Carancho

Traffic accidents have become the number one cause of deaths in Argentina. In "Carancho" (which means vulture in Spanish,) director-producer-editor Pablo Trapero has woven a gritty and suspenseful tale set against the lucrative black market that strives from the personal tragedies that litter the streets of Buenos Aires.

Sosa ("The Secret in Their Eyes'" Ricardo Darn) is an ambulance-chasing personal injury attorney with questionable ethics. Having recently lost his law license, he has resorted to trolling through ER rooms and funeral homes to search for potential clients. Lujan (Martina Gusman) is a young, idealistic doctor, new to the city, and on her own self-destructive bent. After their paths repeatedly cross at accident scenes, the two form an unlikely romance, which is soon threatened by Sosa's turbulent past. Fed up with his corrupt employers, Sosa attempts to cross them and do right by recent clients, but events quickly spin out of control.

Release Date: February 11, 2011 (NY)
Studio: Strand Releasing 
Director: Pablo Trapero
Screenwriter: Martín Mauregui, Martin Mauregui, Santiago Mitre, Pablo Trapero
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Martina Gusman, Carlos Weber
Genre: Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available

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The Housemaid

A favorite at this year's Cannes, Toronto and Fantastic Fest film festivals, "The Housemaid" is a stylish, sexy thriller about an innocent young woman caught in the twisted web of a rich family's games. Eun-yi (Cannes Best Actress winner Jeon Do-youn of "Secret Sunshine") is hired as a nanny in an lavish mansion by businessman Hoon (Lee Jung-jae) and his very pregnant wife, Hae-ra (Seo Woo). When Eun-yi is seduced by the father of the house, she becomes the unwitting victim in a series of traps laid by the women of the house-Hae-ra, her villainous mother (Park Ji-young), and their seemingly loyal but increasingly bitter housekeeper (Yun Yeo-jong). Intensely erotic and fiendishly entertaining, "The Housemaid" builds to an unforgettable climax as Eun-yi must outwit them and escape their schemes to protect her sanity-and her life-from the vicious family.

Release Date: January 21, 2011 (limited)
Studio: IFC Films
Director: Im Sang-soo
Screenwriter: Im Sang-soo
Starring: Jeon Do-yeon
Genre: Thriller
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: Not Available
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available

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The Other Woman

The radiant Natalie Portman ("Closer," "Black Swan") lights up the screen in this frank, funny, and heart-wrenching adaptation of bestselling author Ayelet Waldman's novel about life, loss, and family directed by Don Roos ("The Opposite of Sex," "Happy Endings").

Emilia (Portman) is a Harvard law school graduate and a newlywed, having just married Jack (Scott Cohen, "The Understudy"), a high-powered New York lawyer, who was her boss – and married – when she began working at his law firm. Unfortunately, her life takes an unexpected turn when Jack and Emilia lose their newborn daughter. Emilia struggles through her grief to connect with her new stepson William (Charlie Tahan, "I Am Legend"), but is finding it hard to connect with this precocious child. Perhaps the most difficult obstacle of all for Emilia is trying to cope with the constant interferences of her husband's angry, jealous ex-wife, Carolyn (Lisa Kudrow).

Release Date: February 4, 2011 (limited)
Studio: IFC Films
Director: Don Roos
Screenwriter: Don Roos
Starring: Natalie Portman, Scott Cohen, Charlie Tahan, Lisa Kudrow
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: IFCFilms.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available

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Los Angeles

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces. As people everywhere watch the world's great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It's up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they've ever encountered before.

Release Date: March 11, 2011
Studio: Columbia Pictures (Sony)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Screenwriter: Chris Bertolini
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Ramon Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan, Ne-Yo, Michael Pena
Genre: Action
MPAA Rating: Not Available
Official Website: BattleLA.com | ReportThreats.org
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available

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Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

Producers Guillermo del Toro ("Pan's Labyrinth," "The Orphanage") and Mark Johnson ("The Chronicles of Narnia") join forces to deliver "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," a tale of hair-raising, spine-chilling horror.

Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child, has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) at the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion's builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it's not a fantasy—before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.

Release Date: January 21, 2011
Studio: Miramax Films
Director: Troy Nixey
Screenwriter: Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Robbins
Starring: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson
Genre: Horror
MPAA Rating: R (for violence and terror)
Official Website: DontBeAfraidoftheDark-movie.com
Review: Not Available
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available

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