"This impassioned and incisive adaptation of the novel by Angie Thomas keeps a complex story and a wide array of characters in energetic, compassionate balance." This quote from The New Yorker about the film THE HATE U GIVE explains in part why this young adult novel by Ms. Thomas debuted at number one on The New York Times best-seller list and remained there for a remarkable 50 weeks.
Shaken by the 2009 police shooting of Oscar Grant, Thomas initially developed the project as a short story for her college creative writing program. But the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Tamir Rice and Sandra Bland led her to expand the story into a novel.
Audrey Wells adapted the novel for the screen, and tragically, the day prior to the film's release, she died at age 58 from cancer. The film's distributor - 20th Century Fox - said that "Audrey's was a voice of empowerment and courage, and her words will live on through the strong, determined female characters she brought to life."
FREE SOLO has wowed audiences in its first week, and is holding over for a second week in the Rose. A STAR IS BORN is here through Sunday, and this weekend brings two benefits to the Rose. The National Alliance on Mental Illness is hosting a free showing Saturday of IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY, and the Jefferson County Hospice Foundation presents a free showing Sunday of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL. Both events are first-come, first-seated.
In the Starlight TEA WITH THE DAMES is holding over, and is sharing the screen through next Thursday with CIELO, an award-wining documentary about humankind's relationship with the night sky, a philosophical exploration of the heavens above the Andes Mountains and the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. "A star-laden travel movie like no other." -The Culture Trip. "Eye-popping. Exquisite. The images in the film are unmatched by any Hollywood blockbuster. Revealing a generosity, zeal and delight that suggests that the cosmos may not be as cold as some think." -Village Voice
Julie Taymor's deliriously fun musical ACROSS THE UNIVERSE based on the Beatles anthology plays Saturday night at 10:00, and our four-film tribute to Katherine Hepburn starts next Wednesday, November 7th with LITTLE WOMEN.
And finally, do not miss RYUICHI SAKAMOTO: CODA, the first film in season three of our popular COMMUNITY ARTS FILM SERIES. It's plays a week from Sunday (11/11) at noon.
--Rocky