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MARCH 10
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WHY US? LEFT BEHIND AND DYING
FREE public service screening, discussion to follow
Carte Blanche - Free / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $7 / Nonmembers - $10
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FILM SYNOPSIS:"Why Us? Left Behind and Dying" is the story of a small group of inner-city African-American teenagers, ages 14-17, from Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh, PA, who decide to explore the various reasons why HIV rates are higher in the black community than in any other group in America.
The students participated in the making of this documentary film as interviewers and as research subjects. It is constructed from their point of view and narrated by one of the students, Tamira Noble.
The students interviewed scientists, health experts from America and Africa. They interviewed people with HIV/AIDS from their own community including heterosexuals, homosexuals, and drug addicts. They also talk about their own safe and/or unsafe sexual practices.
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MARCH 10
WINTER KILLS
Carte Blanche - Free / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $7 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE HOST: Joe Meyers writes about movies for the Connecticut Post. A native of Chicago, Joe did most of his schooling in Philadelphia and studied journalism at Penn State. The former editor of the (now sadly defunct) Delmarva News, he spent two wonderful years in the late 1970s running the first (and only) arthouse movie theater on the Delmarva Peninsula, where he learned many valuable lessons about the differences between commerce and art. A collection of Joe's pieces about film stars of the past - "Whatever Happened to..." - went through several printings.
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ABOUT THE FILM: This exhilarating kaleidoscope of a movie, from a surreally layered novel by Richard Condon (The Manchurian Candidate), combines post-Watergate paranoia, gallows humor, political sci-fi, dazzling suspense set pieces, something we might call postmodern historical burlesque, and gonzo performances by a truly all-star cast.
It's held together by Jeff Bridges as the surviving scion of a Kennedy-like dynasty who reluctantly sets out to solve his brother's assassination. John Huston's own dynastic credentials and rough-hewn aristocracy make him perfect casting as the family patriarch, a simultaneously genial and appalling American monster.
Writer-director William Richert, a virtual unknown, somehow corraled an amazing ensemble, including an unbilled Liz Taylor, North by Northwest production designer Robert Boyle (who also contributes a delicious cameo), composer Maurice Jarre, and the great cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond. The widescreen camerawork and zesty primary-color palette demand DVD, which may finally do right by this quintessential '70s film that the '70s just weren't ready for.
--Richard T. Jameson
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MARCH 17
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BOB DYLAN AND FRIENDS
(Featuring Clips from 1963 – 2000)
Carte Blanche – FREE / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $7 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Bob Dylan’s work will be celebrated in rare film clips and television broadcasts, along with a wide range of performers: Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds, Eric Burden & The Animals, Joan Baez, The Turtles, Peter Paul & Mary, George Harrison, Neil Young, Manfred Mann, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, The Grateful Dead, Johnny Cash, The Band and more.
Some of these film clips have never having been seen before. They range from his earliest folk days in 1963 to his electric period of folk rock / political protest statements in song and beyond. They clearly demonstrate why Dylan has been called the “voice of his generation” for his almost 50-year history, during which time he created a wide variety of song hits, including “Blowin’ In The Wind,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” “Positively 4th Street,” and “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.” Dylan’s songs are classic and legendary and have been covered by a wide range of performers, some of whom will appear in this program. So come join the celebration of Bob Dylan’s legacy in this unique retrospect.
Running Time: 2 hours
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY/SHELLEY ARCHIVES: As a filmmaker, William Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970’s when he captured on film and video bands such as The Stray Cats, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars and clubs before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), then known as Spectrum City, going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio.
Shelley Archives Inc. was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network, and home video sales exceeded a record breaking one million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archive and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows (from Europe & USA), promos, interviews, out-takes, and home movies, from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary and commercial projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists. |
LEGENDS OF ROCK LIVE will continue this Spring
THE ROLLING STONES - Wednesday, April 21 at 7pm
THE BEATLES - Wednesday, May 19 at 7pm |
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MARCH 25
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THE PAGE TURNER
(LA TOURNEUSE DE PAGES)
Carte Blanche - Free / Avon & AFG Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $7 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Melanie is a young woman whose ambitions as a concert pianist were dashed as a child by the thoughtless behavior of the jury chairwoman, the famous pianist Madame Fouchecourt, during her exam. Ten years later, Melanie sets up an elaborate plan for revenge and soon begins to ingratiate herself into the family. Unrecognized by Madame Fouchecourt, Melanie becomes her trusted "page turner" as both women prepare for the performance of a lifetime. The Los Angeles Times calls the film “an impeccably made psychological melodrama.”
