Sgt. Misha Pemble-Belkin (above, left) -- one of the "stars" of Restrepo -- motorcycled in from Louisiana's Fort Polk, where he currently is stationed, to appear Friday at an opening-day screening of the acclaimed documentary at the Angelika Film Center in Downtown H-Town. You can read my Houston Culture Map Q&A here.
Directors Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger spent over a year imbedded with soldiers of the Second Platoon, Battle Company of the 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley – one of the most dangerous postings in the U.S. military – to make Restrepo, their award-winning, critically acclaimed documentary about the bonding and bravery of men under fire. The film kicks off its Houston theatrical run this weekend at the Angelika Film Center in Downtown H-Town. But if you want to make the most of your moviegoing experience – and, not incidentally, gain an even more complete understanding of events covered by the filmmakers -- make sure you attend the 5:30 pm Friday screening. After the film, Sgt. Misha Pemble-Belkin – one of 15 soldiers followed by Hetherington and Junger in Restrepo – will be on hand for a question-and-answer session with the audience. It’ll be my privilege to serve as host for the Q&A.
Years before Arizona passed its draconian measure to broaden the power of police officers to detain suspected illegal aliens, officials in Prince William County, Virginia, thought it would be a nifty idea to adopt an ordinance requiring police officers to question anyone they had "probable cause" to suspect was an undocumented immigrant. The legislation polarized an already divided community, leading to unintended consequences – some local businesses saw their customer base decline when Hispanics, documented or otherwise, left the community – and triggering a grassroots pushback against the law. Korean-born, Houston-raised filmmaker Annabel Park was there at ground zero (along with her partner and co-director, Eric Byler) to cover the situation in 9500 Liberty, the acclaimed documentary opening today in Houston at the Angelika Film Center. Here is the Q&A I had with her for Houston Culture Map.
Talk about topicality: As the cataclysmic Gulf Oil Spill continues apace – and, not incidentally, as activists gather in Houston to protest at the Chevron shareholders meeting – the Aneglika Film Center will present a special screening of Sweet Crude, an acclaimed documentary about the true cost of oil, the global environmental crisis, and the struggle for resource control in the Niger Delta of Nigeria, at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday.
But wait, there’s more: After the screening, there’ll be a panel discussion with Macon Hawkins, an oil worker who, despite his experiences as a hostage held by Niger Delta militants, remains sympathetic to the needs of the region’s people; Emem Okon, a leader of Nigeria’s women’s movement; Omoyele Sowore, an activist from a Chevron production area in Nigeria, now a U.S.-based journalist; and Sandy Cioffi, director of Sweet Crude, who attracted international attention in April 2008 when she, her production crew and a Nigerian colleague were arrested by members of the Nigerian military in an effort to shut down the film.
And why, you might ask, were those soldiers so eager to impede production of Sweet Crude? Well, maybe they were image-conscious soldiers. As my Variety colleague John Anderson noted in his rave review of the film, Cioffi doesn't paint a pretty picture:
“After 50 years and $700 billion in oil sucked out of the ground by Royal Dutch Shell and its co-conspirator, Chevron, the Niger Delta is among the most polluted places on Earth, says UC Berkeley geography professor Michael Watts, Cioffi's most astute talking head. Watts clarifies something else essential about Nigeria: The exploited African nation is ‘a very shaky, rickety federation" that isn't a natural nation at all, but has always been a ripe candidate for divide-and-conquer colonialism.’
“‘This is not the movie I intended to make,’ Cioffi says in her initial voiceover, explaining she was there to make a movie about a library, the construction of which marked a rare collaboration between the government, oil companies and usually contentious tribal interests. But the students involved used the opening ceremony to mount a protest over their exploited resources, and Cioffi knew she had another movie to make.”
It's a movie that may find a sizeable and concerned audience here in H-Town, which reportedly has one of the largest Nigerian populations of any U.S. city.
Coming soon – like, tomorrow – to a theater (Angelika Film Center) downtown: Surprise in Texas, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Peter Rosen’s up-close account of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth. The documentary follows 30 competitors from 14 countries -- including Nobuyuki Tsujii, an award-wining pianist blind since birth – as they vie for attention and accolades at the prestigious contest. Rosen goes behind the scenes to focus on preparations and performances, and acknowledges the warm hospitality extended by Texas host families to competition participants.
