December 8 - 14
- Sunday
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
MUSICDecember 15 - 21
- Sunday
- Monday
- Tuesday
- Wednesday
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
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CINEMA - CINEMA
- CINEMA
- CINEMA
- CINEMA
ALL UPCOMING EVENTS
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THEATRE
A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare
Friday December 13, 7:00p–10:00p
Presented by Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op
▶ Show DetailsCost: $15 general admission
$10 for Acadia Lifelong Learning studentsA feuding fairy King and Queen of the forest cross paths with four runaway lovers and a troupe of actors trying to rehearse a play. As their dispute grows, the magical royal couple meddle with mortal lives leading to love triangles, mistaken identities and transformations… with hilarious, but dark consequences.
Prof. Anthony Harding will give a 30-minute introductory talk about the play at 6pm in the theatre.Contact: ntlive@justuscoffee.com
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Cost: $15 or $10 for students
Tickets: Online - www.thechimneyswifts.com
Fasten your seatbelts, and prepare for take-off, as the Chimney Swifts invite you to join them in flight. Spirits will be soaring, as the band takes to the stage to release their debut album. "Astronomy,". Their labour of love, is an album that showcases the roots of the band and their unique sound, crafted through the love of local music, and the support of a community that embraces originality.
It is for this reason that the band has chosen the Al Whittle Theatre, in Wolfville, NS, to release their debut CD. The same theatre where lead songwriter Jesse Potter released his own first solo album, and where events such as Night Kitchen have given local artists the platform to grow and develop their craft.
Wolfville invites you to appreciate the intricate sound and elaborate songwriting of this local gem of a band. Featuring fingerstyle guitar playing, and carefully crafted lyrics, the band of five also incorporates layers of harmony with each of their uniquely defined voices. Prepare to hear at least one song written by each member as well, as the five musicians each showcase their original material.
This is going to be a show like no other, a moment that many have been waiting for for almost a decade!
We hope you'll come out and be a part of this defining moment for Nova Scotia's own - The Chimney SwiftsContact: jpotter.rg@gmail.com | 9026905968
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Cost: $5 at the door
Kick off the ACC's second annual Retro Holiday Film Series with this lovely romantic comedy set at Christmas.
Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.
Bring a hanky and someone to snuggle.Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series continues with this modern take on A Christmas Carol starring the formidable Bill Murray as Francis Xavier Cross, a cynical, mean spirited television executive. He treats his loyal assistant with contempt. He just sacked a member of staff on Christmas Eve for simply disagreeing with him, and he's alienated himself from his brother who still insists on inviting Frank to Christmas dinner despite him refusing to go every year. However, Frank is forced to learn the true meaning of Christmas when he's visited by three ghosts.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series continues with this modern Christmas classic.
On Christmas Eve, a young boy embarks on a magical adventure to the North Pole on the Polar Express, while learning about friendship, bravery, and the spirit of Christmas.Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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CINEMA
It's A Wonderful Life
Wednesday December 18, 7:00p
Presented by Al Whittle Theatre
▶ Show DetailsCost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series is bringing back everyone's favorite holiday tearjerker. In this Frank Capra classic from 1946, an angel is sent from Heaven to help a desperately frustrated businessman by showing him what life would have been like if he had never existed. Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed. Featuring Zuzu and her petals.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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CINEMA
Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Thursday December 19, 7:00p
Presented by Al Whittle Theatre
▶ Show DetailsCost: $5 at the door
Jim Carrey takes the Grinch to a whole new level of mean. Ron Howard directs this live-action adaptation of the beloved children's tale by Dr. Seuss. The reclusive green Grinch decides to ruin Christmas for the cheery citizens of Whoville. Reluctantly joined by his hapless dog, Max, the Grinch comes down from his mountaintop home and sneaks into town to swipe everything Christmas-related from the Whos. However, the bitter grump finds a hitch in his plans when he encounters the endearing Cindy Lou Who.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro holiday film series is offering something for the action fans. First Blood is the first installment of the Rambo series and yes, it takes place at Christmas time.
A formidable but unstable veteran Green Beret is forced by a cruel Sheriff and his deputies to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
Rated R: Admittance restricted to 18 years of age or over.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
This one never gets old, and it encapsulates the joy of Christmas. Pure fun, great cast.
