Traverse City Record-Eagle

2008 Traverse City Film Festival

July 31, 2008

Film Festival Outtakes: 08/01/2008

-- Spotted at the Open Space: A group of teenagers passing the time before a film by playing the card game "spoons." But wait, no spoons? No problem. The teens substituted their cell phones for spoons, which worked out just fine, except the times when the game ground to a halt because of an incoming text message.

-- Motivational speech: A 42-second video posted on the film festival Web site shows an emphatic, gesturing and hirsute Michael Moore repeating his promise not to shave his beard until every ticket to the screenings of "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is sold.

"And don't think I'm kidding either, buddy," Moore said in the video close-up.

The threat must be working. The Web site video showed 216 tickets remaining for tonight's movie and 405 for Saturday. But by Thursday afternoon, the festival box office reported 127 tickets available for tonight and 280 for Saturday.

-- A heavenly offering: A box lunch for movie-goers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m Saturday at Central United Methodist Church. On the menu: pulled pork sandwiches, baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, fresh fruit, cookies and cold drinks -- but no ambrosia. The unusual event is a fund-raiser for the Cass Street church's mission projects here and abroad.

-- Deutsch 101: Some Film Festival patrons attending the Thursday screening of "Dust" at the Old Town Playhouse might have wished they brought along a Complete Idiot's Guide to Learning German. A version of the 90-minute documentary, narrated in German, was shown for several minutes with incomplete subtitles. The film was stopped and movie-goers were given the option to wait for the correct subtitled version to arrive or receive a refund for the movie.

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  • Film Festival Outtakes: 08/04/2008

    Sights and sounds from the Film Festival.

    Continued ...
    Aug 4, 2008 12:00 pm
  • Video: Standing ovation for Baghdad High

    Only one of the four young men featured in "Baghdad High" was able to travel to Traverse City for the film's screening, but video was taken of the standing ovation to share with those who could not make it.

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    Aug 4, 2008 11:53 am
  • Moore shares some life lessons

    A laid-back, more comfortable side of Michael Moore came through in the final panel discussion at the Traverse City Film Festival, as he reminisced with some old friends and co-workers about what it took to pull his films together.

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    Aug 4, 2008 11:48 am
  • Roll the Credits: Film Festival wraps up
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    Traverse City Film Festival founder Michael Moore gave the audience two surprises at Sunday's "Mike's Surprise": a special screening of his 2002 live stage show in London and one of local resident Adam Ziegler proposing to girlfriend Erynn Rademacher — both of who were in the audience — in front of the State Theatre.

    Continued ...
    Aug 3, 2008 10:46 pm 3 Photos
  • 10:18 p.m.: Festival award winners announced

    Winners of the jury awards from the 2008 Traverse City Film Festival have been announced.

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    Aug 3, 2008 10:31 pm
  • Saturday, August 2, 2008
  • Crowd rewarded with wave from Madonna
    Madonna Traverse City Film Festival

    They gathered for hours, waiting for a moment that lasted just five minutes. But what an important five minutes it was. Madonna, headliner of the fourth annual Traverse City Film Festival, stepped out of a sport-utility vehicle about 7:15 p.m. Saturday under the lights of the State Theatre downtown, as hundreds of fans screamed and snapped pictures.

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    Updated Aug 3, 2008 10:00 am 3 Photos
  • Madonna: film was 'journey of lifetime'
    Madonna Traverse City Film Festival

    World-famous superstar Madonna made a warm and much-welcomed return to her home state. quot;There's a lot of poetic things about me being here ...," Madonna told a packed State Theatre crowd Saturday night. "You know what they say. You can take the girl out of Michigan, but you can't take the Michigan out of the girl."

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    Updated Aug 3, 2008 10:01 am 3 Photos
  • What's funny? At this panel, almost anything

    Comedy is a serious business. What's offensive, what's funny and the fine line in between was tackled by Saturday's Film Festival "All-Star Comedy Panel" in front of another large crowd at the City Opera House downtown.

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    Updated Aug 3, 2008 10:01 am
  • Sunday's Film Festival schedule

    Traverse City Film Festival schedule for Sunday, Aug. 3, 2008.

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    Updated Aug 3, 2008 10:01 am
  • Traverse City welcomes megastar Madonna
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    A packed movie house will see the queen of reinvention in person, but all of Traverse City has caught Madonna mania. The entertainment superstar, singer, tabloid fixture, trend-setter, philanthropist, Michigan native and Traverse City Film Festival headliner is scheduled to introduce her documentary "I Am Because We Are" at an 8 p.m. screening tonight at the downtown State Theatre.

