Saturday, April 30, 2005 8:45am - 3:00pm
Meet at the History Center parking lot and take an informative journey up the St. Mary's River with guides Donn Werling, Executive Director of the History Center and Allen County historian, Tom Castaldi
The event is open to the public and costs $27/person (including lunch)
Pre-registration is required
Call 260-426-2882 x 310 for more information
1301 Lafayette St, Ft. Wayne, In, 46802
Phone: 260-426-3000
Art Exhibition: Mee Kyung Shim
Friday, April 22, 2005
7:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M.
Sponsored By: Opus 24
@ Desoto Building/Avant Garde Art Gallery
2005 Indiana Hispanic Leadership Summit
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
@ Columbia Club- Indianapolis, In.
Sposnorship Opportunities Available
www.Ihc4u.org
Viva College: Fort Wayne Hispanic Scholarship Endowment
Golf Outing
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Noon - 5:00 P.M.
@ Brookwood Golf Club
Sposnorship Opportunities Available
www.desototm.net
Fiesta 2005: 31 Annual Fort Wayne Hispanic Heritage Festival
Friday, September 2 - Sunday, September 4, 2005
Noon- Midnight
@ Freimann Square/Performing Art Center (Downtown Fort Wayne)
Sposnorship Opportunities Available
www.desototm.net
Latinos Count 2005
Fort Wayne Hispanic Community Conference
Wendnesday, September 28, 2005
9:00 A.M. - 4:30 P.M.
Keynote Speaker: Edward James Olmos
@ Taylor University- Fort Wayne
Sposnorship Opportunities Available
www.desototm.net
Friday, March 18, 2005
Java & Jazz Cafe
Entertainment Feature: Kevin Hiatt – 8:00 – 11:30p.m.
On Saturday, March 5, the Java & Jazz Cafe opened its doors to the artistic public. The cafe offers coffee, expresso drinks, baked goods and a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. However, this new cafe isn’t your average coffee shop. Internet access will be available for business, as you sip on your favorite early morning java. Also, live entertainment will be featured 5 nights a week.
Soon, Monday night will cater to Karaoke with Steve Witt. Tuesday we will feature “Bosco” & Company. Wednesday night will feature comedy open mic with Jeff Burdek & Fwig. Thursday night we will have open mic poetry. And of course, Friday and Saturday nights will have either live Jazz, Blues, or Acoustic music.
The brainstorm behind the cafe concept is entrepreneur/renaissance man, Cornelius Thomas, who not so long ago owned and operated the Coffee & Toast Cafe at 1805 E. Washington. This time he has teamed up with private investors, and also the Mill Bread Co., who will provide the Java & Jazz Cafe with their specialty products.
The cafe is housed in the historic building of 1301 Lafayette Street, now owned by Sal DeSoto. This beautiful building is also the office location of INK Newspaper and the home of the Avant-Garde Gallery, where various professional artists produce their artistic designs.
Thomas says the Java & Jazz Cafe initially will provide 15 new full and part-time jobs for the city, and its projected yearly growth will result in an estimated $130,000 annual investment.
Saturday, March 19 - David Johnson & Michael Patterson Duo - 8:00 - 10:30p.m.
Friday, March 25 - Blackswamp Allstars - 8:00 - 11:00pm.
Saturday, March 26 - Ty Causey & W.R. Sanders - 8:00 - 10:30p.m.
For more information please contact Cornelius Thomas at 260-420-5499.
March 6, 2005
By TIMOTHY SPENCE Hearst Newspapers
WASHINGTON ?- The federal government spends billions of dollars every year on airports, canals, harbors and interstate highways. Yet when it comes to Amtrak passenger rail service, there is an annual struggle over how much taxpayers should have to spend to keep the trains running.
Amtrak is caught nearly every year between those who want to do away with passenger rail and those who complain that it's chronically underfunded.
In its budget for next year, the Bush administration proposes spending only $360 million for passenger rail service to maintain tracks used by commuter rail services in the Northeast and other urban areas. Amtrak says it needs $1.8 billion to continue operating in the 2006 fiscal year that starts this Oct. 1.
The White House budget is much more generous with other kinds of transportation, calling for:
$34.7 billion in highway construction and maintenance funds.
$13.8 billion for he Federal Aviation Administration, which provides the nation's air traffic control system that guides commercial airliners.
$3 billion to the Army Corps of Engineers for the expansion and maintenance of ports, harbors and inland waterways ? a benefit to operators of barges and ships that transport coal, petroleum, chemicals, and industrial metals and countless consumer goods.
"Rail has always been the ugly stepchild of transportation options," says Jason Jordan, government affairs director of the American Planning Association, an organization that promotes mass transportation.
Amtrak was created in 1971 with $50 million in federal money and was intended to be a self-supporting network within four years. It never achieved that goal, and since then, the government has spent $29 billion to subsidize a system that serves fewer than 1 percent of Americans. Several states pump in millions more each year to support regional rail services.
Every president since Ronald Reagan has sought to either cut off money for rail passenger service or force Amtrak to function on its own. This year, Amtrak's operating budget is $3 billion, one-third of it in federal subsidies.
Denying these subsidies for Amtrak "would likely lead to the elimination of inefficient operations and the reorganization of the railroad through bankruptcy procedures," says the U.S. Department of Transportation's proposed budget for 2006. "Ultimately a more rational passenger rail system would emerge."
According to the National Association of Railroad Passengers, a Washington-based lobbying organization, federal funding for highways and aviation more than doubled in the past 20 years, while funding for passenger rail service fell 27 percent.
The federal government rushed a $15 billion bailout to the passenger airlines to compensate for the loss of business when all commercial aviation was grounded in the week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
"Nobody blinks at giving them however many billions of dollars to save that system," says Anne P. Canby, director of the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), an independent transportation policy organization. Canby, a former Delaware transportation secretary, says there is a "national interest" in supporting many different types of transportation.
Scott Bernstein, director of Reconnecting America, a transportation policy organization in Oakland, Calif., says money given to Amtrak ? which has averaged over $1 billion per year over the last few years ? is a "pittance" compared to the amount of federal money pumped into other transportation modes.
Groups like STPP and Reconnecting America are urging policymakers to loosen restrictions on how states can spend federal transportation dollars. For example, they say, federal policies restrict state and local officials from spending highway and airport grants on passenger rail, even though railroads linking airports to downtowns or other nearby airports could ease both air and highway congestion.
Canby says current regulations create a "silo" effect, making it difficult to transfer funds between projects.
Meanwhile, the Association of American Railroads, an industry trade group, complains that while the trucking, shipping and air cargo industries benefit from indirect federal subsidies, "railroads must finance their infrastructure investment needs through their own earnings and from outside capital providers."
The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or AASHTO, estimates that 16 percent of all freight is shipped by trains. In a recent report that calls for greater public-private investment in American rail lines, AASHTO says if this cargo were shifted to trucks, it would cost an additional $64 billion in highway improvements over the next 20 years.
Organizations that represent the other industries, including the American Trucking Associations and the Air Transport Association, deny they are subsidized, saying they pay their fair share through fuel taxes and other fees.
The perennial debate over subsidies for Amtrak is not likely to go away. Advocates of improved passenger rail service note that rising oil prices, political uncertainty in major oil-producing nations, and ongoing financial trouble in the airline industry mean that trains will be more important in the future. They also note that Amtrak became a transportation lifeline in the busy Northeast Corridor when the airlines were grounded in the 2001 attacks.
"This is the best imaginable time to be asking, 'How do we want to move our transportation system forward?"' Bernstein said. "It's a really good time to be taking a look at what we are financing and how we're financing it."
