To all our Film Society members and supporters,
Thanks to all those who passed along their information for the County
study. We're excited that film fans from our community will have their
voices heard.
FLAWLESS opens exclusively at the Tower this week. Don't miss this
clever diamond-heist thriller set in swinging 1960s London starring
Michael Caine and Demi Moore.
As the Hollywood blockbuster season approaches more titles on our
release slate may be unfamiliar to you. These gems are selected by
myself and our amazing programming staff and are well worth taking time
to seek out. This week, we have two such titles in CARAMEL and THE YEAR
MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION (you'll especially love if you're a soccer
fan!) Please note that some of these titles may only have a limited 1
week run. We'll see you at the movies!
WATER WEEK
May 7th 7:30 pm – Broadway Centre Cinemas
RUNNING DRY
FREE SCREENING
From May 4 to May 10, Water Week will be sponsoring free educational
films and documentaries surrounding the global water crisis at various
locations throughout the state. One of the selected films, “Running Dry”
is a comprehensive public information/education project, established to
raise awareness regarding the worsening global humanitarian water
crisis. Actress Jane Seymour, the documentary narrator, and many other
notable and knowledgeable individuals have come together to participate
in the public information/education process.
48 HOUR Film Fest
See this year’s finished products:
May 7th and 8th - 7:00pm and 9:30pm – Broadway Centre Cinemas
(Different films each screening)
Best of Screening May 12th 7:00pm at the Tower Theatre
The 48 Hour Film Project comes to Salt Lake City on the weekend of May
2. Filmmakers from all over the state of Utah will compete to see who
can make the best short film in only 48 hours. The winning film will go
up against films from around the world for the title "Best 48 Hour Film
of 2008".
Summer Members-only screenings!
Exclusively for our members Salt Lake Film Society will bring three
special premiere films - one in June, July and August! These premiere
screenings will be of first-run theatrical release titles that will not
be opening here in our city for a full run. So, like our slogan "film
festival all year long" you will be able to see these rare and wonderful
projects. We will announce titles and dates soon to allow each member to
reserve the evening. As always, from our volunteers and dedicated staff
we thank you for your membership support.
Opening this week!
CARAMEL, a gorgeously shot romantic comedy centered on the daily lives
of five Lebanese women living in Beirut.
"a brisk dramatic comedy that combines melodrama, humor and social
critique in equal measure." Guide.
Also opening at the Broadway, from Brazil THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON
VACATION, a poignant and humorous coming-of-age story of a
twelve-year-old boy in Sao Paolo.
Ends Thursday...
SHINE A LIGHT - last chance to catch the Stones like you've never seen
them before!
CJ7
STOP-LOSS -directed by Kimberly Pierce of BOYS DON'T CRY
Local Producers/Writers Pitch-smart session!
Our Utah Screenwriters Project participants are well on their way to
completing their first draft of their screenplays. We will be hosting a
Producers Pitch-smart session for local producers.
Invitation only.
If you are a local producer and are interested in attending and hearing
more than twenty finished screenplay pitches, please reply to this
e-mail. We're sorry but our writers positions are already full. Writers
may stay tuned to this e-mail for information about the 2009-2010 Utah
Screenwriters Project.
Open Mic Nite
May 14 - mark your calendars!
Show your short film at the Tower Theatre. All filmmakers welcome.
Submissions will be taken starting at 6pm on May 14th. Arrive early with
your film as spots for exhibiting the films fill quickly. Submission fee
is $5, admission is a suggested $1 donation. This is your chance to have
your work seen by an audience.
Ballet West Short Film Call for entries!
Ballet West's Short Film Contest is free to enter. Films need to be at
least 30 seconds and no longer than three minutes. The winner will be
shown at SLFS Open Mic 8/27/2008. Winners will also receive prizes. For
more information on Ballet West's Short Film Contest call (801) 323-6966
for details.
============================================================
QUICK LOOK at SHOWTIMES -
THIS WEEK:
Broadway
Through Thursday 5/1...
