Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Saturday, February 28
The Dana Auditorium at Middlebury College will screen Something in the Air, a recent film by the marvelously talented French director Olivier Assayas, who’s regarded by many as one of the best living filmmakers. The semiautobiogaphical film, about a young man who’s torn between his passions for art and for political radicalism, won the screenwriting prize at the 2012 Venice International Film Festival.Something in the Air screens at 3 and 8 p.m. in Middlebury College’s Dana Auditorium. Free.
Monday, March 2
At another of Vermont’s colleges this week, screenwriter Austin Bunn will be on hand to present and answer questions about Kill Your Darlings, the 2013 drama that he penned. Bunn’s talk, and the screening of the film, will be presented under the aegis of the Norwich University Writers Series — highly appropriate, given the film’s subject matter. Kill Your Darlings is set in the milieu of the early days (and daze) of the Beat Generation, and features Daniel Radcliffe as Allen Ginsberg, Ben Foster as William S. Burroughs and a host of other familiar faces in the roles of proto-hippie authors.
The film’s morbid title, incidentally, is a reference to a piece of writerly advice, which I first heard as an undergraduate film student certain I’d soon pen the next big blockbuster. If you have a scene (or a line, or a word) that you absolutely love, it’s probably a good idea to excise it from whatever you’re writing, lest its putative incandescence detract from the piece as a whole.
Solid advice, that.
Kill Your Darlings, followed by a Q&A with screenwriter Austin Bunn, is at 6 p.m. in Norwich University’s Cabot Hall. Free.
This week also sees the kickoff of the Vermont International Film Foundation’s “Global Roots” series, the mission of which is to screen films from the home nations of some of Vermont’s New Americans.
The first film in this year’s three-film series is the 2012 Nepalese feature Highway, which employs a time-tested narrative device to explore the new political realities of post-revolutionary Nepal. That device, which has worked for artists in all media and in all eras, involves placing several radically different people in a small, enclosed location; tensions mount when personality types clash. In the case of Highway, the situation unfolds on a bus traveling from eastern Nepal to the capital city of Kathmandu; conflicts arise when the bus is halted by protesters.
Highway screens at 6:30 p.m. at the Community College of Vermont’s Winooski location. Free.
Wednesday, March 4
At last Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony, Julianne Moore picked up the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Still Alice, the recent drama about a professor who develops Alzheimer’s disease. The Oscar was the icing on the cake for Moore, one of the most gifted of all screen performers; the role also earned her a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award, a Broadcast Film Critics Association award and plenty of others.Though the Fletcher Free Library will not screen Still Alice, it will host a “community dialogue” about the film and the health issues that it raises. Those who attend the free event are invited to share their reactions to the film, as well as their thoughts on how Alzheimer’s affects residents of Vermont.
The community dialogue about Still Alice takes place at 6 p.m. at the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington. Free.
Thursday, March 5
At Merrill’s Roxy Cinema, March 5 is Patrick’s Day. No, not Saint Patrick’s Day — that’s about a week and a half later — but Patrick’s Day. That’s the name of the film that will be screened as a special event.Produced in Ireland and released last year, Patrick’s Day recently won the Feature Film Contest that is one of the components of the annual, traveling Manhattan Short Film Festival, which the Roxy also hosts. Every year, that festival’s selection committee picks a single film that they believe should receive a wide, theatrical release.
The film concerns a young man with schizophrenia who struggles to achieve intimacy. Patrick’s Day has won multiple awards, including several for its lead actor, Moe Dunford.
Patrick’s Day screens at 7 p.m. at Merrill’s Roxy Cinema in Burlington. Regular ticket prices apply.
Tags: on screen , film. movie , on screen this week , vtiff , fletcher free library , community college of vermont , norwich university , merrill's roxy , roxy , still alice , highway , patrick's day , austin bunn , kill your darlings , vtiff , middlebury college , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, February 9, 2015
Tuesday, February 10
Among the film offerings this week, perhaps the most intriguing takes place just over the state line at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, N.H. The Hop itself commissioned The Kronos Quartet in “Beyond Zero: 1914-1918,” a multimedia artwork that brings together the acclaimed neoclassical group, the Serbian-born composer Aleksandra Vrebalov and the talented filmmaker Bill Morrison.Morrison is known for finding the inherent, bizarre beauty in old and decaying films, a subject he explored most memorably in the unique film Decasia, which exists at the crossroads of documentary and experimental film.
Morrison again resuscitates nearly expired celluloid for “Beyond Zero,” the subject of which is what your great-grandparents called "The Great War": World War I. This one-of-a-kind film-and-music event is worth the drive. See hop.dartmouth.edu for more information. (Tickets: $17-$50.)
Wednesday, February 11
On January 20, A Path Appears, the documentary about women who break free from the yoke of forced prostitution, played at Johnson State College; if you missed it there, you have another chance to see it this week in Burlington. The film will screen for free at the Fletcher Free Library at 6:30 p.m. See fletcherfree.org for more information.
Saturday, February 14
The nominees for animated short films all will be screened at the Hop in Hanover, N.H. This is a great way to gain an edge in your office’s Oscar pool, because the “little” categories like this one are often decided by the tossing of a metaphorical dart. The full list of nominees is here; visit hop.dartmouth.edu for more details about the 7 p.m. screening. (Tickets: $5-$8.)Another film playing locally on Valentine’s Day may not necessarily be the best date movie in the world, but it certainly attracted a lot of attention in indie-film circles over the last couple of years. Noah Baumbach’s Frances Ha, starring indie darling Greta Gerwig (who also coscripted the film), plays for free at the Hirschfield International Film Series at Middlebury College at 3 and 8 p.m. The film is sort of about … nothing, really. A young woman in New York City has friends and wants a better job and is charming and quirky. As you can probably tell, this film does not do much for me, but I’m an old crank. Don’t listen to me. Also, get off my lawn.
Tuesday, February 17
For the continuing Architecture + Design Film Series at Burlington City Arts, VTIFF presents the documentary 16 Acres, about the design and rebuilding of New York City's Ground Zero site. The film recounts the story behind the massive, complex, decade-long, $20 billion project that has transformed lower Manhattan. It plays at 6 p.m. at 135 Church Street. The screening is free, but the pre-film cash bar (by definition) is not; stick around afterwards for discussion.Tags: film , on screen , movies , jupiter ascending , hopkins center , kronos quartet , bill morrison , a path appears , animation , oscars , frances ha , noah baumbach , greta gerwig , VTIFF , BCA , 16 acres , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Friday, January 23
The first of two polar screenings at the Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, N.H., is a fascinating reinterpretation of a legendary classic.Robert Flaherty's 1922 film Nanook of the North is one of the most important texts in the history of documentary — and one of its most controversial. Even as he established storytelling and stylistic standards for documentary that persist to this day, Flaherty also used questionably ethical practices in directing it. He famously used reenactments in numerous scenes (something most documentaries do), and the film has long been tainted — rightly or wrongly — with a whiff of imperialist exploitation.
Tags: film , movies , on screen , cold , nanook of the north , tanya tagaq , hopkins center , arctic , antarctica , a year on ice , 2001: a space odyssey , stanley kubrick , forbidden planet , id monster , sci-fi , banff mountain film festival , lebanon opera house , Image , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
In 2008, renovations to the bottom two floors of the building enabled Catamount's leaders to "really make a huge leap for ourselves by having this wonderful facility, but also evaluating who we are and what we do," says executive director Jody Fried.
Now entering its 40th year — the official anniversary is in May — the Northeast Kingdom's primary arts hub is gearing up for a celebratory year. It even has a flashy new anniversary poster (see above) designed by the nationally recognized digital-arts pioneer Laurence Gartel. A native of the NEK, he was recently named the official artist of the 57th Grammy Awards.
Tags: catamount arts , jay craven , jody fried , katherine french , green mountain film festival , poem city , arts , northeast kingdom , vermont , Image , Web Only
Monday, January 19, 2015
Tuesday, January 20
The public is invited to attend a free screening of and discussion about the new documentary A Path Appears, which addresses the subject of forced prostitution in America. Filmed as part of the PBS series "Independent Lens," A Path Appears was made with the participation of Nicholas Kristof and Olivia WuDunn, authors of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Other participants in the film include actors Malin Akerman, Jennifer Garner and Mia Farrow.Johnson State's Stearns Student Center will host the 7 p.m. screening as part of PBS' monthly Community Cinema program, the purpose of which is to encourage local discussion of important issues.
