City Guide
August Films
Everyone's a Critic: arborweb's culture blog
Ann Arbor District Library. FREE. 327-4555. AADL multipurpose room, 343 S. Fifth Ave., 7-8:30 p.m.
Aug. 29: “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (Banksy, 2010). Dubbed a “prankumentary” by the New York Times,this multi-award-winning documentary started out telling a story about the notorious graffiti artist Banksy, until Banksy turned the camera on the original filmmaker Thierry Guetta and filmed him becoming a street artist by the name of Mr. Brainwash who instantly becomes a darling of the Los Angeles art scene.
Ann Arbor Docu Fest. Screening of a different documentary film every Mon. FREE. 929-9979. Café Ambrosia, 326 Maynard, 7 p.m.
Aug. 1: “The War You Don’t See” (Alan Lowery & John Pilger, 2010). Documentary challenging the role of the media in the Iraq, Afghanistan, and Israel/Palestine conflicts.
Aug. 8: “Lifting the Veil: Obama and the Failure of Capitalist Democracy” (Scott Noble, 2011). Documentary exploring the capitalist context of the historic role of the Democratic party as the “graveyard of social movements.”
Aug. 15: “The Take” (Avi Lewis, 2004). Documentary about Buenos Aires autoworkers who take control of a closed auto plant where they once worked and turn it into a worker cooperative.
Aug. 22: “911 Mysteries” (2006). Anonymously directed documentary debunking the official version of what brought down the twin towers on 9/11.
Aug. 29: “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” (Gini Reticker, 2008). Documentary about the 2003 nonviolent protest by thousands of Liberian women that brought down warlord president Charles Taylor.
Dreamland Theater. FREE. 657-2337. 16 N. Washington, Ypsilanti. 5:30 p.m.
Aug. 7 & 14: “Century of the Self” (Adam Curtis, 2002). First 2 (Aug. 7) and last 2 (Aug. 14) episodes of this award-winning 4-part BBC documentary focusing on how the family of Sigmund Freud, particularly his daughter and nephew, influenced the way 20th-century corporations and governments thought about and dealt with people.
Aug. 13: Puppet (David Stoll, 2010). Documentary about the history of American puppetry, from its marginalization as children’s entertainment to its resurgence as a serious art form, with a focus on Dan Hurlin’s Disfarmer, a complex 2009 puppet work about a Depression-era portrait photographer who changed his name to Disfarmer to show his distaste for and shun the rural farming community in which he was raised.
Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth. $5 suggested donation. 327-0270. 704 Airport Blvd., 8 p.m.
Aug. 20: “Spiritual Cinema.” Screening of a feature film or several shorts TBA with spiritual themes. Followed by discussion.
Jewel Heart Buddhist Center. FREE. 994-3387. Jewel Heart (1129 Oak Valley Dr. between Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. & Ellsworth), 7 p.m.
Aug. 19: “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” (Eilona Ariel & Ayelet Menahemi, 1997). Award-winning documentary about the effects of the introduction of Vipassana meditation into India’s largest prison. Followed by discussion.
Michigan Theater Foundation. Unless there is a live show in the main theater, 2 or 3 different films are shown, usually twice, almost every night. For complete, updated schedules, see michtheater.org or call 668-TIME. Tickets (unless otherwise noted): $9 (children under 12, students with ID, seniors age 55 & older, & U.S. veterans, $7; MTF members, $6.50; Wed., $6). Michigan Theater, times TBA unless otherwise noted.
July 29-Aug. 2: “Meek’s Cutoff” (Kelly Reichardt, 2010). Drama set in 1845 about pioneers who get stranded in harsh conditions in the Oregon desert. Michelle Williams.
July 29-Aug. 2: “The First Grader” (Justin Chadwick). Biopic about an 84-year-old Kenyan villager and former Mau Mau freedom fighter who faces fierce resistance when he tries to get an education.
July 31 & Aug. 2: “Alien” (Ridley Scott, 1979). First in the trilogy of sci-fi thrillers in which Sigourney Weaver battles an extraterrestrial killer. 1:30 p.m. (July 31) & 7 p.m. (Aug. 2).
Aug. 1: “Beijing Taxi” (Miao Wang, 2010). Documentary about 3 taxi drivers coping with a rapidly changing city as they navigate Beijing. 7 p.m.
