Winter 2012 Film Series

Ojai Playhouse, 145 E Ojai Ave., Ojai
Sundays, 4:30 pm

Tickets Prices

$10    General Admission
$ 7     Seniors (65 and older) & Students (with ID)
FREE for 2012 Subscribers

2012 Annual Subscriptions Available: $135
(Please go to the Home Page to pay through PayPal.)

The Way  

Jan. 8, 2012

USA   2011  (2 hrs., 3 min.)   Rated PG-13

For hundreds of years the long trek across Northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela (called The Way of Saint James) has been a pilgrimage route. In recent times, young backpackers and other travelers seeking adventure or spiritual solace have joined the religious pilgrims. Tom (Martin Sheen) is not someone you would normally expect to find along the pilgrims’ path. A crusty loner, he has embarked upon “The Way” in an attempt to expiate a sense of guilt stemming from a great personal loss.

     As with any solitary traveler there are companions to meet along the road. While Tom makes every effort to fend them off, before long he is joined by three disparate souls. They appear to have little in common, but as the journey progresses we discover that beneath their nonchalant exteriors each of them has suffered wounds in life that have brought them to “The Way.” At first it is all Tom can do to tolerate them, but as the journey continues they draw closer to each other.

    Whether you are interested in participating vicariously as a traveler along one of the world’s most celebrated walks, or in viewing a tale of spiritual redemption, The Way, written and directed by Emilio Estevez, is a journey you will be happy to take. “Audiences seeking uplift will find it here.”—Roger Ebert

It is midnight when a young associate in a Wall Street trading firm makes a startling discovery. The supposedly fail-safe investment model that has fueled the firm’s outsized profits and bonuses didn’t account for an unanticipated financial tsunami. When it hits, the firm’s days in the Wall Street sun are going to be over.

     Frantic calls go out and soon the previously darkened building is filled with nervous bosses and traders. Last to arrive is the firm’s bloodless chairman. Honesty is not a prized corporate value and his plan to right the ship is simple: When the stock exchange opens the firm is going to unload its toxic assets on its own clients.

     With a superlative cast working at the top of their game, including Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Paul Bettany, Margin Call is a film with the fast-paced soul of a thriller. It is also a cautionary tale of how easy it is to undermine morality when vast sums of money are at stake. Some of the traders are easily corrupted, while others still have a residue of moral qualms. In the end, however, the money showered upon them trumps everything and they sell their clients down the river.

“One of the strongest films of the year and easily the best film on Wall Street ever made”—David Denby, The New Yorker

Remember In Bruges, the acclaimed 2008 crime/comedy written and directed by gifted Irish playwright Martin McDonagh? Get ready for The Guard, a crime/comedy/fish-out-of-water tale set in Ireland, written and directed by Martin’s brother, John Michael McDonagh.

     Beefy Brendan Gleason plays an overweight local policeman with politically incorrect views and a laid-back work ethic. Into his well-ordered life comes lean Don Cheadle, a straightlaced, driven FBI agent. Fate throws them together in Connemara to battle international drug smugglers. Their differences aside, they’re the only reasonably honest good guys around. In the other corner, we have the rest of local law enforcement and several very unpleasant bad guys. Can Gleason and Cheadle get it together and carry the day?

     Like In Bruges, this film features pitch-perfect, spot-on dialogue. As for the performances:  Gleason, who starred in the earlier film, is as fine and versatile a character actor as any around, and Cheadle is a former Academy Award Best Actor nominee. Their chemistry is apparent. Two great actors, a fine writer, a solid supporting cast, and a scenic setting—what’s not to like?

     McDonagh has “made a laugh-out-loud comedy as hard as The French Connection, a modern spaghetti-Western on the windswept wastes of Ireland. And best of all, he’s given a trio of the greatest character actors working today a playground to run riot in.”—Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

Muriel Barbery’s 2006 bestselling novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, has inspired a touching story of three lives that intersect for the better. Paloma (Garance Le Guillermic), age 11, lives in a Parisian apartment building with her wealthy parents, her snooty older sister and her sister’s goldfish. For various reasons, none of the above is emotionally available to Paloma.

     Viewing the goldfish’s life as a metaphor for her own, she decides to commit suicide on her 12th birthday. With 165 days to go, precocious, bratty Paloma captures her world on a camcorder, narrating with acidic commentary.

     Renée (Josiane Balasko), age 54, the building’s frumpy reclusive concierge, holes up in her small apartment with her cat Leo. Beneath her dowdy exterior is a real live human being—more accessible than Paloma’s family. Renée reads Tolstoy. Paloma has found someone she can relate to. Mr. Ozu (Togo Izawa), an elegant 60ish Japanese man, moves into the building. He’s a prince–kind, generous, thoughtful. With Mr. Ozu as the catalyst, Paloma and Renée are transformed.

