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2008 SUMMER FESTIVAL BEGINS
FRIDAY JUNE 20 |
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On the Chautauqua Institution grounds at the corner of Hurst & Wythe
It's easy and fun to go to the movies at Chautauqua. Here's how
This final installment of our 2007 program is left here to give newcomers to this page a sense
of our unique programming mix. We invite you to explore further in our ARCHIVE.
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A "Meet the Filmmaker" Special Event. Directed by Michael Apted, this compelling bio-pic starring Ioan Gruffud and Albert Finney is an overdue tribute to William Wilberforce (1759-1833), the British abolitionist who, for 20 years, tirelessly lobbied Parliament to end England’s participation in the slave trade. Ken Wales, producer of the film, will relate to you his years-long quest to get this important movie made. "A detailed, affecting biography of one of the great souls who moved humanity forward." - Mick LaSalle, SF Chronicle. (PG, 111 min.) (Q & A with Mr. Wales after each showing. Regular EVENING prices apply all day.) official site |
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Brought Back by Request. Writer, director and co-star the late Adrienne Shelly has left as her legacy a tart, smart, and sassy romantic comedy about a pregnant small town waitress (Keri Russell) emotionally caught between a selfish husband and her caring doctor. "Finds a perfect, difficult-to-achieve balance of enchantment and plausibility." - A.O. Scott, NY Times. (PG-13, 104 min) official site |
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In the new French farce from Francis Veber (The Closet) a car service valet (Gad Elmaleh) at a posh Paris hotel gets caught-up in a billionaire industrialist’s sneaky infidelities to hilarious result. Co-starring Daniel Auteuil and Kristin Scott Thomas, Veber’s confection "hurtles toward its foregone denouement with such a whirligig gust of madcap spirits, you might need to readjust your hair as you head out of the theater. - Jan Stuart, Newsday. "Deft, daft, ... yet somehow totally engaging." - Richard Schickel, TIME. (PG-13, 125 min., in French with English subtitles) official site |
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Michael Moore's entertaing new exposé of the American health insurance establishment has immediate relevancy for every one of us. "We Americans inevitably feel we know the best way to do everything, but the great accomplishment of 'Sicko' is that it is difficult to watch this slyly confrontational film and remain sure." - Kenneth Turan, L.A. Times. (PG-13, 115 min.) (Dr. Rudy Mueller, author of "As Sick as it Gets," will lead a short discussion following the Sunday 3:30 & 6:45 showings) official site |
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A deeply emotional film that illuminates the timeless love that binds mothers and daughters, Evening sports a stellar cast (Claire Danes, Toni Collette, Patrick Wilson, Vanessa Redgrave, Natasha Richardson, Meryl Streep, and Glenn Close) and has been adapted for the screen by Susan Minot, author of the beloved novel. Lajos Koltai directed. "Unabashedly sentimental but still effective." - Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune. (PG-13, 117 min.) official site |
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Brought Back by Request. Oscar Winner - Best Foreign Film. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's engrossing and intelligent film traces the gradual disillusionment of a communist East German Stasi agent (Ulrich Muhe) as he spies on a celebrated writer and actress couple (Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck). "(The agent's) evolution from lowly bureaucratic beetle to humanist is staggering." - Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer (R some sexuality, 137 min., in German with Eng. subtitles) official site |
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Multiple Award Winner. Magical realism meets historical authenticity in Emanuele Crialese's tale of an Italian widower (Vincenzo Amato) who falls in love with a mysterious Englishwoman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) aboard a ship bound for Ellis Island. "Crialese delights in breaking up the realism with his protagonist’s mystical -- almost madcap -- visions of the New World’s abbondanza." - David Edelstein, New York Magazine. "An often lyrical and moving film." - Michael Wilmington, Chicago tribune. (PG-13, 118 min., subtitles when needed) official site |
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Classic Film Series. George Stevens' 1951 film of Theodore Dreiser's An American Tregedy stars Montgomery Clift as the poor relation of a wealthy manufacturer who falls for debutant Elizabeth Taylor. Film historian David Zinman will introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion. One showing only! (NR, 122 min). |
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Featuring new and original material based on John Waters’ 1988 cult classic about star-struck teenagers on a local Baltimore dance show, Adam Shankman's new film of the Tony award-winning Broadway show stars John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer. "An explosion of industrial-strength good cheer, delivered by very smart show-biz pros with wit, passion, and a soupçon of dementia. Resistance is futile!" - Ty Burr, Boston Globe. "Enjoyable movies are released every week, but movies that have the capacity to delight -- movies like Hairspray -- are few and far between. - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle. (PG, 107 min.) official site |
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Christopher Quinn’s engrossing and beautifully heartfelt documentary, narrated by Nicole Kidman, follows three of the famous "Lost Boys of Sudan" - now hardworking and eloquent young men - as they accept a rare opportunity to leave Kenya’s Kakuna refugee camp and resettle in America. It is "a film to make you proud of what America offers to the rest of the world and worried that it can’t keep its promises." - Ty Burr, Boston Globe. "The film brings into clear light the indefatigability of the human spirit." - Claudia Puig, USA Today. (PG, 89 min) official site |
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Featuring wonderful performances from Ben Kingsley and Tea Leoni, John Dahl's new film is a charming noir, a darkly funny take on the familiar inner-lives-of-hit-men premise. "For an hour and a half it exerts its own preposterous reality, making you believe it -- and like it!" - Richard Schickel, TIME. "A completely amoral world delivered with wit and incisiveness, and great twists." - Stephen Hunter, Washington Post. (R lang., some violence, 92 min) official site |
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"The Simpsons Movie’s ultimate message is about family, and its most basic promise -- to make us laugh -- is one it delivers on more reliably than any of the other big movies this summer." - Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger. "Even casual Simpsons fans will find plenty to chortle over, right through the closing credits." - Arizona Republic. David Silverman's film is "Full of the anarchic, generous, good-natured humor that is the show’s enduring signature." - A.O.Scott, NY Times. (PG-13, 87 min.) official site |
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 Uniplex Cinemas |
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Looking Ahead |
 The Cinema Then & Now |