[Rose-movies] Rose Theatre Newsletter for March 8, 2005
The Rose Theatre
rocky at rosetheatre.com
Tue Mar 8 14:35:46 PST 2005
This week's newsletter includes:
* Sneak Preview of MOOLAADE Thursday, March 10
* MOOLAADE starts Friday, March 11 - Best Picture - Cannes Film Festival
* ROBOTS starts Friday, March 11
* LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE starts Friday, March 11
* THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA ends Thursday, March 10
* BORN INTO BROTHELS ends Thursday, March 10 - Academy Award Winner
* MILLION DOLLAR BABY ends Thursday, March 10
* WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE starts March 18
* Lecture by Bill Porter this Sunday, March 13, at one o'clock
* Admission Prices
* Gift Suggestions -
* Coming Attractions
* Rose Theatre Movie Challenge
______________________________________________________
Show Times: Tuesday, March 8 - Thursday, March 17
Sneak Preview of MOOLAADE Thursday, March 10, at 7:30. A few complimentary
tickets are still available.
Please request them at our box office during regular business hours.
MOOLAADE - showing in the Rosebud Cinema
March 11-17 7:10
ROBOTS - showing in the Rose Theatre
March 11 4:30, 7:30
March 12 4:30, 7:30, 9:20
March 13 4:30, 7:30
March 14, 15 7:30
March 16, 17 4:30, 7:30
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
March 11 4:00
March 12 4:00, 9:40
March 13 4:00
March 14,15 No Shows
March 16, 17 4:00
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Showing in the Rose Theatre
March 8-10 7:10
BORN INTO BROTHELS - Showing in the Rose Theatre
March 8 No Show
March 9,10 4:30
MILLION DOLLAR BABY - showing in the Rosebud Cinema
March 8 7:30
March 9 4:00, 7:30
March 10 4:00
______________________________________________________
MOOLAADE
Directed by Ousmane Sembene
Cast: Fatoumata Coulibaly, Maimouna Helene Diarra, Salimata Traore,
Dominique T. Zeida.
Not rated: contains brief nudity and confronts sexual issues. 124 min. In
Jula and French with English subtitles. <http://www.NewYorkerFilms.com>
As empowering and triumphant a film as you'll see this or any year, the
latest from African cinema godfather Ousmane Sembene tackles the issue of
female circumcision in Islamic Africa in what can best be described as a
rousing celebration of women's rights and solidarity. Four little girls
flee the "purification" ceremony and request sanctuary from the
modern-thinking Colle, a wife and mother who invokes the power of
protection older than the village's Islamic practice. Her defiance
challenges the authority of the elder women who perform the cutting
ceremony (they vow to "destroy her power") and the men who rule the village
(they will confiscate the radios to stop the spread of modern
ideas). Semebene's style draws from folk storytelling traditions and his
dialogue, with its ritualistic call-and-response quality, has a lovely
sing-song beauty. His style has been described as "primitive," but beneath
the surface simplicity lays a richly drawn community, a serious dialogue
about the blind obedience to tradition and authority, and a message of
equality, education and respect. (Excerpted from THE SEATTLE TIMES)
_______________
The subject is female genital mutilation in a contemporary African
village. The storyteller is 81-year-old Ousmane Sembene, one of the
reigning masters of world cinema. The story, MOOLAADE, is the most
powerful political film on the screen today. And is persuasiveness is
rooted in the Senegalese filmmaker's use of African folk-narrative
traditions - conjuring up a great, rich hubbub as brilliant with color and
characters as any drama on a less daunting subject. The story rests on the
courage of Colle, a villager who has herself experienced the lifelong
physical agony that results from ritual circumcision: Now she's keeping her
own daughter away from the cutting that cultural tradition in much of
Africa demands. Other frightened girls turn to her too, and Colle fends
off disapproving elders by invoking an ancient spell - moolaade means
protection. As the village is stirred by rebellion, Sembene allows each
argument its dignity, presenting the challenge to change and adapt as an
embrace rather than an admonition. The result: This great work of art has
the potential to change the world. (Excerpted from ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY)
"Embracing, affirming, world-changing humanist cinema at its finest. With
startling elements of musical comedy blended in...it is also infused with
remarkable buoyancy of spirit...complete with detestable villains, brave
heroes, suspense, intrigue and a finale that will bring tears of amazement
to your eyes"-THE NEW YORK TIMES. "A richly entertaining crowd-pleaser by
a master in the twilight of his career"-THE VILLAGE VOICE. "Magnificently
beautiful. A film of great urgency. A strong, true and useful film...that
resonates with life"-Roger Ebert.
