It‘s Showtime almost

July 5, 2006

It’s Showtime! Almost
Tickets for the second annual Traverse City Film Festival go on sale this Friday, July 7 at the State Theatre in downtown TC and online at www.traversecityfilmfestival.org. Although specific times and dates hadn’t been nailed down for the July 31-Aug. 6 festival as the Express went to press, organizers did have a line on what will be showing:



2001: A Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece is presented here in all its original wide screen glory.
Air Guitar Nation: American air guitar champs travel to Finland where they must face down international competition and global political tension.
a/k/a Tommy Chong: In 2003, Tommy Chong was arrested and sent to federal prison for... selling bongs?
Amadeus: The brilliantly told story of a boy-genius, played by Michigan’s Tom Hulce (a graduate of Interlochen), reveals the life behind the music from the perspective of composer Antonio Salieri, a tortured friend of Mozart. 
Barry Lyndon: The tale of an 18th century Irish scoundrel who sneaks into high society, only to fall from grace. Nominated for 7 Academy Awards, possibly Stanley Kubrick’s most beautifully shot film.
The Beauty Academy of Kabul: After the initial defeat of the Taliban by American forces in November 2001, a group of U.S. beauticians, some of whom emigrated from Afghanistan in the early 1980s, travel to Kabul, Afghanistan to set up the country’s first beauty school.
Borat: Satirist Sacha Baron Cohen, a/k/a Ali G (star of HBO’s “Da Ali G Show”), poses as Borat Sagdiyev, “the most famous man in Kazakhstan.” He travels the US on a quest to make Pamela Anderson his wife -- and in the process exposes our deeply-rooted cultural shortcomings.
Born on the Fourth of July: Tom Cruise stars as paralyzed Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Based on Kovic’s autobiography, the film tells the story of a gung-ho soldier who returns home disillusioned by the war and his country.
Cache (Hidden):This French psychological mystery is a sharp and relentless allegory about fear, trust
and war.
The Canary Effect: The history of the devastating effects of U.S. policy on the indigenous people of America and a genocide that many believe continues to this day. 
A Clockwork Orange: Dystopian vision of England in the not-so-distant future follows young Alex (the sensational Malcolm McDowell) and his blissfully violent gang as they rage and rampage their way through the British countryside.
Dr. Strangelove: Stanley Kubrick’s sardonic send-up of the Cold War as an insane general unilaterally dispatches a B-52 bomber on a mission to nuke the Commies and blow Russia to smithereens.
The Dying Gaul: A tale of sex, lies and Hollywood.
Eyes Wide Shut: Cruise, Kidman, Kubrick. What more could you ask for? A searing psychological drama examining the human condition in a marriage gone terribly awry.
Far And Away: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman star as young Irish lovers who escape their homeland and flee together to find a brighter future for themselves in America. Their new lives in Boston are far from the fairy tale they imagined. This picturesque romance set in 1892 is a breathtaking exploration of the search for the American dream and the class division that Cruise and Kidman must eventually solve.
Flirting with Disaster: Mel Coplin (Ben Stiller) is a new father who suddenly and fanatically decides that he must find his biological parents. Coplin takes his wife, Nancy (Patricia Arquette), their new baby, and their adoption representative (Tea Leoni) on a rollicking, zig-zag journey across America, from San Diego to Detroit to the New Mexico desert.
Fresh: The story of a 12-year-old boy who becomes a runner and seller of drugs, this sometimes shocking film is one of the most powerful American independent dramatic films of the last decade. 
Full Metal Jacket: Stanley Kubrick’s take on Vietnam has become one of the greatest war flicks ever made.
Hotel Rwanda: The story of a hotel manager who turns his business into a sanctuary in the midst of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With: Jeff Garlin plays James, a late-blooming Chicago bachelor who faces the prospect of a life spent alone.
An Inconvenient Truth: Global warming film by our former Vice President is one of the most fascinating and frightening films of the year.
Inocent Voices: Luis Mandoki’s award-winning film searches for love and hope in the midst El Salvador’s civil war. As 11-year-old Chava is pushed inexorably toward a choice between mandatory state military service and the guerilla life of the rebels, a young child’s innocence is put on trial.
Iraq in Fragments: A Shiite boy, a group of Sunnis and the people of a Kurdish village each take you through what life is like for them in their war-torn homeland.
Iron Island: A huge abandoned oil tanker sits a few miles off the coast of Iran. Captain Nemat, played by Ali Nasirian, establishes his own society on the ship and others soon join him as they create a floating city.
Jesus Camp: The “Kids On Fire” camp in North Dakota has a different mission: to train children as young as five years old to be soldiers in God’s Army. 
John and Jane Toll Free: A documentary about call center workers in India. 
Joyeaux Noël: It’s Christmas Eve, 1914. The Germans are dug in their trenches on one side of a field, and the French and Scots are dug in on the other side. Someone starts singing “Silent Night” -- and, across the field, the enemy joins in.
Jurassic Park: Imagine dinosaurs running through Traverse City’s Open Space Park by the bay.
The Killing: The birth of the Kubrick genius is revealed in this, his first full feature-length film, a heist movie classic.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: Robert Downey Jr. is a petty thief who skates through life on a shaky cocktail of dog-eared charm and cockeyed optimism. His bad luck takes a turn for the better when he inadvertently stumbles into an audition for a Hollywood detective movie and gets paired with a tough guy private eye (Val Kilmer) to prepare for a screen test.
La Moustache: Is it possible to be married to someone for 15 years and never notice they have a mustache?
L’America: Gianni Amelio’s story of the tragic dislocation and chaos of post-Communist Albania is now considered among the best of Europe’s great art films.
