Friday, March 11, 2016

AFI Silver Theatre Weekly Update (3-11-16)

Coming Soon: Miles Ahead

From our friends at the AFI Silver Theatre...

AFI Silver Theatre Weekly Programming Update (as of Friday, March 11, 2016)

Tickets and full calendar at AFI.com/Silver

Just Announced...
OPENING FRIDAY, MARCH 11: HAIL, CAESAR!
Four-time Oscar-winning filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country for Old Men, True Grit) write and direct Hail, Caesar!, an all-star comedy set during the latter years of Hollywood's Golden Age. Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum, Hail Caesar! follows a single day in the life of a studio fixer who is presented with plenty of problems to fix.

Current First Run:
Official Selection of AFI FEST 2015 presented by Audi.

AFI AWARDS 2015 Official Selection. Academy Award winner, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress (Saoirse Ronan) and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Nominated for six Academy Awards: Best Actress (Cate Blanchett), Best Supporting Actress (Rooney Mara), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Costumes and Best Original Score.


OPENING FRIDAY, MARCH 25: THE CLAN
Directed by Argentinean auteur Pablo Trapero (Carancho, White Elephant) The Clan tells the true story of a middle-class family pulled into a world of kidnapping, ransom and murder by their patriarch. On the surface, the Puccios live like most families. Arquímedes (Guillermo Francella) presides over a modest household where his wife, sons and daughters gather most evenings over home-cooked meals to discuss their days. Eldest son Alejandro (Peter Lanzani) is a star rugby player manipulated into helping his father carry out meticulously planned abductions. But when kidnapping turns to murder, Alejandro must finally face the truth that his father, his hero, is a cold-blooded killer.

OPENING FRIDAY, APRIL 1: MIDNIGHT SPECIAL
In this sci-fi thriller, writer/director Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud) proves again that he is one of the most compelling storytellers of our time, as a father (Michael Shannon, Revolutionary Road) goes on the run to protect his young son, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher, St. Vincent) and uncover the truth behind the boy's special powers. What starts as a race from religious extremists and local law enforcement quickly escalates to a nationwide manhunt involving the highest levels of the federal government. Ultimately, his father risks everything to protect Alton and help fulfill a destiny that could change the world forever, in this genre-defying film - as supernatural as it is intimately human. The film also stars Joel Edgerton (Black Mass) Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man, Marie Antoinette) Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, TV's Girls) and Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down, August: Osage County.)

OPENING FRIDAY, APRIL 8: MILES AHEAD
Inspired by events in his life, this is a wildly entertaining, impressionistic, no-holds-barred portrait of one of 20th-century music’s creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career-defining performance by Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle makes his bravura directorial debut. 

In the midst of a dazzling and prolific career at the forefront of modern jazz innovation, Miles Davis (Cheadle) virtually disappears from public view for a period of five years in the late 1970s. Alone and holed up in his home, he is beset by chronic pain from a deteriorating hip, his musical voice stifled and numbed by drugs and pain medications, his mind haunted by unsettling ghosts from the past. A wily music reporter (Ewan McGregor) forces his way into Davis’ house and, over the next couple of days, the two men unwittingly embark on a wild and sometimes harrowing adventure to recover a stolen tape of the musician’s latest compositions. 

Davis’ mercurial behavior is fueled by memories of his failed marriage to the talented and beautiful dancer Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi.) During their romance and subsequent marriage, Taylor served as Davis’ muse. It was during this period that he released several of his signature recordings, including the groundbreaking "Sketches of Spain" and "Someday My Prince Will Come." The idyll was short-lived; their eight-year marriage was marked by infidelity and abuse, and Taylor was forced to flee for her own safety as Miles’ mental and physical health deteriorated. By the late ‘70s, plagued by years of regret and loss, Davis flirts with annihilation until he once again finds salvation in his art.

SPECIAL EVENTS, SERIES & ENGAGEMENTS THIS WEEK:
Opening Night:
LAMB (2015)
Friday, March 11, 7:15 PM; Also screening Sunday, March 13, 4:45 PM
Yared Zeleke's remarkable feature debut tells the story of young Ephraim, a half-Jewish Ethiopian boy who is sent by his father to live among distant relatives after his mother's death. Ephraim uses his cooking skills to carve out a place among his cousins, but when his uncle decides that his beloved sheep must be sacrificed for the next religious feast, he will do anything to save the animal and return home. Beautifully shot against the majestic backdrop of Ethiopia's southern mountains, this is an affecting tale about what people will risk in order to take charge of their own destinies. 2016 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Submission, Ethiopia; Special Jury Prize, 2015 Denver Film Festival; Official Selection, 2015 Cannes, Toronto and London Film Festivals. DIR/SCR Yared Zeleke; PROD Laurent Lavolé, Ama Ampadu, Johannes Rexin. Ethiopia/France/Germany/Norway/Qatar, 2015, color, 94 min. In Amharic with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Post-screening reception on March 11, made possible with support from Abol Ethiopian Cuisine.