The Avalon Theater will screen director Tomáš Řehořek's film Signal on January 9, at 8 pm (TONIGHT ONLY), as part of the Lions of Czech Film Series.

REMINDER: The Avalon Theater will screen director Tomáš Řehořek's film Signal on January 9, at 8 pm (TONIGHT ONLY), as part of the Lions of Czech Film Series. Signal (Signál) 2012, 113 minutes, Czech with English subtitles SYNPOSIS Two young technicians, Filos and Kája, come to a small village in order to find the best place to install a new station for the reception of a cell phone signal. Their arrival understandably arouses a feeling of expectation among the locals, especially when they learn of the interesting financial reward for the owner of the land on which the transmitter will stand. A fight flares up in the village over this reward, and all weapons, those permitted and those not, are put into use. Of course, there is also the question of whether Filos and Kája will be able to live up to the expectations that have been placed on them. Maybe they aren't even who they claim to be...   Tomáš Řehořek (b. 1987, Kyjov, Czechoslovakia) graduated from the Zlín Film School. In 2009, he surprised Czech audiences with the drama Changes (Proměny), for which he also served as screenwriter, cameraman, and editor. A year later, he shot the raw docudrama One Way Ticket (Piko, 2010), which brought him a Discovery of the Year nomination at the Czech Film Critics Awards. The black comedy Czech Made Man (2011) demonstrated Řehořek’s stylistic variability, further confirmed by the acrid tragicomedy Signal (Signál). In his work, the director makes use of genre techniques, and displays an ambition to transform current social phenomena. ~ Karlovy Vary International Film Festival website About the Lions of Czech Film Series: This marks the seventh year of collaboration with the Avalon Theatre to present the Lions of Czech Film Series. This film series gives the Washington, DC, community an opportunity to view Czech films that are popular hits in Europe and have received numerous honors and awards at film festivals. Most of the films have received the prestigious Czech Lion Award, the Czech equivalent of an Academy Award. All of the films have limited distribution in the United States. The Lions of Czech Film Series offers an invaluable opportunity to see the best of Czech cinema in the nation’s capital.

Location: The Avalon Theater 5612 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20015   Tickets may be purchased at the box office or online at www.theavalon.org. For more information, call the box office at (202) 966-3464, or to hear general information about films playing at the Avalon, call (202) 966-6000. Upcoming Czech Films - 2013 Jan. 9: Signal (Signál) Feb. 13: Perfect Days (Ženy mají své dny) March 13: District League - Pepik Hnatek's Last Stand Sunday League (Okresní přebor – poslední zápas Pepika Hnátka)   April 10: Gypsy (Cigan)   May 8: Matchmaking Mayor (Nesvatbov)   June 12: Lidice (Lidice)

December 13th: Cine-Club: 'No habrá paz para los malvados'

http://www.spainculture.us/calendar/745/

• December 13th
• 06:30 pm

RSVP Here:  http://nohabrapaz.eventbrite.com/#

The multi-award-winning thriller No Rest for the Wicked closes the 2012 season of Spain arts & culture CINE-CLUB.

Engrossing action, a rock solid central performance by Urbizu regular Jose Coronado (Box 507) and energetic tech work all keep this police procedural on track.
—Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter

Inspector Santos Trinidad, a veteran policeman, drinks too much and works too little. Maybe to forget he was once a model officer at the Intelligence Unit now downgraded to Missing Persons. Events turn sour one night and Santos finds himself implicated in a triple homicide in an after-hours club. He cleans up the crime scene and starts the hunt for the one witness who managed to escape. Following his trail, Santos discovers a complicated and sordid network of prostitution and drug trafficking that serves to finance a far more sophisticated criminal plan. Although the official police investigation on the triple murder begins to tighten the net around him, Santos is finally back doing what he does best.
No Rest for the Wicked took home an impressive six Goya Awards in 2012, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor.

No habrá paz para los malvados (No Rest for the Wicked)

Spain, 2011, 104 minutes. Directed by Enrique Urbizu. With José Coronado, Rodolfo Sancho, Helena Miquel. Goya Awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor in a Main Role, Best Editing, Best Sound.

11/17: Film Screening, Gone with the Wind

 

 

Film Screening Gone with the Wind

When	Saturday, November 17, 2012, 1 – 5pm
Categories	After Five, Films
Location	American Art Museum
Event Location	McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
Cost	Free
Related Exhibition	The Civil War and American Art
Note	(Unrated, 1939; 222 minutes, color) Beautiful, spoiled Southern belle Scarlet O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) pines after a married man while the Civil War rages through the South. Gone with the Wind won ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actress (Vivien Leigh), and Best Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American to win an Oscar). There will be a twenty-minute intermission during the film.

Cineconcert: The Mark of Zorro with Hesperus at Smithsonian American Art October 28th

     This is a pretty cool event happening at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in October.  If you've never had the chance to see a silent film with live music accompaniment, it's really something to experience.  

