Buckley and Mary Steenburgen, the co-writer of the film’s original song Glasgow (No Place Like Home), stopped by Angelika New York to discuss WILD ROSE. Buckley described her approach to the brash yet deeply sensitive Rose-Lynn. Through her performance, Buckley hoped to express “all of the different possible colors” of the character. Buckley had “lost [her] nerve with singing” until she was offered the role of Rose-Lynn. This performance reflects her regained confidence. Buckley commands every scene she’s in and owns every stage she’s on with the presence and vocals of a country legend. Buckley’s star power is especially evident in the film’s climactic scene aided by Steenburgen’s powerful and personal songwriting.

Steenburgen’s acting background gave her the ability to embody and empathize with a character. Steenburgen emphasized how impactful it was to hear Buckley’s “moving” and “beautiful” voice singing her words.

After the Q&A, audience members heard just how beautiful Buckley’s voice is first-hand when she sang Glasgow in a performance fit for the Ryman Auditorium.

Visit our YouTube channel for more exclusive content! 

Don’t miss this film at Kahala Theatres – opening 7/12.

Slater and executive producer/star Jakob Dylan (yes, that Dylan!) stopped by the Angelika New York to discuss how their lifelong passion for folk music brought them together and inspired them to make ECHO IN THE CANYON. While interviewing musicians, Slater discovered how the bands influenced one another in a “communal and organic” way. He found this collaboration and community much more compelling than his original plans to make a documentary about “the electrification of folk music,” and ECHO IN THE CANYON was born.

The documentary highlights the transition from the bright optimism of The Beatles to the psychedelic introspection of the singer-songwriter era in the 1970s. ECHO IN THE CANYON features extensive interviews with folk music icons like Roger McGuinn and David Crosby (The Byrds), along with Tom Petty’s last recorded interview and a particularly revealing talk with Michelle Phillips (The Mamas and the Papas). ECHO IN THE CANYON is a loving tribute to the musicians who transformed the industry with their timeless harmonies and 12-string guitars.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A with Andrew Slater & Jakob Dylan! 

ECHO IN THE CANYON opens Friday 6/28 at Kahala Theatres.

Critics are raving about their stunning documentary, stating, “Mother Nature has never been more inspiring.” After its initial film festival screenings at Toronto, Telluride, Sundance and more, it became clear that this little farm would provide huge inspiration to all its viewers.

The Chesters’ farm was created to let nature be itself – the ultimate eco-conscious paradise. Here, Chester discusses his take on conscious farming:

“Its definitely aged me, the whole process,” Chester states, but its “made me appreciate life so much more… I wouldn’t trade the sleepless feelings I have right now for anything.” Chester approaches farming the same way he does filmmaking – let it develop as it goes along – and keep it as ‘organic’ a process as possible – truly allowing the farm (or the film) to be a journey.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

A testament to the immense complexity of nature, THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM follows two dreamers and a dog on an odyssey to bring harmony to both their lives and the land. John and Molly Chester make a choice that takes them out of the city and onto 200 acres in the foothills of Ventura County, naively endeavoring to build one of the most diverse farms of its kind in complete coexistence with nature. The land they’ve chosen, however, is utterly depleted of nutrients and suffering from a brutal drought. The film chronicles eight years of daunting work and outsize idealism as they attempt to create the utopia they seek, planting 10,000 orchard trees and over 200 different crops, and bringing in animals of every kind. When the farm’s ecosystem finally begins to reawaken, so does the Chesters’ hope – but as their plan to create perfect harmony takes a series of wild turns, they realize that to survive they will have to reach a far greater understanding of the intricacies and wisdom of nature, and of life itself.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM is now playing at Kahala Theatres.

Director Ritesh Batra (THE LUNCHBOX, OUR SOULS AT NIGHT) stopped by our sister theater, the Angelika New York, to discuss his newest work, PHOTOGRAPH, which the LA Times calls “a lovely, charming and gently transporting journey.”

The film walks a delicate balance, wherein its central two characters remain the viewer’s sole focus. Batra discusses that despite there being 52 speaking roles in the film, he wanted to keep as many of them off camera as possible, so as not to draw attention away from the leads. In alignment with that, there was a huge focus on sound design – the filmmakers actually spend more time on sound design than on editing – to maintain that delicacy that the film holds, and “get into the characters’ heads” through the music and sound within the film.

Batra actually wrote the film’s final scene first, in which he established the film’s premise, and then let the characters lead him, so to speak, towards writing the rest. “You start feeling [the characters],” Batra states, as his process is to let each step in the filmmaking process deepen and develop the script-writing, allowing the characters to grow and change.