_______________________________________________________________
ROBOTS
Cast: With the voices of Ewan McGregor, Halle Berry, Greg Kinnear, Mel
Brooks, Amanda Bynes, Drew Carey & Robin Williams.
Rated PG, 92 min. <http://www.robotsmovie.com>
This new animated movie is from the creators of the popular animated
feature ICE AGE.
______________________________________________________________
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Rated PG-13 for mild language. 106 min. <http://www.sonyclassics.com>
Featuring performances by Angelique Kidjo, Mavis Staples, Honeyboy Edwards,
Keb' Mo', James Ullmer, Allison Krauss, India.Arie, Odetta, Natalie Cole,
Larry Johnson, Buddy Guy, Ruth Brown, Macy Gray, Clarence "Gatemouth"
Brown, Kim Wilson, Bonnie Raitt, John Hammond, John Fogerty, Steve Tyler,
Joe Perry, The Neville Brothers, Shemekia Copeland, Robert Cray, David
Johnsen, Hubert Sumlin, Solomon Burke, Vernon Reid, Chuck D. and Fine Arts
Militia, B.B. King, Dr. John, Levon Helm, Willie Weeks
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE is one terrific concert film. It's a tribute to the
blues that's structured around a show held last year at New York's Radio
City Music Hall. If you ever loved this kind of music, LIGHTNING will
bring the reason back. If you haven't, you'll likely wonder where this has
been all your life.
Brought together were more than 50 musicians representing decades of
performing experience; as Dr. John, who plays piano in the concert's house
band put it, "it's like they looked in the phone book under blues."
The sophisticated matching of song with artist is LIGHTNING's secret
weapon, leading to a series of thrilling pieces. India.Arie doing a
heart-stopping "Strange Fruit," John Fogerty powering his way through
"Midnight Special," young Shemekia Copeland mastering "I Pity the Fool,"
even Aerosmith's Steve Tyler and Joe Perry getting into "I'm a King Bee":
They all provide musical spaces it's easy to lose yourself in.
Eighty-year-old B.B. King is the final featured soloist. As the reigning
master of the idiom, Mr. King sings in a rich, barking cry and still plays
single-note riffs that have the sting of bitter tears. Others may convey
more juice and more pain, but Mr. King radiates the majesty of a final
authority. (Excerpted from the LOS ANGELES TIMES & THE NEW YORK TIMES)
"A film about the blues that spans several generations of performers. It
offers social issues, great characters and music to blow you away"-NEW YORK
DAILY NEWS
_____________________________________________________________
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Cast: Gerard Butler, Emmy Rossum, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Richardson,
Minnie Driver
Rated PG-13 brief violent images. 141 min. <http://www.phantomthemovie.com>
Eighteen years after his London bow, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA lives to sing
again. This sumptuous version evokes the original show while working as a
movie in its own right. Emmy Rossum, as the Phantom's muse delivers a
radiant, vocally lustrous performance.
