City Guide
January Films
Everyone's a Critic: arborweb's culture blog
Ann Arbor Center of Light Conscious Movie Night. FREE. 864-2017. Center of Light, 200 Huronview (off N. Main.), 8 p.m.
Jan. 27:“I Am” (Tom Shadyac, 2011). Documentary of the director’s interviews with several prominent philosophers, spiritual leaders, and scientists about what’s wrong with the contemporary world and what can be done to remedy it.
Ann Arbor District Library. FREE. 327-4555. AADL multipurpose, 343 S. Fifth Ave., various times.
Jan. 15: “Brain Man: The Boy with the Incredible Brain” (BBC, 2005). Documentary about Daniel Tammet, the British autistic savant whose memoir Born on a Blue Day is the current Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Reads book. 2-3:30 p.m.
Jan. 18: “Black and Blue: The Story of Gerald Ford, Willis Ward, & the ’34 Michigan-Georgia Tech Football Game” (Brian Kruger, 2011). Documentary about the football game in which the U-M agreed to appease Georgia Tech by benching its best player because he was African American. 7-8:30 p.m.
Ann Arbor Docu Fest. Screening of a different documentary film every Mon. FREE. 929-9979. Café Ambrosia, 326 Maynard, 7 p.m.
Jan. 2: “Blue Vinyl” (Judith Helfand & Daniel Gold, 2002). Award-winning comic documentary about the toxic side effects of vinyl, the world’s 2nd-largest-selling plastic.
Jan. 9: “The Weather Underground” (Sam Green & Bill Siegel, 2002). Documentary about the rise and fall of the late-60s/early-70s radical organization.
Jan. 16: “Dive!” (Jeremy Seifert, 2010). Documentary in which the director and friends dumpster dive behind several L.A. grocery stores to demonstrate the massive amount of perfectly edible food wasted each year in America.
Jan. 23: “An Injury to One” (Travis Wilkerson, 2002). Experimental documentary exploring the notorious 1917 lynching of Wobbly organizer Frank Little in Butte, Montana.
Jan. 30: “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” (Morgan Spurlock, 2011). Documentary about product placement, marketing, and advertising in TV and movies by the creator of Super Size Me.
Interfaith Center for Spiritual Growth. $5 suggested donation. 327-0270. 704 Airport Blvd., 8 p.m.
Jan. 21: “Spiritual Cinema.” Screening of a feature film or several shorts TBA with spiritual themes. Followed by discussion.
Jewel Heart Buddhist Center. FREE. 994-3387. Jewel Heart (1129 Oak Valley Dr. between Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. & Ellsworth), 7 p.m.
Jan. 27: “Enlightenment Guaranteed” (Doris Dörrie, 2002). Comedy about 2 German brothers searching for the meaning of their lives who visit a Buddhist monastery near Tokyo. German, subtitles. Followed by discussion.
Jewish Community Center Movie Night. Various prices. 971-0990. JCC, 2935 Birch Hollow Dr. (off Stone School Rd. south of Packard).
Jan. 21: “Chatunah Meucheret” (Dover Koshashvili, 2001). A 31-year-old Israeli bachelor, harassed by his family to follow its Georgian Jewish custom and marry a young virgin, is secretly in love with a 34-year-old divorcee. Hebrew, subtitles. $12 (members, $10). Time TBA.
Jan. 22: “The Lost Wooden Synagogues of Eastern Europe” (Albert Barry, 2000). Documentary, narrated by Theodore Bikel, about the few remaining synagogues that once served the shtetls of Eastern Europe and the community life that once surrounded them. $7 (members, $5). 7 p.m.
Michigan Theater Foundation. Unless there is a live show in the main theater, 2 or 3 different films are shown, usually twice, almost every night. For complete, updated schedules, see michtheater.org or call 668-TIME. This schedule also includes some State Theater films that have been announced in advance. For an updated schedule, see michtheater.org/state. Tickets (unless otherwise noted): $10 (children under 12, students with ID, seniors age 55 & older, & U.S. veterans, $8; MTF members, $7.50; films before 6 p.m., $7). Michigan Theater (unless otherwise noted), times TBA unless otherwise noted.
