The Leelanau News Blog
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The newly re-opened State Theatre will host a special Sneak Preview of Mr. Art Critic, the latest movie by Traverse City filmmaker Richard Brauer. The Preview begins at 8:30 PM on Thursday Dec. 27th and tickets are available at the door or online at the State Theatre web site.

Mr. Art Critic tells the humorous story of M.J. Clayton (portrayed by Bronson Pinchot, "Balki from Perfect Strangers), a high profile art critic from Chicago known across the country for his heartless commentaries. After a scolding from his boss, Clayton takes a vacation (to Mackinac Island) to clear his head and runs into a recent victim of one of his particularly nasty reviews. Clayton then makes a drunken proclamation that any idiot can make art, followed by an impossible wager. What ensues is a heartwarming tale illustrating how the ability to create art is indeed a gift.

Mr. Art Critic is the fifth full-length feature film by Rich's company Brauer Productions and was filmed in Traverse City and on Mackinac Island. You can learn more about the film and see a trailer at the official site and read about the filming in this article from the Mackinac Island Town Crier.

It's kind of a full-circle thing, as Rich announced the project at the Traverse City Film Festival.

The Leelanau Enterprise has a nice rundown of the holiday concerts at Leelanau County schools.

There will be a Holiday Bake Sale Saturday (Dec 15) to benefit the Leelanau Children's Center from 9-5 at the Nagonaba Crossing Building. Later on (6-9 PM) there will be a live Nativity at Northport's Bethany Lutheran Church.

Empire hosts a Winter Holiday Potluck Dinner w/Santa on Saturday (Dec 15) from 6 - 8 pm Empire Township Hall. Bring a dish to share and your place setting. Beverages provided.

On the 16th at 2 PM, InsideOut Gallery will feature An Irish Christmas: Legacy in Concert. Legacy has an extensive repertoire of traditional and original Celtic songs and are (by all accounts) really wonderful.

Leland's Main Street stores are open for holiday shopping THURSDAY evenings til 8pm. Enjoy a dinner and the charm of small town shopping!

Edited out Stuff from Last week that we left in...

The Enterprise also has a feature on the annual VFW Christmas Dance that will be held this Saturday from 8 AM - midnight at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 7731 Lake Leelanau. They have several more events featured on their What's Up in Leelanau page.

Don't miss these great performances we've featured: Little Shop of Horrors (Dec 6-9), Almanac of the North (Dec 7-9), Leelanau Children's Choir "Madrigal Christmas" (Dec 7-8).

The Pathfinder School Holiday Art and Craft Show is a juried show featuring almost 40 artisans that takes place this Saturday (Dec from 9-4 at Pathfinder School. It also features baked goods, snacks, and a kid's craft table and is sponsored by the Pathfinder Parents Association.

On Sunday Enerdyne & the village of Suttons Bay hosts Holiday in the Village and Antlers and Elves, offering a chance to get close to real live reindeer without Santa getting upset. There's also a Kids Movie at the Bay Theatre (all seats $2) with Show times: Sat 11:00 and 1:00, Sun 1:00.
Photo credit: Lights, Camera, Snow by Andy McFarlane

16 kids spent 4 days at a farm house in 'the Park' animating the '5 W's' (who, what, when, where and why) about our national treasure. Head down to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center in Empire at 4 PM on Tuesday, August 21 to see what they had to say.

Get more at the Art Place web site.

The 3rd annual Traverse City Film Festival takes place July 31 - August 5th and will screen over 60 films in a variety of categories this year, including American Independent Cinema, New Foreign Cinema, Dangerous Docs, and Overlooked & Outstanding Films.

Highlights include dedicated matinee screenings of Children's and Native American films; Midnight Madness, a selection of new cult-favorite horror films playing at special midnight showings; select screenings of classic films including a 40 th anniversary celebration of "The Graduate" and a screening of "The Bridge on the River Kwai" on its 50th anniversary and 4 free films at the Open Space: E.T., Grease, North by Northwest and Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are also a variety of panels discussing film & filmmaking, some great music and enough parties to keep the paparazzi in you pacified.

If you've never been, you should go - this is a wonderful event that will make you smile at the energy it brings to Traverse City and our region. Tickets are still available and you can get loads and loads more information at the Traverse City Film Festival web site and also in the Filmgoer Guide from Traverse Magazine.

