HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY – Be sure to give some green.
STATE THEATRE’S 80TH ANNIVERSARY IS TOMORROW – Friday, March 18
ANN ARBOR FILM FESTIVAL - March 22-27
The festival's full schedule can be found here.
OSCAR NOMINEES AT THE STATE THEATRE AND MICHIGAN THEATER
BEST PICTURE – State & Michigan Have Played Them All (many are returning)
- "Belfast" – Currently playing
- "Drive My Car" – Currently playing
- "Licorice Pizza" – Currently playing
- "The Power of the Dog" – Currently playing
- "Dune" – Currently playing
- "King Richard" – Coming soon
- "Nightmare Alley" – Coming soon in special B & W, director created version
- "West Side Story" – Coming soon
- "CODA" – We play last spring – one of a few theatrical screenings
- "Don’t Look Up" – We play in November/December
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE – You can see them ALL at State & Michigan before the Oscar Show
- "Drive My Car" (Japan) – Currently playing
- "Flee" (Denmark) – Currently playing
- "The Worst Person in the World" (Norway) – Currently playing
- "Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom" (Bhutan) – Currently playing
- "The Hand of God" (Italy) – Coming Soon
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – You can see them ALL at State & Michigan before the Oscar Show
- "Flee" – Now playing
- "Summer of Soul" – Coming February 27
- "Writing With Fire" – Coming March 1 & 5
- "Ascension" – Coming March 8 & 13
- "Attica" – Coming March 15 & 20
BEST ANIMATED SHORT – Now Playing
- "Affairs of the Art" (Joanna Quinn and Les Mills)
- "Bestia" (Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz)
- "Boxballet" (Anton Dyakov)
- "Robin Robin" (Dan Ojari and Mikey Please)
- "The Windshield Wiper" (Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez)
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT – Now Playing
- "Ala Kachuu — Take and Run" (Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger)
- "The Dress" (Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki)
- "The Long Goodbye" (Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed)
- "On My Mind" (Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson)
- "Please Hold" (K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse)
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – Now Playing
- "Audible" (Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean)
- "Lead Me Home" (Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk)
- "The Queen of Basketball" (Ben Proudfoot)
- "Three Songs for Benazir" (Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei)
- "When We Were Bullies" (Jay Rosenblatt)
OPENING DOWNTOWN
"Master" — OPENS FRIDAY, MARCH 18 AT THE MICHIGAN
At an elite New England university built on the site of a Salem-era gallows hill, three women strive to find their place. Navigating politics and privilege, they encounter increasingly terrifying manifestations of the school's haunted past...and present.
"The Outfit" — OPENS FRIDAY, MARCH 18 AT THE STATE WITH ADVANCED SCREENING TONIGHT
From the Academy Award-winning writer of The Imitation Game (Graham Moore) comes The Outfit, a gripping and masterful thriller in which an expert tailor (Academy Award winner Mark Rylance) must outwit a dangerous group of mobsters in order to survive a fateful night.
"Jujustu Kaisen 0: The Movie"— OPENS FRIDAY, MARCH 18 AT THE STATE
When they were children, Rika Orimoto was killed in a traffic accident right before the eyes of her close friend, Yuta Okkotsu. Rika became an apparition, and Yuta longed for his own death after suffering under her curse, but the greatest Jujutsu sorcerer, Satoru Gojo, welcomed him into Jujutsu High. There Yuta meets his classmates, Maki Zen'in, Toge Inumaki, and Panda, and finally finds his own determination. "I want the confidence to say it's okay that I'm alive!" "While I'm at Jujutsu High, I'll break Rika-chan's curse." Meanwhile, the vile curse user, Suguru Geto, who was expelled from the school for massacring ordinary people, appears before Yuta and the others. While Geto advocates for creating a paradise for only jujutsu sorcerers, he unleashes a thousand curses upon Shinjuku and Kyoto to exterminate all non-sorcerers.
Two options for screenings include subtitled or dubbed.
3/18
- ST3 - 4:30 - Dubbed
- ST2 - 7:30 – Subtitled
3/19
- ST1 - 1:30 - Dubbed
- ST1 - 4:30 - Subtitles
- ST1 - 7:30 - Subtitles
3/20
- ST3 - 2:45 - Dubbed
- ST1 - 6:30 - Subtitles
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Within Our Gates" — PLAYS SUNDAY, MARCH 20 AT THE MICHIGAN (PRE-SHOW AT 2:30 PM, SCREENING AT 3:30 PM)
A very special program and presentation of Oscar Micheaux's 1920 silent film with live musical prelude from vocalist Amber Merritt, UM School of Music, Theatre & Dance, and film accompaniment by MTF organist Stephen Warner.
