BLOCKBUSTER OF THE MONTH
Glass
(Blumhouse/Universal) Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy. Security guard David Dunn is locked up in an institution for his belief that he has superpowers. But when a disturbed patient with 24 separate personalities including a homicidal maniac escapes, Dunn must put his powers to the test – knowing all of this is masterminded by evil genius Mr. Glass. This is a sequel to M. Night Shyamalan’s previous films Unbreakable and Split.. January 18
INDEPENDENT PICKS
Genesis 2.0
(Kimstim) Christian Frei. Jeff Goldblum as the fictional chaos theory mathematician once said “They were so busy trying to see if they could they never stopped to think if they should.” That was from the original Jurassic Park. Life is imitating art at a much more rapid pace than you might be aware; the discovery of a nearly intact mammoth carcass in the Siberian permafrost with muscle, liquid blood and fur intact has set off a frenzy of scientific interest as geneticists and virologists look to research the find and possibly bring an ancient mammoth back to life from the DNA recently discovered. January 2
The Vanishing
(Saban) Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Gary Lewis. In 1900 three lighthouse keepers in the Flannan Isles in the Outer Hebrides off the coast of Scotland disappeared without a trace and were never seen again. Although much conjecture about their fates was considered by the newspapers of the time, no explanation for their disappearance has ever been fully accepted. This film looks at one possibility. January 4
Ashes in the Snow
(Vertical) Bel Powley, Peter Franzén, Sophie Cookson, James Cosmo. In his quest for power, Stalin and the Soviet Union occupied many countries already reeling from the ravages of the war. A 16-year-old aspiring artist and her family are deported from the Baltic to Siberia due to her father’s anti-Stalinist stance. Young Nina draws what she sees in hopes that history will give a voice to those who have none. January 11
Girl
(Netflix) Victor Polster, Arieh Worthalter, Oliver Bodart, Tijmen Govaerts. A 15-year-old girl, born in a boy’s body, dreams of becoming a ballerina even as she begins her body transition but achieving all her dreams may not be enough. This is up for the Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Golden Globe Awards. January 18
The Image Book
(Kino-Lorber) Jean-Luc Godard, Buster Keaton, Dmitri Basil. Without a doubt Jean-Luc Godard is one of the great visual artists of our lifetime. His latest film can only be described as a cinematic collage which may seem random at first but I’m told tells a story in five parts that illustrates his take on the state of humanity as the 2010s circle the drain. January 25
The Wild Pear Tree
(The Cinema Guild) Domu Demirkol, Murat Cemcir, Bennu Yildirimlar, Hazar Erguçlu. A young man returns home to his village from college with the intention of becoming a writer. However, his father’s debts put a crimp in his plans and thrust his family into peril. January 30
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