View the full Q&A here:

About the film:

From director Ritesh Batra (LUNCHBOX), Sundance Film Festival Official Selection PHOTOGRAPH is being praised by critics as “a film that will warm your heart.” It centers on a struggling street photographer in Mumbai, pressured to marry by his grandmother, who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways they could not expect.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

PHOTOGRAPH opens tomorrow, 5/24, at Kahala Theatres.

Based on a true story of Cameron Todd Willingham, played by Jeremy Davies, the film centers on a poor, uneducated man from a small Texas town who is convicted of a triple homicide in 1992. Sitting on death row for 12 years, his life is changed when he meets Elizabeth Gilbert, brilliantly portrayed by actress Laura Dern.

Zwick discusses how he discovered the story by journalist David Grann, and the tireless amount of research that went into creating and accurate portrayal of this harrowing story of this haunting injustice. Using unprecedented access to the real people involved in the story, Zwick was able to craft a film that feels authentic and shows how one person, one voice, can truly make a difference.

View the full Q&A here: 

TRIAL BY FIRE is now playing at Kahala Theatres.

Although the femme fatale is still limiting, and is now seen as a bit of a cliché, this character type was shocking to post-war audiences because it showed strong, smart females fighting for something other than love and marriage. This innovative character type became the predecessor of the modern leading lady, and paved the way for new types of roles for women on screen.

The Origin of the Femme Fatale: Mary Astor in THE MALTESE FALCON and Barbara Stanwyck in DOUBLE INDEMNITY

Mary Astor portrays an early version of the Femme Fatale in 1941 through her role of Miss Wonderly, also known as Brigid O’Shaughnessy in THE MALTESE FALCON. Introduced as a timid damsel in distress, Miss Wonderly encapsulates Humphrey Bogart’s interest, which pulls him into her web of lies. Creating the iconic female silhouette in the frosted glass trope, Mary Astor creates the quintessential femme fatale, dressed in 1940s high-fashion, appearing breathless and helpless in every scene and oozing with sex-appeal, which is tantalized further when she enters wearing only her robe, a shocking, provocative outfit at the time. Miss Wonderly is not only beautiful; she is smart and ambitious, which allows her to challenge the masculinity of the men around her, and become the ultimate antagonist in this film noir classic.

Barbara Stanwyck continued this character archetype in 1944 through her cunning portrayal of the most iconic femme fatales of all time: Phyllis Dietrichson in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. A seemingly devoted wife, Phyllis Dietrichson has a not-so-secret agenda, matched with the grit to convince salesman Walter Neff (Fred MacMurray) into making a malicious deal. Double Indemnity pushes the femme fatale archetype further through a more open display of power and seduction. Instead of a bathrobe, Stanwyck enters in her bath towel and slippers, further allowing MacMurray (and audiences) to fall under her spell.  As the highest paying actress in Hollywood at the time, Stanwyck was hesitant about taking on this immoral role. However, this glamorous star took on the challenge, and unraveled into a seductress who switches between a warm and alluring enchantress to an icy, conniving viper, entangling the hero salesman and creating one of the most popular renditions of the femme fatale.

Pushing Further: Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE, Rita Hayworth in THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI and Peggy Cummings in GUN CRAZY

As the Femme Fatale grew in popularity, the archetype began to become too predictable for this genre of mystery and plot twists. Film makers began exploring other paths for their female leads. This is especially present in the 1945 film noir classic, MILDRED PIERCE.  Joan Crawford portrays the cunningly ambitious mother who will do anything for her daughter, including eliminating cheating husbands snaring men into murderous situations, and scrounging for money through any means. This portrayal seems to paint Mildred Piece as the stereotypical femme fatale, begging for an ending where Mildred reveals her malicious intentions before being dragged off to jail. However, MILDRED PIERCE takes a turn, creating a new female archetype: The Femme Modern.

Unlike the Femme Fatale, whose archetype centers around women seeking power through sex appeal, the Femme Modern is often portrayed as a hard-working strong female with good intentions that she achieves through more masculine means rather than sex-appeal, an archetype that was very relevant in World War II when women entered the workforce.  While MILDRED PIERCE defines a new archetype, it still stays true to the Film Noir genre, involving an unexpected femme fatale twist, making it a film noir masterpiece.

