Cary, NC – Is there anything more sublime than watching a movie under the stars and the cool pines? It’s become a summer tradition in Cary, and Movies by Moonlight returns to Booth Amphitheatre on Friday, May 19 for a full season of cinematic hits and classics.

3 Bucks, Kids Free

From Booth Amphitheatre:

For a mere $3, kids under 12 are free, patrons can bring a blanket or chair as the spacious lawn at Booth Amphitheatre is transformed in to an outdoor movie theatre. A portion of the Movies By Moonlight proceeds will benefit the WakeMed Children’s hospital.

Movies By Moonlight Schedule

Dates are subject to change. Check before you go.

• MAY 19th – Saturday – Puss in Boots – PG
• MAY 25th– Friday - Crazy Stupid Love – PG13
• MAY 31st – Thursday - Moneyball – PG 13
• JUNE 8th – Friday - Sound of Music Sing-A-Long  – NR (Special Event pricing for this show)
• JUNE 15th – Friday – Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 – PG13
• JUNE 21st – Thursday – The Help – PG13
• JUNE 29th – Friday – Drive – R
• JULY 5th – Thursday – To Kill a Mockingbird – NR
• JULY 13st– Friday – Bridesmaids – R
• JULY 20th –Friday – Secretariat – PG
• JULY 27th –Friday – Madagascar 2 – PG
• AUGUST 10th –Friday – The Big Chill – R

For more info, visit Booth Amphitheatre. See you under the stars!

Cary, NC- A Sundance Film Festival winner about video game development is coming to Cary’s Galaxy Cinema. With game dev a big sector in the Triangle tech scene, expect this documentary to draw a big crowd.

One Night – One Screening

Indie Game-The Movie will have a single screening here in Cary on March 16th as part of a 15 city tour. The film has already sold out in San Francisco. The movie follows independent video game developers as they pour everything they’ve got into their creations.

Funded Through Kickstarter

The documentary got its start-up funds through Kickstarter, the online crowd-source fund raising tool.  In June  2010, the directors raised enough funds to get started in just 48 hours. A second Kickstarter campaign  raised 200% of the goal in only 24 hours when it was time to complete the film.

The documentary follows several independent game creators as they struggle against the odds to make it big without the backing of a huge corporation.

From the film’s website: After two years of painstaking work, designer Edmund McMillen and programmer Tommy Refenes await the release of their first major game for Xbox, Super Meat Boy—the adventures of a skinless boy in search of his girlfriend, who is made of bandages.

Film Trailer

You can view the trailer on YouTube. Warning: some use of profanity.

Four developers, three games, and one ultimate goal— to express oneself through a video game.

The event is brought to the area by Adobe and Epic Games. The directors of the movie Lisanne Pajot and James Swirsky, will be in attendance after the show to answer audience questions. There will also be some Adobe prizes awarded!

Event Details

The film is being shown just once here in Cary at the Galaxy Cinema on Cary Towne Boulevard, on March 16th at 7 pm. Doors will open at 6:30pm. Since we live in a tech friendly area, purchasing tickets in advance through the eventbrite site would be a good idea. Enjoy!

Cary, NC – It seemed like Saturday night after Thanksgiving was “movie at home” night. All my friends on Facebook, all over the country, were renting movies, downloading movies or watching something they had DVR’d.

We watched Larry Crowne with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Sometimes good movies last 10 seconds in the theaters and go straight to MOD (Movies on Demand). This is one of those movies.

Tea Party or Occupy?

Larry Crowne tells the story of guy who should be carrying a sign or pitching a tent.

Tom Hanks is Larry Crowne, a 20 year veteran of the U.S. Navy and perrenial employee-of-the-month at U-Mart, the local mega-store. He’s canned because he doesn’t have a college education and therefore doesn’t offer U-Mart the kind of employee growth the company seeks.

Larry seems like the perfect candidate for the Tea Party of the Occupy movement.

Instead, he goes back to college.

The Dark Side of Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts plays Mercedes Tainot, Larry’s instructor in a course on public speaking.

Ms. Roberts plays a darker, more mature version of her usual character type. Her marriage is on the rocks, she drinks too much and is beginning to doubt teaching as her chosen career. She has trouble focusing for the 8 am class and often resorts to dark glasses.

Love and Transformation

Larry Crowne has two main story threads.

