The Grand Cinema

Join us in enjoying an evening of local film and local fun at The Grand Cinema for the 253 Short Film Party. Watch films from 31 local teams who were given 72 hours to create an original short film, each lasting no more than 253 seconds in length. OUR NEXT 253 FILM PARTY WILL BE HELD AT URBAN GRACE ON FRIDAY, MAY 10 AT 7PM! WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE PARTY: Audience Choice Voting: vote for the film you think is most deserving of the Audience Choice Award and cash prize Local Eats: enjoy local food vendors, snacks and desserts for purchase! Local Drinks: snag a glass of beer or wine to wash down dinner Photo Booth: capture memories in an interactive photo booth with friends and filmmakers WILL CALL: Tickets purchased in advance will be available for pick up at Will Call in The Grand Cinema's box office until the afternoon of the event. Will Call will re-open at the venue when the doors open to the public.

When teenage Yi (Chloe Bennet, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) encounters a young Yeti on the roof of her apartment building in Shanghai, she and her mischievous friends, Jin (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Peng (Albert Tsai), name him “Everest” and embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family at the highest point on Earth. But the trio of friends will have to stay one-step ahead of Burnish (Eddie Izzard), a wealthy man intent on capturing a Yeti, and zoologist Dr. Zara (Sarah Paulson) to help Everest get home.

Ribald, tasteless and hilarious ... this classic spoof of the Western genre by director Mel Brooks pokes fun at everyone and everything. A corrupt governor grants a reprieve to an African American convict if the condemned man agrees to serve as sheriff of a small Western town, believing that new sheriff will only live long enough to serve the needs of the governor and his nefarious railroad-baron backer. Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Madeline Kahn); Best Music, Original Song; and Best Film Editing. This special 50th anniversary event includes exclusive insight from Leonard Maltin.

From visionary filmmaker Luca Guadagnino, Challengers stars Zendaya as Tashi Duncan, a former tennis prodigy turned coach and a force of nature who makes no apologies for her game on and off the court. Married to a champion on a losing streak (Mike Faist – West Side Story), Tashi’s strategy for her husband’s redemption takes a surprising turn when he must face off against the washed-up Patrick (Josh O’Connor – The Crown) – his former best friend and Tashi’s former boyfriend. As their pasts and presents collide, and tensions run high, Tashi must ask herself, what will it cost to win.

In the near future, a team of journalists travel across the United States during a rapidly escalating civil war that has engulfed the entire nation.

As hordes of zombies swarm over the U.S., the terrified populace tries everything in their power to escape the attack of the undead, but neither cities nor the countryside prove safe. In Pennsylvania, radio-station employee Stephen (David Emge) and his girlfriend, Francine (Gaylen Ross), escape in the station helicopter, accompanied by two renegade SWAT members, Roger and Pete. The group retreats to the haven of an enclosed shopping center to make what could be humanity's last stand.

John Singer Sargent is known as the greatest portrait artist of his era. What made his ‘swagger’ portraits remarkable was his power over his sitters, what they wore and how they were presented to the audience. Through interviews with curators, contemporary fashionistas and style influencers, Exhibition on Screen’s film will examine how Sargent’s unique practice has influenced modern art, culture and fashion. Filmed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Tate Britain, London, the exhibition reveals Sargent’s power to express distinctive personalities, power dynamics and gender identities during this fascinating period of cultural reinvention. Alongside 50 paintings by Sargent sit stunning items of clothing and accessories worn by his subjects, drawing the audience into the artist’s studio. Sargent’s sitters were often wealthy, their clothes costly, but what happens when you turn yourself over to the hands of a great artist? The manufacture of public identity is as controversial and contested today as it was at the turn of the 20th century, but somehow Sargent’s work transcends the social noise and captures an alluring truth with each brush stroke.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt is one of the most recognised and reproduced paintings in the world. It is perhaps the most popular poster on student dorm walls from Beijing to Boston. Painted in Vienna around 1908, the evocative image of an unknown embracing couple has captivated viewers with its mystery, sensuality and dazzling materials ever since it was created. But just what lies behind the appeal of the painting – and just who was the artist that created it? Delving into the details of real gold, decorative designs, symbolism and simmering erotica, a close study of the painting takes us to the remarkable turn of the century Vienna when a new world was battling with the old. From the director of ‘Frida Kahlo’ and ‘Mary Cassatt – Painting the Modern Woman’ comes a powerful, gripping and passionate new film.

