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Cinema Chat: 'Watcher,' 'Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story,' 'RRR,' and more

Michigan Theater Lobby
Michigan Theater
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www.michtheater.org
Michigan Theater lobby

OPENING THIS WEEK

"Watcher" — OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 AT THE MULTIPLEX

As a serial killer stalks the city, a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street.

"Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story"— OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 AT THE STATE

The film weaves together live performances and interviews from the 50th anniversary of The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the signature annual music and cultural event of the city with hundreds of thousands of attendees each year. The N.O. 'Jazz Fest' celebrates the music, food, people, arts & crafts, and culture of all of Louisiana since 1970, and is an essential showcase of the rich heritage of the region. The film, shot at the 2019 Fest, features local music heroes joined on 14 stages by some of the biggest names in the music industry, and a wealth of archival documentary footage from the past half century. Among the 50 plus featured performers are Jimmy Buffett, Pitbull,Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Aaron Neville, The Marsalis Family, Earth, Wind & Fire,Irma Thomas,Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Samantha Fish, Herbie Hancock, Al Green, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Mardi Gras Indians, Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers, Tom Jones,Gary Clark, Jr., and many others. The film not only captures the festival in all of its beauty and glory, but also delves deep into the rich culture of The Big Easy. Director: Frank Marshall, Ryan Suffern.

"Crimes of the Future" — OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 AT THE STATE

A 2022 internationally co-produced body horror film written and directed by David Cronenberg. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux and Kristen Stewart. The film premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was in competition for the Palme d'Or and received a six-minute standing ovation. It marks Cronenberg's return to science fiction/horror genre for the first time since "eXistenZ" (1999).

As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed... Their mission -- to use Saul's notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.

"Eiffel" — OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 AT THE MICHIGAN

A 2021 French romantic drama film directed by Martin Bourboulon, from a script written by Caroline Bongrand. The film stars Romain Duris as Gustave Eiffel and follows a fictionalized romance between Eiffel and Adrienne Bourgès, his childhood sweetheart, played by Emma Mackey. The film received generally positive reviews.

Having just finished his collaboration on the Statue of Liberty, celebrated engineer Gustave Eiffel is on top of the world. Now, the French government is pressuring him to design something spectacular for the 1889 Paris World Fair, but Eiffel simply wants to design the subway. Suddenly, everything changes when Eiffel crosses paths with a mysterious woman from his past. Their long lost, forbidden passion inspires him to change the Paris skyline forever.

SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN

"RRR"— PLAYS TONIGHT AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN

This is an exhilarating, action-packed epic that imagines a fictional friendship between two real-life Indian freedom fighters set into motion when a young girl is stolen from her rural village by British soldiers. One of them (megastar Jr NTR) is the village's protector, sworn to bring her back, while the other (also megastarRam Charan) is a junior officer serving the British Raj who vows to stop him... though has a separate mission of his own.

"Dinner in America"— PLAYS FRIDAY, JUNE 3 AT 7:30 PM AT THE STATE WITH POST-FILM Q&A WITH DIRECTOR ADAM REHMEIER AND PRODUCER BILL STERTZ

Filming took place in Detroit, Michigan! It was a Direct From Sundance screening at the Michigan Theater in 2020.

On the run from the cops, a reckless singer finds sanctuary in the home of an awkward young woman who's a fan of his punk-rock alter ego.

"Charade" — PLAYS SUNDAY JUNE 5 AT 1:30 PM AND TUESDAY, JUNE 7 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN

After Regina Lampert (Audrey Hepburn) falls for the dashing Peter Joshua (Cary Grant) on a skiing holiday in the French Alps, she discovers upon her return to Paris that her husband has been murdered. Soon, she and Peter are giving chase to three of her late husband's World War II cronies, Tex (James Coburn), Scobie (George Kennedy) and Gideon (Ned Glass), who are after a quarter of a million dollars the quartet stole during the war. But why does Peter keep changing his name?

Summer Classics are Back!!! (Coming Soon!!!)

ADVANCE TICKETS NOW ON SALE

"Jurassic World: Dominion" — OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 10 AT THE STATE WITH ADVANCE SCREENINGS THURSDAY, JUNE 9

This summer, experience the epic conclusion to the Jurassic era as two generations unite for the first time. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howardare joined by Oscar®-winnerLaura Dern, Jeff Goldblum andSam Neillin a bold, timely and breathtaking new adventure that spans the globe. From "Jurassic World" architect and director Colin Trevorrow, the film takes place four years after Isla Nublar has been destroyed. Dinosaurs now live--and hunt--alongside humans all over the world. This fragile balance will reshape the future and determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures.

CONTINUING DOWNTOWN

"Top Gun: Maverick" 

A 2022 American action-drama film and the sequel to Top Gun (1986). It was directed by Joseph Kosinski. The film stars Tom Cruise as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a test pilot, alongside Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Glen Powell, Lewis Pullman, Ed Harris, Monica Barbaro, and Val Kilmer. Set 36 years since the events of its predecessor, the film follows Maverick, who actively attempted to dodge the advancement in rank that would ground him. However, his career ends up taking him back to the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (also known as "Top Gun"), where he has to confront his past as he is charged with training a new squadron of fighter pilots.

Development for a Top Gun sequel was announced in 2010, when Paramount Pictures offered the original film's director Tony Scott and its producer Jerry Bruckheimer, for the same, with Cruise and Kilmer being planned to return. With the first draft, being completed by mid-2012, Scott died by suicide, leading to the film's pre-production being put on hold. In June 2017, Kosinski was hired and wrote a new draft from Craig and Marks' script. Principal photography began from May 2018 to April 2019 in California, Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

"Montana Story" 

A 2021 American drama film written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, acclaimed writer/directors ("What Maisie Knew," "The Deep End"), created a neo-Western with an emotional tremor hiding beneath it. Two estranged siblings (Haley Lu Richardson, Owen Teague) return home to the sprawling ranch they once knew and loved, confronting a deep and bitter family legacy against a mythic American backdrop.

"Downton Abbey: A New Era"

This charming film reunites the original principal cast. Downton creator and Academy-Award® winner Julian Felloweswill once again write the film’s screenplay. BAFTA and Emmy-nominated director Simon Curtis ("My Week with Marilyn") will join the filmmaking team to direct the sequel. In the film, The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) mysteriously inherits a Villa in the South of France, providing a convenient escape for the Crawley family as the Downton Abbey estate is used for a film shoot.

"Men" 

In the aftermath of a personal tragedy, Harper (Jessie Buckley) retreats alone to the beautiful English countryside, hoping to have found a place to heal. But someone or something from the surrounding woods appears to be stalking her. What begins as simmering dread becomes a fully formed nightmare, inhabited by her darkest memories and fears in visionary filmmaker Alex Garland's ("Ex Machina," "Annihilation") feverish, shape-shifting new horror film.

"The Duke"

In 1961, Kempton Bunton, a 60-year old taxi driver, stole Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington from the National Gallery in London. It was the first (and remains the only) theft in the Gallery's history. Kempton sent ransom notes saying that he would return the painting on condition that the government invested more in care for the elderly -- he had long campaigned for pensioners to receive free television. What happened next became the stuff of legend. Only 50 years later did the full story emerge -- Kempton had spun a web of lies. The only truth was that he was a good man, determined to change the world and save his marriage -- how and why he used the Duke to achieve that is a wonderfully uplifting tale. Starring Jim Broadbent and Dame Helen Mirren.

"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.

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