Directed by: Anne Fontaine/ 2009/ USA/ 110 minutes Coco Before Chanel tells the true story of the early life of the fashion icon Coco Chanel (Audry Tatou) and the auspicious path that led her to become the most influential clothes designer of the 20th Century. Beginning in the orphanage where she was raised and winding through turbulent school years and then her young life and many loves, this compelling film illustrates how one can rise from the depths and become successful if they stay strong and true their heart. A.O. Scott of The New York Times calls Coco Before Chanel “fascinating.”

Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen/ 2009/ USA/ 105 minutes A Serious Man is the latest film from the Oscar-winning directing duo, the Coen brothers. Larry Gopnik(Golden Globe nominated Michael Stuhlbarg) is a well-meaning man to whom only bad things tend happen, no matter how positive his intentions. And as his life deteriorates in the most unreasonable of ways, he is driven to question God, or even the existence of one. An ingenious comedy in the vein of Fargo, A Serious Man is the Coen’s most personal film to date, which A.O. Scott of The New York Times calls “hilarious and horrific.”