Timothy Spence can be reached at 202-263-6400 or tspence(at)hearstnp.com
Members of the Vanguard Art Exhibition
Presented by: The Avant-Garde Art Gallery & DeSoto Group
1301 Lafayette St., Ft. Wayne, IN. 46802 (corner of Lafayette & Douglas)
Opening Reception Friday, February 11, 2005
7:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m
New artwork by: Tim Brumbeloe, Darin Klopp, Gabriel Cooley, Dusty Neal, Alan Kitchen and Ryan Kropuenske
All Ages - Open to the Public
Free Admission
Valentines Pajama Party
Presented by: Those Two Guys
1301 Lafayette St., Ft. Wayne, IN. 46802 (corner of Lafayette & Douglas)
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Doors open at 8:00 p.m. - Band Starts at 9:00 p.m., D.J. 11:00 p.m. - ???
21 and over
$3 w/ pajamas
$5 w/out pajamas
from Preservation Online:
Ani DiFranco is a Grammy Awardwinning singer and songwriter who recently helped renovate the historic Asbury Delaware United Methodist Church in Buffalo. >Link
Mayor Richard calls for Greenway Summit
Thursday, August 12, 2004
John Perlich, Public Information, 260-427-6957
Fort Wayne, Ind. - Mayor Graham Richard today led a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the West Jefferson Trail Project. The new trail links Rockhill and Swinney parks.
The trail begins in Rockhill Park and connects with the rivergreenway in Swinney Park. Landscaping features include several varieties of tree species and perennial plants. A limestone wall was constructed to identify Rockhill Park, and historical markers were installed to reflect back when the area was part of the Wabash and Erie canals.
"We are pleased that our residents have another trail to use for walking and biking," said Mayor Richard. West Jefferson Boulevard serves as a gateway to downtown Fort Wayne, and the new trail enhances the area surrounding Rockhill and Swinney parks.
Bonar Group designed the project improvements, which were constructed by Brooks Construction. The Federal Highway Administrations Transportation Enhancement Program funded 90 percent of the project. The City also provided matching funds.
Mayor Richard also announced the City will host a Greenway Summit at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 22 at Franke Park Pavilion #1, 3411 Sherman Blvd. The Summit is open to the public. Citizens interested in trails and greenways are invited to attend.
The Summit will bring together elected officials, greenway and trail advocates, and the community to discuss the current trail system and plans for how trails will be improved and added in the City.
"We need to work together as a community to make our greenway and trail system a success," said Mayor Richard. "We're in this together to build a better city and retain and gain jobs."
>Link
Downtown
437 E. Berry St.
(260) 426-3456
Super Size Me & Before Sunset
(Also, Coming Soon)
Super Size Me
Americans are fat. Two out of three Americans are overweight or obese, but where does personal responsibility end and corporate responsibility take over? On the heels of two teenage girls suing McDonald?s for making them obese, director Morgan Spurlock sets out to discover what has made people in our country so fat. The result is "Super Size Me," a hilarious and often terrifying look at the effects of fast food on the human body.
Before Sunset
Writer/director Richard Linklater takes the concept of real-time seriously. This sequel to 1995?s "Before Sunrise" not only documents the protagonists' every exchange, every movement, minute for minute; it also is set nine years later, which is the exactly how long it?s been between the two films. The effect is elegiac for anyone who related to the first cinema verite Gen-X romantic drama, which starred Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as Jesse and Celine, two hitchhikers in Europe who meandered around Vienna discoursing intelligently and passionately with idealistic college-student fervor on every conceivable subject for just one evening before going their separate ways, failing to exchange phone numbers, presumably trusting in fate to reunite them.
Coming Soon
Coffee & Cigarettes
Opens August 13
Baadasssss!
Opens August 20
The Door in the Floor
Opens August 27
The Life of Brian
coming soon
Metallica: Some Kind
of Monster
coming soon
Napoleon Dynamite
coming soon
Environmental study for route through the city set for next two years. By Kevin Leininger of The News-SentinelAfter more than two years in bureaucratic hibernation, preliminary environmental work could begin next year on a high-speed rail line passing through Fort Wayne.
The Indiana Department of Transportation is expected to spend about $2.6 million in 2005 and 2006 to identify possible environmental problems caused by the proposed route linking Chicago and Cleveland, said Geoff Paddock, the governor's appointee to the Northeastern Indiana Regional Coordinating Council, a transportation planning agency. A series of public meetings also will be scheduled next year to listen to concerns and establish a construction timetable. >Link
Actual construction will have to wait, however, until Congress and the affected states fund the project - and that hasn't happened yet. Developing the Chicago-to-Cleveland route is expected to cost at least $1.12 billion, and the entire cost of the nine-state area covered by the Midwest Rail Initiative is at least $5 billion.
The Midwest project would create 3,000 miles of track for trains capable of traveling 110 mph. The federal government would pay 80 percent of the cost. Other high-speed lines would link Chicago and Detroit and Chicago with Indianapolis, Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati.
The state announced in late 2002 the Chicago-Cleveland route would pass through Fort Wayne, rejecting an alternative route through South Bend. But concerns about terrorism and a weak economy, among other factors, have delayed progress, Paddock said.
Completion of an environmental study is a key first step, however, because it will identify possible problems with the route, such as environmentally sensitive areas, historic markers, and the number of people and buildings that would be displaced. Those problems must be identified and addressed before actual costs are known and construction can begin.
The state believes a high-speed train between Chicago and Cleveland could generate 1 million passengers by 2015, with 150,000 coming from Fort Wayne alone. Revenues from fares could exceed $55 million in 10 years, Paddock said.
The federal government could provide $300 million within the next year for environmental clean-up, perhaps in 2006 and 2007. Construction could begin later this decade, Paddock said.
By Betty Joyce NashAs the boundaries between urban and rural areas blur, the economic benefits of living trees are coming into sharper focus. “Urban dwellers have different values towards nature,” says Ed Macie, a regional urban forester for the USDA Forest Service’s Southern Region. “Timbering might become less acceptable and air and water quality might become more important.” >Link
Tuesday, 2/17: The Cooler 6:30; In America 8:30
Wednesday, 2/18: In America 6:30; The Cooler 8:30
Thursday, 2/19: In America 6:30; The Cooler 8:30
Last Shows for In America!
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Fort Wayne Cinema Center Movies for 2/20-2/26
21 Grams, The Cooler & University of St. Francis Student Showcase
21 Grams
--2 Academy Award Nominations
Benicio Del Toro - Best Supporting Actor, Naomi Watts - Best Supporting Actress
--Number 4 on the National Board of Review's Top Ten Films of the Year
Friday at 8:30PM, Saturday at 1:30PM, 4PM & 6:30PM, Sunday at 4:15PM, Monday at 6:15PM, Tuesday at 6:15PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
The Cooler
Alec Baldwin – Academy Award Nominee, Best Supporting Actor
"It's a pleasure to watch Macy, with customary craft and intelligence, create from the ground up an unlikely, yet plausible romantic lead." – Newsday. "From James Whitaker's seductive camerawork to Mark Isham's lush score, The Cooler places all the smart bets and hits the jackpot. William H. Macy is hilarious…Maria Bello dazzles! Alec Baldwin’s revelatory portrayal is the stuff Oscars are made of." – Rolling Stone. "A surprising, ingenious film." – Washington Post.
103 min. Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use.
Friday at 6:15PM, Saturday at 8:45PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM
University of St. Francis Film Festival
The University of St. Francis will be presenting a variety of student produced shorts.
Awards will be given for the best short in each category
Check below for the complete line up. The event should last approximately 90 min.
--Admission to this event is free.