First, it’s a story of transformation, Larry’s internal journey from unemployed middle aged guy to a scooter-riding dude with something to contribute.

Underneath this story of metamorphosis is the slowly gathering love story between Hanks and Roberts. No, that’s not a spoiler. You knew it had to happen. Why did you think Roberts was in the movie?

Really, the beauty of this story is the way it unfolds. Hanks is such a likable guy – we feel his suffering and confusion. He’s not afraid to look silly but never lets it go over the top. Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller are very funny guys but they don’t have the restraint of Hanks.

It’s that restraint that makes Larry Crowne completely believable.

Tom Hanks, Director

This is only the second feature film Hanks has directed (the other is That Thing You Do, 1996). But, Hanks has been plenty of years on the other side of the camera, both as a producer and as a director for television.

Hanks’ storytelling is solid – no confusion, no unnecessary bits and effects. Larry Crowne has a crisp script (co-written by Hanks) that keeps the audience along for the ride through all three acts.

Fine supporting performances from Cedric the Entertainer, Wilmer Valderrama (Fez from That 70′s Show) and George Takei.

Larry Crowne – Thumbs Up

Unlike J. Edgar, reviewed in this space last week, Larry Crowne isn’t a big movie about a big idea. It’s a romantic-comedy – smart, funny and a little surprising.

Everything doesn’t have to explode in the movies. Sometimes we just want a good journey with a happy ending.

Film review by Hal Goodtree.

Cary, NC – Want something to talk about with grown-ups this holiday season? Go see J. Edgar, the new redhot biopic about the head of the FBI, directed by Clint Eastwood.

Epic Span

First of all, J. Edgar will appeal to those who enjoy a film with epic span. This is not a movie that takes place over a long weekend.

J. Edgar inhabits a noir America that stretches from the Roaring Twenties to Richard Nixon. Bad stuff happens. Some of it, Hoover tries to prevent. Some of it, Hoover causes.

“It’s Complicated”

The plot of J. Edgar weaves two main threads – Hoover’s professional life, creating and building the FBI, and his personal life. His personal life is complicated.

Hoover builds his FBI into a tough, scientific, ruthless machine that battles anarchists, gangsters and communists. He berates Senators, intimidates Presidents and encourages a comic book cult around FBI G-Men.

But at home, Eastwood portrays Hoover as a Mama’s boy. He lives with his mother for her entire life.

Hoover’s relationship with the ladies is awkward. As G-Man numero uno, he meets plenty of glamorous and beautiful women. Eastwood focuses on Hoover’s discomfort with women – he flees from the table of Ginger Rogers because he is mortally afraid to dance.

Hoover is much more comfortable around his G-Man pal Clyde Tolson. Hoover and Tolson have lunch and dinner together everyday for almost 50 years. Eastwood gives them one strange kiss, but not much more on their strange relationship.

Leonardo DiCaprio as J. Edgar Hoover

Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover from a young man in 1919 to his death during Richard Nixon’s administration. If you like Leo, you’ll love the movie. He gets plenty of screen time and is a fine, serious actor.

DiCaprio creates a Hoover we do not like. But neither can we hate him. Pity is maybe a better word.

But to many people, Hoover was a monster. He was the uncontrollable, unaccountable black heart at the center of a national secret police force. Not just gangsters feared Hoover – Presidents, movie stars, college professors and civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King were all in Hoover’s crosshairs. He hounded the actor Charlie Chaplin from the United States in the 1950′s.

DiCaprio didn’t create a monster. Maybe he should have.

Armie Hammer plays Clyde Tolson as a somewhat dewey-eyed fashionista. Once again, this is perhaps a little off. The real Tolson, in photographs from the time, usually show a tough-guy, macho-man.

A Feast for the Eyes

J. Edgar is a beautiful, well-made film. A joy to watch on the big screen.

Telling a story that spans 50 years can be tough. Eastman uses a lot of flashbacks, but I was never confused about where we were in time. And I’m easily confused.

The editing, wardrobe, styling, props and cinematography are all superb.

A Movie for Grown Ups

If you like serious films, go see J. Edgar. Clint Eastwood is a masterful filmmaker and Leonardo DiCaprio one of the best actors of his generation. One might say it’s a “must see” movie for serious film buffs. It will certainly be on the Academy short list.

But ask yourself, over cocktails with your well-educated neighbors, was it just a little bit of a triumph of style over substance? Was Hoover in fact a monster? And, if so, why didn’t we see that guy in the movie?