Jan. 8: “The Muppet Movie” (James Frawley, 1979). Heartwarming road movie mockumentary about the way the Muppets first met is highlighted by a steamy yet discreet love scene between Kermit and Miss Piggy. Kids under 12, free. 1:30 p.m.
Jan. 14: “World on a Wire” (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973). Surreal dystopian sci-fi epic about a cybernetics engineer who uncovers a massive corporate and governmental conspiracy that threatens reality as we know it. Klaus Löwitsch. German, subtitles. 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m.
Jan. 16: “Beyond the Bricks” (Derek Koen, 2011.) Documentary, focusing on schools in Newark (NJ), exploring solutions to the problem of the consistently low performance of African American boys in the public school system. FREE. 2 p.m.
Jan. 21: “Cinematic City: Seoul.” A series of films from South Korea. Korean, subtitles. Sponsored by the U-M Center for Korean Studies. Today: My Dear Enemy (Lee Yoon-ki, 2008). Romantic comedy about a destitute woman searching for an old lover who still owes her money. FREE. 2 p.m.
Jan. 25: “AAFF 50th: Retrospective Series.” Toronto filmmaker and former Ann Arbor Film Festival juror Mike Hoolboom presents several past AAFF film selections. Tickets $10 (students, seniors, & Michigan Theater members, $7; AAFF members, $5) in advance at aafilmfest.org. 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26: Sundance Film Festival. Official 2012 Sundance Festival screening and world premiere of USA: For a Good Time, Call… (Jamie Travis, 2011), a comedy about 2 down-on-their luck women who move in together and embark upon a wildly unconventional business venture. Ari Graynor, Lauren Ann Miller. $15 in advance at the Michigan Union Ticket Office, Ticketmaster.com, and all other Ticketmaster outlets. To charge by phone, call (800) 745-3000. 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 29: “Sundance Shorts.” A collection of the best short films from the 2011 Sundance competition. $15 in advance at all Ticketmaster outlets and at the door. (800) 745-3000. 7:30 p.m.
Temple Beth Emeth “Movie Wednesday.” FREE. 665-4744. 2309 Packard, 1 p.m. Followed by discussion. Snacks. Jan. 18: “The Life of Emile Zola” (William Dieterle, 1937). Oscar-winning biopic about the pioneering French naturalist novelist who stood up for a Jewish army captain who was imprisoned for treason despite evidence that someone else committed the crime. Paul Muni.
U-M Center for Southeast Asian Studies. FREE. 764-0352. 1022 Thayer Bldg., 202 S. Thayer, 3 p.m.
Jan. 22: “Crying Ladies” (Mark Meily, 2003). Whimsical comedy about 3 women who are professional mourners. Filipino, Mandarin, Tagalog; subtitles.
U-M Japanese Animation Film Society. U-M campus admission policy: No one under 18 admitted without an adult. FREE. umichanime.com. MLB, 812 E. Washington at Thayer, 10 a.m.-midnight.
Jan. date TBA: “Animania.” Monthly anime-a-thon of feature films and episodes from Japanese TV series.
U-M School of Public Health. FREE. 764-6478. SPH II Auditorium, 1415 Washington Hts., 5 p.m.
Jan. 9:“Born into Brothels” (Zana Briski & Ross Kauffman, 2004). Moving, Oscar-winning documentary about the children growing up in Calcutta’s grim red light district.
University Musical Society. FREE. 764-2538. UMMA Helmut Stern Auditorium, 525 S. State. 7 p.m.
Jan. 10: “Absolute Wilson” (Katharina Otto-Bernstein, 2006). Documentary about the life of avant-garde theater director and playwright Robert Wilson (see 20 Friday Einstein on the Beach listing).
WCBN-FM. FREE admission. 763-3500. Arbor Brewing Company (114 E. Washington), 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 11: “Jailhouse Rock” (Richard Thorpe, 1957). Musical drama starring Elvis as an ex-con turned rock star. It features charismatic renditions of several top-notch Leiber & Stoller songs and a climactic dance number choreographed by Elvis himself.