Orson Welles pushed Film Noir in a different direction through his dramatic 1947 film, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI. Starring Rita Hayworth in the Femme Fatale role of Elsa Bannister, Orson Welles follows the femme fatale archetype, while giving his then wife a more realistic motive. Instead of seeking power and money through sex, Hayworth explores Elsa’s need for justice and brokenness from her abusive past. Unlike the classic femme fatale, Hayworth does not create a guise of fragility and morality, but is openly cold and impassive throughout the entire movie. Her unraveling does not come from the male sleuth’s discovery of her scheme, but from her own self-discovery of how her need for retribution has changed her.

The Femme Fatale archetype continued to evolve in films throughout the 1940s and 50s, including in the 1950’s film, GUN CRAZY. Peggy Cummings portrays a less conventional femme fatale, Annie, a pants-wearing, dead shot searching for a companion for a Bonnie and Clyde-like adventure. The film follows the femme fatale archetype, showing the growing deadly attraction between Annie and the newly reformed Bard (Russ Tamblyn) while pushing the boundaries of gender at the time through Annie’s traditionally masculine attributes.

Celebrate these ground breaking femme fatale characters in the exciting cinematic genre of film noir! Watch the progression of the femme fatale and the foundation of fearless female roles in films throughout all these films in our special curated series playing every Wednesday in May at Kahala Theatres.

Here’s a peek at each film coming soon:

April 15: THE AFRICAN QUEEN

Golden Age stars, Katherine Hepburn and Humphrey Boggart, embark on a glorious adventure on The African Queen escaping World War II through rough waters and exotic animals. Filmed almost entirely outdoor, this technical masterpiece features glorious scenes of sunlight shimmering on calm water paired with terrifying scenes of tumultuous watery suspense.

May 20: ON THE WATERFRONT

Commiserate with Marlon Brando in his electrifying Academy Award winning performance that transports you to the Hoboken waterfront.

June 17: IMITATION OF LIFE

Pushing the boundaries of social justice, IMITATION OF LIFE chronicles two widows and their troubled daughters as they struggle to find true happiness amidst racial prejudice. Featuring Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner’s Academy Award winning performances.

July 15: REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Get what you deserve. Watch James Dean explode with teenage angst in his iconic performance, featuring Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo in powerful performances that earned them both Oscar nominations. REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE follows the realistic journey through a turbulent teenage universe of violence and delinquency.

August 19: HIS GIRL FRIDAY

This golden age classic features Rosalind Russell as a working divorcee, pushing the bounds of 1930s portrayal of women on screen. The film keeps it spicy, with its sexual tension, fast paced dialogue and kaleidoscopic action, making it the fastest comedy of a the 1930s.

September 16: THE MISFITS

Film legends Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable contemplate the meaning of life in their final performances in this American classic beautifully written by Arthur Miller.

October 21: GILDA

Celebrate the wondrous Rita Hayword, in this iconic film that features her legendary striptease to “Put the Blame on Mame” – an unforgettable moment in one of the greatest of all film noirs, and the peak of her career–not to mention a searing depiction of one of the most erotic and tortured relationships on film.

November 18: NOW, VOYAGER

Join Bette Davis sail into her sixth best actress Oscar nomination. Davis magically plays Charlotte Vale, a spinster who defies her domineering mother (fellow Oscar nominee Gladys Cooper) to discover love, heartbreak and eventual contentment. Including the classic cinematic moment where Paul Henreid lights two cigarettes at once and hands one to Davis, this award-winning classic is the ultimate romantic melodrama.

December 16: MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS

Judy Garland stars in this classic musical that takes place at the turn of the 20th century right before the World’s Fair in St. Louis. With unforgettable numbers like “The Boy Next Door,” “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” this family drama musical is a wonderful holiday treat!

Enjoy all of these Golden Age Classics the third Monday every month at Kahala Theatres!

Renowned actor Anupam Kher is best known for his work in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, M.S. DHONI: THE UNTOLD STORY, BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM and THE BIG SICK; the “excellent, white-knuckle thriller” (Guardian) HOTEL MUMBAI is sure to be added to that list of his most memorable roles.

When Kher arrived in Mumbai with dreams of becoming an actor, the first thing he wanted to see was the Taj Hotel. Years later, on November 26, 2008, the hotel was attacked while he was filming just 8 kilometers away. Now, he plays Chef Oberoi in HOTEL MUMBAI, and has a true, personal appreciation for the film, specifically as it is a tribute to the hotel staff whose fearlessness and dedication was so incredibly heroic in getting through this unspeakable tragedy.  “Heroes are ordinary people,” says Kher; “the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.”

Here, Kher describes the real Chef Oberoi’s reaction after seeing the film’s premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival:

Kher was actually recommended for the role of Chef Oberoi by fellow actor Dev Patel, who plays Arjun in the film. “Dev Patel has very good taste,” says Kher. Here, he describes his “love at first sight” relationship with Patel:

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A!

