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nJune 19,2009 the historic Georgia Theal
MAthens, Georgia burst into flames, j
“Athens Burning” is a feature-length documentary
that chronicles the history of this amazing venue
and the music scene that surrounds it.
Featuring footage and interviews with-''
Widespread Panic
REM • Vic Chesnutt I
Drive By Truckers • BioonR Jj, J
Drivin' n Cryin’ • IImphreyi MiiulEjI^Rv
LOTUS • BASSNECTAR • PNUMA jlRIO
Perpetual Groove. • Dixie Dregs
yWfpBinAio • Toubab Krewe
JBlMNTLfY GlLBERTy .• COLT FORD
. ' . . A'lfDf-MORE... |
Film benefits fheTCeoi'gla'Theatrc.and the rebuilding efforts
As seen^nXNhLcom, The AJC, "*** -
Flagpole Magazine, Athens Banner Herald • llu
WWW.ATHENSBURNING.COM W finis
Showing January 14-21
at Beechwood Cinemas
Do You Want to Stop
Drinking Alcohol?
• We are conducting a study on a medication for treating alcohol
problems.
• Participation will include five in-person assessments, including four
sessions of individual outpatient treatment for alcohol problems.
• There is no cost for the treatment
• You will be asked to take a medication or placebo on two occasions.
Call 706-542-8350 for more information.
(B)
The Uni versity of Georgia
NEWS OF ATHENS' CINEMA SCENE
Looking at my list of notable films from
2010, I'm struck by what a surprisingly fertile
year it was for cinema, despite Hollywood's
ever-increasing market-driven homogeneity
and ever-decreasing theatrical distribution
opportunities for non-blockbuster fare. My
highly unscientific tally counts more than
85 films that were of interest to me this
year, including at least 10 that were actually
released in 2009 but weren't available to be
seen in Athens until January or later. A great
number of these, too, I haven't seen for one
reason or another—whether simply because
I missed them, like Toy Story 3,1 Am Love
and Restrepo; because they haven't yet been
released here or on DVD, like Certified Copy,
Carlos and Tiny Furniture; or because they're
recent releases that I haven't made it out to
yet, like The Fighter and True Grit.
In retrospect,
I'm puzzled by
some of my filmgo
ing choices this
year—why didn't I
even consider see
ing Clint Eastwood's
Hereafter?—d nd
ashamed of
others—did the
distant memories of
Broadcast News and
As Good as It Gets
really entice me to
pay money to see
How Do You Know?
2010 also was a
year without a film
that just exploded
to the top of my
year-end 10 (as A Christmas Tate did in 2009);
there's very little distance separating the first
six or seven on this list.
There were some very, very good films I
first had the opportunity to see this year that
didn't make the cut: A Single Man, The White
Ribbon, Greenberg, The Secret in Their Eyes,
Please Give and The Social Network are only a
few. And lest I forget, two of the most thrill
ing releases of the year were Criterion DVDs:
Max Ophuls' 1955 Lola Montes and, especially,
Leo McCarey's 1937 Make Way for Tomorrow.
So, for those who like lists, here's mine:
1. Everyone Else I guess we'll call it a roman
tic comedy, but that's hilariously inadequate.
The truth is, I don't know what to call Maren
Ade's indescribable portrait of a love affair on
the brink of collapse, except brilliant. Over the
course of a very tense island vacation, every
provocative and faulty detail of the two main
characters' relationship is teased out, tested
and negotiated; Ade's witheringly insightful
script and direction, as well as the note-per
fect, all-on-the-line performances of her two
leads (Birgit Minichmayr and Lars Eidinger)
made this the most exciting and surprising
film of the year.
2. Black Swan I can't express how cool and
weird it was to see a film like this in a mul
tiplex. If Darren Aronofsky's fevered, baroque
fable about the actual perils of fully commit
ting to one's art, harrowingly brought to life
by Natalie Portman, can pass for mainstream
these days, then maybe the apocalypse isn't
quite upon us after all.
3. The Kids Are All Right Speaking of reasons
not to give up hope, this exemplary comedy/
drama about the upheavals in a two-mom
family when the kids seek out their biological
father is the kind of thing you wish Hollywood
would crank out a few times a year, if it wasn't
so obsessed with stupidity. Lisa Cholodenko's
film is funny, honest, heartbreaking and abso
lutely filled with wonderful performances. Just
about perfect.
4. 35 Shots of Rum/ White Material Claire
Denis' last two films—a 2009 release that
didn't play here until 2010 and a 2010 release
that opens at Cine Jan. 21, respectively—
both deserve to be on this list, so I’ll let them
share.
5. A Prophet Jacques Audiard's raw, tough-
as-nails prison drama achieves truly epic
dimensions despite its intimate scale and
unpretentious style. If we were giving out
awards for lead performances here, Tahar
Rahim would get one for his nuanced portrayal
of an unassuming young thug who games a
racist criminal hierarchy through his intelli- -
gence and opportunism.
6. Wild Grass Alain Resnais' insistently uncon
ventional modern fairy tale thumbs its nose
at every cinematic rule it encounters while
swinging freely to its nimble, jazzy rhythms.
Better taken as poetry than prose.
7. Police, Adjective Corneliu Porumboiu's
darkly and dryly funny meditation on the
power of language to uphold unjust power
structures was this year's most notable entry
in an ongoing cycle of films from young
Romanian directors whose work should be
exciting to follow for years to come.
8. Winter's Bone A gothic Ozark odyssey from
director Debra Granik, who, with teenage star
Jennifer Lawrence and a magnificent support
ing cast, delivered one of the most compelling
and suspenseful dramas of the year.
9. Broken Embraces Pedro Almodovar keeps
turning out perfectly crafted, wonderfully
entertaining, wholly individual films, and he's
almost singlehandedly made Penelope Cruz •
into one of the most glorious movie stars
since the era when that meant something.
10. Animal Kingdom This brutal, labyrinthine
gangland saga from Australian director David
Michod was one of the most promising feature
debuts of the year.
Dave Marr film@)f!agpole com
Everyone Else
12 rLAGPOLE.COM • JANUARY 12, 2011