Chlotrudis news

Wiebke von Carolsfeld is one of twenty-one participants, selected from over 200 applicants, who will be taking part in Talent Lab Toronto, an intense three-day program, giving a group of selected filmmakers the opportunity to hone the craft of filmmaking from experienced professionals. Over a three-day period during the Toronto International Film Festival, selected participants who have completed one feature or two shorts will take part in intensive sessions with renowned filmmakers and industry professionals, covering essentials of production, creative collaboration and marketing & distribution.

Chlotrudis Award winner Patricia Rozema joins international award-winning writer Michael Ondaatje, and independent producer and former head of United Artists, Bingham Ray as governors and creative mentors for the inaugural Talent Lab Toronto. Rozema attended the 7th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony where she received the Taskforce Award (since renamed the Chlotrudis Award for Creative and Visionary Direction). Von Carolsfeld took part in this year’s 10th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony where she picked up two awards, the Director to Watch, and the Buried Treasure Award for her debut feature, MARION BRIDGE.

The Chlotrudis Society congratulations Wiebke on her participation, and wish her the best of luck with her future filmmaking endeavors.

AUDITION. HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS. ICHII THE KILLER. Just a tiny handful of the twisted and crazed film by Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike. No the master of mind-boggling enters Lynchian territory with an entry in the Japanese genre of “Yakuza/Horror.” Join us on Monday, August 16, 6:50 p.m. at the (sigh) Kendall Square Theatre for Takashi Miike’s GOZU… if you dare!

Director Takashi Miike (Audition) returns with a shocking but horrifyingly funny yakuza thriller. Gang member Minami (Hideki Sone) highly respects Ozaki (Sho Aikawa), who saved his life in the past. But lately Ozaki’s eccentricities raise doubts about his sanity. Unsympathetic to Ozaki’s mental breakdown, the crew’s chairman orders Minami to kill Ozaki and take him to the yakuza disposal dump. Desperate to recover Ozaki’s body after losing it, Minami embarks on a surreal journey of unexplained natural phenomenon. The eye-popping special effect climaxing this film has never before been seen on screen and is not to be missed! (Fully subtitled)
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Hideki Sone, Sh’kawa, Kimika Yoshino, Sh’ Hino, Keiko Tomita, Harumi Sone, Renji Ishibashi

But before that, if you need a strong quotient of shlocky camp… or just an amazing bad movie that I love… come to the Midnight Cult Screening of Menahem Golan’s THE APPLE! I saw this movie on Cinemax in 1981, a mere youth (just starting college), a closeted gay man just taking his first tentative steps toward exploring his nature. The spectacle! The sappy songs! The sexuality! THE APPLE is a cornball story about Alphie and Bibi, two sweet, naive youths from Moose Jaw, Canada who come to America to enter a music contest. Although they are beaten, the are excited to learn that Mr. Boogalow, a diabolical recording agent who manages the winnding group, has taken a liking to them and wants to sign them to their label. As Alphie and Bibi are exposed to the dark, underbelly of the music biz, the costumes shimmer… the songs soar… and the inevitable arrival of space hippies keeps things lively. You’ve never seen anything like this… or maybe you have, but it’s still a heckuva lot of fun! Stay up late on Saturday, August 14, and join us for the midnight screening of THE APPLE at the Brattle!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, August 12 – 18.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
The Art of Samurai Cinema
Yojimbo (Thu.)
Fistful of Dollars (Thu.)
Orson Welles: Rogue Genius
The Third Man (Fri. – Mon.)
The Stranger (Fri. & Sat.)
Lady from Shanghai (Sun. & Mon.)
Midnight Cult Classics
The Apple (Fri. & Sat.)
Modern Musicals
Moulin Rouge! (Tue.)
Recent Raves
Kill Bill, vol. 1 (Wed.)
Kill Bill, vol. 2 (Wed.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
The Blind Swordsman, Zatoichi (starts Fri.)
Maria Full of Grace
Fahrenheit 9/11 (Thu.)
Tom Dowd and the Language of Music (starts Fri.)
The Hunting of the President (Thu.)
Midnites!
Cable Guy (Fri. & Sat)
Women’s Prison Massacre (Sat.)
A Tribute to Marlon Brando
Last Tango in Paris (Mon.)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
Y is for Yellow Journalism
The Front Page (Thu. & Fri.)
The Sweet Smell of Success (Thu. & Fri.)
Z is for Zealots
The Milky Way (Sat. & Sun.)
Ordet (Sat. & Sun.)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Gozu (starts Fri.)
Intimate Strangers
Open Water
Garden State
The Door in the Floor Maria Full of Grace
A Home at the End of the World
The Corporation
Napoleon Dynamite
Imelda (Thu.)
She Hate Me (Thu.)

