AFTERNOON OF A FAUN
Of the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. She mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike – her elongated, race-horse physique became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine. The muse to both Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, they loved her as a dancer and a woman. Balanchine married her and Robbins created his famous Afternoon of a Faun for Tanny. She was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped. At age 27, Tanny was struck down by polio and paralyzed. She never danced again. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
A BIRDER’S GUIDE TO EVERYTHING
A 15-year-old birding fanatic thinks that he’s made the discovery of a lifetime. So, on the eve of his father’s remarriage, he escapes on an epic road trip with his best friends to solidify their place in birding history. Ben Kingsley co-stars in this warm and funny movie about youth, birding, friends, love, loss, forgiveness, and a duck. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Writer/director Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums) returns with The Grand Budapest Hotel, which recounts the adventures of Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The dramatic comedy involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the backdrop of a suddenly and dramatically changing continent. All-star ensemble cast also includes F. Murray Abraham, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, Tilda Swinton, Mathieu Amalric, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan and Edward Norton. At Esquire. — Landmark Theatres
IN BLOOM
In the early ’90s, Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is plagued by violence, war on the Black Sea coast and vigilante justice. But for Eka and Natia, 14-year-old inseparable friends, life is just unfolding: in the street, at school, with friends and elder sisters who are already dealing with men’s dominance, early marriage and disillusioned love. For these two girls in bloom, life hangs on the edge between tradition and modernity, childhood and adult life, innocence and self-determination. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
ELAINE STRITCH: SHOOT ME
At 87, Broadway legend Elaine Stritch remains indisputably in the spotlight. In the revealing and poignant documentary Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, the uncompromising Tony and Emmy Award-winner is showcased both on and off stage via rare archival footage and intimate cinema vérité. By turns bold, hilarious and moving, the film’s journey connects Stritch’s present to her past, and an inspiring portrait of a one-of-a-kind survivor emerges. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN
Charles Dickens — famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success — falls for Nelly, who comes from a family of actors. The theatre is a vital arena for Dickens — a brilliant amateur actor — a man more emotionally coherent on the page or on stage than in life. As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, secrecy is the price for both of them, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility.” Starring Ralph Fiennes. Rated R. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
THE LUNCHBOX
In the romantic drama The Lunchbox, middle-class housewife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that a new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan (Irrfan Khan, Life of Pi), a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears and even small joys. In the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes and dreams, Ila and Saajan become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities. Co-written and directed by Ritesh Batra. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
THE MISSING PICTURE
Director Rithy Panh was 13 in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge turned Cambodia into a murderous experiment in ideology. He and his family were sent to starve in a rural re-education work camp. The Missing Picture explores Panh’s quest to create the missing images of that period, of his family and the life he recalled, as a celluloid act of remembrance. He comes up with a unique and inventive way to tell his story: he uses hundreds of intricately detailed clay figurines set up in diorama scenes, intercut with what archival propaganda footage he could find, to show what is indelibly recorded in his memory; he creates the missing pictures of what does not exist in photograph or film. Surprisingly effective, the film’s impact is mesmerizing and poetic. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
NYMPHOMANIAC VOLUME I
Lars von Trier’s much-anticipated motion picture event Nymphomaniac will be released as two full-length feature films. Volume I is the story of Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg), a self-diagnosed nymphomaniac who is discovered badly beaten in an alley by Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård), an older bachelor who takes her into his home. As he tends to her wounds, she recounts the erotic story of her adolescence and young-adulthood (portrayed in flashback by Stacy Martin).
Volume I also stars Shia LaBeouf, Uma Thurman, Christian Slater, Sophie Kennedy Clark, Connie Nielsen and Udo Kier. Nymphomaniac marks von Trier’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed film Melancholia, and is his third consecutive collaboration with Gainsbourg.
A groundbreaking filmmaker for more than two decades, von Trier’s other films credits include Antichrist, Dogville, Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves. Note: Nymphomaniac contains graphic depictions of sexuality to a degree unprecedented in a mainstream feature film. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
PARTICLE FEVER
Imagine being able to watch as Edison turned on the first light bulb, or as Franklin received his first jolt of electricity. For the first time, a film gives audiences a front row seat to a significant and inspiring scientific break-through as it happens. Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start-up of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist? Directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker, and masterfully edited by Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Godfather trilogy), Particle Fever is a celebration of discovery, revealing the very human stories behind this epic machine. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
SCIENCE ON SCREEN: “THE LOOKOUT” AND KATHRYN HARDIN ON TBI
For National Science on Screen night, Kathryn Hardin, Certified Brain Injury Specialist, will address many of the hot-button topics specifically related to Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the information not covered by the popular press. In The Lookout a former high-school hockey star severely injured in a tragic car accident becomes an unlikely ally to a crack team of determined bank robbers in this thriller starring Jeff Daniels and Joseph Gordon- Levitt. When his promising career on the ice is suddenly cut short, former athlete Chris Pratt (Gordon-Levitt) goes to work as a janitor in a local bank. Cleaning floors soon gives way to criminal enterprise when the onetime puck-slinger is recruited to help clean out the very bank that employs him. A remarkably realistic portrayal of someone with severe TBI combined with the excitement and grittiness of a modern day bank heist. Screenwriter Scott Frank (Out of Sight and Minority Report) makes his directorial debut, working from his own original screenplay. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
WALKING THE CAMINO: SIX WAYS TO SANTIAGO
Come along for an up-close look at one of humanity’s most timehonored traditions. By following pilgrims from all walks of life as they attempt to cross an entire country on foot with only a backpack, a pair of boots, and an open mind, we witness a magnetic and miraculous power, which changes lives. Driven by an inexplicable calling and a grand sense of adventure, each pilgrim throws themselves heart-and-soul into their physical trek to Santiago and, most importantly, their personal journey to themselves. At Boedecker and Chez Artiste. — Boedecker Theater
THE WIND RISES
In acclaimed animator Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises, Jiro (voice of Hideaki Anno, co-director of the Evangelion series) — inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni — dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world’s most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic and Japan’s plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko (Miori Takimoto), and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo. Writer/director Miyazaki pays tribute to engineer Jiro Horikoshi and author Tatsuo Hori in this epic tale of love, perseverance and the challenges of living and making choices in a turbulent world. Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
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