The Music Hall Sets Screening Details for September

The Music Hall continues its tradition of offering a variety of outstanding cinema this month, all being shown at either the splendidly restored Historic Theater on Chestnut Street or at the chic Loft on Congress Street, both acclaimed for their architectural design.

"September is a banner month for film here at The Music Hall. The month kicks off with Mr. Holmes, which follows Sir Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes near the end of his days," said Chris Curtis, Programming Coordinator. "On opening night of the film, we're ecstatic to be joined by the screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher for an insider's look at the writing and making of Mr. Holmes. We also have Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, a documentary that takes a look at the life and career of the Nirvana frontman. And, of course it would not be September in Portsmouth without the arrival of Telluride by the Sea festival weekend, or as I like to call it, 'A Weekend of Cinephile Nirvana!'

The Music Hall Season Sponsors: The River House Restaurant; Carey & Giampa, Realtors; Portwalk Place

The Music Hall Contributing Partner: The University of New Hampshire

August On Screen
Extraordinary Cinema: INFINITELY POLAR BEAR

(R, 1h30m, US)

8/29, 8/30, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3 • 7pm • Historic Theater

Stars Mark Ruffalo as Cameron, a man who suffers from bipolar disorder. After a breakdown forces him to leave his family and move into a halfway house, he attempts to rebuild a relationship with his two daughters, and win back the trust of his wife MAGGIE (Zoe Saldana). When MAGGIE decides to go to business school in New York, they decide that he will move back in and TAKE CARE of the day-to-day care for the kids. Due to his mercurial nature, this leads to a series of quirky, funny, and sometimes frightening episodes.

"Mark Ruffalo gives one of his most appealing performances in writer-director Maya Forbes' irresistible feature debut." - Variety

"Ruffalo...demonstrates again why he may be the best actor of his generation." - Boston Globe

Extraordinary Cinema: BEST OF ENEMIES

(R, 1h27m, US)

8/29, 8/30, 9/1, 9/2, 9/3 • 7pm • Historic Theater

In the summer of 1968, television news changed forever. Dead last in the ratings, ABC hired two towering public intellectuals to debate each other during the Democratic and Republican national conventions. William F. Buckley, Jr. was a leading light of the new conservative movement. A Democrat and cousin to Jackie Onassis, Gore Vidal was a leftist novelist and polemicist. It was unlike anything TV had ever broadcast, and all the more shocking because it was live and unscripted. Viewers were riveted. ABC News' ratings skyrocketed. And a new era in public discourse was born - a highbrow blood sport that marked the dawn of pundit television as we know it today.

"The on-camera clashes between Buckley and Vidal are vividly and entertainingly recounted in this fascinating documentary." - Variety

"there could scarcely be any documentary more enticing, scintillating and downright fascinating" - Hollywood Reporter

Extraordinary Cinema: MR. HOLMES

(PG, 1h44m, UK)

9/4, 9/5, 9/8, 9/10 • 7pm • 9/6 • 3pm • Historic Theater

1947. In his remote seaside farmhouse, Sherlock Holmes faces the end of his days tending to his bees, with only the company of his housekeeper and her young son. Grappling with the diminishing powers of his mind, Holmes comes to rely upon the boy as he revisits the circumstances of the unsolved case that forced him into retirement, and searches for answers to the mysteries of life and love - before it's too late.

"Mr. McKellen's performance...gratifyingly but unsurprisingly wonderful." - New York Post

"watching every moment of [McKellen's] performance is pure pleasure." - Rex Reed

*On Friday, September 4, MR. HOLMES screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher will join us before the film to give insight on the making of the movie.

Extraordinary Cinema: Tangerine

(R, 1h28m, US)

9/4, 9/5, 9/6, 9/8, 9/9 • 7pm • the Loft

t's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee (newcomer Kitana Kiki Rodriguez) is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend Alexandra (newcomer Mya Taylor) embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles. Director Sean Baker's prior films (Starlet, Prince of Broadway) brought rich texture and intimate detail to worlds seldom seen on film.

"Shot on an iPhone 5 for practically no money, Tangerine jumps off the screen and wows you like nobody's business." - Rolling Stone

"steadfastly nonjudgmental and wonderfully tender toward two searchers for new versions of old-fashioned love." - Wall Street Journal

HD Broadcast: The End of the Tour

(R, 1h45m, US)

9/12, 9/13, 9/15, 9/16 • 7pm • Historic Theater

The story of the five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter (and novelist) David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and acclaimed novelist David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel), which took place right after the 1996 publication of Wallace's groundbreaking epic novel, Infinite Jest. As the days go on, a tenuous yet intense relationship seems to develop between journalist and subject. Ironically, THE INTERVIEW was never published, and five days of audio tapes were packed away in Lipsky's closet. The film is based on Lipsky's critically acclaimed memoir about the encounter, written following Wallace's 2008 suicide.

