Global Glue Project
On Monday, March 24, 7 p.m., 52 couples from around the globe share their secrets of sticking together in 52 shorts. This screening of six of these shorts will be followed by a provocative discussion about love and relationships with one of the filmmakers. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Writer/director Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Royal Tenenbaums) returns with The Grand Budapest Hotel, which recounts the adventures of Gustave H. (Ralph Fiennes), a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa (Tony Revolori), the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend. The dramatic comedy involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting and the battle for an enormous family fortune — all against the backdrop of a suddenly and dramatically changing continent. All-star ensemble cast also includes F. Murray Abraham, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody, Tilda Swinton, Mathieu Amalric, Jason Schwartzman, Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Saoirse Ronan and Edward Norton. At Esquire. — Landmark Theatres
In Bloom
In the early ’90s, Tbilisi, the capital of the newly independent Georgia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is plagued by violence, war on the Black Sea coast and vigilante justice. But for Eka and Natia, 14-year-old inseparable friends, life is just unfolding: in the street, at school, with friends and elder sisters who are already dealing with men’s dominance, early marriage and disillusioned love. For these two girls in bloom, life hangs on the edge between tradition and modernity, childhood and adult life, innocence and selfdetermination. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
The Invisible Woman
Charles Dickens — famous, controlling and emotionally isolated within his success — falls for Nelly, who comes from a family of actors. The theatre is a vital arena for Dickens — a brilliant amateur actor — a man more emotionally coherent on the page or on stage than in life. As Nelly becomes the focus of Dickens’ passion and his muse, secrecy is the price for both of them, and for Nelly a life of “invisibility.” Starring Ralph Fiennes. Rated R. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Lucrezia Borgia: San Francisco Opera
Renee Fleming returns to San Francisco Opera in the title role of this bel canto masterpiece. She sings “with raw intensity and earthy richness, utterly inhabiting the character” (The New York Times). She is joined by Michael Fabiano and bass Vitalij Kowaljow. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
The Lunchbox
In the romantic drama The Lunchbox, middle-class housewife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) is trying once again to add some spice to her marriage, this time through her cooking. She desperately hopes that a new recipe will finally arouse some kind of reaction from her neglectful husband. She prepares a special lunchbox to be delivered to him at work, but, unbeknownst to her, it is mistakenly delivered to another office worker, Saajan (Irrfan Khan, Life of Pi), a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Curious about the lack of reaction from her husband, Ila puts a little note in the following day’s lunchbox, in the hopes of getting to the bottom of the mystery. This begins a series of lunchbox notes between Saajan and Ila, and the mere comfort of communicating with a stranger anonymously soon evolves into an unexpected friendship. Gradually, their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears and even small joys. In the big city of Mumbai that so often crushes hopes and dreams, Ila and Saajan become lost in a virtual relationship that could jeopardize both their realities. Co-written and directed by Ritesh Batra. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
Oscar Nominated Shorts: Documentary
The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life – At 109, Alice Herz Sommer is the world’s oldest pianist… and its oldest Holocaust survivor. At the heart of her remarkable story of courage and endurance is her passion for music.
Karama Has No Walls – When protesters in Yemen added their voices to those of other nations during the Arab Spring, the government responded with an attack that left 53 people dead and inspired widespread sympathy throughout the country.
Facing Fear – As a gay 13-year-old, Matthew Boger endured a savage beating at the hands of a group of neo-Nazis. Twenty-five years later, he meets one of them again by chance.
CaveDigger – New Mexico environmental sculptor Ra Paulette carves elaborately designed and painstakingly executed sandstone caves, driven by an artistic vision that often brings him into conflict with his patrons.
Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall – In a maximum security prison, the terminally ill Jack Hall faces his final days with the assistance of hospice care provided by workers drawn from the prison population. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater
Tim’s Vermeer
Tim Jenison, a Texas-based inventor and the visionary behind the desktop videorevolution, attempts to solve one of the greatest mysteries in all art: How did 17th century Dutch Master Johannes Vermeer (“Girl with a Pearl Earring”) manage to paint so photo-realistically — 150 years before the invention of photography? The epic research project Jenison embarks on to test his theory is as extraordinary as what he discovers. Spanning eight years, Jenison’s adventure takes him to Delft, Holland, where Vermeer painted his masterpieces, on a pilgrimage to the North coast of Yorkshire to meet artist David Hockney, and even to Buckingham Palace to see a Vermeer masterpiece in the collection of the Queen. Also featuring Martin Mull, Professor Philip Steadman and Dr. Colin Blakemore. Directed by Teller, and co-produced by Farley Ziegler and Teller’s partner, illusionist, comic and narrator Penn Jillette. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres
Particle Fever
Imagine being able to watch as Edison turned on the first light bulb, or as Franklin received his first jolt of electricity. For the first time, a film gives audiences a front row seat to a significant and inspiring scientific breakthrough as it happens. Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start-up of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist? Directed by Mark Levinson, a physicist turned filmmaker, and masterfully edited by Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, The Godfather trilogy), Particle Fever is a celebration of discovery, revealing the very human stories behind this epic machine. At Mayan. — Landmark theatres
The Wind Rises
In acclaimed animator Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises, Jiro (voice of Hideaki Anno, co-director of the Evangelion series) — inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni — dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world’s most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic and Japan’s plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko (Miori Takimoto), and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo. Writer/director Miyazaki pays tribute to engineer Jiro Horikoshi and author Tatsuo Hori in this epic tale of love, perseverance and the challenges of living and making choices in a turbulent world. Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Feature. (Fully subtitled). At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres
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