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Cinema Chat: The Summit, Nebraska, Nosferatu, NT Live: Macbeth, and more!

The Michigan Theater

In this week's installment of Cinema Chat, WEMU's David Fair and Michigan Theater Executive Director and CEO Russ Collins cover Hollywood news and a look at the gamut of movies available in the area over the coming weekend.

Bruce Dern, Will Forte and a sneak peak of an Oscar contender! With lots of “Oscar Buzz” and a winner at the Cannes Film Festival, “Nebraska” will get a special screening at the Michigan Theater on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m. Local audiences will get the chance to watch two-time Academy Award-winner Alexander Payne’s new film before it’s released to the rest of the country. The screening will be introduced via a live HD feed by Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers, and, after the film, Travers will interview stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte. In “Nebraska,” an aging, booze-addled father (2013 Cannes Film Festival Best Actor-winner Dern) makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son (Forte) in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. Tickets available now at Ticketweb.com. Openings Downtown “The Summit” uses first-hand footage, after-the-fact interviews, and reenactments to tell the story of the deadliest day on the world’s most dangerous mountain, when 11 climbers mysteriously perished on K2. David Fear of Time Out New York says, “As triumph turns to tragedy, you feel the grief winding its way through your shaken nervous systems.” “The Summit” opens Friday at the Michigan Theater. The most provocative film from the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, “Escape From Tomorrow” should not exist, and yet it does. Like nothing you’ve ever seen, Randy Moore’s directorial debut is a bold and ingenious trip into the happiest place on earth. An idyllic family vacation quickly unravels into a surrealist nightmare of paranoid visions, bizarre encounters, and an obsessive pursuit of a pair of sexy teenage Parisians. Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter says, “A one-of-a-kind piece of subversive surrealism filmed clandestinely at Disney World is far too haphazard, but offers images that will long stick in the mind.” “Escape From Tomorrow” plays October 26th, 28th and 29th at the Michigan Theater, Spooky Special Screenings Downtown just in time for Halloween! “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” returns! The film is a notorious horror film parody, a fast-paced potpourri of camp, sci-fi and rock ‘n’ roll. The basic plot follows the exploits of Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) after they stumble upon the lair of transvestite vampire Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). This bizarre musical also stars Meat Loaf and Richard O’Brien. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” plays October 25th & 26th at 11:59 PM at the State Theatre. “Shaun of the Dead” is a scream in all senses of the word! When brain-hungry zombies shamble through the streets of London, unambitious electronics salesman Shaun (Simon Pegg) still can’t shake the girl who just dumped him, Liz. With the help of his roommate Ed (Nick Frost), Shaun fights his way across town to rescue Liz, but the petty concerns of life keep getting in the way. “Shaun of the Dead” plays Monday, October 28th at 7PM. Part of the Monday Funnies Film Series. An Ann Arbor tradition continues when the first vampire movie, “Nosferatu,” plays the Michigan Theater. The film is about the eerie Count Orlok (the beyond-creepy Max Schreck), a vampire who becomes obsessed with his real estate agent’s beautiful wife. This very special presentation will have live organ accompaniment on the Michigan Theater’s grand Barton Organ by the Michigan’s gifted organist, Stephen Warner. Roger Ebert said it best: “It doesn’t scare us, but it haunts us. It shows not that vampires can jump out of shadows, but that evil can grow there, nourished on death.” “Nosferatu” plays Wednesday, October 30th at 7PM at the Michigan Theater. National Theatre Live returns to Ann Arbor! National Theatre Live will broadcast Manchester International Festival’s production of “Macbeth,” with Kenneth Branagh in his first Shakespeare performance in over a decade as Macbeth, and Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth. The Daily Telegraph says, “A Macbeth which will go down as one of the Scottish Play’s great revivals.” “NT Live presents: Macbeth” plays Sunday, October 27th at 7:00PM at the Michigan Theater. Opening at the Multiplex Ridley Scott and Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy join forces in the motion picture thriller “The Counselor,” starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt. McCarthy, making his screenwriting debut, and Scott interweave the author’s characteristic wit and dark humor with a nightmarish scenario, in which a respected lawyer’s one-time dalliance with an illegal business deal spirals out of control. “The Counselor” opens Friday at area multiplexes. “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” follows 86 year-old Irving Zisman (Johnny Knoxville), a character seen in previous “Jackass” films , and his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll) on a hidden camera road trip. The duo will encounter male strippers, disgruntled child beauty pageant contestants (and their equally disgruntled mothers), funeral home mourners, biker bar patrons and a whole lot of unsuspecting citizens. “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” opens Friday at area multiplexes. See you at the movies!

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