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Zatoichi: the Blind Swordsman and The Chess Expert (starts Fri.)
Maria Full of Grace (starts Fri.)
Garden State
Before Sunset
Napoleon Dynamite
A Home at the End of the World (Thu.)

Loews Theatres Copley Place, Boston
CHECK WEBSITE FOR SHOWTIMES!

Harvard Square, Cambridge
CHECK WEBSITE FOR SHOWTIMES!

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Russian Cinema
The Return (Thu.)
Art on Film
My Architect (Thu & Sun.)
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (Sat. & Sun.)
New England Film Artists Presents
The Pursuit of Pleasure (Thu. & Sat.)
Pre-Release Screening
Seeing Other People (Thu.)
Korean Cinema
Oasis (Thu.)
Cinema Tropical
A Lucky Day (Fri. & Sat.)
Icelandic Cinema
The Seagull’s Laughter

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
The Control Room (Thu.)
Bukowski: Born Into This (starts Fri.)

Boston Jewish Film Festival Events
Another Chance to see…
My Architect at the Museum of Fine Arts (Thu. & Sun.)
Sneak Preview
Rosenstrasse by Margarethe von Trotta (Wed.)
with Special Guest Meyer Gottlieb, President, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and a child survivor of the Holocaust

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Hello Film Lovers!

A few new indie releases debut this week, and for those of you who I gave an advanced preview of Chlotrudis Monday Night Movies, there has been a change! The reason for this change will come in the form of a little rant a little further down the page. Join us on Monday, August 9 for the 6:30 screening of Spike Lee’s latest joint, SHE HATE ME, at the Kendall Square Theatre. Already dividing critics, SHE HATE ME features Chlotrudis buddy Kerry Washington in her first role to hit the big screen since her appearance here at the 10th Annual Chlotrudis Awards. We love Kerry, and we’re looking forward to seeing her in another indie film. Due to the early start time of the film, we will be meeting for dinner pretty early, but if anyone would like to join us at the Cambridge Brewery at 5:00 p.m., let me know.

Whistle-blower Jack (Anthony Mackie) gets fired after he causes an investigation into his bosses’ business dealings. Broke, his ex-girlfriend (Kerry Washington), now a lesbian, offers him $10,000 to impregnate her and her girlfriend (Dania Ramirez). Jack is ready to make “easy” money and as word spreads, rich lesbians with a desire for motherhood are lining up. But between his former employers seeking to frame him for fraud and his dubious fathering activities, Jack finds his life growing very complicated. Co-starring Monica Bellucci, Ellen Barkin, John Turturro and Brian Dennehy. Directed and co-written by Spike Lee. Official Web Site
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Jim Brown, Reynaldo Rosales, Jamel Debbouze, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Ling Bai, Q-Tip, Dania Ramirez, John Turturro

