Last Weekend of Year Offers Plentiful Film Screenings

By Vanessa Wolf

Where does the time go?

Seems like just yesterday it was New Year’s Day 2013 and we were sick as dogs and hoping to recover before the Bill Maher show.

Here we are again at the last weekend of the year.

If 2013 did you dirty, you can look forward to kicking it to the curb.

Regardless, enjoy this fairly eventless weekend before what is hopefully the start to your best year ever.

Welcome to a Weekend Dominated by Film Screenings

Is it just us or has Joaquin Phoenix turned into Kevin Kline?

There is very, very little happening this “in-betweener” holiday weekend, but the MACC has you covered with the continuation of the Maui Film Festival’s FirstLight: Academy Screenings.

Start out a three-day bender of sitting on your butt this afternoon at 2 p.m. with “Enough Said.”

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and James Gandolfini star in writer/director Nicole Holofcener’s (“The Kids Are Alright”) newest romantic dramedy about a divorced single parent finding new and true love in a totally unexpected place.

“All Is Lost” screens at 5 p.m.

According to the New York Times, Academy Award winner Robert Redford “gives the performance of his life” in what Rolling Stone raved is a “thrilling, pulse-racing lost-at-sea survival adventure.”

Nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award this year, “Her” screens at 7:30 p.m.

Joaquin Phoenix stars in director Spike Jonze new romantic drama about a complex, soulful man who – despite not yet having found true love in his own life – writes personal letters for other people. Then he discovers a virtual 21st century love and intimacy. Mmmm hmmm.

A Festivus for the Rest of Us

Not quite, but if you don’t celebrate Christmas or Hannukah, perhaps tonight’s Kwanzaa Celebration has your name on it.

The African Americans on Maui Association will celebrate Kwanzaa tonight from 6-8 p.m. at the Iao Parkside Rec Center.

Begun in 1966, the cultural holiday celebration runs from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Besides setting the Kwanzaa table, other activities will include an overview and historical perspective of this important African-American holiday.

Please note it’s a potluck and you are also encouraged to bring a non-perishable canned good for the Maui Food Bank. Call 808-280-1394 for further information.

 It’s Kihei Fourth Friday, Yo

Marty Dread. Courtesy image.

It’s Kihei Friday’s one-year anniversary, so be sure to congratulate it.

Along with a performance by Marty Dread, enjoy food vendors galore as your kids entertain themselves in the keiki zone.

Events are from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Azeka Shopping Center and – as always – free to the public.

We Hope The MACC is Selling Popcorn to Keep Your Strength Up

On Sat., Dec. 28, more films await you with “The Croods” at noon.

“The Croods” is a prehistoric comedy adventure that follows the world’s first family as they embark on a journey of a lifetime.

“The Dallas Buyers Club” plays at 2 p.m.

Texan Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is well into an unexamined existence with a devil-may-care lifestyle when he is diagnosed as H.I.V.-positive and given 30 days to live.

“Gloria” is at 5 p.m.

This Chilean film finds a divorced woman in her late 50s recapturing her life and ultimately re-connecting to her sensual powers.

Illiterate? This one’s in Spanish with English subtitles.

At 7:30 p.m. is “Labor Day.”

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin star in this romantic drama about an escaped convict unknowingly brought home on Labor Day weekend by a single mom’s errand-running 13-year-old son.

Remember to Stretch Between Films and Maybe Bring Something To Sit On

It’s a long haul, but you can do it, Champ.

Your trifecta of film-going – for this weekend – winds down with “aka Doc Pomus” at 2 p.m. on Sun., Dec. 29.

Learn the “mind-blowing history” of the guy who wrote “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “This Magic Moment” and “A Teenager in Love.”

Then, Greta Gerwig stars in and co-wrote, “Frances Ha,” screening at 4 p.m.

A quirky story about an apartment-less new York dreamer “who throws herself, literally head over heels, into following her bliss with an unaccountable joy and lightness that’s a great life lesson to us all.”

Bringing it around the bend is the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner, “Blue is the Warmest Color” at 6 p.m.

We watched the trailer, and this NC-17 flick is not for innocent eyes or anyone that can’t read subtitles.

Described as “a profoundly moving, sometimes graphic hymn to both love and life tells the tale of a young woman and the older woman who becomes the love of her life. “

Lastly – for this weekend at least – is “Five Dances” at 9 p.m.

Chip, a young dancer who recently arrived in New York City, starts to train and practice with three other dancers and the ballet master. Chip has to choose between going back to his family home in the Midwest and starting his own career and personal life.

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.

Kids 12 and under are invited to attend any G or PG rated film for free and, as always, there is complimentary admission for most major film industry guild members.

Happy New Year!