[Avon-theatre-news] AVON THEATRE NEWS---Jan. 22nd, 2010

[Skip Huston]

AVON THEATRE NEWS & VIEWS 
Showtimes, Programs, Erudition and Miscellaneous Folderol 
"All of Life's Answers are in the Movies!"  -Dr. Skippy P. Huston
WEEK OF FRIDAY, JAN. 22nd thru THURSDAY, JAN. 28th ONLY!!  
Check out our way cool website at: www.TheAvon.com

OPENING FRIDAY:
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (PG) Harrison Ford and Brendon Fraser in a heart-warmer of a true medical story!
ME AND ORSON WELLES (PG13) Here is one tailor-made for the Avon crowd!!

CONTINUING:
THE YOUNG VICTORIA (PG13) Emily Blunt makes this role her own, and has award nominations for it too!
IT'S COMPLICATED (PG13) Meryl Streep. LAST THREE DAYS!! HURRY!!!

COMING SOON:
JAN. 29th: TBA (We're working on something cool at press time)
FEB. 5th:    CRAZY HEART (R) Will Jeff Bridges finally get his long-deserved Oscar for this one?
FEB. 12th: THE WOLFMAN (R) Wow! I've been waiting for this one!!! The re-make of the classic 1940 thriller!!
FEB. 12th: VALENTINE'S DAY (PG13) Julia Roberts and a GINORMOUS & HUGE All-Star Cast!!
FEB. 26th: THE SECRETS OF JONATHAN SPERRY (G) A Faith-based, church-sponsored Christian film for the whole family! 
...and MORE!!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES (PG)
HARRISON FORD and BRENDAN FRASER together in an uplifting medical drama that is suitable for the entire family (rated "PG"), and also co-stars one of my faves KERI RUSSELL (remember her from WAITRESS ??). Based on a true story, the previews have been playing for this since last summer.
I know there is a lot here to appeal to the Avon crowds!!
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr. 45 min (not including pre-show content)
(Please be advised the Saturday @ 7 PM show is already completely SOLD-OUT!!)
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES   (PG)
(Showtimes in brackets are $5.75 'Bargain Matinees")
FRI: (4:00) - 7:00
SAT: (1:00) - (4:00) - 7:00* (*NOTE: The Saturday @ 7:00 PM is SOLD-OUT!) 
SUN: (1:00) - (4:00)
MON thru THURS: 7:15
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
ME AND ORSON WELLES (PG13)
A movie that seems tailor-made for the Avon crowd!!
I'm going to call on nationally-known film commenter Leonard Maltin to give us the lowdown on this one too (like THE YOUNG VICTORIA below), so heeeeeere's Leonard...

Me and Orson Welles by Leonard Maltin (used with permission)  
I am, at once, a complete sucker for this movie and potentially its severest critic. On the one hand, I am fascinated by the career of Orson Welles, and have read a great deal about (and interviewed people involved with) his tumultuous life in New York during the late 1930s. Not yet a household name, he juggled a burgeoning theatrical agenda with his.

Mercury Players and a busy schedule acting on radio - which paid the bills. But because I'm so familiar with the territory and its principal players, I'm going to be fairly demanding of a film that attempts to dramatize that period and its colorful cast of characters.

I'm happy to say that Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles won me over completely.

Yes, I was aware that little of it was shot in Manhattan and that there are no New York actors in its cast.but if that requires a certain leap of faith, Linklater and company amply reward us by being so persuasive in their portrayal of Welles himself and the zeitgeist of his eternally harried theatrical troupe (and its frequently exasperated producer, John Houseman, nicely played by the versatile Eddie Marsan). I can't think of many films that capture both the spirit and the detail of putting on a show, under great pressure, as this one does, tracing the fabled Mercury production of Julius Caesar in 1937. This one makes us feel as if we're actually there.

Teen heartthrob Zac Efron proves his mettle in the pivotal role of an artistic-minded high school student who stumbles into a job with Welles and gets caught up in the whirlwind of the enterprise-and the mercurial (pun intended) orbit of the Boy Genius. Claire Danes is appealing as the company Girl Friday who wins his heart, and leads him into an experience beyond his youthful understanding.