Now, as many of you know, the originally planned Chlotrudis Monday Night Movie of the Week was the Philippine documentary IMELDA. We will not be seeing IMELDA on Monday, and here the reason why not is a result of Landmark Theatre’s corporate mentality. As many of you also know, the Kendall Square Theatre has instituted a calendar screen at their theatre. This means they program a single low-profile indie film in advance to run for a single week. The idea behind this is if the film performs well in its opening week, Landmark has the option of extending its run. For this reason, distributors of these films book their product with Landmark, EVEN THOUGH THEY WOULD BE BETTER SUITED BOOKING THIS TYPE OF FILM AT AN INDEPENDENT THEATRE LIKE THE BRATTLE, in the hopes of getting a longer run, something that The Brattle is unable to offer. Now, since the Kendall instituted their Calendar schedule in January of 2004, they have extended a single film’s run beyond the initial week. Many of these films would have done better at the Brattle, but because of the hope being dangled before distributors, or a potentially longer run at the Kendall, these films have passed by the Brattle. In the case of poor IMELDA, not only is this film being shown at a venue ill-suited for its audience, THEY ARE LIMITING IT TO A SINGLE SCREENING EACH DAY, in this case, 5:05 p.m., making it impossible for most people to attend, and thus, insuring very few people will catch it. Good going Kendall.

SHAOLIN SOCCER is a Hong Kong film that has been in the can for quite a while. In fact, Miramax’s pathetic distribution plans has kept one of the country’s biggest films of 2001 languishing for three years. Almost makes me start another rant, but instead, let’s go see this film at the Brattle on Saturday, August 7 at 7:30 p.m. Here’s what the Brattle has to say about SHAOLIN SOCCER: “Let ‘s just put it out there ‘ Stephen Chow is hilarious!! He is one of the biggest comedy stars of Hong Kong and China ‘ if pressed one could describe him to the uninitiated as a bizarre combination of Jim Carrey, Bruce Lee, and Charlie Chaplin who often stars in Zucker-Brothers-level spoofs of popular genre films. His best-known film in the States is the kung-fu cooking flick, GOD OF COOKERY, which took the Iron Chef concept (already popular in Asia) to its ludicrously extended conclusion with master chefs competing in literal cooking battles. SHAOLIN SOCCER continues on a similar premise, but transplants the action to the soccer field. Chow plays Sing, a Shaolin monk who is trying to find a way to spread the word about kung fu. After meeting an embittered ex-player (known as The Golden Leg), he becomes convinced that the best way to do this is to become a soccer star and he dutifully gathers his Shaolin brothers to his side to form his team. Chow seamlessly melds together the silly conventions of not only the sports saga and martial arts epic but also the Spaghetti Western, WWII battlefield films and Jerry Lewis comedies, and applies them to a comic coming-of-age story. As with all of the best spoofs, SHAOLIN SOCCER both pokes fun at and pays homage to its sources ‘ what could be a better validation of the seemingly hokey story than to see in the uproarious final scene that the entire world has been gripped by kung fu fever!”

A couple other new releases this week include Zach Braff’s (TV’s “Scrubs”) GARDEN STATE, French fave Patrice Leconte’s INTIMATE STRANGERS, and the chilling OPEN WATER. I’m hoping to catch GARDEN STATE in the coming weeks. A couple of noteworthy films from past weeks are still hanging around, and you should definitely think about catching MARIA FULL OF GRACE and A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD. I’m amazed that METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER is leaving theatres (like the Kendall) after a single week but this fascinating documentary is still playing at Loew’s Copley Square Theatre and the suburbs too! Don’t miss it. And for those of you who still haven’t caught Guy Maddin’s quirky and delightful THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD, The Brattle brings it back for their RECENT RAVES series on Wednesday, August 11. Remember, Wednesday is Chlotrudis Day at the Brattle! Show your membership card and get a discount!