After discovering he is a human, a man raised as an elf at the North Pole decides to travel to New York City to locate his real father.
Bring the whole family!
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series is moving into some post holiday film fun. Everyone remembers Gremlins.
A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Rated PG
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series continues with this Christmas-adjacent film from 1960. Directed by Billy Wilder and starring the amazing Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray (as a cad1). Everyone needs to see this one.
A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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CINEMA
Three Days of the Condor
Sunday December 29, 7:00p
Presented by Al Whittle Theatre
▶ Show DetailsCost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series continues with another Christmas-adjacent film from 1975. Directed by Sydney Pollack and featuring a star-studded cast including a young Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, John Houseman and others.
A bookish CIA researcher finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
Rated R
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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Cost: $5 at the door
The Retro Holiday Film Series concludes with this charming detective story from 1934. The dashing William Powell and the charming Myrna Loy will captivate you in this first film of The Thin Man series.
Former detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora (and don't forget their dog Asta) investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
Contact: manager@alwhittletheatre.ca | 902-542-3344
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CINEMA
The Peanut Butter Falcon
Sunday January 12, 4:00p–5:37p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
"A restless and spirited guy with Down syndrome who’s kept cooped up in a nursing home, Zak (played by the enchanting Zack Gottsagen), escapes one night, sights set on attending the wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). Zak hopes to create his own wrestling persona, The Peanut Butter Falcon. After stumbling across Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a fisherman on the run from his own problems, the two fellas embark on a daring, escapade-filled journey together.
At its core, the film is a story of friendship, and its strongest moments come when Zak and Tyler’s organic and endearing connection takes center stage. As they trek through muddy rivers and overgrown swampland, we see their relationship evolve from one rooted in happenstance to genuine affection.
Unlike most, Tyler feels no patronizing need to protect Zak, who’s completely capable yet often denied any fun or freedom. It’s an attitude the filmmakers hope will be carried outside the theater: that no one should be underestimated or restricted. Everyone deserves a chance to be their own Peanut Butter Falcon, whatever that may be." (Shalavé Cawley, The Austin Chronicle)
"The film is a sweet, funny and heartfelt look at friendship and strength." (Samantha Incorvaia, Arizona Republic)
"The Peanut Butter Falcon is charming, enveloping, and an absolute joy." (Yolanda Machado, TheWrap)
"The Peanut Butter Falcon refuses to condescend to its star and tells a story that’s authentic to the life and experiences of adults with Down Syndrome." (Alan Ng, Film Threat)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
The Peanut Butter Falcon
Sunday January 12, 7:00p–8:37p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
"A restless and spirited guy with Down syndrome who’s kept cooped up in a nursing home, Zak (played by the enchanting Zack Gottsagen), escapes one night, sights set on attending the wrestling school of his idol, The Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church). Zak hopes to create his own wrestling persona, The Peanut Butter Falcon. After stumbling across Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a fisherman on the run from his own problems, the two fellas embark on a daring, escapade-filled journey together.
At its core, the film is a story of friendship, and its strongest moments come when Zak and Tyler’s organic and endearing connection takes center stage. As they trek through muddy rivers and overgrown swampland, we see their relationship evolve from one rooted in happenstance to genuine affection.
Unlike most, Tyler feels no patronizing need to protect Zak, who’s completely capable yet often denied any fun or freedom. It’s an attitude the filmmakers hope will be carried outside the theater: that no one should be underestimated or restricted. Everyone deserves a chance to be their own Peanut Butter Falcon, whatever that may be." (Shalavé Cawley, The Austin Chronicle)
"The film is a sweet, funny and heartfelt look at friendship and strength." (Samantha Incorvaia, Arizona Republic)
"The Peanut Butter Falcon is charming, enveloping, and an absolute joy." (Yolanda Machado, TheWrap)
"The Peanut Butter Falcon refuses to condescend to its star and tells a story that’s authentic to the life and experiences of adults with Down Syndrome." (Alan Ng, Film Threat)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
Dolce fine giornata
Wednesday January 15, 7:00p–8:32p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
Director Jacek Borcuch creates a drama that is just as much about family relationships as it is about politics and consequences. Borcuch echoes the adversarial nature of the current cultural climate by contemplating the power of words and the value assigned to artists in society.
