Tuesday (2/9) Film Happenings

There are some special happenings tonight:
Splatter Cinema @ The Plaza Theatre--Basket Case, 9:30p.  I remember seeing this film on cable or uhf or something.  It's like horrifically funny good fun.

Or, if you are more culturally minded, you can check out a screening of Pip & Zastrow: An American Friendship, a documentary about the friendship between two men who were top athletes in their segregated high school in Annapolis, Maryland.  Their lives are very divergent, but they have intersecting paths.  7p @ the MLK National Historic Site.  The film's director will be in attendance.  Check out more details here.  FREE


#atlarts

How Very French

I thought pickings were pretty slim at the mega multiplex this weekend so I decided to take in a French film called 35 Shots of Rum which is now playing at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema.  I can't say the movie had any real plot and I'm still not sure what happened at the end.  But basically it's a reflection on a father and daughter, Lionel and Josephine.  The mother is presumably dead, but we don't know how or why.  Lionel is a train conductor and Josephine a student.  They have carved out a very routine life for themselves and are seemingly not tempted to widen their circle too much, although Lionel encourages Josephine to be "free."  They have formed a small family unit with their apartment building neighbors Noe, a young man who lives with his dead parents' old furniture and old cat, and with Gabrielle, a cab driver who tries to stand in as a mother figure for Josephine.  Although the film was very loose in structure, I liked it's meandering pace.  Simple, yet complex and very French.

In Amreeka

Amreeka.  I missed this independent gem when it the ATL last year.  A constant running complaint I have is the short time such films seem to spend in this town.  If I didn't have Netflix, I might miss them altogether.  Amreeka tells the story of a Palestinian woman and her son who move to midwestern America in hopes for better opportunities.  Their life in the West Bank is complicated by check points, guns, and violence.  They hope things will be better in Amreeka (Arabic for America).  But instead, they trade one set of complications for another.  The mother can't find a job in banking and must settle for a job in fast food and the son is constantly teased as being a terrorist.  There are glimmers of hope and one thing rings true-family bonds are the strongest and most important no matter where we lay our heads.  If you get a chance, check out Amreeka which is now on dvd.

Weekend ATL Film Happenings for 2/5 to 2/6

Seems like movies at the museum are in order this weekend.  Enjoy.

Friday (2/5)
 Eyedrum--Screening of Satyritown: A Short Film about Cabbagetown.  7:30p-9p.  FREE but donations are accepted.

Saturday (2/6)
French Film Festival opens at the High Museum of Art--Diabolique, 8p.  $7 admission.

The Found Footage Festival

Ever wonder what happens to people's random family videos? Do they go the way of your left sock and get devoured by the sock monster?  Well they may actually be dug up at some garage sale and end up being featured in the The Found Footage Festival which is a festival complete of random videos.  This strange and wondrous event will be taking place for one night only at the Plaza Theatre on Thursday (2/4) at 7:30.  I hope you don't see anyone you recognize.

On The Lovely Bones

I read The Lovely Bones several years ago and I don't remember much detail other than the gist that the dead girl, Susie Salmon, is looking down on her family from the "in between" as they try to move on with their lives after her violent murder.  Peter Jackson's film version did little to jog my memory.  I don't know if that's a reflection on me needing a lot more ginseng or on  Jackon's interpretation of the book.  Anyway, I thought the film was entertaining but I wasn't necessarily bowled over.  Jackson's visualization of Susie's heaven was pretty interesting and Stanley Tucci made a good serial killer.  [Can there be such a thing as a good serial killer?]  But the other characters-namely Susie's family and her friends-weren't fully developed.  I suppose that's the risk of bringing some books to screen--some nuances get lost on celluloid. 

Weekend Film Happenings in The ATL for 1/29-1/30

There's lots to see this weekend.  Enjoy.

Friday 1/29

Film Love--Selected films of Vito Acconi. 8p, Eyedrum.  Admission is $6.

Saturday 1/30

Silver Scream Spook Show at the Plaza Theatre--Buck Rogers Planet Outlaws, 1p and 10p

"Haiti Relief: A Film Screening and Teach-In"--Screening of the film The Agronomist followed by  a panel discussion,  6:30p to 9p, Emory University in White Hall, Rooms 101, 301. Admission is free.

Eyedrum--Screening of Seishun America Junjyo Monogata, 7p and 9p.  Suggested donation is $5.

Whip It is Out on DVD Today

This roller girl romp made my Top 10 list for 2009.  Here's my original review:

Girls on Wheels

Posted by ATL Flick Chick

What do small town Texas girls do when their mothers don't understand them and force them into beauty pageants?  They run away to Austin and join the roller derby, of course! #Whip It marks the directorial debut of Drew Barrymore, and I must say she has really come into her own.  Based on a book and screenplay written by Shauna Cross,  Barrymore has made a smart and heartfelt movie.  Ellen Page plays Bliss, a teenager from Bodeen, Texas who is struggling to come into her own.  When she sees a flier for a roller derby bout, she finds her "calling," so to speak, and eventually transforms into Babe Ruthless, a roller derby bad ass who can whip it.  Flanked by a smart cast, including Alia Shawkat who plays Bliss's best friend, Marcia Gay Harden as Bliss's mother, and Daniel Stern as her father, Page puts in a great performance as Bliss.  Page, first as Juno and now as Bliss,/Babe Ruthless is the poster-child for the young millennial woman--she can throw down on the sporting field, take destiny into her own hands, have thoughtful conversations with her friends and family, and, if a stupid boy hurts her feelings, she can kiss him and then slap him and get on with her life.  Watching those women roll around the track, onscreen, larger than life made me totally ready to check out the 2010 season of our own hometown roller derby league, the #Atlanta Roller Girls.  In the meantime, check out Whip It.  Go ahead and get you some.

Party Like This is It

There will be a party tonight at 9pm the Brookhaven Blockbuster to celebrate the release of the This is It DVD.  The celebration includes a dance lesson of the "Beat It" and "Thriller" routines.  Put on your glove and don't stop to you get enough.

Message Received

Several times I have posted the Movie Mania screenings sponsored by Emory University's Psychoanalytic Institute. Friday night was the first time I attended it and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I'm sure if I hadn't become a lawyer, I probably would have been some type of academic.  So it was kind of nice and nostalgic to be on the campus of my undergraduate alma mater having an academic discussion about a film.  In honor of MLK week the selection was a BBC film called  Shoot the Messenger.  The film bowled me over.  Basically it's about a black man in the UK who decides to help disadvantaged black males by becoming a teacher.  He finds, however, that his efforts are not entirely appreciated and when he's wrongly accused of assaulting one of his charges, he has a psychotic break that causes him to question the black community and his place in it.  The film touches on almost every issue we have as being black people in Western society-- self-loathing, colorism, assimilation, religion, the historic impact of slavery, and the perils of the black male.  Needless to say it was a lot to take on and the discussion could have easily gone beyond the hour we spent on it.  I wish this 2006 film was made available stateside, but it appears its not even available for renting.

The next Movie Mania film will be Pink Floyd The Wall on February 12.