Tribeca Film Festival Best Actor winner Dominic Rains stars in Burn Country as Afghan war journalist Osman. When he settles in a small Northern California town, he experiences the strange and violent backwoods culture, while covering local crime. The crime drama, written and directed by Ian Olds, also stars Oscar Winner Melissa Leo as a local cop and Oscar Nominee James Franco as a sketchy local who may have had a murder motive. Iranian-American actor Rains delivers an outstanding performance, described as “deeply emotional and empathetic…”, by the Tribeca Film Festival jurors. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

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Hamburg Demonstrations is Pete Doherty’s first solo album since 2009’s Grace/Wastelands. Recorded in Hamburg with producer Johann Scheerer, these songs find him exploring familiar themes yet a wholly unfamiliar clarity of purpose and sound. These are some of the prettiest, best-realized songs of Doherty’s career.

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Jackie follows widowed First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman) as she navigates her life, religion, and family after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, while also receiving public and private scrutiny. Portman’s performance as the titular character, described as “eerily accurate” by Vanity Fair, is receiving Oscar buzz after a successful film festival tour across the board. Chilean director Pablo Larrain won the Toronto Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival and screenwriter Noah Oppenheim received the Best Screenplay Award at the Venice Film Festival. The film is rounded out by exceptional supporting performances in the film including Greta Gerwig as Jackie’s aide, Nancy Tuckerman, Peter Sarsgaard as brother-in-law Bobby Kennedy, and John Carroll Lynch as Lyndon B. Johnson. (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

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Tribeca-Film Festival Best U.S. Narrative Feature nominee, Always Shine, is a a psychological female-led thriller directed by Sophia Takal and written by Lawrence Michael Levine. Starring Best New Actress (Tribeca Film 2016) Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin Fitzgerald, Always Shine tells the story of two estranged friends, both actresses, whose reunion trip takes a dark turn when personal jealousies and external pressures wedge an even further divide between the two. Always Shine brings into focus the complex relationship between women and unrealistic Hollywood standards.
(Oscilloscope)

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First-time feature director Garth Davis and screenwriter Luke Davies find themselves in the awards race with their film Lion. Adapted from the main character’s own book, A Long Way Home, Lion follows Saroo Brierley (Dev Patel) who uses Google Earth to find the family he was separated from in Madhya Pradesh 25 years earlier, before being adopted by Australian couple, Sue and John Bierley (Nicole Kidman and David Wenham). The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016 and the Palm Springs Film Festival will be honoring Kidman for her work on the film with the International Star Award on January 2nd. (Weinstein)

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In Manchester by the Sea, the latest film from award-winning writer and director Kenneth Lonergan, the life of a solitary Boston janitor is transformed when he returns to his hometown to take care of his teenage nephew. After the death of his older brother Joe, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked to learn that Joe has made him sole guardian of his nephew Patrick. Taking leave of his job, Lee reluctantly returns to Manchester-by-the-Sea to care for Patrick, a spirited 16-year-old, and is forced to deal with a past that separated him from his wife Randi (Michelle Williams) and the working-class fishing village where he was born and raised. Bonded by the man who held their family together, Lee and Patrick struggle to adjust to a world without him. Manchester by the Sea is a deeply poignant, unexpectedly funny exploration of the power of familial love, community, sacrifice and hope. (Roadside Attractions / Amazon Studios)

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Palme d’Or nominated film Loving, is a historical drama that follows the struggle of an interracial couple in Civil Rights era Virginia. The film, directed and written by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Take Shelter, and Midnight Special), staring Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton, is based on the landmark case Loving v. Virginia in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down all interracial marriage bans in the United States. (Focus Features)

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Big Smoke today released their highly anticipated debut album Time Is Golden. The album, which was completed after singer and songwriter Adrian Slattery passed away, is an astounding and virtuosic document of a songwriter and a band at the height of their respective powers.

“Given my terminal diagnosis, I have a profound sense of urgency and gravitas about what I want to achieve in my career and the completion and release of the Big Smoke album is paramount to this,” Adrian said during the recording process. Adrian died in May this year, recording his final guitar line just two weeks before. (Barely​ Dressed​ Records)

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