After the 7:45 p.m. Friday Surprise screening at the Angelika, Jade Simmons, first-ever webcast host for the Van Cliburn Competition, will be on hand for a Q&A session. And while she likely won’t be sharing hot gossip about who may have hidden a rival’s sheet music, or slipped a whoopee cushion onto someone else's piano stool, Simmons – who earned a master’s degree at Rice University, where she studied with Jon Kimura Parker, and created the Mozart on the Move music education program used in H-Town’s public schools -- will offer insights informed by her own experiences as a classical pianist.
What sort of experiences? Well, Simmons has played impressively in several concert venues – so impressively, in fact, that The Washington Post has called her “a clear, powerful pianist with a magnetic personality…worth seeing any time.” And while she was competing at the 2000 Miss America Pageant, she earned first runner-up honors partly on the strength of her performance of Chopin’s Etude in C-sharp minor, Op. 10, No. 4. Of course, it probably also helped that she looked pretty smokin' hot in a bathing suit, but still....
I'm not in the habit of recommending movies sight unseen, but I'm willing to make an exception for Beeswax, the latest indie effort by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski. For one thing, I'm a great admirer of Bujalski's previous feature, Mutual Appreciation. For another: If you see Beeswax at 4:20 p.m. or 7:10 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Houston, you'll be able to talk with Bujalski and lead actress Tilly Hatcher during a Q&A session after each screening. The film itself has garnered raves from such discerning critics as A.O. Scott and Jeffrey M. Anderson, so the odds are good that, if you like this sort of thing, as I do, this is the sort of thing you'll like.
Filmmaker Aengus James sympathetically captures the trills of victory and the agony of defeat at the International Championships of Barbershop Singing in American Harmony, an efficiently constructed and emotionally involving documentary with a sharp eye for revealing detail and a pleasing amount of low-key charm. It's kicking off a limited theatrical run today at Houston's Angelika Film Center and other theaters, and you can read my Variety review here.
JONAS BROTHERS CATCH A QUICK FLICK Texas trio makes surprise weekend stop at Angelika Film Center
HOUSTON (March 9, 2009) – Have you ever wondered how pop stars Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas might spend a Saturday night? Turns out, just like any other normal guys.
This past Saturday the brothers were spotted enjoying some pre-concert downtime at the Angelika Film Center, taking in the 9:30 p.m. show of Watchmen along with hundreds of other moviegoers. With a little helpful maneuvering from management, they were able to slip in and out of the theater without creating a scene.
As much as I unashamedly and unconditionally love It's a Wonderful Life, I don't think I've ever actually seen it on a big movie screen. That is, not until now. Thanks to the folks at the Angelika Film Center here in Houston, I'll have a chance next week to finally watch this classic the way God and Frank Capra intended me to see it. You, too, can check one of the special screenings scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23, and 1:50 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 24 and 25. Gosh, do you think they'll be serving eggnog at the concession stand?
I'm not in the habit of recommending movies sight unseen, but I'm willing to make an exception for Beeswax, the latest indie effort by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski. For one thing, I'm a great admirer of Bujalski's previous feature, Mutual Appreciation. For another: If you see Beeswax at 4:20 p.m. or 7:10 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Angelika Film Center in downtown Houston, you'll be able to talk with Bujalski and lead actress Tilly Hatcher during a Q&A session after each screening. The film itself has garnered raves from such discerning critics as A.O. Scott and Jeffrey M. Anderson, so the odds are good that, if you like this sort of thing, as I do, this is the sort of thing you'll like.
Filmmaker Aengus James sympathetically captures the trills of victory and the agony of defeat at the International Championships of Barbershop Singing in American Harmony, an efficiently constructed and emotionally involving documentary with a sharp eye for revealing detail and a pleasing amount of low-key charm. It's kicking off a limited theatrical run today at Houston's Angelika Film Center and other theaters, and you can read my Variety review here.
As much as I unashamedly and unconditionally love It's a Wonderful Life, I don't think I've ever actually seen it on a big movie screen. That is, not until now. Thanks to the folks at the Angelika Film Center here in Houston, I'll have a chance next week to finally watch this classic the way God and Frank Capra intended me to see it. You, too, can check one of the special screenings scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23, and 1:50 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 24 and 25. Gosh, do you think they'll be serving eggnog at the concession stand?
