Get Out January 10 2013

Documentary chronicles the origins of dyslexia, page 15

Saturated in the arts ‘Local Color’ exhibit showcases regional photographers.

Thursday January 10, 2013

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Thursday, January 10, 2013 | gainesvilletimes.com/getout

on the web

outdoors

https://pipl.com

Find results you won’t find on any other search engine, the most comprehensive people search on the Web. Search for people by email, name, phone number or even username. Results will be a set of meaningful profiles to easily find the person you seek.

How long would you last in the wilderness of North Georgia? If you aren’t sure, head to Smithgall Woods for some lessons in honing your survival skills.

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music

Help raise the roof in Sautee — sorta.

Singer Dede Vogt will perform benefit concerts to help replace the roof of the Sautee Nacoochee Post Office.

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movies

From “Zero Dark Thirty” to a few films that may get overlooked for an Oscar, Jeff Marker reviews the contenders.

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on the cover

For Get Out

The photographers featured in Brenau’s new exhibit have connections to the university and to Gainesville and were chosen to showcase regional talent and the “local color.”

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family

The Associated Press

Help raise funds for Relay For Life while being entertained by some of the area’s most talented dancers.

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

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Hone your inner outdoorsman Learn how to survive in the wild at Smithgall Woods

BY CHRISTEN ROBINSON

crobinson@gainesvilletimes.com Do you have the skills it takes to survive in the wilderness?

If not, Smithgall Woods State Park will host the first session of the Survival Skill Series at 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 19.

The park has offered a land navigation session before but these new series are to “focus on survival skills,” said Johnna Tuttle, interpretive ranger at Smithgall.

Retired Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Bob Finke will instruct the four-part series on how to use basic skills to survive among wildlife.

In the first session Jan. 19, Finke will discuss basic land navigation.

This entails learning the parts of a compass and how to read and identify map distances.

“We want people to get hands-on

outdoors This week

Beginning Bee Keeping, Helen. 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 12. Smithgall Woods State Park, Helen.

Learn about basic bee keeping and starting a hive. Professional honey producer Berry Wright will discuss equipment and installation. Trip to the apiary, weather permitting.

Register in advance. $10, plus $5 parking. 706-8783087.

Upcoming

Forgotten Skills: Keeping Traditions Alive, Class 5, Gainesville. 10 a.m. Jan. 19. Northeast Georgia History Center, 322 Academy St. NE, Gainesville. Cooking meals outdoors using dutch oven and bamboo.

Class limited to 12. $65, $60 for members.

experience with using a compass and navigating with maps,” Tuttle said.

In session two, students will do mildly strenuous activities along the hills and woodlands, so physical fitness is necessary.

Session three examines dangerous animals and insects in Georgia and how to plan and be equipped to battle such creatures.

The final session will brief students on how to survive if stranded or lost in the woods for an extensive amount of time.

Tuttle expressed the Survival Skill Series are to help people “gain knowledge about things we once knew how to do.”

Registering in advance is a must.

The cost will be $20 for session one alone, $30 for each session after and $95 for all four sessions.

To register in advance and to find

Advance registration appreciated. Ages 10 and older; 770-297-5900, www.negahc.org or jcarson@brenau.edu Survival Skills Series Part 1, Helen. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 19. Smithgall Woods State Park, Helen.

Basic land navigation, explanation of the compass, true north, magnetic north, bearing/ azimuth, terrain features and more. Register in advance. $20-$95, $5 parking. 706-878-3087.

Telescope Help, Dahlonega, Oakwood. 5-7 p.m. Jan. 19. University of North Georgia, 82 College Circle, Dahlonega; 5-7 p.m. Jan. 20, UNG’s Gainesville campus, 3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood. If you have a new telescope or if you have an old telescope in the closet and need some help setting it up, the telescope help sessions are for you. Free.

Survival Skill Series Where: Smithgall Woods State Park, 61 Tsalaki Trail, Helen Session 1: Basic Land Navigation at Buck Shoals, Jan. 19 Session 2: Advanced Land Navigation Course at Buck Shoals, Feb. 2 Session 3: Survival Preparation and Skills Course, Feb. 16 Session 4: Survival Preparation and Skills Course, March 9 How much: $20 first session, $30 each additional session, $95 for series; $5 for parking More info: 706-878-3087, www. gastateparks.org

out more information on the Survival Skill Series, call 706-878-3087 or visit www.gastateparks.org.

telescopehelp2013@ gmail.com Precious Feet 5K and Fun Run, Flowery Branch.

8 a.m. March 9. 5302 Railroad Ave., Flowery Branch. 5K $20 or $25 after March 1st, 1K/Fun Run $5. Seeking sponsors for event, starting at $50; may be tax-deductible. If interested, please contact 770-298-7577, rebellojl@ hotmail.com

Ongoing

Baxter’s Multisport, Gainesville. 9:30 a.m.

Saturdays. Baxter’s Multisport, 2480 Limestone Parkway, Gainesville.770-532-2453, gobaxters.com Triathlon Club, Gainesville.

No experience necessary.

Meets 7 p.m. second Tuesdays, Fit 2 Tri Store, 1292 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. 770712-9129, fit2tri@gmail. com

ISI Cycling, Gainesville.

7:30 a.m. Saturdays; 7:30 a.m. Sundays, Corinth Baptist Church, Thompson Bridge Road; Thursdays 6 p.m.

Dewberry Baptist Church, Clarks Bridge Road. Free. www.isicycling.com Elachee’s Trail Crew Work Day. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. First Saturday each month. Free. Bring water, lunch, gloves and rain gear. Tools, training, and refreshments provided.

Call to preregister. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville, 770-5351976. www.elachee.org First Saturday Hike, Gainesville. 10-11:30 a.m. First Saturday each month. Guided hike. $5 adults, $3 ages 2-12, younger than 2 and Elachee members free. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. 770-5351976. www.elachee.org

get out Northeast Georgia’s entertainment guide

To have your event listed, we must have the following information: ■ The name, time and date of the event, and a short description ■ The location, street address ■ Admission and contact information ■ Send to getout@gainesvilletimes.com ONLY emails will be accepted. No faxes, flyers, mailers or phone calls. The deadline to have your event listed in Get Out is the FRIDAY before the next publication. Listings run at the discretion of the editor.

If you would like to purchase an ad, call Betty Thompson at 770-532-1234 or email bthompson@gainesvilletimes.com

etc events This week

Lanier Women’s Club, Gainesville. 10 a.m. Jan. 10.

First Presbyterian Church, S. Enota in Gainesville.

Meet and greet, short informative program (January topic: trip to Vietnam), $15 buffet lunch. New members welcome. 678-960-4172.

Visiting author, Gainesville. 10 a.m. Jan. 10. Creative Arts Study Club will host New York Times bestselling author Haywood Smith. Lakewood Baptist Church, 2235 Thompson Bridge Road, Gainesville. 678-9366613, www.haywoodsmith.net The Mountain Laurel Quilters Guild meeting, Clarkesville. Noon. Jan. 15. Clarkesville United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, Clarkesville. Learn how to make a scalloped border and a light box. And also learn to “ice dye” fabric and use speciality rulers to make gorgeous quilts. 706-782-6020.

Upcoming Monarchs in Mexico, Gainesville. 12:30-2 p.m.

Jan. 24. Elachee Nature Science Center, 2125 Elachee Drive, Gainesville. Land Protection Branch Environmental Outreach Coordinator Kim Bailey will discuss monarchs in Mexico. Bring lunch; $10 donation requested. 770-535-1976, www.elachee. org

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gainesvilletimes.com/getout | Thursday, January 10, 2013

Take in some ‘Local Color’ Brenau exhibit features area photographers rom staff reports An exhibit featuring the work of local and regional photographers will run through March 9 in the Sellars Gallery of the Simmons Visual Arts Center at Brenau University in Gainesville.

A reception for “Local Colors” is scheduled for 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10 at the gallery, with the artists on hand to discuss their works. The reception and exhibition are free.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The photographers featured in the exhibit have connections to Brenau and Gainesville. Galleries Director Melissa Morgan said the artists chosen showcase regional talent and their images reflect the “local color” of Northeast Georgia.

“Building a partnership with regional artists is incredibly important,” Morgan said. “By promoting and showing their work, the local artist community can grow and thrive.”

The exhibit features a diverse collection of around 50 photographs from six photographers capturing events and beauty through landscape, portraiture and photojournalism. The subject matter ranges from abstract nature scenes to portraits of iconic Atlanta

For The Times

‘Local Color’ photography exhibit When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays through March 9; opening reception, 5:30 p.m. Jan. 10 Where: Brenau University’s Sellars Gallery, Simmons Visual Arts Center, 200 Boulevard, Gainesville How much: Free More info: 770-534-6263

Braves players.

Some of the photographers contributing to the exhibit include Allison Shirreffs, an Atlanta based photojournalist; Tom Askew, a Gainesville area photographer and Brenau adjunct facility member; and Lee Anne Romberg-White, a fine art and editorial photographer based in Cumming.

arts events This Week

Kareem Harris and Dustin Morris art exhibit, Gainesville. 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Throughout January. Inman Perk Bistro, Historic Gainesville Square.

Romberg-White, a Brenau Women’s College 1982 alumna, said that having a space locally to exhibit work is incredibly important to her.

“As artists we love to create, but what’s even more exciting is being able to share your work with the community,” she said. “This is a great way to engage the community.”

Creative calligraphy and original images of drawing and painting. Free.

770-572-1908.

Quinlan Visual Arts Center call for artists, Gainesville. Artworks needed for 35th annual Gala Fine Art Auction in March. Submissions needed by Jan. 14 at 514 Green St., Gainesville 770-

Latino art exhibit set for UNG’s Gainesville campus

go o the arts

The Roy C. Moore Art Gallery, located on the Gainesville campus of University of North Georgia, presents Dreamers/Soñadores, an exhibit featuring four artists whose work addresses issues of Latino identity.

The free exhibit runs from Jan. 14 through Feb. 13 and features six artists: Nestor Armando Gil, George Lorio, Julio Mejia, Groana Melendez, Roxana Perez-Mendez and Claudia Santillan.

The exhibit is cosponsored by the Latino Student Association, accompanied by an essay by UNG Hispanic Leadership Development Coordinator Luis SantosRivas.

Perez-Melendez will give a talk at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13 as part of the Foreign Language Lecture Series, with a closing reception to follow.

The work of Nestor Armando Gil and Groana Melendez also

536-2575, www.quinlanartscenter.org

Upcoming

A picture of identity

From staff reports

A photograph of Turner Field at sunset is one of around 50 images that will be on display in the “Local Color” exhibit through March 9 in the Sellars Gallery of the Simmons Visual Arts Center at Brenau University in Gainesville.

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Robert Johnson “Still Life” Oil Painting Workshop, Gainesville. 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 21-25. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville. $650. 770-536-2575.

Dreamers/Soñadores exhibit

When: Jan. 14-Feb. 13 Where: Roy C. Moore Art Gallery, University of North Georgia Gainesville campus, 3820 Mundy Mill Road, Oakwood How much: Free More info: ung.edu, 678-717-3707

will be featured in Otros Soñadores, an exhibit of Latino artists that will be on display Jan. 16 through Feb. 20 at UNG’s Oconee Campus Gallery.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. For more information, contact Beth Sale at bsale@gsc. edu or 678-717-3438.

Gil is assistant professor of visual arts at Lafayette College in Easton, Penn. Gil has created an outdoor sculpture for the exhibit called Oasis.

Lorio’s work has been exhibited widely over the United States and Mexico over the past three decades. He teaches at Delaware State University.

Mejia spent much of his early adult life in his father’s native country of Peru, and now lives in the

North Georgia mountains.

Mejia creates large-scale abstract oil paintings fused with energetic colors, associated with memories and emotions.

Selections from Melendez’s photographic series “Ni Acquí, Ni Allá: Neither Here, Nor There” were exhibited at the New York Public Library in 2010.

Perez-Mendez is a sculptor and a performance artist who incorporates video into her pieces. She is currently on the faculty at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Santillan, of Lima, Peru, examines “desire, solitude, and the sense of displacement” in her work. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia, and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Memphis.

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Thursday, January 10, 2013 | gainesvilletimes.com/getout

Russian ballet Step into cultural swirl of theater Flamenco comes to UGA company Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company

Performing Arts Center brings classic ‘Cinderella’ From staff reports ATHENS — The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the State Ballet Theatre of Russia in two performances of “Cinderella” at 8 p.m. Jan. 15 and 16 in the Fine Arts Theatre.

In the grand Russian tradition, the full-length story ballet will feature lushly painted sets, lavish costumes and classic choreography accompanied by the unforgettable music of Sergei Prokofiev.

In addition to composing masterworks that include seven symphonies and the beloved Peter and the Wolf, Prokofiev created scores for two of the greatest ballets of the 20th century, “Romeo and Juliet” and “Cinderella.”

Using a scenario by Nikolai Volkov that was based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, Prokofiev composed the music for Cinderella between 1940 and 1944, taking a break during that period to compose his opera, “War and Peace.” The ballet received its premiere on Nov. 21, 1945, at the Bolshoi Theatre and was noted for its melodious compositions and jubilant music.

The State Ballet Theatre of Russia’s version of Cinderella was produced and choreographed by Vladimir Vasiliev, a Moscow native who enjoyed an illustrious career as a premier dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet.

He was the first dancer to be awarded the la médaille d’or du meilleur danseur du Monde (The Gold Medal of the World’s Best Dancer), a distinction later won by Mikhail Baryshnikov.

The State Ballet Theatre of Russia is the touring name of the Voronezh State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, which was established in 1961. The State Ballet Theatre boasts a company of more than 50 dancers and is recognized as one of Russia’s most distinguished ballet companies with an extensive touring schedule throughout the world.

Lisa Fusillo, head of the UGA Department of Dance, will give a preconcert lecture 45 minutes prior to each “Cinderella” performance. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Tickets for the State Ballet Theatre’s “Cinderella” are $49-$59 with special discounts for UGA students.

Tickets can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu or by calling the Performing Arts Center box office at 706542-4400 or toll free at 888-289-8497.

