February Films

We are not quite half way through January, but we've already got of film schedule for February lined up.  Coming up next month are a number of films that have been nominated for Golden Globes.  Be sure to root for them this Sunday when the awards are announced.

Here is the list of the upcoming films in order of their show dates.  Hope to see you at the movies!


February 3 - February 9
My Week with Marilyn:
In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of 'The Prince and the Showgirl'. The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott). Nearly 40 years on, his diary account The Prince, the Showgirl and Me was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as My Week with Marilyn - this is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work. -- (C) Weinstein
Nominated for Golden Globes for- Best Picture, Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical (Michelle Williams), Best Supporting Actor (Kenneth Branagh)

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance:
The full story of this groundbreaking dance company, from their founding in 1956 to the present. The Joffrey is considered the first truly 'American' ballet company and was the first to perform at the White House and the first company to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine. Narrated by Mandy Patinkin, the film shows how the Joffrey transformed American dance by combining modern dance with classical ballet and by working with cutting edge choreographers like Twyla Tharp, Laura Dean and others. Features famed former Joffrey stars Kevin McKenzie, Gary Chryst, Helgi Tomasson, Trinette Singleton and Adam Sklute. (c) IMDB - Anonymous

February 10 - February 16
Young Adult:
Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn't quite gotten over high school, either. -- (C) Paramount
Nominated for Golden Globes - Best Actress Comedy or Musical (Charlize Theron)

Tomboy:
A French family with two daughters, 10-year-old Laure and 6-year-old Jeanne, moves to a new neighborhood during the summer holidays. With her Jean Seberg haircut and tomboy ways, Laure is immediately mistaken for a boy by the local kids and passes herself off as Michael. Filmmaker Céline Sciamma brings a light and charming touch to this drama of childhood gender confusion. Zoe Heran as Laure/Michael and Malonn Levanna as Jeanne are nothing less than brilliant. This is a relationship movie: relationships between children, and the even more complicated one between one's heart and body. -- (C) Rocket Releasing

February 17 - February 23
Drive:
Ryan Gosling stars as a Los Angeles wheelman for hire, stunt driving for movie productions by day and steering getaway vehicles for armed heists by night. Though a loner by nature, Driver can't help falling in love with his beautiful neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan), a vulnerable young mother dragged into a dangerous underworld by the return of her ex-convict husband Standard (Oscar Isaac). After a heist intended to pay off Standard's protection money spins unpredictably out of control, Driver finds himself driving defense for the girl he loves, tailgated by a syndicate of deadly serious criminals. But when he realizes that the gangsters are after more than the bag of cash in his trunk-that they're coming straight for Irene and her son-Driver is forced to shift gears and go on offense. -- (C) FilmDistrict
Nominated for Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actor (Albert Brooks)

Weekend:
“Weekend,” Andrew Haigh’s astonishingly self-assured, unassumingly profound second feature.... In its matter-of-fact, tightly focused observation of two young men who find their one-night stand growing into something more serious, the movie ranges over vast, often neglected regions of 21st-century life. It is about the paradoxes and puzzlements of gay identity in a post-identity-politics era, and also about the enduring mystery of sexual attraction and its consequences. (c) New York Times

February 24 - March 1
A Dangerous Method:
Seduced by the challenge of an impossible case, the driven Dr. Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) takes the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley) as his patient in A Dangerous Method. Jung's weapon is the method of his master, the renowned Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen). Both men fall under Sabina's spell. -- (C) Sony Pictures Classics
Nominated for Golden Globe - Best Supporting Actor (Viggo Mortensen)

Norwegian Wood:
Tokyo, the late 1960s...Students around the world are uniting to overthrow the establishment and Toru Watanabe's personal life is similarly in tumult. At heart, he is deeply devoted to his first love, Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman. But their complex bond has been forged by the tragic death of their best friend years before. Watanabe lives with the influence of death everywhere. That is, until Midori, a girl who is everything that Naoko is not - outgoing, vivacious, supremely self-confident - marches into his life and Watanabe must choose between his past and his future. -- (C) Official Site

Free Films for January

Now that we have our next film schedule finalized, it is time for another giveaway.

We have a great line up of films for our January schedule, beginning January 6th, and we want to give a lucky winner the chance to come to all of them for free.  The winner will receive free admission to the following films:

• The Skin I Live In
• The Women on the 6th Floor
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• My Reincarnation
• 50/50
• The Conquest
• Like Crazy
• Young Goethe in Love
• Life in a Day (screening January 11th)
• Inside Job (screening January 12th)
• The Way (screenings January 18 and 30)

Entering is easy.  On the right side of the blog page there is a form for signing up for our weekly newsletters.  Just sign up for one or both of them and leave a comment below.  Entries must be received by 6:00pm on Wednesday, January 4th.  The winner will be randomly selected and we'll post the winner's name here.  If you already receive one of our emails, don't worry!   Just leave a comment below and you'll be eligible to win.