Miss Pettigrew 01:15, 4:15, 7:15*, 9:30 *Wed 4/30 NO 7:15 screening
Married Life 01:10, 4:05, 7:00, 9:00
Under The Same Moon 01;00, 4:05, 7:00, 9:20
Counterfeiters, The 01:05, 4:10, 7:10, 9:20
Where in The World is Osama Bin Laden 01:25, 4:20, 7:20, 9:25
CJ7 01:20, 4:00, 7:05, 9:15
Tower Theatre
Shine A Light 4:30, 7:00
Stop Loss 9:30
NEXT WEEK
FRI 5/2 - THU 5/8
Broadway
Miss Pettigrew 01:15, 4:15, 7:15, 9:30
Year My Parents Went on Vacation 01:00, 4:15, 7:00, 9:15
Married Life 01:10, 7:00* * WED 5/7 and THU 5/8 no 7:00 screenings
Under The Same Moon 04:05, 9:10** ** WED 5/7 and THU 5/8 no 9:10 screenings
Counterfeiters, The 01:05, 4:10, 7:10, 9:20
Where in The World is Osama Bin Laden 01:25, 4:20, 7:20***, 9:25
***WED 5/7 no 7:20 screening
Caramel 01:20, 4:25, 7:05, 9:25
Tower Theatre
Flawless (2:00* Fri thru Sun only) 4:30, 7:00, 9:30
MIDNIGHT FRI 4/25 and SAT 4/26 Mirrormask
=============================================================
TELL ME MORE...PLEASE!
(all star ratings are based on 4 star rating systems)
CARAMEL
Written and directed by: Nadine Labaki . Starring: Nadine Labaki,
Yasmine Elmasri, and Joanna Mkarzel
In Beirut, five women meet regularly in a beauty salon, a colorful and
sensual microcosm of the city where several generations come into
contact, talk and confide in each other. In the salon, their intimate
and liberated conversations revolve around men, sex and motherhood,
between haircuts and sugar waxing with caramel.
**** Film Threat
Caramel will likely be the Lebanese selection for Academy Award for Best
Foreign Film it's inconceivable to me that it won't win...and whoever
wins for Best Actress will be the second most deserving actress of 2007.
***1/2 Time
It may be a first film, but Labaki, employing a cast that is full of
non-professional actresses, is a slick and knowing filmmaker. Her
multiple plot lines are neatly braided and though her characters are
conventionalized they are also charming and capable of surprising us.
THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION
Written and directed by: Cao Hamburger . Michel Joelsas, Daniela
Piepszyk, and Liliana Castro
Set in the turbulent year of 1970, The Year My Parents Went on Vacation
is a poignant and humorous coming-of-age story. Mauro is a 12-year-old
boy thrust into a maelstrom of political and personal upheaval. When his
left-wing militant parents are forced to go underground, Mauro is left
in the care of his Jewish grandfather's neighbor in Sao Paulo. Suddenly
finding himself an exile in his own country, Mauro is forced to create
an ersatz family from the religiously diverse and colorful population of
his new neighborhood. Mauro befriends Hanna, a street-smart tomboy, and
develops a crush on Irene, a pretty waitress in a local bar. It is at
this local bar that everyone, including Mauro (an ardent soccer fan),
gathers to watch iconic star Pele in the 1970 World Cup championship,
which Mauro hopes to watch with his parents if they return to Brazil in
time.
**** Chicago Tribune
Pulls you into a well-observed world and its characters.
*** San Francisco
The filmmakers succeed with an unexpected ending. It's as fresh as
everything in the movie, which turns out to be about so much more than
one youngster's resilience.
FLAWLESS
Directed by: Michael Radford . Written by: Edward Anderson . Starring:
Michael Caine, and Demi Moore
Flawless is a clever diamond-heist thriller set in swinging 1960s
London. Demi Moore plays Laura Quinn, a bright, driven, and beautiful
executive at the London Diamond Corporation who finds herself frustrated
by a glass ceiling after years of faithful employment, as man after man
is promoted ahead of her despite her greater experience. Michael Caine
is Hobbs, the nighttime janitor at London Diamond who is virtually
invisible to the executives who work there, but over the years has
amassed a startling amount of knowledge about how the company runs.
