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The Last Station
Germany/Russia/UK, 2009, 112 mins
Director: Michael Hoffman
Screenwriter: Jay Parini
Cast: Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, Paul Giamatti, James McAvoy, Kerry Condon
After almost fifty years of marriage, the Countess Sofya, Leo Tolstoy’s devoted wife, passionate lover, muse and secretary—she’s copied out War and Peace six times…by hand—suddenly finds her entire world turned upside down. In the name of his newly created religion, the great Russian novelist has renounced his noble title, his property and even his family in favor of poverty, vegetarianism and even celibacy. After she’s born him thirteen children! When Sofya then discovers that Tolstoy’s trusted disciple, Chertkov —whom she despises—may have secretly convinced her husband to sign a new will, leaving the rights to his iconic novels to the Russian people rather than his very own family, she is consumed by righteous outrage. This is the last straw. Using every bit of cunning, every trick of seduction in her considerable arsenal, she fights fiercely for what she believes is rightfully hers.
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Love in the Afternoon
1957/USA/NR/130 min
Director: Billy Wilder
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Maurice Chevalier, John McGiver
This great romantic comedy from Billy Wilder starring Audrey Hepburn pairs her with Gary Cooper in the City of Lights. Ariane Chavasse (Hepburn) is the daughter of a private detective (Maurice Chevalier), who has been hired by Mr. X (John McGiver), a suspicious husband, to find out who his wife (Lise Bourdin) is seeing on the side. When he discovers the woman in the grip of millionaire playboy Frank Flannagan (Gary Cooper), he informs the predictably livid husband who loudly announces his intention to kill the interloper while Ariane is eavesdropping. She rushes off to warn Flannagan of his impending demise, which begins a series of afternoon meetings where she adopts the pose of a jaded lover and woman of the world. Intially amused by the ingenue’s charade, the middle-aged roue gradually becomes interested in the young woman, and after she disappears, becomes obsessed with finding her. After he unwittingly tells the story to the girl’s father in a steam room, the detective agrees to help Flannagan find her. Wilder’s sophisticated romantic fable, shot in spectacular Parisian locations, including the Opera and the elegant Chateau de Vitry, is nearly stolen by Chevalier as the protective pere.
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Half the Sky
Join us on Thursday, March 4 at 6 pm for a one night only special event — via satellite — to celebrate International Women’s Day. Inspired by Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times bestseller, “Half The Sky,” the Event will feature a musical performance by Michael Franti, the debut of Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone’s new short feature “Woineshet” and will conclude with a panel discussion about issues facing women around the world. The panel will include Marisa Tomei, musicians Michael Franti, India Arie and Angelique Kidjo, author Nicholas Kristof, CARE’s Dr. Helene Gayle and others.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn wrote the 2009 New York Times bestseller, “Half The Sky,” which follows the stories of extraordinary women around the world as they struggle to overcome oppression. Kristof and WuDunn focus on three major problems facing women — sex trafficking, maternal mortality and violence against women. They argue that empowering women is the key to alleviating poverty and uplifting communities in developing countries.
“Woineshet” tells the story of a brave teenager from a small village in Ethiopia who, along with her family, fought back against a brutal local traditions. Woineshet’s extraordinary courage and resolve is an inspiration to human rights advocates in Ethiopia and around the world.
Ticket prices are set by National CineMedia at $12.50. State member tickets are $10.50, and State Theatre All Access members get in free.
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Charlotte’s Web
1973/USA/G/94 min
Director: Charles A. Nichols
Cast: Debbie Reynolds, Paul Lynde, Henry Gibson, Agnes Moorehead
Produced by animation legends William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, this musical feature brings E.B. White’s beloved children’s novel to life with a wealth of famous voices. Friendly pig Wilbur (Henry Gibson) makes a big splash on the county fair circuit after Charlotte (Debbie Reynolds), the gentle spider living over his sty, “spins” his praises in her web. But Wilbur still has painful lessons to learn about the fleeting nature of life and friendship.
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Rashomon
1950/Japan/NR/88 min
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyo
On Sunday, March 7, we’re bringing back our Sunday Cinema Guild series. Every Sunday at 1 pm in March we will celebrate the 100th birthday of the great Japanese director Akira Kurosawa. Please join our group of ardent cinema lovers for these great films on the big screen. The first in the series is “Rashomon.”
Akira Kurosawa’s highly acclaimed film, set in feudal Japan, presents an intriguing tale of violent crime in the woods, told from the perspective of four different characters–a bandit (Toshiro Mifune), a woman (Machiko Kyo), her husband (Masayuki Mori), and a woodcutter (Takashi Shimura). Only two things about the incident seem to be clear–the woman was raped and her husband is now dead. However, the other elements radically differ as the four participants and/or witnesses relate their own stories (with the dead man, eerily enough, speaking through a medium). As each account is revealed, what seemed black and white turns to various hues of gray, leading to surprising–and confounding–relevations. A landmark of international cinema, “Rashomon” won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1951, bringing both Kurosawa, and Japanese film in general, to the attention of Western audiences. From the rain-soaked opening sequence to its moving conclusion, the film is a stunning examination of truth and human nature. The entire cast is pitch-perfect, with regular Kurosawa lead actors Mifune and Shimura giving typically outstanding performances. While critics and cinephiles debate over exactly how many masterpieces Kurosawa directed, “Rashomon” stands as one of the revered filmmaker’s indisputably brilliant motion pictures. In fact, the film’s influence is so pervasive that it has inspired everything from a high profile Hollywood remake (“The Outrage” starring Paul Newman) to numerous tributes in movies such as “Courage Under Fire” and “The Usual Suspects.” |
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Oscar Party
Because of the economy, this year our Oscar Party fundraiser will be free instead of $20 per person. Please come to the State and be our guest this Sunday evening at 7:30 pm.