     If you're not familiar with Hesperus, they are a local ensemble who were the ensemble in residence at the American History Museum for a decade back in the 80's and 90's and their music has appeared on Hollywood soundtracks like Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow.  Also, they take their name from an awesome poem by Longfellow. 

 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesperus_%28ensemble%29

Cineconcert: The Mark of Zorro with Hesperus

When	Sunday, October 28, 2012, 2 – 3:30pm
Categories	After Five, Films
Location	American Art Museum
Event Location	McEvoy Auditorium, Lower Level
Cost	Free tickets distributed in the G Street lobby thirty minutes before the start of the program (limit two per person).
Note	(Unrated, 1920; 90 minutes, black and white) Disguised as Señor Zorro (“Mr. Fox”), the son of a wealthy ranchero in the old Spanish California of the early nineteenth century takes a stand against the mistreatment of the common people by rich landowners and an oppressive government. The critically acclaimed musical group Hesperus will perform selections of music from Old and New Spain during the screening. Douglas Fairbanks plays the hero

Seven Psychopaths

     Here's another film I've been looking forward to for a while.  Seven Psychopaths reunites actor Colin Farrell with director Martin McDonagh who previously worked together in 2008's In Bruges, a terrific and underrated film.  McDonagh also produced The Guard last year, another fantastic film that went under the radar, written and directed by his brother, John Michael McDonagh.  Too bad they couldn't fit Brendan Gleeson in someplace. 

     This is another amazing cast, particularly for bringing together so many oddball actors, apparently the film's title is apt.  Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Sam Rockwell, Tom Waits, and Woody Harrelson lead the way.  It has all the makings of a fantastic crime film, reminiscent of the pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie films of 10 years ago.  Harrelson plays a crazy mobster who's dog is kidnapped and ransomed by Farrell and his crew of misfits. Harrelson stepped into the role when Mickey Rourke had to pull out of the movie.  Gabourey Sidibe takes a turn as the dog walker Harrelson feels responsible for the theft. 
    
     Throw in a couple a couple pretty faces with Abbie Cornish and former Bond Girl Olga Kurylenko and you have the makings of a film sure to be a hit among younger male viewers and those who act like younger male viewers like myself.  I'm guessing this is going to hit E Street here in Washington, DC, one of my favorite theaters in town, not sure it has the pull to end up in the major theaters hopefully.

Lincoln (Non-Vampire Hunter Version)

     Of all the Oscar buzz fall films, Lincoln is the one I am looking forward to most.  I was an American History major, I have a crush on Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Day-Lewis looks freakishly perfect as Lincoln himself.  Yes it's Spielberg so it's pretty much a lock to get award notice, add to that a classic figure in American history, and it would be hard for this film not to generate crazy Oscar hype.  What's really attractive to me about this film is the amazing supporting cast behind Daniel Day-Lewis who is sure to steal every scene he is in.  I'd easily rank this as the best cast of any film this year, with industry heavyweights, quirky indie darlings, obscure career character actors, and up and coming new stars.

Industry heavyweights: Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens, Sally Field as crazy Mary Todd Lincoln, Hal Holbrook as Francis Preston Blair.

Quirky indie darlings: Tim Blake Nelson as Richard Schell, James Spader as WN Bilbo, Jackie Earle Haley as Alexander Stephens, John Hawkes as Robert Latham, David Strathairn as William Seward,

Career character actors: S. Epatha Merkerson as Lydia Smith, Bruce McGill as Edward Stanton, Jared Harris as Ulysses S. Grant.

Up and coming new stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Todd Lincoln, Lee Pace as Fernando Wood, Joseph Cross as John Hay.

     I'm sure I'm leaving out some other actors but how do you look at that list and not say WOW, particularly after Spielberg's 2011 War Horse was noticeably short on recognizable actors.  Hopefully the films lives up to the hype.  Obviously the Kearns Goodwin book is about the best plce you could possibly start when making a historic bio-pic.  Tony Kushner wrote the screenplay, his first since the 2005 Munich, also by Spielberg, and a pretty good film (how can it not be with Daniel Craig in it).
     The film has all the makings of a powerhouse Oscar season winner, I'll guess we'll find out November 16th. 

Filmfest DC's Arabian Sights October 25th to November 4th

I'll be volunteering as a Theater Manager again this year for Arabian Sights, come down  and say hello and catch one of the great films this year, full catalog should be out shortly:

Arabian Sights Website

Arabian Sights 2012

The Arabian Sights Film Festival will take place October 25 through November 4.
The Seventeenth Annual Arabian Sights Film Festival returns with the newest and most innovative films from today's Arab world. Select directors will be present at their screenings to discuss their work. Special events will be held and an Audience Award for favorite film will be presented. All films will be screened with English subtitles. Please check back for updates on films, guests, events, and more.
This year, film screenings will take place at the National Geographic Society's Grosvenor Auditorium in conjunction with 1001 Inventions: Discover the Golden Age of Muslim Civilization, an award-winning exhibition dedicated to the history of science and technology in the Islamic civilization during the Golden Age.