Hobbs has his own bone to pick with London Diamond and, observing
Laura's frustration, convinces her to help him execute an ingenious plan
to steal a hefty sum in diamonds. But unbeknownst to Laura, Hobbs plans
go even further than he's let on, and together they set in motion a
thrilling heist of dizzying proportions, the likes of which London has
never seen.
*** Boston Globe
It's assured and neatly crafted - the time zips by while you're watching it.
*** Washington Post
The joy of this movie, which features Joss Ackland as a memorably
intimidating, Afrikaner-accented boss, is in the gradual revelation of
intrigue.
CJ7
Directed by: Stephen Chow . Starring: Stephen Chow, Kitty Zhang Yuqi,
and Xu Jian
Ti is a poor father who works all day, every day at a construction site
to make sure his son Dicky Chow can attend an elite private school.
Despite his father's good intentions to give his son the opportunities
he never had, Dicky, with his dirty and tattered clothes and none of the
"cool" toys, stands out from his schoolmates like a sore thumb. Ti can't
afford to buy Dicky any expensive toys and goes to the best place he
knows to get new stuff for Dicky: the junkyard! While out "shopping" for
a new toy for his son, Ti finds a mysterious orb and brings it home for
Dicky to play with. To his surprise and disbelief, the orb reveals
itself to Dicky as a bizarre "pet" with extraordinary powers. Armed with
his "CJ7," Dicky seizes this chance to overcome his poor background and
shabby clothes and impress his fellow schoolmates for the first time in
his life. But CJ7 has other ideas, and when Dicky brings it to class,
chaos ensues.
*** Boston Globe
CJ7 is precisely the 80-something minutes of delirium and cheesy
special-effects you'd expect from the man responsible for the chaos of
"Shaolin Soccer" and the lunacy of "Kung Fu Hustle."
*** New York Times
A devilishly entertaining curveball thrown at unsuspecting family audiences.
STOP LOSS
Directed by: Kimberly Peirce . Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish,
Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Sgt. Brandon King fought for America. He fought for freedom. He fought
for his family. He gave everything, and then he came home to begin his
life anew. But now his superiors want more: They want him back.
***1/2 TV Guide
It's a richly textured, psychologically acute film that takes an
unblinking look at the tattered life of the returning soldier, and it's
boosted by two powerful performances from Phillippe and the increasingly
impressive Tatum, a former underwear model who has somehow turned into a
fine actor.
*** Washington Post
It's a remarkably entertaining movie, thanks in part to a first-rate
cast and a director who knows you can't make a point without calling
everyone to attention.
SHINE A LIGHT
Directed by: Martin Scorsese . Starring: Keith Richards, Mick Jagger,
Bill Clinton, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts
Martin Scorsese's concert documentary Shine a Light will show the world
the Rolling Stones as they've never been seen before. Filming at the
famed Beacon Theatre in New York City in fall 2006, Scorsese assembled a
legendary team of cinematographers to capture the raw energy of the
legendary band.
****San Francisco Chronicle
An exhilarating documentary.
**** Roger Ebert
May be the most intimate documentary ever made about a live rock 'n'
roll concert. Certainly it has the best coverage of the performances
onstage.
**** Los Angeles Times
Shine a Light may not be the last Rolling Stones movie, but it's likely
to be the last one with a touch of the poet about it.
WHERE IN THE WORLD IS OSAMA BIN LADIN
Written and Directed by: Morgan Spurlock
If Morgan Spurlock has learned anything from over 30 years of watching
movies, it's that if the world needs saving, it's best done by one
lonely guy willing to face danger head-on and take it down action-hero
style. In Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?, the Oscar-nominated
filmmaker takes on a franchise even more lethal than McDonald's--Al
Qaeda. After this real-life action thriller is over, the world may never
be the same. Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? goes beyond shedding
light on the one man who has shaped the world's perception of a region
and its people. Spurlock risks life and limb to uncover the truth about
Bin Laden, and in doing so explores the lines that divide, those that
unite, and the countless shades of gray between.
