Thinking Outside the Box

Carrey carries "Carol," Clooney stares at "Goats" and Jovovich investigates "The Fourth Kind."

“The Men Who Stare At Goats”
Packed with enough star wattage to light up Paris, this far-out comic tale of institutional absurdity starring George Clooney and pals marks the directorial debut for Oscar-nominated writer/producer (and longtime Clooney cohort) Grant Heslov. Based on Brit documentarian Jon Ronson’s can’t-quite-believe-it book of the same name, the film centers on Ewan McGregor as a despairing reporter who latches onto Special Forces soldier Lyn Cassady (Clooney), a former officer of a U.S. military project designed to weaponize psychic energy for deployment on the battlefield.
Opens wide.

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
The last time Oprah Winfrey got this excited about someone, he ended up getting elected president. Here, the hugely influential kingmaker to coffee table authors teams with Tyler Perry to serve as an executive producer on Lee Daniels’ adaptation of Sapphire’s novel about Clareece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), an obese 16-year-old who desperately struggles to break free from a cycle of incest and addiction to build a better life for herself and her baby son. Mo’Nique co-stars as her terribly abusive mother, while Paula Patton, a nearly unrecognizable Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz round out the cast.
Opens in limited release.

“Splinterheads”
Having turned a million nerd’s heads as the spectacularly hot yet boyishly practical tech analyst in “Transformers,” Aussie actress Rachael Taylor dresses down and dirties up as Galaxy, the idiosyncratic object of affection of a directionless misfit named Justin (Thomas Middleditch) in writer/director Brant Sersen’s (“Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story”) sophomore feature. Sersen collects a veritable A-Z of established indie quirks for this Midwestern romance, with Galaxy and Justin’s burgeoning relationship complicated by the arrival of Galaxy’s white trash psycho ex-boyfriend, Reggie (Dean Winters). Christopher McDonald and Lea Thompson co-star.
Opens in New York; opens in Austin and Portland on November 13th.

“That Evening Sun”
A big hit on the festival circuit, this rural-set saga of familial resentment and rivalry from director Scott Teems collected jury awards from SXSW, Newport and Atlanta on its way to your local arthouse. Adapted from a short story by author William Gay, Teems’ feature debut boasts what many have called a crowning performance from veteran thesp Hal Holbrook as Abner Meecham, an embittered octogenarian who runs away from a nursing home to find his homestead occupied by the descendants of a family Abner has long despised (headed up by a gruff Ray McKinnon). Determined to spend his twilight years where he feels he belongs, Abner takes up residence in the tenant shack and refuses to budge.
Opens in New York; opens in Los Angeles on November 20th.

“Turning Green”
As “Project Greenlight” season three winners Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton continue to collect checks for penning the last three “Saw” films, season one finalists John G. Hoffman and Michael Aimette make their directorial debut with the this comic coming-of-age story that stars Donal Gallery as James, a jaded American youngster sent to live with his craggy old aunts (hang on, does this have a giant peach in it?) in Ireland. Setting up an adult mag distribution business out of his bedroom, James offers a supportive ear to the town drunk (Colm Meaney), and falls foul of the local bookie (Alessandro Nivola) and his ape-like enforcer (Timothy Hutton) while plotting his escape back to the States.
Opens in limited release.

“You Cannot Start Without Me”
Not to be confused with the renowned actor and coach who shares his name, director Allan Miller is perhaps the foremost documentary filmmaker on the subject of classical music. Here, the Oscar-nominated director follows a year in the life of celebrated Russian conductor Valery Gergiev. From New York to London to St. Petersburg (where Gergiev currently serves as director of the Mariinsky Theater), Miller accompanies the enigmatic maestro every step of the way to capture his unique creative process.
Opens in New York.

“Victory Day”
Director Sean Ramsey’s debut feature ably illuminates the seedy underbelly of the former USSR and paints an unflattering portrait of a country run by opportunists rife with exploitation in the wake of the collapse of communism. In addition to writing and directing duties, Ramsey also stars as an exiled, rabble-rousing Russian journalist who rushes around Prague to gather evidence against a corrupt oligarch (Milan Kolik) that he views as the personification of everything rotten and ugly about modern Russia. In English and Russian with subtitles.
Opens in Los Angeles.

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