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    Aug 2, 2008 9:51 am 2 Photos
  • Friday, August 1, 2008
  • Film takes aim at religions

    The name of the movie "Religulous" pretty much describes how the filmmakers view organized religion. Combining the name of what many people hold dear with the word ridiculous may seem like box-office poison, yet its two showings at the Traverse City Film Festival were the first to sell out -- not counting Madonna's film. And director Larry Charles and star Bill Maher expect it to do well in multiplexes everywhere.

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    Updated Aug 2, 2008 9:31 am
  • Donahue panel takes a political turn
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    Michael Moore's Friday film discussion segued into a politically-charged anti-war rally. Moore and his guest panelist, former television talk show host Phil Donahue, related candid personal experiences and vented their frustrations in crossing paths with the country's corporate media.

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    Updated Aug 2, 2008 9:31 am 1 Photo
  • Businesses help set tone for festival
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    If "just great movies" are the main attraction at the Traverse City Film Festival, downtown display windows celebrating cinema and its stars are helping to set the mood for the event.

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    Updated Aug 2, 2008 9:31 am 1 Photo
  • Saturday's Film Festival schedule

    Traverse City Film Festival schedule for Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008.

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    Updated Aug 2, 2008 9:31 am
  • Film Festival Outtakes: 08/02/2008

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    Updated Aug 2, 2008 9:32 am
  • Friday's Film Festival schedule

    Traverse City Film Festival schedule for Friday, Aug. 1, 2008.

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    Aug 1, 2008 9:02 am
  • Thursday, July 31, 2008
  • East meets West at film festival

    The title pretty much says it all. "Movies from People who want to Kill Us." The new, tongue-in-cheek category at this year's Traverse City Film Festival may poke fun at the American perspective on Arab culture and its people, but five movies under the title are expected to give attendees something more to reflect on.

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    Updated Aug 1, 2008 9:56 am
  • Panel discussion is take on terrorism

    Filmmakers whose movies captured life and war in Iraq shared their insights with a Traverse City audience. An eight-member panel of documentary filmmakers gathered Thursday during the Traverse City Film Festival to sound off on the topic "Who Are These Terrorists, and Why Do They Make Movies?" But a packed audience at the City Opera House gleaned more than just a look into the mind of Middle East terrorists.

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    Updated Aug 1, 2008 9:57 am
  • Son chronicles father's persecution
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    Hollywood screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was blacklisted during the post-World War II red scare and spent years selling screenplays under assumed names. Now his son Christopher Trumbo is here to present "Trumbo," his own movie about his late father, telling the tale of that part of his life through letters his father wrote.

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    Updated Aug 1, 2008 9:57 am 1 Photo
  • Festival-goers snatch up T-shirts
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    Olivia Jankoski came to last year's Traverse City Film Festival with her family from New Jersey and bought a film festival sweater. This year the 11-year-old is on the other side of the counter, helping to sell film festival merchandise.

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    Updated Aug 1, 2008 9:57 am 1 Photo
  • Review: 'Man on Wire' is a wild ride
    Man on a Wire

    Philippe Petit is alive. Alive and quite well, in fact, nearing 60 but exhibiting the strength and enthusiasm of a man half his age. That in itself is a bit of a miracle, considering the myriad death-defying acts the French high-wire artist has pulled off over the past four decades.

    Continued ...
    Updated Aug 1, 2008 10:01 am 1 Photo
  • Film Festival lets kids in on the act
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    From workshops to free, nightly movies at the Open Space to student film discussions, this year's festival offers several opportunities for young people to get involved.

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    Jul 31, 2008 9:05 am 2 Photos
  • Film documents 'real-life' Spinal Tap
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    Canadian heavy metal band Anvil, hailed as a "real-life Spinal Tap," will visit the Traverse City Film Festival Friday and Saturday nights to play short sets following the screening of a documentary of the band's career.

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    Jul 31, 2008 9:04 am 1 Photo
  • Wednesday, July 30, 2008
  • Panel looks at state's film industry

    The economic impact the film industry on both the Grand Traverse area and the state was the topic of discussion Wednesday during the Traverse City Film Festival's opening panel discussion "Front and Vine: Showing Movies at the State, Making Movies in Michigan."

    Continued ...
    Jul 30, 2008 9:59 pm