Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Opening Night Latino Film Festival – Jacksonville, FL

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An Evening with Director Leon Ichaso

From 6 – 7:30 p.m. VIP Cocktail Reception at The Jacksonville Landing Cinematheque, sponsored by Bacardi and HavanaJax. From 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. Tribute and Lifetime Achievement Award Presentation, this will include film retrospective and Q & A. From 8:30 – Midnight The Winn-Dixie Stage Presents – Opening Night Celebration in the Jacksonville Landing Courtyard – Live Bands, Dancers and Fun! Admission is $25 per person.

For more information visit our website at www.filmfestival.jacksonville.com

The Tuskegee Airmen – Charleston, SC

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Have house guests over the Thanksgiving weekend? Bring the crew down to the Museum for a visit to From Slave to Sharecropper: African Americans in the Low country after the Civil War, then watch The Tuskegee Airmen. This movie picks up at the end of our exhibit period and tells the remarkable World War II story of the U. S. Army Air Corps Fighting 99, the first squadron of African American combat fighter pilots. Did you know the Tuskegee Airmen had a Low country connection? Over 500 Tuskegee Airmen received advanced combat training at Walterboro Army Air Field from 1944-1945 before they were sent into action in the European theater. RATED PG-13.

FREE for Charleston Museum members and FREE with admission ($10/adults, $5/children, under 3 free) Call (843) 722-2996 for more information!

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa – St. Augustine, FL

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Audiences will join their favorite characters from the Central Park Zoo for another incredible adventure when Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opens as a special engagement at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater Friday, Nov. 7. Guests to the film Mondays through Thursdays will enjoy special pricing of $8 per person at the largest IMAX screen in Northeast Florida (standard special engagement pricing will be applicable to guests Fridays through Sundays).

On Saturday, Nov. 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a spokesperson from The Jacksonville Zoo will be at the IMAX Theater joined by live animals, some of which are represented in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Cold Stone Creamery at the Avenues will be serving special Madagascar 2-themed creations to all guests (while supplies last). Additionally, the Jacksonville Museum of Science and History (MOSH) will offer $1 off admission to all individuals presenting a Madagascar 2 ticket stub from the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has been digitally re-mastered through IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. With crystal-clear, larger-than-life images and state-of-the-art digital surround sound, IMAX puts audiences in the movie for the largest, most immersive cinematic experience around. Madagascar Escape 2 Africa: The IMAX Experience will debut concurrently with the nationwide release in conventional theatres from DreamWorks Animation on November 7.

Says the film’s co-director Tom McGrath: “This movie was so much fun to make – we loved getting back together with all our friends from the first Madagascar and adding a whole new batch of incredibly talented voice artists to bring our new characters to life.” Adds co-director Eric Darnell, “We know that the giant IMAX screen is the best way for audiences to get as close as possible to all their favorite characters.”

In the highly-anticipated sequel to Madagascar, Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice and the penguins and the chimps find themselves marooned on the distant shores of Madagascar. In the face of this obstacle, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane — sort of. Once aloft, this unlikely crew stays airborne just long enough to make it to the wildest place of all — the vast plains of Africa, where the members of our zoo-raised crew encounter species of their own kind for the very first time. Africa seems like a great place…but is it better than their Central Park home?

DreamWorks SKG Presents Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a Paramount Pictures release featuring the voices of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie Mac, Sherri Shepherd, Alec Baldwin and will.i.am. The film is directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, who helmed the original “Madagascar,” which earned more than $500,000,000 in worldwide box office. The screenplay is written by Etan Cohen, Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath. It is produced by Mireille Soria (“Madagascar”) and Mark Swift (“Bee Movie”).

Ticket prices for Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa at the World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater are $8 for all age groups Monday through Thursday, and regular special engagement pricing of $12 for adults Friday through Sunday (with discounts for children, military, seniors and students). Released through Paramount Pictures, the film has been rated PG for some mild crude humor.

The 2D World Golf Hall of Fame IMAX Theater offers unique movies and entertainment enhanced by state-of-the-art, specially-designed cinematic technology. Located at World Golf Village, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary throughout 2008, the 300-seat IMAX Theater is the largest IMAX screen in Northeast Florida, housing an 80-foot-wide by 60-foot-high screen. The theater shows a variety of entertaining and educational movies and is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving and Christmas. For tickets and show times, call 904-940-IMAX or visit www.wgv.com.

