'Micmacs' & 'Holy Rollers' Added to REEL TALK With Stephen Farber, 4/26 & 5/17

The following titles have just been added to the Spring schedule for Reel Talk with Stephen Farber, the film series at the Wadsworth Theatre. Reel Talk with Stephen Farber is presented in partnership with RICHMARK Entertainment and Landmark Theatres.

The latest titles are:

April 26: MICMACS, the latest film from acclaimed French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children), is a pointed, whimsical comedy about the battle between a group of misfits and an international arms manufacturer. Dany Boon, Andre Dussollier, and Yolande Moreau star. Guest speaker: director and co-writer Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

May 17: HOLY ROLLERS, a hit at Sundance this year, tells the unlikely but true story of a group of Hassidic Jews who got involved a drug-smuggling ring in the 1990s. Jesse Eisenberg (The Squid and the Whale, Adventureland) and Justin Bartha (The Hangover, Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway) star. Guest speakers: director Kevin Asch and screenwriter Antonio Macia.

Other titles previously announced are:

April 12: CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, the latest film from master director James Ivory (A Room with a View, Howards End, The Remains of the Day), was adapted by his long-time collaborator, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, from the novel by Peter Cameron. Anthony Hopkins, Laura Linney, Omar Metwally, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Norma Aleandro star in this story of the intrigue that surrounds the publication of a biography of a reclusive South American author. Guest speaker will be actor Omar Metwally, who also co-starred with Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Meryl Streep in Rendition.

April 19: PLEASE GIVE. Fresh from its successful showings at the Sundance and Berlin Film Festivals is the latest movie from director Nicole Holofcener (Walking and Talking, Lovely and Amazing, Friends with Money). This comedy-drama about materialism, philanthropy, and tangled family ties in 21st century New York stars Holofcener regular Catherine Keener, along with Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, and Rebecca Hall. Guest speaker is writer-director Nicole Holofcener.

Stephen Farber, one of the country's leading film critics and historians, will continue his film series Reel Talk with Stephen Farber at the Wadsworth Theatre for 10 Monday nights beginning March 15th. Reel Talk with Stephen Farber is presented in partnership with RICHMARK Entertainment and Landmark Theatres. The series will kick off on March 15 with an advance screening "The Greatest," starring Pierce Brosnan, Oscar-winner Susan Sarandon, and this year's Oscar nominee, Carey Mulligan, star of "An Education." Guest speakers will be producers Lynette Howell and Beau St. Clair.

Unlike any other preview series, Reel Talk with Stephen Farber allows the film going public to be the first to sample some of the most exciting movies of 2010. This past year, Reel Talk members got an early look at several of the major Academy Award nominated films, including "Up in the Air", "The Last Station", "The Young Victoria", "Julie & Julia", "In the Loop", and "The Cove." The tradition continues this Spring, with the season's most provocative movies followed by revealing discussions with top actors and filmmakers after the screenings. Previous Reel Talk guests have included Jason Reitman, Michael Caine, Bonnie Arnold, Michael Sheen, Laura Linney, Nia Vardalos, John Cusack, Javier Bardem, Claire Danes, as well as major directors John Singleton, Donald Petrie, Bill Condon, Mira Nair, and Mike Leigh, not to mention legendary producer Richard Zanuck.

Farber, who moderates each program, is one of the originators of this popular preview screening series, and has been doing it for more than 25 years now. Over the past three years, enrollment in Reel Talk with Stephen Farber at the Wadsworth has grown tremendously, because of the loyal following Farber has attracted. He assembles the series himself - working with the studios to supply the prints and with the filmmakers themselves to be the guests. For the film going public, this effort provides a connection to the movie industry and to the film itself, that is just not available, much less with this kind of authority, just about anywhere else.

A series pass for Reel Talk with Stephen Farber (10 screenings) is $170.00. A series parking pass is available for $90. Individual tickets are available for $20 per screening. Half price student rush tickets ($10) are also offered at the box office one hour prior to each screening with a valid student I.D.

About Stephen Farber
Stephen Farber is a film critic for The Hollywood Reporter, and The Daily Beast. He has also written frequently for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and Hollywood Life magazine. Farber has also written reviews and articles on film for Esquire, New York, New West, Harper's Bazaar, Premiere, Film Comment, and other national publications. He has interviewed hundreds of top actors, writers, directors, and producers for these newspapers and magazines.

Farber also taught a similar "Sneak Preview" class for UCLA Extension. He has hosted celebrity tributes at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, AFI Fest, and other film festivals around the country. He has also lectured on film at several other American universities, at the J. Paul Getty Museum and the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, at the Swedish Film Institute in Stockholm, and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in Oslo. He also lectured throughout Australia and New Zealand in a program sponsored by the Australian Film and Television School and the New Zealand Film Commission.

Farber produced three episodes of the Arts & Entertainment network's acclaimed "Biography" series in conjunction with Peter Jones Productions about Anthony Perkins, Spencer Tracy and Roman Polanski. And he has written several acclaimed books on film; The Movie Rating Game (1972, Public Affairs Press), Hollywood Dynasties (1984, Delilah/Putnam), Outrageous Conduct: Art, Ego, and the Twilight Zone Case (1988, Arbor House/Morrow), and Hollywood on the Couch (1993, Morrow).

Photo of Jason Reitman and Stephen Farber. Photo Credit: Chuck Green.

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