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Advanced ticket price'is'$30'for one day and S50 for both
Day of show ticket price is $35 one day and $60 for both.
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niyspace.com/vortexmusicfestival
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1 wireless AMPHITHEATRE
Tickets available through all ticketmaster outlets
Charge by phono: 404-249-6400 • Online: ticketmaster.com
Tickets also available M-F at the Variety Playhouse (1099 Euclid Avenue) without service charge
Venue is conveniently located oft GA-400 in Alpharetta VZwamp.ci
A POCKET FULL OF POSEY
THE ANNIVERSARY PARTY (R) 2001. Starring
; both A-listers and indie phenoms (Kevin Klein,
Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Gwyneth Paltrow
and John C. Reilly) first-time directors and
real-life pals Alan Cummings and Jennifer
Jason Leigh construct a cast of made-up
characters who bear a striking resemblance to
the actors who play them. An inside job of a
film, The Anniversary Partyjs, at best, a more
caustic and banal Big Chill. There’s more dys-
i function and open drug use, but in the end,
all it does is over-dramatize and luxuriate the
"conflicts of bored, privileged people."
Celebrity couple Joe and Sally Therrian
(Cumming and Jason Leigh) celebrate their
sixth year of marriage with a big party. The
marriage has hit a crisis point, as Joe's direct
ing career is taking off, but Sally's career, as
an actress known for raw performances, has
diminished. To make matters awkward, Joe
invites Skye Davis (Gwyneth Paltrow) to the
party, the siren he chose over Sally for his lat
est film. On the guestlist are pals from within
the couple's circle, played by Kevin Kline,
Phoebe Cates, Parker Posey, Jennifer Beals,
John Benjamen Hickey and Jane Adams.
actors, unseasoned; but everyone commits to
the show as if it were Les Miserables.
With the exception of Red, White end
Blaine, the script is completely improvised.
Preparations for the hokey play set the stage
for a series of memorable scenarios. Posey's
role as white trash Libby Mae Brown is hys
terical, perhaps one of her best performances
ever.
While over-the-top, adolescent humor
continues to dominate the box office. Guest's
mockumentary is a reminder of how hilarious
subtle wit really is. Grade: A
Recent Releases: Before the Devil Knows
You're Dead (R) 2007. This dark thriller is the
debut original screenplay of Karen Masterson.
Directed by veteran Sidney Lumet, the film
follows the deadly misadventure of two broth
ers (Phillip Seymor Hoffman and Ethan Hawke)
who attempt to rip off their parents' jewelry
store. When the heist goes bad, everything
unravels into a shocking climax. The Diving
Bell and the Butterfly (PG-13) 2007. Based
on the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby,
the gregarious French Elle editor who was
As the party gets going, Skye brings out
; the party favors: 16 hits of ecstasy. The drugs
| provide a means for the actors to lose their
| heads and pull out all the stops, but the film's
; merit doesn't extend past the acting. In need
of cutting, the extensive footage, combined
with petty drama and self-absorption, leaves
the audience thinking, "Who the hell cares?"
Grade: D
WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (R) 2000. Punning on
the classic play Waiting for Godot, this moc
kumentary reveals what can go wrong when
an amateur theater becomes overly ambitious.
The buzzing city of Blaine, Missouri, achieving
fame through the creation of the footstool,
celebrates its 150th anniversary with a musi
cal. High school theater teacher Corky St. Clair
(Christopher Guest) is left in charge of the
production, and Corky in turn enlists the tal
ents of a husband-and-wife travel agent duo
(Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara), a Dairy
Queen employee (Parker Posey) and a vision-
impaired dentist (Eugene Levy). When the
group gets wind of a Broadway big-wig coming
to see Red, White and Blaine, they fall over
themselves trying to turn their low-budget
affair into an off-Broadway success. The songs
are awful, the sets are cardboard and the
left completely paralyzed Oy a massive stroke
at the young age of 43. Left only with the
blinking of his left eye, Bauby used the slight
movement to literally blink out a memoir.
Director Julian Schnabel translates Bauby's
incredible story of persistence and survival
into an imagistic, cinematic masterpiece.
Bella (PG-13) 2006. A rather contrived plot,
Bella is about the enormous change a single
encounter can bring to our lives. Soccer star
Jose is on his way to sign a multimillion-
dollar contract when a series of unfortunate
events indefinitely ends his career. While
working as a cook in a Mexican restaurant,
he sparks up a relationship with a young
waitress, Nina, and in one day, the two are
transformed through each other's narratives.
This is the third film of Mexican director
Alejandro Gomez. Teeth (R) 2007. Described
as "the Incredible Hulk of sex satires" (Boston
Globe), Teeth is about a chastity-preaching
high school student who makes an unfortunate
discovery—her vagina has teeth. Written and
directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth com
bines the vagina dentata myth with a coming-
of-age narrative. The result? A genre-bending
satire about sexual mutilation.
Robin Geddie
Waiting For Guffman
5iC ! CO
24 FLAGPOLE.COM JUNE 11, 2008
NEWS & FEATURES ! CALENDAR I MOVIES