Dalai Lama Renaissance @ The Hipp Cinema Mar 27-Apr 2

Dalai Lama Renaissance March 27th - April 2nd Best Documentary, Peace Award, Monaco International Film Festival Gold Remi Award, Houston International Film Festival Audience Award, Best Documentary, Big Bear International Film Festival People's Choice Award, Frozen River Film Festival Grand Jury Special Prize, Barbados International Film Festival Audience Award, Sedona International Film Festival Best Documentary, Moondance International Film Festival Best Feature, Canada International Film Festival Special Prize, Trento Film Festival, Italy Koshino Miyako Award, Global Peace Festival, Japan The film is the latest work by Darvich and has shown in over 40 cities world-wide and has won 12 film festival awards where it has consistently has attracted sold-out audiences. Darvich had only 8 weeks to assemble a crew and raise the $1 million dollar budget after being invited to film a 10-day event where over 40 of the West's most innovative thinkers were invited to meet with the Dali Lama of Tibet at his personal residence in the Indian Himalayas to discuss the world's problems and how we can solve them. The conference included some of the most intellectual, spiritual and noted people on Earth, including Quantum Physicists Fred Alan Wolf and Amit Goswami (both featured in the film What the Bleep), Dr. Michael Beckwith (from the film, The Secret), and social scientist Jean Houston to name a few. The film showcases spectacular settings and features exotic dance, music and ceremony. Actor Harrision Ford narrated the film, one of only a handful of films that Ford has narrated during his career. 2008/ 81mins/ Tibet/ NR/ This film is NOT subtitled. [Watch the trailer]

More Info | Review Showtimes Fri (3/27): 7:00 & 8:45pm Sat (3/28): 2:45, 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Sun (3/29): 2:30, 4:30 & 7:00pm Wed (4/1): 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Thu (4/2): 7:00 & 8:45pm

Waltz with Bashir @ The Hipp Cinema Mar 20-26

Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) March 20th - March 26th Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film, Oscar Nomination: Audience Award, Warsaw International Film Festival Best Director - Grand Jury Prize, Tokyo Experimental Film Festival Special Jury Prize, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Golden Tower, Palic Film Festival Best Animation, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Film, Israel Awards Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Awards of the Israeli Film Academy Best Art Direction, Special Prize of the Young Jury, Gijón International Film Festival Best Composer, European Film Awards Best Foreign Language Film, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards British Independent Film Award, British Independent Film Awards Best Documentary Screenplay, Writers Guild of America, USA "The best movie of 2008? The most revealing war film ever made? The greatest animated feature to come out of Israel? All these descriptions could apply to Waltz With Bashir." — SF Chronicle "A powerhouse film... brought to vital, plausible life in a combination of flash, classic and 3-D animation." — NY IMES "Waltz With Bashir plays out as one of the most profoundly explosive animated documentaries I have ever seen, and is clearly one of the best pictures of the year." — NY Observer "An extraordinary achievement, Ari Folman's Waltz With Bashir is a detective story as well as an moral inquiry into the specific horrors of one war, and one man's buried memories of that war." — Chicago Tribune One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images. 2008/ 90mins/ Hebrew|German|English/ R/ subt. [Watch the trailer]

More Info | Review Showtimes Fri (3/20): 7:00 & 8:45pm Sat (3/21): 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Sun (3/22): 2:30, 4:30 & 7:00pm Wed (3/25): 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Thu (3/26): 7:00 & 8:45pm

Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) March 20th - March 26th Best Foreign Language Film, Golden Globe Best Foreign Language Film, Oscar Nomination: Audience Award, Warsaw International Film Festival Best Director - Grand Jury Prize, Tokyo Experimental Film Festival Special Jury Prize, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival Golden Tower, Palic Film Festival Best Animation, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Film, Israel Awards Best Art Direction, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Sound, Awards of the Israeli Film Academy Best Art Direction, Special Prize of the Young Jury, Gijón International Film Festival Best Composer, European Film Awards Best Foreign Language Film, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards British Independent Film Award, British Independent Film Awards Best Documentary Screenplay, Writers Guild of America, USA "The best movie of 2008? The most revealing war film ever made? The greatest animated feature to come out of Israel? All these descriptions could apply to Waltz With Bashir." — SF Chronicle "A powerhouse film... brought to vital, plausible life in a combination of flash, classic and 3-D animation." — NY IMES "Waltz With Bashir plays out as one of the most profoundly explosive animated documentaries I have ever seen, and is clearly one of the best pictures of the year." — NY Observer "An extraordinary achievement, Ari Folman's Waltz With Bashir is a detective story as well as an moral inquiry into the specific horrors of one war, and one man's buried memories of that war." — Chicago Tribune One night at a bar, an old friend tells director Ari about a recurring nightmare in which he is chased by 26 vicious dogs. Every night, the same number of beasts. The two men conclude that there’s a connection to their Israeli Army mission in the first Lebanon War of the early eighties. Ari is surprised that he can’t remember a thing anymore about that period of his life. Intrigued by this riddle, he decides to meet and interview old friends and comrades around the world. He needs to discover the truth about that time and about himself. As Ari delves deeper and deeper into the mystery, his memory begins to creep up in surreal images. 2008/ 90mins/ Hebrew|German|English/ R/ subt. [Watch the trailer]

Coming In 3 Weeks More Info | Review Showtimes Fri (3/20): 7:00 & 8:45pm Sat (3/21): 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Sun (3/22): 2:30, 4:30 & 7:00pm Wed (3/25): 4:30, 7:00 & 8:45pm Thu (3/26): 7:00 & 8:45pm