Sunday at 7PM
21 Grams
Like "Mystic River," "21 Grams" is a grim, compelling and exceedingly well-acted meditation on life, death, guilt and redemption, starring a superlative Sean Penn. Clint Eastwood's traditionalist masterwork dealt with three childhood friends haunted by a long-ago event; "21 Grams," directed by Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, making his English-language debut, uses a radically different style to focus on three strangers brought together by a new and terrible act of fate. Penn plays Paul, a math professor dying of coronary disease who gets a new lease on life, thanks to a heart transplant from a man (Danny Huston) who was cut down with his two young daughters in an automobile accident. Paul's nagging sense of guilt compels him to track down and - without revealing their link - try to help the man's widow, Christina (Naomi Watts), a former party girl who has resumed her cocaine habit following the tragedy. They become lovers and together decide to seek vengeance against Jordan (Benicio del Toro), a born-again ex-convict whose determination to stay straight with God's help was challenged when his truck accidentally plowed into Christina's family. In less talented hands, the screenplay by "Amores Perros" writer Guillermo Arriaga might seem like a glorified soap opera - the borrowed-heart trope is especially well-worn - but with this cast and director, you won’t want to miss a moment. That's not only because it's solid adult drama, but because Inarritu has eschewed a straight-line narrative in favor of a challenging, non-linear structure that sketches the basic story in the first few minutes, then keeps going back and forth to fill in more and more key details. Penn, del Toro and Watts create some of the year's richest, most wrenching characters, ably supported by Charlotte Gainsborough as Penn's estranged wife and Melissa Leo as del Toro’s stricken spouse. Stunningly photographed, largely with a hand-held camera, by Rodrigo Prieto (another member of the "Amores Perros" team) on gritty locations in Memphis and Albuquerque, "21 Grams” is also a visual tour de force - and a rare Hollywood product depicting class differences with any kind of honesty. The title refers to the weight - perhaps the soul - the body is said to lose at the precise moment of death. But "21 Grams" has no shortage of soul, wit or intelligence. 125 min., Rated R (violence, profanity, sex).
The Cooler
--Alec Baldwin & Maria Bello – Nominated for Golden Globes & Screen Actor’s Guild Awards--
In Vegas, the house always wins--especially when the house has employed Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), a man whose luck is so bad that it rubs off everyone around him. In the old-school casino Shangri-La, this makes him a valuable staffer as what’s called a cooler. His talent is gracefully displayed in "The Cooler’s" opening scene as the camera weaves fluidly through the casino floor in Bernie’s wake. A simple brush of his hand against the roulette wheel or quiet presence as a spectator at the craps table quickly subdues a run on the house. Bernie’s luck begins the change, though, when he falls in love with cocktail waitress Natalie (Maria Bello) and, however unlikely, she with him. This does not bode well for Bernie, as he has been working off a debt to the owner of the casino, Shelly Kaplow (a menacing Alec Baldwin). Shelly, who handles cheats the old-fashioned way rather than calling in the authorities, is intent on keeping Bernie and his bad luck around. Mixed in as well are subplots involving a movement to modernize the aging Shangri-La, in a storyline critical of the current condition of the Vegas strip, and the sudden appearance of Bernie’s newly married son and his very pregnant wife. Helmer Wayne Kramer glamorizes the pastime, using fast motion at the cards and craps tables and a succession of stills to portray the games. Also vital to the classical atmosphere are a melancholy jazz score and a soundtrack that includes such favorites as "It’s Almost like Being in Love" and "My Funny Valentine." But Macy of course, anchors the film in the titular role, his singular features and consummate talent seemingly designed and destined for this very role. "It's a pleasure to watch Macy, with customary craft and intelligence, create from the ground up an unlikely, yet plausible romantic lead." – Newsday. "From James Whitaker's seductive camerawork to Mark Isham's lush score, The Cooler places all the smart bets and hits the jackpot. William H. Macy is hilarious…Maria Bello dazzles! Alec Baldwin’s revelatory portrayal is the stuff Oscars are made of." – Rolling Stone. "A surprising, ingenious film." – Washington Post. Running time: 103 min. Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use.
St. Francis Film Festival List
Walk/Run Cycles
Cloudy Day Renee Dunham
Alien Escape Renee Dunham
Pondering Pooch Stephanie Kauffman
Running Figure Stephanie Kauffman
Girl Running Megan Gibbs
I, Robot, Walk Christopher Studabaker
Live Action
The 7th Brady Sprunger
Surprise Dave Affholter, Joe Myers, Kat McGrath
Hamburger Man Brad Richey
Joe Real Matt Kindness, Renee Dunham
A Beautiful Day Stephanie Kauffman
Animation
Dream on Sucker Dave Affholter, Brad Richey
Checkmate Jillian Blevins
Hare-brained Love Megan Gibbs
Fiendish Feline Stephanie Kauffman
Good Head Brady Sprunger
Running on Empty Christopher Studabaker
Limited Adventures of Mr. Meat Patrick Riggle, Matt White
Unconditional Patrick Riggle, Matt White
PMS Renee Dunham
Lost Jeremy Selzer
Gnometopia Brady Sprunger
Leaders in our community confront issues of ethics and values in
their work Second Sunday of each month (except April), 6 p.m. An
hour of discussion on the role of ethics and values in public life
Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, 5310 Old Mill Road
Upcoming Speakers:
March 14 at 6 PM
John Stafford, IPFW Community Research Institute and former City
strategic planner
May 9 at 6 PM
Rusty York, Fort Wayne Chief of Police
June 13 at 6 PM
Wendy Robinson, Superintendent, Fort Wayne Community Schools
Question and answer and conversation time with the speaker will be
provided.
The first program in February featured Harriet O'Connor, President of
Indiana Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and was very
interesting. If you are interested in how some of our most thoughtful
community leaders balance values in their work, please join us!
Wednesday, 1/28 In America 6:30 & 8:30
Thursday, 1/29 In America 6:30 & 8:30
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NEW:
The Cooler
Alec Baldwin – Academy Award Nominee, Best Supporting Actor
"It's a pleasure to watch Macy, with customary craft and intelligence, create from the ground up an unlikely, yet plausible romantic lead." – Newsday. "From James Whitaker's seductive camerawork to Mark Isham's lush score, The Cooler places all the smart bets and hits the jackpot. William H. Macy is hilarious…Maria Bello dazzles! Alec Baldwin’s revelatory portrayal is the stuff Oscars are made of." – Rolling Stone. "A surprising, ingenious film." – Washington Post.
103 min. Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use.
Friday at 8:45, Saturday at 1:30PM & 6:15PM, Sunday at 1:00PM & 5:30PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM
In America 3 Academy Award Nominations
Samantha Morton – Best Actress, Djimon Hounsou – Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay
“One of the best pictures of the year… wondrous…luminous!”—Newsweek.
"In America is particularly adept at dealing with the immigrant experience, with lives lived on the knife edge of hope, poverty and despair that is in many ways this country's quintessential situation."—Los Angeles Times. "A classic story of losing and finding faith told with heart, humor and emotional heft."—USA Today. "Forceful, funny and impassioned."—Rolling Stone.
“Four Stars!”—Roger Ebert, USA Today, People, New York Post, Premiere.
104 min., Rated PG-13.
Friday at 6:15PM, Saturday at 4PM & 8:45PM, Sunday at 3:15PM & 7:30PM, Monday at 6:30PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
The Cooler
--Alec Baldwin & Maria Bello – Nominated for Golden Globes & Screen Actor’s Guild Awards--
In Vegas, the house always wins--especially when the house has employed Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), a man whose luck is so bad that it rubs off everyone around him. In the old-school casino Shangri-La, this makes him a valuable staffer as what’s called a cooler. His talent is gracefully displayed in "The Cooler’s" opening scene as the camera weaves fluidly through the casino floor in Bernie’s wake. A simple brush of his hand against the roulette wheel or quiet presence as a spectator at the craps table quickly subdues a run on the house. Bernie’s luck begins the change, though, when he falls in love with cocktail waitress Natalie (Maria Bello) and, however unlikely, she with him. This does not bode well for Bernie, as he has been working off a debt to the owner of the casino, Shelly Kaplow (a menacing Alec Baldwin). Shelly, who handles cheats the old-fashioned way rather than calling in the authorities, is intent on keeping Bernie and his bad luck around. Mixed in as well are subplots involving a movement to modernize the aging Shangri-La, in a storyline critical of the current condition of the Vegas strip, and the sudden appearance of Bernie’s newly married son and his very pregnant wife. Helmer Wayne Kramer glamorizes the pastime, using fast motion at the cards and craps tables and a succession of stills to portray the games. Also vital to the classical atmosphere are a melancholy jazz score and a soundtrack that includes such favorites as "It’s Almost like Being in Love" and "My Funny Valentine." But Macy of course, anchors the film in the titular role, his singular features and consummate talent seemingly designed and destined for this very role. "It's a pleasure to watch Macy, with customary craft and intelligence, create from the ground up an unlikely, yet plausible romantic lead." – Newsday. "From James Whitaker's seductive camerawork to Mark Isham's lush score, The Cooler places all the smart bets and hits the jackpot. William H. Macy is hilarious…Maria Bello dazzles! Alec Baldwin’s revelatory portrayal is the stuff Oscars are made of." – Rolling Stone. "A surprising, ingenious film." – Washington Post. Running time: 103 min. Rated R for strong sexuality, violence, language and some drug use.
In America
Golden Globe Nomination for Best Screenplay – 6 Independent Spirit Awards
Lyrical, life-affirming, lovely. In America is a wondrously emotional film, one that sneakily dismantles your defenses and purges grief you didn't realize you had. What happens onscreen to the characters happens offscreen to the audience: Walls erected to protect vulnerable hearts are taken down in order to make a human connection. Jim Sheridan's film is about an Irish family - father, mother and two young daughters - that tells the authorities it has come to the States on holiday when it is planning to immigrate, legally or otherwise. The year is 1982. The place is Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. The narrator is 11-year-old Christy (Sarah Bolger), who frames the family's unsentimental journey through the viewfinder of her camcorder. (Literalists, please understand that this is a metaphorical 1982, as the classic-rock stations, family-friendly Times Square, and personal camcorder we see are anachronisms in service of a larger emotional truth.) There's something off about Sarah's folks. For when the customs agent at the U.S.-Canada border asks how many children they have, her dad answers "three" and her mom "two." There are two children in the backseat, Christy and Ariel (Emma Bolger, Sarah's sister). But the restless spirit of a third, Frankie, crowds the car and the memories of his kin. Although no longer with them, Frankie has become the family genie, giving Christy three wishes. At critical moments she uses them to ensure her family's safe passage. As directed by Sheridan (My Left Foot), who wrote the semiautobiographical screenplay with his now-grown daughters, In America is a ghost story in which the living are first haunted and ultimately helped by the dead. Both in its story and in its gritty scenery, vividly captured by cinematographer Declan Quinn, the film is a stirring work of magic realism. Soon after their arrival, Christy's father, a struggling actor named Johnny (Paddy Considine), finds a crummy loft in Hell's Kitchen encrusted in pigeon poop and possibility. Her mother, Sarah (that life force Samantha Morton, a melding of the ethereal and the earthy), finds a job in an ice cream parlor. It is a measure of the enormous achievement of In America that the Hell's Kitchen ice cream parlor is called Heaven and no one groans. And that the shaman is an African named Mateo ( Amistad 's Djimon Hounsou in majestic-mystic mode) whom Sheridan permits to create a character far more complex than the noble Negro of standard Hollywood fare. As Morton and Hounsou endow the film with a transcendent, catch-a-falling-star magic, those Bolger girls root it in recognizable reality. For Christy and Ariel, being in this strange land with mysterious climatic conditions such as humidity and secular customs such as Halloween is a magical adventure much like E.T.'s visit to Earth. Although each actor is uniquely powerful, the blessing of Sheridan's movie is seeing them work in ensemble. This is a story that sees the family as a system, attentive to how the pressures on one member cause explosions and implosions among the others. In part, In America is the story of immigrant hopes, of creating a new life from the ashes of the old. But more profoundly it serves as proof that tortured people can go through hell and come out the other side to find heaven in Hell's Kitchen. 104 min., Rated PG-13.
Wednesday, 1/14 Sylvia 6:30, The Station Agent 8:30
Thursday, 1/15 Sylvia 6:30, The Station Agent 8:30
Be sure to check out our website at http://www.cinemacenter.org/
Coming Soon – In America – Opens Friday, January 23
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Fort Wayne Cinema Center Movies for 1/16-1/22
Sylvia & The Station Agent (Last Shows for Both!)
Sylvia
"It is Plath's writing that represents ... her surest claim on our attention. The makers of Sylvia may, to some degree, have neglected this brilliant, unsettling and tragically foreshortened body of work, but they have not betrayed it." -- The New York Times. "An often painful, surprisingly illuminating and emotionally complex portrait of a woman who is ultimately as mysterious as her art."-- Detroit Free Press. "3 Stars"-- Roger Ebert. 110 min., Rated R (sexuality/nudity and language.)
Friday at 8:30PM, Saturday at 6:30PM, Sunday at 4PM, Monday at 8:30PM, Tuesday at 8:30PM, Wednesday at 6:30PM, Thursday at 6:30PM
The Station Agent
--3 Independent Spirit Award Nominations!--
--Number 3 on the National Board of Review’s Top Ten Films of the Year!--
“A movie with an intellectual existence both on and off the screen, as well as an emotional resonance that is difficult to shake."--Newsday. "A masterful film and a bracing movie experience."--Hollywood Reporter. "Yes, this is a comedy, but it's also sad, and finally it's simply a story about trying to figure out what you love to do and then trying to figure out how to do it."--Roger Ebert. "The best advice to filmgoers who appreciate smart, mature, humanist movies is, simply, Go."--Washington Post. "A delicate, thoughtful and often hilarious take on loneliness."—New York Times. "Dinklage's face and demeanor, his sense of solitude, ballasts some of the film's loonier episodes. There's always something on his mind, and you're always wondering what it is."—Boston Globe.
90 min., Rated R. (for language.)
Friday at 6:30PM, Saturday at 8:30PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 6:30PM, Tuesday at 6:30PM, Wednesday at 8:30PM, Thursday at 8:30PM
Sylvia
As an unrelentingly somber take on the final seven years of arguably the most significant female voice in 20th-century American poetry, "Sylvia" is beautifully shot and awash with gray hues and settings that appropriately capture the suicidal disposition of the film’s subject. The film picks up Plath’s life in 1956, three years after the suicide attempt that she famously chronicled in the 1963 novel "The Bell Jar." In England as a Fulbright scholar, Plath (Gwyneth Paltrow) meets upcoming poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig), who engages her in a whirlwind romance that, after just four months, leads to their marriage. An idyllic beginning marked by mutual encouragement for each other’s writing breaks down with the passing years, giving way to Plath's anger and jealousy--both at her husband's critical and commercial success, which overshadows her own poetic accomplishments, and his extramarital affair. Hughes' decision to leave his wife and their two children for another woman results in a period of intense creative output for Plath and what is generally considered her most electrifying poetry--as well as her eventual suicide. Meticulous attention to detail, from the '50s-era clothing to the perfect recreation of Plath's changing hairstyles, is evident throughout "Sylvia," and Paltrow is convincing in capturing the poet's emotional highs and lows. Moreover, Craig's restrained portrayal of Hughes and Blythe Danner’s (Gwyneth Paltrow’s real life mother) depiction of Aurelia Plath, who represent opposing forces in Sylvia's life, skillfully avoid the respective traps of domineering, villainous husband and overprotective parent, favorite caricatures among Plath's most sympathetic biographers. The film's bleakness remains appropriately overpowering, from the opening quote of Plath's late poem "Lady Lazarus" ("Dying/Is an art, like everything else. /I do it exceptionally well. /I do it so it feels like hell") to her last lonely moments preparing breakfast for her two infant children before her suicide.