*** Variety
Combines low comedy, high production values and the Middle East for what
will surely be a hit.
THE COUNTERFEITERS
Written and Directed by: Stefan Ruzowitzky . Starring: Karl Markovics,
August Diehl, and Devid Striesow
The true story of Salomon Sorowitsch, counterfeiter extraordinaire and
bohemian who was in captured by the Nazis in 1944. He agrees to help the
Nazis in an organized counterfeiting operation set up to finance the war
effort. It was the biggest counterfeit-money scam of all time. Over 130
million pounds sterling were printed under conditions that couldn't have
been more tragic or spectacular. During the last years of the war, as
the German Reich saw that the end was near, the authorities decided to
produce their own banknotes in the currencies of their major war
enemies. They hoped to use the duds to flood the enemy economy and fill
the empty war coffers. At the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, two
barracks were separated from the rest of the camp and the outside world,
and transformed into a fully equipped counterfeiters workshop.
"Operation Bernhard" was born. Prisoners were brought to Sachsenhausen
from other camps to implement the plan, and professional printers,
fastidious bank officials, and simple craftsmen all became members of
the top-secret counterfeiter crew. They had a choice: If they cooperated
with the enemy, they had a chance to survive as first-class prisoners in
a "golden cage" with enough to eat and a bed to sleep in. If they
sabotaged the operation, a sure death awaited them. For the
counterfeiters, it was not only a question of saving their own lives,
but also about saving their conscience as well...
**** Baltimore Sun
The Counterfeiters is in its own smart, trim fashion "The Bridge on the
River Kwai" of concentration-camp sagas. Also based (like Kwai) on a
real-life story, this movie starts small but becomes a miniature epic of
overreach and moral drift.
**** Entertainment Weekly
Without doing anything so divisive as taking sides, The Counterfeiters
pays sympathetic attention to those who play their cards to win even
when the rules are terrible, not least because the remarkable Markovics,
an Austrian TV actor with a pugnacious anvil of a head, is so riveting
as an unsaintly survivor.
UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA)
Directed by: Patricia Riggen . Written by: Ligiah Villalobos . Starring:
Kate Del
Castillo, Adrian Alonso, Jesse Garcia, Kate del Castillo
When the death of his grandmother leaves young Carlitos alone, he takes
his fate into his
own hands and heads north across the border to find his mother. As he
journeys from his
rural Mexican village to the L.A. barrio, Carlitos faces seemingly
insurmountable
obstacles with a steely determination and unfettered optimism that earn
him the grudging
respect and affection of a reluctant protector, a middle-aged migrant
worker named
Enrique. The unlikely pair finds their way from Tucson to East L.A., but
the only clue
Carlitos has to his mother's whereabouts is her description of the
street corner from
which she has called him each Sunday for the last four years. Unaware
that Rosario is
just hours away from returning to Mexico to be with her son, Carlitos
and Enrique
desperately comb the vast, unfamiliar city for a place he has seen only
in his
imagination. (Fox Searchlight)
**** Entertainment Weekly
The film says that the U.S. immigrant situation is untenable, but then
it forces US to
ask: What should be done?
***1/2 TV Guide
It's an unexpectedly powerful little film that manages to say a lot of
what, despite all
the talk on the subject, isn't being said in the national debate on
immigration.
MARRIED LIFE
Directed by: Ira Sachs . Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper,
Patricia Clarkson, and
Rachel McAdams
A wry blend of dark humor, romantic deception, and stylish
melodrama--with an
invigorating dash of suspense--Married Life is an unconventional fable
for grown-ups
about the irresistible power and utter madness of love. After decades of
marital
contentment, Harry concludes that he must kill his wife Pat because he
loves her too
much to let her suffer when he leaves her. Harry has fallen hard for the
young and
lovely Kay, but his best friend Richard wants to win Kay for himself. As
Harry
implements his maladroit plans for murdering his wife, the other
characters are
entangled with their own deceptions. Like Harry, they race toward their
passions but
trip over their scruples, seemingly well-intended toward all, but
truthful to none.