Then there is newcomer Christian McKay, who gives an absolutely astonishing performance as the young Orson Welles. This goes far beyond mere mimicry; it's a full-bodied evocation of the charming, bombastic, grandiloquent, unscrupulous, ego-driven actor-director. As written by Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo, Jr. from Robert Kaplow's novel, Me and Orson Welles
provides a vastly entertaining time trip, and a close-up look at one of the most interesting figures in all of show business history.  Leonard Maltin
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr 46 min (not including pre-show content)
ME AND ORSON WELLES   (PG13)
(Showtimes in brackets are $5.75 'Bargain Matinees")
FRI: 8:00 
SAT: (2:00) - 8:00
SUN: (2:00)
MON thru WED: 6:40
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
THE YOUNG VICTORIA (PG)
Boy, is everyone raving about this one! I'm going to repeat Leonard Maltin's review from last week:
As is sometimes the case, I am going to let our friend, nationally-known film critic LEONARD MALTIN weigh in on this one...
Take it away, Leonard!
The Young Victoria reviewed by Leonard Maltin 
 The challenge of any historical drama is to engage us so that we're not passively observing a pageant of events but actively involved in the characters and their story. Screenwriter Julian Fellowes has drawn on many sources to create a witty, often gripping screenplay that tells a story many people may not know about the teenage girl who was crowned Queen of England in 1837-and how her life was often cruelly manipulated, both before and after her coronation.
  
    Director Jean-Marc Vallée, who made the wonderful French-language Canadian film C.R.A.Z.Y., handles the many characters and their intrigues with grace and skill, so that even someone who knows little or nothing of this period, like me, can follow it all and understand most of it. (My wife, the Anglophile, had no such problems.) The settings are majestic, the costumes quite beautiful, but the icing on this cake is the cast, led by Emily Blunt as the willful young woman who knows her own mind, Rupert Friend as her cousin Albert, of Germany, who transcends the ritual of arranged marriage to become the great love of Victoria's life, the always-wonderful Miranda Richardson as Victoria's much-disparaged mother, the Duchess of Kent, the versatile Mark Strong as her strong-willed advisor Sir John Conroy, Paul Bettany as the young Queen's cunning advisor Lord Melbourne, Thomas Kretschmann as Albert's calculating uncle King Leopold of Belgium, Jim Broadbent in a vibrant cameo as King William, and Harriet Walter as his widow, Queen Adelaide.

    The Young Victoria brings an interesting chapter of British history to life in fine fashion. And if the conflicts in the early part of the story are more compelling than those that follow, it's a minor quibble for a solid piece of entertainment.  Leonard Maltin (used with permission)
RUNNING TIME: 1 hr. 40 min, not including pre-show material (but NO commercials!)
THE YOUNG VICTORIA   (PG)
(Showtimes in brackets are $5.75 'Bargain Matinees")
FRI: (4:45) - 7:45 
SAT: (1:45) - (4:45) - 7:45 
SUN: (1:45) - (4:45)
MON, TUES & WED: 6:30
THURS: 7:30
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
IT'S COMPLICATED (PG13)
And here are the last few days for MERYL STREEP, ALEC BALDWIN and STEVE MARTIN in this rollicking and slightly naughty comedy.
It's been here since Christmas day, and it's time to move it out for new ones!
You better get a'movin' if you still haven't seen it (or want to see it again!)
RUNNING TIME: 120 min. not including pre-show content)
IT'S COMPLICATED (PG13)
(Showtimes in brackets are $5.75 'Bargain Matinees")
FRI, SAT, SUN: (5:00)
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A NOTE FROM THE HEAD HONCHO...
FILM CLASSES RESUME 6:30 THURSDAY, JAN. 21st!!

That's right, it's only been about a month since we ended our last class session, but it seems like its been years!


"AMERICANA AT THE MOVIES--PART 3" will be a continuation of our popular "Americana" series!
These are a carefully-picked selection of films that portray all facets of the American culture, in all periods of history too!
(And we NEVER tell you beforehand what you are seeing! You just gotta' trust me!)

Right now you can pick up class flyers and enrollment forms in our lobbies or just enroll in-person on Thursday, Jan. 21st a little earlier than class-start time at about 6:15.
An official from Richland will be there to sign you up!
Tuition is $80 for 8 weeks of great screening and discussion.
The Richland-at-the-Avon Film Classes have been a local staple for almost 9 years now, and maybe it's time YOU saw what they were all about?
CLASSES START AT 6:30 SHARP, BUT, ON THE FIRST NIGHT, YOU NEED TO COME A LITTLE EARLY TO GET ENROLLED!
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TRIVIA CHALLENGE: What is the movie music I use on the background of our movie hotline? (422-8151).
Here's a hint: We played it in 2000, and it is a 3 word title. 
You can study our complete Avon movie list on our website at www.theAvon.com and clicking on the "Avon Movie List" link near the top of the main page on the right. (It is an incredible list, if you haven't seen it!)
Answer correctly and win absolutely nothing!! YAY!!!
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-AND, I'll look forward to seeing ALL OF YOU this weekend!!!
-Skip Huston


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