Watch Avaze gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows) (2008) Online

Avaze gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows)
Fired from his job on an ostrich farm after one of the birds runs away and he is blamed for the loss, a man becomes so obsessed with collecting useless rubbish that he begins to neglect his wife and daughter while becoming completely oblivious to their familial hardships. Karim earned a decent living by working on the ostrich farm, so after he is fired he sets out on a futile attempt to locate the bird. One day, as Karim heads into town in order to have his daughter's hearing aid repaired, he offers a lift to a wandering man and decides that there is good money in the taxi business.
But as his connection to the people of the city grows stronger, his personality begins to transform. Every day, Karim returns home with a new haul of useless junk, giving his picturesque courtyard the appearance of a sprawling junkyard. When his wife offers a spare door from the courtyard to a neighbor in need, Karim completely looses his cool and sets out to retrieve the door. When Karim stumbles and breaks his foot while rummaging through his second-hand goods, the kindness of neighbors makes him realize that his priorities have taken a turn for the worse. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

PG, 1 hr. 36 min.
Art House & International, Drama
Directed By: Majid Majidi
Written By: Majid Majidi, Mehran Kashani
In Theaters: Apr 3, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Feb 9, 2010

7.7

Avaze gonjeshk-ha (The Song of Sparrows) (2008)

Watch Blindsight (2008) Online

Blindsight
Erik Weihenmayer is an athlete and climbing enthusiast who, in the spring of 2001, scaled the summit of Mount Everest. This would be a notable accomplishment for anyone, but Weihenmayer was different from those who had reached Everest's peak before him -- he's been blind since the age of thirteen. Weihenmayer's remarkable story came to the attention of Sabriye Tenberken, an educator who teaches blind teenagers in Lhasa, Tibet. In Tibetan culture, blindness is considered by many to be a curse, and it's not unknown for families to abandon children who are blind to the streets.

Hoping to show others what her students could do, Tenberken invited Weihenmayer to Tibet to lead six teenagers on a climb of Lhakpa Ri, a peak on the northern face of Mount Everest. Weihenmayer eagerly accepted the invitation and in 2004 he joined Tenberken and her students on the adventure of a lifetime as six sightless novice climbers attempted to conquer one of the world's tallest and most challenging mountains. Documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker joined Weihenmayer for his adventure with the Tibetan students, and Blindsight is a record of what he and his charges accomplished together. Blindsight received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

PG, 1 hr. 44 min.
Documentary, Action & Adventure, Special Interest
Directed By: Lucy Walker
In Theaters: Sep 11, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Jan 13, 2009

7.0

Blindsight (2008)

Watch Let the Right One In (2008) Online

Let the Right One In
A 12-year-old boy befriends a mysterious young girl whose appearance in town suspiciously coincides with a horrifying series of murders in director Tomas Alfredson's adaptation of the book by author John Ajvide Lindqvist, who also wrote the screenplay. Oskar is a young boy who can't seem to shake off the local bullies, but all of that begins to change when a new neighbor moves in next door. After striking up an innocent friendship with his eccentric next-door neighbor, Oskar realizes that she is the vampire responsible for the recent rash of deaths around town. Despite the danger, however, Oskar's friendship with the girl ultimately takes precedence over his fear of her. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

R, 1 hr. 54 min.
Drama, Horror, Art House & International
Directed By: Tomas Alfredson
Written By: John Ajvide Lindqvist
In Theaters: Jan 26, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Mar 10, 2009
US Box Office:$1.9M

8.0

Let the Right One In (2008)

