Costa-Gavras
Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Criterion

Costa-Gavras chronicles the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. When a liberal politician is murdered in an attack during a peace demonstration, the right wing established figures in the military and the police try and hide not only their parts in it, but try to cover up the murder as well. The magistrate must act as a detective in order to go through the cover up. While historically accurate, it is told as a combination mystery and thriller.

Costa-Gavras
Drama
Office National pour le Commerce et l'Industrie Cinématographique

Costa-Gavras chronicles the overthrow of the democratic government in Greece. When a liberal politician is murdered in an attack during a peace demonstration, the right wing established figures in the military and the police try and hide not only their parts in it, but try to cover up the murder as well. The magistrate must act as a detective in order to go through the cover up. While historically accurate, it is told as a combination mystery and thriller.

Alexandra Cassavetes
Documentary
Fresh Produce Films
R
A documentary on the Z Channel, one of the first pay cable stations in the US, and its programming chief, Jerry Harvey. Debuting in 1974, the LA-based channel's eclectic slate of movies became a prime example of the untapped power of cable television.

Michael Blieden
Documentary
Anacol Productions Inc.

Kevin Smith
Comedy
Weinstein Company
R
Fans of writer/director Kevin Smith ("auteur" of "Dogma" and "Chasing Amy") should run to see "Zack and Miri Make a Porno"--the adored filmmaker has clearly made this with his hardcore following in mind. Zack (Seth Rogen, "Knocked Up") and Miri (Elizabeth Banks, "Slither") are longtime friends and housemates who, after their power and water get shut off, turn to pornography to pay their bills. After assembling a cheerful and perhaps dimwitted cast and crew, the hapless pair launch into their cynical yet heartwarming scheme with enthusiasm, only to discover--"spoiler alert!"--that they have feelings for each other. Smith clearly wanted to make a sex comedy with heart, something in the vein of "The 40 Year Old Virgin". Unfortunately, "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" combines the mawkish, formulaic sentimentality of "Jersey Girl" with the belabored, formulaic sex gags of "Clerks II". For a movie that clearly hearkens back to Smith's own experiences making the beloved and archetypally cheap-and-dirty "Clerks", "Zack and Miri Make a Porno" is sadly generic and predictable. But Smith's fanbase will appreciate that the movie has snarky jokes about science fiction, a good dose of bare breasts (and two actual porn stars, Traci Lords and Katie Morgan), and the schlubby guy/hot chick dynamic that drives a thousand sitcoms. "--Bret Fetzer"

Jon Favreau
Action
Columbia Pictures Corporation
PG
This is the story of two brothers named Danny and Walter who barely get along even while driving their parents to distraction as their older sister tries to ignore them. While they played this old mechanical board game known as Zathura. However, after when the boys did their very first move, they find out that the game has flung them, not including their sister and their entire house are eventually drawn into an epic adventure when their house is magically hurtled through space. But in order to get back home they must continue to play the game. During the course of the story, the boys must overcome their personal ill-feeling held toward one another in order to survive. They are aided in this by a stranded derelict astronaut who appears as a result of the game. This astronaut is eventually revealed to be an older version of Walter, who had been trapped as a character in the game's world as a result of causing the disappearance of Danny, without whom he was no longer a player. Unless they finish the game and reach the planet Zathura, they could be trapped in outer space forever!

Takeshi Kitano
Action
Asahi National Broadcasting Company
R
Blind Zatoichi makes his living by gambling and giving massages. But behind his humble facade, Zatoichi is a master swordsman, gifted with lightning-fast draw and strokes of breathtaking precision. Zatoichi wanders into a town run by sinister gangs and a powerful samurai. He's destined for violent showdowns when he stumbles on two beautiful geishas avenging their parents' murder... Duels, wit and a touch of zen! Cult anti-hero Zatoichi is back in a sword-fighting adventure written, directed and starring Takeshi Kitano.

Woody Allen
Comedy
Orion Pictures Corporation
PG
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is around him. Clever editing places Zelig in real newsreel footage of Woodrow Wilson, Babe Ruth, and others.

Jake Kasdan
Comedy
Castle Rock Entertainment
R
Daryl Zero is a private investigator. Along with his assistant, Steve Arlo he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Though a master investigator, when he is not working, Zero doesn't know what to do with himself. He has no social skills, writes bad music, and drives Arlo crazy. In his latest case, Zero must find out who is blackmailing a rich executive, and when his client won't tell him, why. The only problem with this case is Zero has done something he's never done before: got emotionally involved.

Lee Frost
Action

David Fincher
Crime
Paramount Pictures
R
A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970's case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's book, the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.

David Fincher
Drama
Paramount
R
Closer in spirit to a police procedural than a gory serial-killer flick, David Fincher's "Zodiac" provides a sleek, armrest-gripping re-invention of the crime film. It surveys the investigation of the Zodiac killings that terrorized the San Francisco Bay area in the late -60-early -70s; Zodiac not only killed people, but cultivated a Jack the Ripper aura by sending icky letters to the newspapers and daring readers to solve coded messages. But the film's focus isn't on the killer. We follow the reporters and detectives whose lives are taken over by the case, notably an addictive crime writer (a sartorially splendid Robert Downey Jr.), an awkward editorial cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), and a hard-working cop (Mark Ruffalo). Fincher and his brilliant cinematographer Harris Savides are deft at capturing the period feel of the city, without laying on the seventies kitsch, and James Vanderbilt's script doles out its big moments to major and minor characters alike. Fincher's confidence is infectious; the movie glides through its myriad details with such dexterity that even the blind alleys and red herrings seem essential. The well-chosen cast includes unexpected people popping up all over: Anthony Edwards as a lunch-bucket homicide cop; Charles Fleischer as a mysterious suspect; Elias Koteas and Donal Logue as small-town policemen whose districts are hit by Zodiac; Chloe Sevigny as Gyllenhaal's sweet-natured wife; Brian Cox as the media-friendly lawyer Melvin Belli, so famous he once appeared on "Star Trek"; and the mighty John Carroll Lynch, as a supremely creepy suspect. The film is based on non-fiction books by Robert Graysmith (he's portrayed by Gyllenhaal), although Fincher and co. did extensive research on their own. The result is a propulsive whodunit without (thus far) an ending, but the uncertainty makes the film even more intriguing. "--Robert Horton"

Tom Hanson
History


The San Francisco area is beset by a series of seemingly random murders without motive or pattern. The police are taunted by phone calls and letters. Could the maniac be the violent, truck driver, or the seemingly mild-mannered mailman, or even a cop?

Ruben Fleischer
Action, Comedy, Horror
Columbia Pictures
R
In the horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

Ben Stiller
Comedy
MFP Munich Film Partners GmbH & Company I. Produktions KG
PG-13
Derek Zoolander is VH1's three time male model of the year, but when Hansel wins the award instead, Zoolander's world becomes upside down. His friends disappear, his father is disappointed in him, and he feels that he's not good as a model anymore. But when evil fashion guru Mugato hires Zoolander, he thinks his life has turned back round again, that is until he finds out that Mugato has actually brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Can Zoolander and his new friends find out how to prevent the incident before it's too late?