Weekend Offers Films, Runs and a Fundraiser

By Vanessa Wolf

Welcome to 2014!

Astrologers probably predict things like career opportunities, financial setbacks, relationship challenges and chances for travel abroad, but that’s not really our bag, so you’ll have to seek out such guidance elsewhere.

Meanwhile, what we do know if that this is yet another weekend packed with film screenings and opportunities to exercise, so get out there – or not – and make it a good one.

Movies, Movies, Movies!

You can get the gory details here, but it suffices to say screenings begin this afternoon at 2 p.m. with “The Spectacular Now.”

At 5 p.m., Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker and a host of other decorated actors (plus Mary K. Blige) co-star in “Black Nativity.”

Tonight’s last film, “One Chance,” screens at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for single screenings, while $48 VIP Fast Pass tickets grant priority admission to four films and can be shared among family and friends.

It’s Like a Movie… Only the Actors are Actually in the Room With You

Spelling Bee cast. Top: Ashlyn-Jade Aniban, Isaac Rauch, Kisha L. Milling, Gary Shin-Leavitt, Justin House, Scott Smith; Bottom: Christina Sutrov, Lily Marceau, Jeff Brackett. Courtesy image

There are two weekends left to catch “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” at the ProArts Playhouse in Kihei.

Promoters explain that the plot involves “six adolescent outsiders, overseen by grown-ups who barely managed to escape childhood themselves, learn that winning isn’t everything and that losing doesn’t necessarily make you a loser even when they’re vying for the spelling championship of a lifetime.”

The show runs through next Sunday, Jan. 12. It plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $25 with discounted a kama’āina night on Jan. 9.

Call 463-6550 for tickets or more information.

Best Way to Work Off That Holiday Pie in West Maui

The Hyundai 5K course

The 2nd Annual Hyundai Hope On Wheels 5K will be held on Saturday, Jan 4.

Registration is already closed, but you can cheer on the Kid’s Sprint entrants at 7:45 a.m. and the 5K runners at 8 a.m.

Afterward, there will be a post-race festival that will include food and refreshments, live entertainment, vendor booths and giveaways as well as games, arts and crafts, and face painting for the kids.

The festival will also feature Hope On Wheels’ signature Handprint Ceremony and Check Presentation with doctors, patients and families from Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children. All proceeds from the run/walk go towards important cancer treatment programs in Maui and across Hawai’i.

The course starts and ends at Whaler’s Village where parking is $6 an hour.

Best Way to Work Off Those Holiday Cookies in South Maui

The Ko`ie`ie Fishpond 5K Fun Run and Keiki Mile is not only the same distance, but is being held at the exact same time as the Hyundai race.

This one helps support the revitalization of Ko`ie`ie Fishpond in South Maui.

Organizers report “as the Hawaiian chiefs had their messengers race across the land, delivering messages and live fish from fishponds to others, you too can race for the loko (pond).”

The scenic 5K run begins at 8 a.m. at the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary on South Kihei Road. A mile run for the keiki (kids ages 1- 12) will also take place.

Registration is still possible.

Adults are $30 and youth under $18 are $25.

Learn About Industrial Hemp

Filmmaker Linda Booker. Courtesy image.

“Bringing it Home” will be screened at part of the FirstLight Film Festival on Sunday, Jan 5.

On Saturday, Jan 4, director and producer Linda Booker will be speaking at Akaku Center’s Media Salon in Kahului from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The special Q&A session with a focus on industrial hemp, healthy houses and a greener future is free to the public.

More Movies, Movies, Movies!

Saturday offers four films beginning at 2 p.m. with the star-studded documentary “Casting By.”

At 4 p.m. is the foodie documentary “Spinning Plates.”

And the “love-at-first-sight melodrama” that is “The Broken Circle Breakdown” is at 6 p.m.

Please note this particular film is in Flemish with English subtitles.

Lastly, for Saturday anyway, the documentary “Bettie Page Reveals All” screens at 8 p.m.

As before, tickets are $15 for single screenings, while $48 VIP Fast Pass tickets grant priority admission to four films and can be shared among family and friends.

Take in Some Acoustic Music Upcountry

Soul Kitchen with Mick Fleetwood in December 2013. Courtesy image.

On Sunday, Jan 4, Casanova Makawao is once again hosting Mana’o Radio’s Upcountry Sundays Acoustic Style fundraiser from 2-5 p.m.

Soul Kitchen will be playing along with the Kanekoa Trio, featuring Kaulana Kanekoa, Vince Esquire and Travis Rice. Singer-songwriter Roger Curley will open.

Cover is $7 at the door and goes entirely to benefit listener-supported Mana’o Radio.

Even More Movies, Movies, Movies!

Sunday is the final day of the FirstLight Film Festival and starts with “Inequality for All” – a documentary about the 1%, 99% and everything in-between – at 2 p.m.

At 4 and 5 p.m., enjoy a two-for-one (ticket) double feature beginning with the pro-hemp flick “Bringing it Home” and “GMO OMG” at 5 p.m.

Lastly, at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday is Rwandan artist Kiki Katese’s documentary “Sweet Dreams.”

We’ve already regurgitated the prices twice at this point, so we won’t torture you with a third.