Thursday, January 26, 2012

Viola Davis & Max von Sydow to Appear In Person at the Aero Theatre

Yep, Oscar season is in full swing now and everyone knows what that means! No? Well, it means that Oscar nominees just can't stay away from the Aero and Egyptian Theatres. They are desperate to know what the public thinks of their nominated work, and what better discerning, film savvy audience is there to have that conversation with, than an American Cinematheque audience?

So far, Viola Davis and Max von Sydow are stopping in to visit us at the Aero Theatre, but stay tuned as we confirm more guests in February. And, take a look at our other award season events which include a live taping of an Oscar Preview Show with the film critics of KPCC FilmWeek hosted by Larry Mantle, Panel discussions with the Oscar nominees for Best Editing and Best Art Director/Set Decoration and showcases of the Oscar nominated short subjects (documentaries, live-action and animation!). As always, our tickets are available on www.fandango.com


Monday, January 30 - 7:30 PM - AERO
Special Event Just Added to our Oscar Season Lineup!
THE HELP, 2011, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, 146 min. Dir. Tate Taylor. In the summer of 1963, recent college graduate and aspiring author Skeeter (Emma Stone) returns home to Jackson, Mississippi for the summer, only to discover that the friends she left behind (a fire-breathing Bryce Dallas Howard among them) have become malignantly conformist housewives-in-training, with nasty racist opinions suddenly in
full swing. Stunned by how the same young girls who were so lovingly raised by black domestics could grow up to be such biggots, Skeeter suddenly realizes the book she wants to write: a collection of interviews with black maids in her community. Particularly hesitant is Abileen Clarke (an excellent Viola Davis), who doesn't want to stir up trouble, but when the racist atmosphere of Jackson reaches a dangerous fever pitch with the assassination of Medgar Evers, she knows her story must be shared at any cost. With an impressive supporting cast including Jessica Chastain as the good-hearted, bottle-blond outsider in town, Octavia Spencer as Abileen's smart-mouthed friend and fellow domestic and Allison Janney as Skeeter's cancer-stricken mother. Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Davis) and two for Best Supporting Actress (Spencer and Chastain). Discussion following with actress Viola Davis.


Monday, February 6 - 7:30 PM - AERO
Special Event Just Added to our Oscar Season Lineup!
Double Feature: THE SEVENTH SEAL, 1957, Janus Films, 92 min. Dir. Ingmar Bergman. Arguably Bergman's most iconic film and the movie that helped create the international arthouse cinema craze of the 1950's. While the Black Plague rages all around, medieval knight Max von Sydow plays a game of chess with Death . but who will win? Often imitated and parodied but never equaled, THE SEVENTH SEAL is an astonishing, protean masterpiece: a film to storm the gates of Heaven with. Winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes. "Bergman's spiritual quest is at the center of the films he made in
the middle of his career. THE SEVENTH SEAL opens that period, in which he asked, again and again, why God seemed absent from the world." - Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE, 2011, Warner Bros., 129 min. Dir. Stephen Daldry. Eleven-year-old amateur inventor, Francophile and pacifist Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) discovers a mysterious key among the belongings of his deceased father (Tom Hanks), who died a year earlier in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Determined to keep his vital connection to the man who playfully cajoled him into confronting his wildest fears, the young boy embarks on an urgent search for the lock the key will open. As Oskar crosses the five New York boroughs on foot - encountering a range of people (including an excellent Max von Sydow) who are each survivors in their own way - he begins to uncover unseen links to the father he misses, to the mother (Sandra Bullock) who has become so emotionally distant and to the whole noisy, dangerous and often wondrous world around him. Adapted from the acclaimed bestseller by Jonathan Safran Foer. Nominated for 2 Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (von Sydow). Discussion between films with actor Max von Sydow.

The Aero Theatre is located at 1328 Montana Avenue, Santa Monica, CA 90403