Damsel at Real Art Ways

It’s the age of The Wild West, circa 1870. An affluent pioneer, Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson) ventures deep into the American wilderness to reunite with and marry the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska).

For his journey he brings Butterscotch, a miniature horse intended as a wedding present for his bride, and enlists drunkard Parson Henry (David Zellner) to conduct the ceremony.

As they traverse the lawless frontier their once simple journey grows treacherous, and the lines between hero, villain, and damsel are blurred.

A loving reinvention of the western genre from the Zellner brothers (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter), DAMSEL showcases their trademark unpredictability, off-kilter sense of humor, and unique brand of humanism.

In 1941 marksmen from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, following a Directive from The Ministry of Public Security, shot dead 23 animals at Belfast Zoo. They destroyed one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, one Barbary lion, two polar bears, one lynx and a giant rat named Hugo.

During these turbulent times, a woman secretly walked a young elephant from the zoo each evening to the backyard of her terraced home. There, she cared for and comforted it as the Luftwaffe bombs rained down over Belfast.

This is a true story… Seen through the eyes of 10 year old Tom (Art Parkinson), aided and abetted by his misfit friends, this moving adventure unfolds as Tom takes on the fight to save Buster the elephant.

Starring Art Parkinson, Penelope Wilton and Toby Jones.

HELD OVER!
Tim Wardle’s acclaimed documentary is an amazing, incredible, remarkable true story.

In 1980, through a series of coincidences, two complete strangers—19-year-olds Robert Shafran and Edward Galland — made the astonishing discovery that they were identical twins. They had been separated at birth, adopted and raised by different families.

Even more incredibly, when their story ran in the New York Post, another 19 year-old, David Kellman, realized he was their triplet, adopted by yet another family. After a joyful reunion, they became instant media sensation sensations, interviewed by Tom Brokaw and Phil Donahue, clubbing at Studio 54, even appearing in a movie with Madonna.

But the brothers’ discovery set in motion a chain of events that, decades later, unearthed an extraordinary and disturbing secret.

Winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award, Three Identical Strangers is an exuberant celebration of family that transforms into a thriller with colossal implications and proof that life is truly is stranger than fiction.

Forty years after the death of Elvis Presley, two-time Sundance Grand Jury winner Eugene Jarecki’s new film takes the King’s 1963 Rolls-Royce on a musical road trip across America.

From Memphis to New York, Las Vegas, and beyond, the journey traces the rise and fall of Elvis as a metaphor for the country he left behind.

Jarecki paints a visionary portrait of the state of the American Dream and a penetrating look at how the hell we got here.

A diverse cast of Americans, both famous and non, join the journey, including Alec Baldwin, Rosanne Cash, Chuck D, Emmylou Harris, Ethan Hawke, Van Jones, Mike Myers, and Dan Rather, among many others.

*Tune in to Culture Dogs on WWUH – 91.3FM radio on Sunday, August 5 at 8 PM for an interview with director Eugene Jarecki.

Thomas, a talented German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man who has frequent business visits in Berlin.

When Oren dies in a car crash in Israel, Thomas travels to Jerusalem seeking answers regarding his death.

Thomas finds Anat, Oren’s widow and insinuates himself into her life – and her restaurant.

The encounter with the unfamiliar reality will make Thomas become involved in Anat’s life in a way far beyond his anticipation. To protect the truth he will stretch his lie to a point of no return.

 A Movie in the Afternoon. Every Day.

Reverend Ernst Toller (Ethan Hawke) is a solitary, middle-aged parish pastor at a small Dutch Reform church in upstate New York on the cusp of celebrating its 250th anniversary.

Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, the church is now a tourist attraction catering to a dwindling congregation, eclipsed by its nearby parent church, Abundant Life, with its state-of-the-art facilities and 5,000-strong flock.

