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Cinema Chat: 'Boyhood', 'A Summers Tale', 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' And More

Cinema Chat begins with a discussion on efforts to preserve the art of making movies on film.  

  

 Opening Downtown

Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater's “Boyhood” is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes.

Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason's parents, “Boyhood” charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before. Snapshots of adolescence from road trips and family dinners to birthdays and graduations and all the moments in between become transcendent; “Boyhood” is both a nostalgic time capsule of the recent past and an ode to growing up and parenting.  

Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com says, “There isn't anything else quite like ‘Boyhood’ in the history of cinema, although that wouldn't matter one-fifth as much if it weren't a moving and memorable viewing experience in the end.” “Boyhood” opens exclusively at the Michigan Theater on Friday.

“A Summer’s Tale” is the 3rd of French New Wave master Eric Rohmer‘s “Tales of the Four Seasons” cycle. Released abroad in 1996, it was the only one of the cycle’s four films not distributed in the United States, and is now finally having its American release.

Gaspard, a recent university graduate, arrives at the seaside in Bretagne for three weeks’ vacation before starting a new job. He’s hoping his sort-of girlfriend, the fickle Léna, will join him there; but as the days pass, he welcomes the interest of Margot, a student working as a waitress for the summer.

Things start to get complicated when the spoken-for Margot encourages Gaspard to have a summer romance with her friend Solène, and he complies. When Léna turns up, and scheduling complications abound, Gaspard will have to make a choice. “A Summer’s Tale” opens Friday at the Michigan Theater.

Opening at the Cineplex

From Marvel, the studio that brought you “Iron Man” and “The Avengers,” comes a new team: the “Guardians of the Galaxy.” 

The epic space adventure expands the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill(Chris Pratt) finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan (Lee Pace), a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

To evade the ever-persistent Ronan, Quill is forced into an uneasy truce with a quartet of disparate misfits.  Also starring Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, and Vin Diesel, “Guardians of the Galaxy” opens Friday.

In his follow-up to the four-time Academy Award-nominated “The Help,” Tate Taylor directs Chadwick Boseman (“42”) as James Brown in “Get On Up.”

Based on the incredible life story of the Godfather of Soul, the film gives a fearless look inside the music, moves and moods of Brown, taking audiences on a journey from his impoverished childhood to his evolution into one of the most influential figures of the 20th century.  

Sheri Linden of the Hollywood Reporter says, “It's that rare musician's biography with a deep feel for the music. And in Chadwick Boseman, it has a galvanic core, a performance that transcends impersonation and reverberates long after the screen goes dark.” Also starring Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Dan Aykroyd, “Get On Up” opens Friday. 

Special Screenings Downtown

In “Rebel Without A Cause,” Nicholas Ray‘s landmark juvenile-delinquent drama, teenager Jimmy Stark (James Dean) can’t help but get into trouble, a problem that has forced his appearance-conscious parents to move from one town to another. 

In a 1995 40th-anniversary review, Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film is “an indelible vision of a pretty 1950s America with a searing crack in it.” 

With Natalie WoodDennis HopperSal Mineo, and more. “Rebel Without A Cause” plays Sunday, August 3 at 1:30 PM & Tuesday, August 5 at 7 PM as part of the Summer Classics Film Series.

In “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” a space alien (David Bowie) crash lands on Earth, seeking help for his drought-stricken planet.

By securing patents to advanced technology, he becomes a fabulously wealthy industrialist. However, money and its attendant decadence ultimately exert a stronger gravitational pull.

“The Man Who Feel To Earth” plays Thursday, August 7 at 10 PM. Part of the Summer Classics After Dark Series.  

The series kicks off tonight, July 31, at 10 PM with “Stop Making Sense,” the first feature-length documentary effort of filmmaker Jonathan Demme about The Talking Heads and its visionary leader David Byrne.

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, the Michigan Theater will screen three new films produced by the BBC.  “ Royal Cousins at War: The Final Blow to the Royal Houses of Europe” plays Sunday, August 3, at 4:30 PM; Churchill’s First World War” plays Sunday, August 3, at 7:00 PM; and “37 Days: The Road to World War I” plays Monday, August 4, at 6:30 PM. The three screenings are free and open to the public.

Contact David: dfair@emich.edu