Night Owl Cinema Series: Spiderman – St. Augustine, FL

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Enjoy a night with the family in the open air while watching the movie Spiderman on the big screen at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, Florida’s newest outdoor arts and cultural venue. Admission to Night Owl Cinema Series is free and the show begins at 8 p.m.

This event is located at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre at 8 p.m. Admission is free! For more information call 904.471.1965 or visit our website at www.StAugAmphitheatre.com

MOCA Jacksonville Partners with Jacksonville Film Festival

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Jacksonville, Fla.-(October 20, 2008)- The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is announcing their partnership with the Jacksonville Film Festival to give Northeast Florida residents the opportunity to see award-winning independent and foreign films from national film festivals. The film series will begin on October 23, 2008 and will run every Thursday night at 8:00 p.m. through December 4th at the Museum of Contemporary Art located at 333 N Laura Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202.

Without the Jacksonville Film Festival’s partnering with MOCA, these films would not otherwise be viewed by Jacksonville residents. The films are selected on the basis of outstanding artistic merit and multi-cultural perspective. Click here for the MOCA Film Series Schedule

The Jacksonville Film Festival is extremely excited about this partnership with MOCA. “It gives both of our organizations the opportunity to offer new and innovative films beyond the festival, and an alternative to what is being offered at the Cineplex’s. We are looking forward to continued opportunities to collaborate to have a more regular presence in the community for this kind of vibrant programming,” said Jesse Rodriguez, Executive Director/Program Director of the Jacksonville Film Festival.

This fall’s film series will also include special guest visits from Directors Andrew Silver and John Putch. Silver will appear at the October 30th viewing of Radio Cape Cod and Putch will appear at the November 6th viewing of Mojave Phone Booth.

Silver directed Radio Cape Cod, completed in 2008, and is a producer and director with extensive experience in nurturing performance and creativity. His education includes Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from MIT and a Doctorate from Harvard Business School. Radio Cape Cod is an energized, award-winning love story set on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Putch, Director of Mojave Phone Booth, is an accomplished actor and director. Putch began his professional career as an actor at the age of five in a summer theatre run by his father. He has had a respectable television and film career since then and now directs. He has most recently been directing for the hit ABC television show UGLY BETTY. Mojave Phone Booth is a film about an abandoned phone booth that sits in the middle of the Mojave Desert. It is riddled with bullet holes, graffiti and its windows are broken but otherwise works. Its identity was born on the Internet, and for years travelers would make the trek down a lonely dirt road and camp next to the booth, in the hopes it might suddenly ring, and they could connect with a stranger on the other end of the line.

Film, much like photography, has grown into a vital contemporary art form in its own right, reflecting the art of our times, and provoking thoughtful discussion on many issues and subjects in our society. “By merging the expertise of the Jacksonville Film Festival and MOCA in identifying artful films, we are able to bring to Jacksonville the best films not playing in your local theater,” said MOCA Director Debbie Broder.

Check out the full schedule of films taking place every Thursday through December 4th, beginning this Thursday October 23rd at www.mocaJacksonville.org .

The Opening Night Film, THE END, was The Jacksonville Film Festival’s Urban Flat’s Documentary Audience Choice winner. It is a MUST SEE!

Directed by Nicola Collins, it has been winning awards all over the world and has just recently been released theatrically in England. The End is a never-before-told story of a group of men with a common bond. All born into poverty in the east end of London, striving for a better life and all that is found is a life in crime. Unashamed and unapologetic these men live their lives defined by a code of honor. The End, filmed in a cutting-edge style, reveals a bloody history and the confessions of the cockney gangster.

Other films playing during this series include: North Starr directed by Matthew Stanton, Remarkable Power directed by Brandon Beckner, Trail of Tears: Cherokee Legacy directed by Chip Richie and Cracker: The Last Cowboys of Florida directed by Victor Milt.

Café Nola will be open and accepting dinner reservations before each movie, while the MOCA Galleries will remain open until 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $6 for members and $8 for non-members. For more information on Films at MOCA, contact J. Marshall Adams at jmadams@mocajacksonville.org or (904) 366-6911 x204.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville is one of the Southeast?s largest contemporary art institutions, dedicated to presenting innovative exhibitions by the finest international, national and regional artists. For more information about MOCA including programs and hours, please visit on-line at http://www.mocajacksonville.org .