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The Ides of March strives to be smart & sexy. The political drama takes Ryan Gosling out of Drive, but leaves him in control of George Clooney's presidential campaign during a contentious primary. Idealism & integrity quickly erode into mud-slinging, back-door deals and rock-em-sock-em brawls (or is that Real Steel?). The rest of the stellar slate includes fellow Oscar darlings Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei and Golden Globe nominees Jeffrey Wright & Evan Rachel Wood. Clooney controls all branches behind the camera - writer, producer, director - the first two alongside longtime producing partner Grant Heslov. The Clooney / Heslov ticket won big in '05 with Good Night, and Good Luck. Let's hope their second term isn't a lame duck.
Toast tells the story of British food writer Nigel Slater's tragicomic childhood. Slater (Freddie Highmore, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) engages in daily food fights - but not the sort you'd expect from a lad. The quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and Slater hopes to patch things up with his estranged father through his burgeoning interest in cooking. Unfortunately, his stepmother (Helena Bonham Carter) has the same goal, and a couple legs up in other departments as well. Lee Hall (Billy Elliot) adapts Slater's autobiography, while TV director SJ Clarkson makes the leap from the BBC to the big screen. Toast opens exclusively at the Nuart.
Are you an adventurous film-goer? Check out our weekly guide to the best of LA's repertory theaters, festival series & midnight movies. This week we have special coverage of John Landis' Monsters in the Movies series at the Egyptian & the Goethe-Institut's all-day tribute to Werner Herzog.
Wide Release
The Ides of March (Showtimes)
Real Steel (Showtimes) (IMAX Showtimes)
Limited Release
The Autobiography Of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010) (Laemmle's Music Hall 3)
Benda Bilili! (2010) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
A Bird of the Air (2011) (Laemmle's Sunset 5)
Blackthorn (2011) (The Landmark) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
Dirty Girl (2011) (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex)
Dr. Love (2011) (Laemmle's Fallbrook 7)
How I Got Lost (2009) (Downtown Independent)
Rascals (2011) (Laemmle's Fallbrook 7)
The Swell Season (2011) (Downtown Independent)
Toast (2010) (Nuart Theatre)
Where Soldiers Are Born (2011) (Laemmle's Sunset 5)
The Women on the Sixth Floor (2010) (Laemmle's Playhouse 7) (Laemmle's Royal Theatre) (Laemmle's Town Center 5)
That's all for this week. See you at the movies!
