Page 12 - the NOISE December 2013

The NAU Classic Film Series ends 2013 with some fun films that are also “classics.” The series this semester is: “In Sup- port: Unforgettable Supporting Actors and Actresses,” and it’s
nurtured by Paul Helford and Paul Donnelly. Tuesday nights in December at Cline Library at 7PM these free films are book ended by discussion with knowledgeable film people.
12/3 – The Deer Hunter by director Michael Cimino, 1978, 182 minutes, R, starring Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep, John Cazale and John Savage. Some consider The Deer Hunter the greatest anti-war film ever made with 10
nominations for Academy Awards and five wins including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor Christopher Walken in his defining role as a sane man in a crazy world.
12/10 – Animal House by director John Landis, 1978, 109 minutes, R, starring John Belushi, Tim Matheson, John Ver- non, Kevin Baco, Tom Hulce, Donald Sutherland, Karen Al- len and Verna Bloom. At Faber College, you’re either in an upstanding fraternity or sorority or you’re in animal house. Guess which one Belushi chooses? Harold Ramis, who wrote Stripes, penned one of the funniest snap-shots of a time and age gone by. My 80-year old mother, my wife and my 14-20 year old children cracked up when we watched it together! Check nau.edu/CAL/Events and click on the “Film Series” link for more information.
The NAU International Film Series continues into De- cember with a gem. The series this semester: “Global Issues: Personal Consequences” plays Wednesday nights for free in room 120 of the Liberal Arts Building.
12/4 – Breathing by director Karl Markovicks, from Australia, 2011, 93 minutes, in German with English subtitles. Breathing is the portrait of a juvenile just out of detention in Australia, who begins to be curious about his past and what got him to detention in the first place. A journey to find his real mother takes him from a municipal morgue in Vienna to the front door step of his house as nineteen year old comes of age. Check nau.edu/CAL/Events and click on the “Film Series” link for more information.
The Sedona International Film Festival (SIFF) loads up each month with wondrous events at the Mary D. Fisher The- atre in Sedona. We’ll show as many highlights as we can, but please check out SedonaFilmFestival.com for up-to-the-min- ute access to the latest film, theatre, play, dance or speakers from the 92nd Street Y. This writer talked with Pat Schweiss, Director of the Sedona International Film Festival about up- coming events this month and he was able to drop that “the February 22, – March 2, 2014 film festival will be honoring Susan Sarandon for their 20th anniversary and there’s more to come!” Ms. Sarandon won the Best Actress Oscar for Dead Man Walking. She starred in Thelma and Louise and the original Rocky Horror Picture Show. What an awesome addition!
CW FROM TOP LEFT: Breathing at NAUIFS; Animal House at NAUCFS; A Person Known to Me at the
Peregrine thru PFF; Inequality for All from SIFF.
12/1-4 – Films Diana and Adore, both starring Naomi Watts 12/2 – Pompeii Exhibit from the British Museum
12/5 – JFK: A President Betrayed – film and conversation 12/6-7 – Jekyll & Hyde direct from Broadway
12/7-12 – Inequality for All
12/9 – Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y: Howard Gardner: On the App Generation
12/13-14 – Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies direct from Broadway
12/15 – The Nutcracker, Ballet of Screen.
12/16 – Live from NY’s 92nd Street Y: Jeremy Ben Ami: What does it mean to be Pro-Israel?
12/19-21 – Live Show: A Streisand Holiday starring Barbara Streisand tribute artist Sharon Owens
The Prescott Film Festival works with Yavapai Com- munity College and Yavapai Performing Arts Center to bring a great variety of interesting films to Prescott. Check out PrescottFilmFestival.com for up to the minute details for De- cember, but here’s what we know now!
12/6/13 – A Person Known to Me. At the Peregrine Book Company at 6PM. The award-winning filmmakers Stephanie Argy and Alec Boehm will be present to screen their new short film and discuss the challenges of shooting a period piece. They will also screen their short film Ghandi at the Bat which won the 2010 Jury Award for Best Short at the Prescott Film Festival. They will also share about their feature filming in Prescott in 2014! Join in on the cinematic conversation. Check: PrescottFilmFestival.com for more information.
Rarely do I suggest you engage in your local commercial movie theatre, but if you can get to see 12 Years a Slave. You will see the finest film of the year; one sure to be nominated for everything and likely to win much too. Steve McQueen, the director of Hunger and Shame, returns with another tale of brutal realism that puts you in the story of Solomon Northrup, the true story of a free black man living in New York in 1841, who’s abducted and sold into slavery in Louisiana. McQueen PUTS US THERE and makes us experience the world of injustice heaped on our fellow brothers and sisters. We care and suffer with this world because it is our legacy. And Mc- Queen stated at the Telluride Film Festival in September that
“because it was the law to keep slaves, illegal laws like that can be drawn up again, now.” So, it’s also a cautionary tale of the world we live in now that tolerates over 2 million abductions of children a year for the sex slave trade. If you see one film in 2013, see 12 Years a Slave.
| Bob Reynolds knows how to butter his popcorn, thank you very much. bob699669@hotmail.com
12 • DECEMBER 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us