Progressive Recovery Group Victoria BC

Posts Tagged ‘Movie Monday’

Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue, north of Fort St, in the “one hour” zone, is not ticketed for our events.
‘Map’ link and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca    info also on the MM hotline 250-595-FLIC
for weekly notices check out the Movie Monday Facebook Page
Please pass our info to friends. Movies are most fun shared!

   6:30 Monday Jan 21  BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD
(keeping with this Northern theme) Iceland figures in this amazing tale. I don’t even play chess and I was riveted. In ‘72 the Fischer/Spassky game was broadcast live, a Cold War Battle Royal, bumping “other sports” on the Wide World of Sports and in newscasts pushing aside breaking Watergate news. Here’s that exciting match, Bobby’s background and the strange story of his life after the match.  93min 2011 Pg
http://bobbyfischermovie.co.uk/

 6:30 Monday Jan 28 PEOPLE OF A FEATHER  
“People of a Feather is a breathtaking journey into the remote world of the Belcher Islands Inuit people. Uniting this community’s past and present is their cultural connection with the eider duck, a species now suffering massive die-offs. Eider down, the warmest feather in the world, is essential for surviving harsh Arctic winters. But both the Inuit and the eiders are struggling to adapt to changing sea dynamics as seasons and ocean currents are reversed by run-off from hydroelectric dams that power North America’s entire eastern seaboard. Filmed over seven winters, Arctic ecologist and cinematographer Joel Heath’s debut feature employs stunning time-lapse photography and underwater footage to create an authentic and insightful portrayal of a community challenged by a changing environment. This stunning piece of visual poetry weaves past with present to powerfully acknowledge humankind’s relationship with nature and the fragility of our existence.” 90min 2011 G www.peopleofafeather.com/
(hopefully) with first-time director, full time scientist Joel Heath by phone. He’s based at UBC but travelling through the north so we hope to link up with him
http://www.arcticamag.ca/a-documentary-for-more-than-the-birds-an-interview-with-joel-heath/
http://www.signalblog.ca/?p=12268

  7pm WEDNESDAY Jan 30 THE SINGING REVOLUTION  
                            another Music Movie Wednesday! a collaboration with Friends Of Music     www.friendsofmusic.ca/
The Singing Revolution shares how, between 1987 and 1991, hundreds of thousands of Estonians gathered publicly to sing forbidden patriotic songs and share protest speeches, risking their lives to proclaim their desire for independence. While violence and bloodshed was the unfortunate end result in other occupied nations of the USSR, the revolutionary songs of the Estonians anchored their struggle for freedom, which was ultimately accomplished without the loss of a single life. A truly uplifting story!   94min 2006 Pg

  6:30  Monday Feb 4 RUBY SPARKS
What happens when your dream-girl creation becomes real? Calvin (Paul Dano) is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby (Zoe Kazan), in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person. But like most dreams come true, it’s a little more complicated than that…  104min 2012 R
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxa_pA1v5k&feature=endscreen

6:30 & 8:30 Monday  Feb 11 for FAMILY DAY – A Wholesome Family Double Feature
Kids: share with the oldsters the brilliance and awesomeness of the cutting edge games
Parents: share with your kids the video games you may have played as youngsters 30 years ago (some folks are still obsessed with them)

   
       
Indie Game: The Movie is the first feature documentary film about making video games. It looks specifically at the underdogs of the video game industry, indie game developers, who sacrifice money, health and sanity to realize their lifelong dreams of sharing their visions with the world.
After two years of painstaking work, designer Edmund McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes await the release of their first major game for Xbox, Super Meat Boy—the adventures of a skinless boy in search of his girlfriend, who is made of bandages. At PAX, a major video-game expo, developer Phil Fish unveils his highly anticipated, four-years-in-the-making FEZ. Jonathan Blow considers beginning a new game after creating Braid, one of the highest-rated games of all time. Four developers, three games, and one ultimate goal— to express oneself through a video game.  96min 2012 Pg13 language
http://www.indiegamethemovie.com/about/      Trailer:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhaT78i1x2M
            (You may recognize this as a past offering. We had an equipment failure at our last attempt, so rolling it out again.)
Plus at 8:30  
KING OF KONG: A Fist Full Of Quarters
A brilliantly elaborate and satisfying doc about the quest for world domination – to be best at Donkey Kong. Two diametrically different personalities; the brash, long-reigning champion, Billy Mitchell, and upstart challenger sincere, Redmond, WA science teacher, Steve Wiebe, square off like Frazier and Muhammad Ali in their heyday. Even if you’ve never touched a console, you’ll find this study of competitive human nature and geeky obsession a treat! Rotten Tomatoes and I give it top marks.   90min 2007 Pg

Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMJZ-_bJKdI
http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/9866/

6:30  Monday Feb 18  A “Mystery Film” from the Victoria Film Fest  TBA after the fest

————————- B

6:30 Monday Oct 15 DINOSAUR MAKER – an evening with Bill Maylone

2012            1991    1989
Inspired by the fantastic films of Ray Harryhausen, and with a professional career that started in Victoria in the mid-1970s, Bill Maylone ended up directing or creating animated movies and sequences for the likes of Adbusters, the National Film Board, NOVA, the CBC, and Will Vinton Studios.
In the days before computer animation, dinosaurs and other fantastic creatures were brought to life most effectively using the painstaking hands-on technique of stop-motion animation. He came to realize that this odd profession could actually contribute to changing the world.