Good luck!  We hope to see you at the movies!

And the winner is....

Congratulations Beth Horan, you are the winner of the two tickets for the sold out Natalie MacMaster concert on Monday, December 19th at 7:00pm!  Your tickets will be waiting for you at the door the night of the show or you can pick them up at the Catamount box office any time during our normal hours.

Thanks to everyone who entered our first giveaway.  We appreciate all the support you give to Catamount Arts .  Keep an eye out here and on our Facebook page as we are planning to do more fun things like this in the future.

'Tis the Season For Giving

As it is the season for giving, Catamount Arts and Kingdom County Productions will be giving away two tickets to see Natalie MacMaster live in concert on Monday, December 19th at 7:00pm at St. Johnsbury Academy's Fuller Hall.

Entering the contest is easy.  Just follow the three steps below:

1. "Like" our page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Catamount-Film-and-Arts/118348528367)
2. Follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/#!/CatamountArts)
3. Post a comment below to let us know you have done the first two.  If you already have done the first two, just post to let us know you want to be part of the contest.

All entries must be received by noon on Friday, December 16th and the winner will be selected randomly from the entries that meet all the criteria listed above.  We will post the winner's name here as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

Good Luck!

A little about Natalie MacMaster:

Equally at home on the concert stage or at a folk festival, Grammy-nominated Cape Breton fiddler Natalie MacMaster is one of the most versatile and exciting young musicians on both the Folk music and Celtic music scenes. MacMaster's many projects have seen her collaborate and perform with Alison Krauss, Carlos Santana, the Chieftains, Paul Simon, Pavarotti, and Yo-Yo Ma.

Natalie's live performances are a testament to her incandescent musicianship and boundless energy, featuring foot-tapping rave-ups, heart-rending ballads, and world-class step dancing. MacMaster is equally adept at hypnotizing a crowd while alone in the footlights. Natalie's fiddling fireworks on traditional and contemporary Celtic melodies generate a kind of "Traditional Fusion" delivered with uplifting energy felt by the musicians and audiences of all ages.

From KRISTIN NORD, Halifax Chronicle Herald:

Children from these Cape Breton parishes often perform at church festivals when they are very young. For Natalie MacMaster, her debut came at Glendale less than a year after she’d begun playing her first ¾-size fiddle.

"By the time I picked up the fiddle, I felt as if I had nine years of experience already," she recalls. "I had so many melodies in my head; I could hum a lot of tunes."

Her parents encouraged her playing from the very start, transporting her to the halls and packing a blanket and a pillow in the backseat on the nights when they knew she’d be up late playing for a dance.  Natalie "was like a sponge, absorbing and responding to everything," said her early champion, musician Mike Denney, “but she was also exceedingly shy. While the MacMasters in private are dry-witted and hilarious, it was a leap for Natalie to see that she could show that side of herself on stage.”

After 11 recordings, two DVDs, many East Coast and Juno awards and a Grammy-nomination later, Natalie remains the person she has always been.  She will continue to draw upon her life and memories, and will keep the lessons of her upbringing close to her heart. As she conjures this scene, from a rich repository of many musical evenings, we once again return to her message, and to the source of her art.

"The music is like the people and the land,” she says. “Strong, powerful, and rugged. It all blends. It all matches."

It was a summer’s night a few years ago when Natalie and (her renowned fiddler uncle) Buddy MacMaster were setting up for a joint release party. What had begun as a family project to record jointly a selection of tunes Buddy was known for had turned out so well that they’d decided to mass produce it.

"The hall in Judique was packed so tight that night with relatives that it could have been a family reunion," says Natalie. There in the spotlight Buddy was opening his fiddle case and taking a seat beside Natalie on the narrow stage.

Betty Lou Beaton, Natalie’s aunt, one of a succession of sisters and a daughter who have accompanied him so ably throughout the years, "slid behind the piano." Meanwhile, her cousin, Andrea, was tuning up for the dance that was to follow. 

"My sister-in-law collected tickets at the front door and then served tea and Mom’s banana bread from the communal kitchen." With the music underway, Natalie’s mom, Minnie, one of the island’s celebrated step dancers, joined them onstage for a joyful display of footwork.

"That night represented what I love most about Cape Breton,” she said. “There is no division among our lives, our families and friends, and our music," she says.  And therein is essence of what she cherishes. It is all so wonderfully interwoven.

Lots of new DVDs added to our collection

Have you missed some Catamount films this season?  Check out these recent DVD acquisitions, which all played in theCatamount Cinemas this season:

And many more!