When a pregnant parishioner (Amanda Seyfried) asks Reverend Toller to counsel her husband, a radical environmentalist, the clergyman finds himself plunged into his own tormented past, and equally despairing future, until he finds redemption in an act of grandiose violence.

From writer-director Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver; American Gigolo; Affliction) comes a gripping thriller about a crisis of faith that is at once personal, political, and planetary.

A Movie in the Afternoon. Every Day.

ADRIFT is based on the inspiring true story of two sailors who set out to journey across the ocean from Tahiti to San Diego.

Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp couldn’t anticipate they would be sailing directly into one of the most catastrophic hurricanes in recorded history.

In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat in ruins. With no hope for rescue, Tami must find the strength and determination to save herself and the only man she has ever loved.

ADRIFT is the unforgettable story about the resilience of the human spirit and the transcendent power of love.

Starring Shailene Woodley (Fault in Our Stars, Divergent films) and Sam Claflin (Me Before You, The Hunger Games films),

From director Jim McKay (GIRLS TOWN, OUR SONG, EVERYDAY PEOPLE), the film follows a group of undocumented immigrants living in Sunset Park, Brooklyn over the course of seven days.

Bicycle delivery guys, construction workers, dishwashers, deli workers, and cotton candy vendors, they work long hours six days a week and then savor their day of rest on Sundays on the soccer fields of Sunset Park.

José, a bicycle delivery worker, is the team’s captain–young, talented, hardworking and responsible. When José’s team makes it to the finals, he and his teammates are thrilled. But his boss throws a wrench into the celebration when he tells José he has to work on Sunday, the day of the finals.

José tries to reason with his boss or replace himself, but his efforts fail. If he doesn’t work on Sunday, his job and his future will be on the line. But if he doesn’t stand up for himself and his teammates, his dignity will be crushed.

Shot in the neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Park Slope, and Gowanus, EN EL SÉPTIMO DÍA is a humane, sensitive and humorous window into a world rarely seen. The film’s impact is made quietly, with restraint and respect for the individual experiences, everyday challenges and small triumphs of its characters.

A Movie in the Afternoon. Every Day.

FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord (Army Hammer) and artist Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush), as seen through Lord’s eyes and revealing unique insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and sometimes the chaos of the artistic process.

Set in 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, Lord is asked by his friend, Giacometti, to sit for a portrait. The process, promises Giacometti, will take only a few days and so Lord agrees -ultimately wondering “how much longer can it go on like this?”

There is an exhibition of Giacometti’s work at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC. More at this link.

Here is a New York Times review of the Giacometti exhibition at the Guggenheim.

THE MOST UNKNOWN’s unique and intelligent structure brings together nine scientists in nine different disciplines to explain, in simple terms, what they do and what questions they seek answers to. The results are fascinating.

Dark matter, the deep sea and extraterrestrial life are just some of the phenomena we find most difficult to observe and understand. This film takes us to a place where scientists who speak from vastly different disciplines can actually speak a common language and important questions transcend a single laboratory.

THE MOST UNKNOWN is an epic documentary film told with humor and the thrill of discovery that pushes the boundaries of how science storytelling is approached. What emerges is a deeply human trip to the foundations of discovery and a powerful reminder that the unanswered questions are the most crucial ones to pose: How did life begin? What is time? What is consciousness? How much do we really know?

Directed by Emmy Award-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentarian Ian Cheney (“The Search for General Tso,” “The City Dark”) and advised by renowned filmmaker Werner Herzog (“Grizzly Man,” “Encounters at the End of the World”). Created in partnership with Science Sandbox, an initiative of the Simons Foundation.

In Carla Simón’s touching autobiographical film, six-year-old Frida looks on in silence as the last objects from her recently deceased mother’s apartment in Barcelona are placed in boxes.

Although her aunt, uncle, and younger cousin Anna welcome her with open arms, it’s only very slowly that Frida begins to get used to her new home in the countryside.