"A gorgeous portrait of the artist as reluctant subject." -Hollywood Reporter

"The script is so full of acute observations that I found myself scribbling down the whole movie as I was watching." - New York Post

NTLive: Man and Superman (3h35m)

9/13 • 1pm • the Loft

Academy Award nominee Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, Schindler's List, Oedipus at the National Theatre) plays Jack Tanner in this exhilarating reinvention of Bernard Shaw's witty, provocative classic. A romantic comedy, an epic fairytale, a fiery philosophical debate, Man and Superman asks fundamental questions about how we live.

"Dazzling. Ralph Fiennes proves his star status. Indira Varma is a triumph." - The Times

TMH Film Club: F For Fake (1973)

(PG, 1h30m, France)

9/15 • 7pm • THE LOFT The Kenosha Kid's valedictory film is an antic, free-wheeling documentary about an art forger, his biographer - who is also revealed to have penned a hoax biography of Howard Hughes -

and Welles' own public deceits, including the radio broadcast of WAR OF THE WORLDS. Less a documentary than a jump-cutting, mischievous dissertation on authenticity, intellectual property, and the nature of truth, F FOR FAKE is the penultimate sleight-of-mind by a consummate film magician: prepare to be duped and delighted. Featuring as themselves Elmyr de Hory, Clifford Irving, Joseph Cotten, Oja Kadar, and Orson Welles. (~Kent Stephens, TMHFC Host)

"A charming, witty meditation upon fakery, forgery, swindling and art, a movie that may itself be its own Exhibit A." - New York Times

"Welcome to the philosophical fun house that is F for Fake, stuffed full of questions about the nature of art and authorship, illusion and reality, lies and truth." - Hollywood Reporter

Extraordinary Cinema: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

(PG13, 1h35m, US)

9/22, 9/23, 9/24, 9/25, 9/27, 9/29, 9/30, 10/1 • 7pm • the Loft

Kurt Cobain, lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of Nirvana, remains an icon 20 years after his death. Montage of Heck takes a journey through Cobain's life and his career with Nirvana through the lens of his home movies, recordings, artwork, photography, and journals.

"A fascinating mix of archival and new materials creates a virtual autobiography for legendary grunge trio Nirvana's late leader." - Variety

"Mr. Morgen is perhaps the leading revolutionary in American documentary filmmaking, a collagist/synthesist extraordinaire who has channeled Mr. Cobain's physical legacy ... into a work of art completely his own." - Wall Street Journal

Wildcard: Meru

(R, 1h27m, India)

9/23 • 7pm • Historic Theater

In the high-stakes pursuit of big-wall climbing, the Shark's Fin on Mount MERU may be the ultimate prize. Sitting 21,000 feet above the sacred Ganges River in Northern India, the mountain's perversely stacked obstacles make it both a nightmare and an irresistible calling for some of the world's toughest climbers. In October 2008, renowned alpinists Conrad Anker, Jimmy Chin and Renan Ozturk arrived to tackle Meru. Despite making it to within 100 meters of the summit, their journey, like everyone before them, was not successful. In 2011, Anker had convinced his two lifelong friends to undertake the Shark's Fin once more, under even more extraordinary circumstances than their first attempt. MERU is the story of that journey.

"Absolutely worth the climb." - Newsweek

"Harrowing and ultimately moving." - Variety

Extraordinary Cinema: Irrational Man

(R, 1h45m, US)

9/25, 9/26, 9/30 • 7pm • 9/27 • 3pm • Historic Theater

Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Parker Posey star in the latest by Woody Allen. When a burned-out, brilliant professor - one who believes in lessons from life rather than textbooks - takes a job at a small college, everyone there is abuzz. He becomes involved with A TEACHER as well as a precocious student, but it takes a dramatic, existential act to turn his life around and make him see the world through a much rosier and more positive perspective.

A suspenseful mind-teaser. Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone infuse it with raw humanity. " -Rolling Stone

The energy and freshness here are quite intoxicating. A darkly humorous quasi-thriller explored with a deft lightness of touch." - Rolling Stone

Film Matters: The Human Experiment

(NR, 1h31m, US)

10/1 • 7pm • Historic Theater

Narrated and Executive Produced by Sean Penn. With thousands of untested chemicals in our EVERYDAY products, have we all become unwitting guinea pigs in one giant human experiment? The powerful and inspiring new documentary THE HUMAN EXPERIMENT goes behind the scenes in the fight to protect us from these toxic products before they cause irrevocable harm to our health. Post film discussion with a panel of local experts.

This is a film that much of Corporate America does not want you to see." - EcoWatch

it will leave you looking a lot more closely at what you put on your skin, in your mouth and underneath your sink." - New York Times

For More Information
For more information on all shows, films, and events, go to www.themusichall.org/calendar For press photos: visit http://j.mp/pressimages

Tickets
Tickets for all June films are on sale now. Tickets are $10 Adults; $8 Students, Seniors 60+, and Military. See pricing online for NT Live and Met @ The Music Hall tickets.

About The Music Hall
WHO The Music Hall is a performing arts center featuring curated entertainment from around the world in two theaters in its downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire campus - one, a landmark 1878 Victorian theater, designated an American Treasure for the Arts by the National Park Service's Save America's Treasures Program, the other the intimate Music Hall Loft around the corner, recently named "best performing arts venue" by Yankee Magazine and the recipient of the NH AIA award for design excellence.