In the Grand Foyer before the show a pre-screening performance of 1920s and early 1930s jazz standards from Ingrid Racine (trumpet) with Kasan Belgrave (clarinet & saxophone), Andrew Brown (guitar), and Jonathan Muir-Cotton (bass); and a pre- and post-film conversation with scholar Dr. Novotny Lawrence, Iowa State University, and other guests!
About Oscar Devereaux Micheaux (January 2, 1884 – March 25, 1951)
He was an author, film director and independent producer of more than 44 films. Micheaux is regarded as the first major African-American feature filmmaker, a prominent producer of race films, and has been described as "the most successful African-American filmmaker of the first half of the 20th century". He produced both silent films and sound films.
Micheaux decided to concentrate on writing and, eventually, filmmaking, a new industry. He wrote seven novels.
In 1918, his novel The Homesteader, dedicated to Booker T. Washington, attracted the attention of George Johnson, the manager of the Lincoln Motion Picture Company in Los Angeles. After Johnson offered to make The Homesteader into a new feature film, but Micheaux wanted to be directly involved in the adaptation of his book as a movie. Johnson resisted and never produced the film. Instead, Micheaux founded the Micheaux Film & Book Company in Chicago; its first project was the production of The Homesteader as a feature film. Micheaux had a major career as a film producer and director: He produced over 40 films, which drew audiences throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. Micheaux contacted wealthy academic connections from his earlier career as a porter, and sold stock for his company at $75 to $100 a share. Micheaux hired actors and actresses and decided to have the premiere in Chicago. The film and Micheaux received high praise from film critics. One article credited Micheaux with "a historic breakthrough, a creditable, dignified achievement".[3] Some members of the Chicago clergy criticized the film as libelous. The Homesteader became known as Micheaux's breakout film; it helped him become widely known as a writer and a filmmaker.
In addition to writing and directing his own films, Micheaux also adapted the works of different writers for his silent pictures. Many of his films were open, blunt and thought-provoking regarding certain racial issues of that time. He once commented: "It is only by presenting those portions of the race portrayed in my pictures, in the light and background of their true state, that we can raise our people to greater heights." Financial hardships during the Great Depression eventually made it impossible for Micheaux to keep producing films, and he returned to writing.
We will be doing three additional Oscar Micheaux film:
- "Body and Soul" (1925) – Tuesday, 3/29 at 4:30 PM
- "The Exile" (1931) – Tuesday, 4/5 at 4:30 PM
- "Birthright" (1938) – Tuesday, 4/12 at 4:30 PM
"The Donut King" — PLAYS SUNDAY, MARCH 20 AT 2 PM AT THE STATE
Cambodian refugee Ted Ngoy builds a multi-million dollar empire by baking America's favorite pastry -- the donut. FREE donuts provide by DJ’s Bakery (DJ's Bakery owners, the Yams, are proteges of The Donut King)!
Post-film discussion and Q&A with U-M Center for Southeast Asian StudiesAssistant Professor of American Culture, Melissa Borja.
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
Academy Awards nomination for Best Costume Design
Award-winning director Joe Wright envelops moviegoers in a symphony of emotions with music, romance, and beauty in this re-imagining the timeless tale of a heartbreaking love triangle. A man ahead of his time, Cyrano de Bergerac (played by Peter Dinklage) dazzles whether with ferocious wordplay at a verbal joust or with brilliant swordplay in a duel. But, convinced that his appearance renders him unworthy of the love of a devoted friend, the luminous Roxanne (Haley Bennett), Cyrano has yet to declare his feelings for her -- and Roxanne has fallen in love, at first sight, with Christian (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.).
Academy Award-nominated for Best Documentary Feature
During the summer of 1971, tensions between inmates and guards at the Attica Correctional Facility are at an all-time high. On the morning of Sept. 9, it all comes to a head as Attica becomes the stage for one of the largest U.S. prison riots ever.
3 Academy Award Nominations: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director for Paul Thomas Anderson
This film is a 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson ("Phantom Thread," "There Will Be Blood," "Boogie Nights"). The film stars Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Maya Rudolph, and Benny Safdie. The film received acclaim from critics and received three awards from the National Board of Review, including Best Film. It was also named one of the best films of 2021 by the American Film Institute and received four nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, along with eight nominations at the 27th Critics' Choice Awards, including Best Picture. The story of Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.
Batman ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As the evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, he must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.
"The Worst Person in the World"
2 Academy Award Nominations: Best International Feature Film and Best Original Screenplay!
This film concludes Joachim Trier's Oslo Trilogy with a romantic comedy that delightfully subverts the genre's well-worn tropes. It is a modern dramedy about the quest for love and meaning in contemporary Oslo. It chronicles four years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.
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