[Reel Pizza] schedule

as promised
here is the next schedule for Reel Pizza which covers Friday Feb 6 through Thursday Feb 26.
See you soon.
-Lisa

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 is our "ACADEMY" NIGHT GALA 2009  from  6:30 pm till...   TERRIFIC FUN! GREAT CAUSE!
Benefits Maine Sea Coast Mission & Beth C. Wright Cancer Center
co-sponsored by Poor Boy's Gourmet, The First, Coastline Homes & Holiday Inn
Exquisite hors d'oeuvres     *     Complementary glass of Champagne     *     Come in Costume to win Great Prizes     *     Grand Prize for most correct winners 
Tickets available at Reel Pizza box office: $50 patron;  $25 adults;  $15 seniors/students
*no eve shows Sun  2pm matinees only

Fri Feb 6 - Mon Feb 9
YES MAN  (PG-13)  104min
Zooey Deschanel and Jim Carrey have a goofy, wonderful chemistry together in this fun and sweet romantic comedy.  He is a self-pitying loan officer who is still in a funk after his divorce years earlier.  His buddy (Bradley Cooper) pressures him into attending a self-help seminar led by a New-age guru (Terence Stamp), where he is taught to say YES to everything asked of him.  Naturally, initially, this leads to disaster, but also puts him in the path of free-spirited Allison who is attracted to his spontaneity.  As he continues to practice his new skill, he reaps the rewards but eventually must learn to deal with the complications.  It is a light-weight, but funny and delightful crowd-pleaser.
 
Tues Feb 10 - Thurs Feb 12
PRAY THE DEVIL BACK TO HELL (NR)  72min
This extraordinary documentary from Oscar-winning director Gini Reticker and producer Abigail Disney chronicles the remarkable story of courageous Liberian women, ordinary mothers, sisters, wives, aunts, and grandmothers, both Christian and Muslim, who came together to pray for peace, staged a silent protest, and were critical in ending the bloody civil war that had shattered their country.  The non-violent and unorthodox methods of these women forced dictator Charles Taylor into exile which resulted in the election of Africa's first female head of state.  It is an inspiring, uplifting and motivating story of sacrifice, unity and transcendence.
 
Fri Feb 13 - Mon Feb 16
VALKYRIE  (PG-13)   120min
Intelligent and engrossing, this historical drama recreates the real-life WW2 conspiracy about a plot within the highest ranks of Hitler's military command to assassinate their leader and restore Germany's good name.  Led by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise), a man who lost seven fingers and an eye fighting in North Africa, this group of co-conspirators, played by Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, Terence Stamp, Eddie Izzard and Thomas Kretschmann, all have differing motives for wanting Hitler dead, and their allegiances shift even as they must keep their plan secret.  Director Bryan Singer (X-Men 1 & 2, Superman) reuniting with his The Usual Suspects screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie, has made a suspenseful and old-fashioned action adventure, presenting a complex scheme with clarity.
 
Tues Feb 17 - Thurs Feb 19
THE BLACK BALLOON  (PG-13)  97min
This comic Australian coming of age drama, the autobiographical first feature from Elissa Down, is a hilarious heartwarming and honest account of growing up with an autistic brother.  Shy 15 year old Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) has just moved and must start at a new school.  He just wants to fit in and become friends with his goofy but gorgeous classmate Jackie.  But when his pregnant mother (Toni Collette) is ordered to bedrest, he must take care of his older autistic brother, whose unusual antics send Thomas on an emotional journey.  It is a funny and unsentimental but sympathetic and real story about fitting in and accepting your family.
 
Fri Feb 20 - Mon Feb 23
RACHEL GETTING MARRIED  (R)  116min
It is Kym (Oscar-nominated Anne Hathaway, The Devil Wears Prada), the sister of the bride Rachel (Rosemary Dewitt) who is the focus of this film.  On a weekend furlough from rehab where she has been clean for many months, but a junkie for many years, she also wants to be the center of attention at this family gathering.  But longtime issues have made her overly emotional, self-absorbed, and resentful, and her inappropriate behavior embarrasses and infuriates her entire family.  But as her dad and new brother-in-law are both in the music industry, the party is a multi-cultural riot of eclectic styles, including musicians Robyn Hitchcock, and Sister Carol.  Veteran indie director Jonathan Demme (Philadelphia, Heart of Gold) has balanced, with heart and hilarity, an intense, authentic family dynamic with a lively celebration.
 
