The Very Best Of TV/Film (December/January 2009-2010)

Off and Running opens at New York’s IFC Center on Jan. 29. The film revolves around Avery, an African American teen who grew up in a unique and loving household with white Jew- ish lesbians for parents and two adopted brothers – one mixed-race and one Korean. When her curiosity about her African-American roots grows, Avery decides to contact her birth mother.The decision thrusts her into a complicated exploration of race, identity, and family that threatens to distance her from the parents she’s always known.

Michael Haneke’s new film The White Ribbon opens at Film Forum on Dec. 30. Set in a village in Protestant northern Germany on the eve of World War I, the movie revolves around the children and teenagers of a choir run by the village schoolteacher.The story begins with a dramatic event, the first of several ominous incidents which gradually take on the character of a punishment ritual. Who is behind it all?

Nine the film opens on Dec. 18 at a theater near you. It is a vibrant and provocative musical that follows the life of world famous film director Guido Contini as he tries to balance the numer- ous woman in his life.The film stars Nicole Kidman, Fergie, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz.