Monday, December 14, 2015
This year, the studios are doing something new, presumably to discourage piracy: requiring a signature for those packages. Let's just say I've become well acquainted with my UPS guy.
So I thought I'd write up five films you can't (yet) see in local theaters — movies to look forward to at the multiplex or art house, or to seek out on DVD or your favorite streaming service.
Tags: movie , film , carol , todd haynes , james white , cynthia nixon , youth , paolo sorrentino , the big short , adam mckay , steve carell , tangerine , sean baker , oscar , golden globe , Movies you missed , Image , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Wednesday, June 24
At South Burlington's Palace 9 Cinemas, the film that kicked off the New Hollywood movement of the 1970s gets the royal treatment. Steven Spielberg's Jaws, still toothy after all these years, is 40 years old, and the Palace 9 is hosting a celebration of this important film and its legacy. Shown in its original aspect ratio and with an introduction from the folks at Turner Classic Movies, Jaws screens twice, at 2 and 7 p.m.Tags: güeros , main street landing , burlington film society , still dreaming , hopkins center for the arts , documentary , pirate birthday party , peter ferland , town hall theater , the terminator , james cameron , arnold schwarzenegger , Image , Video , Web Only
Friday, June 5, 2015
Jurassic World, the long-delayed third sequel to the 1993 film Jurassic Park, will have an unusual premiere in Burlington two days before its national release. The film, directed by Burlingtonian Colin Trevorrow, is the main attraction of a fundraising event for the Vermont International Film Foundation. Though the bread and butter of VTIFF is screening “small,” independent and foreign films that do not receive widespread theatrical release, the local connection to this $150 million summer blockbuster was a perfect opportunity to raise money for and awareness of the organization.
After directing just one mid-budget independent film, 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed, Trevorrow was tapped by none other than Steven Spielberg and his producing team to join the ranks of Big Hollywood Players. Though his first feature contains no dinosaurs, and his second feature would appear to contain little in the way of “quirky” romance, Trevorrow says that the two films are more alike than they might appear. This week, Vermonters will have the chance to decide for themselves.
Tags: film , movie , jurassic world , jurassic park , colin trevorrow , vtiff , vermont international film foundation , fundraiser , burlington , majestic theater , dinosaur , Image , Video , Web Only
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Tuesday, March 31
Tonight, in the Cinema Room of Johnson State College’s Stearns Student Center, PBS’ monthly Community Cinema series touches down with a screening of the documentary The Homestretch. The film follows three young men who have brains, talent and ambition — but do not have homes. The subjects of the film challenge all the stereotypes about what it means to be homeless, and provide ample evidence that their struggles, though serious, are much like those of teens everywhere.The film plays for free at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. Conversation to follow.
Tags: film , movie , on screen this week , documentary , farming , inhabit , homestretch , occupy the farm , gloria , vermont movie , Image , Video , Web Only
Monday, March 23, 2015
Ethan Allen Cinema went out with both a bang and a whimper. Though the building was unceremoniously razed by a wrecking ball in a matter of hours last Friday, the theater sat dark and vacant for nearly a decade. For years, only a popcorn machine, visible through the front window, reminded passersby of its past purpose.
Tags: movies , movie house , discount movie tickets , cheap seats , merrill jarvis III , burlington , Image , 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
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
Merrill Jarvis III, co-owner of several Burlington-area theaters, has just announced that he will screen The Interview at the Palace 9 in South Burlington starting on December 31.
Last week, Sony Pictures cancelled the planned Christmas release of the Seth Rogen-James Franco buddy comedy after a group of hackers thought to be affiliated with the North Korean regime threatened terrorist violence against theaters. The film features a scene — leaked by the hackers — in which Korean leader Kim Jong-un is assassinated.
After public outcry about the censorship of the film, Sony announced today that The Interview will be available to theaters after all. Whether it will play at multiplex mega-chains like Regal Cinemas remains uncertain. What is certain is that Burlingtonians will get a look.
Tags: the interview , seth rogen , palace 9 , merrill jarvis , sony , Image , Web Only , Video
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Today Kilik is taking time out to return to Burlington and talk with students in UVM’s Film and Television Studies program. He'll spend the day visiting classes, then host a campus screening that marks the Vermont premiere of Foxcatcher. Already out in major markets, the drama directed by Bennett Miller (Capote, Moneyball) won’t reach Vermont multiplexes until early next year. In a rave review, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times described it as “hold[ing] up a dark mirror to the American dream.”
Tags: alumni , film , foxcatcher , hunger games , jon kilik , mockingjay , University of Vermont , Image , Web Only
Depending on how you look at it, though, the film with the longest running time — as well as the longest-running film — may be the the decades-old Warren Miller "film." Miller, the grandfather of and most important figure in the history of skiing and snowboarding films, is now 90 years old and no longer takes an active role in making the globetrotting documentaries that bear his name. But that hasn't stopped his company from annually releasing The Warren Miller Film.
Though each entry has its own title, the company nevertheless refers to each constituent film as The Warren Miller Film — as if it's a single movie that's been continuously made and updated since 1950. And, in a sense, that's actually a pretty accurate description. All of the films that bear Miller's name are definitely of a piece: remarkable location shooting, serious snow-and-ice shredding and a voiceover that guides viewers through the film's arctic thrills.
Tags: film , movie , ski , warren miller , documentary , skiing , no turning back , Image , 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