Focus on French Cinema 2010 opens the weekend of April 9-11, 2010. For more info go to www.focusonfrenchcinema.org and click on our logo.
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APRIL 7
THE THIRD MAN
Carte Blanche - Free / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE HOST: Drew Taylor reviews movies, television, books, music and comic books as a columnist and blogger for the Fairfield County Weekly and its sister papers.
He is also a critic and columnist for influential New York-based movie blog The Playlist, and a regular reviewer for home video website High Def Digest.
His critical work has also appeared in Print Magazine and his fiction work in the Longriver Review.
He has worked on (and had a brief cameo in) Freezer Burn, a locally produced independent film by Charles Hood.
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ABOUT THE FILM: (1949) “In Switzerland they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.” In rubble-strewn postwar Vienna, its occupation divided among four powers, Joseph Cotten’s pulp Western writer Holly Martins arrives to meet up with his old friend Harry Lime only to find that he’s dead — or is he? And as the supremely naive Cotten, a monoglot stranger in a strange land, descends through the levels of deception, and as he discovers his own friend’s corruption, the moral choices loom. With its Vienna locations, including the gigantic Prater ferris wheel and the dripping sewers, shot over a five-week period of double shifts (8PM to 5AM, then 10AM to 4PM), this is a triumph of atmosphere, with its tilted camera angles (“to suggest that something crooked was going on” – Reed), its Robert Krasker-shot shadows, and Anton Karas’s unforgettable zither theme. And with its stars in perhaps their most iconic roles: bereted Trevor Howard at his most Britishly military; Alida Valli, after her unsuccessful Hollywood period (Hitchcock’s The Paradine Case), here truly enigmatic and Garboesque; and Welles’s Harry Lime arriving in one of the greatest star entrances ever, and adding the famous “cuckoo clock” speech to Graham Greene’s original script. With the whole topped by its legendary, almost endlessly drawn-out final shot, imposed by Reed over Greene’s original objections.
At the very top of the pantheon of films that define “classic,” The Third Man’s many honors include three Oscar nominations (for Director and Editing; it won for Krasker’s atmosphere-oozing cinematography) and the Grand Prize at Cannes. It also has the distinction of being the only film on both the AFI and BFI Top 100 lists of, respectively, the greatest American and British films (#1 for the Brits) – as well as being named The Greatest Foreign Film of All Time... by the Japanese!
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APRIL 10
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Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Steven Spielberg’s timeless classic about a stranded alien and the young boy who befriends and helps the alien attempt to return home comes back to the Avon for a special one time showing. Featuring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace and Drew Barrymore.
ABOUT ECKART PREU: Eckart Preu was named Music Director of the Stamford Symphony in 2005. He is also Music Director of the Spokane Symphony. He was previously Associate Conductor of the Richmond Symphony and Resident Conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra and of the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra. Career highlights include two Carnegie Hall performances, a performance at the Sorbonne in Paris, and a live broadcast with the Jerusalem Symphony in 2005. He is a frequent guest speaker for local businesses, community organizations, and schools in Connecticut, and has contributed a music column to the Stamford Advocate.
Join the Stamford Symphony at the Palace Theatre for Themes and Screams on Saturday, April 17 at 8:00pm, and Sunday, April 18 at 3:00pm, when they perform the music from some of John Williams’ most famous scores, including E.T., Star Wars, Schindler’s List, Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones, and the theme from Monday Night Football. |
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APRIL 15
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STARSTRUCK
Vintage Movie Posters from Classic Hollywood
Hosted by John Farr (Best Movies By Farr/Avon co-founder)Thursday, APRIL 15 – 7:00 PM
Carte Blanche - Free / Avon & AFG Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT IRA M. RESNICK: Author Ira M. Resnick started his impressive collection while studying at New York University Film School. A professional photographer he founded the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies.