The Station Agent
An unexpected favorite at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was snapped up for distribution by Miramax and captured acting, writing and audience awards, “The Station Agent” is the gentle portrait of a tentative friendship among three quite disparate people. At four feet, five inches, Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) has been the object of curiosity and derision for most of his life. He has dealt with it by shutting himself off from most of the rest of the world. When his only friend and business partner dies, he inherits an abandoned train depot in lushly shot rural New Jersey and jumps at the chance to live there in isolation. It is not to be. He is immediately accosted by Joe (an infections Bobby Cannavale), who is bored to tears running the coffee truck nearby while his dad is laid up at home, and literally run off the road by painter Olivia (once again, the uber-talented Patricia Clarkson), who, estranged from her husband, is grieving the death of her young son. These chance meetings lay the foundation for solid friendships. “If you guys do something later, can I join you?” Joe asks Fin when he observes his budding relationship with Olivia. “We’re not doing anything later,” Fin replies. “But if you do,” Joe insists. The exchange goes on for comedic effect but also to intimate Joe’s desperation to make a human connection and Fin’s aversion to it. For Dinklage, particularly, this is the role of a lifetime. He is pitch-perfect as the monosyllabic conversationalist who is wholly satisfied to read about trains, watch trains and walk “the right of way” (along the train tracks) by himself. Yet he doesn’t truly enjoy the pastime without Joe and Olivia’s help, when he can finally chase trains in a car with a video camera. Clarkson, too, grapples with the complicated emotions of being friends with a man for whom she can be neither mother nor girlfriend. And Cannavale brings humor and energy to a storyline that could plunge into melodrama but doesn’t. Rarely has friendship--honest, genuine friendship--been portrayed so truthfully, with the gentle humor that belies real intimacy. (“I wanted to live near Joe,” Fin quips as the reason he moved into a deserted train station with no plumbing or electricity; “Can you come up here and talk?” Joe whines from the balcony where he is preparing dinner--he’s a great cook--as Fin and Olivia converse below. “Seriously, this sucks.”) And while theirs is a unique arrangement that they struggle with throughout the film, ultimately Fin, Joe and Olivia come to quite comfortable terms with it--their own. Running time: 90 min., Rated R.
-Coming Soon-
In America
Golden Globe Nomination for Best Screenplay
Lyrical, life-affirming, lovely. In America is a wondrously emotional film, one that sneakily dismantles your defenses and purges grief you didn't realize you had. What happens onscreen to the characters happens offscreen to the audience: Walls erected to protect vulnerable hearts are taken down in order to make a human connection. Jim Sheridan's film is about an Irish family - father, mother and two young daughters - that tells the authorities it has come to the States on holiday when it is planning to immigrate, legally or otherwise. The year is 1982. The place is Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. The narrator is 11-year-old Christy (Sarah Bolger), who frames the family's unsentimental journey through the viewfinder of her camcorder. (Literalists, please understand that this is a metaphorical 1982, as the classic-rock stations, family-friendly Times Square, and personal camcorder we see are anachronisms in service of a larger emotional truth.) There's something off about Sarah's folks. For when the customs agent at the U.S.-Canada border asks how many children they have, her dad answers "three" and her mom "two." There are two children in the backseat, Christy and Ariel (Emma Bolger, Sarah's sister). But the restless spirit of a third, Frankie, crowds the car and the memories of his kin. Although no longer with them, Frankie has become the family genie, giving Christy three wishes. At critical moments she uses them to ensure her family's safe passage. As directed by Sheridan (My Left Foot), who wrote the semiautobiographical screenplay with his now-grown daughters, In America is a ghost story in which the living are first haunted and ultimately helped by the dead. Both in its story and in its gritty scenery, vividly captured by cinematographer Declan Quinn, the film is a stirring work of magic realism. Soon after their arrival, Christy's father, a struggling actor named Johnny (Paddy Considine), finds a crummy loft in Hell's Kitchen encrusted in pigeon poop and possibility. Her mother, Sarah (that life force Samantha Morton, a melding of the ethereal and the earthy), finds a job in an ice cream parlor. It is a measure of the enormous achievement of In America that the Hell's Kitchen ice cream parlor is called Heaven and no one groans. And that the shaman is an African named Mateo ( Amistad 's Djimon Hounsou in majestic-mystic mode) whom Sheridan permits to create a character far more complex than the noble Negro of standard Hollywood fare. As Morton and Hounsou endow the film with a transcendent, catch-a-falling-star magic, those Bolger girls root it in recognizable reality. For Christy and Ariel, being in this strange land with mysterious climatic conditions such as humidity and secular customs such as Halloween is a magical adventure much like E.T.'s visit to Earth. Although each actor is uniquely powerful, the blessing of Sheridan's movie is seeing them work in ensemble. This is a story that sees the family as a system, attentive to how the pressures on one member cause explosions and implosions among the others. In part, In America is the story of immigrant hopes, of creating a new life from the ashes of the old. But more profoundly it serves as proof that tortured people can go through hell and come out the other side to find heaven in Hell's Kitchen. "In America is particularly adept at dealing with the immigrant experience, with lives lived on the knife edge of hope, poverty and despair that is in many ways this country's quintessential situation."—Los Angeles Times. "A classic story of losing and finding faith told with heart, humor and emotional heft."—USA Today. "Forceful, funny and impassioned."—Rolling Stone. “Four Stars!”—Roger Ebert. 104 min., Rated PG-13.
A local live music showcase will be held this Saturday, October 11, at Legends Sports Bar (4104 N. Clinton St.). Hosting the event will be Matt Jericho from local radio station X102.3. Everyone involved with the showcase will be volunteering their time and talents to bring attention to the great and diversified music that Fort Wayne has to offer.
This unique event is sponsored by FortWayneMusic.Com. A local all volunteer staffed website dedicated to promoting all genres of Fort Wayne's music scene. This is the first of many showcases that FortWayneMusic.Com will sponsor. Plans are to have a showcase once every four months featuring Fort Wayne's hottest and upcoming music artists.
Diversity is something that this live music showcase will not lack. There is something for everyone's taste in music from Acoustic Soloists, Hip Hop, Ska, Pop Rock, Murder-Core, Punk Rock, to Classic Rock. The showcase will feature half hour sets from the following acts: Adam Baker, Adam Atherton, Kevin Hiatt, Andromeda, Northern Kind, Homeless J, Tri-State Killing Spree, the Fang, and Cookie Puss. The show starts promptly at 8:00 p.m., and goes on until 2:30 a.m. Admission is $5.00 for those 21 and over.
Come on out and support your local live music scene.
For local bands interested in playing a future showcase, make sure you come to this show and bring a promo pack or CD with contact information and give it to one of our staff members.
For more information on the showcase, go to www.FortWayneMusic.Com or email feedback@fortwaynemusic.com.
The Showcase is brought to you by: FortwayneMusic.Com, Legends Sports Bar, Iggy's Subs, and X102.3.
For more info, visit cinemacenter.org or email movies@cinemacenter.org.
Wednesday 9/17 Gentleman’s Agreement Thursday 9/18 Trembling Before G-d 5:15, Northfork 7:00, Winged Migration 9:00 Last Show for Trembling Before G-d!
