OPENING THIS WEEK
"Father Stu" — OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 15 AT THE MULTIPLEX
After surviving a motorcycle accident, a former boxer and longtime agnostic starts to wonder if he can use his second chance to help others, leading to the surprising realization that he's meant to be a priest.
"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" — OPENS TONIGHT AT THE STATE
A 2022 fantasy film directed by David Yates from a screenplay byJ.K. Rowlingand Steve Kloves. It is the sequel to "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" (2018), the third instalment in the Fantastic Beasts film series, and the eleventh overall in the Wizarding World franchise. Its ensemble cast includes Eddie Redmayne,Jude Law, Ezra Miller,Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Katherine Waterston, and Mads Mikkelsen. Set several years after the events of its predecessor, the film sees Albus Dumbledore tasking Newt Scamander and his allies with a mission that takes them into the heart of dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald's army. Principal photography commenced in September 2020, following the pandemic setbacks and the replacement of Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen.
"Mothering Sunday" — OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 15 AT THE MICHIGAN
A 2021 British romantic drama film directed by Eva Husson, from a screenplay by Alice Birch, based on the novel of the same name by Graham Swift. The film stars Odessa Young, Josh O'Connor, Olivia Colman, and Colin Firth. The film also marks the first appearance of Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson on a theatrical release in over thirty years, having last appeared in "King of the Wind" (1990).
Set in the wake of World War I, the film follows the life of Jane Fairchild (Young), an orphaned maid who spends Mothering Sunday with her wealthy lover. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on 9 July 2021.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Paprika" — PLAYS FRIDAY, APRIL 15 AT 10 PM AT THE MICHIGAN
Part of the Late Night at the Michigan Series
Dr. Atsuko Chiba works as a scientist by day and, under the code name "Paprika," is a dream detective at night. Atsuko and her colleagues are working on a device called the DC Mini, which is intended to help psychiatric patients, but in the wrong hands it could destroy people's minds. When a prototype is stolen, Atsuko/Paprika springs into action to recover it before damage is done.
"Sunset Blvd." — PLAYS SATURDAY, APRIL 16 AT THE MICHIGAN
Written and directed by Billy Wilder, an aging silent film queen (Gloria Swanson) refuses to accept that her stardom has ended. She hires a young screenwriter (William Holden) to help set up her movie comeback. The screenwriter believes he can manipulate her, but he soon finds out he is wrong. The screenwriter's ambivalence about their relationship and her unwillingness to let go leads to a situation of violence, madness, and death.
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
"Everything Everywhere All At Once"
Directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert ("Swiss Army Man"), collectively known as Daniels, the film is a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure about an exhausted Chinese American woman (Michelle Yeoh) who can't seem to finish her taxes.
When the CIA discovers one of its agents leaked information that cost more than 100 people their lives, veteran operative Henry Pelham (Chris Pine) is assigned to root out the mole from among his former officemates at the agency's Vienna station. His investigation takes him from Austria to England to California, where he is reunited with his one-time colleague and ex-lover Celia Harrison (Thandiwe Newton). The pair are forced to blur the lines between profession and passion in this riveting tale of global espionage, moral ambiguity, and deadly betrayal.
2022 Oscars Winner of Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay & Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur!
Seventeen-year-old Ruby is the sole hearing member of a deaf family -- a CODA, child of deaf adults. Her life revolves around acting as interpreter for her parents and working on the family's struggling fishing boat every day before school with her father and older brother. But when Ruby joins her high school's choir club, she discovers a gift for singing and soon finds herself drawn to her duet partner Miles. Encouraged by her enthusiastic, tough-love choirmaster to apply to a prestigious music school, Ruby finds herself torn between the obligations she feels to her family and the pursuit of her own dreams.
"The Automat" (LAST SCREENING TONIGHT!)
Before fast food, we had something better. Our grandparents told us stories of gathering around communal tables, sharing their lives, their struggles, and their dreams with strangers at The Automat. In the long-awaited Horn & Hardart documentary, relive the phenomena of America's original and most beloved restaurant chain. The one-hundred-year Automat saga serves up never before-seen archival footage and photographs and a cast including celebrity customers, company executives, historians, and members of the Horn & Hardart families. Featuring Mel Brooks, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Colin Powell, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, and more!
Set in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, this film follows a young girl who is kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit. Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim's shape to live life in her skin. Her curiosity ignited, she continues to wield this horrific power in order to understand what it means to be human.
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.
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"
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.
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU todayto keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org