Director Joel Schumacher softens the horror aspects, not only in the
Phantom's mask and scarred face but also in the darkness of his soul. The
opening of the film sticks closely to the show as, in 1919, an auctioneer
sells off knickknacks in the crumbling, dusty auditorium of Paris' Opera
Populaire, and the aged Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny buys a music box with
special memories. Thunderous organ chords then announce the overture as
the story flashbacks to 1870. (Excerpted from VARIETY)
"Phantom, which is still running on Broadway, is a rapturous spectacle and
the movie, directed full throttle by Joel Schumacher goes the show one
better. It smolders"-ROLLING STONE. "Emmy Rossum is a heart-stopping
presence"-NEWSWEEK. "A delirious romantic power that will sweep you
away"-SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER
________________________________________________________________
BORN INTO BROTHELS - 2005 Academy Award - Best Documentary Feature
Directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman
Rated R for thematic material and language. 85 min. In English and
Bengali with English subtitles. <http://www.bornintobrothels.com>
BORN INTO BROTHELS is a tremendously moving and compelling film about the
power of art to transform lives. This extraordinary account of one woman's
tireless dedication to a group of children in Calcutta's red-light district
finds beauty and hope amidst terrible squalor. At times heartbreaking,
Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's film takes a frank yet compassionate look
at the lives of children born to Indian prostitutes - and how learning
photography may help them avoid the cruel fates of their mothers and
grandmothers. Watching these amazing children, so funny and resilient in
the face of soul-crushing despair, you may find yourself smiling through
tears during BORN INTO BROTHELS, a film that truly deserves to be called
"unforgettable."
In 1998, New York-based photojournalist Zana Briski began a two-year
sojourn in Calcutta's red-light district with the intention of only
photographing prostitutes. Although it took quite some time before the
women opened to Briski, their children quickly embraced her. As they
trailed her through the red-light district, fascinated by her camera,
Briski started teaching them how to take pictures. Impressed by their
enthusiasm and talent, she began holding weekly photography classes for the
kids. Through interviews and raw, unsparing footage of the kids' families,
BORN INTO BROTHELS introduces us to eight of Briski's students: three boys
and five girls of varying ages.
Without glossing over the grim reality of these kids' lives, BORN INTO
BROTHELS shows them to be thoughtful survivors who happily lose themselves
in photography. Typically the odds are against the kids for escaping the
red-light district for good; family ties often pose a bigger obstacle than
bureaucratic indifference. Yet despite the kids' uncertain future, the
overall tone of BORN INTO BROTHELS is one of cautious
optimism. Photography has given them a sense of life's possibilities. It
may sound like the most prehistoric of cliche's, but Briskin and Kauffman's
astonishing documentary confirms that art feeds the soul. (Excerpted from
REEL.COM)
"'Born Into Brothels' is a triumph of the spirit for all involved. This is
a work of art so deep and resonant that it puts most narrative films to
shame"-THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. "An artful film about, among many things,
the power of art to transform lives"-NEWSWEEK
________________________________________________________________
MILLION DOLLAR BABY - Academy Award Winner - Best Picture of the Year
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman
Rated PG-13 for violence, some disturbing images, thematic material and
language. 133 min. <http://www.milliondollarbabymovie.net>
Clint Eastwood's MILLION DOLLAR BABY is the best movie released by a major
Hollywood studio this year, and not because it is the grandest, the most
ambitious or even the most original. On the contrary: it is a quiet,
intimately scaled three-person drama directed in a patient, easygoing
style, without any of the displays of allusive cleverness or formal
gimmickry that so often masquerade as important filmmaking these days.
At first glance the story, about a grizzled boxing trainer whose hard heart
is melted by a spunky young fighter, seems about as fresh as a well-worn
gym shoe. This is a Warner Brothers release, and if it were not in color
(and if the young fighter in question were not female), MILLION DOLLAR
BABY, with its open-hearted mixture of sentiment and grit, might almost be
mistaken for a picture from the studio's 1934 lineup that was somehow
mislaid for 70 years.
Which is not to say that Mr. Eastwood, who is of Depression-era vintage (he
will turn 75 this year), is interested in nostalgia, or in the
self-conscious quotation of a bygone cinematic tradition, or even in
simplicity for its own sake. With its careful, unassuming naturalism, its
visual thrift and its emotional directness, MILLION DOLLAR BABY feels at
once contemporary and classical, a work of utter mastery that at the same
time has nothing in particular to prove.