In the Gallery This Month

Jack Alan Stewart - Sculpture
Dates: Friday, April 1st through Saturday, April 30th
Location: Main Gallery
Website Link: http://www.barnettradepost.com

Stumped!? Hand-Chiseled Hardwoods “Stumped!? Hand-Chiseled Hardwoods” is the title of Jack Alan Stewart’s one-man exhibit this April in the Main Gallery at Catamount Arts. Stewart, a well-known local artist and teacher, has designed many pieces especially for this new show, which will be on view for the entire month. A special reception honoring Stewart will be held at Catamount from 5:00pm – 7:00pm Friday, April 8. The public is cordially invited to attend this reception free of charge. Refreshments will be served.

Jack Stewart has been practicing art since he was a young child. His experience ranges from watercolor to oil painting, print making to etching, pen, pencil and charcoal to pastels. He has worked with wax, clay, cement, plaster of paris, pewter, lead, copper, zinc, marble, granite, soapstone, papier mache and many different varieties of hard and soft woods. He has created two-dimensional works, reliefs and free standing pieces. Stewart holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Swain School of Design with a major in sculpting. In addition, he holds a Masters of Art from Goddard College with a double major in sculpting and teaching. Stewart brings years of experience in the practice and instruction of drawing, watercolor painting and sculpting along with less familiar Japanese traditions such as sumi-e and calligraphy. Jack likes to quote an Eastern teaching saying: "Tell me and I forget; show me and I understand; let me experience and I know." It is the last part of the saying that is most important: the act of living, being and doing. In life, in art, it is important to practice over and over again so that what was at first most difficult and unnatural becomes a very wonderful and natural act. Sculpture is just one of Stewart’s many forms of artistic expression. “My sculptures are meant to be touched. They have organic shapes chiseled by hand and released from the wood,” Stewart said recently. “It’s important that we honor the original life-form of the tree from which each sculpture springs forth.” In sculpting, I attempt to bring out the wood’s natural beauty and the designs the life of the tree itself has already expressed,” he added. “If I don’t have a preconceived notion of what I’m hoping a finished piece will become, I ask the wood to direct me.” “And sometimes, despite any opinion I may have started a piece with, the tree has a very different idea of where I’m to take it as an art form!” he continued. “Much of my work is not consciously recognizable, and I’m often asked what a particular piece is. My answer is usually … wood,” he concluded. As a special feature of this exhibit, Stewart and his wife L.J. have also created a beautiful companion book that will be available for purchase. Copies of the book are now on display at Catamount.

LeAnn Rimes Live in St. Johnsbury, VT

LeAnn Rimes

An Acoustic Concert to Benefit Kingdom County Productions

7:00pm, Sunday, October 23

Fuller Hall, St. Johnsbury Academy

Tickets: $87, $77, $67, $110 (Gold Circle)

Tickets on sale online here starting Monday, April 4th and at the Catamount Arts box office starting Tuesday April 5th.

Kingdom County Productions (KCP) is proud to announce its plans to present multi-platinum Grammy winning country music star LeAnn Rimes in an intimate acoustic concert to benefit KCP’s performing arts programs for the local community and area schools. Tickets are available at Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury or by calling 802-748-2600 ext. 2.  24-hour online sales are available at www.CatamountArts.org

LeAnn Rimes skyrocketed to stardom at the age of 13, becoming the youngest country music star since Tanya Tucker (in 1972).  Her debut album, Blue, reached # 1 on the Top Country Albums chart and the album’s lead single of the same name (originally intended to be recorded by Patsy Cline in the early 60’s) became a Top Ten hit.  Rimes became an immediate national sensation, with many declaring that her spectacular voice made her the finest female country vocalist since Cline. 

LeAnn Rimes has released ten studio albums and placed more than 40 singles on the international charts.  She has sold more than 37 million records worldwide.  She has won nearly every major country music award, including two Grammys, twelve Billboard Awards, and three Academy of Country Music awards.  She is also the youngest person to ever win a Country Music Association award. 

Fans will be treated to a rare opportunity to hear LeAnn Rimes astonishing voice in the intimate environment of Fuller Hall, accompanied only by guitar, pedal steel, percussion, and bass.  Or as the Grand Rapids Press described her singular talent,

“a throaty, rich instrument of storytelling and emotion, a deluxe brocade of texture and shine.”

Proceeds to benefit Kingdom County Productions’ performing arts program for community programs and schools.

“Rimes showed she still loves what she does, and does it incredibly well.  She hit notes for the angels.”  -- Washington Post

“LeAnn Rimes acoustic concert was more than pleasant.  It was awesome. Without having to compete with the heavy amplification of country rock as she's done for the past 15 years, Rimes hit all the right notes.”  -- Columbus Dispatch

“Terrific.” – New York Times

“Her performance was a potent, concise reminder of just how deeply a sound can seep into someone's soul.” – Dallas Morning News