Movie Release 1/26 Blood and Chocolate (PG-13); Nationwide
Ten years ago, in the remote mountains of Colorado, a young girl watched helplessly as her family was murdered by a pack of angry men for the secret they carried in their blood. She survived by running into the woods, and changing into something the hunters could never find--a wolf. Now, though she lives half a world away, Vivian Gandillon is still running. Living in relative safety in Bucharest, Vivian spends her days working at a chocolate shop and nights trawling the city's underground clubs, fending off the reckless antics of her cousin Rafe and his gang of delinquents he calls "The Five." Aiden Galvin is an artist researching Bucharest's ancient art and relics for his next graphic novel based on the mythology of the loup garoux--shapeshifters whose power to change effortlessly into the forms of both human and wolf was once considered holy among men. Wrestling demons of his own, Aiden hopes to explore the inner lives of these outsiders that he believes were persecuted to extinction--labeled monsters, murderers, werewolves. What he doesn't know is that the loup garoux are not only very real, they're far from extinct. During a chance encounter in an abandoned church celebrating the loup garoux, Aiden unknowingly comes face-to-face with the real thing, Vivian. Others may have secrets but none as extraordinary as hers, for Vivian is among the last of her kind, leading a tenuous existence under the protection and control of Gabriel, the powerful and enigmatic leader of one of the last packs of loup garoux on earth. After their brief exchange in the church, Aiden can't get Vivian out of his mind, nor can she forget him. He pursues her until she relents and begins to see him, but she can't bring herself to tell him the truth--and lives in fear of showing him what she really is. And what's worse: her future, and who she falls in love with, is already predetermined. To keep their kind from being hunted to extinction, Gabriel holds them to strict laws. One is that he must take a new bride every seven years, and Vivian has been prophesied to be his next.
Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Hugh Dancy, Olivier Martinez, Katja Riemann, Bryan Dick

Catch and Release (PG-13); Nationwide
After the sudden death of her fiancé, Gray Wheeler finds comfort in the company of his friends: lighthearted and comic Sam, hyper-responsible Dennis, and, oddly enough, his old childhood buddy Fritz, an irresponsible playboy whom she'd previously pegged as one of the least reliable people in the world. As secrets about her supposedly perfect fiancé emerge, Gray comes to see new sides of the men she thought she knew, and at the same time, finds herself drawn to the last man she ever expected to fall for.
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Sonja Bennett, Timothy Olyphant, Juliette Lewis, Sam Jaeger

Epic Movie (PG-13); Nationwide
Centers on four not-so-young orphans: one raised by a curator at the Louvre (where an albino assassin lurks), another a refugee from Mexican libre wrestling, the third a recent victim of snakes on her plane, and the fourth a normal resident of a mutant X community. The hapless quartet visits a chocolate factory, where they stumble into an enchanted wardrobe that transports them to the land of Gnamia (with a G). There they meet a flamboyant pirate captain and earnest students of wizardry--and join forces with, among others, a wise-but-horny lion to defeat the evil White Bitch of Gnarnia.
Starring: Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, Faune A. Chambers, Jayma Mays, Mary Castro

Smokin' Aces (R); Nationwide
In these interlocking tales of high stakes and low lifes, Mob boss Primo Sparazza has taken out a hefty contract on Buddy Aces Israel--a sleazy magician who has agreed to turn state's evidence against the Vegas mob. The FBI, sensing a chance to use this small-time con to bring down big-target Sparazza, places Aces into protective custody-under the supervision of two agents dispatched to Aces' Lake Tahoe hideout.When word of the price on Aces' head spreads into the community of ex-cons and cons-to-be, it entices bounty hunters, thugs-for-hire, smokin' hot vixens and double-crossing mobsters to join in the hunt. With all eyes on Tahoe, this rogues' gallery collides in a comic race to hit the jackpot and rub out Aces.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Peter Berg, Brian Bloom, Sharon Bruneau, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta

Volver (R); Nationwide
Three generations of women survive the east wind, fire, insanity, superstition and even death by means of goodness, lies and boundless vitality. They are Raimunda, who is married to an unemployed labourer and has a teenage daughter; Sole, her sister, who makes a living as a hairdresser; and the mother of both, who died in a fire along with her husband. This character appears first to her sister and then to Sole, although the people with whom she has some unresolved matters are Raimunda and her neighbor in the village, Agustina.
Starring: Penélope Cruz, Yohana Cobo, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo

Breaking and Entering (R); Limited
A young Muslim thief breaks into the office of a yuppie architect in London; afterwards the architect re-evaluates his life. A series of related events intersects the lives of the two men with a variety of other people in the seedy inner-city area of Kings Cross.
Starring: Jude Law, Vera Farmiga, Juliette Binoche, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone

Notes on a Scandal (R); Limited
Barbara Covett, the keeper of an acerbic diary, is a domineering and solitary teacher who rules with an iron fist over her classroom at a decaying state-run secondary school in London. Save for her cat, Portia, Barbara lives alone, without friends or confidantes--but her world changes when she meets the school's new attractive art teacher, Sheba Hart. Sheba appears to be the kindred spirit and loyal friend Barbara has always been seeking. But when she discovers that Sheba is having an incendiary affair with one of her young students, their budding relationship takes an ominous turn. Now, as Barbara threatens to expose Sheba's terrible secret to both her husband and the world, Barbara's own secrets and dark obsessions come tumbling to the fore, exposing the deceptions at the core of each of the women's lives.
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Andrew Simpson, Phil Davis

Salaam-e-Ishq (NR); Limited
"Salaam-e-ishq" is the story of six groups of people. They are from different parts of the world and from different walks of life. They are ignorant about each other's existence, but they end up being brought together by destiny, fate and love.
Starring: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Akshaye Khanna

Seraphim Falls (R); Limited
The Civil War has ended, but Colonel Morsman Carver is on one final mission: to kill Gideon no matter what it takes. Launched by a gunshot and propelled by rage, the relentless pursuit takes them both far from the comforts and codes of civilization, into the bloodiest recesses of their own souls.
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, Anjelica Huston, Angie Harmon, Jimmi Simpson


Coming Attractions
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Because I Said So (PG-13); Nationwide

The Messengers (PG-13); Nationwide

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There have been some new developments lately in my life....those details to come soon......  ¶ 1/26/2007 07:39:00 AM