Maylone, now a Mayne Island resident, will share his stories, images, movies, and models and talk about the challenges, successes, and frustrations involved in being driven by the unusual, but – fortunately – constructive obsession of making inanimate objects appear to be alive.
Approx 2hrs  Pg with clips of Bill’s own work and some classic Harryhausen work too.



 6:30 Monday Oct 22  BEING FLYNN              
De Niro is Flynn, a con man, passionate, self proclaimed ‘great writer’. He’s obstreperous and a serious drinker on his way to homelessness. Paul Dano is the son he left behind but has re-connected with after many years of absenteeism. He has his own issues and is drifting, heading for a job working in a shelter for homeless men. Not an easy watch, revealing of realities that lead to homelessness, insights into dysfunctional family dynamics. Based a real life memoir by son Nick Flynn. Powerful cinema experience and a great fit for MM! Both De Niro and Dano keep it real. 102min 2012 R suggestive scenes, drug use, language. http://focusfeatures.com/being_flynn
         6:30 Monday Oct 29   THE MYSTERY OF SVEVA CAETANI  presented by Victoria filmmaker Agustin Luviano-Cordero*
(*maker of “A Portrait Of Myfanwy Pavelic” shown June 24/12’s at MM)
Her father was a prince of an important Italian dynasty who, when Sveva was 3, settled in Vernon, BC with Sveva’s mother. He thrived in the freedom of this New World frontier, but when he died, Sveva’s mother kept her a captive in their home for the next 25 years. A naturally artistic person, she was denied materials to explore her creativity. When she was finally released from her imprisonment, her pent up artistic energy flooded out in paintings, writing…. especially exploring her origins in ethereal landscapes with figures, rich with meaning about her own life and the universal. “The Mystery of Sveva Caetani by Agustin Luviano-Cordero” penetrates her paintings and written words, the viewers discover, bit by bit, the true story of who really was Sveva Caetani.
56min 2012 Pg   More details on our site!

  WEDNESDAY Oct 31 7pm Hallowe’en  PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Music Movie Wednesday! with Friends Of Music
Camp it up for Hallowe’en, be “best dressed” for this sumptuously presented version of the musical hit. Set and costume designers jumped the shark on this one! A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. 140min 2004  Pg13 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44w6elsJr_I

 6:30 Monday Nov 5  NOTHING BUT A MAN  
A very special film written and produced by Michael Roemer and Robert M Young (the maker of William Kurelek’s The Maze documentary that we featured recently)
“From the era when American films almost never put black characters at the center of a movie, Nothing but a Man stands like a beacon of intelligence and sympathy. It was shot in 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights movement by two Jewish white men, director Michael Roemer and cinematographer Robert M. Young, who wrote the script after traveling through the South and immersing themselves in African American life. Ivan Dixon plays a railroad worker who settles down to marry a preacher’s daughter (jazz singer Abbey Lincoln), only to find that the system is rigged against him. The film is not condescending or idealizing in its approach; some of the problems of the characters are outside the reality of racism. Aside from its status as a landmark social-issue film, it is good to recognize, 40 years on, what a terrific piece of filmmaking this is, with fine acting, lucid dialogue, and a fresh feeling for everyday domestic life.” –Robert Horton        
92min Pg13      We’ll include an extra by the senior filmmakers looking back 40 years on this groundbreaking project.

Lead actor Ivan Dixon on ‘Nothing But a Man’ 40-Years Later – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDlXQQPgtHc
======================== Other events planned but not set yet:
6:30 Monday Nov 12 EDWIN BOYD: Citizen Gangster  
The story of notorious Canadian bank robber Edwin Boyd, beginning with his return from duty in the Second World War. Dismayed by public indifference toward veterans, humiliated by his inability to provide for his children and his wife Doreen , and seeing only disappointment in the face of his policeman father, Eddie resorts to unlawful activity. What starts as small time bank robberies, evolves over time—and with experience—into a career that turns Boyd into postwar Toronto’s public enemy number one. Electric performances by Scott Speedman as Boyd and Kevin Durand his accomplice. A really riveting film based on real life events.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/09/15/nathan-morlando-and-scott-speedman-on-the-making-of-edwin-boyd/
The film took home the TIFF prize for best first Canadian feature 2011    105min 2011 R   
There’s a solid Victoria connection to this story: Boyd settled here and became a model citizen!

Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue in the “one hour” zone is not ticketed for our events.
Map and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca
See also MM’s special DVD collection at Yo Video  107-2000 Cadboro Bay Road   250-592-5678.
The Movie Monday Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Movie-Monday/187391494630186?ref=ts

 6:30 Monday July 9 William Kurelek’s THE MAZE   The Maze detail
This brilliantly restored and expanded film is about a Canadian artist, William Kurelek (1927-1977), whose work is currently enjoying a major retrospective at the Art Gallery Of Greater Victoria. The film takes an intimate look into the life of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating artists and his struggles with attempted suicide and a self professed “spiritual crisis”. The Maze (1953) is a particular painting by the tormented artist in his mid twenties that inspired this film. It got better!  
Kurelek’s life story is dramatically told through his many paintings and his on-camera revelations – a film re-imagined, with a new sound track and animation since its 1969 launch. Immerse yourself in this ultimately inspiring life story, the art, and this film that is a work of art in its own right.    60min 2012 Pg13  

With special guests: producer/animator/composers Nick & Zack Young and director (dad) Robert M. Young will be joining us for a Q&A by phone from LA!
http://www.themazemovie.com/about-the-film/  and   http//:www.kurelek.ca  and  the exhibit on till Labour Day http://aggv.ca/exhibitions/william-kurelek

NEW – A July 5/12 audio interview, on Columbia Centre’s People First Radio, with Nick Young and Bruce Saunders about the film (12min):
 http://www.columbiancentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/412_july_05_2012_sm.mp3

  6:30 Monday July 16 LOVING LAMPPOSTS       
As autism has exploded into the public consciousness over the last 20 years, two opposing questions have been asked about the condition: is it a devastating sickness to be cured? Or is it a variation of the human brain — just a different way to be human?
“Loving Lampposts” goes inside the autism wars and shows us the parents, doctors, therapists, and autistic people who are redefining this disorder at a moment when it’s better known than ever before. 83min 2011 USA Pg
Film Website: http://lovinglamppostsmovie.com/
“Loving Lampposts takes a different view of autism. Inspired by the filmmaker’s own experience with a son on the autism spectrum, the film looks at the ‘neurodiversity’ movement, a growing group of people who view autism not only as a disorder that must be treated, but as a different way of life that must be accepted and supported.Told through the stories of autistic children and adults, the film examines the politics surrounding autism and the neurodiversity movement. Ultimately, it shows that it’s possible to lead a happy, successful life and be autistic.”

With guests for Q&A – including Joseph Sheppard, co-director of UVic’s  Center for Autism Research Technology and Education 


6:30  Monday   July 23   FATHERS & SONS     (rescheduled from May 21 when it went astray)
Fathers & Sons is an alternative feature length drama that employs aspects of the conventional drama in its creation, but utilizes entirely improvised dialogue in its execution. Following the lives of four very different families as they confront a pivotal moment in their relationships, the film celebrates those unchosen bonds that shape our lives, the blessings and burdens.  This, second in our Carl Bessai trilogy, is a treat – and demonstrates again that good films can be made on a tiny budget! 87min 2010 R particularly for language and a suggestive scene
http://www.ravenwestfilms.com/fathersandsons.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/carl-bessai-explores-father-son-dynamic-in-new-film-at-viff/article1732627/

7:30 WEDNESDAY JULY 25   ON THE LINE  http://www.onthelinemovie.com/
ON THE LINE: An eco-adventure documentary like no other. Follow Frank Wolf and Todd McGowan on a 2,400 km journey by foot, bike, raft and kayak along the route as they seek to uncover the truth about a proposed 5.5 billion dollar oil pipeline. See what we’d be gambling if it goes ahead.

Film website: http://www.onthelinemovie.com/  
Recent related spill news: http://www.theprovince.com/touch/news/story.html?id=6817470
http://thecanadian.org/item/1563-province-newspaper-pulled-cartoon-under-pressure-from-enbridge-dan-murphy-rafe-mair
http://rabble.ca/news/2012/06/retired-sea-captain-dont-be-fooled-harpers-pipeline-plans
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/06/05/Gateway-Oil-Spill-Insurance/

