Films
Showing at The Alcazar Theater located at 4916 Carpinteria Avenue. Hosted by the Carpinteria Arts Center. Suggested donation at the box office: $5
Click on film in table below to jump down page for detail. You can also watch the cinematic trailer in the table or down page.
FEATURED MOVIES & SHOWTIMES
| BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING | 03/17/19 | 3:00PM | TO WATCH CINEMATIC TRAILER, CLICK ON PROJECTOR  |
| AND STILL I RISE | 04/28/19 | 3:00PM | TO WATCH CINEMATIC TRAILER, CLICK ON PROJECTOR |
| A BIGGER PICTURE | 05/19/19 | 3:00PM | (pending) |
Interior of The Alcazar Theater, Carpinteria CA
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BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING
A funny, irreverent, joyful and inspiring documentary featuring the life and current times of one of America’s most important artists, Wayne White.
Raised in the mountains of Tennessee, Wayne started his career as a cartoonist in New York City. He quickly found success as one of the creators of the TV show, “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”, which led to more work designing some of the most arresting and iconic images in pop culture. Most recently, his word paintings, which feature pithy and often sarcastic text statements crafted onto vintage landscape paintings, have made him a darling of the fine art world.
BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING chronicles the vaulted highs and the crushing lows of a commercial artist struggling to find peace and balance between his work and his art. Acting as his own narrator, Wayne guides us through his life using moments from his latest creation: a hilarious, biographical one-man show. The pieces are drawn from performances at venues in Tennessee, New York and Los Angeles including the famous Roseland Ballroom and the Largo Theater.
Whether he’s parading a twenty-foot-tall puppet through the Tennessee hillside, romping around the Hollywood Hills dressed in his LBJ puppet suit, relaxing in his studio picking his banjo, or watching his children grow up much too soon, Wayne always seems to have a youthful grin and a desperate drive to create art and objects. It is an infectious quality that will inspire everyone to find their pleasure in life and pursue it at all costs. At its core, this film is a reminder that we should all follow our passion. It is those creative impulses that will lead us to where we need to go. (Excerpt from beautyisembarrassing.com)
Read the below film review from the New York Times ("Far Beyond 'Playhouse,’ Artist Remains Playful”).
“Playhouse” contributors — Mr. Reubens, the artist Gary Panter and the musician Mark Mothersbaugh — recount the show’s hothouse of invention, especially during its first season, when it was shot in a Manhattan loft. Mr. White designed and provided voices for some of the marionettes, including the musician Dirty Dog and the troublemaker Randy.
A documentary highlight is priceless backstage footage taken at the time by Mr. White. “Playhouse,” he has said, “was a downtown New York art project on TV.”
But life after “Playhouse” — Mr. White followed the show to Los Angeles — had its challenges. Despite award-winning work in music videos (the Smashing Pumpkins, Peter Gabriel), he struggled in children’s TV (“Beakman’s World,” “Shining Time Station”). Then he found his own answer to Warhol’s Brillo boxes: wry, droll or superficial statements, often comments on the South or the venality of Hollywood (“Maybe Now I’ll Get the Respect I So Richly Deserve”), scrambled on a canvas or meticulously emblazoned across cheesy landscape paintings.
The Los Angeles restaurant Fred62 displayed the pictures, and soon the designer Todd Oldham was inspired to assemble a monograph of Mr. White’s work. "Bang!” Mr. White says. “I’m in the art world, just like that.”
There are other forces sustaining Mr. White: his wife, the graphic novelist Mimi Pond, and their children; his banjo and harmonica; and his connections to the South. Seeing Mr. White parading in an oversize Lyndon B. Johnson head mask or assembling a giant puppet with his Tennessee buddy Mike Quinn, we appreciate the liberating, delirious joy of creativity.
But this exuberant documentary’s most affecting message concerns a timelessly profound verity: the value of roots, humor, family and old friends.
Directed by Neil Berkeley.
Written (story) by Neil Berkeley, Chris Bradley, and Kevin Klauber.
Cast includes Wayne White (himself), Paul Reubens (himself), Mimi Pond (herself), Matt Mothersbaugh (himself), Matt Groening (himself).
For full cast and crew - CLICK HERE
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE
Wayne White in an oversize mask of Lyndon B. Johnson - Beauty Is Embarrassing - Future You Pictures
Wayne White, Sexy Paintings By Sexy Painters For Sexy People
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AND STILL I RISE
“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”
Film description from the official site, http://mayaangeloufilm.com.
The film presents her incredible journey, shedding light on the untold aspects of her life with remarkable unmatched access. This intimate and personal portrait of Dr. Maya Angelou’s life is a touching and moving tribute to her legacy.