Tags: film , movies , screening , a path appears , i.m. pei , architecture , burlington film society , main street landing , angels with dirty faces , trashed , jericho energy task force , johnson state college , frog hollow , feldman's bagels , planet cat , cats , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Most recognizable among the festival's guests is Gov. Peter Shumlin, who will speak to attendees on Wednesday, January 21, about Vermont's first-in-the-nation law requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods. The recently re-elected Shumlin will specifically address in his talk the Food Fight Fund, a trust established to finance Vermont's efforts to defend the inevitable challenges to that legislation. A "community dialogue" will follow Shumlin's talk.
Tags: film , film festival , mountaintop film festival , big picture theater , waitsfield , documentary , social issues , glenn greenwald , eugene jarecki , edward snowden , selma , citizenfour , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, December 1, 2014
Maglianero is sponsoring, at Burlington's Main Street Landing Film House, a screening of A Film About Coffee, a 2014 documentary that follows the journey of a coffee bean from tree to cup. The film has played all over the world at festivals and independent cinema venues. Check out the trailer below.
Tags: film , movie , coffee , a film about coffee , maglianero , main street landing , burlington , food 4 farmers , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, November 28, 2014
OK, so that's not exactly breaking news in Vermont, or anywhere else in the greater guitar-geek world, really. Under the banner of his Burlington-based company, Creston Electric, Lea has been building custom guitars since 2002. And, owing both to his own craftsmanship and the eye-catching, Western-styled artwork by local artist Sarah Ryan that often adorns them, he's developed quite a reputation for high quality and distinctive axes.
The ringing sound of his Tele-styled guitars is practically the soundtrack to Burlington itself, as several of the area's notable players swear by their Crestons. These include Brett Hughes, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals' Benny Yurco, Anders Parker, Swale's Eric Olsen and Waylon Speed's Kelly Ravin, to name a handful.
Lea has quite a few bigger-name acolytes as well, such as Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi, Adam Ant, actress Gaby Hoffman and Son Volt's Jay Farrar. By the way, Son Volt guitarist and Burlington expat Mark Spencer is also known to rock a Creston or six and, according to a new short documentary film, might have been the man who started Lea on his path to becoming a luthier to the stars.
That film, Wood & Wire: The Hand-Crafted Guitars of Creston Lea, is a Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM) production helmed by local filmmaker Bill Simmon. The 20-minute doc examines Lea's guitar-building history, his place in the world of custom guitars, his collaboration with Ryan and why, as Lea notes in on his website, the customer is only "sometimes" — read: "almost never" — right.
Tags: Creston Electric , Creston Lea , guitars , luthier , Fretboard Journal , Mark Spencer , VCAM , Bill Simmon , burlington , vermont , Video , Image , Web Only
Friday, November 14, 2014
What You Missed
Simon James (Eisenberg) is a loser. Total strangers order him to vacate his seat on the subway. His fellow employees at a drab government agency barely recognize him. Hannah (Mia Wasikowska), the depressed, ethereal girl he loves, doesn't know he's alive. He uses a telescope to observe her through her window and carefully retrieves the torn-up artwork she throws in the trash.
Then James Simon (also Eisenberg) enters the picture. The new employee could be Simon's physical twin, but he's outgoing, gregarious, likable, manipulative. In no time at all, James has Simon doing favors for him and Hannah in his bed. He knows how to make her happy — and unhappy, it transpires.
Tags: the double , richard ayoade , jesse eisenberg , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, November 13, 2014
With partial funding from a $78,000 grant from the New York State Council for the Arts, the Strand, which was built as a vaudeville theater in 1924, has installed a digital projection system, a new 16-by-32-foot screen and a surround-sound system.
The new gear will amaze festival attendees as they feast upon a weekend-long program of films of all kinds. Screening at the Strand on Saturday, November 15, and Sunday, November 16, they include features by local filmmakers and short films from around the world.
Tags: strand center for the arts , plattsburgh , film , movie , lake champlain film festival , Image , Web Only