Finally, for all of you who like to party in movie theatres (and who doesn’t) be sure to come to TRAILER TREATS at the Brattle on Thursday, August 5. Enjoy some beer and barbecue, while grooving to live music! Then catch a reel of some vintage and wacky movie trailers! It’s the perfect way to spend a hot summer night. Dress in your best trailer trash couture! Check out Brattle Executive Directors (and Chlotrudis members) Ned and Ivy at last year’s Trailer Treats in a photo taken by Brandon Constant. The festivities start at 9:30 p.m.!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, August 5 – 11.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Trailer Treats!
The Art of Samurai Cinema
Takeshi Kitano’s Zatoichi (Thu.)
Exclusive Area Premiere
Shaolin Soccer (Fri. – Sun.)
Midnight Cult Classics
Shaolin Soccer (Fri. & Sat.)
Orson Welles: Rogue Genius
Macbeth (Mon.)
Modern Musicals
Lagaan (Tue.)
Recent Raves
The Saddest Music in the World (Wed.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Maria Full of Grace
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Hunting of the President
Zoolander (Fri. & Sat)
Kung Fu
Rudy Rae Moore is Dolomite (Sat.)
A Tribute to Marlon Brando
The Wild One (Mon.)
Teens on Screen
Rebel Without a Cause (Mon.)
Dead Poets Society (Tue.)
Dogtown & Z-Boys (Wed.)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
S if for Stamp
Billy Budd (Thu.)
The Hit (Thu.)
Trailers, Trailers, Trailers (Fri.)
U is for University Professors
Wild Strawberries (Sat. & Sun.)
The Declnie of the American Empire (Sat. & Sun.)
V is for Vietnam Revisited
Boat People (Mon.)
Who’ll Stop the Rain (Mon.)
W is for World War I Silents
Nosferatu the Vampyre (Tue.)
Matewan (Tue.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
The Door in the Floor
Before Sunset
Napoleon Dynamite

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Intimate Strangers (starts Fri.)
She Hate Me (starts Fri.)
Open Water (starts Fri.)
Imelda (starts Fri.)
Garden State (starts Fri.)
Maria Full of Grace
A Home at the End of the World (starts Fri.)
The Corporation
Napoleon Dynamite
Control Room (Thu.)
The Door in the Floor (Thu.)
Broadway: The Golden Age (Thu.)
The Clay Bird (Thu.)
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Thu.)

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Garden State (starts Fri.)
A Home at the End of the World
Before Sunset
Napoleon Dynamite
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (Thu.)
The Corporation (Thu.)
Seducing Doctor Lewis (Thu.)

Loews Theatres Copley Place, Boston
Intimate Strangers (starts Fri.)
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
Before Sunset
De-Lovely
The Door in the Floor
Napoleon Dynamite

Harvard Square, Cambridge
Before Sunset
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Clearing (Thu.)

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
New England Film Artists Presents
The Pursuit of Pleasure (Thu. & Sat.)
Pre-Release Screening
Seeing Other People (Thu.)
Korean Cinema
Oasis (Thu. – Sun.)
Art on Film
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (Thu.)
My Architect (Thu & Fri.)
Russian Cinema
The Return (Sat. & Sun.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
The Control Room (Thu.)
Bukowski: Born Into This (starts Fri.)

Boston Jewish Film Festival Events
Another Chance to see…
My Architect at the Museum of Fine Arts (Thu. & Fri.)

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Hello Film Lovers!

Some weeks it’s famine… others it’s feast! This is another one of those feast moments, when it seems like they’ve been saving up all the independent film I want to see! We’ve been seeing the preview for a while, so now it’s back to the Coolidge Corner Theatre for the much awarded film, MARIA FULL OF GRACE. Join Chlotrudis members on Monday, August 2, 7:35 p.m. for the film that won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and whose lead actress, Catalina Sandino Moreno, took the Silver Bear Award for Best Acting at the Berlin Film Festival.

MARIA FULL OF GRACE
dir. Joshua Marston w/ Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, Guilied Lopez, Jhon Alex Toro, Patricia Rae, in English and Spanish w/subtitles, 1h 41m

Maria is a bright, spirited 17-year old who lives with three generations of her family in a cramped house in rural Colombia. After losing her job in the local flower factory and discovering that she is pregnant, Maria feels that she needs to make a drastic change in her life. Then she meets Franklin, a cool young hipster who tells her of a lucrative job involving travel. The job is to be a drug mule – swallowing dozens of rubber pellets full of heroin and illegally flying them to the United States. Far from the uneventful trip she is promised, Maria is transported into the risky and ruthless world of international drug trafficking. Her mission becomes one of determination and survival and she finally emerges with the grace that will carry her forward into a new life.

MARIA FULL OF GRACE is a tour de force, not just for newcomer Joshua Marston, who directs this tale with a realism that brings to mind the best verite documentaries, but also for newcomer Catalina Sandino Moreno. Her performance as Maria is so multi-faceted and filled with dignity that she alone defines the title of the film, a remarkable accomplishment that earned this first-time actor the best acting award at the Berlin Film Festival.

Are you a fan of Anime? The Brattle brings you a special weekend engagement, the runner up for best animated feature at last year’s Fantasia Festival in Montreal (the winner was the unquestionably amazing TAMALA 2010), KAENA: THE PROPHECY. This French computer animated feature is a wonderful fantasy/sci-fi film that evokes the immortal French classic FANTASTIC PLANET as well as the work of Moebius and even the rock ‘n ‘roll animation of HEAVY METAL. KAENA features some of the most stunning imagery seen in an animated film in a long time. In the era of Pixar ‘s cartoonish versions of reality, this film uses animation to create new worlds and creatures that defy imagination. Featuring the voices of Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris, and Anjelica Houston.

Another much-anticipated release this week is A HOME AT THE END OF THE WORLD, based on Michael Cunningham’s novel of the same name. Scot and I have been looking forward to seeing this film for quite a while, so we will be catching the 11:45 a.m. matinee at the Kendall Square Theatre on Sunday. The film stars Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Sissy Spacek and newcomer Dallas Roberts. Join us for some Sunday cinema fun! Another well-reviewed film that opens this week is the documentary METALLICA: SOME KIND OF MONSTER. I don’t think I’ll be able to squeeze this one in this week, but I do hope to catch it sometime soon. Another well-received documentary, MY ARCHITECT makes a return engagement at the Museum of Fine Arts for the month of August, courtesy of the Boston Jewish Film Festival. If you missed this one earlier this year, you’ll have several chances to catch it at the MFA. The MFA is also playing a new African film, ABOUNA (OUR FATHER). With so few opportunities to see new African film, this is one you may want to try to catch. Finally, Thursday night’s Brattle screening of TWILIGHT SAMURAI comes highly recommended from Georgette. If you missed this one during its limited release earlier this year, check it out on Thursday night!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, July 29 – August 4.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
The Art of Samurai Cinema
Twilight Samurai (Thu.)
Exclusive Area Premiere
Kaena: the Prophecy (Fri. – Sun.)
Midnight Cult Classics
Takashi Miike’s Ichii the Killer (Fri. & Sat.)
Orson Welles: Rogue Genius
F for Fake (Mon.)
Confidential Agent (aka Mr. Arkadin) (Mon.)
Modern Musicals
The Muppets Take Manhattan (Tue.)
The Blues Brothers (Tue.)
Recent Raves
The Brattle Film Foundation & The Cambridge Arts Council Present a Special Outdoor Screening at Riverside Press Park!
Whale Rider (Wed.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Maria Full of Grace (starts Fri.)
Fahrenheit 9/11
Before Sunset (Thu.)
The Hunting of the President
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Fri. & Sat)
Kung Fu
Scorching Sun, Fierce Winds, Wild Fire (Sat.)
A Tribute to Marlon Brando
A Streetcar Named Desire/i> (Mon.)

Before Sunset
Fahrenheit 9/11

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Pre-release Screening
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
African Cinema
Abouna (Our Father) (Thu. – Sun.)
Cinema Tropical
A Cab for Three (Fri. & Sun.)
Art on Film
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (Sat. & Sun.)
My Architect (Sat. & Sun.)
Russian Cinema
The Return (Sat.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
The Clearing (Thu.)
The Control Room (starts Fri.)

Boston Jewish Film Festival Events
Another Chance to see…
My Architect at the Museum of Fine Arts (Sat. & Sun.)

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President

Independent film fans know what happens in early September… the Toronto International Film Festival, of course! This year, the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film has put together a group excursion to the festival including members and friends. Chlotrudis has taken over 10 Cawthra Square, a gorgeous bed & breakfast, as home base, in the midst of the film festival excitement.

As the big, star-studded galas are slowly announced, film fans grow more excited. Already new films by Zhang Yimou, Taylor Hackford, John Sayles, Jean-Luc Godard, Todd Solondz and more have been announced. When the complete film schedule is announced on August 24, 2004, you can bet Chlotrudis members will be all over it.

Several Chlotrudis members attending the festivities are hoping that Daniel MacIvor’s second directorial effort, WILBY WONDERFUL, will be in the lineup. The film is scheduled to open in Canada on October 1, with a hopeful debut at the festival a perfect scheduling fit! MacIvor charmed the audience at the 10th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony this past March when he was in town to accept his Chlotrudis Body of Work Award. WONDERFUL features an all-star Canadian cast including Sandra Oh, Callum Keith Rennie, and Paul Gross.

Anyone interested in joining Chlotrudis for the 29th Annual Toronto International Film Festival, taking place from September 9 – 18, should contact us at toronto@chlotrudis.org as soon as possible. Accomodations are limited.

Hello Film Lovers!

This week’s Chlotrudis Monday Movie of the Week is sure to thrill some, and send others heading for the hills. One person who is definitely excited is Scot! Join us Monday night for a film called, BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN YEARS! This documentary plays at the Kendall Square Theatre at 6:50 p.m. and is sure to be a change from the plethora of political docs that have been flooding the screens both good and bad! Unleash your inner-Broadway star and join us!

Writer/director Rick McKay shines a bright light on a bygone era of American theatre, filming over one hundred legendary Broadway performers. Using interviews, home movies and found footage, he recreates an era that, if left undocumented, would be lost forever. “The largest cast of stars ever assembled for one film” includes Angela Lansbury, Jeremy Irons, Shirley MacLaine, Stephen Sondheim, Tovah Feldshuh, Carol Burnett, Uta Hagen, John Raitt, Eva Marie Saint, Frank Langella, Carol Channing, Elaine Stritch, Fay Wray, Ben Gazzara, Alec Baldwin, Kaye Ballard, Al Hirschfeld, Ann Miller, Tommy Tune and many more.
Director: Rick McKay
Run Time: 1hr 51mins

It’s Democratic National Convention week… who better than to have as a super special guest at the Brattle Theatre than past Chlotrudis Taskforce Award winner John Sayles! Sayles and his business partner Maggie Renzi will regale a lucky audience with stories and clips from his forthcoming election-themed film, SILVER CITY. This exciting event takes place on Friday, July 23, 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance (available through the Brattle’s website) and $18.00 at the door. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear from one of the early mavericks of independent film!

Speaking of the DNC, our friend Lucia Small, who made the fabulous Chlotrudis Awards-nominated documentary MY FATHER, THE GENIUS, has produced a new film entitled AMERICAN WAKE. On Wednesday, July 28, you can attend the WORLD PREMIERE of Lucia’s film at a special fund-raiser for the Democratic Party. AMERICAN WAKE is a feature film by Maureen Foley, starring Billy Smith and Sam Amidon. This special world premiere screening will be hosted by Alec Baldwin with special guests Hon. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and the World Renowned Irish/American Band Solas. Tickets for the screening are $50.00 and the film will screen at the Loews Boston Common Theatre at 7:00 p.m. For those who are feeling a bit more wealthy and generous, a $1000 dollar reception takes palce beforehand at the Ritz Carlton hotel. SO think of all the great reasons to consider this event! Help out Lucia and local filmmaking! Support the Democratic Party! Have a blast at a special event during the biggest political week in Boston!

There is so much going on this week, great movies everywhere! The Boston French Film Festival continues at the Museum of Fine Arts and I’m really hoping I’m at least able to make the Boston Jewish Film Festival co-presentation of Chantal Akerman’s film TOMORROW WE MOVE on Sunday. Another political doc opens at the Coolidge and the Kendall this week. THE HUNTING OF THE PRESIDENT shows how a small rabid group of politicians did their best to bring Clinton down by digging into his personal life. Kyle McLachlan puts that famous chin to use by playing the ghost of Cary Grant in the frothy, gay comedy A TOUCH OF PINK. I haven’t seen it, so I’m not saying if it’s good or bad, but at least it stars THE GURU‘S sexy Jimi Mistry.

Of course the big excitement of the weekend is the TWITCH CITY MARATHON taking place at Michael and Scot’s place, Saturday, July 24 starting at 2:00 p.m. We’ll watch all 13 episodes of this inspired, hysterical, unique, and brilliant Canadian sitcom, written by Don McKellar and directed by Bruce MacDonald. McKellar also stars along with Chlotrudis faves Molly Parker, Daniel MacIvor, and Callum Keith Rennie. If you were at the 10th Annual Chlotrudis Awards Ceremony (and if you weren’t, why not?) then you saw a clip of this fascinating program where Daniel MacIvor’s character explains “the job wheel.” Come to the TWITCH CITY MARATHON and see that and so much more!

See you at the movies!

Playing this week, July 12 – 28.

Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
The Art of Samurai Cinema
Zatoichi: the Fugitive (Thu.)
The Boston Social Forum Presents Preview Screening!
The Yes Men (Thu.)
New 35mm Print! 40th Anniversary!
Dr. Strangelove, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (Fri. – Sun.)
The Boston Social Forum Presents!
An Evening with John Sayles!
Midnight Cult Classics
Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (Fri. & Sat.)
Orson Welles: Rogue Genius
The Trial (Mon.)
The American Prospect, The Nation & Mother Jones’ Present
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism (Tue.)
Recent Raves
Bukowski: Born Into This (Wed.)

Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Fahrenheit 9/11
Before Sunset
The Hunting of the President
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (Fri. & Sat)
Kung Fu
Inspectors Wear Skirts (Sat.)
Summertime Blues
The Gospel According to Al Green with live pre-show blues concert from the Nicole Nelson Band (Mon.)
Brookline Booksmith Presents Walter Mosley (Tue.)

Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
L is for Lost in Translation
The Saga of Anatahan (Thu.)
The Geisha Boy (Thu.)
M is for Mack the Knife
The Threepenny Opera (Fri. & Sat.)
The Beggar’s Opera (Fri. & Sat.)
N is for Nasty Nazis
Why We Fight: Divide and Conquer (Sun.)
Is Paris Burning? (Sun.)
O is for Olmi
Il Posto
The Fiances
Contemporary Hollywood Cinema
Boyz N the Hood (Wed.)

Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
The Door in the Floor (starts Fri.)
Before Sunset (starts Fri.)
The Clearing
Napoleon Dynamite
Two Brothers (Thu.)

Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
A Touch of Pink (starts Fri.)
Broadway: The Golden Age (starts Fri.)
The Hunting of the President (starts Fri.)
The Corporation
The Door in the Floor
De-Lovely
Napoleon Dynamite
Control Room
A Thousand Clouds of Peace (Thu.)
Seducing Doctor Lewis (Thu.)
Saved (Thu.)

Embassy Cinema, Waltham
A Touch of Pink (starts Fri.)
The Hunting of the President (starts Fri.)
The Corporation
Seducing Doctor Lewis
Before Sunset
Napoleon Dynamite
Control Room

Loews Theatres Copley Place, Boston
Before Sunset (starts Fri.)
De-Lovely
The Door in the Floor
The Clearing
Napoleon Dynamite
Two Brothers (Thu.)
Super Size Me (Thu.)
I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead (Thu.)
Saved (Thu.)

Harvard Square, Cambridge
The Clearing
Before Sunset
Fahrenheit 9/11

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston French Film Festival
Half-Price (Thu.)
Moi, C’r (Thu.)
As If Nothing Happened (Thu.)
All Those Fine Promises (Thu. & Sat.)
Grand Ecole (Thu.)
Work Hard, Play Hard (Fri.)
Monsieur N. (Fri.)
The Living World (Sat.)
Our Precious Children (Sat.)
Eager Bodies (Sat.)
Who Killed Bambi? (Sat.)
Tomorrow We Move (Sun.)
Intimate Strangers (Sun.)
Art on Film
Rivers and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy Working with Time (Sat. & Sun.)

The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
Super Size Me (Thu.)
The Clearing (starts Fri.)

Boston Jewish Film Festival Events
Chantal Akerman’s Tomorrow We Move in the Boston French Film Festival, this Sunday, July 25, at the Museum of Fine Arts (Sun.)

Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President