One prevailing narrative currently forming around the 2023 Oscars race for Best Picture is acknowledging the films that have been vital toward keeping the moviegoing experience alive.
Frontrunners
- “The Banshees of Inisherin”
- “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
- “Elvis”
- “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
- “The Fabelmans”
- “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
- “TÁR”
- “Top Gun: Maverick”
- “The Woman King”
- “Women Talking”
OPENING THIS WEEK
"White Noise" — OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 AT THE MICHIGAN
Written and directed by Noah Baumbach ("A Marriage Story" and "Frances Ha") and adapted from the 1985 novel of the same name by Don DeLillo.
The film follows a husband and wife (played by Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig) and their four children whose lives are torn asunder by "the Airborne Toxic Event", a cataclysmic train accident that casts chemical waste over his town.
In the cast, Driver and Gerwig are joined by André Benjamin (or Andre 3000 as he better known in the music industry), along with Jodie Turner-Smith and Don Cheadle.
The film had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival last August where Baumbach was nominated for the Golden Lion, the festival’s top prize.
"Empire of Light"— OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 AT THE STATE
Written and directed by Sam Mendes ("1917", "American Beauty", "Skyfall")
A poignant tale of human connection that takes place in an English coastal cinema during the 1980s, and a love letter to the magic of cinema.
Sam Mendes recruited an all-star cast and crew, with Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward, Colin Firth, and Toby Jones in starring roles, a score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Oscar winners for Disney Pixar’s "Soul") and the film was shot by Roger Deakins, two-time Academy Award winner and perhaps the most widely praised cinematography working in the industry today.
"Spoiler Alert" — OPENS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 AT THE STATE
From director Michael Showalter ("The Big Sick", "Hello, My Name is Doris") starring Jim Parsons, Ben Aldridge, andSally Field.
A heartful drama with a fine touch of wit, based on the memoir "Spoiler Alert: The Hero Dies" by Michael Ausiello. The film follows the final 11-month period of Manhattan photographer Kit Cowan's life, from his diagnosis with terminal cancer to his death, through the eyes of Michael, his partner of 14 years, and later spouse.
SPECIAL SCREENINGS DOWNTOWN
"Tokyo Godfathers" — PLAYS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 AT 9:30 PM AT THE STATE
Part of the Late Night at the State Series
A “tragicomedy” inspired by the 1948 American film "3 Godfathers," starring John Wayne, the film follows three misfits surviving as a makeshift family on the streets of Tokyo, who stumble upon an abandoned newborn on Christmas Eve. And so, they embark on a search for help to return the baby to its parents.
22nd Annual Animation Show of Shows — PLAYS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10 AT 7:30 PM AND SUNDAY, DECEMBER 11 AT 1:30 PM AT THE STATE
After a two-year hiatus, this event returns to theaters with 10 films -- nine recent, along with one restored classic -- which deal with both the anxieties and hopes of a world faced with a seemingly endless series of existential crises. All are inventive, their tone ranges from the whimsical to the profound; their techniques, from stop-motion to hand-drawn to computer-aided.
"Nanook of the North" — PLAYS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 AT 7:30 PM AT THE MICHIGAN (FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!!!)
With live accompaniment from our Head Organist Andrew Rogers on the Barton Organ
Recognizing its 100th anniversary this year, this silent “documentary” follows the lives of an Inuit man, Nanook, and his family in the Canadian Arctic. Written and directed by Robert J. Flaherty, the film is considered to be the first feature-length documentary to achieve commercial success, proving the financial viability of the genre, though was and remains controversial for Flaherty’s staging of several sequences and dramatization around his filmmaking.
Honoring Italian Cinema - Film & Food Festival (Thursdays at the State)
- Thursday, January 5 – "La Dolce Vita"
- Thursday, February 2 – "Roman Holiday"
- Thursday, March 2 – "L'Avventura"
- Thursday, April 6 – "Big Night"
- Thursday, May 4 –"Cinema Paradiso"
Holiday Classics at the Michigan Theater (Tickets are free on Sundays!!!!)
- "A Christmas Story" — Sunday, 12/11 at 1:30 PM
- "The Muppet Christmas Carol" — Sunday, 12/18 at 1:30 PM
- "It's a Wonderful Life!" — Thursday, 12/23 at 7:30 PM
CONTINUING DOWNTOWN
"Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths"
The latest from Alejandro González Iñárritu, the Oscar nominated director of "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" and "The Revenant".
A renowned Mexican journalist and documentary filmmaker returns home and works through an existential crisis as he grapples with his identity, familial relationships and the folly of his memories.
A 2022 American coming-of-age drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written and produced by Tony Kushner and Spielberg. It is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Spielberg's adolescence and first years as a director, told through an original story of the fictional Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who explores how the power of movies can help him see the truth about his dysfunctional family and those around him. The film features an ensemble cast that includes Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, and Judd Hirsch. It is dedicated to the memories of Spielberg's real-life parents Arnold Spielberg and Leah Adler. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2022, where it won the People's Choice Award.
Young Sammy Fabelman falls in love with movies after his parents take him to see "The Greatest Show on Earth." Armed with a camera, Sammy starts to make his own films at home, much to the delight of his supportive mother.
Two-time Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan ("Promising Young Woman," "An Education") and Zoe Kazan("The Plot Against America" limited series, "The Big Sick") star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation--a story that helped propel the #Metoo movement, shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and altered American culture forever.
A 2022 American comedy horror film directed by Mark Mylod, written by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, and produced by Adam McKay, Betsy Koch, and Will Ferrellthrough their production banners Hyperobject Industries and Gary Sanchez Productions respectively. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, and John Leguizamo. It had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Young couple Margot and Tyler (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travel to a remote island to eat at Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant run by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes), who has prepared a lavish molecular gastronomy menu where food is treated as conceptual art, although his approach to cuisine has some shocking surprises for the wealthy guests.
This is a 2022 black comedy film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. The film follows lifelong friends (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson) who find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship; Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan also star. It reunites Farrell and Gleeson, who previously worked together on McDonagh's directorial "In Bruges" (2008). It had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival, where Farrell won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor and McDonagh won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay.
Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, this film follows lifelong friends Pádraic and Colm, who find themselves at an impasse when Colm unexpectedly puts an end to their friendship. A stunned Pádraic, aided by his sister Siobhán and troubled young islander Dominic, endeavors to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic's repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.
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