12th Annual Omak Film Festival

Posted on by February 15, 2016

2015 omak film festivalWe are proud to announce that the 12th annual Omak Film Festival,  sponsored by the Wenatchee Valley College at Omak Associated Student Body, is being held February 19 – March 12, 2015. All films will be shown at the Mirage Theater at 101 South Main.

The official 2015 Omak Film Festival line-up is below – click on film title for more information and reviews:

 

Watch the previews of all of the festival films here

Boyhood – Omak Film Festival – Thurs Feb 19 – Sat Feb 21

Posted on by February 18, 2015

Boyhood Omak Film Festival

Boyhood kicks off the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Thursday Feb 19 through Saturday Feb 21 at the Mirage. Boyhood is rated PG13 and runs 166 minutes. Showtimes: Thurs Feb 19 – 6:30 *|* Fri Feb 20 – 6:30 *|* Sat Feb 21 – 2:15 (matinee price) & 6:00

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Rotten Tomatoes says about Boyhood:

“Filmed over 12 years with the same cast, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a groundbreaking story of growing up as seen through the eyes of a child named Mason (a breakthrough performance by Ellar Coltrane), who literally grows up on screen before our eyes. Starring Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette as Mason’s parents and newcomer Lorelei Linklater as his sister Samantha, BOYHOOD charts the rocky terrain of childhood like no other film has before.”

Variety likes Boyhood for the best picture Oscar:

“Boyhood received a total of six Academy Award nominations on Thursday and, according to a new Variety poll, the Richard Linklater drama is the heavy favorite to win best picture.”

USA Today writes:

“Fresh off its Golden Globes wins for best drama, best director and supporting actress, Boyhood, the $4 million movie filmed over 12 years with the same cast, snagged director, picture, supporting actor and actress Oscar nominations, along with original screenplay and film editing. Boyhood earned six nods, as did American Sniper.”

New York Times critic Manohla Dargis gives Boyhood a hearty thumbs-up:

“Filmed over 12 consecutive years, “Boyhood” centers on Mason (Ellar Coltrane), who’s 6 when the story opens and 18 when it ends. In between, he goes to school; argues with his sister, Samantha (Lorelei Linklater, the director’s daughter); and watches his mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette), struggle with work and men while paying the bills, moving from home to home and earning several degrees.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Whiplash – Omak Film Festival – Sun Feb 22 – Wed Feb 25

Posted on by February 18, 2015

Whiplash Omak Film FestivalWhiplash is the second film in the line-up of the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Sunday Feb 22 through Wednesday Feb 25 at the Mirage. Whiplash is rated R and runs 106 minutes. Showtimes: Sun Feb 22 – 2:30 (matinee price) & 6:30 *|* Mon Feb 23, Tues Feb 24, Wed Feb 25 – 6:30

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Rotten Tomatoes writes about Whiplash:

“Andrew Neyman is an ambitious young jazz drummer, single-minded in his pursuit to rise to the top of his elite east coast music conservatory. Plagued by the failed writing career of his father, Andrew hungers day and night to become one of the greats. Terence Fletcher, an instructor equally known for his teaching talents as for his terrifying methods, leads the top jazz ensemble in the school.”

ABC Oscar News reports:

“Whiplash, starring Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons, and Paul Reiser is an Oscar nominee for Best Picture. The film also received 4 other Oscar nominations for Film Editing, Sound Mixing, Writing – Adapted Screenplay, and Actor in a Supporting Role.”

New York Times critic A.O. Scott’s take on Whiplash:

“The world worships excellence and runs on mediocrity. Most of us are fated to dwell in the fat middle of the bell curve, admiring and envying those who stake out territory in the higher realms of achievement. There is a wide gulf between doing your best at something and being the best at it, a discrepancy in expended effort and anticipated reward that is the subject of “Whiplash,” Damien Chazelle’s thrilling second feature.”

Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com opines:

“Whiplash is cinematic adrenalin. In an era when so many films feel more refined by focus groups or marketing managers, it is a deeply personal and vibrantly alive drama. Damien Chazelle has taken a relatively staid subject like the relationship between a music student and his teacher and turned it into a thriller built on a brilliant undercurrent of social commentary about what it takes to make it in an increasingly competitive and cutthroat world.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

The Theory of Everything – Omak Film Festival – Thurs Feb 26 – Sat Feb 28

Posted on by February 23, 2015

The Theory of Everything Omak Film FestivalThe Theory of Everything is the third film of the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Thursday Feb 26 through Saturday Feb 28 at the Mirage. The Theory of Everything is rated PG-13 and runs 123 minutes. Directed by James Marsh. Showtimes: Thurs Feb 26 – 6:30 *|* Fri Feb 27 – 6:30 & 9:30 *|* Sat Feb 28 – 3:15 (matinee), 6:30 & 9:30

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Rotten Tomatoes on The Theory of Everything:

“Starring Eddie Redmayne (“Les Misérables”) and Felicity Jones (“The Amazing Spider-Man 2″), this is the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, the renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde. Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age.”

Justin Chang, chief film critic at Variety writes:

“The intricate workings of a rare and remarkable mind are rendered in simple, accessible terms in “The Theory of Everything,” a sensitively directed inspirational biopic centered around the great British physicist Stephen Hawking and his mind-over-body struggle with motor neuron disease. Striving to pay equal tribute to Hawking’s first wife, Jane (on whose memoir the film is based), and her tireless devotion to him until their 25-year marriage ended in 1995, director James Marsh similarly attempts to find intimate, personal applications for Hawking’s grand cosmic inquiries, tracing the story of how the author of “A Brief History of Time” came to defy time itself.”

New York Times critic A.O. Scott tells us:

“The Theory of Everything, James Marsh’s biographical film about the British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, tries very hard to live up to its title: It wants to show a remarkable man in full, to explore his ideas, his emotional life and his struggle with illness.

The material could hardly be richer. Mr. Hawking is both an important scientist and a fixture of popular culture, the author of best-selling books that seek to explain concepts comprehensible only to specialists.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Selma – Omak Film Festival – Sun March 1 – Wed March 4

Posted on by February 23, 2015

Selma Omak Film FestivalSelma is the fourth film of the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Sunday March 1 through Wednesday March 4 at the Mirage. Selma is rated PG-13 and runs 127 minutes. Starring David Oyelowo, Oprah Winfrey and Cuba Gooding Jr. and directed by Ava DuVernay. Showtimes: Sun Mar 1 – 3:15 (matinee), 6:30 *|* Mon Mar 2, Tues Mar 3, Wed Mar 4 – 6:30

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

At Rotten Tomatoes:

“Selma is the story of a movement. The film chronicles the tumultuous three-month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most significant victories for the civil rights movement.”

From Odie Henderson at RogerEbert.com:

“There’s a reason why Ava DuVernay’s film is called “Selma” and not “King”. Like Spielberg’s “Lincoln”, “Selma” is as much about the procedures of political maneuvering, in-fighting and bargaining as it is about the chief orchestrator of the resulting deals. “Selma” affords Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. the same human characteristics of humor, frustration and exhaustion that “Lincoln” provided its President. This relatable humanity elevates King’s actions and his efforts. It inspires by suggesting that the reverence for Dr. King was bestowed on a person no different than any of us. If he can provoke change, we have no excuse not to as well.”

ABC News reporting on the best picture Oscar nomination for Selma:

“The life of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. is examined through the dramatic events surrounding the historic 1965 freedom marches from Selma to Montgomery. Determined to fight the injustice and discrimination that African Americans continue to face in southern states despite the Civil Rights Act of 1964, King chooses Selma as the starting point for the peaceful protest marches that will focus the world’s attention on the city and its response.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Birdman – Omak Film Festival – Thurs March 5 – Sat March 7

Posted on by March 2, 2015

Birdman Omak Film FestivalBirdman is the fifth film of the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Thursday March 5 through Saturday March 7 at the Mirage. Birdman is rated R and runs 119 minutes. Starring Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton, Birdman is directed by  Alejandro González Iñárritu. Showtimes: Thurs Mar 5 – 6:30 *|* Fri Mar 6 – 6:30 & 9:30 *|* Sat Mar 7 – 3:30 (matinee), 6:30 & 9:30

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Rotten Tomatoes on Birdman:

“Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play. In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.”

