The Monthly Reel
As we put this issue to bed the summer blockbuster season is nearing its end. This season has delivered some crowd pleasing blockbusters including The Avengers, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Rises, and more recently The Expendables.
However, in a summer chockablock full of big budget CGI fests, Chip and I have both been delighted and even pleasantly surprised by some of this season’s smaller cinematic offerings, including Moonlight Kingdom, Safety Not Guranteed and The Intouchables earlier this season.
This month Chip was touched by Take this Waltz and he was completely smitten with The Odd Life of Timothy Green. Unfortunately, but the time you read this, Take This Waltz will likely have disappeared from the one theatre in our area where it was playing. Regardless, Chip thought it was worth including in this issue. Many critics ripped Timothy Green to shreds, but not our Professor Kaufmann. On the contrary, he takes umbrage with a world that just can’t enjoy good old fashioned sentiment and magic.
He believes that audiences who do venture out to see The Odd Life of Timothy Green will like it far more than the snarky scribes of this industry. His convictions seem to be echoed on Rotten Tomatoes, wherein The Odd Life of Timothy Green currently holds a 38% fresh rating by critics and an 88% fresh rating by movie goers.
Meanwhile I enjoyed Ruby Sparks and Sleepwalk with Me. I saw Ruby Sparks at a press screening at 9 o’clock on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. To like a movie at a Saturday morning screening, it must be good. In fact, I’m probably at my critical, snarky and grouchiest best at that time. Sleepwalk with Me won’t open until September 7 here in Asheville, but I had the pleasure of attending a screening recently. Public radio fans of This American Life and Mike Birbiglia will flock to it and enjoy it.
Moving back to more mainstream titles, Chip and I were both slightly disappointed with the highly anticipated Bourne Legacy , but that could be a case of setting our expectations a little too high. Speaking of expectations, this fall’s releases include Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and yet another (?!) chapter in the Resident Evil franchise. But rest assured there’s lots more coming down the pike, and there’s something for every palate.
This fall the Asheville Film Society and the Hendersonville Film Society continue to offer some wonderful re-discoveries. Recently the Asheville Film Society showed My Man Godfrey and the Hendersonville Film Society screened The Eye of the Needle. The good Professor Kaufmann happened to attend both screenings and said it was absolutely wonderful to see audiences thoroughly enjoy and react to both films. Be sure to check the schedules for AFS and HFS each month in Reel Takes.
Enjoy the Show!
Award-Winning Documentary on Sexual Trauma in the Military
Veteran Mary Joan Dickson is hosting a screening of the new, award-winning documentary The Invisible War at The Fine Arts Theatre 36 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville on September 6 and September 8.
A groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of our country’s most shameful and best-kept secrets, The Invisible War reveals the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military.
Today, a female soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire. A staggering 20,000 soldiers are estimated to have been assaulted in 2009 alone. And the number of military sexual assaults in the last decade is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands.
Tracing the powerfully emotional stories of several young veterans, the film reveals the systemic cover-up of the crimes they have suffered and follows their struggles to rebuild their lives and careers.
Featuring hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress, The Invisible War urges us all, civilian and solider alike, to fight for a system that no longer forces our military to choose between speaking up and serving our country.
The screening at the Fine Arts Theatre is part of The Invisible War’s campaign to tell survivors of military sexual trauma that they are not invisible and to urge civilians, veterans, and active-duty military across the country, to hold the U.S. military to account for creating responsible, comprehensive and just policies for preventing and prosecuting rape and sexual violence among soldiers.
As a veteran Mary Joan Dickson recognizes the importance of supporting survivors of military sexual trauma. She too is a survivor, “Thrivor,” of military sexual trauma and was interviewed for this documentary.
The proceeds from this film will go to the female homeless veterans shelter, the Steadfast House, here in Asheville NC.
IF YOU GO: The Invisible War, Thursday, September 6 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, September 8 at 10 a.m. Admission/Suggested Donation: $8 per person. Screening takes place at The Fine Arts Theatre, 36 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville.