Cinema 21 Program Notes

One Week: May 4 - 10

KILLER OF SHEEP

Premiere (1977, 83 minutes)

One of the few African-American films to be recognized by the Congress National Film Registry Act, its print housed and preserved by the government, KILLER OF SHEEP is a film that Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal calls a "seminal American feature." With almost neo-realist sobriety, Charles Burnett's film follows the daily grind of Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders), who works in a slaughterhouse and suffers from insomnia. Burnett observes him as he interacts with his increasingly frustrated wife, with pals who are planning a caper, and with various representatives of society at large. Burnett shot the film in 1977 on weekends in Watts with a mostly amateur cast for $10,000 while still a student in UCLA's film school. Yet the result is one of the most praised films of its time. Marjorie Baumgarten of the Austin Chronicle describes KILLER OF SHEEP as a film that is "a blistering assessment of the L.A. ghettos 10 years after the Watts riots." "As fresh and observational as it was 30 years ago, KILLER OF SHEEP seems even more universal now," adds J. Hoberman in the Village Voice, while Stuart Klawans of the Nation finds it to be "one of those rare films that's so substantial, you feel you could walk around it, test its weight, observe how firmly and forthrightly it meets the ground." Doug Cummings of Filmjourney praises Burnett's "ability to highlight warmth, humor, and unexpected moments of compassion." Manohla Dargis of the New York Times deems it "an American masterpiece, independent to the bone," while David Edelstein of New York says it is "as a great - the greatest - cinematic tone poem of American urban life." The Chicago Reader's Jonathan Rosenbaum announces that KILLER OF SHEEP "shouldn't be missed." Melissa Anderson of Time Out New York calls it, simply, a "perfect film."

One of the 1st 50 films entered in the Library of Congress' National Film Registry. One of the National Society of Film Critics' "100 Essential Films" of all time. Finally released on 35mm, 30 years after its completion.

Black Los Angeles ghetto life of Watts in the mid-1970s

"If Killer of Sheep were an Italian film from 1953, we would have every scene memorized.". MICHAEL TOLKIN, SCREENWRITER
Salon.com Article

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One Week: May 11 - 17

ZOO

Premiere (2007, 75 minutes)

It's hard to predict the next thing that filmmaker Robinson Devor is going to do. In 1999 he made the delightful film noir comedy The Woman Chaser. In the award winning Police Beat, he told the story of an African-American bike cop in Seattle. Now, in the documentary ZOO he chronicles the activities of bestiality enthusiasts in Washington State who formed a small club. The case attracted national attention in 2005 when one of the members, Kenneth Pinyan, a Boeing engineer, died as a result of his activities. According to Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter, "Robinson Devor and his accomplished crew expand our concept of the documentary film." ZOO will "surprise you. For the most part these guys seem like gentle, lonely and odd people, poorly socialized to human life," writes Andrew O'Hehir in Salon. "The film's dramatic re-enactments, shot in lush 16mm by cinematographer Sean Kirby, create a fascinating blurring of the line between narrative and documentary storytelling, reminiscent of the work of Werner Herzog and Errol Morris," concludes Scott Foundas in Variety.

An extraordinary glimpse into the life of a seemingly normal Seattle family man whose secret sexual appetites led to his shocking death.

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One Week: May 18 - 24

MAFIOSO

Premiere (1962, 105 minutes)

When Antonio (Alberto Sordi), a factory manager, arrives in his hometown in Sicily for a family vacation, he gets more than he bargained for, especially when the local Don demands the return of a favor. Alberto Lattuada's incomparable, half-forgotten 1962 crime comedy-travelogue is, according to Eugene Archer in the New York Times, "at once a giddy mixture of farce, satire and opera buffa." Filmed in Milan, Sicily, and New York, Lattuada's black comedy is a delight, resurrected from needless obscurity. "If you crossed Meet the Parents with The Godfather and filmed it 45 years ago in Italian, you might come close to MAFIOSO, a black-and-white gem," writes G. Allen Johnson in the San Francisco Chronicle. For Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, the film "captures, in a stark yet haunting way, the indelible fact that no man is born a mobster." Thanks to the film's "abrupt tonal shifts and disturbing existential premise, this nearly forgotten dark comedy could be the most modern (or at least modernist) movie in town," analyzes J. Hoberman of the Village Voice. Lisa Kennedy of the Denver Post calls it "strange, entertaining and disquieting," while Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe notices its "brilliant, subtle acting. And Lattuada's filmmaking matches it, with his blend of neo-realism and easy theatricality. He doesn't waste a shot." "If you love mob movies, MAFIOSO is a must," concludes Robert Denerstein of the Denver Rocky Mountain News.