Watch The Wrestler (2008) Online

The Wrestler
His sense of identity fading into nothingness after the spotlights dim and he experiences a close brush with mortality, a retired wrestler begins to evaluate his life while considering the comeback that could very well kill him in director Darren Aronofsky's poignant portrait of an introspective former superstar in the twilight of his career. Back in his heyday, wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) was an icon in the ring. His image immortalized in action figures and video games, he would headline arenas across the globe. Twenty years later, those glory days have passed, and Randy is forced to earn his keep by brawling before handfuls of fans in high school gyms and community centers around New Jersey.
In the wake of a heart attack, the former icon attempts to earn a little extra cash while working in a deli and making an effort to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, Stephanie (Evan Rachel Wood). Yet, despite Randy's continued attempts at convincing local stripper Cassidy (Marisa Tomei) to settle down with him in his humble trailer, the ring still calls to him. Later, when the prospect of a high-profile rematch with his longtime nemesis presents itself, Randy is forced to weigh his mortality against his desire to hear the crowd roar one last time. The Wrestler snagged two Oscar nominations, one for Best Actor (Rourke) and one for Best Supporting Actress (Tomei). ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

R, 1 hr. 49 min.
Drama
Directed By: Darren Aronofsky
Written By: Darren Aronofsky, Robert Siegel
In Theaters: Sep 5, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Apr 21, 2009
US Box Office:$26.1M

8.0

The Wrestler (2008)

Watch Passing Strange (2008) Online

Passing Strange
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee turns his camera toward the stage for this filmed performance of the acclaimed Broadway musical by singer/songwriter Stew and his creative partner Heidi Rodewald. Developed at the Sundance Theater Lab, the story follows a young black man from Los Angeles as he attempts to make sense of the conflicted cultural signals constantly bombarding him from all sides.
Raised in a religious household somewhere south of Interstate 10, the frustrated adolescent feels suffocated by his mother's fixation on family ties, her unwavering devotion to the church, and her unapologetically bourgeois aspirations in life. He longs to experience something "real" in life, ultimately making the decision to follow in the footsteps of James Baldwin and Josephine Baker by traveling to Europe and exploring the world. From outrageous Amsterdam to ultra-militant Berlin, the impressionable wanderer experiences misadventures with sex, drugs, politics, and art as his eyes are opened ever wider to the world around him. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

PG-13, 2 hr. 15 min.
Documentary, Television, Musical & Performing Arts
Directed By: Spike Lee
In Theaters: Jan 16, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Jan 12, 2010
PBS

7.4

Passing Strange (2008)

Watch Sita Sings the Blues (2008) Online

Sita Sings the Blues
Two women having troubles with their men, separated by several centuries, find their stories coming together in this animated comedy-drama from artist and animator Nina Paley.
A female cartoonist moves from the United States when her husband gets a new job in India. While acclimating to her new life in India, the cartoonist becomes fascinated with the Hindu folk tale "the Ramayana," in which a beautiful woman named Sita, who was created spontaneously from the Earth, is adopted by King Janaka, pledged to a brave warrior named Rama, and is kidnapped by the demonic leader Ravana. Sita's story is given two visual interpretations at once -- a visually striking abstract version and another which employs a whimsical, cartoony approach and uses vintage recordings of jazz singer Annette Hanshaw for Sita's voice.
As the film jumps back and forth between two adaptations of the Ramayana, the cartoonist discovers that her sojourn in India has taken a turn for the worse when her husband falls in love with another woman. Sita Sings The Blues was an official entry at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.
Animation, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts
Directed By: Nina Paley
Written By: Nina Paley
In Theaters: Feb 11, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Jul 28, 2009

7.5

Sita Sings the Blues (2008)