I Capture the Castle, Northfork, & Winged Migration
I Capture the Castle
Opens Friday, September 19th "Neither conventionally told nor resolved, and able to make the most eccentric situations believable, I Capture the Castle is both an ordinary story and a special one -- and that, finally, is the secret of its success."-- Los Angeles Times. "A refreshingly mature look at first love and life's often-rough transitions." – Dallas Morning News. “3 1/2 Stars.”—Roger Ebert. "It may be best to think of I Capture the Castle as a kind of comfy chair with a few frayed edges and telltale leaks in its upholstery. Perfect furniture, in other words, for a lazy summer afternoon." – Newsday. 113 min., Rated R. “The R rating ("for brief nudity") is another attempt by the MPAA to steer teenagers away from useful and sophisticated entertainments, and toward vulgarity and violence. If this movie is R and "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" is PG-13, then the rating board has no shame. Better the Angels as strippers than an innocent nipple during a swim in the castle moat?”—Roger Ebert Friday 6:30PM, Saturday at 6:30PM, Sunday at 4PM, Monday at 7PM, Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday at 7PM, Thursday at 9PM
Winged Migration
"Winged Migration is a marvel.”—Los Angeles Times. “A movie of awesome beauty and innovation…”—Chicago Tribune. “Who wants to see a documentary about birds of every feather who migrate across forty countries and seven continents? You do. Winged Migration is a movie miracle; it soars.”—Rolling Stone. In a summer full of digitally enhanced machines ("The Matrix Reloaded") and mutants ("X2"), you won't see anything more amazing and electrifying than the soaring birds in this marvelous movie.”—L.A. Daily News. 90 min., Rated G. Saturday at 2PM & 4PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 5:15PM, Tuesday at 5:15PM, Wednesday at 5:15PM, Thursday at 5:15PM
Northfork
“Four Stars! A masterpiece! A visionary epic! There has never been a movie quite like Northfork!”—Roger Ebert. “Dreamy and entrancing. At a moment when so many films strive to be as obvious and interchangeable as possible, it is gratifying to find one that is puzzling, subtle and handmade.”—The New York Times. “Magical! A thoroughly original accomplishment of a high artistic order! A provocatively bold stroke of imagination. Full of sly touches.”—Los Angeles Times. "A powerful, surreal fable, one that requires a small amount of patience from the viewer in exchange for a moving experience."—Dallas Morning News. "Like the best work of David Lynch, Northfork is that rare movie that draws you in more (rather than alienating you) at precisely those moments when you least understand it."—Variety. 94 minutes, Rated PG-13. Friday at 8:45PM Saturday at 8:45PM, Sunday at 6:15PM, Monday at 9PM, Tuesday at 9PM, Wednesday at 9PM, Thursday at 7PM
I Capture the Castle
"I have relived this particular day many times. It is a golden memory, and I am suspicious of it.... Perhaps it really was a happy day." With that intriguing voiceover, accompanied by sunny visuals of a young and hopeful English family in an open car on their way to an old Suffolk castle that will become instead their dank, cold and unhappy home for the next 10 years, begins the story of younger daughter Cassandra ("Nicholas Nickleby's" Romola Garai, simple perfection), a diary-keeper who dreams of becoming a writer like--well, not quite like--her creatively burned-out father Mortmain ("Fairy Tale's" Bill Nighy, a bit given to dramatics). And Cassandra, like older sister Rose ("City of Ghosts'" Rose Byrne, quite good as a desperate gold-digger: "I’d marry a chimpanzee if he had money"), dreams of falling in love--although there are no boys living anywhere near the impoverished family's far-flung outpost. Until, that is, two young and rich American gentlemen ("Gangs of New York's" Henry Thomas and "We Were Soldiers'" Marc Blucas, both convincingly good-hearted) come on scene. First-time feature director Tim Fywell brings a certain literate sensibility from his BBC TV work to "I Capture the Castle,” which itself is based on a 1948 novel by British writer Dodie Smith, who later penned "The Hundred and One Dalmatians." Despite its high-class producer imprimatur (David Parfitt won an Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love"), as captured here the tale seems less aimed for the older art-house crowd than for teenaged girls eager for discerning and intelligent drama--in the same "serious" way that, say, Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo and Juliet” was; however, an inexplicable R rating--for a momentary scene in which Cassandra’s bohemian-painter stepmother ("Siren's" Tara FitzGerald) disrobes to better experience an evening countryside rain--will bar most of that prime distaff demographic. What could bring a specialized buzz to "I Capture the Castle" is the performance by Garai, whose plain but passionate face proves fertile ground for Fywell's camera and whose voice seems perfectly attuned to Smith's text as adapted by screenwriter Heidi Thomas (who paired with Fywell on the BBC's "Madame Bovary"). Although much of her character’s activity is reactive, Garai provides the film’s heart; every key action or decision of her family or the fellows seems to seep through her and become imprinted on her soul, and her most effective work occurs in the silent registrations of their lighter or darker moralities on Garai’s argent face. 113 min., Rated R.
Northfork
One of the most hauntingly beautiful films ever made, the Polish brothers’ “Northfork” nimbly fuses history and fantasy in a ’50s-set fairy tale set in the titular Montana mining community. While the rest of the country is profiting from a postwar economic boom, this small town is about to vanish from the face of the earth under the waters of a river to be dammed up imminently. Three pairs of men in trench coats (James Woods and Mark Polish among them) glide across the flat plain, visiting the remaining holdouts who refuse to leave their homesteads. The men’s own futures are at stake, for they have been promised 1.5 acres of lakefront property in exchange for the secured evacuation of 65 properties. With 48 hours to go before the waters are reined in, time is running out. Meanwhile, sickly orphan Irwin (Duel Farnes) lies in a feverish coma under the care of a kindly priest (Nick Nolte). In his restless dreams, Irwin encounters an eccentric family--flamboyant Cup of Tea (Robin Sachs); wordless cowboy Cod (Ben Foster); androgynous Flower Hercules (Daryl Hannah), in a black pixie haircut and ruffled shirt; and Happy (Anthony Edwards), an amputee with wooden hands and multi-lensed spectacles--who are in search of the Unknown Angel. Desperate to go with them when they leave, Irwin brings evidence--feathers, a tranquilizer gun, bodily scars--proving that he is the one for whom they are looking. In the end these two storylines converge in a wholly unexpected way. Not only is the story intensely moving, but also the imagery throughout “Northfork” is lovely. Drawing from a palette of flat grays and browns, helmer Michael Polish and cinematographer David Mullen have produced a look reminiscent of an old, faded, sepia-toned photograph. Particularly poetic are the visions of the surface of a lake, churning from a disturbance below until a casket pops to the surface, and a church with a missing fourth wall, a priest preaching his final Sunday sermon while cow’s graze serenely in the background. In addition, in the otherworldly characters and a wooden dog-giraffe hybrid creature that beckons to Irwin from across the plain, Michael Polish and his brother Mark, with whom he produced and crafted the script, exhibit wild, evocative imagination. Yet the film is subtly humorous as well, with the reconstruction of the Biblical ark by a particularly devout polygamist family; debates on the differences between people who drive Fords and people who drive Chevys; and, in a scene of comic brilliance, the protracted guessing game of what the local diner might have on the menu with a waitress whose features are profoundly, shall we say, unique. Here, too, are anachronisms such as a quip about fast food and the throwaway line, delivered just so, “What are you talking about, Willis?” The jokes do take one out of the film for a moment, yet somehow, in the context of this quirky piece, they work. The final movement in the Polish brothers’ trilogy that also includes “Twin Falls Idaho” and “Jackpot,” “Northfork” is a classic for all time. Rated PG-13 for brief sexuality. Running time: 94 min.
Winged Migration
You won't find any purer example of the power of cinema than Jacques Perrin's Oscar-nominated documentary "Winged Migration." Here's the long and short of it: "Winged Migration" is 90 minutes of footage of birds flying, though Perrin looks at the variety of natural and man-made hazards birds face in the course of their semi-annual instinctive trek across great expanses of globe. And yet, with only these images and sounds of birds, a musical score and a minimum of narration, Perrin's film speaks volumes about the way these animals live in nature and, occasionally, in spite of nature. There is something heroic and awe-inspiring about their indomitable struggle to follow the instincts they were born with. There undoubtedly will be people who find this notion boring: Birds? Flying? That's it? I can see that on the Nature Channel. But give this movie a chance. Perrin's film is profound – and profoundly entertaining. You will look at the world in a different way after seeing "Winged Migration." 90 min., Rated G.