New 35mm Print!

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One Week: May 25 - 31

RED ROAD

Premiere (2006, 113 minutes)

Who will watch the watchers? That's an enduring question that plagues civilization, and RED ROAD ponders the question from an unusual angle. The feature debut of Brit writer-helmer Andrea Arnold, RED ROAD is part of a larger cinematic project, called Advance Party, in which, dogme like, several filmmakers will tell different stories in the same setting and with overlapping characters. For starters, though, RED ROAD concerns a woman named Jackie (Kate Dickie) whose job it is to watch the monitors of cameras turned on a particularly rough part of north Glasgow. One day she sees someone from her past, and from that point descends into a complex situation that keeps the audience guessing until the end. The hidden depths of the film's pervasive surveillance spectacle serve as an evocation of society's ceaselessly voyeuristic impulses, in which we are all increasingly implicated. "Sensual, dark in every sense," notes Leslie Felperin in Variety. Andrew O'Hehir of Salon says that RED ROAD is "dynamite, the kind of sexy, paranoid, creepily atmospheric picture that invades all your senses at once." A.O. Scott of the New York Times finds that the film "is evidence of a talented, risk-taking filmmaker discovering her power." For Jan Stuart of Newsday, RED ROAD is a "sexy and cunningly disorienting thriller," while Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times finds it "spellbinding, intelligent." Andrew Sarris in the New York Observer singles out Ms. Dickie, of whom he says "ultimately gives an extraordinary, full-bodied performance of uncommon frankness and sensuality, coupled with a complex projection of emotional paralysis reflected in the glazed gaze of eyes that are always looking, but seldom seeing anything with feeling. It is one of the most revelatory performances I have ever been privileged to witness."

"It's dynamite, the kind of sexy, paranoid, creepily atmospheric picture that invades all your senses at once!" - Andrew O'Hehir, SALON.COM

"In a triumph of filmmaking, Arnold has endowed a tale of female rage with disquieting social resonance!" - Erica Abeel, INTERNATIONAL FILM JOURNAL

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One Week: June 1 - 7

TEN CANOES

Premiere (2006, 90 minutes)

Classical notions of narrative are turned on their head in Rolf de Heer's TEN CANOES. Set in the Australian outback, the film tells stories within stories, all set in prehistory, as narrator David Gulpilil (Walkabout) attempts to recount and pass on to others a moral lesson his people learned long ago. The narrator's tales and the situational humor are surprisingly earthy. Megan Lehmann of the Hollywood Reporter, found TEN CANOES to be an "enchanting fable rich in authenticity and shot through with unexpected humor." The Urban Cinefile notes that the "biggest surprise is the humour. With Gulpilil's often irreverent and occasional mischievous narration, the dialogue is revealing and at times hilarious. We are taken into a world that we have never seen before." Mike Russell of the Oregonian writes that TEN CANOES "strange, beautiful, warm funny, powerfully alive, and universally human!"