Maria Linde (Krystyna Janda) is a free-spirited, Nobel Prize-winning poet living in a seemingly idyllic villa with her husband (Antonio Catania), daughter and two grandchildren in the Tuscan town of Volterra. They enjoy all their surroundings have to offer: fresh food, great wine and dinner parties with their intellectual friends. Privately (or perhaps not so privately), Maria also enjoys the company of a local tavern owner, a handsome and much younger Egyptian man named Nazeer (Lorenzo de Moor).
It is not long before the cracks in the veneer become apparent; the air in the walled city is tinged with suspicion of any kind of otherness. A breaking point is finally reached when Rome is hit by a deadly terrorist attack. In its aftermath, Maria's life and the lives of the people she touches are upended: during a ceremony in her honour, she delivers a speech that sends shockwaves through her community and the world, straining her relationships with her family and her lover.
Dolce Fine Giornata sits at the intersection of art and politics, freedom of speech and moral consequence, public and personal life. Its final scene will inspire a discussion that will likely go unresolved.
"Borcuch's film asks the right questions about the dangerously escalating xenophobia and leaves a lasting impression with it final metaphoric shot." (Tomris Laffly, RogerEbert.com)
"A Nobel-winning poet recklessly inserts herself into immigration and terrorism debates in Jacek Borcuch's satisfyingly complex drama." (Dennis Harvey, Variety)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
The Catholic Church's papacy is a singular institution, with unique demands placed on the men who would see themselves elevated to it. This decade saw one of the Church's most important moments of transition, but news reports can fail in the face of such enormous, complex change. The Two Popes takes us beyond TV images of smoke rising from the Vatican chimney into the hearts, minds, and actions of those charged with leading over a billion faithful. Directed by Brazil's Oscar-nominated Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, City of God) and starring two acting legends in Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce (The Wife), this insightful story ushers us behind gilded doors to watch the once and future Popes grapple with faith and religious leadership in a rapidly changing world.
The year is 2013. Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pryce) could not be a less conventional candidate for the papacy. Dodging pomp at every turn, he prefers walking or biking to limousines. He likes to tango and watch soccer with ordinary people. In an amusing early scene, we hear him whistling "Dancing Queen" in the Vatican men's room. Most importantly, he believes it is the Church's obligation to respond to the shifting needs of its followers—which makes him the opposite of Pope Benedict (Hopkins), who regards any change as a perilous compromise to the Church's integrity.
Nevertheless, Benedict realizes that momentum is building for Bergoglio to succeed him, so the two men meet, break bread and engage in a debate that reveals much about their respective pasts and divergent visions for the future.
With its brilliantly detailed performances from Pryce and Hopkins, its cinematic flair and surprising flourishes of humour, The Two Popes makes for a deeply rewarding experience.
"What makes The Two Popes so delightful, other than the very funny script, is watching two seasoned actors play off each other for two hours. Both Hopkins and Pryce illustrate what the craft of acting is really about." (Sasha Stone, TheWrap)
"It is extremely difficult to make something as invisible and ineffable as religious faith seem real, let alone touching, on film; doing that is only one of the achievements of Fernando Meirelles’ unusual look inside the papacy." (Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail)
"Somehow the filmmakers found lightheartedness and—gasp—laughs in a story of political intrigue at the top of the notoriously buttoned-up Catholic Church." (Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
The Catholic Church's papacy is a singular institution, with unique demands placed on the men who would see themselves elevated to it. This decade saw one of the Church's most important moments of transition, but news reports can fail in the face of such enormous, complex change. The Two Popes takes us beyond TV images of smoke rising from the Vatican chimney into the hearts, minds, and actions of those charged with leading over a billion faithful. Directed by Brazil's Oscar-nominated Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener, City of God) and starring two acting legends in Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce (The Wife), this insightful story ushers us behind gilded doors to watch the once and future Popes grapple with faith and religious leadership in a rapidly changing world.
