Page 12 - the NOISE December 2012

The Northern Arizona film landscape quiets down in December, as Northern Arizona University slows down for the holidays, but
there’s still a lot to see on the big screen in the still of winter’s eve.
That said, there’s a lot great alternative films in Sedona and Prescott to check out. And Sedona International Film Festival brings one film up the switchbacks to share with a Flagstaff audience at Harkins Theatres on the second Wednesday of each month.
On 12/12/12 Flagstaff gets the privilege of seeing the Intouchables about a friendship that crosses race and class lines and gets to the heart of what it means to be a friend. Watch this award-winning film and hang out after for a conversation with Andrea Houchard and Matthew Goodwin from the NAU Philosophy Department.
The College of Arts & Letters Film Se- ries at Northern Arizona University finishes off the semester at Cline Library at 7PM with their continuing theme: “Families: Not Your Typical Family Film Series.” Paul Helford and Paul Donnelly offer insightful analysis and have knowledgeable introductions from lo- cal film fans. The question and answer ses- sion after the film is helpful to students who hope to expand their cinematic grammar. The final film in this series is by far the weird- est and most dysfunctional family you may ever meet and the music by Cat Stevens is so iconic that it will draw the most cynical of us to what’s referred to as “love.”
12/4/12 – Harold and Maude, directed by Hal Ashby, (1971) 91 minutes, PG. Starring Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. Harold is a teen- ager obsessed with death, as his life is not going as planned. He lives with his distracted rich mother, who’s incapable of giving the young Harold what he needs. When Harold meets the 79-year old Maude who’s obsessed with life, a clash of civilizations ensues and Harold sees the world anew. This bizarre ro- mantic comedy between a May 1st suicidal ro- mantic and a December 31st grandma of fun is funny in the extreme and makes us ques- tion what’s important in our own lives. Give
CW FROM TOP LEFT: Ira Finklestein’s Christmas at PIFF; Intouchables at SIFF; The Pharoah’s Daughter at SIFF; Harold & Maude at CofA&LFS.
this one a shot, if not for the music alone. The International Film Series ends the
semester at NAU in the Liberal Arts Build- ing room 120 with a 7PM free showing of a Walter Salles classic. Wonderful discussions precede each film and informative question and answer sessions follow the screening.
“Dreaming Big” is the theme for this semester and this final film fills this niche perfectly.
12/5/12 – Behind The Sun, directed by Wal- ter Salles, (2001) 106 minutes, Not rated. A Brazilian filmmaker shows the international community his country as this story is set in the Brazilian badlands circa 1910. This time- less story of two feuding families continuing an endless tradition of killing and payback plays out in ways that involve “dreaming big.” The father orders his middle son to avenge the death of his oldest son as the family’s honor depends on payback. But the ethical middle son questions the family’s sole meth- od of handling revenge. When you dream about a new way in the world, you dare to anger those close to you. After all, isn’t that what Romeo and Juliet did? See this wonder- ful international gem.
The Sedona International Film Festival, aside from bringing films to Harkins in Flag- staff the second Wednesday of the month, they display a wonderfully eclectic group of entertainment programming at The Mary D. Fisher Theatre in Sedona throughout December. If you’re missing your fix of films in Flagstaff during this month make a trek to Sedona and watch a mini-film-fest with their 4 & 7PM shows almost daily! See a film early afternoon, hit a local restaurant, and then climax your evening at the 7PM show. Here’s what’s playing for sure:
12/3/12, 4PM — The Pharaoh’s Daughter a Ballet from Bolshoi in Moscow.
12/4-7, 4 & 7PM — The Royal Affair and The Revolutionary with a Q & A session with a guest filmmaker after The Revolutionary screenings.
12/9, 5:30PM, Live From NY’s 92nd Street Y: Jon Meacham on Jefferson.
12/11-14, 4 & 7PM —The Intouchables and
A Late Quartet.
12/16, 6:15PM — Live From NY’s 92 Street
nd 12/17, 4PM — The Magic Flute Opera from
Y: God is One.
La Scala.
12/18-22, 4 & 7PM — the award-winning
Robot and Frank starring Frank Langella and Susan Sarandon.
Check out SedonaFilmFestival.com for more information about their engaging line- up of feature films, plays, ballets, documenta- ries and speaker series.
The Prescott International Film Festi- val continues its year-round affiliation with Yavapai Community College with films at the yavapai Performing Arts Center in Prescott. Glance at PrescottFilmFestival.com for a more detailed and up to the minute account of what’s showing, but here’s what we know now.
12/5/12, 6:30PM — The Muppet Movie star- ring Jim Henson’s Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.
12/12/12, 6:30PM — Ira Finklestein’s Christ- mas, directed by Sue Corcoran and star- ring Eliot Gould and Elijah Nelson. A Jewish boy who’s obsessed with Christmas figures out how to get the Christmas he’s always dreamed of. He switches airline tickets and changes places with another boy while on his way to sunny Florida. A family film for ev- eryone!
The Artist’s Marketplace and Photosyn- thesis Films are introducing North Coast Free Style Dance Partnering to Flagstaff. A dance workshop will be held 12/1/12 from 3-6PM. The event is taking place at Human Nature Studios, 4 W. Phoenix Street in sup- port of an Independent Film being shot in Flagstaff, Down These Dark Streets.
| Bob reynolds may make the occasional phone call to a member of the intelligence community, at times without even knowing it. bob699669@hotmail.com
12 • DECEMBER 2012 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us