There's a whole lotta music hitting the boards in Ann Arbor this week, and it reflects just about every point on the musical spectrum.
Well, maybe not heavy metal, but really there's a bit of something for everyone.
Top o' the list is the venerable but always impressive
Ann Arbor Folk Festival, which brings in a stellar lineup of acts to the Hill Auditorium. A fundraiser for The Ark, it's pretty much this city's signature musical event and well worth every dollar of your hard-earned scratch. Check out the good word in
FilterD for the who, when, and how great this show will be.
Despite the audio treasures that have descended upon our pointy-headed suburban burg, as a film critic it's the city's silver screen offerings that warm the cockles of my heart. And if you haven't noticed lately, The Michigan Theater has been quietly turning into a cultural powerhouse.
Along with first-run movies, art house obscurities, a spiffy new 3-D projector and playing host to the recently revitalized Ann Arbor Film Festival (coming in March - mark your calendars!), the theater has expanded its offerings to include topnotch concerts and entertainers as well as one-of-a-kind programming that capitalizes on our community's relationship with U-M.
Case in point:
The Penny Stamps Lecture Series, which every Thursday at 5:10 PM offers up a thought-provoking lecturer, artist, critic, or writer for free! Got that? Free. Really and truly free. This week is the perfect example of why you should drop in. Art and culture critic
David Hickey comes to A2 with his button-pushing opinions about academic art, populism, and cultural consumables. A pal of Lester Bangs and Hunter S. Thompson, he melds scholarly intellectualism with the hard-living realities of everyday innovation.
The theater has also been plugging into the national scene, connecting with festivals far and wide. The fruits of those labors can be seen this weekend as The Michigan Theater joins only seven other venues in the nation (and it's the biggest) to screen not one, but two official entries in the
Sundance Film Festival.
The first is Mumblercore veterans the Duplass Brothers (
Baghead), a first foray into big circuit indie filmdom with
Cyrus. Starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, and funny-as-hell Jonah Hill, their dark comedy about love and the disturbing ties that bind has been unseen by audiences anywhere. This is the official debut and the filmmakers will be on hand to talk about their work after the screening. Tickets are either already or on their way to being sold out. Be the first on your block... heck, the first anywhere... to see this Sundance Film Fest release.
Cyrus screens tomorrow at 7:30PM in the main theater.
As if that weren't enough... The Michigan is the only venue (outside Park City, that is) to be showing a second festival selection.
Beating out 7000 other entries, Detroiter and U-M grad Sultan Sharrief's
Bilal's Stand was a five year labor of love (and frustration). Just one of eight micro-budgeted films to be selected for Sundance's NEXT series, it tells the tale of an African-American Muslim high school student who works for his father's cab company and struggles to decide between going into the family business or attending a prestigious university (hint, hint), where class delineations intensify the situation.
Sharrief's journey to get his film finished is the stuff of Hollywood Cinderella stories, as he navigated a lack of funds (the lab held his film for 18 months until he could afford to pay), edits, re-edits, and finally inspiration. What eventually made his gritty, inner-city drama pop was the addition of hand-drawn animation and captions to lighten the tone and accentuate his themes. It must have worked because he joins the ranks of many renowned indie filmmakers who have been spotlighted at Park City.
Bilal's Stand screens Sunday at 6PM. Sultan will be on hand to chat with the audience afterward.
And if ever there was an example of where you can consume your culture locally, this screening is it.
See you at the movies!
-Jeff Meyers
EditorUPDATE: If anyone asks, you didn't read it here... but rumor is Jonah Hill will also be at tonight's screening of Cyrus!
Have a comment you want to share? Want your event in FilterD? Feedback and press
releases for upcoming events in the Ann Arbor area should be sent to
jeff@concentratemedia.com. For consideration in
FilterD, please send information a week before your event include high res jpg
images that are at least 500 pixels wide.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.