The Fine Arts Theatre is located at 255 Baldwin St. at Lumpkin Street, Athens.

to perform in Atlanta

When: 5 p.m. Jan. 13 Where: Ferst Center for the Arts at Georgia Tech, 349 Ferst Drive, Atlanta How much: $39, $29, children $22 More info: 404-894-9600, www.ferstcenter.org

From staff reports ATLANTA — The Georgia Tech Office of the Arts continues the 20122013 Ferst Center Presents series with a performance

by Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company at 5 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 13 Since 2007, acclaimed Spanish choreographer Juan Siddi has led the Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company, an exhilarating, authentic and international company of flamenco singers, musicians and dancers.

The internationally renowned company has embarked on tours throughout Germany, the United States and the Middle East. It has been featured in performances at the seventh annual International Cultural Festival in Qatar, Summer Dance Festival presented

by Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Santa Fe International Conference on Creative Tourism and their summer seasons at the Maria

theater events This week

“Cancer: The Struggle of Loss & Victory,” Gainesville. 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 12. A performance by Alicats Dance Studio.

Proceeds benefit Relay for Life. Pearce Auditorium, Brenau University, 500 Washington St. NW, Gainesville. $12-$15.

678-989-0333, www.alicatsdancestudio. com Children’s Musical Theatre Workshop, Gainesville. 4-6 p.m. Jan. 14. Gainesville Civic Center, 830 Green St., Gainesville.

Grades 3-8. Auditions consist of three parts: reading, choreography and vocals.

Please prepare a 16 bar audition song with either sheet music or accompaniment CD. Participants must be available for an intensive workshop from 9 a.m. to noon June 3-6 and June 10-13. 770-535-3066.

Pam Ware Summer Community Theatre Auditions, Gainesville. 7-9 p.m. Jan. 14.

Gainesville Civic Center, 830 Green St., Gainesville. Adult auditions consist of three parts: reading, choreography and vocals. Please prepare a 16 bar audition song with either sheet music or accompaniment CD. 770-535-3066.

Upcoming

Benitez Theatre, Santa Fe, among others.

Artistic director, choreographer and principal dancer Siddi began his professional career at age 18. He toured for many years in Europe before he was invited to come to the United States to work with Maria Benitez Teatro Flamenco.

Siddi has been showcased in companies throughout the world. He has been nominated for

7 Shot Symphony, Gainesville. 10 a.m.

Jan. 16-17, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18-19, 5 p.m. Jan. 20. Sylvia Beard Theatre, Gainesville. Gainesville Theatre Alliance Public performances. 678-717-3624, gainesvilleTHEATREalliance.org “The Red Merit Badge of Courage,” Clarkesville. 7 p.m. Jan. 18-19, 2 p.m. Jan. 20. Historic Habersham Theater, 1370 Washington St., Clarkesville. $10 adults, $7 children and full-time students. 706839-1315, www.habershamtheater.org “101 Dalmatians,” Clarkesville. 7 p.m.

Jan. 18-19, 2 p.m. Jan. 20. Historic Habersham Theater, 1370 Washington St., Clarkesville. $10 adults, $7 children and full-time students. 706-839-1315, www. habershamtheater.org BlackTop Improv Group, Lawrenceville.

7:15 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. Jan. 18-19.

Aurora Theatre, 128 East Pike St., Lawrenceville. $15. 678-226-6222, www. auroratheatre.com “Brigadoon” open auditions, Dahlonega. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 26-27. Free. Reserve an audition time. Historic Holly Theater, 69 W. Main St., Dahlonega. 706-3442138, brucepilgrim@hotmail.com or www. hollytheater.com.

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several prestigious awards including the Isadora Duncan Dance Award for Outstanding Achievement, where his performance was called one of the “most memorable” by Voice of Dance critic Alan Ulrich.

The Ferst Center Presents series will continue with Chick Corea & Gary Burton with Harlem String Quartet (8 p.m. Jan. 26), MOMIX (8 p.m. Feb. 2) and Jesse Cook (8 p.m.

Feb. 9).

Tickets are $29 and $39 for adults, $22 for children.

For ticket information and directions, contact the Ferst Center Box Office at 404-894-9600 or visit www. ferstcenter.org.

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Singer Vogt lends her voice Soprano sings in Demorest

go o music

Concert to help SNCA repair post office roof

Piedmont’s Price to perform recital From staff reports

From staff reports A little music will help the Sautee Nacoochee Community Association raise the roof on its post office.

The SNCA owns the building that houses the Sautee Nacoochee Post Office, which is in need of a new roof.

To help raise money for the cause, singersongwriter Dede Vogt will perform benefit concerts Jan. 12-13.

Vogt has earned a gold

For Get Out

record for her work with The Indigo Girls and has been supportive of folk musicians in the Atlanta music scene. A multiinstrumentalist, her wide range of influences create a unique, provocative style.

Concert calendar This week

Open Mic Night, Dahlonega. 7 p.m. Jan. 10. The Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 N. Park St., Dahlonega. 706-864-3982, www. thecrimsonmoon.com Sarah Peacock and Sol Junky, Dahlonega.

8 p.m. Jan. 11. The Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 N. Park St., Dahlonega. 706-8643982, www.thecrimsonmoon.com Rory Block Solo Acoustic, Dahlonega. 8 p.m. Jan. 12. The Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 N. Park St., Dahlonega. 706-8643982, www.thecrimsonmoon.com Andrea Price Faculty Recital, Demorest.

7:30 p.m. Jan. 12. Piedmont Chapel, Piedmont College, 165 Central Ave., Demorest. Price will perform works by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, W.A. Mozart, Lori Laitman, Terence Greaves and Bernhard Crusell.

Free. 706-778-3000 Ext. 1152.

Dede Vogt Post Office Roof Fundraiser Concert, Sautee Nacoochee. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, 2 p.m. Jan. 13. Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, 283 Ga. 255 N, Sautee. $20. 706-878-3300, www.snca. org.

Upcoming

Tickets are $20, with all proceeds going to the roof fund. The Saturday show begins at 7:30 p.m., the Sunday show at 2 p.m.

For tickets and more information, call 706-8783300 or visit www.snca. org.

Jeni Michelson with Society Express Quartet, Gainesville. 8 p.m. Jan. 19. The Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville. $30. 770-5342787, www.TheArtsCouncil.net Havana Son Trio, Gainesville. 8 p.m. Feb. 1. The Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville. $30. 770534-2787, www.TheArtsCouncil.net Classical guitarist Jeff Bianchi, Gainesville.

7 p.m. Feb. 23. Free. Inman Perk Cafe, 102 Washington St. SW, Gainesville.

P!nk, “The Truth About Love,” 2013 North American Tour, Atlanta. March 1. Philips Arena.LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com Nuclear Cowboyz, Atlanta. March 2 and 3. Philips Arena.

Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball World Tour, Atlanta. March 11. Philips Arena.

LiveNation.com, Ticketmaster.com Evan Christopher Trio, Gainesville. 8 p.m.

March 23. The Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville. $30. 770-534-2787, www.TheArtsCouncil. net Annie Sellick Trio, Gainesville. 8 p.m.

April 13. The Arts Council Smithgall Arts Center, 331 Spring St. SW, Gainesville. $30. 770-534-2787, www.

TheArtsCouncil.net

Piedmont College music professor and soprano Andrea Price will perform a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m., Jan. 12 in the Piedmont College Chapel in Demorest.