Mr. Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, the owner of a tidy, beat-up gym tucked
away in a shabby corner of Los Angeles. His best friend, who supplies
world-weary voice-over narration is Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman), a former
fighter whom Frankie managed long ago. Both men carry some heavy
frustration and regret, but they bear the weight gracefully and with
good-humored fatalism, reconciled to loneliness and the diminishing returns
of age.
Frankie, a gifted professional whose timidity - he prefers to think of it
as common sense - has kept him away from the big time - receives a second
chance in the unlikely person of Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank, in her
best performance since BOYS DON'T CRY), a waitress who shows up at his gym
and won't take no for an answer. Frankie insists that he doesn't train
girls, and since Maggie is already 30, she's too old to have much chance
for glory in any case. But her combination of eagerness and discipline
wear down Frankie's resistance, and he and Maggie are soon embarked on a
classic underdog's journey toward triumph.
It may be a staged tale of an underdog's triumph, but each scene is packed
with authentic feeling, and if you think you know where MILLION DOLLAR BABY
is headed - have no fear, you don't. (Excerpted from THE NEW YORK TIMES &
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY)
2005 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Eastwood), Best Actress
(Hilary Swank), Best Supporting Actor (Morgan Freeman)
"A stunningly drawn map of the human heart. Eastwood is a true
artist"-ROLLING STONE. "It's not just the exceptional work by costars
Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman that stands out here, it's Eastwood's own
performance, in some ways the most nakedly emotional of his 50-year
career"-LOS ANGELES TIMES
____________________________________________________________
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE MERCHANT OF VENICE starts March 18
Michael Radford's handsome screen version of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE has a
lovely, dusty light; its colors are soft and burnished, like a Vermeer
painting, and its air seems of another world. And the faces who breathe
that air have an artistry of their own: the curly, amused smile of Lynn
Collins as Portia; the etched lines of Jeremy Irons' face as Antonio; the
earnest, classical beauty of Joseph Fiennes as Bassanio; the weariness in
the eyes of Al Pacino as Shylock. Shakespeare's language - particularly
such gems as "The quality of mercy is not strain'd" and "All that glisters
is not gold" - would seem embellishment enough, but Radford gives the words
a setting appropriate to their glory.
He's also given this troublesome tale a bit of context. The play has long
faced charges of anti-Semitism; Shylock the Jewish moneylender, is a
greedy, vengeful character, and his ultimate comeuppance for attempting to
extort a "pound of flesh" from the merchant Antonio includes a demand that
he convert to Christianity. Yet it's too easy to dismiss the play this
way, particularly one that includes the famous "Hath not a Jew eyes?"
speech, with the line, "If you prick us, do we not bleed?"
Radford, director of IL POSTINO, adds a prologue to the film, explaining
with on-screen title cards that 16th-century Jews in Italy lived in"getos"
with gates that were locked at night, and the intolerance of their faith
was a fact of life at that time. Listen carefully to the language, and
Shylock's character becomes complex and even sympathetic, his flaws
stemming from the miserable treatment he has endured.
Pacino's portrayal of him, minus most of the actor's usual
bellow-and-swagger gusto, brings a layer of delicacy to the role. His
Shylock is tired, worn down by his own grim life, and his speeches feel
like he's delivered them before - you sense that he's tired of having to
explain his own humanity.
And Radford gives the film - shot partly in Venice - a golden glow and a
real-world grubbiness. Beauty and ugliness mingle in this play, with the
beauty of language ultimately triumphing. (Excerpted from THE SEATTLE TIMES)
"Exceptional & Bold"-SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. "Watching the film is like
seeing a gallery of Renaissance paintings come to life...Portia's defeat of
Shylock becomes one of the great courtroom scenes in recent movies"THE NEW
YORK TIMES. "Pacino gives one of the best Shakespeare performances I've
seen in a movie"-Roger Ebert
_________________________________________________________________
School of Athens Lecture Series Continues This Sunday, March 13 with Bill
Porter
Six speakers of national renown will lecture in Port Townsend this fall and
winter in a new humanities series that its organizers hope will become an
annual contribution to the intellectual and imaginative life of Port
Townsend.