The year is 2013. Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (Pryce) could not be a less conventional candidate for the papacy. Dodging pomp at every turn, he prefers walking or biking to limousines. He likes to tango and watch soccer with ordinary people. In an amusing early scene, we hear him whistling "Dancing Queen" in the Vatican men's room. Most importantly, he believes it is the Church's obligation to respond to the shifting needs of its followers—which makes him the opposite of Pope Benedict (Hopkins), who regards any change as a perilous compromise to the Church's integrity.
Nevertheless, Benedict realizes that momentum is building for Bergoglio to succeed him, so the two men meet, break bread and engage in a debate that reveals much about their respective pasts and divergent visions for the future.
With its brilliantly detailed performances from Pryce and Hopkins, its cinematic flair and surprising flourishes of humour, The Two Popes makes for a deeply rewarding experience.
"What makes The Two Popes so delightful, other than the very funny script, is watching two seasoned actors play off each other for two hours. Both Hopkins and Pryce illustrate what the craft of acting is really about." (Sasha Stone, TheWrap)
"It is extremely difficult to make something as invisible and ineffable as religious faith seem real, let alone touching, on film; doing that is only one of the achievements of Fernando Meirelles’ unusual look inside the papacy." (Kate Taylor, The Globe and Mail)
"Somehow the filmmakers found lightheartedness and—gasp—laughs in a story of political intrigue at the top of the notoriously buttoned-up Catholic Church." (Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down)
Sunday January 26, 4:00p–6:07p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
The latest from acclaimed director Louise Archambault (Gabrielle), adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jocelyne Saucier, follows a group of octogenarians who have decided to live on their own terms in the wilderness of northern Quebec.
Tom (Gilbert Sicotte, The Salesman) and Charlie (Rémy Girard; The Barbarian Invasions, Incendies), who have been living in isolation for years in a small compound along the water, experience a death in their community of three when their painter friend Ted suddenly passes away, leaving behind a locked shed full of beautiful canvases. Steve (Éric Robidoux, Love in the Time of Civil War), a young manager at an almost-always vacant motel not too far away from the compound, starts working with Tom and Charlie, helping them maintain a low-key marijuana operation.
After Steve takes his aunt (Andrée Lachapelle) to her brother's funeral, she asks that she not be taken back to the psychiatric hospital where she has spent the greater part of her life—and Steve knows just the place to take her to keep her safe and under the radar. Around the same time, a young photographer (Eve Landry) finds her way to the secluded compound as she investigates survivors of the area's greatest forest fire that happened decades ago.
These two women shake up the men's tranquil routine, challenging each of them to look at the world in ways they may have previously been avoiding. And the Birds Rained Down presents a story of intertwined destinies, compassion and love. A poignant meditation on the possibilities of living outside modernity, it is a tribute to the need to live independently and on one's own terms—and to those courageous enough to pursue this.
"This melancholic charmer is a choral character study whose slow pacing matches the unhurried lifestyle of its protagonists and the diurnal and seasonal rhythms of the nature they inhabit." (Lee Marshall, Screen International)
"Touching, heartbreaking, and dangerously thought-provoking, And the Birds Rained Down will force you to re-examine your relationship with yourself, the world around you, and the people you love." (Anne T. Donahue, Globe and Mail)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
Il pleuvait des oiseaux (And the Birds Rained Down)
Sunday January 26, 7:00p–9:07p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
The latest from acclaimed director Louise Archambault (Gabrielle), adapted from the acclaimed novel by Jocelyne Saucier, follows a group of octogenarians who have decided to live on their own terms in the wilderness of northern Quebec.
Tom (Gilbert Sicotte, The Salesman) and Charlie (Rémy Girard; The Barbarian Invasions, Incendies), who have been living in isolation for years in a small compound along the water, experience a death in their community of three when their painter friend Ted suddenly passes away, leaving behind a locked shed full of beautiful canvases. Steve (Éric Robidoux, Love in the Time of Civil War), a young manager at an almost-always vacant motel not too far away from the compound, starts working with Tom and Charlie, helping them maintain a low-key marijuana operation.
After Steve takes his aunt (Andrée Lachapelle) to her brother's funeral, she asks that she not be taken back to the psychiatric hospital where she has spent the greater part of her life—and Steve knows just the place to take her to keep her safe and under the radar. Around the same time, a young photographer (Eve Landry) finds her way to the secluded compound as she investigates survivors of the area's greatest forest fire that happened decades ago.