She will be accompanied by Scot Humes on clarinet and Joy Hayner on piano.

Price will perform works by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, W.A. Mozart, Lori Laitman, Terence Greaves, and Bernhard Crusell. Admission is free.

Price teaches studio voice, vocal pedagogy and diction at the college.

She earned a Bachelor of Music in voice performance and music education from

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Meredith College, a Master of Music in voice performance from Appalachian State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts in voice performance from the University of South Carolina.

She was the 2010 winner of the Georgia National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award competition.

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family

movies

music

review, 10

Check out who the contenders are for Best Actress and which two films sit on the fence for this year’s Academy Awards.

‘For Your Consideration: part 2’

Sarah Peacock and Sol Junky, Dahlonega. 8 p.m.

Jan. 11. The Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 N. Park St., Dahlonega.

706-864-3982, www. thecrimsonmoon.com

The Associated Press

Rory Block Solo Acoustic, Dahlonega. 8 p.m. Jan. 12. The Crimson Moon Cafe, 24 N. Park St., Dahlonega. 706-8643982, www.thecrimsonmoon. com

review, 11

The CIA and President Barack Obama have faced accusations that they gave the filmmakers improper access to information from Republican lawmakers, watchdog groups and others. The contacts between the filmmakers and the CIA are even being reviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Dede Vogt Post Office Roof Fundraiser Concert, Sautee Nacoochee. 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12, 2 p.m. Jan. 13. Sautee Nacoochee Community Association, 283 Hwy. 255 N, Sautee Nacoochee. $20. 706-878-3300, www.snca.org.

THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY

weekeND plANNeR

Northeast Georgia’s entertainment guide

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“The Tempest,” Atlanta. Jan. 4-27. The New American Shakespeare Tavern, 499 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.

Directed by Laura Cole.

404-874-5299, www. shakespearetavern.com

For Get Out

The UGA Performing Arts Center will present the State Ballet Theatre of Russia in two performances of “Cinderella” at 8 p.m. Jan. 15 and 16 in the Fine Arts Theatre.

‘Cinderella.’

TUeS:

theater

arts page 5

For Get Out

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The Georgia Tech Office of the Arts continues the 20122013 Ferst Center Presents series with a performance by Juan Siddi Flamenco Theatre Company at 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13.

Flamenco.

Kareem Harris and Dustin Morris art exhibit, Gainesville. 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Throughout January. Inman Perk Bistro, Historic Gainesville Square. Creative calligraphy and original images of drawing and painting. Free. 770572-1908.

“Cancer: The Struggle of Loss & Victory,” Gainesville.

1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Jan. 12.

A performance by Alicats Dance Studio. Proceeds benefit Relay For Life.

Pearce Auditorium, Brenau University, 500 Washington St. NW, Gainesville. $12$15. 678-989-0333, www. alicatsdancestudio.com

JAN 24:

JAN 19:

weD:

“Understanding Oil Painting Materials,” Gainesville. 5:30-7 p.m. Jan. 24. Quinlan Visual Arts Center, 514 Green St. NE, Gainesville. An oil painting demonstration with instructor Nancy Speilman. RSVP is required. Free. 770-536-2575.

Telescope Help Session 1, Dahlonega. 5-7 p.m. Jan. 19. North Georgia College, 82 College Circle, Dahlonega. If you have a new telescope or if you have an old telescope in the closet and need some help setting it up, the telescope help sessions are for you. Free. telescopehelp2013@gmail.com

7 Shot Symphony, Gainesville. 10 a.m. Jan. 16-17, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 18-19, 5 p.m. Jan. 20. Sylvia Beard Theatre, Gainesville. Gainesville Theatre Alliance Public performances. 678-717-3624, gainesvilleTHEATREalliance.org

Children’s Musical Theatre Workshop, Gainesville. 4-6 p.m. Jan. 14. Gainesville Civic Center, 830 Green St., Gainesville. Grades 3-8. Auditions consist of three parts: reading, choreography and vocals. Please prepare a 16 bar audition song with either sheet music or accompaniment CD. Participants must be available for an intensive workshop from 9 a.m. to noon June 3-6 and June 10-13. 770-535-3066.

lOOkING AHeAD

MON:

A photograph of Piedmont Park is one of around 50 images that will be on display in the “Local Color” exhibit through March 9 in the Sellars Gallery of the Simmons Visual Arts Center at Brenau University in Gainesville.

‘Local Color.’

For Get Out

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Thursday, January 10, 2013 | gainesvilletimes.com/getout

ration: e d i r cons

For you

‘Beasts,’ ‘Master’ sit on the Oscar bubble Best Actress contenders JEFF MARKER jmarker@gsc.edu

Film Review And the hits just keep on coming.

For part two of this year’s awards series, we look at two films on the fence. Both have earned high praise from some critics circles but have been ignored by others. Both are as flawed as they are brilliant, so it’s hard to predict how Academy members will vote.

Nomination or not, though, both are essential viewing.

By the way, you can start checking my accuracy in this series when the Oscar nominations are announced this Thursday morning. I’m really crossing my fingers for “Piranha 3DD.”

‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’

Director and co-writer Behn Zeitlin’s low budget, magical realist feature debut is unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Set in a fictional, untamed bayou community dubbed The Bathtub, it is a place of tenuous survival, found objects and fiercely independent people.

They are people of extremes who mingle mistrust with mutual reliance, alcoholism with tenderness, and isolation with love.

Only in such a setting could a character like Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) exist. Only 6 years old, Hushpuppy lives by instinct, forging spiritual connections with animals by listening to their hearts and stomping through The Bathtub in her oversized white rain boots as if she is one of the beasts of

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Quvenzhane Wallis portraying Hushpuppy, left, sits with Dwight Henry as Wink in a scene from, “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

the title.

Meanwhile, Hushpuppy battles many beasts, both internal and external. She longs to know more of her mother beyond the mythological stories told by her father, whose fading health threatens to leave Hushpuppy all alone in the treacherous Bathtub — which is on the brink of flood thanks to melting ice caps, and which have also unleashed ancient, boar-like aurochs who steadily stalk her.

The flood is real but serves as a metaphor for Hushpuppy’s collapsing emotional and psychological world. Zeitlin’s movie is so elusively placed in the margins between reality and fantasy, we must decide whether those aurochs are real or spring from Hushpuppy’s imagination.

“Beasts of the Southern Wild” is staggeringly unique and a deeply moving experience. Such originality deserves recognition.

‘The Master’

Paul Thomas Anderson makes films that demand to be discussed. At some point in each of his films, usually in the third act, he makes a choice that

turns off half of his viewers. I’m convinced this is by design.

In other words, Anderson has consciously limited his audience. Although he was born in Studio City, Calif., and grew up in The Valley in L.A., these decisions, his international style and his insistence on working independently have made him somewhat of an outsider.

His lead characters are outsiders, too. That is especially so in “The Master,” the story of World War II veteran and drifter Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) briefly entering the inner circle of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an author and cult leader based on real Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Freddie and Lancaster’s relationship is made fascinating by astounding performances from Phoenix, Hoffman and Amy Adams as Dodd’s wife, whom many have compared to Lady MacBeth.

