Now Playing in San Francisco: Films to Start the New Year!

Filmbalaya wholeheartedly wishes you a happy new year. No matter what you offered to give up in your New Years’ Resolution, the people at the movie theatre won’t betray your conscience. To keep your potentially rainy month dry, we’ll tell you what good (or, failing that, perhaps worthwhile) movies to see to fill up many of your days.  Fortunately for us all, there are plenty of films to watch, including some that you may have missed in the past couple of months.

See the list after the jump!

Le Havre Review and Trailer

“I heard about your husband. My condolences.”
“What for? He was a fatalist.”

This is what cinema is about.

Aki Kaurismäki is a singularly unique filmmaker. He is a master of tone, and the tone in “Le Havre” is so complicated and beautiful, and adds further to the excellence of the film. It is full of counterpoint, that old concept adapted to film by Eisenstein and perfected by Kurosawa – but the counterpoint in this film goes further than just sound to image. It also is stylized so heavily, with such bright, vibrant colours, which contrasts with the often dark themes. This darkness itself contrasts with the charming and wittiness which the film is full of.

French Cinema Now Film Festival 2011 – Kid With A Bike and Le Havre Capsule Reviews and Trailers

The Kid With A Bike

This film presents itself in as unassuming a way as its title – subdued in tone and seemingly so as well in scope. But underneath its exterior lies a very intense, human story of a child at risk of becoming lost. There is no senseless verbal exposition. Rather, the characters are allowed to breathe.

Follow the jump for trailers, showtimes and a review of Le Havre