The weather outside is finally warming up and so is the movie business! In this week's "Cinema Chat," WEMU's David Fair talks with Michigan and State Theater executive director Russ Collins about the latest movie news and all of the flicks coming to the big screen this weekend.
OPENING DOWNTOWN
From Writer/Director Stanley Tucci, this film stars Armie Hammer and Geoffrey Rush. It arrives at the Michigan this Friday! The story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord (Hammer) and Alberto Giacometti (Rush), as seen through Lord's eyes and revealing unique insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and sometimes the chaos of the artistic process.
From British Director Andrew Haigh ("Weekend," "45 Years"), this film stars Charlie Plummer as a teen living with his single father, who finds work caring for an aging racehorse named Lean On Pete. When he learns Pete is bound for slaughter, the two embark on an odyssey across the new American frontier in search of a place to call home. Also starring Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny, and Steve Zahn.
At the State Theatre, this film from Writer/Director Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk about Kevin") stars Joaquin Phoenix as a traumatized veteran, unafraid of violence, who tracks down missing girls for a living. But when a job spins out of control, Joe’s nightmares overtake him as a conspiracy is uncovered leading to what may be his death trip or his awakening. The film was at Sundance, and it is a stunner – audacious and over the top!
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Monty Python's The Meaning of Life"
“And Now For Something Completely Different," our series celebrating the films of Monty Python, concludes tonight at 9:30 PM. In the film, the stages of life are told through multiple sketches and songs by the British comedy troupe, which cover birth, growing up, war, middle age, organ transplants, old age and death. And we’d like to thank Kerrytown Market & Shops and O’Neal Construction for sponsoring this series.
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
At the Michigan: From Executive Producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, this film tars Josh Hartnett and Shinobu Terajima as a single 55-year-old woman in Tokyo who is given a blonde wig and a new identity by her young, unconventional English teacher. The experiment awakens hidden desires, but when her instructor suddenly quits and disappears, she enlists the help of her sister and the pair fly halfway across the world to the outskirts of Southern California to find him.
At the State Theatre: This is a drama about a troubled family who must face the facts when something goes terribly wrong at their son's desolate military post. The film was the Israeli submission for consideration in this year’s Academy Awards.
Wes Anderson’s latest popular feature continues! When, by executive decree, all the canine pets of Megasaki City are exiled to a vast garbage-dump called Trash Island, 12-year-old Atari sets off alone in a miniature Junior-Turbo Prop and flies across the river in search of his bodyguard-dog, Spots. With a voice cast featuring Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeff Goldblum.
The latest comedic satire from Armando Iannucci moves from the Michigan to the State to play for another week, which depicts the chaos that fell on the Soviet regime after the death of their powerful leader.
OPENING AT THE MULTIPLEX
Opening with early screenings tonight, an unprecedented cinematic journey ten years in the making and spanning the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios' latest film brings to the screen the ultimate, deadliest showdown of all time in the most anticipated movie of the year. The Avengers and their Super Hero allies must be willing to sacrifice all in an attempt to defeat the powerful Thanos before his blitz of devastation and ruin puts an end to the universe.
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— David Fair is the WEMU News Director and host of Morning Edition on WEMU. You can contact David at 734.487.3363, on twitter @DavidFairWEMU, or email him at dfair@emich.edu