ANTARCTICA: A YEAR ON ICE
This feature-length film reveals what it is like to live and work at the bottom of the planet, in Antarctica, for a full year. The story is not from the point of view of scientists, but of the people who spend the most time there; the everyday workers who keep the stations running in the harshest place on the planet. Filmed over 15 years by Frozen Planet photographer Anthony Powell, the film features a unique insider’s point of view, with unparalleled access and never before seen stunning footage of the deep Antarctic winters. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
THE BETTER ANGELS
This poetic and visually stunning black-and-white period piece tells the story of Abraham Lincoln’s childhood in the harsh wilderness of Indiana and the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever and the two women who guided him. Narrated through transcribed reminiscences of Lincoln’s cousin, it conveys a detailed sense of the time, rather than relating historical facts. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
BILL, THE GALACTIC HERO
See review above. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. Dec. 12, IFS at Muenzinger Auditorium. $8 general admission/$7 students.
JINGLE BELL ROCKS!
In his search for the 12 best, underappreciated Christmas songs ever recorded, director Mitchell Kezin both asks and answers the question, why, when Christmas rolls around, are we still stuck cozying up with Bing Crosby under a blanket of snow? Kezin delves into the minds of some of the world’s most legendary Christmas music fanatics and hits the road to hang with his holiday heroes including hip hop legend Joseph Rev RunSimmons of RUN-D.M.C., The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne, filmmaker John Waters, bebopper Bob Dorough, L.A. DJ and musicologist Dr. Demento and Calypso legend The Mighty Sparrow. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
LA CENORENTOLA: TEATRO DE LICEU
Catch Joyce Di Donato and Juan Diego Flórez in what may just be definitive performances in Rossini’s enchanting rags-to-riches rendition, entreated James Sohre in his review of Rossini’s beloved dramma giocoso La Cenerentola in Opera Today. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
PELICAN DREAMS
What’s it like to try to get to know a flying dinosaur? Sundance and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Judy Irving (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill) follows a wayward California brown pelican from her “arrest” on the Golden Gate Bridge into care at a wildlife rehabilitation facility, and from there explores pelicans’ nesting grounds, Pacific coast migration and survival challenges. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD
Kat Connors is 17 years old when her perfect homemaker mother, Eve, disappears — just as Kat is discovering and relishing her newfound sexuality. Having lived for so long in a stifled, emotionally repressed household, she barely registers her mother’s absence and certainly doesn’t blame her doormat of a father, Brock, for the loss. In fact, it’s almost a relief. But as time passes, Kat begins to come to grips with how deeply Eve’s disappearance has affected her. Returning home on a break from college, she finds herself confronted with the truth about her mother’s departure, and her own denial about the events surrounding it. At Boedecker — Boedecker Theater
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