Oct 21st at 4:30 & 7:00
(96 Minutes, PG-13, Documentary)

Trumbo is a unique, star-studded film about Oscar-winning screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and his heroic journey from Hollywood royalty to blacklisted writer to Academy Award winner. Set against the backdrop of tremendous political unrest, audiences will be given a first hand, emotional account of how this turmoil affected one of the Hollywood’s most prolific writers.

Based on the play “Trumbo,” by his son Christopher, the film features brilliant readings of some of Trumbo’s extraordinary letters performed by an A-list cast, interlaced with period and contemporary interviews, and rare video shot by his family and friends. These actors include: Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Nathan Lane, Josh Lucas, Liam Neeson, David Staithairn, and Donald Sutherland.

“The readings of Dalton Trumbo’s letters to family and friends are starkly rendered—famous faces…recite rousing missives without the aid of sets or props of any kind save for Trumbo’s own thunderous proclamations in defense of free speech.” – Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice

“The substance of those letters, along with documentary footage and a touching appearance by Kirk Douglas, throws a baleful light on a bleak chapter of American history.” – Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“Trumbo is an unconventional film about an unconventional man.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Time

“Trumbo is well worth seeing for what it tells us about the age in which this irrepressible individualist lived, loved, suffered and finally triumphed.” – Andrew Sarris, New York Observer

Oct. 14 at 4:30 and 7:00
(90 minutes, Not Rated, Comedy/Romance)

In Search of a Midnight Kiss is a rollicking comic ride and tender journey though love, sex, and modern romance in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve.

WILSON (Scoot McNairy), a twenty-nine-year old guy who has just had the worst year of his life, is new to Los Angeles, has no date, no concrete plans and every intention of locking the doors and forgetting the last year ever happened. That is until his best friend, Jacob (Brian McGuire), browbeats him into posting a personal ad on Craig’s List. When Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a strong-willed woman hell bent on being with the right guy at the stroke of midnight responds, a chaotic, sometimes hilarious, sometimes touching journey through the black and white streets of L.A. begins. In the waning hours of the year, emotional vulnerability and bitterly honest humor seem to be waiting around every corner.

“To praise the beauty of this film is not enough; what lends it tension is that it’s wrapped around people for whom beauty is at best an anachronism and at worst an embarrassing joke.” – Anthony Lane, New Yorker

“In Search of a Midnight Kiss isn’t a homage or a recycling job. It’s a film with its own organic existence, its own reason for being. It is ultimately a very true and moving story.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“In Search of a Midnight Kiss is wonderfully romantic and romantically bittersweet. It’s not about forever; it’s about now.” – James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Oct 7 at 4:30 & 7:00
(G, 99 min., Documentary)

Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man,” “Rescue Dawn”) confirms his standing as poet laureate of men in extreme situations with ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. In this visually stunning exploration, Herzog travels to the Antarctic community of McMurdo Station, headquarters of the National Science Foundation and home to eleven hundred people during the austral summer (Oct-Feb). Over the course of his journey, Herzog examines human nature and Mother nature, juxtaposing breathtaking locations with the profound, surreal, and sometimes absurd experiences of the marine biologists, physicists, plumbers, and truck drivers who choose to form a society as far away from society as one can get.

Some Review Snippets:

“Antarctica, it turns out, is the perfect setting for Herzog to find the themes that have fascinated him: The mercilessness of nature, and the foolhardiness of humans who would challenge nature.” – Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

“A poem of oddness and beauty. Herzog is like no other filmmaker, and to return to him is to be welcomed into a world vastly larger and more peculiar than the one around us. The underwater photography alone would make a film, but there is so much more.” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Tribune

“Few filmmakers make the end of days seem as hauntingly beautiful as Werner Herzog does in Encounters at the End of the World.” – Manohla Dargis, New York Times

We’ve put together a series of four films that, although a little heavy on the Documentary genre, we hope you’ll find interesting and enjoyable. We’ll be ‘traveling’ to all sorts of interesting places, on and off the map.

We will be renting the Theater on each of the four Tuesdays in October to show these films. We’ll have one presentation at 4:30 and one at 7:00. [Note: This is a change from our usual early Sunday show and 6:30 Monday show.]

Encounters at the End of the World
Oct 7th at 4:30 & 7:00
(99 Minutes, G, USA, Documentary)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093824/

In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Oct 14th at 4:30 & 7:00
(90 minutes, Not Rated, Black & White, Comedy/Romance)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989000/

Trumbo
Oct 21st at 4:30 & 7:00
(96 Minutes, PG-13, Documentary)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0889671/

A Man Named Pearl
Oct 28th at 4:30 & 7:00
(78 Minutes, G, Documentary)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878134/

These shows are open to the public. General Admission is $5.50 per ticket. And, remember, your 2008 memberships are still in effect.

