and her dignity. She is doing all she can to straighten out and her closest friend is her laptop. Cage discovers blogging about her life experiences is a therapeutic way to release her anxiety, fear and anger. She realizes thousands of people are reading her blog including Detective Jackson. What she reads in Kelly’s blogs will change their lives forever.
7 girls and 1 fab gay guy plan a getaway to a remote ranch for a week of gossip and grub. They start off where they always do, old rivalries in place, extreme vanity covering great insecurities, but with a true love for each other underneath the bickering, sniping and sassing. A number of drinks into night one and a dark secret is revealed. The house they rented is the site of a mass murder of teenage girls 15 years earlier. Blood still stains the floors under replacement carpets. The killer still runs free. The girls take it for what it seems – a fun story for a rainy night by a roaring fire. But after one of them disappears and is discovered dead, the story doesn’t seem so fun anymore. 1 by 1, they die, killed by their own vanity. The fun-filled week turns into a race against death. Who will make it out alive?