Aug. 5-11: “Terri” (Azazel Jacobs, 2011). Comedy about an oversized 15-year-old boy struggling with his life in a small town. Jacob Wysocki, John C. Reilly.
Aug. 5-11: “Snow Flower & the Secret Fan” (Wayne Wang, 2011). Story set in 19th-century China about the lifelong friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid cultural norms imposed on women.
Aug. 7 & 9: “Battleship Potemkin” (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925). Recently restored 35mm print of this landmark silent film about the 1905 Russian Revolution that in 1958 was voted by film historians as the best film ever made. Live accompaniment on the Barton Theater organ by Michigan Theater organist Steven Ball. 1:30 (Aug. 7) & 7 p.m. (Aug. 9).
Aug. 8: “Elephant in the Living Room” (Michael Webber, 2010). Documentary about the raising of exotic pets in homes in the United States and the controversy surrounding the practice. 7 p.m.
Aug. 12-18: “Tabloid” (Errol Morris, 2010). Documentary about a former Miss Wyoming charged with abducting and imprisoning a young Mormon Missionary.
Aug. 14 & 16: “The Sound of Music” (Robert Wise, 1965). Rousing sing-along screening of the classic musical about the Von Trapp family’s singing nanny. With an on-stage costume parade, onscreen lyrics, goodie bags, & more. 1:30 (Aug. 14) & 7 p.m. (Aug. 16).
Aug. 15: “The Last Waltz” (Martin Scorsese, 1978). Celebrated documentary of the farewell concert by the Band, featuring performances by Dylan, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Dr. John, Ronnie Hawkins, and others. 7 p.m.
Aug. 19-25: “Project Nim” (james March, 2011). Documentary about a chimpanzee raised like a human child by a family in an upper West Side brownstone in the 1970s.
Aug. 20: 2011 Young Filmmakers Camp. Screening of film projects by local middle school (1 p.m.) and high school (2 p.m.) students. FREE.
Aug. 21 & 23: “The African Queen” (John Huston, 1951). Classic adventure-romance starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as a pair of travelers trying to escape the Nazis on a boat down the Congo. 1:30 (Aug. 21) & 7 p.m. (Aug. 23).
Aug. 22: “Sweetgrass” (Lucien Castaing-Taylor. 2009). Documentary about contemporary cowboys who lead their flocks of sheep into the Montana mountains for summer pasture. 7 p.m.
Aug. 26-31: “The Whistleblower” (Larysa Kondracki, 2010). Drama based on the experiences a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in postwar Bosnia and outed the UN for covering up a sex scandal.
Aug. 28 & 30: “National Velvet” (Clarence Brown, 1944). Elizabeth Taylor plays a young girl who saves and grooms a horse for England’s Grand National Sweepstakes, aided by a jaded former jockey (Mickey Rooney) hired by her father. 1:30 (Aug. 28) & 7 p.m. (Aug. 30).
Aug. 29: “A Film Unfinished” (Yael Hersonski, 2010). Award-winning documentary re-examining an unfinished Nazi propaganda film about life in the Warsaw ghetto 2 months before its liquidation. 7 p.m.
U-M Center for Japanese Studies/Japan Foundation. This year’s summer film series is highlighted by films directed by Takeshi Kitano. Japanese, subtitles. FREE. 764-6307. Angell Hall Auditorium A (enter through the doors facing the Diag), 7 p.m.
Aug. 5: “Fireworks” (Takeshi Kitano, 1997). Intense action film that stars Kitano as a good cop with a violent streak who leaves the police force and takes his terminally ill wife to the mountains.
Aug. 12: “A Scene at the Sea” (Takeshi Kitano, 1991). Drama about a deaf garbage collector who dreams of learning how to surf.
Aug. 19: “Yasha (Demon)” (Yasuo Furuhata, 1985). Drama about a respected family man whose gangster past catches up with him.
U-M Japanese Animation Film Society. U-M campus admission policy: No one under 18 admitted without an adult. FREE. umichanime.com. Michigan Union Pond Room, 4 p.m.-midnight.
Aug. 20: “Animania.” Monthly anime-a-thon of feature films and episodes from Japanese TV series.
WCBN-FM. FREE admission. 763-3500. Arbor Brewing Company (114 E. Washington), 8:30 p.m.
Aug. 10: “Payday” (Daryl Duke, 1973). Rip Torn stars as a ruthless, mean-spirited honky-tonk singer.
