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Theatrical Bookings in Focus (April 30th):
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO @ Malco's
Ridgeway Four
 Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited
by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her beloved uncle is convinced it was murder and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael
Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and the tattooed and troubled but resourceful computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) to investigate. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far
they are prepared to go to protect themselves.
Author Stieg Larsson, who died suddenly in 2004, left behind three unpublished novels, known as the "Millennium" trilogy, which have become a global sensation, elevating Larsson to the world's second best-selling author last year (behind
The Kite Runner's Khaled Hosseini). The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is one of the decade's major literary success stories, selling over 8,000,000 copies worldwide and the film adaptation is the highest grossing Swedish film
in history and 2009's highest-grossing European production.
GREENBERG @ Malco's
Ridgeway Four
 Greenberg brings actor Ben Stiller together with Academy Award-nominated
writer/director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale) to tell the funny and moving tale of Roger Greenberg.
Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller), single, fortyish and at a crossroads in his life, finds himself in Los Angeles, house-sitting for six weeks for his more successful/married-with-children brother. In search of a place to restart his life,
Greenberg tries to reconnect with old friends including his former bandmate Ivan (Rhys Ifans). But old friends aren't necessarily still best friends, and Greenberg soon finds himself spending more and more time with his brother's personal
assistant Florence (Greta Gerwig of the Indie Memphis '08 short Quick Feet, Soft Hands), an aspiring singer and also something of a lost soul. Despite his best attempts not to be drawn in, Greenberg and Florence manage to forge a
connection, and Greenberg realizes he may at last have found a reason to be happy.
CITY ISLAND @ Malco's
Ridgeway Four
 The Rizzo family lives on a little-known island in the Bronx that is as quaint and sleepy as any New
England town. But the Rizzos are not as picturesque as the island they inhabit, and like most dysfunctional families, they all stop at nothing to avoid the truth. Vince (Andy Garcia) is the worst offender. He is a prison guard who is
secretly taking acting lessons and plotting a new career. His daughter is moonlighting as a stripper, while young Vinnie Jr. has a hiden fetish involving a 300-pound neighbor. Vince's wife Joyce (Julianna Margulies) is the family's rock --
usually -- but lately she can't get her mind off of the mysterious hired help, whose identity only Vinnie knows.
Writer/director Raymond De Felitta (The Thing About My Folks) builds laughter and anticipation as the family's entangled untruths take us to a heart-clenching but tender finish. Drawing refreshing comedic performances from Garcia
and Margulies, and memorable turns from Emily Mortimer and Alan Arkin as a fellow student and the teacher in Vince's acting class, De Felitta takes the age-old advice of George Bernard Shaw: "If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton,
you may as well make it dance." Let's just say the Rizzos are doing the tarantella.
~2009 Tribeca Film Festival
THE ART OF THE STEAL @ Malco's
Ridgeway Four
 The Art of the Steal plays like a thrilling whodunit as it seeks to solve what happened to the world-renowned Barnes art
collection, valued in the "billions and billions." The collection's unrivaled holdings of post-impressionist and early modernist art are staggering in quantity: 181 paintings by Renoir, 69 by Cezanne, 59 by Matisse and 46 by Picasso,
including many masterpieces. Dr. Albert Barnes was a self-made man with a well-trained eye who assembled the art in the twenties. He snubbed the provincial elites in his hometown of Philadelphia by housing the collection in the suburb of
Merion, Pennsylvania. Rather than grouping canvases by artist or era as in a typical gallery, he displayed work in an idiosyncratic way to express his own aesthetic vision. Barnes was more concerned with educating serious students in his
vision than reaching casual tourists, so he restricted attendance and refused to loan paintings to other institutions. His individualism earned him antagonists (notably Walter Annenberg, publisher of the Philadelphia Inquirer) but also
many loyal supporters. Upon Barnes's death in 1951, his will gave control of the collection to the trustees of Lincoln University, the first black university in the United States. Eventually, lawyers and business people swarmed to exploit
its resources. In the nineties, a sampling of the collection traveled the world on a multi-city tour. Then a scheme was hatched to permanently remove the collection from Merion that some would later call the heist of the century.
Director Don Argott previously made the endearing documentary Rock School about another iconoclastic educator from Philadelphia. In The Art of the Steal, the filmmaker deftly adopts an investigative approach to unravel the
complicated politics and personalities that determined the fate of the Barnes collection. Drawing upon research from John Anderson's book Art Held Hostage, the film tantalizes us with the sumptuous imagery of the paintings, and
features interviews full of intense conflicting opinions.
The story is full of twists, turns and double-crosses. Along the way, multiple questions are raised: How is art best served? Should it be reserved for true connoisseurs or made available to the most eyeballs possible? And who decides?
~ Toronto International Film Festival
THE RUNAWAYS @ Malco's
Studio on the Square
 Of all the bands to come out of the 1970s Los Angeles music scene, The Runaways are by far the most uniquely fascinating. This is partially
due to their music but more so to the fact that they were teenage girls whose wild and reckless lifestyle was the stuff of legend.
Focusing on the duo of guitarist/vocalist Joan Jett and lead vocalist Cherie Currie as they navigate a rocky road of touring and record-label woes, the film chronicles the band's formation as well as their meteoric rise under the
malevolent eye of an abusive manager.
Acclaimed video artist Floria Sigismondi directs from her own script, and her luscious camerawork captures every sweaty detail -- from the filthy trailer where the women practice to the mosh pits of Tokyo. What really makes the film cook
are the sizzling performances by Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart. Not to be missed, The Runaways is an ode to an era and a groundbreaking band.
~ 2010 Sundance Film Festival
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Indie Memphis is proud to partner with the Memphis in May International Festival for the 4th year in a row to celebrate the cinema
of their honored country -- this year presenting a special screening of Tunisian native Zran Mohamed's award-winning documentary, "Being Here," at the Brooks Museum of Art.