The film is made enthralling, too, by some of the finest filmmaking craftsmanship you will ever lay eyes on. On a purely formal level, Anderson is the most exciting filmmaker alive (and yes, I say that fully aware of the many legendary filmmakers

■ Amy Adams, “The Master” ■ Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty” ■ Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone” ■ Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook” ■ Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock” ■ Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour” ■ Naomi Watts, “The Impossible” ■ Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”

Mirren

Adams

Chastain

Cotillard

Lawrence

Riva

Watts

Wallis

still with us). Several moments in “The Master” left me in awe of Anderson’s sheer mastery of his medium.

Ultimately, though, we are left to wonder what all this sound and fury is supposed to signify. Anderson offered provocative comments about family in “Boogie Nights,” about fatherhood in “Magnolia” and about American ideology in “There Will Be Blood.”

But what is he saying in “The Master?” It’s possible he is saying nothing significant at all, which is why Oscar might pass over the film, despite some of the year’s best acting and directing.

Jeff Marker is head of the Communication, Media & Journalism Department at the University of North Georgia. His reviews appear weekly in Get Out and on gainesvilletimes.com/getout.

The Weinstein Company

Joaquin Phoenix reads in a scene from “The Master.”

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‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is edgy but brilliant

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JEFF MARKER jmarker@gsc.edu

Film Review One of the year’s most controversial films is, in my opinion, also its best.

I suppose any movie about the hunt for and killing of Osama bin Laden is going to be provocative, but “Zero Dark Thirty” has proven especially so.

Writer/director Kathryn Bigelow and co-writer Mark Boal researched this film by interviewing CIA operatives, members of Seal Team Six — the unit that ultimately killed bin Laden — and others with knowledge of classified information.

The CIA and President Barack Obama have faced Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. accusations that they gave the Elite Navy SEALs raid Osama Bin Laden’s compound in the dark of night in the gripping new thriller directed by filmmakers improper access to Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty.” that information from Republican lawmakers, watchdog groups even hand and a recognition of friends and the psychological most wanted terrorist, all most and others. The contacts the complexity of her material. exhaustion produced by all of of us knew was that they were between the filmmakers and the All the research lends the film this. failing. We were lead to believe CIA are even being reviewed unusually high credibility.

Chastain gives another bin Laden had squirreled away by the Senate Intelligence Debate the political great performance, boosted in some remote mountain cave.

Committee. implications of the details all by a number of equally great That made it easy to see him The film has also been you want, but this is a riveting supporting performances by and his al-Qaida as less of a criticized for depicting story about one CIA operative’s Jennifer Ehle, Kyle Chandler, threat. waterboarding and other types decadelong obsessive devotion Édgar Ramírez, Jason “Zero Dark Thirty” reminds us of torture as being used to to finding Osama bin Laden.

Clarke, Mark Duplass, James that bin Laden knew spycraft gather intelligence that lead to That operative is a relatively Gandolfini, Joel Edgerton, Chris and was still actively engaged bin Laden. These scenes come young woman named Maya Pratt and Fares Fares. in terrorist activities. He was no early in the film and are very (Jessica Chastain), based on a Despite all the controversy, hobbled hermit in a cave. The difficult to watch. real CIA agent. those who are sensitive about terrorist attacks in Bali in 2002, However, it is to Bigelow’s While the entire U.S. representations of the military in London in 2007 and other credit that she has been intelligence apparatus fumbles should appreciate that “Zero attacks are presented as direct accused both of taking a proineffectively, Maya focuses on Dark Thirty” doesn’t give the retaliation for America’s attempts torture stance and of criticizing one simple idea: Get to bin hunt for bin Laden the typical to destroy al-Qaida and catch the CIA for using torture.

Laden through the only people Hollywood treatment. The film bin Laden.

But here’s the thing: From a with whom he still has contact, makes it clear that this was “Zero Dark Thirty” deserves cinematic point of view, none of the couriers. a hard-fought war against a praise first and foremost for this controversy matters.

Maya stays this course ruthless enemy. being a great movie viewing Just as she did in “The Hurt despite years of failure, pressure During the many years the experience. That shouldn’t Locker,” Bigelow makes her from her superiors, militant U.S. intelligence establishment be lost in all the debates goal to tell her story with an ambushes, the loss of close was searching for the world’s over its politics. This is no

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Ehle, Kyle Chandler Rated: R, for strong violence including brutal disturbing images, and for language Runtime: 2 hours, 37 minutes Bottom line: The year’s best film.

propagandistic hack job; this is an expertly made, captivating movie.

Bigelow has solidified her status as one of the best working filmmakers in Hollywood.

Two or three more films of this quality and people will begin calling her one of the greatest female filmmakers of all time.

Four or five more films of this quality and people will forget their gender biases and call her, simply, one of the greats.

I think that is exactly what lies in the future for Bigelow.

Jeff Marker is head of the Communication, Media & Journalism Department at the University of North Georgia. His reviews appear weekly in Get Out and on gainesvilletimes.com/getout.

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Thursday, January 10, 2013 | gainesvilletimes.com/getout

Showtimes

Bargain shows denoted by parenthesis ( ).

Hollywood Stadium Cinemas 770-539-9200 120 Green Hill Circle NW, Gainesville

Argo (R) Fri.-Sun. 1:15-6:45 Django Unchained (R) Thu. 4:30-5:30-9:00 Fri.-Sun. 2:00-5:30-9:00 The Guilt Trip (PG-13) Thu. 5:00-7:15-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-4:15-6:45-10:00 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13) Thu. 4:155:00-8:00 Fri.-Sun. 5:00 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D (PG-13) Thu. 8:30 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-8:30 Hyde Park on Hudson (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:00-3:005:00-7:15-10:00 Jack Reacher (PG-13) Thu. 4:00-6:45-9:30 Fri.-Sun. 1:00-4:00-6:45-9:30 Life of Pi (PG) Fri.-Sun. 4:00-9:30 Lincoln (PG-13) Thu. 3:45-7:00-9:15 Fri.-Sun. 12:453:45-7:00-9:00 Les Misérables (PG-13) Thu. 4:30-8:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:004:30-8:00 Monsters, Inc. 3D (G) Thu. 5:00-7:15 Fri.-Sun. 1:45-4:30 Parental Guidance (PG) Thu. 4:00-7:00-9:45 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-4:00-7:15-9:45 Promised Land (R) Thu. 4:15-7:00-9:45-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:15-1:15-4:00-4:15-7:00-7:00-9:45-9:45 Rise of the Guardians (PG) Thu. 4:15-6:45 Texas Chainsaw (R) Thu. 5:15 Fri.-Sun. 12:45 Texas Chainsaw 3D (R) Thu. 7:30-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 3:005:15-7:30-10:00 This Is 40 (R) Thu. 3:45-6:45-9:30 Fri.-Sun. 12:45-3:456:45-9:30 The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 (PG-13) Thu. 4:00-6:45-9:45 Fri.-Sun. 7:00-9:45 Zero Dark Thirty (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-5:00-8:30

Regal Mall of Georgia Stadium 20 678-482-5858 3333 Buford Drive, Suite 3000, Buford

