Foreign Movies

As the preparations for her lavish country wedding get underway, young bride-to-be Dolly Thatcham (Felicity Jones) reunites with her former lover Joseph (Luke Treadaway), and begins to have second thoughts about her impending nuptials. England, 1932: Dolly's family has assembled at a sprawling country manor to see her tie the knot when Joseph shows up unexpectedly. The previous summer, Joseph and Dolly experienced rapture in one another's arms, and as the hour of her wedding approaches, old passions are reignited. Meanwhile, Dolly's mother (Elizabeth McGovern) remains determined to ensure that the ceremony transpires without incident. As the temptation to run away with Joseph grows, Dolly must choose between a stable future with her devoted fiancé or a life less ordinary with the man who swept her off her feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The long-running feud between an emir and a sultan reignites following a surprising discovery about the strip of land that has been the source of so much contention in this drama from acclaimed director Jean-Jacques Annaud (The Name of the Rose, Seven Years in Tibet). Nesib (Antonio Banderas), emir of Hobeika, and Amar (Mark Strong), sultan of Salmaah, both claim ownership of the Yellow Belt, a vast area of land that separates the two men. Eventually, Nesib and Amar strike an agreement that seems to satisfy them both: In exchange for Nesib adopting Amar's sons Saleeh and Auda, the Yellow Belt will remain a no-man's-land. Years later, Saleeh has grown into a fierce warrior and dreams of reuniting with his father, while Auda remains content to spend his days reading and soaking up knowledge. Tensions begin to simmer between the two adversaries once again, however, when a Texas oil prospector reveals to Nesib that the Yellow Belt is brimming with black gold, and that selling it could mean untold riches. As Nesib grows obsessed with the idea of attaining unlimited wealth and power, the ultimate confrontation draws near. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Safe House director Daniel Espinosa delivers this gritty adaptation of Jens Lapidus' best-selling novel Snabba Cash to tell the tale of a Stockholm business student who gets entangled in a life of crime while attempting to impress a gorgeous heiress. JW (Joel Kinnaman) comes from meager beginnings, but he's got ambition to spare, and the motivation to succeed. Smitten by the scion of a powerful family, he turns to crime in order to maintain the illusion of wealth. Meanwhile, low-level crook Jorge finds the law closing in on one side, and the Serbian mafia gaining ground on the other. But if his next cocaine deal goes off without a hitch, he'll be set for life. Unfortunately for Jorge, ruthless mob enforced Mrado is closing in fast. But when Mrado must look after his young daughter at the last minute, a simple job turns unexpectedly complex. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A typical stag weekend turns into a struggle for survival for a group of friends who find themselves pitted against an angry army of the living dead. Dean is about to get married, and his buddies are determined to send him out of the single life with a bang. Their plan: Take Dean to play Zomball - the latest craze in a post-zombie apocalypse society. Though mankind has won the war against the armies of the undead, dispatching with the walking corpses that remain above ground has proven quite a task. As a result, private companies have been forced to get creative with their clean-up methods. In Zomball, players are invited to dispatch zombies in a safe environment. When Dean and his pals break the game's number one rule, however, the zombies strike back with a vengeance. Now surrounded by flesh eaters with his best friends and a fierce stripper, Dean must aim for the head if he ever hopes to reach the altar on time. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director Michael Rymer (Angel Baby), Queen of the Damned) teams with acclaimed Australian playwright David Williamson for this adaptation of Willaimson's topical play about bullying in the workplace. Upon being fired from his job in construction, sensitive Wayne (Luke Ford) destroys his boss' Jaguar. In the aftermath of that destructive outburst, Wayne is given the opportunity to avoid prosecution by discussing his actions in a community conference attended by his boss, his boss' wife, his colleagues, his best friend, and his weary mother. Now the more heated the conversation grows, the more complicated the situation becomes until it begins to have a major impact on the lives of all involved. Vince Colosimo, Sigrid Thornton, and Matthew Newton co-star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A struggling single father helps a beautiful whale trainer recover her will to live following a terrible accident that leaves her confined to a wheelchair. Lonely and destitute, Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts) leaves the north of France for his sister's house in Antibes after becoming the sole guardian of his estranged five-year-old son Sam. When Ali lands a job as a bouncer in a nearby nightclub, things quickly start to look up for the itinerant father and son. Then one night, after breaking up a fight in the club, Ali meets the radiant Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), and slips her his number after dropping her off safely at home. Though Stephanie's position on the high end of the social spectrum makes romance an unlikely prospect for the pair, a tragic accident at Marineland robs her of her legs, and finds her reaching out in desperation to Ali. Her spirit broken by the same tragedy that took her legs, Stephanie gradually finds the courage to go on living trough transcendent moments spent with Ali -- a man with precious little pity, but an enormous love of life. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A famous Chinese magician attempts to rescue his fiancée from a powerful warlord in this drama set after the fall of the Qing dynasty, and adapted from the novel by Zhang Haifan. His country divided in the wake of the Revolution, famed illusionist Zhang (Tony Leung) is troubled to discover that clever warlord Bully Lei (Ching Wan Lau) is using magic to amass a powerful army. Even worse, Bully Lei has imprisoned Zhang's former flame, and intends to make her his seventh wife. Later, when Zheng's plan to rescue his love goes awry, the two talented illusionists face off in the ultimate battle of magical might. Directed by Derek Yee (Shinjuku Incident). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