Black Balloon @The Hipp Cinema Mar 13-19

The Black Balloon March 13th - March 19th Best Film, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Australian Film Institute Feature Film - Original, Australian Writers' Guild Generation 14plus - Best Feature Film, Berlin International Film Festival Distinguished Achievement Award - Female Feature Director, Hamptons International Film Festival Box Office Achievement, IF Awards Best Original Song, Best Soundtrack Album, Screen Music Awards, Australia 100% Top Critics rating! — Rottentomatoes.com "This unblinking family drama packs a visceral punch. Thomas' journey toward acceptance is blessedly free of noble lessons and filled with real people." — LA Times "Ms. Collette’s Maggie is the film's prime mover. This wonderful Australian actress, who hasn't a shred of vanity, virtually disappears into the complicated characters she plays, and Maggie is one of the strongest." — NY Times "Young love triumphs in a terrific Australian indie that deals with autism in an authentic, unsentimental way." — Hollywood Reporter It’s not easy being Thomas. He’s turning sixteen; and moving into a new house, and school. His older brother Charlie announces their arrival to the neighbours by banging a wooden spoon and wailing on the front lawn. Charlie doesn’t speak. He’s autistic and has ADD. He’s also unpredictable, sometimes unmanageable, and often disgusting. Thomas hates his brother but wishes he didn’t. All he wants to do is to fit in, but when his pregnant mother (Toni Collette) has to take things easy, he is put in charge of his autistic older brother, Charlie. Thomas, with the help of his new girlfriend, Jackie, then faces his biggest challenge yet. Charlie's unusual antics take Thomas on an emotional journey that causes pent-up frustrations towards his brother to pour out. 97 min/ 2008-Australia-UK/ PG13 [Watch the trailer]

More Info | Review Showtimes Fri (3/13): 6:30 & 8:30pm Sat (3/14): 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30pm Sun (3/15): 2:30, 4:30 & 7:00pm Wed (3/18): 4:30, 6:30 & 8:30pm Thu (3/19): 6:30 & 8:30pm

Milk @ The Hipp Cinema March 6-12

Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Oscar Best Original Screenplay, Writers Guild of America, USA Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Screenplay (Original), Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Screen Actors Guild Awards Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Screenplay (Original), San Francisco Film Critics Circle Best Actor, Palm Springs International Film Festival Stanley Kramer Award, PGA Awards Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actor, National Board of Review, USA Best Actor, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Actor, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Acting Ensemble, Best Actor, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Golden Globe Nomination: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama, Golden Globes, USA "Once in a while, a movie arrives at such a perfect moment, its message and meaning so finely tuned to the current zeitgeist, that it seems less a cinematic event than a cosmic convergence, willed into being by a once-in-a-lifetime alignment of the stars." — Washington Post "It's a total triumph, brimming with humor, heart, sexual heat, political provocation and a crying need to stir things up, just like Harvey did. If there's a better movie around this year, with more bristling purpose, I sure as hell haven't seen it." — Rolling Stone Starring Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, Victor Garber, and Denis O'Hare, Stephen Spinella. In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into major public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans. 128 min/ 2008/ R [Watch the trailer] Showtimes Fri (3/6): 6:00 & 8:30pm Sat (3/7): 3:00, 5:30 & 8:00pm Sun (3/8): 2:15, 4:45 & 7:15pm Wed (3/11): 4:30 & 7:00pm Thu (3/12): 6:00 & 8:30pm

More Info | Review

If you ran the NEA...

Last week, the LA Times ran an article called "If I ran the NEA..." and invited 30 notable people, from actors and directors to writers and senators to share what they would do and change if they ran the NEA.

Some of the most thought-provoking selections:
Tom Hayden, author and former state senator: "With the Congress including $50 million for the arts in the economic stimulus package, the overall annual budget for the NEA will be just short of $200 million for the coming year. By comparison, we spend more on the Iraq War every day, or $341.4 million, according to the website costofwar.com. This is the real obscenity that goes uncensored. Yet funding for the arts is more controversial than funding for war. For decades, arts subsidies have been targeted as frivolous waste by many of the same conservative Republicans willing to budget trillions for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."
John Patrick Shanley, writer-director: "If I ran the NEA, I would commission writers, musicians, photographers and painters to fan out across grass-roots America to answer two questions:
1. What does our country look like?
2. What do we want our country to look like?"
Joel Wachs, President, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts: "Integrate the arts into every department and agency. There isn't a government program or project that couldn't be enhanced by a cultural component."
Debbie Allen, dancer-choreographer: "Civilizations are remembered for their War and Art. We need to balance the footprint we are leaving behind."
Bill Maher, host of "Real Time with Bill Maher:" "The NEA is a perfect example of Mission Creep: The government's job is to protect you, from external enemies and internal criminals, and to maintain roads, schools, and a social safety net. Art is far afield, and in no danger of going away without government money or guidance."
Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founder of Miramax Films and Co-Chairman of The Weinstein Company: "Start a mandatory mentoring initiative for the members. This would be an amazing way to give back to local communities, if they had a member of one of the academies speak at their schools, teach a seminar and be available to be hands on with aspiring artists."
Rachel Maddow, host of "The Rachel Maddow Show:" "I'd double down on this part of the NEA's mission: "to bring the arts to all Americans." If our artists are going to be badasses, we need to tap all our potential pools of artistic talent, we need to cultivate a national expectation of artistic literacy, and artists need jobs doing and teaching art."

Now we turn the question to you... what would YOU do if you ran the NEA?