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Kristen Stewart’s Thriller & Oscar Nom Coming to THE NEON This Weekend

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Hello Everyone!

Once again, we’re moving right along at THE NEON this weekend. If you still need to see Shirley MacLaine in THE LAST WORD or Woody Harrelson in WILSON, Thursday will be your last chance to catch these films at THE NEON. The gorgeous & masterful film FRANTZ (by one of my favorite directors) will stick around for one more week, and we’ll add two new films to the mix. PERSONAL SHOPPER, the new film by Olivier Assayas starring Kristen Stewart, will open Friday for one week. We’ll also open a film that was nominated for “Best Foreign Film” at this year’s Academy Awards – LAND OF MINE – for just three days beginning this Friday. For more details about our current films, please visit www.neonmovies.com

Synopsis for PERSONAL SHOPPER: “Olivier Assayas, the internationally-acclaimed director of CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA and SUMMER HOURS, returns with this ethereal and mysterious ghost story starring Kristen Stewart as a high-fashion personal shopper to the stars who is also a spiritual medium. Grieving the recent death of her twin brother, she haunts his Paris home, determined to make contact with him.” (IFC Films) Richard Roeper of CHICAGO-SUN TIMES wrote, “I can’t explain everything I saw in this film, but I was entertained and enthralled by every second of it.” This film is only scheduled to play for one week!

Synopsis for LAND OF MINE: Nominated for “Best Foreign Film” at this year’s Academy Awards, this powerful film is only scheduled to play for three days this weekend. “As World War Two comes to an end, a group of German POWs, boys rather than men, are captured by the Danish army and forced to engage in a deadly task – to defuse and clear land mines from the Danish coastline. With little or no training, the boys soon discover that the war is far from over. Inspired by real events, LAND OF MINE exposes the untold story of one tragic moment in post-war history.” (Sony Classics) Click HERE to visit the film’s official site.

Vu-Do Swing is now set to bring ALIVE AND KICKING to town on April 26 at 7:30. “ALIVE AND KICKING is a feature-length documentary that takes an inside look into the culture of swing dancing and the characters who make it special. We explore the culture surrounding Swing dance from the emergence of the Lindy Hop to the modern day international phenomenon. The film follows the growth of Swing dance from its purely American roots as an art form, to countries all over the world. Alive and Kicking looks at the lives of the Swing dancers themselves to find their personal stories and why this dance fills them with joy.” Click this LINK to watch a trailer and reserve your ticket.

The 2017 DAYTON JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL has announced their line-up, and it’s terrific. To read all about the numerous films, to watch trailers, to see the schedule of screenings and to purchase advance tickets, please visit the festival’s official website by clicking this LINK. The following list only reflects films that will be screening at THE NEON:
Apr 27 at 7:15pm – ON THE MAP
May 1 at 7:15pm – IN SEARCH OF ISRAELI CUISINE
May 4 at 7:15pm – THE KIND WORDS
May 9 at 7:15pm – KEEP QUIET
May 11 at 7:15pm – SABENA HIJACKING
May 15 at 7:15pm – PERSONA NON GRATA
May 16 at 10am – THE PEOPLE VS. FRITZ BAUER
May 18 at 7:15pm – WOMEN’S BALCONY

On Friday, April 21, we plan to clear the decks and bring two new films to town…and we’ve decided to start them both a little early. COLOSSAL (starring Anne Hathaway) and LOST CITY OF Z (based on the beloved non-fiction book and starring Tom Holland & Robert Pattinson) will both have preview screenings on Thursday, April 20.

Thanks so much for your continued support.
See you soon,
Jonathan

SHOWTIMES for Tuesday, April 11 – Thursday, April 20:

THE LAST WORD (R) 1 Hr 48 Min
Wednesday-Thursday (Apr 12-13): 5:10
FINAL DAY – Apr 13!

WILSON (R) 1 Hr 34 Min
Wednesday-Thursday (Apr 12-13): 3:10, 7:30
FINAL DAY – Apr 13!

FRANTZ (PG-13) 1 Hr 53 Min
Wednesday-Thursday (Apr 12-13): 2:45, 5:15, 7:40
Friday & Saturday (Apr 14 & 15): 3:00, 7:30, 9:45
Sunday (Apr 16): 3:00, 7:30
Monday – Wednesday (Apr 17-19): 2:50, 5:10, 7:30
Thursday (Apr 20): 2:50, 5:10

PERSONAL SHOPPER (R) 1 Hr 45 Min
Friday & Saturday (Apr 14 & 15): 12:15, 2:30, 4:50, 7:15, 9:30
Sunday (Apr 16): 12:15, 2:30, 4:50, 7:15
Monday – Wednesday (Apr 17-19): 3:00, 5:20, 7:40
Thursday (Apr 20): 3:00, 5:20