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic musicians battle to outwit, outlast and outplay rach other on Friday, September 5 at the Foellinger Theater. The concert begins at 7:30pm. Tickets are just $13. Audience members will vote for their favorite orchestra section (strings, woodwinds, brass or percussion) where only one can be winner. Maestro Edvard Tchivzhel leads the charge in the ultimate orchestra battle for immunity. The event will feature the Three Rivers Jenbe Ensemble and the Fort Wayne Dance Collective. Free food from Club Soda following the concert. Call 456-2224 for tickets or visit Link
For more info, visit cinemacenter.org or email movies@cinemacenter.org.
A Family Affair, Swimming Pool & Spellbound
Wednesday 8/13 Spellbound 6:30, Swimming Pool 8:30 Thursday 8/14 Spellbound 6:30, Swimming Pool 8:30
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A Family Affair
“Until now, it may not have occurred to you that what we needed was a witty lesbian romance. Once you see "A Family Affair," you realize what we've been missing.”—San Francisco Chronicle. “A Woody Allen-esque trifecta reconfigured with sharp wit. Lesnick is a budding talent.”—Variety. 100 min., Unrated (nudity, mature themes, some sensuality.)
More: http://www.a-family-affair.com
Friday at 9PM, Saturday at 7PM, Sunday at 4PM, Monday at 9PM, Tuesday at 9PM, Wednesday at 7PM Thursday at 7PM
Spellbound
“Two thumbs up!”—Ebert & Roeper. “Irresistible! America at its best.”--Los Angeles Times. “Wonderful!”— Entertainment Weekly. “A work of art! More suspenseful than any Hollywood thriller.”—The New York Times. “Captivating!”—Esquire. “Excellent!”—People. “Entertaining!”—New York Magazine. “Charming! Packed with nailbiting suspense.”—Premiere Magazine. 97 min., Rated G.
More: www.spellbound.tv
Friday at 5:15PM, Saturday at 2PM, Sunday at 2PM, Monday at 5:15PM, Tuesday at 5:15PM, Wednesday at 5:15PM, and Thursday at 5:15PM
Swimming Pool
“Seductive Fun!”—Rolling Stone. “Worth seeing twice!” -Premiere. “Two thumbs way up!”—Ebert & Roeper. “A sensuous and deceptive new thriller! After it is over, you will want to go back!”—Roger Ebert. “Clever, teasing entertainment with a delicious final twist! Charlotte Rampling is an actress of infinite nuance.”—New York Times. “Swimming Pool mesmerizes long after the movie is over.”—San Francisco Chronicle. Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language, some violence and drug use. Running time: 102 min. In English & French (with English subtitles.)
More: http://www.focusfeatures.com/
Friday at 7PM, Saturday at 4PM & 9PM, Sunday at 6:30PM, Monday at 7PM, Tuesday at 7PM, Wednesday at 9PM, Thursday at 9PM
A Family Affair “A Family Affair” is being presented as part of our Lesbian Gay Film Festival Helen Lesnick's "A Family Affair" is a serious romantic comedy of such strength and substance and so entertaining that it doesn't matter that its minuscule budget shows around the edges. It's an impressive debut for actress Lesnick, who stars in her feature writer-director debut. For 13 tumultuous years, Lesnick's dry-witted Manhattan freelance writer, Rachel Rosen, has been in an on-again, off-again romance with glamorous, capricious Reggie (Michele Greene), a Columbia professor of physics. With their latest breakup Rachel has decided she has had it with Reggie once and for all and heads to her parents' home in San Diego to begin a new life. The Rosens, Leah (Arlene Golonka) and Sam (Michael Moerman), are a loving, supportive couple active in PFLAG, Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, especially the outspoken and dynamic Leah. A Jewish mother -- but not a caricature -- Leah is eager to see her daughter settled down with a nice girl. After a series of dating disasters, Rachel discovers that the young woman Leah lines up for her really is something. Erica Shaffer's Christine in fact proves almost too good to be true. She's a lovely blond, a massage therapist successful enough to afford a handsome home she is soon sharing with Rachel, who knows she has lucked out. That things are happening so quickly, with Christine full of talk about converting to Judaism and having a wedding with Rachel, overwhelms Rachel, triggering other long-buried issues of trust and loss; sexual orientation, refreshingly, is not among them. Lesnick knows how to build her characters from within, and as a result this gentle film delivers an emotional wallop all the more potent for being unexpected. By the time "A Family Affair" is over it illuminates what makes for a full life with a maturity that is by any measure exceptional. Lesnick is a strong, authoritative actress who knows how to draw solid support from her other key actors, including Barbara Stuart as Christine's elegant mother, who shows that an uptight WASP is not necessarily incapable of change. Especially strong is a life-transforming scene between Rachel and her father. 100 minutes., Unrated (nudity, mature themes, some sensuality.)
Swimming Pool The prolific young gun of the French new guard (this is his sixth film in as many years), Francois Ozon adores female actors--and it's mutual. He prefers their sensitivity and their ability to dig deeper and take bigger risks than their male counterparts. How many other directors could have attracted a French femme thesp lineup of the caliber of "8 Women?" After that stylized theatrical ensemble piece, Ozon returns with a more intimate but very entertaining first English-language mystery thriller. Back as his leads are Charlotte Rampling ("Sous le Sable") and Ludivine Sagnier ("8 Women," "Water Drops on Burning Rocks") in a two-hander of the attraction/repulsion of opposites and the volatile, complex relationship between creator and muse. Rampling plays Samantha Morton, a novelist who churns out formulaic mystery crime thrillers. When writer’s block obstructs her output, her publisher (Charles Dance) suggests a stay at his summerhouse in Provence, France. There's just one omission: Also residing at the abode is his daughter Julie, a young precocious temptress whose promiscuous lifestyle threatens to disrupt--or even implode--repressed Sarah’s regimented routine. That is, until Sarah’s insatiable voyeurism turns to creative inspiration as her attention turns from another Inspector Dorwell adventure ("Inspector Dorwell on Holiday," "Inspector Dorwell Wears a Kilt") to headstrong, youthful lust. But Julie turns out to be more complicated than first impressions suggest and, as the relationship between the two houseguests ricochets between hostility and complicity, through cat-and-mouse games Ozon peels the layers of both characters and subverts traditional thriller patterns. The end result is an entertaining drama, showcasing strong performances from both actresses. Sex, murder, mystery, psychological drama, vintage Rampling, sensuous Sagnier, and a summerhouse in Provence--here Ozon has all bases covered. Rated R for strong sexual content, nudity, language, some violence and drug use. Running time: 102 min.
Spellbound One of the best "sports" documentaries of the year, "Spellbound" follows eight young people as they race towards the top--and only--prize in the world's toughest, most unforgiving challenge--the National Spelling Bee. Spelling is, in its quaint and uniquely American way, the great equalizer--if you can spell, nothing else matters. By the same token, it is the only competition with absolutely no second chances--one misspelled word anywhere along the way, and you are gone. From Emily, hailing from the pampered suburbs of Connecticut, to Ashley, child of the projects in D.C.; from Ted, born of a poor farm family in Missouri, to Harry, the lovable spaz from New Jersey, all eight youngsters are drawn from the diversity of this country--with an assortment of anxious parents as well. It's a true cross-section of America rarely captured so well in film. Each of the children is given screen time enough to impress us, not just with their talent but with their personalities. In addition, a parade of interesting side characters--from the faithful teacher-mentor to past champions--flesh out the straightforward story of pressure and the razor-thin margin between triumph and failure. The timelessness of this tale and the skill and love evident in its making rank "Spellbound" as a classic. As the finals wear on and contestants start to fall, the audience's hearts will be in their throats. The contest is intense and merciless, and we feel the pressure right alongside the parents. Expect a few tears shed at the emotionally cathartic finale. This is a documentary that will involve you, these are kids you will love, this is a picture of America at its most American. It's a powerful reminder that our future is in our children--and that the kids are all right. “Two thumbs up!”—Ebert & Roeper. “Irresistible!”-Los Angeles Times. “Wonderful!”— Entertainment Weekly. “A work of art! More suspenseful than any Hollywood thriller.”—The New York Times. 97 min., Rated G.
