[Reel Pizza] two week update

hey everyone.

The Oscar Night Gala was great fun; we had a nice turnout in support of the Beth Wright Cancer Center, the food was so, so yummy, and everyone had a good time.  Even me, who has only seen precious few of the nominated films; maybe I will do better for next year! 

The Independent Spirit Awards were also held this past weekend, and we have some winners of both awards coming in the next few weeks.  Winner of the original screenplay Oscar plus Independent Spirit Awards for Best Feature, Lead Actress and First Screenplay, Juno continues through Thursday night at 6:00 and 8:00. There Will Be Blood starts Friday, whose star Daniel Day-Lewis won the acting Oscar.  Independent Spirit Awards went to the director (Julian Schnabel) and cinematographer (Janusz Kaminski) of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly coming the following week, also to the lead actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and screenwriter (Tamara Jenkins) of The Savages which will be here in mid-March. 

Here is the schedule of events at Reel Pizza for the next two weeks. 

Emerson 8th Grade Benefit  Sunday March 2nd  12:30pm
Come watch a family (PG) comedy we haven't previously screened, about a self-absorbed man coming to terms with a daughter he didn't know he had and support the Emerson School Eighth Grade as they raise money for their graduation.  You can also play bingo, and participate in the silent auction and raffle (find an 8th grader for the raffle tickets).  There will be door prizes for those who come in costume.  The doors open at 12:30 and the film starts at 1pm; the kitchen will be open.

Thursday's Senior Matinee (2/28) will be JUNO at 1:30.
The Senior Matinee on 3/6 will be 27 DRESSES, again at 1:30.
The Senior Matinee on 3/13 will be THE BUCKET LIST.

See you soon!
-Lisa

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Fri Feb 29 - Thurs Mar 6
THERE WILL BE BLOOD (R)  158min  5:30 and 8:30
Daniel Day-Lewis (Gangs of New York) and Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine) are electrifying as like-minded adversaries in visionary director Paul Thomas Anderson�s (Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love) majestic epic depicting the California oil boom a century ago.  Day-Lewis won the acting Oscar for his mesmerizing and eccentric performance as oilman Daniel Plainview who cons unsuspecting folks into granting him drilling rights to their property.  One of those persuaded to sell is the family of evangelical preacher Eli Sunday (Dano) who intends that Plainview�s spoils will build him a church.  This gripping film, loosely based on Upton Sinclair�s 1927 novel OIL is a compelling portrait of capitalism run amok, and has received 8 Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, and Actor. 

Fri Feb 29 - Mon Mar 3
27 DRESSES (PG-13)  107min  6:00 and 8:15
Selfless and idealistically romantic, Jane (Katherine Heigl, Knocked Up) has helped plan and been bridesmaid to countless friend�s weddings, and she has a closet full of gowns to prove it.  Secretly she pines for her boss (Ed Burns) but then her sister steals his heart and wants Jane to plan their wedding.  James Marsden (Enchanted, Hairspray) is a wedding writer who wants to do a feature article about Jane under the guise of getting to know her better, but she is not impressed.  Containing nothing heavy, this bubbly romantic comedy is infectiously fun entertainment. 
 
Tues Mar 4 - Thurs Mar 6
THE WILLOW TREE (NR)  96min  6:00 and 8:15
Another masterpiece, full of exquisite details and splendorous beauty from Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi (Baran, Children of Heaven, Color of Paradise) thoughtfully explores the themes of gratitude and transformation.  Youssef, a middle aged professor of literature who was blinded in a childhood accident, lives a peaceful life both at the university and a home with his loving wife and daughter, although he harbors an inner anger at God for his condition.  When a tumor is discovered on his eye, he vows to dedicate his life to God in exchange for a miracle.  An uncle sends him to Paris where the tumor is removed and corneal transplants successfully restore his sight.  But he is not prepared for the differences in his imagined world and its reality.  And his promise is forgotten. 
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Fri Mar 7 - Thurs Mar 13
THE BUCKET LIST (PG-13)  97min   6:00 and 8:15
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman have great chemistry working together for the first time in their careers in this satisfying and funny end-of-life comedy drama from director Rob Reiner.  When two opposites, corporate billionaire Edward and working class mechanic Carter Chambers end up sharing a hospital room, both diagnosed with terminal cancer, they discover they have two things in common:  a desire to spend the time they have left doing everything they ever wanted to do before the end and an unrealized need to come to terms with who they are.  Checking themselves out, they embark on the road trip of a lifetime together, becoming friends along the way and learning toe live life to the fullest with insight and humor.

Fri Mar 7 - Mon 10
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (PG-13)  112min  [in French with subtitles]   5:30 and 8:00
At age 43, world-renowned French fashion editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric, Munich) suffered a catastrophic stroke rendering him unable to move except to blink his left eye-lid, but left whole his mind and senses, and sense of humor.  By blinking his one working eyelid with the help of a team of beautiful assistants, he composed his memoir.  From a screenplay by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) and cinematography by Januzs Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan), director Julian Schnabel (Basquiat, Before Night Falls)  has created a visual marvel, a sensitive, imaginative and entirely unsentimental portrait of a complex, real character who, confined by his body, celebrates life through his imagination.  This film earned 4 Oscar nominations, for direction, cinematography, adapted screenplay, and film editing.
 
Tues Mar 11 - Thurs Mar 13
PETE SEEGER:  THE POWER OF SONG  (PG)  93min   5:30 and 7:45
This stirring portrait of amazing American treasure and institution Pete Seeger by documentary filmmaker Jim Brown is full of remarkable archival footage and personal films from the family�s collection, extended musical segments and recent interviews with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Nathalie Maines, Peter Paul and Mary, his wife Toshi, his children Michael and Peggy, and the 88 year-young man himself.  A revered singer and banjo player, blacklisted anti-war patriot, early ecologist and environmentalist, and outspoken advocate for social justice and civil rights, Pete Seeger has spent his long life using music to communicate ideas and unite people to make the world a better place.  His joy is most apparent when he unites a group in song, for he believes �participation will save the human race.�  Come appreciate him in this wonderful, joyous and inspirational film. 
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