Resnick is a trustee of the Film Society of Lincoln Center and served as chairman of the board from 1999 to 2005. Resnick is also a trustee of the International Center of Photography and MUSE Film and Television.
He resides in New York City with his wife and two children.
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ABOUT THE BOOK: A lively, firsthand account of the evolution of a world-class collection of vintage film posters and stills, accompanied by descriptions of the stars and films depicted. For four decades film historian Ira M. Resnick has been amassing a superb collection of 2,000 vintage movie posters and 1,500 stills, which has never before been published. Starstruck: Vintage Movie Posters From Classic Hollywood features the best of Resnick’s collection, with vivid reproductions of 258 posters and 28 stills from a golden age of Hollywood, from 1912 to 196l. In a moving introduction, Resnick relates how his love of vintage movie art translated in to a career as a collector and the founder of the Motion Picture Arts Gallery, the first gallery devoted exclusively to the art of the movies. Resnick's firsthand account offers entertaining anecdotes about how he managed to acquire such stellar film artwork, as well as historical information about the stars and films shown on the pieces he collected. Guiding the reader through the best posters and stills of his collection, Resnick provides a tour of cinematic history, starting in the silent film era and continuing up to Breakfast at Tifrany's (1961). Offering both a chronological and thematic organization, in later chapters Resnick discusses some of Hollywood's legendary directors and films, and critiques fantastic graphic art from little-known films. Bonus material includes a list of Resnick's fifty favorite one-sheets, helpful tips for the collector, and a glossary of terms and poster sizes. A must-have book for every collector and film buff, Starstruck offers a beautifully illustrated, personal tour of a bygone age of the motion picture advertising industry. |
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| ABOUT THE AWFUL TRUTH : This hilarious 1937 screwball comedy stars Irene Dunne and Cary Grant as a squabbling couple who decide to part ways due to alleged infidelities committed by each partner. They subsequently go to great lengths to spoil one another’s new love lives, leading to many witty and comedic exchanges delivered in a fast-paced banter that became a trademark for the genre. A nominee for six Academy Awards and winner for Best Director (Leo McCarey), The Awful Truth was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. |
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APRIL 17
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FOOD, INC.
Carte Blanche – FREE / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT FOOD, INC. : In Food, Inc., filmmaker Robert Kenner lifts the veil on our nation's food industry, exposing the highly mechanized underbelly that has been hidden from the American consumer with the consent of our government's regulatory agencies, USDA and FDA. Our nation's food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment. Featuring interviews with such experts as Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) along with forward thinking social entrepreneurs like Stonyfield Farm's Gary Hirshberg and Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin, Food, Inc. reveals surprising -- and often shocking truths -- about what we eat, how it's produced, who we have become as a nation and where we are going from here.
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APRIL 21
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THE ROLLING STONES
(The Brian Jones years, featuring clips from 1964 – 1969)
Carte Blanche – FREE / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Shelley Archives will present rare color and black and white footage of the Rolling Stones, when they made their first television appearances in the USA and Europe, promo films, concerts, and newsreels. Watch as they perform many classic numbers including “Under My Thumb,” “Time Is on My Side,” and “Honky Tonk Woman.”
This show is not to be missed. The Rolling Stones have had many smash hit records. During their first success in the 1960’s, they were up there in popularity with The Beatles in the hierarchy of pop music. The Rolling Stones’ original leader and rhythm guitarist, Brian Jones, was responsible for pushing the group to experiment with their “sound” and responsible for their early fame.
The combination of Brian Jones’ bluesy instrumental influence sparked Mick Jagger’s and Keith Richards’ writing skills to create such classic songs as “Satisfaction,” “Play With Fire,” “Paint It Black,” “Lady Jane,” “The Last Time,” and “Get Off of My Cloud,” all of which are included in this program. Many consider Jones’ involvement to be the Stones’ greatest period of music. Come to the program and judge for yourself.
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY/SHELLEY ARCHIVES: As a filmmaker, William Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970’s when he captured on film and video bands such as The Stray Cats, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars and clubs before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), then known as Spectrum City, going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio.
