May Preview

All right, here's what we're working on/thinking about for May.

Damsels in Distress  Metropolitan, Barcelona, Last Days of Disco: these are the films of Whit Stillman. Now, after a billion-year break in film-making, comes DnD. Stillman was doing quirky, smart comedies about preppies a decade before Wes Anderson. Looking forward to this one.

Undefeated  One of the hot films of this year's True/False Film Fest and winner of the best doc at the Oscars. About an underdog inner-city football team.

Bully  aka The Bully Project (and not to be confused with Larry Clark's disturbing 2001 Bully). Another True/False favorite. We don't know if we'll be getting the recently-okay'd PG-13 version or the Not Rated version. We shall see. This film has been in the news so much lately you probably already know about it, but it's about bullies and bullying in schools.

Footnote  From Israel, a battle of wits between father-and-son professors in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Marley  A doc about everyone's favorite Rastafarian, Robert Nesta Marley. Fun facts from IMDb:  Martin Scorsese was originally on this film, then Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs), and finally Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void).

Fly Fishing Film Tour  May 19, doors open at noon, films start at 1:00.  A collection of the best fly fishing films of the year. NOTICE:  Ragtag is NOT selling tickets to this event. If you want to attend you should purchase tickets on the F3T website (click on May-19 Columbia in the bottom-right menu). Tickets are already going fast. $10 in advance.

The Kid with a Bike  A francophone film about a kid in an orphanage and a local hairdresser who fosters him on the weekends. And, of course, a bike.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel  A feel-good film about a group of British pensioners who retire to an Indian hotel that's far from expected. Featuring Judi Dench and Bill Nighy.

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls  Two days only, May 16 & 17. A documentary about human trafficking and the global sex trade.

My Life, My Town  "Teen voices from rural Missouri." A collaboration from KBIA and the Columbia Missourian.

Joplin, Missouri May 22. Missouri filmmaker Chip Gubera returns to his tornado-devastated hometown to create a document of hope.  All proceeds benefit Joplin relief efforts.