These two women shake up the men's tranquil routine, challenging each of them to look at the world in ways they may have previously been avoiding. And the Birds Rained Down presents a story of intertwined destinies, compassion and love. A poignant meditation on the possibilities of living outside modernity, it is a tribute to the need to live independently and on one's own terms—and to those courageous enough to pursue this.
"This melancholic charmer is a choral character study whose slow pacing matches the unhurried lifestyle of its protagonists and the diurnal and seasonal rhythms of the nature they inhabit." (Lee Marshall, Screen International)
"Touching, heartbreaking, and dangerously thought-provoking, And the Birds Rained Down will force you to re-examine your relationship with yourself, the world around you, and the people you love." (Anne T. Donahue, Globe and Mail)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
After having spooked audiences into a delicious frenzy with his much-lauded feature debut The Witch (2015), director Robert Eggers returns with this chillingly intimate tale of two men sequestered on a tiny—and perhaps enchanted—Atlantic isle.
Charged with tending to a lighthouse for a four-week term, the taciturn Ephraim Winslow (Robert Pattinson) spends his days toiling away with backbreaking upkeep, while during the nights it is only his elder cohort Thomas Wake (Willem Dafoe; At Eternity's Gate, The Florida Project) who is allowed to keep the beacon in operation. Growing weary of menial tasks, Ephraim's curiosity regarding Thomas' hours alone with the big light burgeons. But is it just fatigue and envy that cause Ephraim to become increasingly paranoid about the loitering seagulls, to the point where he is visited by strange apparitions?
Set in the 19th century and photographed by Jarin Blaschke in starkly beautiful black and white at the Cape Forchu lighthouse in Yarmouth County, The Lighthouse harkens back to the literature of Melville while accruing a hallucinatory ambiance that feels entirely fresh. The film's crude humour, hypnotic sounds, and spectral imagery lure us in, but it is Pattinson and Dafoe holding our attention, even as the men begin to slide off the deep end with truly unhinged performances that feature Pattinson, spellbinding with his bushy beard, piercing eyes, and salty accent, and Dafoe, captivating as he goads his young mate to reveal his shadowy past. As The Lighthouse—winner of a FIPRESCI award at Cannes—veers into ever-darker waters, this brilliant pair enters a dangerous dance that will leave you staggering out of the cinema on sea legs.
"It's bonkers and a hell of a film. And even better, with The Lighthouse, Eggers establishes that he's more than a one trick pony. He's a true original, auteur and clever filmmaker who isn't interested in pandering." (Karen Gordon, Original Cin)
"That's all there is, the two men and the lighthouse—plus a matched pair of brilliant performances, torrents of astonishing language, a slow crescendo of fateful sounds and a succession of hypnotic images, in black and white on an almost square screen, that lend a rock-solid sense of reality to a growing struggle for dominance." (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal)
"By turns funny, sinister, haunting, historically fascinating and mythical, The Lighthouse is one of the best films of the year." (Sara Stewart, New York Post)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
Anchored by a note-perfect performance from Oscar winner Renée Zellweger, this heart-rending adaptation of Peter Quilter's stage play End of the Rainbow presents an intimate portrait of the great Judy Garland in the final year of her life.
Judy was raised on film sets and nearly every aspect of her life—from what she could eat to who she could date to what drugs she should take—was dictated by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer. She became a wondrously gifted movie star who never learned to take care of herself.
As Judy begins, the child star of The Wizard of Oz and ingenue of A Star is Born is now middle-aged, homeless, broke, embroiled in a custody battle and all but blacklisted in Hollywood. In a bid to regain some control of her career, she accepts a residency at a London theatre. She refuses to rehearse and, crippled by anxiety, insomnia, and alcoholism, can barely make it to the stage opening night. But once there, in the spotlight, before an eager audience, microphone in hand and a crackerjack band at the ready, she is suddenly at home. And it is magic.
Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy tracks those rollercoaster months in England, the onstage triumphs and catastrophes, the whirlwind marriage to the opportunistic Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) and the touching friendship with a gay couple who adore her.
Featuring a career-defining turn for Zellweger (herself no stranger to the cruelties of Hollywood scrutiny), Judy showcases some of the star’s most iconic songs like you have never experienced them before: the cheery, bright show tunes that she performed until the end reveal a pensiveness and melancholy here, asking you to consider the life lived behind the smile.
