[Reel Pizza] update Oct 29 - Nov 4

This morning I was delighted to read for Mrs. Brechlin's kindergarten class at Bar Harbor's Conners School as part of their Business of Reading.  We talked about how some movie ideas come from books (and some don't), and how movies can be different than the books from which they're adapted, and what movies they were looking forward to (there's a lot of hope in the five-year-old crowd for TOY STORY 4.)  We read "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and a chapter from "A House at Pooh Corner", in anticipation of a new Winnie-the-Pooh movie scheduled for next year.  On Thursday, I look forward to talking about reading and (different) movies with Mrs. Galeaz's second graders.

Reel Pizza continues to show movies for your viewing pleasure.  Of this week's three film offerings, two began as books, and both are based on real life stories~

And please feel free to come by to show us your Halloween costume this weekend, ...if you dare!
Wha--ha-ha-ha-ha!

see you soon!
-Lisa

Fri Oct 29th - Thurs Nov 4th    SECRETARIAT (PG)  116min  6:00 and 8:30
Fri Oct 29th - Mon Nov 1st      WALL STREET: Money Never Sleeps  (PG-13)  136min   5:30 and 8:15
Tues Nov 2nd - Thurs Nov 4th    MAO'S LAST DANCER  (PG)  127min  5:30 and 8:00


Fri Oct 29th - Thurs Nov 4
SECRETARIAT (PG)  116min  6:00 and 8:30
Diane Lane stars as suburban housewife Penny Chereny, a novice who takes over her ailing father's stables, to her family's dismay.  With the help of a colorful veteran horse trainer (John Malkovich), her dad's stable hand (Nelsan Ellis), and his secretary (Margo Martindale) this unlikely woman, fighting an uphill battle in a man's world, fosters a precocious colt named Big Red into a winning race horse that, if it becomes the first in 25 years to win the Triple Crown, will save the farm.  Director Randall Wallace (screenwriter of Braveheart) has made an old-fashioned, feel-good, crowd-pleasing film, successfully taking a predictable story about a legend that everyone knows the ending to and imbuing it with suspense and excitement.  {Based on the Novel "Secretariat: The Making of a Champion" By William Nack.}

Fri Oct 29 - Mon Nov 1
WALL STREET: Money Never Sleeps  (PG-13)  136min   5:30 and 8:15
Director Oliver Stone (W, Nixon, JFK) returns Gordon Gekko to the screen in this sequel to his 1987 hit film.  Michael Douglas reprises his Oscar-winning role as the now disgraced corporate raider who is just emerging from a lengthy prison term.  He finds himself on the outside of a world he once dominated and is looking to repair his damaged relationship with his daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan).  Gekko forms an alliance with her fiancé Jacob (Shia LaBeouf), but its unclear if  Jacob and Winnie can really trust the ex-financial titan, whose relentless efforts to redefine himself in a different era have unexpected consequences.
 
Tues Nov 2 - Thurs Nov 4
MAO'S LAST DANCER  (PG)  127min  5:30 and 8:00
Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies) uses the inspirational autobiography of internationally renowned Chinese dancer (now Australian stockbroker) Li Cunxin (Chi Cao of the Birmingham Royal Ballet) to weave a moving tale about the quest for freedom and the courage it takes to live one's life.  From a poor upbringing in rural China, young Li is chosen at age 11 by Madam Mao to train in her ballet.  His extraordinary journey continues when the Houston Ballet's director (Bruce Greenwood) invites him to the US for a cultural exchange.  He sees that the Chinese propaganda against the USA is false, falls in love and chooses defection and exile rather than return to China.  This rich and rewarding film features exquisite ballet sequences and won the Audience Choice Award at this year's Maine International Film Festival.