Something New

Taipei, late Dec 2012. The city is going through an unprecedented winter heatwave, with temperatures in the 30s. Eight-year-old Tiger (Antoine) lives with his divorced mother, Cao Yi (Vivian Hsu), 36, who is struggling to make ends meet with her job as a magazine editor and reduced alimony payments from her ex-husband (Tang Kuo-chung). Tiger, who has a hyper-active imagination and sees his mother as a run-down robot who needs a new model, is not very bright at school and worries his art teacher (Mini Yang) with the dark pictures he draws in class.

New York fashion designer Melanie Carmichael suddenly finds herself engaged to the city’s most eligible bachelor. But Melanie’s past holds many secrets, including Jake, the redneck husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. Bound and determined to end their contentious relationship once and for all, Melanie sneaks back home to Alabama to confront her past.

After John’s absent father is struck by a stray bullet, Primo takes it upon himself to verse the young boy in the code of the streets—one founded on respect and upheld by fear. A member of the Bloods since the age of twelve—both in the film and in reality—the streets of Brooklyn are all Primo has ever known. While John questions whether or not to enter into this life, Primo must decide whether to leave it all behind as he vows to become a better husband and father. Set during those New York summer weeks where the stifling heat seems to encase everything, Five Star plunges into gang culture with searing intensity. Director Keith Miller observes the lives of these two men with a quiet yet pointed distance, carefully eschewing worn clichés through its unflinching focus. Distinctions between fiction and real life remain intentionally ambiguous, allowing the story of these two men to resonate beyond the streets, as they face the question of what it means to be a man.

Seijiro Ito possesses good looks, but also has an overinflated ego. He gets involved with five different women. Rio Yazaki is one of the women involved with Seijiro Ito. She wants to revive her career as a screenwriter, by using other people’s unhappiness.

A cult is about to waken H.P. Lovecraft’s most feared creature.

Out in public, Ivy is a New Orleans lounge singer trying to make a name for herself. When alone, though, she suffers from a terrifying eating disorder. And the more she hides her struggles, the stronger her inner demons become.

Estranged from his family, Jonathan (Hedlund) discovers his father has decided to take himself off life support in forty-eight hours’ time. During this intensely condensed period, a lifetime of drama plays out. Robert (Jenkins) fights a zero sum game to reclaim all that his illness stole from his family. A debate rages on patients’ rights and what it truly means to be free. Jonathan reconciles with his father, reconnects with his mother (Archer), sister (Brown-Findlay), and his love (Adams) and reclaims his voice through two unlikely catalysts – a young, wise-beyond-her-years patient (Barden) and a no-nonsense nurse (Hudson). Through this intensely life affirming prism, an unexpected and powerful journey of love, laughter, and forgiveness unfolds.

Hopeless romantic Matt (Brandon W. Jones) decides it’s time to pop the big question to his girlfriend, Alexis (Cassi Thomson). Before the big evening he practices his proposal on his best friend, Liz (Christa B. Allen). Matt believes if he follows the rules of all of his favorite romantic comedies he’s guaranteed a “Yes!” To Matt’s dismay, Alexis gently rejects him stating he’s only interested in the idea of being in love and not a real relationship. After this unexpected disaster, Matt binge watches one rom-com after another and comes up with plan to win Alexis back. Though Liz thinks Matt’s plan is absurd she agrees to be his wingman. The operation to rekindle his relationship appears to be working only for Matt to face the reality that he and Alexis may have grown apart and his heart belongs elsewhere.

Two recently laid-off men in their 40s try to make it as interns at a successful Internet company where their managers are in their 20s.

A young country girl comes to town and works in a brothel in order to help her fiance get the money to start his own business. “Paprika” is the name given to her by the madam.

While walking home from her latest OB appointment, a very pregnant Esther Woodhouse is brutally attacked and disfigured by a hooded assailant. This horrible event seems to be a blessing in disguise when Esther finds consolation in a support group. Her life of sadness and solitude is opened up to friendship, understanding, and even acceptance. However, friendship and understanding can be very dangerous things when accepted by the wrong people.

Four thieves attempt to make the richest score in history.