We are pleased to announce that we will be screening the 3 time Academy Award nominated The Young Victoria, Thursday Feb. 11th at 7pm in the upstairs auditorium of the Carolina Theater in downtown Hickory.  Admission for members is free, Non-members $5.

A little about the film -

Eighteen-year-old British royal Victoria (Emily Blunt) ascends to the throne and is romanced by future husband Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) in this lush period film that chronicles the early years of the British monarch's larger-than-life reign. Produced by Martin Scorsese and Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, the film also stars Miranda Richardson as the Duchess of Kent, Jim Broadbent as King William and Paul Bettany as Lord Melbourne.

Link to the movie preview

We are pleased to announce that we will be screening the latest from the Coen Brothers A Serious Man January 14th at 7pm in the upstairs auditorium of the Carolina Theater.  Hope to see you there.

A little about the film -

A Serious Man is the story of an ordinary man's search for clarity in a universe where Jefferson Airplane is on the radio and F-Troop is on TV. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) that she is leaving him.  Larry's unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny (Aaron Wolf) is a discipline problem, and his daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job.  Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person - a mensch -  or a serious man?

The Carolina Theater in the spirit of holidays has told us that any Footcandle member who shows their ID can get in free to a screening of Amelia between now and the end of the year.

Count me among the droves of folks who loved the Where The Wild Things Are book as a kid.  I couldn't have been more excited when I heard that Spike Jonze was going to make a movie of it.  Sure, like most, I was curious how he was going to take a book with about two paragraphs of text and turn it into a 2 hour movie...but then they'd made Cat in The Hat...but that was also terrible.

The movie opens with a scene of Max chasing the family dog through the house with a fork making stabbing gestures.  Right away I felt like the movie was going to work for me.  It was holding true to the idea of the book but was going to probably investigate some new territory.  Next up was a snowball fight scene that also served to establish the mood and I thought was wonderfully shot and acted.  Now my inner-child was so excited I could barely stand it.  The best was surely yet to come with the journey to the island and the Wild Things!

But no...this was not be.  Instead once Max got to the island there was lots of talking.  Talking about feelings, families, friends, and relationships.  Talking, talking, talking.  I felt like I was watching a Lifetime movie except weepy protagonists had been replaced with mopey giant horned beasts.  From the director whose helmed such imaginative films as Being John Malkovich and Adaptation I knew to expect the unexpected...but I never expected to be bored.

Footcandle will be screening the 2009 war thriller The Hurt Locker directed by Kathryn Bigelow November 12th at 7pm in the upstairs auditorium of the Carolina Theater.  Hope to see you there!

Synopsis -

The film follows one of the U.S. Army's elite EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) teams operating in the ferocious war zone of Iraq. As the squad identifies and dismantles improvised explosive devices and other bombs, they must also contend with the frayed nerves and internal conflicts that arise from living in constant peril. Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Guy Pearce, Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie star.

Extract- (tr.v.) - to draw or pull out, often with great force or effort.  I think this definition gives some insight into the plight of the latest offering from Mike Judge.

The comedy featuring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, and Ben Affleck centers on an extract factory owner (Bateman) and his struggles as he tries to sell his business and retire early.

With his previous films (Office Space, Idiocracy) Judge has explored the life of the everyman.  "Office Space" was the more grounded satire while "Idiocracy" was the more outlandish, ridiculous one.  Both are enjoyable in their own ways and offer several memorable moments.  The problem with "Extract" is that it seems to be a forced (with great effort) sequel of sorts to "Office Space".  Retread are the characters of the grating boss with his repetitive requests in the form of the neighbor who won't stop gabbing.  Even the casting of Kristen Wiig (as Bateman's wife) seems to recall (both in appearance and mannerisms) the character Jennifer Anniston played in "Office Space".

This film is not without unique moments of humor however.  Standouts to me where the cameo by Gene Simmons as a lawyer and the scenario of the pool boy gigolo complete with his own theme music.  The familiar territory of mining pot smoking for laughs is explored as well but the payoff at the end I feel like works.

While I wouldn't dissuade someone from seeing "Extract" it just left me with a lingering taste of what might have been.

One day I will make it to a film festival.  But until then I'll have to rely on the reporting of those lucky souls who get to go...or at least talk to those who go.  IndieWIRE has posted a report card of sorts for a slew of films premiering at Toronto - ranging from Werner Herzog's latest (Bad Lieutenant: Port Call of New Orleans) to a Ricky Gervais comedy (The Invention of Lying).  Here's a link to see how the Toronto Class of 2009 fared.

Jeff Bridges who played the Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski in the Coen brothers hit "The Big Lebowski" is in talks to possibly play in Joel & Ethan's remake of "True Grit".  I'm not a big western fan so I've never seen the original but the re-teaming of this group has my interest.  Bridges' upcoming films include "The Men Who Stare at Goats" and a reprising of his role in "Tron Legacy".  For more on this story visit the full article on Variety's website.

Fresh off his success with Slumdog Millionaire it appears Danny Boyle might decide to film a sequel to his underground smash hit Trainspotting.  It would be interesting to see if Ewan McGregor would return for the film.  For more on this project click here.

Lenoir-Rhyne University just announced it will  be screening the documentary "Pray the Devil Back to Hell" on September 29th at 6:30pm in the Belk Centrum.  For more details click here.