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away (PG) Thu. 2:15 Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D (PG) Thu. 12:00-4:307:00-9:15 Fri.-Sat. 5:00-7:30-9:45-12:05 Sun. 5:00-7:309:45 Django Unchained (R) Thu. 11:30-2:35-3:15-6:15-7:0010:00-10:30 Fri.-Sun. 12:00-3:30-7:00-7:20-10:30-10:45 Gangster Squad (R) Fri.-Sat. 10:30-12:00-1:10-2:35-3:505:10-6:30-7:45-9:10-10:20-11:45 Sun. 12:00-1:10-2:353:50-5:10-6:30-7:45-9:10-10:20 The Guilt Trip (PG-13) Thu. 9:25 Fri.-Sun. 7:50-10:15 A Haunted House (R) Fri.-Sat. 11:35-1:55-4:10-7:10-8:009:25-10:15-11:40 Sun. 11:35-1:55-4:10-7:10-8:00-9:2510:15 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13) Thu. 12:004:00-8:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:00-8:10 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D (PG-13) Thu. 12:3011:30-3:15-4:30-7:00-8:30-10:45 Fri.-Sat. 11:30-3:154:35-7:00-10:45-11:40 Sun. 11:30-3:15-4:35-7:00-10:45 The Impossible (PG-13) Thu. 1:20-3:55-7:10-9:45 Fri. 1:20-3:55-7:15-9:50 Sat.-Sun. 10:45-1:20-3:55-7:159:50 Jack Reacher (PG-13) Thu. 2:00-4:55-7:50-10:45 Fri.-Sun.

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‘Chainsaw’ grabs top slice with $21.7M LOS ANGELES — “Texas Chainsaw 3D” took the biggest cut of the weekend box office as the sequel to the 1974 horror tale debuted with $21.7 million.

The top 5 movies at U.S. and Canadiantheaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are: 1. “Texas Chainsaw 3D,” Lionsgate, $21,744,470, $21,744,470, one week.

2. “Django Unchained,” Weinstein Co., $20,010,745, $106,280,122, two weeks.

3. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” Warner Bros., $17,545,386, $263,834,893, four weeks.

4. “Les Miserables,” Universal, $16,015,560, $103,503,040, two weeks.

5. “Parental Guidance,” Fox, $9,704,619, $52,339,698, two weeks.

Associated Press 10:50-1:50-4:45-7:40-10:40 Lincoln (PG-13) Thu. 12:25-3:50-7:20-10:35 Fri.-Sun. 12:25-3:50-7:05-10:20 Les Misérables (PG-13) Thu. 11:30-12:00-3:15-3:45-7:007:30-10:30 Fri.-Sun. 11:45-3:10-6:40-10:10 Monsters, Inc. 3D (G) Thu. 2:45-7:45 Fri.-Sat. 10:2512:45-3:05-5:30 Sun. 12:45-3:05-5:30 Not Fade Away (R) Thu. 1:10-4:10-7:10 Parental Guidance (PG) Thu. 11:45-2:10-4:35-7:05-9:30 Fri.-Sun. 11:45-2:10-4:35-7:35-10:00 Promised Land (R) Thu. 1:30-4:30-7:15-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 12:20-2:50-5:25 Rise of the Guardians (PG) Fri.-Sun. 11:40-2:05 Silver Linings Playbook (R) Thu. 1:50-4:40-7:25-10:15 Fri.Sun. 10:40-1:30-4:40-7:25-10:10 Skyfall (PG-13) Thu. 12:20-3:45-7:40-10:45 Fri.-Sun. 12:10-4:00-7:20-10:35 Texas Chainsaw 3D (R) Thu. 12:45-3:05-5:20-7:35-9:50 Fri.-Sat. 10:30-12:45-3:05-5:20-7:40-9:55-12:10 Sun. 10:30-12:45-3:05-5:20-7:40-9:55 This Is 40 (R) Thu. 12:15-3:20-6:30-7:30-9:30 Fri.-Sun. 10:40-1:35-4:30-7:30-10:35 Wreck-It Ralph (PG) Thu. 1:45-4:40 Fri.-Sat. 11:10-1:454:25 Sun. 1:45-4:25 Zero Dark Thirty (R) Fri.-Sun. 12:05-12:25-3:35-3:557:00-7:20-10:25-10:45

Movies 400 678-513-4400

415 Atlanta Road, Cumming

Django Unchained (R) Thu.-Sun. (1:00-4:40) 8:20 Gangster Squad (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. (1:10-4:15) 7:20-10:05 The Guilt Trip (PG-13) Thu. (12:10-2:40-5:10) 7:40-10:10 Fri.-Sun. 7:30 A Haunted House (R) Fri.-Sun. (12:30-2:50-5:10) 7:309:50 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13) Thu.-Sun. (12:45-4:25) 8:05 Jack Reacher (PG-13) Thu. (1:00-4:05) 7:10-10:15 Fri.Sun. (12:45-3:50) 7:00-10:05

Lincoln (PG-13) Thu. (12:00-3:20) 6:40-10:00 Fri. (1:505:10) 8:45 Les Misérables (PG-13) Thu.-Sun. (1:00-5:00) 8:30 Parental Guidance (PG) Thu.-Sun. (12:15-2:45-5:15) 7:45-10:15 Promised Land (R) Thu. (1:30-4:10) 7:20-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 10:00 Rise of the Guardians (PG) Thu. (12:10-2:50-5:20) 7:50 Fri.-Sun. (12:00-2:30-5:00) Texas Chainsaw (R) Thu.-Sun. (12:30-5:20) 10:10 Texas Chainsaw 3D (R) Thu.-Sun. (2:55) 7:45 This Is 40 (R) Thu. (12:45-3:50) 7:00-10:05 Fri.-Sun. 6:50-9:55 Wreck-It Ralph (PG) Thu. (12:00-2:40-5:20) Fri.-Sun. (12:45-3:25) Zero Dark Thirty (R) Fri.-Sun. (2:00-5:30) 9:00

Habersham Hills Cinemas 6 706-776-7469 2115 Cody Road, Mount Airy

Django Unchained (R) Thu. 5:00 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13) Thu.-Fri. 4:158:00 Sat.-Sun. 12:30-4:15-8:00 Hyde Park on Hudson (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri. 5:00-7:30-9:45 Sat.-Sun. 2:00-5:00-7:30-10:00 Jack Reacher (PG-13) Thu. 4:15-7:00 Lincoln (PG-13) Thu. 3:30-6:45 Parental Guidance (PG) Thu.-Fri. 5:00-7:30-10:00 Sat.Sun. 12:00-2:30-5:00-7:30-10:00 Promised Land (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri. 4:15-7:00-9:45 Sat.Sun. 1:15-4:15-7:00-9:45 Texas Chainsaw (R) Thu. 5:15-7:30-10:00 Fri. 4:45-7:1510:00 Sat.-Sun. 1:45-4:45-7:15-10:00 Zero Dark Thirty (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri. 4:30-8:00 Sat.-Sun. 1:00-4:30-8:00