Tues Feb 24 - Thurs Feb 26
THE GROCER'S SON  (NR)  96min  [in French with subtitles]
This picturesque and rewarding journey of self-discovery follows the trials of Antoine, a surly 30 year old man who thought he had forever left his family home in Provence a decade ago.  But when his father has a heart attack, he reluctantly returns to drive the family's travelling grocery van to the remote villages in the countryside to serve the elderly customers who continued to rely on this service.  His apartment neighbor Claire, an optimistic free-spirit, joins him and provides a counterpoint to the confrontational Antoine.  With a wealth of details, this enchanting, quirky gem from director Eric Guirado is sure to enchant.
 
COMING ON OUR SECOND SCREEN?
DOUBT (PG-13)  104min
In a Catholic school in 1964 Bronx, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep), the principal, does not trust the new priest, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman).  He is progressive and charismatic; she is strict, disciplined and old-fashioned.  When she hears from meek, innocent Sister James (Amy Adams) that she saw the school's new and only black student go into his office alone, she decides, without a doubt but without any evidence either, that something is seriously amiss and the Father must go.  Viola Davis (Antwone Fisher) gives a brief but indelible performance as the boy's mother.  John Patrick Shanley (Oscar-winning screenwriter for Moonstruck) adapts and directs his Tony-winning play, expanding it with 4 Oscar-nominated performances to fill the big screen in this transfixing and relevant film.
 
SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (R)  121min
Nominated for ten Academy Awards, including best picture and director, this colorful, Dickensian, and Bollywood inspired film is from stylish British director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Millions, 28 Days Later).  The story, based on the novel "Q&A" by Vikas Swarup adapted by Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) follows Jamal (Dev Patel) a street-smart Mumbai slum orphan turned call center tea server who has become a contestant on a popular TV game show, and is on the verge of winning the big prize.  Suspected of cheating, he is forced to justify to a police interrogator (Irfan Khan, A Mighty Heart) how he knew all the answers to the questions.  His responses follow in flashback the highs and lows of his life as he has survived terrible poverty and unforgettable brutality with his older brother Salim and his soulmate Latika.  In all it is a passionate, joyous and winning film.
 
GRAN TORINO  (R)  117min
Grizzled, retired, and newly widowed autoworker Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) thinks his children and grandchildren are greedy and self-absorbed, and he only has vicious racial slurs to direct at the Hmong newcomers to his lower-middleclass neighborhood in Detroit, as they remind him of Koreans he fought in the war.  When his teenaged next-door neighbor tries to steal his beloved car as part of a gang initiation, he is forced to deal with them, and eventually becomes a reluctant father figure and friend to the boy and his older sister.  Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, Changeling) in his second directing effort this year, considers the limits of violence, racial acceptance, and the power of compassion.
 
FROST/NIXON  (R)  122min
Entertaining and riveting, this insightful and visually energetic film from Oscar-nominated director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind) is a fascinating dual character study of two men whose careers were in the gutter, Richard Nixon (played by Tony award-winning and Oscar-nominated Frank Langella) three years after he had resigned the presidency after Watergate but had yet to confess or apologize for anything, and David Frost (played by Martin Sheen, The Queen), a fading British talk-show host who had been exiled to Australia. Frost wants to reignite his career, and using his own money, boldly persuades Richard Nixon, who needs to reshape his legacy, to sit for four televised interviews.  Screenwriter Peter Morgan (The Queen, Last King of Scotland) adapted his fictionalized Broadway play and Langella and Sheen deftly reprise their powerful stage roles.   A strong supporting cast includes Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Matthew Macfadyen and Rebecca Hall.
 
CORALINE (PG)  100min
Director Harry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas) has made another spectacular stop-motion animated adventure, this based on Neil Gaiman's internationally best-selling story.  Dakota Fanning voices Coraline, bored with her parents and in her new home until she finds a secret door and discovers an alternate version of her life on the other side.  This parallel universe seems to be quite similar to her real life, only better.  Then she discovers that it might actually be much more dangerous and she must summons all her resourcefulness and bravery to escape this increasingly perilous world and return home to save her family.
 
Coming next?
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
I've Loved You For So Long
The Wrestler
Waltz With Bashir
Secret of the Grain
Last Chance Harvey
Che