Coming Soon: Winged Migration Opens Friday, August 22nd You won't find any purer example of the power of cinema than Jacques Perrin's Oscar-nominated documentary "Winged Migration." Here's the long and short of it: "Winged Migration" is 90 minutes of footage of birds flying, though Perrin looks at the variety of natural and man-made hazards birds face in the course of their semi-annual instinctive trek across great expanses of globe. And yet, with only these images and sounds of birds, a musical score and a minimum of narration, Perrin's film speaks volumes about the way these animals live in nature and, occasionally, in spite of nature. There is something heroic and awe-inspiring about their indomitable struggle to follow the instincts they were born with. There undoubtedly will be people who find this notion boring: Birds? Flying? That's it? I can see that on the Nature Channel. But give this movie a chance. Perrin's film is profound – and profoundly entertaining. You will look at the world in a different way after seeing "Winged Migration." “Who wants to see a documentary about birds of every feather who migrate across forty countries and seven continents? You do. Winged Migration is a movie miracle; it soars.”—Rolling Stone "Winged Migration is a marvel.”—Los Angeles Times. “A movie of awesome beauty and innovation…”—Chicago Tribune. In a summer full of digitally enhanced machines ("The Matrix Reloaded") and mutants ("X2"), you won't see anything more amazing and electrifying than the soaring birds in this marvelous movie.”—L.A. Daily News. 90 min., Rated G.
Fort Wayne, Ind. - Mayor Richard announced today that the Cities of Chicago, Fort Wayne, Lima, Columbus, and Pittsburgh will be included in a high-speed rail corridor study by the Ohio Rail Development Commission. The study will determine if the corridor should be added to the proposed Midwest Regional Rail System, a 3,000-mile high-speed rail network serving nine midwestern states. Ohio Governor Bob Taft, in a May 28, 2003 letter to Lima Mayor David Berger, expressed his support for the passenger rail planning effort and asked the Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) to undertake the study contingent upon available funding.
Approximately one year ago, the Mayors of Lima, Ohio; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Columbus, Ohio; and, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania began discussing the corridor concept and agreed that consideration should be given to linking their cities to the Midwest Regional Rail System (MWRRS). The five mayors in four states believe that their entire region will benefit from new passenger rail services. The mayors jointly petitioned the Ohio Rail Development Commission and Governor Taft to conduct the study.
James Seney, Executive Director of the ORDC agreed that the Chicago-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor should be examined as part of Ohio‚s regional rail planning effort. "The mayors share a vision for a world class transportation system and they understand that passenger rail will have a significant impact on their local economy. The cities on these corridors will benefit from millions of dollars in capital investment, hundreds of construction jobs and permanent new jobs, an increase in property values, an expanded tax base, and revitalized downtowns. "
The State of Indiana, Department of Transportation, working with ORDC and Amtrak, recently determined that the best MWRRS high-speed rail route from Chicago to Cleveland was a rail line through Fort Wayne and Toledo. Mayor Richard said, "Indiana's second largest city deserves a stop on the nation‚s future passenger rail system." The decision to serve Chicago and Cleveland via Fort Wayne presents the opportunity to extend a branch of the rail corridor from Fort Wayne to Columbus and Pittsburgh.
Mayor Coleman of Columbus said, "We are working together as Mayors to build a better network for people, business and commerce between our cities. Today there is no direct interstate highway between Columbus and Chicago, but we believe that -- at 110 miles per hour -- a train could be a great connector between our great cities."
Mayor Berger said that the distance between Chicago, Fort Wayne, Lima, and Columbus is similar to the other corridors in the Midwest Regional Rail System. Mayor Berger said "Columbus is only 304 miles from Chicago and is actually closer to Chicago than either Cincinnati or Cleveland." The Chicago-Fort Wayne- Toledo-Cleveland line is 354 miles long; the Chicago-Indianapolis- Cincinnati line, another MWRRS corridor, is 310 miles long. Mayor Berger said, "With all things being equal among corridors, the rail trip time between downtown Columbus and downtown Chicago should be under four hours."
Mayor Murphy of Pittsburgh said, "We are finally developing a concept for a nation-wide passenger rail network that will add new capacity to our congested transportation system. Connecting Pittsburgh to Columbus and Chicago is critical, but we also see trains running from Pittsburgh, through Columbus, and on to Dayton and Cincinnati. If Ohio builds the rail corridor between Cincinnati and Columbus, then there will be nothing to stop us from running trains between Cincinnati, Columbus and Pittsburgh."
James Seney said "The State of Ohio owns most of the track between Columbus and Pittsburgh and freight train traffic is relatively light over the entire route from Chicago to Pittsburgh. We may find that the rail line between Fort Wayne, Lima, Columbus, and Pittsburgh is less expensive and easier to build than the rail line between Fort Wayne, Toledo and Cleveland."
The Ohio Rail Development Commission (ORDC) has nearly completed the Ohio and Lake Erie Regional Rail - Cleveland Hub Study. This study examines the feasibility of developing other interstate corridors between Ohio, Michigan, and New York. Following the completion of the Cleveland Hub study, one of ORDC‚s next steps will be to examine the feasibility of the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor. Governor Taft agrees that this study is an important next step in planning the State‚s future rail system. The Governor has directed ORDC to proceed with the study as the agency‚s budget will permit.
The Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus-Pittsburgh corridor study will forecast train travel time, ridership and revenues, and will estimate capital and operating costs for high-speed train service. Once the study is initiated, it is expected to take about nine months to complete.
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Source: Creative Fort Wayne Listserv
June 7, 2003 Richard Florida, H. John Heinz III Professor of Regional Economic Development, Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, Carnegie Mellon University and J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director, U.S. Conference of Mayors Real Media Stream.
Larry Zepp's editorial appears in the News-Sentinel about the relationship between creative class and Allen County Airport Authority's decision to improve our northside airport, Smith Field - check it out.
The campaign to realize the value of Smith Field has been led by local business leaders, entrepreneurs, engineers and others in the creative class. Local small-business owners use Smith Field for efficient travel around the Midwest and beyond. Many of these businesses were planning to move outside the county if Smith Field were closed. IPFW faculty are already involved in a task force working to identify small Indiana airports that might become part of NASA's Small Aircraft Transportation System. Cities that embrace this new air transportation will have greatly expanded mobility and economic growth. Read Larry Zepp's entire article in the News-Sentinel.
A healthy environment or a healthy economy — must we choose one over the other?Read Community and Economic Development — Quality of Life and the Environment, prepared by the Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy here.Hardly! Recent research shows — and the success of some communities proves — that we can have both: lots of good-paying jobs and plenty of great outdoor recreational options for hiking, bird watching, fishing, biking, and a host of other activities.
Investing in a healthy business climate and in strong communities, AND preserving and expanding our outdoor recreational choices is the key to creating sound and growing state and local economies. And, the bonus is that all citizens of Indiana will enjoy more of our great natural areas, waterways, parks and preserves than ever before.
The economy will prosper again when more Americans can do the work they love. The party that realizes this first wins.During his visit to Fort Wayne, Richard Florida mentioned that this recent essay contained the building blocks and themes for his next book. Read the article here.
A region shaped by adventurers and innovators is once again undergoing great change. In this ongoing series, Pacific Northwest magazine explores the forces of that change and its significance to our future as a community.This series about the challenges and possible solutions for the Seattle, Portland and Vancouver areas might provide insights and opportunities to discuss. Read the articles here
It's a City, County, and Downtown Improvement District (D.I.D.) cooperative effort to make Downtown Fort Wayne a more vibrant and exciting place to live, work, and play. The goal is to draft a 5-Year action plan that will guide and direct new investment. But to do so we need your ideas.Learn more here.So fire up your imaginations! It's Your Downtown. It's My Downtown. It's Everybody's Downtown! Everybody's Neighborhood... Everybody's Playground... Everybody's History. And that means creating a new vision is Everybody's Opportunity.