"An enchanting fable rich in authenticity and shot through with unexpected humor!" - Hollywood Reporter

"Strange, beautiful...warm, funny, powerfully alive and universally human!" - Mike Russell, The Oregonian

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One Week: June 8 - 14

DAY WATCH

Premiere (2006, 132 minutes)

In 2004 the Russian action film Night Watch surprised western viewers with its professionalism and suspense. Based on the popular supernatural series by Sergei Lukyanenko and Vladimir Vasiliev. In this second film in a trilogy, also directed by Timur Bekmambetov, a psychic man (Konstantin Khabensky) who serves in the secret war between the forces of Light and Dark comes into possession of a device that can restore life to Moscow, which was nearly destroyed by the apocalyptic events in the first film. For Leslie Felperin in Variety DAY WATCH is "bursting with incident and FX," while DVD Active says that this film "develops intrigue, intrigue into the characters, their pasts, and their universe." Twitch's Jarrett Dobson found DAY WATCH to be "entertaining, exciting, and spell-binding. I became entranced by the mythology of this world and can't wait to enjoy it time and time again."

All Hell Is About To Break Loose

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One Week: June 15 - 21

TRIAD ELECTION

Premiere (2006, 92 minutes)

Johnnie To has emerged as the premiere Hong Kong filmmaker. When the Chinese took back the island, To elected to stay, and his subsequent films, all ostensibly thrillers, have cleverly critiqued the politics and daily life of Hong Kong under Chinese rule. TRIAD ELECTION, a sequel to his earlier Election, follows in detail the machinations that lead up to the installation of a new, ceremonial leader of Hong Kong's loosely affiliated gangsters. Ed Gonzalez of Slant found TRIAD ELECTION to be "equal in precision to its predecessor, exuding a perpetual sense of danger." Leo Goldsmith, of Not Coming to a Theater Near You, says that "TRIAD ELECTION is first and foremost a portrait of Hong Kong, painted in great swaths of black and red." Elizabeth Kerr in the Hollywood Reporter deemed TRIAD ELECTION to be "masterful." D. K. Holm of Green Cine Daily asserts that the film "lives up to To's cult status."

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One Week: June 22 - 28

PAPRIKA

Premiere (2006, 90 minutes)

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all heck breaks loose, and, in this anime from Satoshi Kon (Tokyo Godfathers), only one person can stop it, a young female therapist named Paprika. Richard James Havis of the Hollywood Reporter finds the film to be "intelligently written," while Internet reviewer Nick Schager advises that PAPRIKA becomes "far more enthralling the more one simply surrenders to the awe-inspiring beauty of its images." Aaron Hillis writes in Premiere that PAPRIKA is, "smart, electrifying, and proudly unhinged."

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Midnight Shows, Two Days Only: June 22 - 23

THE BUFFY MUSICAL

Premiere (2006, 60 minutes)

Like the sing-a-long version of Sound of Music, Clinton McClung brings us the popular musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, titled " Once More With Feeling," and originally aired in the show's sixth season. In this audience interactive celebration, and with the help of a Buffy Goodie Bag, finger puppets are waved, streamers pour over the audience, bubbles fill the air, kazoos blow, vampire teeth are worn, underwear is thrown (don't ask), and the audience implores Buffy's little sister Dawn to just "shut up!"

Once More With Feeling!

Come and sing along with the musical episode from Buffy The Vampire Slayer's sixth season!

ALL SEATS $10 CASH OR CHECK ONLY
ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT CINEMA 21 BOX OFFICE
FOR WILL CALL RESERVATION CALL 503-223-4044!
Will call tickets can be picked up at the box office anytime we are open for business and will be held for those making reservations up to 11:45pm day of show!

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Two Weeks: June 29 - July 12

LA VIE EN ROSE

Premiere (2007, 140 minutes)

Edith Piaf was one of France's most loved singers, a national icon. Her music reflected her tragic life, with her specialty being the poignant ballad performed in a heartbreaking voice. Among her most famous songs are "La vie en rose" (1946) and "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960). In Olivier Dahan's film about the singer, Marion Cotillard gives an "emotionally riveting performance," according to Internet reviewer Emanuel Levy. WBAI reviewer Prairie Miller says that the film resonates with the "unique breadth and depth of the soulful disarming voice of this nearly mythic chanteuse." Concludes Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer, "For Piaf fans, LA VIE EN ROSE is a must-see. For Piaf fans yet-to-be, this extraordinary film is an opportunity rich with discovery."

The life of Edith Piaf

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