Cinema Society
The Town
Directed by Ben Affleck
Starring Ben Affleck, Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Pete Postlethwaite, and Chris Cooper
As he plans his next job, a longtime thief tries to balance his feelings for a bank manager connected to one of his earlier heists, as well as the FBI agent looking to bring him and his crew down.
Screening at Cinema Society in September
Never Let Me Go
Directed by: Mark Romanek
Written by: Alex Garland
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Keira Knightley
As children, Ruth, Kathy and Tommy, spend their childhood at a seemingly idyllic English boarding school. As they grow into young adults, they find that they have to come to terms with the strength of the love they feel for each other, while preparing themselves for the haunting reality that awaits them.
Screening at Cinema Society in September
The Tillman Story
Directed by: Amir Bar-Lev
Pat Tillman never thought of himself as a hero. His choice to leave a multimillion-dollar football contract and join the military wasn’t done for any reason other than he felt it was the right thing to do. The fact that the military manipulated his tragic death in the line of duty into a propaganda tool is unfathomable and thoroughly explored in Amir Bar-Lev’s riveting and enraging documentary.
Screening at Cinema Society in August
Followed by a Q&A with Director Amir Bar-Lev
Inception
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, and Michael Caine
In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one’s mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset.
Screening at Cinema Society in July
Le Concert
Directed by: Radu Mihaileanu
Starring: Alexei Guskov, Dimitri Nazarov, Melanie Laurent, Francois Berleand, Miou Miou, Valeri Barinov
Thirty years ago, Andrei Simoniovich Filipov, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra, was fired for hiring Jewish musicians. Now a mere cleaning man at the Bolshoi, he learns by accident that the Châtelet Theater in Paris invites the Bolshoi orchestra to play there. He decides to gather together his former musicians and to perform in Paris in the place of the current Bolshoi orchestra. As a solo violin player to accompany his old Jewish or Gypsy musicians he wants Anne-Marie Jacquet, a young virtuoso. If they all overcome the hardships ahead this very special concert will be a triumph.
Screening at Cinema Society in July
Toy Story 3
Woody, Buzz, and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college.
Screening at Cinema Society in June
Cyrus
Written and Directed by: Jay & Mark Duplass
Starring: John C Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener
A recently divorced guy meets the woman of his dreams. Then he meets her son.
Screening at Cinema Society in June
Followed by a Q&A with Writer/Directors Jay & Mark Duplass
2009-2010 Season
Ondine
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Starring: Colin Farrell
The story of an Irish fisherman who discovers a woman in his fishing net who he believes to be a mermaid.
Screening at Cinema Society on May 29th
The Good Heart
Directed by: Dagur Kári
Starring: Brian Cox, Paul Dano
A bartender takes a young homeless man in under his wing.
Screening at Cinema Society on April 17th
Green Zone
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon
Discovering covert and faulty intelligence causes a U.S. Army officer to go rogue as he hunts for Weapons of Mass Destruction in an unstable region.
Screening at Cinema Society on March 13th
Brothers
Directed by: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalie Portman, and Tobey Maguire
A young man comforts his older brother’s wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan.
Screening at Cinema Society on January 9th
Followed by Q&A with Director Jim Sheridan and Tobey Maguire
Sherlock Holmes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong
Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 21st
It’s Complicated
Directed by: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, and Alec Baldwin
A romantic comedy in which two men vie for the affection of a woman.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 20th
Followed by a Q&A with Director Nancy Meyers
Precious
Directed by: Lee Daniels
In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 13
Followed by Q&A with Gabby Sidibe (Precious) and Director Lee Daniels
Nine
Directed by: Rob Marshall
Starring: Daniel Day-Lews, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Stacy Ferguson, and Kate Hudson
Famous film director Guido Contini struggles to find harmony in his professional and personal lives, as he engages in dramatic relationships with his wife, his mistress, his muse, his agent, and his mother.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 12
Followed by Q&A with Rob Marshall
Invictus
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Morgan Freeman & Matt Damon
A look at life for Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid in South Africa during his first term as president when campaigned to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup event as an opportunity to unite his countrymen.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 9
Up In The Air
Directed by: Jason Reitman
With a job that has him traveling around the country firing people, Ryan Bingham leads an empty life out of a suitcase, until his company does the unexpected: ground him.
Screening at Cinema Society on December 6
The Hurt Locker
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner
Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.
Screening at Cinema Society on November 16
Followed by Q&A with Director Kathryn Bigelow
The Road
Directed by: John Hillcoat
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall, & Guy Pearce
A post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible.
Screening at Cinema Society on November 14
Followed by Q&A with Viggo Mortensen
A Single Man
Directed by: Tom Ford
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, & Nicholas Hoult
A story that centers on an English professor who, after the sudden death of his partner tries to go about his typical day in Los Angeles
Screening at Cinema Society on November 7
Followed by Q&A with Director Tom Ford and Actor Nicholas Hoult
Precious
Directed by: Lee Daniels
In Harlem, an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that her life can head in a new direction.
Screening at Cinema Society on October 31
Where The Wild Things Are
Directed by: Spike Jonze
An adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story, where Max, a disobedient little boy sent to bed without his supper, creates his own world–a forest inhabited by ferocious wild creatures that crown Max as their ruler.
Screening at Cinema Society on October 17
An Education
Directed by: Lone Scherfig
Starring: Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan
A coming-of-age story about a teenage girl in 1960s suburban London, and how her life changes with the arrival of a playboy nearly twice her age.
Screening at Cinema Society on October 3
Followed by a Q&A with Director Lone Scherfig
and Actress Carey Mulligan
Whip It
Directed by: Drew Barrymore
In Bodeen, Texas, an indie-rock loving misfit finds a way of dealing with her small-town misery after she discovers a roller derby league in nearby Austin.
Screening at Cinema Society on September 27th
Followed by a Q&A with Writer Shauna Cross
Seance On A Wet Afternoon
Kim Stanley plays a crooked medium who has become slightly unhinged since the death of her son. Craving money and publicity, she concocts a scheme with her weak-willed husband (Richard Attenborough). The pair will kidnap a wealthy young girl, collect the ransom, then use her “powers” to help the parents locate the child. The scheme falls apart, but not in the way that anyone might expect.
Followed by a Panel Discussion with composer Stephen Schwartz (the composer of WICKED and GODSPELL), the executive producer of the opera, Michael Jackowitz, the director of the Opera, Scott Schwartz, and all the way from London, the director of the original film, Bryan Forbes.
Film and Panel Discussion are free to Cinema Society members. Following the panel discussion will be a reception. Tickets are $40. For more information on Reception tickets, please contact The Opera of Santa Barbara at 805-898-3890 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 805-898-3890 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
This screening is in honor of the Premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s new opera based on the movie
which is opening in Santa Barbara on September 26th. With additional performances on October 2nd and 4th at the Granada. Tickets for the Opera will be sold at the event or currently online. Hurry as tickets are selling fast.
Screening at The Lobero Theatre on September 25
The Informant
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
The U.S. government decides to go after an agri-business giant with a price-fixing accusation, based on the evidence submitted by their star witness, vice president turned informant Mark Whitacre.
Screening at Cinema Society on September 21
Bright Star
Directed by: Jane Campion
The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats’ untimely death at age 25.
Screening at Cinema Society on September 20
Followed by a Q&A with Writer/Director Jane Campion,
Producer Jan Chapman, and Actor Paul Schneider
The Boys Are Back
Directed by: Scott Hicks
A sports writer becomes a single parent in tragic circumstances.
Screening at Cinema Society on September 19
Followed by a Q&A with Director Scott Hicks
and Clive Owen
Funny People
Directed by: Judd Apatow
When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship cause him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.
Screening at Cinema Society on August 2
Adam
Directed by: Max Mayer
Adam, a lonely man with Asperger’s Syndrome, develops a relationship with his upstairs neighbor, Beth.
Screening at Cinema Society on August 1
Followed by a Q&A with Director Max Mayer
The Cove
Directed by: Louie Psihoyos
Using state-of-the-art equipment, a group of activists, led by renown dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry, infiltrate a cove near Taijii, Japan to expose both a shocking instance of animal abuse and a serious threat to human health
Screening at Cinema Society on July 25
Bruno
Directed by: Larry Charles
Flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno takes his show to America.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive strong and crude sexual content, graphic nudity and language.
Screening at Cinema Society on July 12
500 Days of Summer
Directed by: Marc Webb
An offbeat romantic comedy about a woman (Zooey Deschanel) who doesn’t believe true love exists, and the young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who falls for her.
Screening at Cinema Society on July 11
Followed by a Q&A with Director Marc Webb
Public Enemies
Directed by: Michael Mann
The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.
Screening at Cinema Society on July 5
Cheri
Directed by: Stephen Frears
A romantic drama set in 1920s Paris, where the son of a courtesan retreats into a fantasy world after being forced to end his relationship with the older woman who educated him in the ways of love
Screening at Cinema Society on June 13