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Cinema Chat: Traverse City Film Festival, 2 Guns, Fill the Void, The Smurfs 2 and More

The Michigan Theater

Michigan Theater Executive Director Russ Collins is attending the Traverse City Film Festival this week. 

So, WEMU's David Fair instead spoke with Michigan Theater Program Director Amanda Bynum. The conversation, of course, began with a look at Russ's trip to Traverse City.

Movies and more movies!

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star in 2 Guns as two operatives from competing bureaus who are forced on the run together. But there is a big problem with their unique alliance: neither knows that the other is an undercover federal agent. 

In the The Smurfs 2, evil wizard Gargamel creates a couple of mischievous Smurf-like creatures called the Naughties that he hopes will let him harness the all-powerful, magical Smurf-essence. But when he discovers that only a real Smurf can give him what he wants, and only a secret spell that Smurfette knows can turn the Naughties into real Smurfs, Gargamel kidnaps Smurfette and brings her to Paris, where he has been winning the adoration of millions as the world's greatest sorcerer.  Starring Hank Azaria and Neil Patrick Harris and featuring the voices of Katy Perry, Alan Cumming, George Lopez and the late Jonathan Winters.

Fill the Voidtells the story of an Orthodox Hassidic family from Tel Aviv. Eighteen-year-old Shira is the youngest daughter of the family. She is about to be married off to a promising young man of the same age and background. It is a dream come true, and Shira feels prepared and excited. On Purim, her 28-year-old sister, Esther, dies while giving birth to her first child. The pain and grief that overwhelm the family postpone Shira’s promised match. Everything changes when an offer is proposed to match Yochay, the late Esther’s husband, to a widow from Belgium. When the girls’ mother finds out that Yochay may leave the country with her only grandchild, she proposes a match between Shira and the widower. Shira will have to choose between her heart’s wish and her family duty.

Contact David: dfair@emich.edu