The talks will range from species extinction to civil rights, from a love
of books to underwater volcanoes, from Chinese scholarship to chimpanzees
and cognitive neurology. Talks are scheduled at the Rose Theatre, at 1:00
PM, every second Sunday, October through April, excepting December.
The 2004-2005 speakers are:
Peter Ward, paleontologist and University of Washington earth science
professor, led new research on a mass extinction that occurred 200 million
years ago killing off more than fifty-percent of all species on
Earth. Evidence from the extinction was gathered at sites in the Queen
Charlotte Islands, off Canada's British Columbia coast. Ward is lead
author on a paper detailing the evidence in the journal "Science." October
10, 2004 SOLD OUT
John R. Delaney, Ph.D., marine geologist at the School of Oceanography,
University of Washington, studies active submarine volcano-hydrothermal
systems. After recovering a unique set of rocks with the submarine ALVIN
from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 1980. Delaney focused on establishing a
permanent seafloor observatory to study submarine volcanoes. His recent
publications include "Life on the seafloor and elsewhere in the solar
system," Oceanus, 1998. November 14, 2004 SOLD OUT
Nancy Pearl, former director of the Washington Center for the Book and
Youth Services at Seattle Public Library, now writes, reviews books for
local and national publications and speaks to library and community groups
full time. She reviews books regularly on KUOW, a Seattle affiliate of
National Public Radio, as well as Wisconsin and Tulsa, OK., public radio
stations. January 9, 2005 SOLD OUT
Pramila Jayapal is executive director and founder of Hate Free Zone
Campaign of Washington and has been a voice for immigrant and refugee
communities targeted after 9/11. Jayapal has worked for social justice for
over twelve years in Africa, Asia, Latin America and in Washington. She
serves on the board of Chaya, the Institute of Current World Affairs, and
Hedgebrook Woman Writers Retreat. SOLD OUT
Bill Porter, also known by his literary pseudonym, Red Pine, is a
translator of Chinese literary and religious texts. He studied
anthropology at Columbia University before moving to a Buddhist monastery
in Taiwan for four years. Later, he produced 1,100 short programs of trips
he took throughout China for a Hong Kong radio station. Recently he
focused on China's great Zen monasteries, and traveled to scores of
remaining abodes of ancient Zen teachers. He lives in Port
Townsend. March 13, 2005 SOLD OUT*
William H. Calvin, Ph.D., author of "A Brief History of the Mind: From Apes
to Intellect and Beyond," is affiliate professor of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences at the University of Washington, School of
Medicine. He co-authored a study, "Reconciling Darwin and Chomsky with the
Human Brain," with Derek Bickerston. Calvin's "A Brain for All Seasons"
was awarded the Phi Beta Kappa book award for science in 2002. April 10,
2005 SOLD OUT*
The organizers, a group of local citizens including Leslie Cox, Rocky
Friedman, Rick Kenney, and Peter Simpson have established an informal
organization they call The School of Athens, Port Townsend Extension. The
self-styled School of Athens takes its name from the Vatican fresco by
Raphael. This painting depicts the ancient Greek gymnasia, or speaker's
forum, with all the philosophers of that period including Aristotle, Plato,
Socrates, Zeno and many others. With interest in all things, the local
chapter of the School of Athens brings an array of first-rank original
thinkers to Port Townsend to speak about their research, passions, and
concerns.
Business sponsors of the 2004-2005 series are: William James, Bookseller,
Skookum, Inc., BaDd Habit/Gray Wolf Ranch, Brent Shirley & Associates,
Hildt & Reid, Inc., P.S. Law Offices, Homer Smith Insurance, and the Rose
Theatre.
