Movies for every mood.

Watch the trailer for this week’s must-see film and read our review.Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Desperately heartbroken Peter Brettel has just been dumped by his gorgeous girlfriend, Sarah Marshall. After some pathetic attempts to get over the hurt, he decides to fly to Hawaii for an exotic getaway—only to run into her and her new beau.
Tagged as “the ultimate romantic disaster movie,” this comedy is filled with jokes about all things crude. However, the film is not overflowing with filth, and there is enough character development to keep it afloat.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
It might be difficult to forget to laugh during this hilarious romp through a romantic disaster.

Romantic comedy pitfalls are adeptly sidestepped in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the latest product from the Judd Apatow laugh factory.
Apatow, who has quickly become the David O. Selznick of comedy, started out writing and producing projects for such seasoned pros as Tom Arnold, Ben Stiller and Jim Carrey. But it was his venture into sensitive comedic territory with the popular, yet short-lived, “Freaks and Geeks” that helped form his trademark blend of sympathy and humiliation.
“Freaks and Geeks” was a breeding ground for the talents of Linda Cardellini, James Franco and, most notably, Seth Rogan, the loveable schlub with unstoppable star-power fed by Apatow mega-hits The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Superbad and Knocked Up.
Now with Sarah Marshall, another phoenix rises from the “Freaks” ashes. Jason Segel, the film’s writer and lead actor, puts himself on display—literally showing everything within the first ten minutes—in his first big-screen starring role. The result is a remarkably watchable exercise in catharsis, an oft-predictable relationship movie peppered with organic, heart-filled laughs.
The movie centers on Peter Bretter (Segel), a moderately successful composer who scores a TV show called “Crime Scene,” which stars his girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (played by Kristin Bell, who pokes fun at her TV roots). Tired of Peter’s diet of Fruit Loops and habitual gravitation towards the couch, Sarah finally dumps him for a pompous British rocker.
Peter uses uncontrollable crying and a slew of cheap sexual encounters to try and get over his heartache, but keeps falling deeper into a post-breakup funk. Eventually, he escapes to a Hawaiian resort once mentioned by his ex, only to find upon his arrival that she’s already there with her new lover. In a truly masochistic act, Peter sticks it out, slowly redirecting his affections toward a good-natured hotel employee.
While the movie sometimes beats an unfunny dead horse—taking bad jokes too far and overusing secondary characters played by other Apatow alumni—it is saved again and again by the sheer pleasure of watching Segel take the fall. In many respects, the resilience of the character mirrors the resilience of the writer/actor.
Segel’s appearance in “Undeclared” (Apatow’s other TV series) as well as his supporting role in Knocked Up carried him to what promises to be more than 15 minutes of fame. That success should really be attributed to his willingness to put his shameful personal experiences into his work.
One shining moment in the film arrives when Peter finally and absurdly performs a song from his rock-opera puppet show about Dracula. According to Segel, this was a project conceived in a lull between jobs and dismissed as ridiculous and stupid by his friends. Ironically, the Dracula puppet show has led to Segel’s next project: writing and directing a new Muppet movie.
Thankfully, Forgetting Sarah Marshall avoids many comedic clichÈs. And it’s Segel’s personal charisma and experience that makes the picture truly memorable.

Get in the know with unique pairings of new DVD releases and influential predecessors to which they owe their roots.The Savages & You Can Count on Me
A modest, tender little movie that had a big impact (it put Mark Ruffalo on the map), You Can Count on Me marks one of indie-queen Laura Linney’s finest performances to date. Linney and Ruffalo play recently re-united siblings, who grew up caring for each other after the tragic death of both their parents.
The creative team behind this film utilized a graceful, understated approach completely devoid of melodramatic climaxes and resolutions. The end result is a melancholic tale of incredible subtlety.
Playing a similar role in the critically acclaimed The Savages, Linney proves adept at conveying the complexities of sibling relations.