     “Through their encounters with each other and with Mr. Ozu—encounters that are filled with a quiet, almost wordless grace—Renée’s and Paloma's defenses are chipped away at, in ways both subtle and powerful. If you let it, this little movie might make a similar chink in your armor.”—Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post

Submarine, based on the 2008 prize-winning novel by Joe Dunthorne, centers on the coming-of-age of 15-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts). Bright, precocious, self-absorbed, he lives in Swansea, Wales, in the not-too-distant past. Stitched together through his own voice-over narration, Oliver’s odyssey unfolds partly through imagined Super-8 movies, of which he is both director and star.

     He has two missions in life:  saving his parents’ marriage and wooing a distaff classmate as offbeat as he. In both respects he has his hands full. Mission Number One. Oliver’s mom, Jill (Sally Hawkins), is neurotic and manic. His marine biologist dad, Lloyd (Noah Taylor), is depressed. Oliver perceives, correctly, that their marriage is in trouble. Complicating matters is their neighbor, Graham (Paddy Considine), a New Age guru and Jill’s former flame. Oliver despises him and implements touching strategies meant to set things right. Mission Number Two. Meanwhile, at school, Oliver finds himself attracted to his classmate Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige), with whom Oliver shares dark hair, cut low over the brow, and a hilarious dark sensibility.

     Submarine, the feature film debut of music video director Richard Ayoade, is special. The actors “hit just the right notes in this likable, low-key comedy that’s naturally funny without stressing gags or set-pieces. It has all the earmarks of a sleeper, and I hope it finds the audience it deserves.”—Leonard Maltin

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.” “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” “You can’t go home again.” In this psychological thriller, Martha (Elizabeth Olsen), the young woman who becomes Marcy May, discovers the enduring power of these platitudes.

     Alienated from her biological family, Martha goes AWOL and winds up in a scenic rural commune. There she’s welcomed (read:  inducted) into a whole new family, comprised of a charismatic guru (John Hawkes), a few other men, and many (mostly young) women. Things begin well, but ultimately descend into a downward spiral. After a couple of years down on the farm, Martha decides the time has come to leave.

     Martha reunites with her older sister, Lucy, and her husband on their own rural vacation from their busy, bourgeois lives in the city. They take her in and do their best. Notwithstanding their good intentions, there remains the underlying, unresolved sibling resentment from the distant past, plus the more recent psychological after-effects. Martha learns what William Faulkner meant when he wrote:  “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

     “First-time feature director Sean Durkin combines an understated style with an unaffected performance from Elizabeth Olsen with superlative results,” writes James Berardinelli, Reel Views. Both have been honored for their work here, with more awards likely to come.

Take a journey into the world of the culinary arts through the eyes of celebrity chef/writer Nigel Slater. Toast, based on his bestselling memoirs, presents an engaging exploration of food and family. The film, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Freddie Highmore and Ken Stott, is a delicious love letter to the tastes and smells of a boy’s journey into adulthood.
     Nigel's mother is a poor cook and her addiction to all things canned doesn’t help. Nigel, on the other hand, laps up cookbooks and spends his free time gazing longingly at the delights in Percy Salt's grocery. Just before Christmas his mother dies, leaving Nigel and his father heartbroken. Their touching efforts to look after each other, often through gestures with food, sadly miss the mark.
     His father begins to spend evenings at the Masonic Lodge until a new cleaner, Mrs. Potter, arrives on the scene. Mrs. Potter's curves, charms and lemon meringue pies quickly bewitch Nigel's father and, much to his horror, the three embark on a move to the country. The one silver lining at his new school is the Domestic Science class where Nigel shines. Cooking soon becomes the key weapon in the battle for his dad's affections.
     Described as "a thoroughly irresistible confection" by LA Times critic Gary Goldstein, Toast features a compelling combination of heart, humor and warmth.

OFS is planning a special culinary event after the screening of Toast. Look for more details in early February.

Feb. 26
Academy Awards No OFS Screening

Take Shelter

March 4, 2012

USA   2012   (2 hrs.)   Rated R

Curtis LeForche (Michael Shannon) is staring up at the sky when he sees an ominous mass of boiling black clouds. Later he stands transfixed as the sky is darkened by thousands of wheeling birds. There is only one problem. No one else sees what Curtis claims to see. Has he been given a “vision” of an impending apocalypse or is it a schizophrenic delusion?

     In the grip of fear that a storm of biblical proportions is going to lay waste to the land, Curtis makes plans to save his family. Risking the family finances, Curtis pours all his efforts into building an impregnable underground shelter. His wife, Samantha (Jessica Chastain), becomes increasingly concerned that Curtis is spiraling down into mental illness, and even Curtis begins to doubt his sanity. Yet he cannot shake the notion that what he sees is real.

     And then the storm roars in. Curtis piles his family into the shelter and as the claustrophobic hours tick by the tension builds. When Curtis emerges from his redoubt, what will he and the rest of us see? Drenched in foreboding atmospherics and anchored by a mesmerizing performance by Michael Shannon, Take Shelter is one of the year’s most original and memorable films.