Film review by Brennin Cummings

Being a massive Harry Potter fan, Friday July 15^th approached with a sense of dread.

Potter Forever

I started reading the series when I was eight years old in 1998 and have grown up with Harry ever since. I started attending the midnight premieres of the movies in 7^th grade with my best friend, whose extremely understanding mother drove us to and from the movie theater where we grew up in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. While the release of the seventh book was the end of the series, us serious Harry Potter fanatics could still relax knowing that there were more movie releases to celebrate.

Now, however, we must accept that the series we love and literally grew up with has come to an end. There are no more books to read, no more movies to see, no more reasons to don a maroon and gold tie.  However, fans can rest easy knowing that the conclusion of their beloved book series was translated onto the big screen better than any of the previous films.

At the Cary Premier

I arrived at the Cary Crossroads movie theater with my best friend around 10:30pm. We were both in costume, of course.

I was decked out in a full Gryffindor uniform complete with tie, sweater and Prefect badge, while she was wearing a homemade Fawkes costume with wings and feathers. As we walked into to the theater, we were excited about the level of enthusiasm displayed by North Carolinian Potterheads- everyone was in costume and the atmosphere was anxious, yet gleeful.

There were strangers posing together for the sake of a good picture- a petite Indian girl dressed as Dobby cowering under a tall, thin, haughty looking Bellatrix, and a round, scruffy Harry carrying a prim, brunette Golden Snitch.

As the minutes counted down to midnight, songs and cheers broke out, until finally the Warner Brothers logo flashed across the screen. There was applause, and then silence.

Deathly Hallows, Part II

The movie itself was two hours of back-to-back action. It starts where Part I left off – with Voldemort gaining control of the Elder Wand and Harry burying Dobby. Now, the trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione has to destroy the rest of Voldemort’s horcruxes in order to kill him once and for all. It all leads up to the final battle at Hogwarts, the ultimate confrontation of good and evil.

Fidelity to the Book

Of course, being a Harry Potter fanatic, I judge the movies first on book accuracy. Of all the movies, both Deathly Hallows Part I and II did an excellent job staying true to the book. Of course, there’s no way to fit in absolutely everything and there were some things that were left out, but it was nothing so important that it ruined the movie or even worsened it. Let me put it this way- The Deathly Hallows movies were the only movies of the series that I walked out completely happy with, and I consider myself a pretty tough critic.

Visually Splendid

The look of the movie is absolutely stunning. They show how changed Hogwarts is under Snape’s regime, with creepily perfect lines of marching students. The movie really plays up the white and black coloring to symbolize good versus evil. The whole build-up to the final battle is great too, with all the teachers casting protective enchantments, like having huge statues come to life.

Stellar Performances

The best part of the movie by far was the stellar performances. The three stars have grown and matured into these roles. Daniel Radcliffe portrays a Harry who’s got the fate of the world on his shoulders and he’s ready to fight. These aren’t the days of Quidditch and school crushes- this film is dark and violent and viewers who aren’t as familiar with Harry Potter should be prepared for that. Emma Watson and Rupert Grint do an amazing job at finally showing the adorable romance between Hermione and Ron that everyone (me especially!) has been waiting for since Prisoner of Azkaban without making it sappy or the center of the movie.

Matthew Lewis finally gets his moment of glory in this movie, as Neville Longbottom finally becomes the true Gryffindor we all knew he could be. His little moments will make you laugh out loud, like him taunting a mountainside full of Death Eaters from behind a protective shield and then turning around and sprinting when the shield breaks.

Maggie Smith’s Professor McGonagall is just downright awesome in this movie. She’s fiercely protective of the school she loves and the cause she’s ready to give her life for. Also, Maggie Smith was undergoing chemotherapy during the filming of the movie, which makes me respect her a thousand times more.

Of course, the best performance goes to Alan Rickman’s portrayal of Snape. As readers of the books know, the character of Snape becomes so much more complicated than we could’ve ever imagined in Deathly Hallows, and Rickman does a stunning job of showing that deep internal conflict. The Pensieve scene will have you in tears, without a doubt.