"Zellweger knocks it out of the park, lighting up this punchy and moving late-life biopic with big-hearted, big-voiced panache." (Kate Stables, Total Film)
"Although Judy doesn't adhere rigorously to the chronology of the main character's last months, it provides a compelling portrait of the tragic decline of one of America's 20th century icons." (James Berardinelli, Reel Views)
"What's most appealing about Zellweger's portrayal is the brightness that peeps out from the clouds: her deep love for her children, her sly wit." (Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
Anchored by a note-perfect performance from Oscar winner Renée Zellweger, this heart-rending adaptation of Peter Quilter's stage play End of the Rainbow presents an intimate portrait of the great Judy Garland in the final year of her life.
Judy was raised on film sets and nearly every aspect of her life—from what she could eat to who she could date to what drugs she should take—was dictated by MGM studio head Louis B. Mayer. She became a wondrously gifted movie star who never learned to take care of herself.
As Judy begins, the child star of The Wizard of Oz and ingenue of A Star is Born is now middle-aged, homeless, broke, embroiled in a custody battle and all but blacklisted in Hollywood. In a bid to regain some control of her career, she accepts a residency at a London theatre. She refuses to rehearse and, crippled by anxiety, insomnia, and alcoholism, can barely make it to the stage opening night. But once there, in the spotlight, before an eager audience, microphone in hand and a crackerjack band at the ready, she is suddenly at home. And it is magic.
Directed by Rupert Goold, Judy tracks those rollercoaster months in England, the onstage triumphs and catastrophes, the whirlwind marriage to the opportunistic Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) and the touching friendship with a gay couple who adore her.
Featuring a career-defining turn for Zellweger (herself no stranger to the cruelties of Hollywood scrutiny), Judy showcases some of the star’s most iconic songs like you have never experienced them before: the cheery, bright show tunes that she performed until the end reveal a pensiveness and melancholy here, asking you to consider the life lived behind the smile.
"Zellweger knocks it out of the park, lighting up this punchy and moving late-life biopic with big-hearted, big-voiced panache." (Kate Stables, Total Film)
"Although Judy doesn't adhere rigorously to the chronology of the main character's last months, it provides a compelling portrait of the tragic decline of one of America's 20th century icons." (James Berardinelli, Reel Views)
"What's most appealing about Zellweger's portrayal is the brightness that peeps out from the clouds: her deep love for her children, her sly wit." (Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
Varda par Agnès (Varda by Agnès)
Wednesday February 5, 7:00p–8:55p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
The last film from the late French New Wave filmmaker Agnès Varda (Faces Places, The Gleaners and I, The Beaches of Agnès) traces her legendary career and life with characteristic humour and vibrant energy, presenting a portrait of an artist who lived through her films and revealed the extraordinary in the ordinary.
"There are three words that are important to me: inspiration, creation and sharing." So begins the late Agnès Varda in what would be the final film in her oeuvre of over 50 documentaries, fictions, and shorts, made over the course of 64 years. Varda by Agnès—a title that riffs on her 1988 cine-portrait of Jane Birkin, Jane B. par Agnès V.—forms its core out of lectures the iconic French New Wave director gave in her later years. But, in pure Varda fashion, the film is punctuated by humour as she dives into unexpected realms, tracing her career and life, and the ways they intertwined.
Though 90 at the time of filming, Varda still emanates her characteristic vibrant energy. She offers a wide-ranging journey through her world: her filming process, her feminism, her fine-art photography and her long-time relationship with director Jacques Demy. There are signature flourishes of animation and formal detours into the dreams that form the integral basis of her reality.
Varda died only a month after Varda by Agnès premiered at Berlin this year, and with this in mind, it is hard not to see it as a eulogy. Yet, like all of Varda's work, it brims with life. And its takeaway is not a past-tense legacy but a sense of how Varda lived through her films, of what she brought to the art form, and—the greatest gift—of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. "Nothing is banal if you film people with empathy and love," Varda once said. This is the inspiration she has left us with.