Photo credit: The State Lives by Darrin Wassom

Surfing, Leelanau Style, photo by Andy McFarlane

Today on Absolute Michigan we have a feature titled Michigan: Great Lakes Surfing Capital that I am pretty sure is the definitive collection of Great Lakes surfing videos that includes clips from Unsalted, the great movie about Great Lakes surfing.

I didn't find a Leelanau County video but as the above photo from just south of the Leland breakwall on Lake Michigan shows, Leelanau County is a great surfing and kiteboarding destination. Don't forget about Empire beach for surfing!

The Traverse City Film Festival announced this morning that it would accept the deed to the historic Traverse City theater Rotary Charities of Traverse City. The nonprofit initially plans to have the theater open on weekends in the winter and seven days a week in the summer. Festival co-founder Michael Moore said:

"It has been our dream since we started the festival two years ago to bring the State Theatre back to life and restore it to its glory as one of the great movie palaces of the Midwest. Now, thanks to the generosity of Rotary Charities, people from all over northern Michigan will be able to see great films the way they were intended to be seen: projected on a big screen with great sound in an atmosphere where going to the movies can be an exhilarating experience."

You can read the complete news release at the festival web site, read Film Festival to Take Over in the TC Record-Eagle, and learn more about the Traverse City Film Festival which will be held July 31 - August 5, 2007 at traversecityfilmfest.org.

Photo credit: Michael Moore with the key to the State Theatre by Jennifer Hutchinson

The Leelanau Enterprise reports that there will be a pair of benefit screenings of "The Namesake" on Friday (May 11) and Sunday (May 13) at The Bay Theater in Suttons Bay. Note: The Namesake is rated PG-13.  Adults & teenagers only-this is NOT a kid's movie

A team of six fourth and fifth graders from Leland captured the OM State Championship in their category last month in Traverse City and will compete against children from throughout the U.S. and 50 foreign countries later this month on the campus of Michigan State University.

The Bay Theater will screen the movie "The Namesake" on May 11 at 6 p.m. and May 13 at 2 p.m. as a fundraiser for the local OM team. The movie is rated PG-13. Tickets are $15 each and are on sale at the Leland Public School office, Kejara's Bridge coffee house in Lake Leelanau, the Leland Mercantile, the Pennington Collection in Northport, and Hansen Foods in Suttons Bay.

Read Airing of movie to raise funds for 'Odyssey' team in the Enterprise and get information about the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals May 23-26 in East Lansing.

The annual From Women's Hands will be held this Friday, Saturday & Sunday (April 27-29) at The Hagerty Center. This all-female exhibition features female visual artists, authors, musicians and film makers will show and sell their works to benefit the Women's Cancer Fund and to celebrate the wonderful work of women artists in our area.

The weekend begins with a food & wine reception on Friday evening and features poet & author readings, original film showings, a silent auction & raffle and a chance to meet the artists.

Visit the From Women's Hands web site for details on all the artists and authors whose work will be featured and to learn much more about the event.

Here's a nationally produced travelogue from 1949 featuring all kinds of Glen Lake, the Sleeping Bear Dunes (complete with Dunesmobile rides), cherries and Traverse City.

Friday's Traverse City Record-Eagle reported that the current TC Film Fest board of filmmaker Michael Moore, photographer John Robert Williams and author Doug Stanton (all pictured right) will be joined by directors Larry Charles and Terry George. Charles directed the top-grossing comedy of 2006, Borat and was also a writer for TV's Seinfeld. George directed the Academy Award-nominated "Hotel Rwanda” and co-wrote "In the Name of the Father."

The Record-Eagle quotes Moore as writing:

"This decision by Doug, John and me is to acknowledge that the TCFF has two missions: bring great films to northern Michigan and be advocates for preserving the fine art of cinema. Our two constituencies are the people of this area and people anywhere who love film. We want from now on to have a small representation of the filmmaking community on this board, as they do at Sundance and Telluride. That can only help to make this a better and more popular festival."

Read Filmmakers join TC's festival board at the Record-Eagle and/or visit the Traverse City Film Festival web site.

Photo Credit: Film Fest Founders by Andrew McFarlane.