Cinematique adds six new films to fall lineup

Staff report

WILMINGTON—Cinematique of Wilmington, a series of independent, classic, foreign and notable films co-sponsored by WHQR 91.3 FM Public Radio and Thalian Hall Center for the Performing Arts, has added six films to its fall slate. Admission is $8. Films are shown at 7:30 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays in Thalian Hall’s historic main theater.

September films
“The Queen of Versailles” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 4-5.
This is a character-driven documentary about a billionaire family and their financial challenges in the wake of the economic crisis. The film follows two characters whose rags-to-riches success stories reveal the innate virtues and flaws of the American Dream.
The film begins with the family triumphantly constructing the biggest house in America, a 90,000-square-foot palace. During the next two years, their sprawling empire, fueled by the real estate bubble and cheap money, falters due to the economic crisis. Major changes in lifestyle and character ensue within the cross-cultural household of family members and domestic staff. Rated PG.
“Farewell, My Queen” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10-12.
“Farewell, My Queen” by director Benoît Jacquot captures the passions, debauchery, occasional glimpses of nobility and ultimately the chaos that engulfed the court of Marie Antoinette in the final days before the full-scale outbreak of the Revolution. Based on the best-selling novel by Chantal Thomas, the film stars Léa Seydoux as one of Marie’s ladies-in-waiting, seemingly an innocent but quietly working her way into her mistress’s special favors, until history tosses her fate onto a decidedly different path. This is a period film at once accurate and sumptuous in its visual details and modern in its emotions. Rated R.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17-19.
 In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a 6-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing
father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions.
The New York Observer said, “A brave and inspired antidote to time-wasting mainstream movies, it is unlike anything you’ve seen before or will likely ever see again. In short, it is unforgettable.” Rated PG-13.  
“Sleepwalk With Me” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 24-28, in Thalian Hall’s Studio Theatre.
 “I’m going to tell you a story, and it’s true...I always have to tell people that.” So asserts comedian-turned-playwright-turned-filmmaker Mike Birbiglia directly to the viewer at the outset of his autobiographically inspired feature debut. Birbiglia wears his incisive wit on his sleeve while portraying a cinematic surrogate. It’s a tale of a burgeoning stand-up comedian struggling with the stress of a stalled career, a stale relationship threatening to race out of his control, and the wild spurts of severe sleepwalking he is desperate to ignore. Based on a successful one-man show and co-written with This American Life host Ira Glass, “Sleepwalk With Me” sets about transfiguring intimate anguish into comic art. Unrated.

Later this fall
Upcoming films for later in the fall are "Arbitrage" starring Richard Gere and Tim Roth, "Robot & Frank," "Searching For Sugar Man," and "2 Days In New York" starring Chris Rock.
For more information, call 343-1640 or visit whqr.org or thalianhall.org.