Of course, I’ve read this book series so many times I can’t even remember anymore, so I can’t be positive if a person who only watched the movies would clearly understand what was going on. My only gripe about the movie was that sometimes things seemed to come too easily for our heroes. Where in the book there was a couple pages of investigation and figuring out every clue, the movie rushes this part a bit. With so many great things about the movie, however, this little complaint is easy to overlook.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was an epic and fitting conclusion to the book series I spent my childhood (okay, life) obsessed over. I got to see my favorite parts of the book played out on the big screen (“Not my daughter, you bitch”, anyone?).

Bigger Than a Movie

After the movie, I hugged my best friend and struggled to hold back tears as I walked to my car alone. It seemed like the end of an era, or at least the end of my childhood.

Here I was, so far from home, walking away from my best friend since kindergarten and our yearly Harry Potter midnight premiere tradition. In a month, I’ll leave for Berlin, where I’ll study abroad for a semester in a country where I know absolutely no one.

It seems like everything familiar about my life is ending, but thanks to Harry, the unfamiliar doesn’t feel scary. I know the magic didn’t end with the credits, because as Dumbledore said, “I will never truly be gone unless none here are loyal to me.” I’m certain my generation will never stop being loyal to Harry and the ideals he represents and I know I’ll be reading the books to my children. I’ll also be channeling my inner Gryffindor and trying my hardest to be brave when I step on that plane to Berlin.

So to JK Rowling and to Harry, thank you for thirteen magical years. I don’t know where I would be without you.

————————————————————————-

Brennin Cummings is a journalism student at Ithaca College. She is spending her summer internship with CaryCitizen. 

Story from staff reports. Photo from Cedar Fork Rifles. Left, Duncan Parrish, right Edward Parrish, circa 1861.

Morrisville Historic Exhibit Grand Opening and Documentary Premier

The Town of Morrisville will unveil new historic exhibits and two video documentaries that feature the history of the town.

The exhibits will tell the story of Morrisville from the first Native Americans to the present. In addition, a new documentary on the history of the town entitled,  Jeremiah’s Dream: The Story of Morrisville, will bring this story to life. In addition, a second documentary of the 1865 Civil War battle in Morrisville, Twilight of Sabers, will also be premiered.

The exhibit opening will take place on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 5:30 p.m. in Town Hall followed by the premier of the video premier in the Council Chambers.

For more information contact, Ben Hitchings, Planning Director, bhitchings@townofmorrisville.org

Reenacting History

Members of the North Carolina Grays/Cedar Fork Rifles will bring history to life with period costume, morning and afternoon company drill and a flag ceremony at Page House in Morrisville on  Saturday, June 25, 2011, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM.

Period civilian dress encouraged. Sponsored by the Cedar Fork Rifles Preservation Society.

For more information contact: wgo6regnc@aol.com

Film Review by Brennin Cummings for CaryCitizen.

The past couple years have been filled to the brim with “bro” comedies thanks to Judd Apatow: The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People. But decent comedies about female friendships have been in scarce supply. Those that have been made were too often written off as chick flicks or romantic comedies.

Finally, with Bridesmaids, women get a well-written, smart comedy about the bonds between girls, one that doesn’t dismiss them as trivial. And for that we can thank Saturday Night Live star Kristin Wiig, who not only wrote, but also stars in Bridesmaids.

The movie features Wiig and SNL alum Maya Rudolph as best friends Annie and Lillian. Annie’s a failed bakery owner who gets used by men who don’t appreciate her, to say the least. Rudolph plays her best friend Lillian, who gets engaged and asks Annie to be Maid of Honor. Annie is initially honored and excited to help Lillian, until she meets Helen, another bridesmaid and Lillian’s new friend. She’s beautiful, put together, rich, and starts to step on Annie’s toes. She takes control of the dress fitting, the bachelorette party, and even the bridal shower, forcing Annie to confront her feelings about her best friend replacing her while the rest of her life is falling apart.

What makes this movie so unique is the complete gender role reversal. In most respected comedies, men play all the major roles while women get tiny bit parts with minimal lines and character development. In Bridesmaids, all the main characters are played by women, and not just pretty girls saying funny lines. These women are talented funny people. The movie stars SNL alums, as well as stars from The Office, Reno 911!, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. The men play such minor roles it’s almost laughable. We barely meet Lillian’s fiancée or any of the other bridesmaids’ husbands. The guy with the biggest role is Annie’s adorable Irish love interest Nathan Rhodes, a police officer who pulls her over, but even his character isn’t deeply written, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

It’s encouraging to see women in smart, hilarious roles, rather than just ones where they get to look pretty. It gives me hope that the glass ceiling of the boy’s club that is Comedy is being completely shattered.

