With the Thanksgiving holidays approaching, the BoomerVenture Screening Room will be offering a series of critically acclaimed and diverse films this month, from heart-wrenching documentaries to laugh out-loud comedies.
This Thursday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m., the BoomerVenture Screening Room will show the extraordinary multi- award winning documentary, Last Train Home. The story follows a Chinese couple who, as part of the world’s largest annual human migration, travel by train for days from their factories to their home farming village for the New Year celebration. There they are re-acquainted with their children and extended family.
The film’s “intimate observation of one fractured family sheds unprecedented light on the human cost of China’s economic ‘miracle,’” according to Amazon.com. It is a film that will leave you with new insight and lasting images of modern-day China.
Following this documentary, BoomerVenture will offer three highly popular independent films you will not want to miss.
On Nov. 8, the Screening Room will show Wes Anderson’s critically praised quirky hit, Moonrise Kingdom, which is just out of the local theaters. This coming-of-age comedy tells the story of two 12-year-olds summering on a New England island who fall in love, make a secret pact, and run away together into the wilderness. Adult authorities try mightily to find them as a dangerous storm approaches. What follows is moving and funny and just a little bit weird.
The week after, Nov. 15, the Screening Room will get you prepared for holiday family fun with the warm romantic comedy, Darling Companion. Starring such well-known stars as Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, this movie tells the story of a woman who saves an adorable dog lost on the freeway (the dog, ergo, is named Freeway), and the family complications that follow when the extended family members attempt to rescue this pet lost during a weekend getaway in the Rockies.
And to celebrate Turkey Day, on Nov. 29 BoomerVenture will screen a favorite Thanksgiving movie, Pieces of April. Featuring a top-notch cast, and starring Katie Holmes, this movie follows the travails of April, the black sheep in the family, who invites her estranged family to Thanksgiving dinner in her small cramped New York apartment. Not surprisingly, problems with cooking and family interactions ensue. This comedy/drama “sparkles with acerbic wit, original characters and genuine heart,” according to Variety.
BoomerVenture invites all residents to attend; there is no charge. The Thursday night BoomerVenture program shows the movies at the Andover Senior Center, 30 Whittier Court, behind Town Offices. Showings start at 7 p.m. -- with a brief “chat” beforehand. A selection of snacks is available.