The National Gallery of London is one of the world’s greatest art galleries. It is full of masterpieces, an endless resource of history, an endless source of stories. But whose stories are told? Which art has the most impact and on whom? The power of great art lies in its ability to communicate with anyone, no matter their art historical knowledge, their background, their beliefs. This film gives voice to those who work at the gallery – from cleaner to curator, security guard to director – who identify the one artwork that means the most to them and why. An assortment of people from all walks of life who have a strong connection to the gallery make surprising choices of both well-known and lesser-known artworks. Finally, some well-known celebrities explain what they head for when they visit the gallery. These stories are used as a lens through which to explore the 200-year history of the National Gallery and what the future may hold for this spectacular space.

Based on a major exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford, Tokyo Stories spans 400 years of incredibly dynamic art – ranging from the delicate woodblock prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige to Pop Art posters, contemporary photography, Manga, film, and brand-new artworks that were created on the streets. The exhibition was a smash-hit five-star success and brought a younger and more diverse audience to the museum. The film uses the exhibition as a launchpad to travel to Tokyo itself, and explore the art and artists of the city more fully. A beautifully illustrated and richly detailed film, looking at a city which has undergone constant destruction and renewal over its 400-year history, resulting in one of the most vibrant and interesting cities on the planet… A celebration of Tokyo: one of the world’s most creative, dynamic and fascinating cities. This film tells the stories of the artists and people who have made Tokyo famous for its boundless drive for the new and innovative.

In the spring of 2023, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam will open its doors to the largest Vermeer exhibition in history. With loans from across the world, this major retrospective will bring together Vermeer’s most famous masterpieces including Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Geographer, The Milkmaid, The Little Street, Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, and Woman Holding a Balance. This new Exhibition on Screen film invites audiences to a private view of the exhibition, accompanied by the director of the Rijksmuseum and the curator of the show. A truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! As well as bringing Vermeer’s works together, both the Rijksmuseum and the Mauritshuis in the Hague have conducted research into Vermeer’s artistry, his artistic choices and motivations for his compositions, as well as the creative process behind his paintings. Exclusive access to THE world’s biggest blockbuster exhibition of 2023. Includes the first time the newly restored Girl Reading a Letter at the Open Window will be displayed.

'HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS' explores the universal truths of family, encompassing both the bonds we inherit and those we create. The narrative revolves around Dita, who, despite never aspiring to be a mother, finds herself compelled to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters—Mia, a tiny troublemaker, and Vanesa, a rebellious teenager. As their individual wills clash, a heartwarming story unfolds about an unlikely family's struggle to stay together.

Part of a three-generation dynasty of painters, Jamie Wyeth has carved out a singular path in the art world. His subjects include John F. Kennedy, Andy Warhol, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudolf Nureyev, animals on his farm and on islands of Maine, all through his unique, and sometimes unsettling, lens. Jamie Wyeth and the Unflinching Eye is the first feature length documentary that embraces the full scope of the American artist’s life and work.

Following the economic collapse of a company town in rural Nevada, Fern (Frances McDormand) packs her van and sets off on the road exploring a life outside of conventional society as a modern-day nomad. The third feature film from director Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND features real nomads Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells as Fern’s mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West. This film plays with Open Captions on Wednesdays.

Based on a true story, follows a teacher in a Mexican border town full of neglect, corruption, and violence, as she tries a radical new method to unlock their students' curiosity, potential - and maybe even their genius.

On March 28th, 2023, legendary composer Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away after his struggle against cancer. In the years leading up to his death, Sakamoto could no longer perform live. Single concerts, not to mention sprawling global tours, were too taxing. Despite this, in late 2022, Sakamoto mustered all of his energy to leave the world with one final performance: a concert film, featuring just him and his piano.