To get your tickets in advance, call the box office at 231-947-3446 and we’ll put tickets aside for you, or come to the State any time between noon and 8 pm. Limit four tix per person (free tickets are NOT available online). For those of you who have already purchased a ticket, just bring it back any time for a refund.
The pop and popcorn is on Michael Moore, and we’ll have pizza there for a buck a slice, too. We will still have our Oscar contest at the event. Fill out your ballot when you arrive, and watch the standings on screen throughout the night to see who is in the lead. The Grand Prize winner who is present at the State on Oscar night will receive a one-day free pass to this year’s Traverse City Film Festival. Second place is a State Theatre one year All Access pass for two! Runners up will receive prizes including film and comedy fest sweatshirts and tshirts. |
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IndyFlix@theState presents: The People Speak
2009/USA/NR/155 min
Director: Chris Moore, Anthony Arnove, Howard Zinn
Cast: David Strathairn, Jasmine Guy, Kerry Washington, Micheal Ealy, Viggo Mortensen
Based on Howard Zinn’s groundbreaking, best selling books “A People’s History of the United States” and “Voices of a People’s History of the United States” chronicled the rich history of dissent in our country, presenting the story of America through the eyes of those rarely heard in mainstream histories. Prior to a speaking engagement at the University of Georgia in 1998, Howard Zinn explained that he had set a goal of starting a “quiet revolution” when writing A People’s History: “Not a revolution in the classical sense of a seizure of power, but rather from people beginning to take power from within the institutions. In the workplace, the workers would take power to control the conditions of their lives.” A People’s History, a stubbornly dissident work, has become a major success: it’s sold over a million copies; been adopted into the curriculum of some high schools and colleges; and received the Prix des Amis du Monde Diplomatique.
Told in a series of live readings and reenactments featuring performances by Hollywood A-listers Josh Brolin, Marisa Tomei, Danny Glover, Jasmine Guy, Viggo Mortensen, Kerry Washington, Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Sandra Oh, Sean Penn, Rosario Dawson, Don Cheadle, and musical performances by Bob Dylan, John Legend, Eddie Vedder, Chris and Rich Robinson, and Bruce Springsteen, this unique film pumps up the volume of Zinn’s “quiet revolution.”
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Stage Door
1937/USA/NR/92 min
Director: Gregory La Cava
Cast: Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Adolphe Menjou, Ann Miller
The Footlights Club, the primary setting for much of “Stage Door,” is a remarkable creation. The result of a collaboration between director Gregory La Cava, screenwriter Morrie Ryskind (brought in to replace Anthony Veiller), and an outstanding group of tough, smart-talking actresses played by Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball, Ann Miller, Eve Arden, and Gail Patrick, the film’s club is always full of noise, as the conversations overlap and wisecracks come spinning out of the melee. Newcomer Terry Randall (Hepburn) is different from the other women. For one thing, she has money and doesn’t need a job. And she has confidence, initially rejecting fading actress Catherine Luther’s (Constance Collier) offer of help, saying, “I think coaching’s a waste of time. After all, acting’s only common sense.” Because of her attitude, the rooming house’s inhabitants give her a rough time, especially her roommate, Jean (Ginger Rogers). Eventually, Terry gets an opportunity to act–at the expense of Kaye Hamilton (Andrea Leeds). Only after Jean and the others see Terry’s response to Kaye’s tragedy is she grudgingly accepted into the group. STAGE DOOR is an extraordinarily rich movie, graced by wonderful performances by Rogers, Hepburn, and the entire remarkable ensemble cast.
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Hoot
2006/USA/PG/91 min
Director: Wil Shriner
Cast: Luke Wilson, Logan Lerman, Brie Larson
Jimmy Buffet makes his debut as a producer in this ecologically minded family film, based on the best-selling novel by Carl Hiaasen. New kid Roy Eberhardt (Logan Lerman) is not faring well at his new school in Coconut Grove, Florida. His family recently relocated from his beloved Montana, and immediately Roy has found himself on the bad side of school bullies Dana (Eric Phillips) and Beatrice “The Bear” (Brie Larson). But when he catches sight of a blonde wild boy running barefoot through the streets, Roy is drawn into some strange and unique events in his new home. There have been odd occurrences on the plot of land soon to be occupied by Mother Paula’s Pancake House. Someone is perpetrating just enough vandalism to interfere with the restaurant’s groundbreaking, while driving the foreman, Mr Muckle (Clark Gregg in a hilarious turn), crazy. After eventually winning Beatrice’s friendship, Roy meets the culprit: her stepbrother, Mullet Fingers (Cody Linley), who has taken it upon himself to stop the construction and save the rare burrowing owls that live on the premises. But as the three ecological vigilantes resort to ever more drastic measures to save the owls, Roy realizes their only hope lies in bringing the issue to the public’s attention. Charming, fun, and carrying an important message, HOOT overcomes its more incredible aspects through an irresistible good humor that audiences can’t help but be swept along by. Luke Wilson steals the show as a bumbling man-child who somehow managed to become a police officer, while Buffet himself appears as a kindly, surf-bum marine biology teacher.
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