 

Kumare is a yogi and holy man from India who has come to the American Southwest to share his knowledge and help others achieve spiritual enlightenment. He's also a phony, the invention of filmmaker Vikram Gandhi, who was born and raised in New York City and is fascinated by the way many Americans are drawn to the perceived exoticism of the East. Knowing little about yoga or traditional Indian spiritual practice, Gandhi traveled to Phoenix, AZ, set himself up as the new prophet in town, making up his "wisdom" as he want along and allowing his camera crew to capture what happens to those who take the bait. A surprisingly large number of intelligent and thoughtful people became Kumare's disciples, and in the documentary Kumare, Gandhi allows us to ponder if his followers are dupes or simply people looking for spiritual solace who take their enlightenment where they can get it. At the same time, Gandhi is forced to look at himself and Kumare's unexpected impact on the community. Kumare received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Four unsuspecting Londoners find themselves stranded at a storage facility and stalked by an otherworldly predator in this independent sci-fi horror opus from director Johannes Roberts (F, Forest of the Damned). When an Air Force cargo plane carrying a mysterious cache crashes in the heart of the London, the entire city is placed in quarantine. Meanwhile, heartbroken Charlie (Noel Clarke) and his best mate Mark (Colin O'Donoghue) are en route to the local storage facility to gather up some personal items following a bitter break up between Charlie and Shelley (Antonia Campbell-Hughes). Upon arriving, Charlie and Mark are greeted by an electrician who's working to open the front gate following a power outage. Eventually they manage to get in, only to find Shelley sorting through the unit with help from Nikki (Laura Haddock) and Chris (Jamie Thomas King). Later, as the lights in the storage facility flicker on and off, the foursome realize they are trapped inside with a killer creature of unknown origin. With the help of eccentric divorcee David (Ned Dennehy), who has recently moved into his unit to escape the wrath of his crazy ex-wife, the terrified group realizes that their only hope for survival is to find a means of escaping a building designed specifically to keep its treasured contents completely secure. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Luis Buñuel's Tristana is a surreal criticism of Catholicism and the modern world, told through the story of the title character, who is portrayed by Catherine Deneuve. Tristana is a young Spanish woman left to the care of Don Lope (Fernando Rey), the protective but impoverished aristocrat. Don sells his possessions to avoid manual labor and champions the causes of the dispossessed and downtrodden of society. He takes advantage of the vulnerable Tristana, who leaves him when she falls in love with Horacio (Franco Nero). Unable to commit to him, she returns to Don Lope when she falls ill. He asks for her hand in marriage, and she accepts after losing her leg to cancer. She chooses to remain in a passionless union rather than be subject to the harsh realities of a society that refuses to change to the needs of women. Taken from the novel by celebrated author Benito Perez Galdos, the film -- wherein director Buñuel takes his usual jabs at religion and politics -- is a tribute to the author on the 50th anniversary of his death. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Amateur detective Elfie Hopkins decides to cleanse her town of cannibals when a new family moves in next door, and begins treating her neighborhood like their own personal flesh buffet. Jaime Winstone, Ray Winstone, and Rupert Evans star. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Romanian hitman Viktor rises up through the ranks thanks to his unique talent for killing, but flees to London to join a new syndicate following a betrayal that leaves him marked for death. Amidst this new environment Viktor's lethal skills are sharpened to perfection, but when an encounter with a beautiful woman presents the promise of a better life, he knows that in order to outrun his past, he'll have to stare death square in the eye. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi