Blue Sky Icon TikTok Icon

Author Archive | Alex Kamody

Blackfish

Watch Trailer Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Writer(s): Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Eli B. Despres
Cast: Samantha Berg, Dave Duffus, Dean Gomersall
Awards: Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival

While in captivity, Tilikum, a performing killer whale, has been responsible for the deaths of three people, including a top orca trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of capturing and confining such intelligent and sentient creatures.

“Through the rueful voices of former trainers and whale experts, a narrative driven by disillusion and regret unfolds as the trainers point to a gap between SeaWorld’s public image and behind-the-scenes reality.”-Jeanette Catsoulis, New York Times

“After watching “Blackfish,” you come away with a sense of orcas’ singular intelligence, to be sure, even their astonishing playfulness, but most of all their glorious power, and the majesty of their existence in their natural habitat.”-Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 83 Minutes83 MIN
PG-13 Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

Watch Trailer Director: Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori
Cast: Jon Auer, Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Jody Stephens, Andy Hummel

Coming to the Athena on Friday, September 6th.

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me is a feature-length documentary film about the dismal commercial failure, subsequent massive critical acclaim, and enduring legacy of pop music’s greatest cult phenomenon, Big Star.

“The story that writer-director Drew DeNicola and producer-director Olivia Mori reconstruct has the power to move even those who prefer Mozart or Lil Wayne.”-Mark Jenkins, NPR

“A well-sourced account of a perfect, broken dream, Drew DeNicola and Olivia Mori’s slightly shaggy documentary captures what it’s like to discover music so good it seems as if it were made just for you.”-Nicolas Rapold, New York Times

 

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 113 Minutes113 MIN
PG-13 Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Hell Baby

Watch Trailer Director: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Writer(s): Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Cast: Leslie Bibb, Rob Corddry, Thomas Lennon

HELL BABY, a comedy scripted by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Night at The Museum, Reno 911!: Miami) marks their co-directing debut. Jack (Rob Corddry) and Vanessa (Leslie Bibb) are an expectant couple that moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans — a house with a deadly demonic curse. Things soon spiral out of control for Jack and Vanessa, as well as their-not-so-helpful neighbor F’Resnel (Keegan-Michael Key), Vanessa’s friendly psychiatrist (Michael Ian Black), Vanessa’s Wiccan sister Marjorie (Riki Lindhome) and the detectives assigned to look into the rising body count (Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer). Only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team (Garant and Lennon) san save them — or can they?

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 98 Minutes98 MIN
R Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Visiting Artist Lecture and Video Screening: Jerstin Crosby of Acid Rain Production

Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 7 PM
The producer of Acid Rain Production, Jerstin Crosby presents a lecture on an ongoing public art project that uses cable access stations to bring experimental film and video works to the public.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Sustainability Series: NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE

Watch Trailer Director: Kum-Kum Bhavnani
Writer(s): Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Cristina Malavenda
Cast: Michael Pollan, Susan Sarandon, Mott Green, Bama Athreya, Edmond Brown

Playing one night only as part of the Common Experience Project on Sustainability Series:
Wednesday, September 18th at 7:00
Panel and audience discussion to follow screening

NOTHING LIKE CHOCOLATE explores the possibilities of sustainable economies and resilience, telling the powerful story of Mott Green and the Grenada Chocolate Company he founded, a farmers’ and workers’ cooperative. This tree-to-bar factory, claimed to be the smallest in the world, turns out luscious creations that are organic and ethical.

In a world saturated with industrial chocolate–often made with cocoa harvested by exploited child labor–this solar-powered workers’ co-op provides a viable model for creating sustainable communities in the global South and beyond.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 63 Minutes63 MIN
Not Rated
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Sustainability Series: WE ARE NOT GHOSTS

Watch Trailer Director: Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young

Playing one night only as part of the Common Experience Project on Sustainability Series:
Wednesday, October 2nd at 7:00
Panel and audience discussion to follow screening

Fifty years ago Detroit was booming with two million people living the American Dream. Then the auto industry crashed and so did the Motor City. Most moved away; whole neighborhoods turned into wastelands. The film explores the community resilience movement in Detroit. WE ARE NOT GHOSTS tells the stories: from community businesses, to place-based schools, to thriving urban gardens and spoken word artists.

The film presents a compelling vision for the transformation of contemporary American Society: building new forms of community and cooperation from below in ways that demonstrate that ‘another world is possible.

“In an era which persists in treating cities as disposable, We Are Not Ghosts forcefully reminds us that people are not. Without glossing over the problems facing the people of Detroit, the film paints a collective portrait of surprisingly resilient urban communities, engaged in the inspiring work of inventing a life together in the wake of deindustrialization.”

Dr. Gar Alperovitz, Professor of Political Economy, Co-founder of The Democracy Collaborative, University of Maryland, Author, America Beyond Capitalism

“This film is a testament to the human spirit. It’s a narrative of perseverance, creativity and innovation as Detroiters build sustainable and healthy communities in the face of long-term deindustrialization and the acute shock of the foreclosure crisis. We Are Not Ghosts has important lessons for scholars, policy makers and practitioners interested in rebuilding our distressed urban landscape.”

Dr. Derek Hyra, Associate Professor of Urban Affairs, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Author, The New Urban Renewal: The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville

“A compelling documentation of an unparalleled time in American history. Through stories of struggle and strength, loss and love, We Are Not Ghosts captures the possibilities and transformative power of grassroots, community organizing efforts.”

Rebekah Farrugia, Assistant Professor of Communication, Oakland University

We Are Not Ghosts presents a compelling vision for the transformation of contemporary American Society: building new forms of community and cooperation from below in ways that demonstrate that ‘another world is possible.'”

Erik Olin Wright, Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, President, American Sociological Association, Author, Envisioning Real Utopias

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 52 Minutes52 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Sustainability Series: BIDDER 70

Watch Trailer Director: Beth Gage, George Gage
Writer(s): Beth Gage

Playing one night only as part of the Common Experience Project on Sustainability Series:
Wednesday, October 16th at 7:00
Panel and audience discussion to follow screening

In 2008, as George W. Bush tried to gift the energy and mining industries thousands of acres of pristine Utah wilderness via a widely disputed federal auction, college student Tim DeChristopher decided to monkey-wrench the process. Bidding $1.7 million, he won 22,000 acres with no intention to drill. For this astonishing (and successful) act of civil disobedience he was sent to federal prison. Beth and George Gage’s new documentary BIDDER 70 tells the story of this peaceful warrior whose patriotism and willingness to sacrifice have ignited the climate justice movement. This is a powerful film that will inspire students to question their commitment to the world and to fight against global injustices.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 73 Minutes73 MIN
This Film is Wheelchair Accessible

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

The Hunt

Watch Trailer Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer(s): Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg
Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp
Awards: Winner of three awards at Cannes Film Festival, including Best Actor
Language: Danish

Mads Mikkelsen (NBC’s Hannibal, A ROYAL AFFAIR, CASINO ROYALE) won the Best Actor Award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival for his penetrating portrayal of Lucas, a former school teacher who has been forced to start over having overcome a tough divorce and the loss of his job. Just as things are starting to go his way, his life is shattered when an untruthful remark throws his small community into a collective state of hysteria. As the lie spreads, Lucas is forced to fight a lonely fight for his life and dignity.

“For his deeply affecting role that haunts the viewer long after the film ends, Mr. Mikkelsen won the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.”-Rex Reed, New York Observer

“The Hunt” is a merciless examination of the fear and savagery roiling just below the surface of bourgeois life.”-Stephen Holden, New York Times

“[A] quietly devastating drama about a soft-spoken, bespectacled and devoted kindergarten teacher whose life is upended by a false accusation from one of his students.”-Lou Lumenick, New York Post

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 115115 MIN
R Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

The Bling Ring

Watch Trailer Director: Sofia Coppola
Writer(s): Sofia Coppola, based on the article by Nancy Jo Sales
Cast: Emma Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Leslie Mann, Katie Chang

From Oscar award winning writer and director Sofia Coppola, THE BLING RING tells the story of a group of teenagers obsessed with fashion and celebrity that burglarize celebrities’ homes in Los Angeles. Tracking their targets’ whereabouts online, they break-in and steal their designer clothes and possessions. Reflecting on the naiveté of youth and the mistakes we all make when young, amplified by today’s culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession, we see through the members of the Bling Ring temptations that almost any teenager would feel. What starts out as teenage fun spins out of control and leaves us with a sobering view of our culture today. THE BLING RING stars Emma Watson alongside incredible new talent Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien, and Taissa Farmiga. The film also features Leslie Mann, Gavin Rossdale, and real-life Bling Ring victim, Paris Hilton. It is based on the Vanity Fair article “The Suspects Wore Louboutins” by Nancy Jo Sales.

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 90 Minutes90 MIN
R Rated

Read full story · Comments { 0 }

Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus

Watch Trailer Director: Sebastian Silva
Cast: Michael Cera and Gaby Hoffman
Awards: Winner of Sundance Directing Award

In this freewheeling comedy from the director of The Maid, Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) stars as Jamie, a shaggy, boorish young American traveling through Chile. While searching for a rare hallucinogen-the famed San Pedro cactus-with a trio of Chilean brothers, Jamie invites a mysterious hippie (Gaby Hoffmann) along for the ride, but her free-spirited personality quickly clashes with his self-absorption. When they head for the beach, Jamie’s big trip starts taking surprising turns.

“Shot on the fly, while Silva, Cera & Co. were waiting to make another movie, Crystal Fairy ends up on a beach, and ends up resonating with a pesky charm.”- Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

“Silva based the story on a personal experience from his early 20s, which he realizes with vivid detail and wry, humane observation; the humor is sweet and lingers in the memory.”-Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

Share this Film

Click on Showtimes to Get Tickets Online
Running Time: 98 Minutes98 MIN

Read full story · Comments { 0 }