Little Art Theatre

War Horse, director Steven Spielberg’s epic adventure, is a tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. War Horse begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert (Jeremy Irvine), who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. War Horse is one of the great stories of friendship and war—a successful book, it was turned into a hugely successful theatrical hit, on Broadway and internationally. Drama/History/War. 146 minutes, Rated PG-13. 2011

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Growing Up Female, a classic film of the Second Wave Women's Movement, has been beautifully restored and is the very first film of the modern women’s movement. Produced in 1971, it caused controversy and exhilaration. It was widely used by consciousness-raising groups to generate interest and help explain feminism to a skeptical society. The film looks at female socialization through a personal look into the lives of six women, age 4 to 35, and the forces that shape them--teachers, counselors, advertising, music and the institution of marriage. It offers us a chance to see how much has changed--and how much remains the same. Purchased by more than 400 universities and libraries. Documentary. 52 minutes. Not Rated. 1971.

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Caius Martius Coriolanus (director Ralph Fiennes), a revered and feared Roman general, is at odds with the city of Rome and his fellow citizens. Pushed by his controlling and ambitious mother Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave) to seek the exalted and powerful position of Consul, he is loath to ingratiate himself with the masses whose votes he needs in order to secure the office. When the public refuses to support him, Coriolanus’s anger prompts a riot that culminates in his expulsion from Rome. The banished hero then allies himself with his sworn enemy Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler) to take his revenge on the city. Updating William Shakespeare’s late-period tragedy from ancient Rome to the 21st Century of guerrilla insurgencies, instant polling and 24-hour news networks, Fiennes takes a bracingly modern and naturalistic approach to Shakespeare, delivering a story that speaks strongly to our own polarized, volatile times. Drama. 122 minutes. Rated R for some bloody violence. 2011

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The cities of Zurich and Vienna on the eve of World War I are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender of Shame and Jane Eyre), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen, A History of Violence) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley, Atonement), the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel, Black Swan), a free-thinker who encourages Jung to cross therapist-patient boundaries. This exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit sets the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought. Screenplay by Christopher Hampton (Atonement, Dangerous Liaisons), based on his play The Talking Cure. Biography/Drama. 99 minutes. Rated R for sexual content and brief language. 2011.

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Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director (Martin Scorsese), Hugo tells the story of an orphan boy (Asa Butterfield) living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. With the help of an eccentric girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), he searches for the answer to a mystery linking the father he recently lost, the ill-tempered toy shop owner living below him and a heart shaped lock, seemingly without a key. Based on Brian Selznick’s award winning and imaginative New York Times bestseller The Invention of Hugo Cabret, this magical tale also stars Jude Law, Sacha Baron Cohen, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lee and Emily Mortimer. Adventure/Drama/Family. 126 minutes. PG.

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Meryl Streep is nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in this film. The Iron Lady revisits recent history through the eyes of the leader who shaped it -- charting the compelling rise and fall of trail-blazing politician Margaret Thatcher, the controversial former Prime Minister of the UK and the first woman ever elected as head of government in the West. Best Actress nominee Meryl Streep brings Margaret Thatcher to vivid life over a 40-year span, delivering a performance of great authenticity and sensitivity. Combining fact, fiction and poetic flights of imagination into a new breed of biopic, director Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) creates a piercing portrait which reveals the many faces of Thatcher: the hard-nosed conservative; the woman who demolished the barriers of gender and class in a male-dominated world; the spirited wife and mother who longed to change her country for the better. Exposing the private life behind the headlines, The Iron Lady is a moving journey into the heart of an extraordinary, complex woman. Jim Broadbent co-stars. Drama/Biography. 105 minutes, PG-13. 2011

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Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Feature. "Dance, dance, or we are lost." Pina Bausch’s final words summarize her life and provide the inspiration for acclaimed director Wim Wenders’ (Wings of Desire, Buena Vista Social Club) breathtaking tribute to the legendary choreographer. Bausch and her Tanztheater Wuppertal elevated dance into brilliantly subversive new expressive realms, and in this exhilarating film Wenders captures the raw, heart-stopping intensity of the movement and in stunning 3D (screening in 2D at the Little Art) transforms it into a transcendent cinematic experience. An official selection of the Berlinale, Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals. Pina offers an indelible image of an artist who went the full distance in her uncommonly rich creative life. Not shown in 3D. Documentary. 103 minutes. PG.

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An Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Screenplay, "A Separation" is a compelling drama about the dissolution of a marriage in contemporary Iran. Simin (Leila Hatami) wants to leave Iran to provide better opportunities for her daughter. When her husband Nader (Peyman Moadi) refuses to leave behind his Alzheimer-suffering father, Simin sues for divorce. But her request fails, so she returns to her parents’ home--without her daughter. Nader hires a young woman to assist with his father in his wife’s absence, hoping that his life will return to a normal state. However, when he discovers that the new maid has been lying to him, he realizes that there is more on the line than just his marriage. Winner of four awards at the Berlin International Film Festival, including the Golden Bear for Best Film. Roger Ebert called "A Separation" the best film of 2011. Drama. 123 minutes. PG-13. In Persian with English subtitles. 2011

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In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6's echelons. "Dread throbs like a heartbeat in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, a superb new adaptation of the 1974 spy novel by John le Carré. It's a deep pulse that maintains its insistent rhythm throughout the film's murmured conversations, life-and-death office intrigues, violence and yearning loves. The throbbing does a number on your nervous system—this is a movie you watch on high alert—and brings you into the state of mind that can feel like a state of siege and goes by the name of British secret service, or just the Circus. For those inside the intelligence service, like George Smiley, played with delicacy and understated power by Gary Oldman, knowledge is power, but so too is fear. The story, skillfully mined from Mr. le Carré's labyrinthine book and set in 1973, is a pleasurably sly and involving puzzler—a mystery about mysteries within mysteries"—Manohla Dargis, New York Times. Drama / Thriller. 127 minutes. Rated R for violence, some sexuality / nudity and language. 2011

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Golden Globe nomination: Best Actress, Charlize Theron! In the comedy/drama Young Adult, Academy Award winner Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a divorced writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). But there's a little thing in the way: Buddy's now married with kids. When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn't quite gotten over high school, either. Young Adult reunites director Jason Reitman and Academy Award-winning screenwriter, Diablo Cody (Juno). Comedy/Drama. 94 minutes. Rated R for language and some sexual content. 2011

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