Punctuated by moments of youthful exuberance and mature ruminations, this coming of age drama, set amongst summery hues, is an extraordinarily moving snapshot of being a child in an adult world, anchored by flawless performances by its two young stars.

54-year-old Teresa has worked for decades as a live-in maid with a family in Buenos Aires.

When the family sells the house, she is forced to take a job in the distant town of San Juan. Although feeling uncomfortable with traveling, she embarks on a journey through the desert.

During her first stop, in the land of the miraculous “Saint Correa”, she loses her bag with all her belongings. This unexpected incident leads her to cross paths with El Gringo, a traveling salesman and the only person who can help Teresa find her bag.

What seemed like the end of her world will ultimately prove her salvation.

A Movie in the Afternoon. Every Day.

A new comedy from Academy Award-nominated director Jason Reitman [Up in the Air] and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody [Juno].

Marlo [Charlize Theron], a mother of three including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother [Mark Duplass].

Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a unique bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging young nanny named Tully [Mackenzie Davis].

Based on the award-winning, international best-selling novel by Tim Winton, Simon Baker’s directorial debut BREATH follows two teenage boys, Pikelet and Loonie (newcomers Samson Coulter and Ben Spence in breakthrough performances), growing up in a remote corner of the Western Australian coast.

Hungry for discovery, the pair form an unlikely friendship with Sando (Simon Baker), a mysterious older surfer and adventurer who pushes the boys to take risks that will have a lasting and profound impact on their lives.

Also starring Elizabeth Debicki and Richard Roxburgh, BREATH is an authentic coming-of-age drama set in an idyllic 1970s coastal Australia.

André Leon Tally has been a fixture in the world of fashion for so long that it’s difficult to imagine a time when he wasn’t defining the boundaries of great style. Kate Novack’s intimate portrait, The Gospel According to André takes viewers on an emotional journey from André’s roots growing up in the segregated Jim Crow South to become one of the most influential tastemakers and fashion curators of our times.

Novack’s film draws fascinating, heretofore unexplored connections, between the elegance of André’s beloved grandmother and the Black Church of his youth and his later iconic, barrier-breaking work at publications like Women’s Wear Daily, W and Vogue. Weaving together a wealth of archival footage from the most glamorous moments in fashion history with André’s poignant reflections on his life and career, The Gospel According to André is a cinematic monument to one of the most unique figures of 20th Century American culture.

Produced by the team who brought viewers The First Monday in May and Page One: Inside The New York Times and featuring commentary from fashion luminaries including Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford, The Gospel According to André is an indispensable addition to the growing canon of fashion documentary.

In northern India’s sparsely populated and mountainous Ladakh region, an impoverished young boy is discovered to be the reincarnation of an esteemed, high-ranking Tibetan monk. Born displaced from his original monastery in Tibet, the boy is denied his rightful place.

Amid growing doubts and mounting expectations in the community, the boy and his elderly godfather embark on a gruelling, improbable trek across India to return the young monk-to-be to his rightful monastery before it becomes too late.  

Filmed over eight years, we witness an incredibly intimate bond of friendship between a future religious leader and his godfather, whose devotion and selflessness in care for the boy is truly touching. The film has a stirring and awe-inspiring air of serenity that befits its subject. Striking drone shots use the powerful magnitude of the natural landscape, particularly in the final moments in the snowy mountains.

The film is an evocative exploration of culture, tradition and identity, Becoming Who I Was artfully captures the universal truths of unconditional love, family bonds and sacrifice.

A fictionalized story of an attractive working-class single mother in the North of France who naively agrees to run for mayor, representing the right-wing Patriotic Bloc.

Lucas Belvaux, who previously directed RAPT, a thriller about a French politician’s kidnapping, deals with another type of kidnapping here: With the help of a charming André Dussollier as the town’s esteemed physician, the Populists’ rhetoric seizes control of the minds of the electorate.

With Catherine Jacob as the blonde-bobbed leader who never met an angry crowd she couldn’t make angrier.