LAND OF MINE (R) 1 Hr 40 Min
Friday, Saturday, Sunday (Apr 14-16): 12:45, 5:20

THE LOST CITY OF Z (PG-13) 2 Hrs 21 Min
Preview Screening – Thursday (Apr 20): 7:30

COLOSSAL (R) 1 Hr 50 Min
Preview Screening – Thursday (Apr 20): 7:40

COMING SOON:
(All Dates Are Tentative. Dates Often Move And Sometimes Disappear)
April 21 – COLOSSAL
April 21 – LOST CITY OF Z
May 5 – THEIR FINEST
May 26 – THE LOVERS
TBD – CEZANNE ET MOI
TBD – MAUDIE
TBD – NORMAN

TIFF 2016 – Day #1

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a-quiet-passion_poster_goldposter_com_1personal-shopper-poster

Hello Everyone.

With the pass that I have, I can screen as many “press/industry screenings” that I’d like during the festival.  That said, those screenings are just screenings.  It’s awesome to have the opportunity to see so many films with an audience, but part of the reason I come to a festival (people come for a variety of reasons) is to hear filmmakers talk about their craft.  Thus I have the opportunity to obtain two “public screening” tickets per day.  Public screenings are the fun, glamorous screenings where they roll out the red carpet and hold Q&A’s with directors, producers, screenwriters and actors. These tickets are only available two days in advance of each screening, so I find myself in line every day during the festival…usually before 7am.

This morning, I was out to obtain tickets for Barry Jenkins’ MOONLIGHT and a curated interview with Isabelle Huppert.  Both take place on Saturday…and I got both!

Then I was off to my first screening at 9:00am – Kenneth Lonergan’s MANCHESTER BY THE SEA.  This film had a lot of tonal qualities of Lonergan’s first feature – YOU CAN COUNT ON ME.  With a wonderful central performance by Casey Affleck (and a spectacularly touching small role by Michelle Williams), the story is about a man who seems to lead a rather thankless life of mundane routines (he’s a janitorial handy man for an apartment complex).  When he gets a call that his brother has passed away, he is forced to confront lingering pain from his past – told through a series of flashbacks.  Though I thought the film was a bit overscored, the drama really works and the story unfolds in a lovely way.  There were a couple moments of schtick that I thought seemed a bit out of place – but so is life.  I think this film will go far.

Olivier Assayas’ PERSONAL SHOPPER was next on my list.  This non-traditional ghost story had me teetering back and forth throughout…I was invested, I was raising my eyebrows, I was intrigued, I was disappointed…and then I ultimately was sold by the final 10 minutes.  Kristen Stewart gives a great performance as a woman who shops for high-end designer clothing and jewelry for a wealthy client who is always on the go.  She’s also a medium.  While trying to connect to the spirit world for a client, she’s also hoping to catch a sign from her recently deceased brother.  Assayas’ previous work included THE CLOUDS OF SILS MARIA (with Juliette Binoche as well as Stewart) and of my favorites from TIFF in 2008 – SUMMER HOURS.  This film won’t go down as one of my favorites, and I know many people will be quite disappointed, but I was a fan by the end.

The third film of the day for me was Terence Davies’ A QUIET PASSION – a film about Emily Dickinson starring Cynthia Nixon.  The film opens in a sort of parochial school.  A teacher asks students who have given themselves to Christ to go to one side and for students who are still working toward giving themselves to Christ to the other.  Left in the middle is one student – a young Emily Dickinson (at this point played by Emma Bell).  The dialog is sharp and thoughtful (one of the best strengths throughout the film), and the teacher eventually tell Dickinson, “You stand alone in your rebellion.” This telling line haunts the remainder of the film.  Though I found some filmmaking devices to be odd choices (one superimposed was particularly weird), it’s ultimately a thoughtful and visually stunning film with wonderful performances and some very funny moments due to razor sharp dialog.

The official “Opening Night Film” was a big Hollywood remake – THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, directed by Antoine Fuqua (SOUTHPAW, BROOKLYN’S FINEST) and starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and many more.  Here’s the point that some of you might find disappointing…I left 20 minutes into the film.  (I almost never write about films that I don’t finish.)  I went to the Opening night with my friend Glenn Kiser – a great filmmaker who attended The Dayton LGBT Film Festival with his short film SABBATICAL.  We had “great” seats – very close to the stage…only paces from all of the stars and director.  The movie started an hour late and the speakers were above us – thus pushing the sound far behind us and bouncing off the back walls.  Having difficulty understanding any of the dialog, we decided to leave.  Not being a film I would seek out under any other circumstances, I wasn’t disappointed…it gave me a great opportunity to catch up with Glenn and finally grab dinner.

 

At the end of the day, I’ll simply say I’ve seen 3 films (and a dozen stars) so far.

Thanks for reading!

More soon,

Jonathan