Story from staff reports. Photo by Nicholas Ng.

Cary,NC, June 24^th and 25th, 2011 – RallyPoint Sport Grill will host and  present the 6th Annual Reel Paddling Film Festival, on Friday and Saturday, June 24^th and 25th, 2011 at 7:00 pm on both nights.

Reel Paddling Film Festival Coming to Cary

The Reel Paddling Film Festival is an international film tour presenting the world’s best whitewater, sea kayaking, canoeing, SUP and kayak fishing action and lifestyle films of the year on screens in 100 cities across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Europe.

With 34 inspiring paddling films short-listed for the World Tour, including the ten festival category winners, audiences can expect to see stand-up paddle surfing, hairy whitewater action, sea kayakers exploring remote coastlines, headwaters canoe expeditions, international river travel films, motivating environmental documentaries, grueling kayak fishing battles and hilarious short films capturing the lighter side of paddling life.

Admission to the event in Cary is free.

Audiences can expect to see these great films: Awakening the Skeena, wherein Ali Howard swims the 610-kilometer Skeena taking a stand for her river and its future; In Halo Effect Steve Fisher seeks new whitewater runs in Iceland and Norway when in a blink of an eye something goes horribly wrong; Islands of Fire is a celebration of good food and good humor as Justine Curgenven’s sea kayaking film showcases the warm turquoise waters of Sicily’s volcanic Aeolian Islands; In Mammalian Frank Wolf is back, this time on a 2,000-kilometer Arctic canoe journey from Yellowknife to Rankin Inlet; Solo is the heartbreaking true story of Andrew McAuley who set out to be first person to kayak from Australia to New Zealand. His kayak was found 30 days later—one day away from completing his journey.

The Reel Paddling Film Festival World Tour is produced by Rapid Media and presented in Cary by RallyPoint Sport Grill on June 24^th and 25^th at 7:00 pm.

Event Details

6th Annual Reel Paddling Film Festival
Friday June 24 & Saturday June 25, 2011
7 PM
Cost: Free
Rallypoint Sports Grill
1837 N. Harrison Av.
Cary, NC

For more information, call Drew Schenck 678-1088.

Film review for CaryCitizen by Mallory Meredith.

Pirates and me don’t get along. No, I didn’t have a bad experience off the coast of Somalia or traumatize my corneas with attempts to recreate beloved moments from Hook, it’s just that I missed the boat. Or frigate, as the case may be. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is an instance where I completely missed the Popularity Express. That movie was and is huge-mongous, and I have no idea why.

I tell you this not to let my psychotherapist tick another tally in the “self-superior” box, but to tell you that I have nothing at stake in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides being good or bad.

The Plot That Missed the Boat

And I wish P4 knew how much you loved the series. I wish you all could have poured your hearts empty to the people behind this film whose only resemblance to the franchise is Depp, Rush, witticisms and buckled swashes. P4 is about Johnny Depp being press-ganged into the crew of Blackbeard (Ian McShane) in the search for the Fountain of Youth. Joining him is Mr. Beard’s daughter, Penelope Cruz, and following him are Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) and his newfound alliance with the British Royal Navy. Assume ensuing hijinks.

Now all of that sounds “fine,” in the same way that Pirates 2 and 3 were “fine,” which is the same way The Matrix 2 and 3 were. “Fine.” But I feel like you deserve better than fine, but people always say it’s so hard to improve upon something that was already so loved, so pure. And if time had not affixed Fast Five before 4 Pirates, I would have agreed. Fast Five was the best of its series, and you may say what accomplishment is that? The series was a pile of slag. Exactly! Fast Five invited every major character from the series back for the fifth movie and 180’d the tone from super serious man car rage vroom movie to a buddy heist flick. By taking itself less seriously, it made its continuity seem like one long story about a bunch of friends having a good time, and not a series of terrible movies which is what it actually is.

And being a Pirates fan, you have seen the whole series, and you should be rewarded for that commitment. There should have been a scene with Jack prancing down the beach and stopping to look up at a herd of crabs (from that patience testing sequence in P3) who look back up at him, Jack prancing away even quicklier and saying “Nope, nope. Quite learned my lesson.” There should have been passing mentions of the youngins Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. There should have been a line like “You think that’s strange? I once fought a giant voodoo woman named Calypso [for no reason].” The cast should have a recurring line like “It’s times like this I really miss Norrington.”

