Angela Álvarez Movies
Inspired by author Eric Schlosser's New York Times best-seller of the same name, director Richard Linklater's ensemble drama examines the health issues and social consequences of America's love affair with fast food and features an all-star cast that includes Greg Kinnear, Ethan Hawke, Kris Kristofferson, Patricia Arquette, and Luis Guzman. Mickey's is the most popular fast-food chain in America, and The Big One is the top-selling burger that put them on the map. When the higher-ups at Mickey's corporate offices learn that the frozen meat patties used to make the wildly popular burger have somehow been tainted with contaminated meat, they send marketing executive Don Henderson (Kinnear) on an urgent mission to ensure quality control and find out precisely how their product became compromised. It's a long way from the Southern California boardroom to the immigrant slaughterhouses, though, and the further Henderson works his way through the bustling feedlots and toward the ubiquitous restaurant sites that have become a staple of modern culture, the more he begins to realize just how dangerous convenience can become when it leads to blissfully ignorant complacency. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, (more)
Four educators muddle through another year at a typical American high school in this mockumentary comedy. Mr. Lowery (Troy Schremmer), Mr. Stroope (Chris Mass), and Coach Webb (Janelle Schremmer) are three teachers doling out knowledge at a high school in Austin, TX. Mr. Lowery is new to teaching, and has to deal with his own inexperience as well as a decided lack of enthusiasm for history among his students; it doesn't help Lowery that the kids quickly learn how to push his buttons. Mr. Stroope has been on the faculty for three years, and is zealously campaigning for the honor of "Teacher of the Year." Stroope has enlisted his students to help him win the prize, even though they seem less than impressed with his academic abilities. Coach Webb teaches Girl's Gym, and despite her short hair and severe manner, she frequently and enthusiastically insists that she's heterosexual. Webb also insists on following the school's regulations to the letter, and has unusual ideas about how to make Gym seem hip and fun for her charges. Meanwhile, Mrs. Reddell (Shannon Haragan) has recently been promoted from the teaching staff to her new position as assistant principal, which has put a tremendous strain on her friendship with her colleagues, especially Webb. Chalk received the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Independent Film Festival of Boston. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Troy Schremmer, Janelle Schremmer, (more)
- 2005
- NR
Giuseppi Verdi co-wrote his operatic interpretation of William Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth - with its text of lust, greed, bloodshed, and pathological ambition - around 1846. Verdi took the Shakespearean text and added a libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, replacing the three foreboding witches with a chorus of witches in three-part harmony, beginning the final act with refugees gathering on the boundaries of England, and concluding with a chorus of bards celebrating the vanquishing of the tyrant, but other than these minor alterations, he generally sought to preserve the fundamental elements of Shakespeare's narrative. In this production of that opera, mounted by Phyllida Lloyd at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2004, Carlos Álvarez performs as Macbeth, with Roberto Scandiuzzi as Banquo, Maria Guleghina as Lady Macbeth, and Marco Berti as Macduff. The Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu accompanies the production, conducted by Bruno Campanella. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2005
This performance of Wagner's opera Siegfried, the third work in his epic Ring Cycle, was filmed at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceau in 2004 and features the vocal talents of John Treleaven in the title role. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Treleaven, Graham Clark, (more)
Opus Arte presents this 2003 performance of Giuseppe Verdi's opera Aida by the Gran Teatre del Liceu. With a cast featuring such notables as Daniela Dessi, Fabio Armiliato, Elisabetta Fiorillo, Roberto Scandiuzzi, and Juan Pons, this production was also performed using the historic "trompe-l'oeil" paper sets of Josep Mestres Cabanes (made from 1936-1945). ~ Dana Rowader, All Movie Guide
