Win free movie tickets

Editor's note: Comment on today's "Cinema Chat" for a chance to win free movie tickets to the Michigan Theater. Some time between now and 9 a.m. Monday, leave a comment on this column, written by the Michigan Theater's Russ Collins. Offer your opinion on a recent movie you've seen, or on anything Russ mentions. A winner will be randomly selected, and we’ll notify that person via the email address they signed up with. They will get two passes to a movie of their choice, courtesy of The Michigan Theater. Full rules here.

Opening downtown

98 percent of all who attend “Buck” love “Buck.”

“Buck” is an American story about an ordinary man who has made an extraordinary life despite tremendous odds. Buck Brannaman, a modern day American cowboy and real-life "horse whisperer," travels the country for nine grueling months a year helping horses with people problems. This richly textured and visually stunning film—including conversations and interviews with Robert Redford—follows Brannaman from his abusive childhood to his phenomenally successful approach to horses. Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal says, "It keeps you fascinated, even enthralled; elicits astonishment, even wonderment, and makes you grateful for the chance to meet someone remarkable." “Buck” opens Friday at the Michigan Theater.

“The Tree of Life” is still playing downtown and it is not to be missed. It won the top prize at this year’s the Cannes Film Festival. 85 percent of critics give it a positive review. However, about one-third of audiences who attend the film are disappointed or confused by it. But I think in this case the Cannes Film Festival and critics got it right. In my humble opinion, this is a wonderful and important film. It will be talked about and elevated as a work of art for years to come.

Director Terrence Malick has made a film that is a contradictory meditation on life on earth—contradictory because it both focuses on the critical importance of the individual (and family) as the purpose for the universe and then clearly expresses the completely transient nature of existence. It is not a conventional story—it is non-linear and beautiful to look at. It is a work of cinema that you must experience with an open mind and eye. Its scale makes it a “must see” on a big screen in a theater. But see it now (at the Michigan Theater)! It will leave town very soon.

Playing at your local multiplex

Director Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf return in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon." When a mysterious event from Earth's past erupts into the present day, it threatens to bring a war to Earth so big that the Transformers alone will not be able to save us. Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel says, “The funniest, best-executed film in the talking, bleeding, Earth-protecting robots-that-look-like-cars-and-trucks series, ‘Moon’ delivers the popcorn in gigantic fist-fulls of fun.” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” opened Tuesday, so you still have time to catch it in 3D and 2D right now!

In “Monte Carlo,” three graduates fulfill their dreams of vacationing in Paris and soon find themselves accidentally in a lavish world, where they live like royalty and experience romance and the true magic of friendship. “Monte Carlo,” starring Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy, opens Friday.

Until he was downsized, affable, amiable “Larry Crowne” (the great Tom Hanks) was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he'd worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves. “Larry Crowne” opens Friday.

A summer classic

“No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.”

With "Goldfinger," the James Bond series took a turn away from relatively straightforward spy thrillers and toward campy gadgetry, extravagant sets, and kitschy jokes we’ve come to know from the series. Bond (Sean Connery) has to prevent a notorious gold smuggler, appropriately named Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), from robbing Fort Knox. Goldfinger is surrounded by evil henchmen such as the sexy female pilot Pussy Galore (Honor Blackman) and Oddjob (Harold Sakata), who kills with his steel-rimmed bowler hats. In order to stop Goldfinger, Bond has to survive several perilous situations, including a huge, deadly laser.

"Goldfinger" set the tone not only for the rest of the series but also for most of the action/adventure films of the late '60s and early '70s. Winner of an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, it also received Grammy and BAFTA nominations and remains as one of the most popular in the James Bond series from audiences and critics alike. The film was the first official Bond blockbuster that made cinematic history by recouping its production costs in record-setting time, despite a budget equal to that of the two preceding films combined. “Goldfinger” plays July 3 at 1:30 p.m. and July 5 at 7 p.m.

Summer docs continue

“Marwencol” documents the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp, who builds a miniature scale World War II-era town in his backyard dubbed "Marwencol" to cope with being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack. Suddenly Mark's therapy is deemed "art," forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack. Sheri Linden of the Hollywood Reporter says, “’Marwencol’ poses penetrating questions—about art, outsider status, the mysteries of the human brain and the possibility of second chances—all while circling, ever closer, an unforgettable individual and the unknowable creative impulse.” “Marwencol” plays July 4 at 7 p.m.

Russ Collins is executive director of the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Tune in to the audio version of “Cinema Chat” on WEMU radio (89.1-FM) each Thursday at 7:40 a.m. and 5:40 p.m., or listen to it online at WEMU's web site.