Married Life is an uncommonly adult film that surprises and confounds
expectations.
Although it plays with mystery, comedy, and intrigue, its ultimate
concern is: "What is
married life?" In its sly way, Married Life poses perceptive questions
about the
seasonal discontents and unforeseen joys of all long-term relationships.
(Sony Pictures
Classics)
***1/2 New York Magazine
In Married Life, Ira Sachs aims a bit lower than Green but obliterates
his target: The
funny, the scary, the campy, the sad--they're all splendidly of a piece.
*** Entertainment Weekly
Married Life congratulates its audience on a sophisticated, humorous
complicity in the
obvious immorality of Harry's murder plans, as well as in Richard's own
ungentlemanly
designs on his pal's gorgeous girl. Every adult, the movie suggests, has
got a secret.
MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY
Directed by: Bharat Nalluri . Written by: David Magee Simon Beaufoy .
Starring: Frances
McDormand Amy Adams Ciaran Hinds Shirley Henderson Lee Pace .
In 1939 London, Miss Guinevere Pettigrew is a middle-aged governess who
finds herself
once again unfairly dismissed from her job. Without so much as severance
pay, Miss Pettigrew realizes that she must--for the first time in two
decades--seize the day. This she does, by intercepting an employment
assignment outside of her comfort level--as "social secretary." Arriving
at a penthouse apartment for the interview, Miss Pettigrew is catapulted
into the glamorous world and dizzying social whirl of an American
actress and singer, Delysia Lafosse. Within minutes, Miss Pettigrew
finds herself swept into a heady high-society milieu--and, within hours,
living it up. Taking the "social secretary" designation to heart, she
tries to help her new friend Delysia navigate a love life and career,
both of which are complicated by the three men in Delysia's orbit:
devoted pianist Michael, intimidating nightclub owner Nick, and
impressionable junior impresario Phil. Miss Pettigrew herself is
blushingly drawn to the gallant Joe, a successful designer who is
tenuously engaged to haughty fashion maven Edythe, the one person who
senses that the new "social secretary" may be out of her element and
schemes to undermine her. During the next 24 hours, Guinevere and
Delysia will empower one another to discover their romantic destinies.
(Focus Features)
****Hollywood Reporter
Sustains itself through terrific forward momentum and two glorious star
turns by gifted
actresses Frances McDormand and Amy Adams.
***Variety
McDormand's performance slowly builds a solid integrity, and contrasts
well with Adams'
more flamboyant turn.
=============================================================
FILMS TO COME
In no particular release order
FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON
SON OF RAMBOW
YOUNG AT HEART
THEN SHE FOUND ME
MY BROTHER IS AN ONLY CHILD
REDBELT
THE VISITOR
MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
GIRLS ROCK
And many more....
Our staff here at the Salt Lake Film Society thanks all our supporters.
SLFS takes great care in hiring a staff that has a film history or
knowledge, so feel free to talk with any staff member about up coming
releases and our video collection at the Tower Theatre. They are a
wealth of knowledge and I'm happy to take all e-mail correspondence.
If you would like to volunteer for the Film Society events and earn
passes, please contact Amy Beth Leber at 801-746-0037
We thank you for your continuing support.
Tori Baker
Executive Director
Salt Lake Film Society...film festival all year long!
We do not sell any personal lists or information to any third
party...ever! If you would like to be removed from this list, please
reply to this e-mail. If you could also let us know why we lost you, we
can better serve our community.
Salt Lake Film Society thanks Xmission for their donation of services.
--
Tori Baker
Executive Director
Salt Lake Film Society
tori_baker@???
(801) 364-1088