About the film:

HOTEL MUMBAI tells the astonishing true story of the victims and survivors of the devastating attacks on Mumbai in 2008. A story which fearlessly tackles the defining global issues of our time. A story about ordinary people. Real people. People of all races, all colours, all creeds, binding together in a grueling fight for survival. A story that celebrates humanity’s highest ideals – compassion, courage, resilience and an unwavering desire to live.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

HOTEL MUMBAI opens Friday 3/29 at Consolidated Ward & Kahala Theatres.

Check out this series every Wednesday in April, and celebrate the innovation of Kubrick!

Innovation # 1: An Explosion of Color:

Whenever you watch a Kubrick film, you are bombarded with vibrant color. Whether it’s the bright red HAL’s eye in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, or the electric blue light of the Sonata Jazz Club in EYES WIDE SHUT, Kubrick places color precisely on screen in order to propel the story visually. In 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, color is placed in contrast to the colorless, lifeless spacecraft, creating an explosion of passion, life and humanity, against a desolate, stark, mechanical background. In EYES WIDE SHUT, Kubrick contrasts shots of bright, lustrous red with shots of cool, smooth blue. This contrast is so prevalent, viewers have developed a theory, speculating that red symbolizes sex while blue symbolizes money, two tropes throughout the adventure.

Regardless of the exact meaning behind this color, Kubrick’s specific use of color transports us into the world by creating a vibrant mood that propels his films visually. See if you can resist getting pulled into his world, through this compilation of Kubrick’s use of color:

Innovation #2: Kubrick is lit!

The Hollywood standard for lighting is based off of a three-point lighting system, where scenes are lit with three off-stage lights: one key light in front, one fill on the side and one back-light in the back. This technique reduces shadows and allows the subject of each shot to pop from the background. Although this lighting gives us a clean standard, it is not very realistic.

Kubrick broke from this standard and added practical lights within his frames. Instead of clean perfectly lit actors, Kubrick’s shots include dark shadows contrasted with bright light. In 1975, Kubrick pushed his lighting to a new level by lighting Barry Lyndon entirely by candles and natural light. This hyper-realistic lighting creates a shadowy, almost suffocating world that traps protagonist Raymond Barry, while also paying homage to the gorgeous 18^th Century paintings that inspired each shot.

Innovation #3: I’ve been framed

Another tool Kubrick played with was framing. From his wide shots of the countryside in BARRY LYNDON, to the close up shots of the Lolita’s toenails being painted, Kubrick framed each shot with precision to create a specific narrative and point of view that propelled the story. This can be seen in his adaptation of the controversial novel, LOLITA. Using medias res, Kubrick starts the story at the end and makes the predator Humbert our third-person narrator who guides us through his story. As Humbert explains his actions, Kubrick’s swift camera work and specific framing glides from one object to the other carefully capturing certain moments, and cutting past others.

Celebrate the innovation of film, and don’t miss these cinematic Kubrick masterpieces on screen every Wednesday in April at Kahala Theatres!

The film follow’s a 30 year span amid the life of a great artist, and is loosely based Gerhard Richter. Donnersmarck was able to actually spend time with Richter, which he describes here:

Donnersmarck is incredibly passionate about his work. The first film he ever watched, at age 5, was at the Museum of Modern Art, and was definitely not something that his father expected to be showing him… here, he describes that unusual experience:

Director of Photography Caleb Deschanel’s first turn in that role was THE BLACK STALLION, which also happened to be the second film that Donnersmarck ever saw. From there, he saw that film could be art, and he followed Deschanel’s work in the same way we, as fans, would follow our favorite actor or director.

Click here to visit our YouTube channel and see the full Q&A! And make sure to subscribe so you can remain up to date on all our exclusive content!

About the film:

A sweeping romantic historical drama, Germany’s Official submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, NEVER LOOK AWAY follows thirty years in the life of a great artist – loosely based on Gerhard Richter (Tom Schilling, WOMAN IN GOLD). The film goes from a childhood witnessing Nazi Germany, to post-war East Berlin, where he falls in love with a young woman (Paula Beer, FRANTZ, TRANSIT) whose father is an ex-Nazi murderer in hiding (Sebastian Koch, THE LIVES OF OTHERS), to escaping to the West at the time of the Berlin Wall, and ultimately being part of the exciting new movement in contemporary art.

View the trailer:

Where to see it:

NEVER LOOK AWAY opens Friday 2/22 at Kahala Theatres.