 6:30 Monday July 30 FOREVERLAND
FOREVERLAND tells the story of Will Rankin, a young man stricken with Cystic Fibrosis, a terminal illness, who is tasked with delivering his friend’s ashes to a legendary healing shrine in Mexico. Joined by the sister of his fallen friend, Will embarks on an epic journey down the Pacific Coast Highway to the desert heart of Baja, encountering a memorable cast of characters along the way. In the spirit of Into the Wild and Little Miss Sunshine, it’s about dreams and the courage to pursue them. Hope, laughter, and life’s small miracles.  2011 93min
Max McGuire, the director, is a Vancouver based and he lives with cystic fibrosis, which gives this film extra credibility and heft.
We’ll try to have him by for a Q&A
http://www.facebook.com/Foreverlandthemovie
http://www.moviecritical.com/2012/02/foreverland-2011-review-and-max-mcguire.html

 August 6    THE MISFITS     “The Misfits brought together three legendary performers: Clark Gable, Montgomery Clift, and Marilyn Monroe, in a story of lonely, modern-day cowboys and the woman who loves them. Arthur Miller’s screenplay, Russell Metty’s somber black-and-white images, and final performances by Monroe and Gable give this film a profoundly elegiac tone.”  
Here’s a chance to celebrate the real Marilyn soon after our recent screening of My Week With Marilyn starring Michelle Williams
Marilyn Monroe died 50 years ago, Aug 5, 1962. Gable died soon after the film wrapped.              

6:30 Monday August 13         DOPPELGÄNGER PAUL    
http://doppelgangerpaul.com/     with three special guests  TBA            

Special Event: 7pm FRIDAY Aug 17 William Kurelek’s THE MAZE repeats   
with the artist’s son Stephen Kurelek, and hopefully filmmaker Nick Young
    (also at the Art Gallery Of Greater Victoria   7pm Thursday Aug 16   tickets for sale Aug 1   www.aggv.ca)

6:30 Monday Mar  26  WATER FOR ELEPHANTS  A great, colourful, old fashioned yarn, they way they used to make them.  With the exciting background of an old-style Big Top circus, an amazing elephant, and a terrific villain (Christoph Waltz), our protagonists (Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson) play out their star-crossed love story. The wonderful Hal Holbrook plays the framing older character looking back at his life, Titanic style. What’s not to like? 120min 2011 Pg13
 http://www.waterforelephantsfilm.nl/   http://moviemet.com/review/water-elephants-blu-ray-review

6:30 Monday April 2    AUTISM WEEK –  A MOTHER’S COURAGE – Talking back to autism  A mother of a child with autism travels from her home in Iceland to the United States and Europe, meeting with top autism experts and advocates. She also connects with several other families 0.0000touched by autism, whose struggles echo her own: the endless doctor visits and experiments with different treatments, the complication of doing everyday tasks, and the inability to communicate – perhaps the most painful and frustrating aspect of autism.
But as she comes across innovative new therapies with the potential to break down the walls of autism, Margret finds hope that her son may be able to express himself on a level she never thought possible.
Narrated by Kate Winslet , soundtrack by Sigur Ros and Björk http://firstrunfeatures.com/motherscouragedvd.html
http://www.icelandreview.com/reviews/film/?ew_news_onlyarea=content1&ew_news_onlyposition=10&cat_id=59350&ew_10_a_id=318928
Special Guests MM regular Peter Cunnington and Joseph Sheppard, Co-Director CARTe (UVic Autism Centre)
http://web.uvic.ca/~carte/aboutus.html http://web.uvic.ca/~carte/team.html       
http://www.meetup.com/Authors-with-Autism/?gj=ej35&a=mm1_l4
Sunday April 15 – Walk for Autism – Join Team MM. Let’s turn out in numbers this year. It’s at UVic.  http://www.victoriaautismwalk.com/

6:30 Monday April 9 Easter Monday  STARBUCK
A fun French Canadian story about a prolific sperm bank donor whose progeny come home to roost. He’s not terrifically good at other things but his ‘speciality’ is now a huge complication (142 of his off-spring have looked him up) in his not so ambitious (loser) lifestyle. What’s a middle aged boy to do?  103min 2011 Pg13
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Movie Monday events are by donation at the Eric Martin Theatre (Jubilee Hospital) 1900 Block Fort Street.
Parking on Lee Avenue in the “one hour” zone is not ticketed for our events.
Map and details at http/:www.moviemonday.ca

   
6:30 JUNE 27  This is the 43rd Anniversary of the founding of Cool Aid, an organization that has morphed from it’s beginnings as a stop over for transient young people, to the backbone of Victoria’s helping community.
 The films are 40 Years of Cool Aid Culture (28min), celebrating its history, and Building Futures (29min) which profiles the construction of Cool Aid’s Sandy Merriman House. The innovative project to provide shelter for homeless women was renovated from an existing building, and the work was carried out by women who would actually use the service.

We’ll open with music by the Friends Of Music’s Minds At Work R&B band so come early!
Q&As with people from Cool Aid and updates on its amazing and various projects.