Watch Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008) Online

Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Producer/director Gini Reticker (A Decade Under the Influence, Class of 2006) turns her attentions to the topic of peaceful protest by exploring the efforts of Liberian Leymah Gbowee in ridding her government of corruption and paving the way for the election of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf -- Africa's first elected female head of state. Shortly after Charles Taylor was elected as president of Liberia in 1996, he proved to be a hopelessly corrupt dictator. Opposing warlords from the north were terrorizing, raping, and murdering Liberians by the hundreds of thousands, sparking a bloody civil war, and many speculated that Taylor was quietly supporting them from the sidelines.
Gbowee had already lived through one civil war, and the prospect of another was simply too much to bear. Determined to bring peace to her troubled country, Gbowee called on everyday Liberian women from neighboring churches to form the Christian Women's Peace Initiative -- a group dedicated to protesting the war that had claimed 250,000 lives and displaced over a million citizens. The women of the Christian Women's Peace Initiative dressed in white and came out to protest the war by the thousands, even going so far as to surround the building in Ghana where the peace talks were taking place and physically prevent the men from leaving until a deal had been bartered. In addition to proving that peaceful protest could indeed affect change in times of unparalleled strife, the Christian Women's Peace Initiative also helped pave the way for Johnson-Sirleaf to be elected as Liberia's first-ever female president. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Unrated, 1 hr. 12 min.
Documentary, Special Interest
Directed By: Gini Reticker
In Theaters: Nov 7, 2008 Limited
On DVD: Nov 10, 2009

7.2

Pray the Devil Back to Hell (2008)

Watch Afghan Star (2008) Online

Afghan Star
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 1996, among their many edicts was banning popular music, considering it a corrupting and sacrilegious influence. Though Taliban was swept from power in 2001, Islamic militants still regard music as sinful and have targeted Afghan musicians in assassination plots. Into this repressive culture comes a television show that has taken Afghanistan by storm -- Afghan Star, a talent search modeled after American Idol in which aspiring singers perform for the viewing audience and either advance in the ranks or are dropped from the competition based on votes cast by telephone.
In a nation where both free democracy and pop music are both novel and risky concepts, Afghan Star's popularity is a bona fide phenomenon, and filmmaker Havana Marking explores both the competition and its effect on Afghan society in the documentary Afghan Star. Marking examines the show's audience -- it's estimated that a third of the nation watches it regularly -- as well as several top contestants, including would-be teen-pop sensation Rafi; Hammeed, a singer who is seen as a champion and role model by fellow members of the Hazara people; Lima, who was born and raised in a community of Islamic fundamentalists and must hide her identity for the safety of her family; and Setara, an attractive woman who defies convention by wearing American-style clothes and makeup, moving to the music on-stage, and even abandoning her head scarf during a performance, making her a hero to youngsters and a pariah to their parents (as well as Islamic conservatives). Afghan Star was an official selection at the 2008 Sheffield International Documentary Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Unrated, 1 hr. 27 min.
Documentary, Television, Musical & Performing Arts, Art House & International, Special Interest
Directed By: Havana Marking
In Theaters: Jun 26, 2009 Wide
On DVD: Mar 30, 2010

7.0

Afghan Star (2008)

Watch Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking) (2008) Online

Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking)
Director Hirokazu Kore-eda writes and directs this family drama that unfolds over the course of a single summer day as the Yokoyama family gathers for a rare reunion held to commemorate the death of the one who was taken before his time. It was 15 years ago that eldest Yokoyama son, Junpei, drowned in a tragic accident, and the only changes around the family home since that fateful day are so subtle that they're not likely to be noticed by anyone outside of the immediate family.
Retired family patriarch Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) used to run a successful medical clinic out of the home, though the lights in his medical examining room haven't even been turned on in years. The tiles in the kitchen where energetic Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) cooks family meals are slowly coming loose, and as youngest son Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) arrives home, he does his best to hide the fact that he's currently unemployed. His older sister, Chinami (You), has also arrived with her family, and does her best to entertain everyone despite the undeniable cloud of melancholy hanging over the home. As the festive gathering commences and Toshiko lays out a lavish meal, it gradually becomes obvious that resentment and sorrow bonds this family as powerfully as love. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Unrated, 1 hr. 54 min.
Art House & International, Drama
Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda
Written By: Hirokazu Kore-eda
In Theaters: Jun 28, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Mar 1, 2010
US Box Office:$86.0k

7.8

Aruitemo Aruitemo (Still Walking) (2008)