Shelley Archives Inc. was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network, and home video sales exceeded a record breaking one million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archive and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows (from Europe & USA), promos, interviews, out-takes, and home movies, from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary and commercial projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists. |
LEGENDS OF ROCK LIVE will continue this Spring
THE BEATLES - Wednesday, May 19 at 7pm |
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APRIL 24
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TAPPED
Carte Blanche – FREE / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT TAPPED : Is access to clean drinking water a basic human right, or a commodity that should be bought and sold like any other article of commerce? Stephanie Soechtig's debut feature is an unflinching examination of the big business of bottled water. From the producers of Who Killed the Electric Car and I.O.U.S.A., this timely documentary is a behind the scenes look into the unregulated and unseen world of an industry that aims to privatize and sell back the one resource that ought never to become a commodity: our water. From the plastic production to the ocean in which so many of these bottles end up, this inspiring documentary trails the path of the bottled water industry and the communities which were the unwitting chips on the table. A powerful portrait of the lives affected by the bottled water industry, this revelatory film features those caught at the intersection of big business and the public's right to water.
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APRIL 29
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Francois Truffaut’s
SMALL CHANGE (1976)
(L’ARGENT DE POUCHE)
Carte Blanche - Free / Avon & AFG Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Master filmmaker Francois Truffaut’s semi-autobiographical Small Change (L’Argent De Pouche), is a sensitive, heartwarming and honest portrayal of the lives of French school children. In the picturesque French town of Thiers, several primary school children are learning some important lessons in life as the end of the school terms approaches. Patrick, who lives alone with his invalid father, discovers an inexplicable attraction for the local hairdresser, the mother of his best friend, Laurent. Sylvie is a strong-willed little madam who mobilizes her neighbors to help her when her parents leave her alone at home one Sunday afternoon. Julien is a scruffy delinquent who finds it hard to settle at school and spends a lot of his time walking the streets and thieving. It isn’t easy being a child...
Focus on French Cinema 2010 opens the weekend of April 9-11, 2010. For more info go to www.focusonfrenchcinema.org and click on our logo. |
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MAY 19
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THE BEATLES
(1963 - 1970)
Carte Blanche – FREE / Members - $6 / Students/Seniors - $8 / Nonmembers - $10
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ABOUT THE FILM: Join us for a stunning musical retrospective and celebration of THE BEATLES and their use of the medium in promotional films and rare television appearances. Using newly discovered and restored archival footage from 35mm prints, kinescopes and video masters (some in stereo sound) we can see how the Beatles changed the music of the 1960’s that defined a generation. From 1963 to 1970 the Beatles captured the imagination with images and songs like “Twist and Shout,” “Paperback Writer,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “All You Need Is Love.” They were one of the first musical acts to make use of the music film promo and combined with their songs, styles, and individual personalities captivated the world. Many of these promotional films were never seen by United States audiences and some appear here tonight for the first time with restored color and sound.
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ABOUT BILL SHELLEY/SHELLEY ARCHIVES: As a filmmaker, William Shelley has been shooting professionally since the 1970’s when he captured on film and video bands such as The Stray Cats, Twisted Sister, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts playing in small bars and clubs before they became famous. Shelley later associated with rap group Public Enemy (PE), then known as Spectrum City, going on to direct a number of their videos and become an honorary member of PE’s African American Media Network cable television studio.
Shelley Archives Inc. was started in 1985. After working with Readers Digest Entertainment in 1990, the company’s end product was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 for the three part series “Legends of Comedy.” The program was broadcast on the Disney cable network, and home video sales exceeded a record breaking one million copies sold. Today the company has over 100,000 reels of original 35mm and 16mm films in its archive and over 10,000 hours of rare concerts, television shows (from Europe & USA), promos, interviews, out-takes, and home movies, from a wide-ranging variety of subjects. The company has licensed them to numerous documentary and commercial projects throughout the world. Preservation of films and music clips is a main focus of the organization, as well as the desire to compensate the artists. |
Bill Shelley will return this summer with more LEGENDS OF ROCK in conjunction with the Avon’s CULT CLASSICS series. Look out for an announcement soon!
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