Christy Lemire from RogerEbert.com describes Birdman:

“The first time we see Michael Keaton in his tighty-whities in “Birdman,” it’s from behind. His character, a formerly high-flying movie star, is sitting in the lotus position in his dressing room of a historic Broadway theatre, only he’s levitating above the ground. Bathed in sunlight streaming in from an open window, he looks peaceful. But a voice inside his head is growling, grumbling, gnawing at him grotesquely about matters both large and small.”

New York Times fim critic Manohla Dargis’ take on Birdman:

“Birdman, a big bang of movie razzle-dazzle from Alejandro G. Iñárritu, opens with a winking sleight of hand. Riggan Thomson, a Hollywood has-been turned Broadway second-chancer played by a blissed-out Michael Keaton, is hanging out in his dressing room at the St. James Theater in Times Square, by which I mean floating, like a mystic who’s passed transcendence and gone straight to nirvana. It’s a destabilizing liftoff for a funny, frenetic, buoyant and rambunctiously showboating entertainment in which Mr. Iñárritu himself rises high and then higher still.”

CBS News reports on the Academy Award nominations for Birdman:

“Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel lead this year’s crop of Oscars nominees with nine nods each, including best picture.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

The Imitation Game – Omak Film Festival – Sun March 8 – Thurs March 12

Posted on by March 2, 2015

The Imitation Game Omak Film FestivalThe Imitation Game is the sixth and final film of the 12th annual Omak Film Festival playing Sunday March 8 through Thursday March 12 at the Mirage. The Imitation Game is rated PG-13 and runs 114 minutes. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley and directed by Morten Tyldum. Showtimes: Sun Mar 8 – 3:45 (matinee) & 6:45 *|* Mon Mar 9, Tues Mar 10, Wed Mar 11, Thurs Mar 12 – 6:45

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.

Rotten Tomatoes on The Imitation Game:

“During the winter of 1952, British authorities entered the home of mathematician, cryptanalyst and war hero Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) to investigate a reported burglary. They instead ended up arresting Turing himself on charges of ‘gross indecency’, an accusation that would lead to his devastating conviction for the criminal offense of homosexuality – little did officials know, they were actually incriminating the pioneer of modern-day computing.”

ABC News lists the Academy Award nominations for the Imitation Game:

“The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley, is a 2015 nominee for Best Picture. The film also received 7 other nominations, including Benedict Cumberbatch for Actor in a Leading Role, Kiera Knightley for Actress in a Supporting Role, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Production Design, Writing (Adapted Screenplay).”

Susan Wloszczyna of RogerEbert.com on The Imitation Game:

“How odd that The Imitation Game, one of the more rousingly entertaining crowd-pleasers coming out this holiday season—as endorsed by its People’s Choice Award at the Toronto film festival—also happens to be one of the most devastatingly sad…This atypical biopic about the brilliant, impossibly arrogant and socially awkward mathematician (played by Benedict Cumberbatch, impeccably perfect in every way) is a somewhat hard read at first. Most likely, it was the intent of screenwriter Graham Moore to make a puzzle about a film about puzzle solving.”

A.O. Scott writes for The New York Times:

“The Imitation Game is a highly conventional movie about a profoundly unusual man. This is not entirely a bad thing. Alan Turing’s tragically shortened life — he was 41 when he died in 1954 — is a complex and fascinating story, bristling with ideas and present-day implications, and it benefits from the streamlined structure and accessible presentation of modern prestige cinema.”

See the full Omak Film Festival line-up here.