Multiple trips to Southwest Harbor every day for my beloved youths :/ have been keeping me over-occupied! And we are also busy working on MIFF By-The-Sea (coming September 9 - 12; put it on your calendar now!) our mini-version of the recently concluded 17th Maine International Film Festival which this year will have a strong local presence (how exciting is that!?) More about that in a few weeks. Anyhow, this particular schedule starts TOMORROW... sorry for delay. Consider this the weekly update as well!
We are bringing back a few very popular films - maybe you missed (that would be me) or want to see again? - and return to our normal programming of a week-long movie on one side with a weekend movie and midweek movie sharing the other.
We will have new art coming in early next week. If you haven't already, come by to see Blue Butterfield's beautiful wood-block prints. They will be up through Sunday. Then we segue into something different from Blue Hill artist Keith Herklotz, described below.
We have no special programs during this time (but two coming Aug 17th); however, Chris will start showing free outdoor movies on Wednesday evenings starting 7/30 at Agamont Park (new location this year) for the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. The first film is THE FANTASTIC MR FOX. The pre-show starts shortly after 8pm with the feature set to begin at 8:30. Screenings run through Sept 3rd.
hope to see you soon.
-L
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LOBBY ART Keith Herklotz, Blue Hill
“The more I look at our society's discards, random leftovers and broken pieces, the more I see the beginnings of new compositions. A small pile of valued material becomes the treasury of new beginnings. I love the freedom in collaging and the challenges of assemblage. Much of my work can be refreshingly simple and direct, others much more involved. Some pieces originated from time spent in the stark beauty of Arizona deserts, some from time at Deer Isle’s Haystack School of Crafts. Working normally as a potter takes weeks to finish a group of pieces; working in this direct and more immediate way is a welcome change. See the beauty here in common things and enjoy each piece’s energy and sometime Zen simplicity.”
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Fri July 25 - Thurs July 31
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 (PG) 105min 5:30 & 8:00
Five years on from the first outing Viking Hiccup and his pet dragon Toothless spend their days flying over the seas discovering and charting new lands near their island home Berk. On adventure leads to the discovery of a nasty and entirely unreasonable dragon hunter (Djimon Hounsou) who is training an army of dragons to take over the world. On another, they discover a striking woman (Cate Blanchette) who runs a remote dragon sanctuary, rescuing and rehabilitating dragons. Hiccup and Toothless become enmeshed in a battle to protect the peace and must fight for what they believe in. This satisfying, but somewhat darker sequel blends beautiful animation and thrilling storytelling with real emotional heft. Director Dean DeBlois directs and wrote this second installment of his successful franchise solo (the first DRAGONS film was co-directed and co-written.) trailer
Fri July 25 - Mon July 28
TAMMY (R) 96min 6:00 and 8:15
Melissa McCarthy, who stole or shared top billing in Bridesmaid, Identity Thief, and The Heat, now goes solo in this hilarious, involving and heartfelt buddy comedy. Co-written with and directed by her husband Ben Falcone, this engaging story starts with abrasive loudmouth Tammy’s horrible no good very bad day. After losing her car, her job and her husband in quick succession, it’s time to travel. She goes to mom’s house (two doors down) where she discovers mom won’t help, but her alcoholic granny (Susan Sarandon) has car, cash and a yearning to see Niagara Falls. They head off on an ill-fated roadtrip that isn’t what she had in mind, exactly, but might be just what she needs. The excellent supporting cast includes Kathy Bates, Mark Duplass, Allison Janney, Sandra Oh, and Dan Aykroyd. trailer
Tues July 29 - Thurs July 31
THE RAILWAY MAN (R) 116min 6:00 & 8:30
In this profoundly moving and compelling film based on Eric Lomax's remarkable and best-selling memoir, Colin Firth (The King's Speech) stars as a broken man who is rehabilitated through the efforts of his wife (Nicole Kidman) and his best buddy (Stellan Skarsgård). Decades earlier he was a British soldier (now played by Jeremy Irvine, War Horse) captured by the Japanese in Singapore and forced to work on the Thai-Burma Death Railway (see Bridge Over the River Kwai), and was severely tortured for making a small radio. When his new wife experiences his untreated PTSD, she works with his friend, a former soldier, to learn the reasons helping him return to the Southeast Asian camp to confront his demons and face his torturer. trailer
Fri Aug 1 - Thurs Aug 7
CHEF (R) 115min 6:00 & 8:30
When Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man) first started, he made small, hip films (Swingers, Made). He retreats from Hollywood with this delightful and entertaining gem about a creative, high-end Los Angeles chef who suddenly finds himself out of work and ends up in Miami taking possession of a food truck and heading out on the road with his son, through New Orleans and Austin en route back home, hoping to reignite his passion for the kitchen and his zest for love and life. It is a sweetly funny film with scrumptious food scenes. Trailer