Georgie is a 12-year-old girl who lives on her own in London. She’s happy about it, in fact she’d rather have it that way. She steals bikes with her best mate Ali and sells them on to get by. At home, her flat is filled with magic – the resident spiders are constantly making snarky comments and she seems to be building a strange tower into the sky from her mum’s bedroom. When her estranged father turns up out of blue, she’s forced to confront what’s really going on.

In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success, propelling him into a macabre universe.

Set up and wrongfully accused, two best friends will be sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell could keep them locked in.

In this funny, uplifting tale based on an actual lie, Chinese-born, U.S.-raised Billi (Awkwafina) reluctantly returns to Changchun to find that, although the whole family knows their beloved matriarch, Nai-Nai, has been given mere weeks to live, everyone has decided not to tell Nai Nai herself. To assure her happiness, they gather under the joyful guise of an expedited wedding, uniting family members scattered among new homes abroad. As Billi navigates a minefield of family expectations and proprieties, she finds there’s a lot to celebrate: a chance to rediscover the country she left as a child, her grandmother’s wondrous spirit, and the ties that keep on binding even when so much goes unspoken. With The Farewell, writer/director Lulu Wang has created a heartfelt celebration of both the way we perform family and the way we live it, masterfully interweaving a gently humorous depiction of the good lie in action with a richly moving story of how family can unite and strengthen us, often in spite of ourselves.

Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming. The top-secret combat unit, composed of a motley crew of rogues and mavericks, goes on a daring mission against the Nazis using entirely unconventional and utterly “ungentlemanly” fighting techniques. Ultimately their audacious approach changed the course of the war and laid the foundation for the British SAS and modern Black Ops warfare. Directed and co-written for the screen by Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes, The Gentlemen, Wrath of Man), and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun: Maverick, Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure), THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE stars Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, Mission: Impossible – Fallout), Eiza González (Baby Driver), Alan Ritchson (TV’s Reacher), Alex Pettyfer (In Time), Hero Fiennes Tiffin (After series), Babs Olusamokun (Dune), Henrique Zaga (Beyond the Universe), Til Schweiger (Inglourious Basterds), with Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride).

A lonely young boy with a love of books becomes drawn into a timeless world of fabulous creatures--a world that only he can save from certain destruction--as he discovers that he is the hero of The Neverending Story. A perennial family favorite!

“I want... I want... I want everything I've ever seen in the movies!” Once the King of The Great White Way, Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) is reduced to romancing old ladies to finance his next flop show. But when nervous accountant Leopold Bloom (Gene Wilder) surmises that more money could be made from a flop than a hit, the next step is to produce the Busby Berkeleyesque musical Springtime for Hitler and to cast stoned-out Flower Child “LSD” (Dick Shawn) in the lead. A surefire flop -- or is it? Writer/director Mel Brooks nabbed an Oscar® for Best Original Screenplay of 1968, while his movie skyrocketed from controversial cult comedy to Classic, now on the National Film Registry and umpteen lists of the funniest movies ever made, with Mostel & Wilder considered the greatest comedy team since Laurel & Hardy and The Marx Brothers. See the restored film from Studiocanal and Rialto Pictures in honor of the 50th anniversary of its release. This 50th Anniversary event includes exclusive insight from Turner Classic Movies.

A 1920s English seaside town bears witness to a farcical and occasionally sinister scandal in this riotous mystery comedy. Based on a stranger than fiction true story, WICKED LITTLE LETTERS follows two neighbours: deeply conservative local Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) and rowdy Irish migrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). When Edith and fellow residents begin to receive wicked letters full of unintentionally hilarious profanities, foul-mouthed Rose is charged with the crime. The anonymous letters prompt a national uproar, and a trial ensues. However, as the town’s women - led by Police Officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) - begin to investigate the crime themselves, they suspect that something is amiss, and Rose may not be the culprit after all.

An American grandson of the infamous scientist, struggling to prove that he is not as insane as people believe, is invited to Transylvania, where he discovers the process that reanimates a dead body.