Distinctly referred to as “a redwood tree, with deep roots in American culture,” Maya Angelou gave people the freedom to think about their history in a way they never had before. Dr. Angelou’s was a prolific life; as a singer, dancer, activist, poet, and writer she inspired generations with lyrical modern African-American thought that pushed boundaries.
This unprecedented film weaves her words with rare and intimate archival photographs and videos, which paint hidden moments of her exuberant life during some of America’s most defining moments. From her upbringing in the Depression-era South to her work with Malcolm X in Ghana to her inaugural poem for President Bill Clinton, the film takes us on an incredible journey through the life of a true American icon.
The film also features a remarkable series of interviews with friends and family including President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Common, Alfre Woodard, Cicely Tyson, Quincy Jones, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, John Singleton and Dr. Angelou’s son, Guy Johnson.
The film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. It won the Audience Award at AFI Docs and was featured at notable fests worldwide including Full Frame, Sheffield Docs, Boulder Film Fest, and Riverrun, winning 9 awards on 3 continents.
The film is a co-production of The People Poet Media Group, LLC, American Masters Pictures, and ITVS in association with Artemis Rising.
FUNDING FOR MAYA ANGELOU: AND STILL I RISE PROVIDED BY: Ford Foundation/JUST FILMS • IDP Foundation • National Endowment for the Arts • National Black Programming Consortium • Corporation for Public Broadcasting • Loida & Leslie Lewis • Michael Metelits
Directed by Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack.
"Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope."
“Nothing will work unless you do.”
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."
Images courtesy of film Facebook page and film official site.
#mayaangelouquotes#mayaangeloufilm #andstillirise
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A BIGGER PICTURE
INFORMATION COMING SOON!
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Prior Films
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AN ECONOMY OF GRACE
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Kehinde specializes in combining beauty, chance, fantasy and the real– a talent only partially represented in his gorgeous paintings. This film offers a unique perspective into the fullness of his process and the characters at play. In the end, An Economy of Grace offers up a tantalizing inside look at the intersection of art and fashion, both of museums and of the streets. The film is an intimate portrait of one of this generation’s most intriguing and accomplished visionaries, and an exploration of what beauty is in the 21st century. (From website of producer, Show of Force.)
Watch cinematic trailer - click HERE.
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CITY OF GOLD
CITY OF GOLD is about the transformative power of food and food writing in how we experience where we live. Pulitzer Prize winning critic, Jonathan Gold, is our Virgilian guide, casting his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement, a movement in which he plays the dual roles of high-low priest and culinary geographer of his beloved Los Angeles.
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE.
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LUTAH - A PASSION FOR ARCHITECTURE: A LIFE IN DESIGN
This film explores the life of Lutah Maria Riggs, who designed the Lobero Theater, Vedanta Temple and the Botanic Garden.
Riggs was integral to rebuilding a damaged Santa Barbara after the 1925 earthquake.
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE.
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DELI MAN
A look at the history of delicatessens in the United States. The film explores Jewish culture as it reflects the heart of a vital ethnic history.
Learn about traditions that make deli one of America’s great cuisines.
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE.
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GREGORY CREWDSON - BRIEF ENCOUNTERS
A film shot over a decade with unprecedented access to the photographer Gregory Crewdson and the artist’s process.
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE.
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MY SHAKESPEARE - ROMEO & JULIET FOR A NEW GENERATION
This documentary follows twenty non-actors from a disadvantaged neighborhood in London as they put on a production at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London's West End.
The performers will have four weeks to explore Shakespeare's great play of love and loss, Romeo and Juliet. The novice cast - under the direction of British actor Paterson Joseph and mentored by celebrated Australian film director Baz Luhrmann - revitalizes the classic with their raw performance. The play's enduring message has an unexpected resonance with the cast. Through a hybrid of drama and documentary, the directors will explore the themes and history behind Shakespeare's most famous theatrical production.
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MUSCLE SHOALS
Located on the banks of the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals is the unlikely breeding ground for some of the most creative and defiant music in American history. Under the spiritual influence of the "Singing River" as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals is some of the most important and resonant of all time. "I'll Take You There", "Brown Sugar", "When a Man Loves a Woman", "I Never Loved A Man the Way That I Loved You", "Mustang Sally", "Tell Mama", "Kodachrome", and "Freebird" are just a few of the tens of thousands of tracks created there.
At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming crushing poverty and staggering tragedies, he brought black and white musicians together to create music that would last for generations while also giving to birth to the unique 'Muscle Shoals sound' and the rhythm section 'The Swampers'.
In this film legendary artists including Aretha Franklin, Greg Allman, Bono, Clarence Carter, Jimmy Cliff, Mick Jagger, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Wilson Pickett, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Steve Winwood and others bear witness to the magnetism and mystery of Muscle Shoals and why it remains a global influence today.
Watch cinematic trailer - CLICK HERE.