Little Miss Sunshine: A dysfunctional family tries to get young Olive (Abigail Breslin) to the finals of a children’s beauty pageant.
Lolita: Dark satire of a middle-aged writer who falls for 14-year-old Lolita and rents a room in her mother’s house.
The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra: This is a hilarious spoof of the old 1950s science fiction films where aliens come to earth, up to no good.
Men at Work: Four men from Tehran face an impossible mission: moving a rock off the road.
Mike’s Surprise: Festival founder Michael Moore shows up with... a sneak preview.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail.
Napoleon Dynamite: “Sooooweet!” A deadpan look at the flat tonalities of loserdom, this 2004 film has quickly established a cult following.
Nine Lives: A moving exploration of the individual experiences of nine women told through nine unbroken takes.
 O Lucky Malcolm: The world premiere of Jan Harlan’s intimate portrait of the acclaimed actor Malcolm McDowell.
Paradise Now: The story of two young Palestinian men in the West Bank who find themselves recruited for a suicide bombing strike in Tel Aviv. .
Paths of Glory: Some believe this to be the best film about war ever made. Kirk Douglas stars in Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 World War I epic about a commander in the French army who sees part of his battle-worn unit refuse to continue when they realize they are facing certain death in an impossible attack. To make an example out of them, three soldiers are put on trial for cowardice, and Douglas plays the military attorney who defends the soldiers in a sham trial.
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure: A 98-pound man-child’s search for his stolen bicycle.
Pittsburgh: Follows actor Jeff Goldblum as he decides to leave behind a $4 million offer for a big-budget Hollywood movie and go to Pittsburgh to be in a regional theater production of The Music Man.
President Mir Qanbar: A poor, 74-year-old man by the name of Mir Qanbar decides that anyone can grow up to be president of Iran. So he declares his candidacy and sets off on the campaign trail with his mule and his loyal friend, Seifollah, to the many remote, poverty-stricken villages of his district.
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio: A 1950s tale of a mother of 10 who defies the odds to keep a roof over her family’s heads.
The Promise: The spirited Princess Qingcheng who falls in love with a heroic general she believes saved her life. But, in fact, her savior is actually the general’s servant who was wearing the general’s armor and mask when he rescued her from death.
The Road to Guantanamo: In the weeks after 9/11, three British boys are on their way from London to a wedding in Pakistan are shackled and put on a plane to the American military base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Scoop: Woody Allen is in top comedic form as he directs and stars in this new romantic comedy with Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman.
The Shining: Jack Nicholson stars in Steven King’s terror tale of a man, Jack Torrance, who gets hired as a “housesitter” at a hotel in the Colorado mountains that closes in the winter.
Soldiers Pay: Interviews with soldiers, psychologists, politicians and journalists about the wars we have fought in Iraq.
Some Mother’s Son: Circles around IRA prisoners on a hunger strike against the policies of Margaret Thatcher and the British government.
Son of Man: The story of Jesus -- set in modern day southern Africa.
Spartacus: Kirk Douglas stars as the slave who cannot take it anymore and leads a revolt against the mightiest empire on earth. 
The Squid and the Whale: No better film about modern-day divorce has been made and, as told from the point of view of the two boys caught in the middle.
Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures: A one-of-a-kind documentary on Kubrick’s career.
Street Thief: Chicago documentary filmmakers Malik Bader and Miles Harrison convince a professional burglar to let them go along with him as he commits his crimes, and to film him in the act. Surprisingly, he agrees.
This Film Not Yet Rated: A documentary about the stupidity of the MPAA film ratings system and its effect on American culture.
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada: Tommy Lee Jones forces a border patrol agent to help him return his dead friend home to a burial in Mexico.
Three Kings: Three renegade U.S. soldiers who decide to steal a large cache of Saddam’s gold and other goodies. But the Iraqis have other plans for these three in what turns out to be one of the most intelligent, potent action thrillers ever made.
Tsotsi: Six days in the life of a ruthless young gang leader in South Africa who ends up caring for a baby accidentally kidnapped during a car-jacking.
The TV Set: David Duchovny stars as the downtrodden writer who has written an intelligent script -- and therein lies his problem. The network will only do the pilot for the sitcom after he makes a “few changes.”
Viva Zapatero!: Takes you into the crazy world of Italian politics and makes you realize that we are not alone.
The War Tapes: In March 2004, just as the insurgent movement in Iraq strengthened, several members of one National Guard unit from New Hampshire were given small digital video cameras to record their year in Iraq.
Who Killed the Electric Car?: Filmed as a cheeky murder mystery, the director follows the birth and death of GM’s EV1, a viable electric car developed in response to California’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate.
Winter Passing: A troubled young actress (Zooey Deschanel) who is offered a lot of money to sell the love letters that her father (Ed Harris), a reclusive novelist living in the woods of northern Michigan, wrote to her recently deceased mother.
The Wizard of Oz: Wait until you see the monkeys flying across Grand Traverse Bay!
Wordplay: S documentary takes you deep inside the world of crossword puzzles and similar mental gymnastics.
Zathura: Two young brothers find that their board game leaves no room for imagination when they are thrust into a real space adventure battling molten meteors, lizard-like alien carnivores and a crazed robot.