FirstLight films
| Maui's winter film festival sparkles with gems |
Synopses from the Maui Film Festival and Advertiser Staff
(* indicates foreign-language film)
WEDNESDAY
2 p.m.: "Eastern Promises" (rated R, 100 minutes)
Thriller about organized crime in Eastern Europe.
5 p.m.: "Mongol"* (R, 120 minutes)
Historical epic about Genghis Kahn.
7:30 p.m.: "Honeydripper" (PG-13, 123 minutes)
Danny Glover stars in a fable about the birth of rock 'n' roll.
THURSDAY
2 p.m.: "A Mighty Heart" (R, 100 minutes)
Angelina Jolie stars as Mariane Pearl, the wife of journalist Daniel Pearl.
5 p.m.: "Control" (R, 121 minutes)
The story of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis.
7:30 p.m.: "Milarepa"* (PG, 90 minutes)
The story of the man who became Tibet's greatest saint.
DEC. 14
2 p.m.: "Reservation Road" (R, 102 minutes)
Jennifer Connelly and Joaquin Phoenix star in a drama about a fateful encounter.
5 p.m.: "Once" (R, 85 minutes)
Street musicians fall in love.
7:30 p.m.: "Starting Out in the Evening" (PG-13, 110 minutes)
Frank Langella is a novelist wooed by a grad student.
DEC. 15
2 p.m.: "Talk to Me" (R, 118 minutes)
Don Cheadle is Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr., a 1960s soul DJ.
5 p.m.: "La Vie en Rose"* (PG-13, 140 minutes)
Marion Cotillard stars in the biopic of French music legend Edith Piaf.
7:30 p.m.: "In the Shadow of the Moon" (PG, 100 minutes)
Apollo astronauts tell their moon stories.
DEC. 16
2 p.m.: "The Hoax" (R, 115 minutes)
The story behind the bogus autobiography of Howard Hughes.
5 p.m.: "Into the Wild" (R, 140 minutes)
Emile Hirsch stars in the story of a young man who sets out in the wilds of Alaska.
7:30 p.m.: "I'm Not There" (R, 135 minutes)
A kaleidoscopic Bob Dylan biopic.
DEC. 17
2 p.m.: "Gone Baby Gone" (R, 114 minutes)
Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris star in a tense drama from the author of "Mystic River."
5 p.m.: "Dan in Real Life" (PG-13, 95 minutes)
Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook in a comedic love story.
7:30 p.m.: "The Walker" (R, 108 minutes)
A high-society drama based in D.C.
DEC. 18
2 p.m.: "Waitress" (PG-13, 104 minutes)
Keri Russell dreams of better tomorrows.
5 p.m.: "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead" (R, 117 minutes)
A jewelry store robbery goes very wrong.
7:30 p.m.: "Juno" (PG-13, 92 minutes)
Ellen Page searches for the perfect parents for her unborn child.
DEC. 19
2 p.m.: "American Gangster" (R, 157 minutes)
Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are a drug lord and a cop.
5 p.m.: "The 11th Hour" (PG, 95 minutes)
Leonardo DiCaprio hosts a documentary about Earth's future.
7:30 p.m.: "The Kite Runner"* (PG-13, 122 minutes)
Friendship, betrayal and redemption in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
DEC. 20
2 p.m.: "Resurrecting the Champ" (PG-13, 111 minutes)
Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Hartnett in a tale from the world of boxing.
5 p.m.: "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (PG-13, 114 minutes)
Cate Blanchett is the queen in this historical epic.
7:30 p.m.: "The Darjeeling Limited" (R, 91 minutes)
Brothers go on a spiritual quest through India.
9:30 p.m.: "No Country for Old Men" (R, 122 minutes)
Crime thriller stars Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin.
DEC. 21
2 p.m.: "The Namesake"* (PG-13, 113 minutes)
A cross-cultural romantic dramedy from director Mira Nair.
5 p.m.: "Lust, Caution"* (NC-17 for explicit sexuality, 157 minutes)
Ang Lee's erotic espionage thriller.
7:30 p.m.: "Death at a Funeral" (R, 90 minutes)
A dysfunctional British family gathers for the patriarch's funeral.
DEC. 22
2 p.m.: "The Golden Compass" (PG-13, 137 minutes)
Fantasy adventure.
5 p.m.: "Music Within" (R, 93 minutes)
A drama about self-realization and the quest for human dignity.
7:30 p.m.: "Love in the Time of Cholera" (R, 138 minutes)
Complex love story set in Colombia.
9:30 p.m.: "King of Kong" (PG-13, 79 minutes)
Science teacher versus hot-sauce mogul for "Donkey Kong" arcade game world record.
DEC. 23
Noon: "Enchanted" (PG, 108 minutes)
Fairytale princess finds herself in the real world of New York City.
2 p.m.: "Hairspray" (PG, 94 minutes)
Plus-size teenager wants to be on a teen TV show, circa 1960s.
5 p.m.: "Lars and the Real Girl" (PG-13, 106 minutes)
A shy man has a relationship with a blow-up doll in this quirky story.
7:30 p.m.: "The Great Debaters" (Rating unavailable, 115 minutes)
An underdog debating team challenges Harvard.
DEC. 26
2 p.m.: "Lions for Lambs" (R, 88 minutes)
Complex drama with a backdrop of the war on terror.
5 p.m.: "There Will Be Blood" (R, 158 minutes)
Daniel Day-Lewis plays a self-made oil tycoon in this drama based on Sinclair Lewis' novel "Oil!"
7:30 p.m.: "The Bucket List" (PG-13, 98 minutes)
Cancer patients live their last days to their fullest.
DEC. 27
2 p.m.: "Man in the Chair" (PG-13, 107 minutes)
Christopher Plummer is a curmudgeon who mentors a volatile teen.
5 p.m.: "Grace is Gone" (PG-13, 92 minutes)
John Cusack plays a husband whose wife is serving in Iraq; he tries to connect with his two daughters on a road trip.
7:30 p.m.: "Cassandra's Dream" (PG-13, 108 minutes)
London-based thriller written and directed by Woody Allen.
DEC. 28
2 p.m.: "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" (Unrated, 113 minutes)
Winner of this year's Palme d'Or, the Cannes Film Festival's highest honor.
5 p.m.: "Margot at the Wedding" (R, 91 minutes)
A tale about sisters, children, husbands and lovers.
7:30 p.m.: "Atonement" (PG-13, 130 minutes)
Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan co-star in a tale about the power of love.
9:30 p.m.: "In the Valley Of Elah" (R, 124 minutes)
Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron try to unravel the mystery of a returning Iraq war vet's death.
DEC. 29
2 p.m.: "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (R, 160 minutes)
Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck star in a western epic.
5 p.m.: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"* (PG-13, 112 minutes)
A story about seemingly insurmountable challenges and the essence of being human.
7:30 p.m.: "The Savages" (R, 113 minutes)
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney play siblings in a dramedy.
9:30 p.m.: "The Orphanage"* (R,100 minutes)
Gothic tale about a long-abandoned orphanage.
DEC. 30
Noon: "Ratatouille" (G, 110 minutes)
Animated tale of a gourmet-chef rat and a restaurant.