"Rendering the passage of time as a painful yet serene experience, Varda by Agnès comprehends what it means to be a human with a natural flair for creative output." (Alasdair Bayman, CineVue)
"Like much of her digital work in the twentieth century, Varda’s approach here is a kind of expansive introspection; it’s a film which looks both inwards and outwards at the same time. And like Varda herself, it pulls off the combination of a trundling, amiable pace with a biting intellectual acuity." (Wendy Ide, Screen International)
"Two hours in this director’s company is a pleasure." (Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
Revisiting some of the themes that made his Oscar-nominated 2005 drama The Squid and the Whale so resonant, writer-director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha) digs deep into divorce with Marriage Story. Adam Driver (Paterson, Tracks, Inside Llewyn Davis) and Scarlett Johansson (Vicky Christina Barcelona) deliver some of their richest work as a couple whose once enviable union crumbles under the weight of mounting resentments and divergent needs.
Charlie (Driver) is a playwright who wants to stay in New York. Nicole (Johansson) is an actor who has landed a coveted television role that requires her to relocate to Los Angeles. Their geographical dispute tests an already strained relationship. As Marriage Story begins, the couple's divorce is already underway, with each enlisting legal squads deploying various tactics.
Yet Baumbach's elegant narrative goes back and forth through time, showing how Charlie and Nicole fell in love and built a life together alongside a detailed, blow-by-blow chronicle of their marital dismantling.
Baumbach's wise script goes from Bergmanesque drama, to dark comedy, to surges of suspense and is complemented by the intimate 35mm camerawork of Robbie Ryan (who also shot Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)), and by the precise, lived-in performances not only of Driver and Johansson, but also of Laura Dern (Wild), Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta.
Marriage Story may have an ironic title, but its divorce proceedings double as a moving post-mortem. Sometimes our most profound life choices begin to cohere only in retrospect.
"Marriage Story manages to be one of this year's best thrillers, comedies and romcoms all at once. A tender, taut gem of a film that will make you reconsider love and loss." (Teri White, Empire)
"Marriage Story is an emotionally lacerating experience, a nearly flawless elegy for a beautifully flawed couple, a broken-family classic to set beside Kramer vs. Kramer and Fanny and Alexander, to name two films that Baumbach references visually here." (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times)
"A highlight reel for everyone involved: career-defining work from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, astounding supporting turns courtesy of Laura Dern and Alan Alda, and a masterclass from Baumbach." (Brian Truitt, USA Today)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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Cost: $10
Revisiting some of the themes that made his Oscar-nominated 2005 drama The Squid and the Whale so resonant, writer-director Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha) digs deep into divorce with Marriage Story. Adam Driver (Paterson, Tracks, Inside Llewyn Davis) and Scarlett Johansson (Vicky Christina Barcelona) deliver some of their richest work as a couple whose once enviable union crumbles under the weight of mounting resentments and divergent needs.
Charlie (Driver) is a playwright who wants to stay in New York. Nicole (Johansson) is an actor who has landed a coveted television role that requires her to relocate to Los Angeles. Their geographical dispute tests an already strained relationship. As Marriage Story begins, the couple's divorce is already underway, with each enlisting legal squads deploying various tactics.
Yet Baumbach's elegant narrative goes back and forth through time, showing how Charlie and Nicole fell in love and built a life together alongside a detailed, blow-by-blow chronicle of their marital dismantling.
Baumbach's wise script goes from Bergmanesque drama, to dark comedy, to surges of suspense and is complemented by the intimate 35mm camerawork of Robbie Ryan (who also shot Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)), and by the precise, lived-in performances not only of Driver and Johansson, but also of Laura Dern (Wild), Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta.
Marriage Story may have an ironic title, but its divorce proceedings double as a moving post-mortem. Sometimes our most profound life choices begin to cohere only in retrospect.
"Marriage Story manages to be one of this year's best thrillers, comedies and romcoms all at once. A tender, taut gem of a film that will make you reconsider love and loss." (Teri White, Empire)
"Marriage Story is an emotionally lacerating experience, a nearly flawless elegy for a beautifully flawed couple, a broken-family classic to set beside Kramer vs. Kramer and Fanny and Alexander, to name two films that Baumbach references visually here." (Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times)
"A highlight reel for everyone involved: career-defining work from Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver, astounding supporting turns courtesy of Laura Dern and Alan Alda, and a masterclass from Baumbach." (Brian Truitt, USA Today)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
Gisaengchung (Parasite)
Wednesday February 12, 7:00p–9:12p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
From the director whose films rank amongst the highest grossing in South Korea—including The Host and Snowpiercer—comes a tragic family comedy (of sorts) unlike any film you have ever seen; there is no one genre to accurately describe it.