Dawson 400 Stadium Cinemas 706-216-1622 189 North 400 Center Lane, Dawsonville

Django Unchained (R) Thu. 4:30-8:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:004:30-8:00 The Guilt Trip (PG-13) Thu. 4:35-7:05 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (PG-13) Thu. 4:158:00 Fri.-Sun. 12:30-4:15 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D (PG-13) Thu. 7:30 Fri.-Sun. 8:00 Hyde Park on Hudson (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. 12:052:15-4:25-7:10-10:00 Jack Reacher (PG-13) Thu. 4:05-7:10-9:40 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-4:05-7:10-9:40 Les Misérables (PG-13) Thu. 4:00-8:00 Fri.-Sun. 12:004:00-8:00 Monsters, Inc. 3D (G) Thu. 4:50 Parental Guidance (PG) Thu. 4:10-7:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:254:10-7:00-9:55 Promised Land (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:30-4:15-7:009:35 Rise of the Guardians (PG) Thu. 4:40 Fri.-Sun. 12:002:20-4:40 Skyfall (PG-13) Thu.-Sun. 6:50-9:20 Texas Chainsaw (R) Fri.-Sun. 12:10 Texas Chainsaw 3D (R) Thu. 4:40-7:00-10:00 Fri.-Sun. 2:25-4:40-7:00-9:15 This Is 40 (R) Thu. 4:00-6:50 Zero Dark Thirty (R) Thu. 10:00 Fri.-Sun. 1:00-4:00-8:00

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now showing Movie reviews from Associated Press. Stars out of four.

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opening

‘Zero Dark Thirty’ ■ Review, 11 ‘Gangster Squad’

HHH (R for strong violence and language.) The Old West died hard in the City of Angels. And in the years after World War II, battlehardened veterans came home to a town “under enemy occupation,” when the only way to fight off the mob was with a six gun, your two fists and the right hat. “Gangster Squad” is a gang-war drama built on Western conventions, a rootin’ tootin’, Camelsmokin’, whiskey swillin’ shoot-‘em-up about a lawless period in L.A.’s history when a small cadre of cops, working outside the law, took on mob boss Mickey Cohen in a fight for “the soul of Los Angeles.” Josh Brolin ably handles the John Wayne role, the paragon of virtue, an incorruptible police sergeant tasked by the only honest police chief (Nick Nolte) to chase out mob boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn, pugnacious, ferocious). Ryan Gosling is Jerry Waters, the cynical detective/ gunslinger who will have to take sides, but is going to take some convincing. Anthony Mackie’s the knife-throwing street cop from the black side of town. Robert Patrick is the aged pistolero and holdover from the “real Wild West.” Michael Pena represents the city’s Hispanic underclass, a kid who needs to prove himself. And Giovanni Ribisi is “the brains,” the cop with the glasses and the Army-based knowledge of wiretaps. They’re a regular “Magnificent Six.”

Lionsgate

Alexandra Daddario, left, as Heather Miller in a scene from “Texas Chainsaw 3-D.”

Warner Bros. Pictures

Josh Brolin, left, as Sgt. John O’Mara and Nick Nolte as Chief Parker stand by a car in “Gangster Squad.”

“Who’s the tomato?” That would be Emma Stone, playing the “dance-hall girl,” the mobster’s young moll “poached” by the handsome Jerry.

‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’

H (R for strong grisly violence and language throughout.) “Chainsaw 3D” — they no longer use “Massacre” in the title. It’s either implied or — well, they don’t want to give the movie away — picks up the “story” where other recent massacres have left off. “Chainsaw 3D” makes some effort to find a reason for Heather, played by a stunning specimen of baremidriffed beauty, Alexandra Daddario, to drag three of her 20-something friends to Newt, Texas. She’s a surviving member of the slaying Sawyer clan, the inbreds who gave birth to and protected the hulking monster Leatherface. A brief opening sums up the “end” of the Sawyers, the lynch mob that rightfully burnt them all to a Texas barbecue crisp. Heather

inherits Granny’s estate and is urged to “READ Verna’s letter” to her by character actor Richard Riehle, playing the old woman’s lawyer. Heather doesn’t, and everybody pays the price. “Chainsaw” then gets down to the bloody business at hand — chainsawing. It’s all about that farm implement, the menacing sound of it as Leatherface chases these fit and trim young folk (Tania Raymonde, Trey Songz, Keram MalickiSánchez and Shaun Sipos as “the handsome hitchhiker”), who always find something to trip over.

A local Halloween carnival (when this movie was originally slated to come out) plays up the town’s chainsawing past, but not much is made of that.

continuing ‘Promised Land’

HH (R for language.) An experience that’s alternately amusing and frustrating, full of impassioned earnestness and saggy sections. Director Gus Van

Sant has the challenge of taking the topic of fracking and trying to make it cinematic. Working from a script by co-stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski, based on a story by Dave Eggers, he succeeds in fits and starts. The impoverished small town that’s the tale’s setting, a place in need of the kind of economic rejuvenation

fracking could provide, is full of folksy folks whose interactions with the main characters don’t always ring true. “Promised Land” has its heart on its sleeve and makes its proenvironment message quite clear, but it’s in the looser and more ambiguous places that the film actually works. Damon stars as Steve Butler, a salesman traveling the country on behalf of a bland behemoth of an energy corporation.

Having grown up on an Iowa farm himself and seeing how an economic downturn can devastate a small town, Butler seems

to be a true believer in what he’s selling. But he’s also a pragmatist, as evidenced by the playfully cynical give-and-take he enjoys with his partner, Sue (a sharp Frances McDormand). Famously for his efficiency in persuading rural residents to sell their land for the drilling rights, Steve runs into a major challenge when he and Sue arrive in depressed McKinley, Pa., where an outspoken old-timer (Hal Holbrook) and a flashy, charismatic environmental crusader (Krasinski) dare to question the company’s methods.

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‘Parental Guidance’

HH(PG for some rude humor.) “Parental Guidance” is a mildmannered riff on parenting, then-and-now. It contrasts the top-down/careerfirst mentality of one generation with the coddled “nurturing” of today, but never takes a stand on which is better.

Basically, it’s a vehicle for Billy Crystal, and to a lesser degree Bette Midler, to riff on the spoiled, overindulged and sometimes uptight kids their kid is raising. Artie (Crystal) is a minor league baseball announcer who never got to his dream job, covering San Francisco Giants games. He’s content to make homespun wisecracks in front of the mike for the Fresno Grizzlies. Until they lay him off before being not hip, not social media savvy.

His retired “weather girl” wife Diane interrupts her pole-dance aerobics class to comfort him and listen to his lies about how young he “feels.” Daughter Alice (Marisa Tomei) is a web designer living in Atlanta with husband Phil (Tom Everett Scott) in the totally computerized house Phil designed. Their kids — 128-5 — have play dates, ball games and rehearsals.

Violinist daughter Harper (Bailee Madison) would discover boys, if she wasn’t stressing over a big audition that sets up her Berlin Philharmonic life plan. Turner (Joshua Rush) is a bullied stammerer whose little league doesn’t keep score, denying him the chance to excel at anything. And Barker (Kyle Harrison Breitkopf) is a mop-topped terror with an imaginary kangaroo friend.

Into this world come “the OTHER grandparents,” the West Coast couple that never sees them because Artie has been all about the

Focus Features

John Krasinski stars as Dustin Noble in Gus Van Sant’s contemporary drama, “Promised Land.”

Twentieth Century Fox/Walden Media

Billy Crystal, right, as Artie reacts to his grandson, Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, center, Barker’s water-rifle shenanigans while Marisa Tomei, left, as the mother Alice and Bette Midler as the grandmother, Diane, look on in a scene from the film, “Parental Guidance.”

job all his life. They’re not the first choice, but Phil and Alice have a get-away planned — if only Alice can let go.