*Although the remaining two lectures are sold out, tickets often become
available the day of the event. To purchase these tickets it is advised
that you arrive at the theatre no later than 12:15.
For more information and links to the speakers and the Vatican fresco see
the web site : <http://www.athens-pt.org>
______________________________________________________________
Admission Prices
General admission to the Rose is $7, senior citizens (62+) $6, children (12
& under) $5. The matinees are $1 less. The box office opens thirty
minutes before the first show of the day and tickets are only sold for the
next show once the preceding show has either sold out or started.
Assisstive listening devices are available by request at the concession.
___________________________________________________________
Gift Suggestions
Rose Theatre T-Shirts - $16.00
Rose Theatre Mock Turtlenecks - $22.00
Rose Theatre Sweatshirts - $32.00
Admission Gift Certificates - $7, $6, $5
Discount Cards - $30.00 - saves $1 off each general admission
Concession Certificates - any denomination
______________________________________________________________
Coming Attractions*
HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS - tba - Director Zhang Yimou reinvents himself as
an action filmmaker with this colorful, kinetic, breathtaking adventure
about the Flying Daggers, a shadowy squad of assassins waging a guerrilla
insurgency against a corrupt and decadent government. "An astonishing
combination of spectacle, suspense and passionate intensity. If there's a
more beautiful movie around I'm not aware of it"-Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL
STREET JOURNAL. <http://www.sonyclassics.com>
BAD EDUCATION - tba - From director Pedro Almodovar (TALK TO HER) comes
this delirious, headlong film about the wonder of storytelling and the
human instinct to embroider reality. "One of the best pictures of the
year"-TIME MAGAZINE. Gael Garcia Bernal is dynamite. A rapturous
masterwork"-THE NEW YORK TIMES. <http://www.sonyclassics.com> NC-17 - No
one 17 and under admitted
THE SEA INSIDE - tba - Based on a true story (and my favorite movie of
'04), this Spanish film about a man's dream of a dignified death features
an altogether believable and beautiful performance by Javier Bardem. "A
monumentally moving experience...a potent blend of emotional and cerebral
filmmaking, anchored by what may be the year's most impressive performance
by the supremely talented Bardem"-USA TODAY. "One of the most profound and
uplifting dramas of the year"-LOS ANGELES TIMES. <http://www.theseainside.com>
CLOSER - tba - Mike Nichols's haunting and hypnotic film vibrates
with eroticism, bruising laughs and dynamic performances from four
attractive actors doing decidedly unattractive things. Starring Julia
Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman & Clive Owen. "This film is
mesmerizing"-Roger Ebert. "Smart, sexy"-NEW YORK
MAGAZINE. <http://www.sony.com/Closer>
*schedule subject to change.
________________________________________________________
Rose Theatre Movie Challenge: Match the following actresses with the
designer gowns they wore to the Academy Awards.
Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Kirsten Dunst, Charlize Theron Sopie Okonedo
Valentino, Rochas Paris Couture, Lanvin, John Galliano, Chanel
Rules: Answers must be e-mailed to moviechallenge at rosetheatre.com with Rose
Theatre Contest in the subject line. One winner will be selected at random
from correct responses received by midnight, March 11 and will be notified
by e-mail. Your free passes will be held at the box office so you must
include your name with your movie challenge answer.
________________________________________________________
Last Week's Question: This director was first interested in being a painter
and exhibited his work in Paris in 1914. he was badly wounded in the First
World War and began writing movie scripts in convalescence. Identify this
person.
Answer: Fritz Lang
Congratulations to AW, our winner this week.
________________________________________________________
Soundtracks to movies featured at the Rose Theatre are available at Quimper
Sound Music & Media, 901 Water Street, Port Townsend.
E-mail addresses are collected only for the Rose Theatre Newsletter. They
are not transferred to any third party for any reason. Our complete
Privacy Policy is available at <http://www.rosetheatre.com>
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