Bong Joon-ho’s 2019 Palme d'Or winner tells the story of two families: the Kims and the Parks. The Kims are an impoverished family living in squalor, but they are resourceful. When opportunity strikes, they seize it—and never let go.
After a family friend decides to move to the United States, he encourages Ki-woo (Choi Woo-shik) to replace him as a tutor to the daughter of the wealthy Park family. Ki-woo is unqualified for the job, but forges the credentials he needs with the help of his sister Ki-jung (Park So-dam).
One by one, each member of the Kim family finds their way into servitude to the Parks—without the Parks discovering who they really are. "Rich people are naive," remarks the patriarch of the Kim family (Song Kang-ho, The Host). The Parks are the source of survival for the Kims now. There is only one family member left to get on board: Kim matriarch Chung-Sook (Chang Hyae-jin).
Nothing can prepare you for what happens next. The film travels through genres seamlessly to tell a story about greed and social disparity that is tragic (or maybe comedic) on a Shakespearean scale. Bong Joon-ho is giving film lovers a reason to step inside a cinema and see this award-winning opus unfold on the big screen.
"A masterful dissection of social inequality and the psychology of money." (John Bleasdale, CineVue)
"Parasite is a malign delight from start to finish, with a Machiavellian sense of mischief and a cinematic brio that shows Bong revelling in his Hitchcockian control of somewhat Buñuelian material." (Jonathan Romney, Screen International)
"Bong delivers a stunning return to form with this newest venture, which takes bold leaps between tenors and tone, but holds together beautifully thanks to the director’s unparalleled visual/spatial sophistication, and his unsparing social indictment." (Ben Croll, TheWrap)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
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CINEMA
ᓄᐊ ᐱᐅᒑᑦᑐᑉ ᐅᓪᓗᕆᓚᐅᖅᑕᖓ (One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk)
Wednesday February 19, 7:00p–8:52p
Presented by Fundy Cinema
▶ Show DetailsCost: $10
Master filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Maliglutit (Searchers), The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner) returns with One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk, in which a single day in an Inuk man's life represents an aspect of Canadian history that has affected generations.
One morning in the spring of 1961, Noah Piugattuk (Apayata Kotierk, Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen) begins his day like any other in Kapuivik, on Baffin Island. Slowly preparing himself for a trip to get supplies, Piugattuk sips coffee, packs supplies, and readies his dogs for the journey. Along the way, when his party stops for a rest, a lookout spots an incoming team. Piugattuk wonders who they might be and what provisions they might need.
Once the other team arrives, Piugattuk is immediately introduced to "Boss" (Kim Bodnia; Rosewater, In a Better World), a government agent who has come to tell Piugattuk and his entire community that they must move to a settlement and put their children in school.
The ensuing conversation—and negotiation—between Piugattuk, the government agent and members of both teams serves as the centrepiece of the film, providing a snapshot of the relationship between Canada's First Peoples and the country's colonizers. When Boss insists that Piugattuk must relocate, or else he will not receive his allowance from the government, the elder responds with incredulity. What would he or his family ever need money for?
The fundamental disconnect between Boss and Piugattuk provides moments both poignant and humorous; the language barrier alone provides several wry asides from Piugattuk. However, the feeling of watching a moment suspended in time, knowing the weight his interaction will carry for Piugattuk—a real-life Innuk elder who lived 1900-96 and who saw firsthand the erosion of his people's language and lifestyle—imbues the film with an incredible vitality and urgency.
"The real-time effect... is compelling as its languor and its repetitions gradually reveal the deep cultural misunderstanding that is going on." (Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail)
"One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk returns its hero to his land and reasserts the values that Noah articulated so eloquently and patiently, but fell on deaf ears." (Pat Mullen, POV Magazine)Contact: info@fundycinema.ca | (902) 542-1050