     “Taut, unsettling, haunting and powerful, starring Michael Shannon in a shattering performance...”—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

La Havre

March 11, 2012

France/Finland   2011   (1 hr., 33 min.)   Not Rated

André (Marcel Marx) is an aging shoeshine man whose days are spent waiting for infrequent customers. His life takes an abrupt turn, however, when French immigration authorities discover a group of illegal African immigrants locked in a shipping container. Only Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) evades capture when his grandfather tells him to flee. The next day as he is sitting at the harbor eating lunch, Andre finds the frightened boy and takes him home.
 André now has a mission in life: to protect Idrissa from the authorities until he can reunite him with his mother, who is already settled in London. It is a daunting task, requiring André to keep one step ahead of the police. He must locate Idrissa’s mother and then raise the money to smuggle him to England. During his quest André meets a host of intriguing characters, from colorful down-and-outers to a mysterious black clad police inspector. In the process he and Idrissa form an endearing bond.

     Le Havre is an uplifting story told against a backdrop of gritty realism in which all of the actors from the leads to the bit players are authentic to the core. Plan on falling in love with Le Havre.

     “An enchanted movie oasis from the real world where people can rise to the occasion and do the right things”—Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

The Man Nobody Knew

March 18, 2012

USA   2011   (1 hr., 44 min.)   Not Rated

Fictionalized spy films comprise a vast genre, often with formulaic plot lines. In The Man Nobody Knew, documentarian Carl Colby offers something fresh and personal:  the true story of his father, CIA chief William Colby.

     The film spans William Colby’s remarkable career. He enlisted in World War II and volunteered for an elite force of behind-enemy-lines paratroopers. This led to his post-war recruitment into the Office of Strategic Services, which morphed into the CIA. As he moved from posting to posting, his star rose in The Company.

     As Vietnam Station Chief, Colby played a pivotal role in the ensuing war. His story, however, does not end there. After U.S. forces left Vietnam, he became director of the CIA. And in the mid-1970s, this enigmatic man, whose life was a secret to his own family, faced the ultimate irony. Testifying before the United States Senate’s Church Committee—caught between the proverbial rock and hard place—he divulged “The Crown Jewels,” the most closely held secrets of the CIA.

     This film is an indispensable aid to understanding today’s world. With access to vivid archival footage and key role-players—famous and not so famous—Carl Colby tells a multi-layered, engrossing, ultimately tragic story. In his youth, he found a host of medals and a gun in his father’s dresser drawer. His film takes us through the same revelatory experience.

Kawasaki's Rose

March 25, 2012

Czech Republic   2010   (1 hr., 40 min.)   Not Rated

Professor Pavel Josek (Martin Huba), a renowned psychiatrist and celebrated Czech dissident, is about to be honored with one of his country’s highest awards. But his life takes an abrupt turn when someone releases his old file with the secret police. Far from being a heroic dissident, Dr. Josek was a collaborator.

     How did the secret police bend Dr. Josek to their will? In one of the most chilling scenes in the film, an aging police agent gives a short seminar on the techniques by which interrogators exploit human weaknesses. No one had to torture Dr. Josek to get him to betray his fellow countrymen. All that was necessary were vague implicit threats and the rewards that can flow from doing the State’s bidding.

     In a lesser film, Dr. Josek would be seen as a man devoid of morality. But citizens in totalitarian societies are compromised in many ways. The existential question Kawasaki’s Rose poses is how we, and his family, should now judge him. Why did he cooperate, and can his good works in the years that followed erase the stain of his earlier moral failure? This thoughtful film provides no easy answer to these questions.

     "This powerful, unsettling film brings us into a world of profound moral complexities...because even the best people can become complicit in evil"—Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times.

The Whistleblower

April 1, 2012

Germany/Canada   2010   (1 hr., 52 min.)   Rated R

In the “real world,” whether in government or the private sector, whistleblowers usually get it in the neck. Still, their stories comprise one of our most popular genres, e.g., Silkwood, Serpico, The Insider and The Parallax View. The Whistleblower joins this proud muckraking tradition, shining a bright light on a pervasive, underpublicized and, most important, human rights scandal:  the international sex trade.

     To finance a custody battle, divorced Nebraska policewoman Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) signs a one-year contract to join the UN Peacekeeping Force in Bosnia. Her idealism quickly gets a reality check. Nevertheless, based on Bolkovac’s pivotal role in a (virtually unheard of) domestic violence prosecution, UN Human Rights Commissioner Madeline Rees (Vanessa Redgrave) promotes her to head the UN Gender Affairs Bureau.

     Bolkovac’s new job brings her face to face with sex trafficking. Determined to achieve a measure of justice, she faces powerful opponents at every turn and at every level. Aside from Rees and a lone sympathetic local cop, her remaining ally is Peter Ward (David Straithairn.) Or is he?

     Grounded in a true story, buttressed by exhaustive research, made concrete by stellar performances, The Whistleblower is both enlightening and riveting. “[Director/co-writer] Larysa Kondracki’s first feature successfully avoids the major pitfalls of the activist docudrama:  The main character’s heroism never overshadows the larger issue at hand, nor does exposition gum up the storytelling.”—Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader

NOTE: All dialog in films from non-English speaking countries will be presented in its original language accompanied by English subtitles.