Coming Attractions At IFC

I love checking my snail mail and finding new programs from my favorite movie theaters. Today's mailing gave me a reason to look forward to coming months at IFC, where a great lineup of recent releases will appear. Here are some movies that are getting me excited:

Che (Steven Soderbergh, 2008; Now Showing)

This 4.5 hour epic (shown in two parts) is getting a lot of attention from critics and fans alike. I look forward to seeing Benicio Del Toro playing the iconic revolutionary, although I am decidedly not excited about the running time. [Trailer]

Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977; Showing 1/16-1/18/09)

I confess with great sadness that I have never seen a David Lynch movie, and I intend to remedy the situation by catching his first feature on the big screen. To be honest, I know very little about both the movie and its director, but I look forward to what promises to be a very weird and totally unique experience. [Trailer]

Crips and Bloods: Made In America (Stacy Peralta, 2008; Showing 1/23-2/5/09)

Legendary skateboarder-turned-documentarian has turned in two terrific films already (the outstanding Dogtown and Z-Boys and Riding Giants) and I'm sure his latest will not buck the trend. I expect this to be a compelling look into one of the most notorious subcultures of recent American history. [Trailer]

2009 Academy Award-Nominated Short Films (Showing 2/6-2/19/09)

If you're like me, you make your picks for the short film categories on your Oscar night ballot based on how cool they sound. This year, I'm really excited to get a chance to see the shorts that are always overshadowed by the big movies at Hollywood's self-congratulation party. This should be really cool. The lineup of shorts will be released after they are announced on January 22nd.

Gomorrah (Matteo Garone, 2008; Opens 2/13/09)

My favorite film critic, New York Times writer A.O. Scott (or as one blogger has hilariously dubbed him, Ayo! Scott), called this 'the best movie I've seen at [Cannes]... a furious and brilliant engagement with the times in which we live.' (NY Times review) I've heard terrific things about this exploration of Naples' criminal underworld. Oh, and it won this little award called the Palme D'Or. No big deal. [Trailer]

Tokyo Sonata (Koyoshi Kurosawa, 2008; Showing 3/13-3/26/09)

I had the pleasure of seeing this at the New York Film Festival, and found it to be a disturbing if very moving portrait of a Japanese family well on its way to total collapse. A father deceiving his family after losing his job, a young boy secretly spending his lunch money on piano lessons forbidden by his parents, a Japanese teenager seeking escape by volunteering for the American military--these are the fragments in Kurosawa's vision of the shattered nuclear family in modern Japan. [Trailer]

Hunger (Steve McQueen, 2008; Screening 3/20-4/2/09)

This story of protesters during the 1981 Irish hunger strike met with great acclaim upon its release at Cannes this year, where it won the prestigious Caméra D'Or as the best first film of the festival. Critics say that Michael Fassbender (who played, among others, the guy who wanted to fight in the shade in 300) turns in an astonishing performance as the IRA volunteer Bobby Sands. Definitely looking forward to this one. [Trailer]

For more information about these and other movies on the horizon, check out the IFC website.