Molly Schlich knows movies. She has organized the Springfield Art Association’s annual film festival for the past 18 years. The event, she says, was started not as a fundraiser, but as a way to offer greater variety to Springfield’s movie audiences. “We thought we could add a little more culture and a little more choice,” […]
Movies
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2009 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
WED, SEPT 16 Taste of the Festival7-9pmFREE Open to the publicCapital City Bar and Grill3149 S. Dirksen Pkwy For those not familiar with film fests, this evening event will include a preview of 5-6 of the festival’s shortest entries, movie trivia with IT’s movie critic Chuck Koplinksi. FRI, SEPT 18 Pre-festival Party w/ filmmakers6pm – […]
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The Final Destination
On what should have been a fun-filled day at the races, Nick O’Bannon has a horrific premonition in which a bizarre sequence of events causes multiple race cars to crash, sending flaming debris into the stands, brutally killing his friends and causing the upper deck of the stands to collapse on him. When he comes […]
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Taking Woodstock
A generation began in his backyard…. From Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comes Taking Woodstock, a new comedy inspired by the true story of Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin) and his family, who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the happening […]
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is based on the best-selling book about a love that transcends time. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler—cursed with a […]
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The Proposal
When high-powered book editor Margaret (Sandra Bullock) faces deportation to her native Canada, the quick-thinking exec declares that she’s actually engaged to her unsuspecting put-upon assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), who she’s tormented for years. He agrees to participate in the charade, but with a few conditions of his own. The unlikely couple heads to Alaska […]
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The Taking of Pelham 123
A New York City subway dispatcher draws on his extensive knowledge of the subway system in order to outsmart a dangerous criminal mastermind who’s hijacked a subway train in this remake of the 1974 thriller inspired by John Godey’s best-selling book. Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) was drifting through his daily routine when he received word […]
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The Hangover
Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the […]
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Terrible teens
Untitled Document Many recent films about troubled youth remind me of Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, in which hell is other people. The biggest problem facing teens today, according to these films, is other teens. Alpha Dog (2006) is a powerful indictment of today’s youth, but its brute honesty hindered its commercial potential. Watching the […]
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Fab Four on film
Untitled Document Forty years ago the Beatles changed music for the second time with the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and it still tops lists as the greatest album ever recorded. I would choose The White Album as their greatest, but Sgt. Pepper is nothing to scoff at. The Beatles, in their […]
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Mr. Costner
Untitled Document Kevin Costner needs no introduction, but he seems to need a reintroduction. Audiences mistakenly think that they know what to expect from him. His taking on the role of a serial killer in Mr. Brooks certainly has surprised many of his fans. Costner is generally viewed as the strong all-American actor of the […]
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Hurricane Billy is back
Untitled Document Bug may have been drowned in the current flood of sequels, but it has great cinematic significance. The intense psychological-horror thriller marks the return to form of director William Friedkin. He hasn’t been this good in decades. Ashley Judd gives a fearless performance as a troubled waitress who lets a strange drifter (Michael […]