Fri Aug 1 - Mon Aug 4
MALEFICENT (PG) 97min 5:30 & 7:45
Disney fractures Charles Perrault’s Sleeping Beauty with this imaginative telling of the fairytale from the evil Queen’s point of view. Angelina Jolie gives an affecting portrayal as a icy fairy queen spurred to revenge after a young human stole her heart, then betrayed her, in order to become King. Maleficent places an irrevocable curse on the King’s new daughter that on her 16th birthday Aurora will prick her finger and fall into a deep sleep only reversible by her true love’s first kiss. Marvelous visual effects, a thoughtful story and a comic trio of fairy nannies make this a magical family film. Trailer
Tues Aug 5 - Thurs Aug 7
THE IMMIGRANT (R) 120min 5:30 & 8:00
This old-fashioned, beautiful and intelligent drama features excellent performances from its three leads. Marion Cotillard stars as Ewa a young Polish woman in the early 1920s who sails with her sister to New York to start a new life. Her ailing sister is put into quarantine and they are separated. Ewa is taken in by a charming but unsavory burlesque producer Bruno (Joaquin Phoenix) who puts her in his shows and then forces her into prostitution, while all she wants to do is rescue her sister from the hospital. When she meets dashing stage magician Orlando (Jeremy Renner) her hopes for a brighter future are restored, but he is Bruno’s estranged cousin with ideas of his own for her. Director James Gray (Little Odessa, The Yards, Two Loves) has made a richly rewarding period melodrama. trailer
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Fri Aug 8 - Thurs Aug 14
??? We'll let you know!
SNOWPIERCER (R) 126min
A failed attempt to mitigate the effects of global warming have gone disastrously wrong, the Earth has frozen over completely, and all that remains of humanity resides on a high-speed train that travels around the globe using a perpetual motion machine. The inhabitants are separated by caste, with the have-nots in the back of the train, and the haves in the increasingly pristine first class up front. After seventeen years circumnavigating the planet, the poor are ready to revolt, and must work their way through the train cars to get to the mastermind. In this ambitious, audacious, inventive, bizarre and suspenseful post-apocalyptic thriller and his English language debut, South Korean director Bong Joon-ho (The Host) has attracted a sensational cast, including Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris and Jamie Bell. trailer
Tues Aug 12 - Thurs Aug 14
JERSEY BOYS (R) 134min
Clint Eastwood directs his 33rd film, adapting this 4x Tony Award-winning Broadway show into a crowd-pleasing portrait of the doo-wop quartet The Four Seasons, a group of teenagers from a working class Belleville, New Jersey neighborhood who had both successes and troubles over their decades long career. John Lloyd Young reprises his winning Broadway role as little Frankie Castelluccio, soon to become Frankie Valli, whose sweet falsetto endears him to the local mob boss (Christopher Walken) keeping him out of trouble; two performers of the national touring show, Michael Lomenda and Erich Bergen, also reprise their roles. From their discovery, to their first hit "Sherry" on American Bandstand, to their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this well-told and appealing film explores the highs, and the lows of this unlikely but talented group. trailer
Coming on our second screen?
THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY (PG) 122min
BRAND NEW! The Kadam family, displaced from their native India, relocate to a quaint village in the south of France, the perfect place to open an Indian restaurant where son Hassan, a culinary ingénue can showcase his talents. When Mme. Mallory (Helen Mirren) the chilly proprietress of a Michelin-starred classical French restaurant just across the street hears about this, her protests escalate to all-out war. But Hassan has a passion for both French haute cuisine and the competition’s enchanting sous-chef Marguerite which he uses to magically fuse the two cultures’ cuisines that Mme. Mallory cannot ignore. A stimulating triumph over exile, blossoming with passion and heart, it is a portrayal of two worlds colliding and one boy’s drive to find the comfort of home, wherever he may be. trailer
PLANES: FIRE AND RESCUE (PG) 83min
Aerial star Dusty (voice of Dane Cook) is finally showing his age and unable to race like he once could. He takes on a new career, reassigned to the Aerial Fire Fighters at scenic and historic Piston Peak National Park to become a Single Engine Air Tanker with the help of other fire and rescue vehicles, including water scooper Dipper, heavy-lift helicopter Windlifter, transport plane Cabbie, and a lively bunch of brave ATVs called the Smokejumpers, all led by the group’s leader, helicopter Blade Ranger (voice of Ed Harris). In no time Dusty has made a new group of friends and, although learning the secrets to dousing fires takes time, Dusty is a fast learner. When the time comes to battle a massive wildfire, he will be able to do his part. This is the sequel to the animated Pixar Cars spin-off, Planes. The early word is there is a stirring plot, a good amount of action, silly jokes and beautiful animation of the southwest setting. trailer
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Coming Next Schedule?
Chinese Puzzle
Ida
Boyhood
Begin Again
The Grand Seduction
Night Moves
Obvious Child
Land Ho!
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