‘Django Unchained’

HH(R for strong graphic violence throughout, a vicious fight, language and some nudity.) For his latest blood fest, Quentin Tarantino largely replays all of his other blood fests, specifically his last flick, “Inglourious Basterds.” In that 2009 tale of wickedly savage retribution, Allied Jewish soldiers get to rewrite World War II history by going on a killing spree of Nazis. In Tarantino’s new tale of wickedly savage retribution, a black man (Jamie Foxx) gets to rewrite Deep South history by becoming a bounty hunter on a killing spree of white slave owners and overseers just before the Civil War. Granted,

there’s something gleefully satisfying in watching evil people get what they have coming. But the film is Tarantino at his most puerile and least inventive, the premise offering little more than cold, nasty revenge and barrels of squishing, squirting blood.

The usual Tarantino genre mishmash — a dab of blaxploitation here, a dollop of spaghetti Western there — is so familiar now that it’s tiresome, more so because the filmmaker continues to linger with chortling delight over every scene, letting conversations run on interminably and gunfights carry on to grotesque excess. Bodies bursting blood like exploding water balloons? Perversely fun the first five or six times, pretty dreary the 20th or 30th. Tarantino always gets good actors who deliver, though, and it’s

the performances by Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio, Christoph Waltz and Samuel L. Jackson that make the film intermittently entertaining amid moments when the characters are either talking one another to death or just plain killing each other.

‘Jack Reacher’

HHH (PG-13 for violence, language and some drug material.) The idea of watching a movie in which a sniper methodically manufactures his own bullets, practices weekly at a gun range, then waits quietly in an empty parking garage before shooting five people dead may not sound like the most appealing form of entertainment during these tragic days. Nevertheless, it’s important to assess “Jack Reacher” on its own terms, for what it is and what it isn’t. Besides being

caught in some unfortunate timing, it’s also clever, well-crafted and darkly humorous, and it features one of those effortless badass performances from Tom Cruise that remind us that he is indeed a movie star, first and foremost.

OK, so maybe Cruise doesn’t exactly resemble the Reacher of British novelist Lee Child’s books: a 6-foot-5, 250-pound, blond behemoth. If you haven’t read them, you probably won’t care. Even if you have read them, Christopher McQuarrie’s film — the first he’s directed and written since 2000’s “The Way of the Gun” — moves so fluidly and with such confidence,

it’ll suck you in from the start. Jack Reacher is a former military investigator who’s become a bit of a mythic figure since he’s gone off the grid. When the deadly shooting occurs at the film’s start, authorities believe they’ve quickly found their man: a sniper who’s ex-Army himself. He reveals nothing during his interrogation but manages to scribble the words “Get Jack Reacher” on a notepad before winding up in a coma. But when Reacher arrives and reluctantly agrees to help the defense attorney (Rosamund Pike) investigate, he finds the case isn’t nearly as simple as it seems.

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Film dissects dyslexia Dance will battle cancer Documentary focuses on common disorder From staff reports A critically acclaimed documentary on the pain and struggle of dyslexia will be screened tonight at First Presbyterian Church’s Sweetenburg Hall in Gainesville.

“The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia” provides personal accounts from children, experts and iconic leaders, such as Sir Richard Branson and financier Charles Schwab, who have endured the condition. Directed by James Redford, son of film star Robert Redford, the film clears up misconceptions about the condition while painting a picture of hope.

It also focuses on the latest scientific and psychological research, highlighting the work of Drs. Sally and Bennet Shaywitz, co-founders and co-directors of the Yale Center of Dyslexia and Creativity. In showing that dyslexia is a neurological issue and not a character flaw, “The Big Picture” illustrates that while the condition is an obstacle, it also carries some unique advantages and can be overcome.

Director Redford approaches a subject in which he is familiar; his son, Dylan, is dyslexic.

“By conservative estimates, 1 in 5 people are dyslexic. Although very bright and often highly creative, they have a difficult time making sense of written language,” Redford said of his film on the website, thebigpicturemovie.com.

Courtesy Shadow Creek Films

Screening: ‘The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia’ When: 7 p.m. Jan. 10 Where: First Presbyterian Church, Sweetenburg Hall, 800 S. Enota Drive, Gainesville How much: Free More info: thebigpicturemovie.com

“Like many dyslexics, Dylan is intelligent, thoughtful and intellectually curious — a ‘big picture’ thinker. But at the age of 10, he was barely able to read and write. To say that school was difficult for him is beyond understatement.

Now that he is grown and thriving, there are many things that I wish I had known about dyslexia at that time, things that would have helped me understand that his struggle in lower and middle school was not the final verdict on his academic or intellectual ability or ambition.”

“When I was given the extraordinary opportunity to make a film about understanding dyslexia, the mission was simple:

make the movie I wish my family could have seen when Dylan was functionally illiterate in fourth grade.”

The film, broadcast on HBO, was selected to be screened at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 17-23 in Park City, Utah.

The screening runs from 7 to 8:15 p.m. Afterward, a Q and A panel discussion will be held with Ava White, Gainesville City School Psychologist Dr. Josh Hall, Lakeview Support Services Coordinator Linda Sloyer and Hall County special education teacher Carol Lynn. Director of High School Programming Ron Walker will serve as facilitator for the panel.

From staff reports

go o y famil

Just about everyone knows someone who has been touched by cancer. And even if you don’t know someone, it never hurts to help those affected.

That’s the premise behind the Alicats Dance Studio performance of “Cancer: The Struggle of Loss & Victory,” this Saturday, Jan. 12, at Brenau University, 500 Washington St. NW, in Gainesville.

The performance is both a celebration of those who have battled cancer and a story of one woman’s struggle with her disease.

About 150 dancers will take part in a range of dance genres from ballet to hiphop to Irish dance.

Music by several famous artists — Etta James, Donna Summers, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch and others — who have overcome or lost their fight with cancer will be highlighted at the beginning of the performance.

The second half will tell through dance

‘Cancer: The Struggle of Loss & Victory’

When: 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12 Where: Brenau University, 500 Washington St. NW, Gainesville Tickets: $12-$15 More info: 678-989-0333, www. alicatsdancestudio.com

about the journey of a woman’s struggle with cancer from diagnosis to treatment and beyond.

There will be two performances of “Cancer: The Struggle of Loss & Victory,” at 1 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12-$15. Proceeds from ticket sales go to the local Relay For Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.

For tickets or more information about the performance, call 678-989-0333 or visit www.alicatsdancestudio.com.

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get out

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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Opening Reception Tonight Thursday, January 10, 5:30 -7 p.m.

LOCAL

COLOR Brenau University, Simmons Visual Arts Center, Sellars Gallery

This exhibition, which runs through March 9, 2013, explores the work of local photographers who have connections to Brenau University and the Gainesville community. Their photographs reveal the “local color” of Northeast Georgia through landscape, portrait and photojournalism. Free and open to the public. For info call 770.534.6263.

Sellars Gallery is located in the Simmons Visual Arts Center, 200 Boulevard, Gainesville, GA 30501 www.brenau.edu