A Virus, a Worm and a Trojan

Instead of doing something fun with the franchise, the film feels like a reboot. And after the boot, your monitor lights up and declares you now have a virus, a worm and a Trojan. The virus is Christianity, which is not a statement against the religion but rather a statement against P4’s awkward handling of a touchy topic. There’s a young, hunky white guy, named Philip, who is a Christian. He yells at everyone in the movie about finding redemption and they usually ignore him, which makes him feel like a canker on the movie and not a participant in it. Well, Blackbeard talks to him, saying stuff that really fits into the Pirates franchise like “Faith? There is light enough to see but dark enough to be blind!” Does that feel right to you? Two characters new to the franchise having debates about the fate of the human soul? It’s uncomfortable for way too many reasons, and it turns this film into a pack mule burdened with unnecessary millennia-old debates.

Sexism is the film’s worm. There are only two female characters in this movie, one played by Cruz who is not given any identifying character traits a male character didn’t first give her. The film brings up repeatedly that she used to be a “damsel” until Jack corrupted her and that she wouldn’t be a capable pirate if it weren’t for him. So the one cool piratess is demoted to a child parroting her betters, and worse still when Cruz isn’t swooning over Jack she’s being servile to her father, BBeard. Philip Christ takes it upon himself to “save” the other female. He tells her she’s a monster, twice, and that she needs salvation. When she falls down and he offers to help, she replies “I don’t need your help.” He commands her: “Yes. You do,” and instead of helping her walk, carries her. The most crushing moment is when he decides to give her a new name. We don’t actually know what her people called her. He simply insists, loudly and suddenly, to everyone “Her name is Syrena!” I shouldn’t be getting Twilight vibes from this movie, but here we are, vibe getting.

The Trojan is an unsettling disdain for Spanish-speaking peoples. Throughout the film, Barbosa and Prof. Beard keep cursing their luck that The Spanish are here and beating them on their quests. The King of England slams his fists on a table and swears he won’t be beaten by those “Catholics!” Beard Comma Black, in yet another scene where a male character makes fun of or abuses Cruz, says in response to her defiance “That’s your mother’s Latin blood!” And just to get in immigration jokes, the Spanish are portrayed as very hard workers who keep getting things done before the white guys can, and are always portrayed as a large group of them appearing everywhere all at once.

Scratched and Missing an Arm

Devil’s advocate, I over-think things. And the movie is okay, so you may not even notice. There are funny jokes, Depp and Rush are having a big ol’ time playing off one another, crazy action scenes, everything that I’ve been told people like about this series. I can promise you one thing, though. It won’t feel like Pirates 1.

It’s more like a toy that gets stolen by the playground bully. And when he’s done with it he tosses it back, scratched. Missing arm. The joints sand clogged. It’s still your toy, but it used to be your favorite toy, your hero toy. And some days it feels like it’s only a memory of what was that keeps you loving it.

Report by Tom Steadman and photo above by Joshua Steadman.

Durham, N.C. – As Sunday night wound down, so did the 14th annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, which brought hordes of fans and patrons, and 99 exquisite films to downtown Durham.

Big Winners

Scenes of a Crime, directed Grover Babcock and Blue Hadaegh, won the Grand Jury Award for its look at a murder investigation that is still pending trial in New York state.

“In 2008, Adrian Thomas spent more than ten hours at the Troy, NY, Police Department being interrogated by officers convinced he’d killed his four-month-old son.  In spite of his repeated pleas of innocence, officers followed interrogation protocol and hammered away at him until he finally signed a confession.” – from FullFrameFest.org

Buck, the cinematic story of a true horse whisperer, won the festival’s Audience Award.

“At six years of age, Buck Brannaman was a professional rope trick performer, a Kellogg’s Sugar Pops kid, and a broken boy. Now he’s known the world over as the horse whisperer.” - from FullFrameFest.org

Full Frame Wrap-Up

It was a great weekend of documentary film – real stories about real people. The kind of stuff you won’t see in movie theaters.

Some of the films will make it to cable. Many are on the internet. Presumably, you can watch some on your iPad or smartphone.

So where can you go to see great documentary films in the Triangle? The answer is the next Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in April 2012. If you love movies and stories about people, make it a point to go next year.

For more information and full list of winners, visit www.fullframefest.org.