The Golden Compass & Spirited Away
Hayao Miyazaki’s sublimely whimsical animated adventure Spirited Away is the highest grossing film in Japanese cinematic history.
It’s a story that has much in common with the recent children’s fantasy, The Golden Compass: A young girl leaves the comfort of her home to face unknown dangers and navigate a treacherous, enchanted world while summoning immense courage to face her various obstacles.
While Compass uses elaborate high-tech special effects to wow audiences, Spirited Away was drawn entirely by hand and is crafted with such skill that the film somehow seems more real than the best CGI.
The result is a deeply moving and haunting experience.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly & Johnny Got His Gun
Difficult to watch, yet as highly relevant today as when it was released in the early 1970s, Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun tells the story of a young man stripped of his humanity by the horrors of war.
The film’s protagonist, Joe Bonham, returns from WWI without arms, legs, eyes or ears after being blasted by a mine. With his mind a prisoner of his body, Joe learns to communicate through a painful process of banging out Morse Code with his head.
Trumbo adapted his novel, which was written 30 years earlier and based on a true story, in order to address the controversies of war without providing trite, convenient solutions.

The Forbidden Kingdom
What do you get when you put two of the biggest Chinese action stars, together for the first time, in one film? Certain box office success.
Never mind that the main character is a pathetic nerd, absolutely incapable of saying or doing anything remotely interesting. Or that the exposition is so heavy-handed that it feels like the actors are reading a story for preschoolers.
Be sure to go for the sake of seeing Jet Li dressed as a ridiculous half-monkey and Jackie Chan being accidentally urinated on. It’s like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon meets The Neverending Story II.
Watch the trailer for this week’s film that is under the radar.The Dhamma Brothers
Providing access into one of the most notoriously dangerous maximum-security prisons in North America, this piece of social anthropology shows remarkable insight.
The director and psychotherapist Jenny Phillips chronicles the spiritual lives of a small group of inmates as they travel through a 10-day Buddhist retreat. Their reflections give a provocative critique of our modern prison system.
Despite its flaws, it is a riveting look into discovering the only freedom available within prison cells—inner freedom.

The Dhamma Brothers
Deep behind the barbed wire, a spiritual reawakening is occurring in a maximum-security prison down South.

A group of prisoners in one of the nation’s most dangerous maximum-security prisons go through a 10-day Buddhist retreat in a linoleum-floored gymnasium, attempting to free themselves from the only confines they’re capable of escaping—their minds.
This is the scenario that unfolds in first-time director and psychotherapist Jenny Phillips’s new documentary, The Dhamma Brothers.
A dark, dungeon-like compound surrounded by barbed wire and electric fences, Alabama’s Donaldson Correctional Facility seems like an unlikely setting for enlightenment. Most of the violent criminals housed in the prison will probably never see the outside world again, which is what makes the practice they engage in so meaningful.
Vipassana, meaning to see things as they are, is a rigorous form of meditation that utilizes long stretches of silence and strict diets to encourage deep introspection and inner peace. In watching convicted murderers use the practice to confront their horrific pasts, one is reminded of the possibility for spiritual enlightenment in the most unlikely of places.
More an advocacy piece than a work of hard-hitting journalism, the film is unapologetic about its weaknesses. Even viewers who are skeptical of New Age self-discovery and put off by the sometimes cheesy crime re-enactments still will be compelled by the startling honesty and insightfulness expressed by the subjects after their deep meditations.
Overall, the film is a meaningful, provocative achievement in social anthropology, and proves highly relevant in today’s climate of violence and unrest.
Watch our choice of the best of online short films, and get a sneak peak into the making of the film in an interview with the director.Draw the Pirate
In this six-minute short, one man attempts an art school entry exam he finds on the back of a matchbook. When his submissions are rejected, he seeks revenge.
Filmmaker Jeffrey Hopkins originally envisioned that his film would screen only at festivals like Sundance, but after he hosted Draw the Pirate online, his fanbase quickly expanded from the tight-knit art film market to a wide range of viewers. He champions the Internet as an effective platform for short, narrative films, one that enables communication between audience and filmmaker.