If anyone would like to volunteer to help with concessions and cleanup that would be wonderful.

Girls Rock!
(PG, 90 min., USA, English)
June 22 at 7:00
June 23 at 4:00 & 7:00

At Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it’s OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that “it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are.” The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about her dog Pipi. The girls are given a temporary reprieve from being sexualized, analyzed and pressured to conform.

The Counterfeiters
(R, 98 min., Austria/Germany, German)
June 15 at 7:00
June 16 at 4:00 & 7:00

The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Berhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany’s allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard’s aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.

The Band’s Visit
(PG-13, 87 min., Israel, English/Arabic/Hebrew)
June 8 at 7:00
June 9 at 4:00 & 7:00

On an ordinary day, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrives in Israel from Egypt for a cultural event, only find there is no delegation to meet them, nor any arrangements to get to their destination of Petah Tiqva. When they find their own ride, they arrive instead at the remote town of Beit Hatikva. Stuck there until the next morning’s bus, the band, lead by the repressed Tawfiq Zacharaya, gets help from the worldly lunch owner, Dina, who offers to put them up for the night. As the band settles in as best it can, each of the members attempts to get along with the natives in their own way. What follows is a special night of quiet happenings and confessions as the band makes its own impact on the town and the town on them.

The Band’s Visit
(PG-13, 87 min., Israel, English/Arabic/Hebrew)
June 8 at 7:00
June 9 at 4:00 & 7:00

On an ordinary day, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrives in Israel from Egypt for a cultural event, only find there is no delegation to meet them, nor any arrangements to get to their destination of Petah Tiqva. When they find their own ride, they arrive instead at the remote town of Beit Hatikva. Stuck there until the next morning’s bus, the band, lead by the repressed Tawfiq Zacharaya, gets help from the worldly lunch owner, Dina, who offers to put them up for the night. As the band settles in as best it can, each of the members attempts to get along with the natives in their own way. What follows is a special night of quiet happenings and confessions as the band makes its own impact on the town and the town on them.

The Counterfeiters
(R, 98 min., Austria/Germany, German)
June 15 at 7:00
June 16 at 4:00 & 7:00The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. Salomon “Sally” Sorowitsch is the king of counterfeiters. He lives a mischievous life of cards, booze, and women in Berlin during the Nazi-era. Suddenly his luck runs dry when arrested by Superintendent Friedrich Herzog. Immediately thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, Salomon exhibits exceptional skills there and is soon transferred to the upgraded camp of Sachsenhausen. Upon his arrival, he once again comes face to face with Herzog, who is there on a secret mission. Hand-picked for his unique skill, Salomon and a group of professionals are forced to produce fake foreign currency under the program Operation Berhard. The team, which also includes detainee Adolf Burger, is given luxury barracks for their assistance. But while Salomon attempts to weaken the economy of Germany’s allied opponents, Adolf refuses to use his skills for Nazi profit and would like to do something to stop Operation Bernhard’s aid to the war effort. Faced with a moral dilemma, Salomon must decide whether his actions, which could prolong the war and risk the lives of fellow prisoners, are ultimately the right ones.

Girls Rock!
(PG, 90 min., USA, English)
June 22 at 7:00
June 23 at 4:00 & 7:00At Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp, girls ranging in age from eight to 18 are taught that it’s OK to sweat like a pig, scream like a banshee, wail on their instruments with complete and utter abandon, and that “it is 100% okay to be exactly who you are.” The girls have a week to select a band, an instrument they may have never played before, and write a song. In between, they are taught by indie rock chicks such as Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney various lessons of empowerment from self-defense to anger management. At the end of the week, all the bands perform a concert for over 700 people. The film follows several campers: Laura, a Korean adoptee obsessed by death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth addiction, homelessness and gang activity; and Amelia, an eight-year-old who writes experimental rock songs about her dog Pipi. The girls are given a temporary reprieve from being sexualized, analyzed and pressured to conform.

We’ve finished with the six titles in our spring series and its not even feeling like Spring yet! It looks like the Theater is going to get some pretty interesting titles over the next few weeks, keep an eye out. I’m working on Money. Fun! People gotta be paid for these good movies we showed. Then there’s the IRS…

But beyond that, I’m in talks with folks about the film called GIRLS ROCK for sometime in June. Would it be cool to have it during the Chick’s Run?

And I’d love it if any of you would like to provide some suggestion and/or feedback. Either in the comments or by email would be great.