Bevy of films
at Maui festival
Maui Film Festival's FirstLight showings this December not only will have the most films in the event's five-year history -- 44, compared to last year's 36 -- but will be being featured in Variety's monthly V Life section as one of four U.S. locales where movie moguls hang out during the holidays (along with Santa Barbara, Aspen, and Palm Springs) and will have its entire film schedule published in the Variety weekly edition.
FirstLight will be held at the Maui Arts & Convention Center for 13 days, Dec. 17 to Jan. 1, with no screenings Christmas eve and day and New Year's Eve. Opening night films include the premieres "Mona Lisa Smile" (the latest Julia Roberts movie, being shown four days before its national release) and "Cold Mountain," the Civil War era drama from Miramax starring Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellweger and Jude Law, which opens nationwide Christmas Day.
Other FirstLight's films are "Something's Gotta Give," starring Jack Nicholson, Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves; director Tim Burton's "Big Fish" with Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney and Jessica Lange; "The House of Sand and Fog" (Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley); Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "American Splendor;" "The Alamo" (Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid); "The Statement" (Michael Caine); "The Fog of War," a documentary on former Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara; "Monsieur Ibrahim," Omar Sharif's award-winning return to the screen; "Sylvia," starring Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow; and "21 Grams" (Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Naomi Watts).
Screening dates and times will be released Dec. 1 at mauifilmfestival.com.
General admission is $10 a film and $5 for kids under 12 for G, PG and PG-13 films. A 4-film VIP FastPass can also be bought for $40 and will go on sale Dec. 6 at the MACC Box Office and Borders Books & Music in Kahului.
There is complimentary admission to any or all FirstLight screenings to all current and active members (including one guest per member per film) of AMPAS, DGA, WGA, SAG (nominating committee only), HPFA, PGA, ADG, ASC, BAFTA-LA, BAFTA-NY, CDG, MAHG, MPEG, MPSE, VES, ACE and CAS -- and if you're a member of any of these acronym organizations, you can probably decipher the alphabet soup!
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Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.