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

Great movies from around the world will be screened at a wonderful festival of films Sunday, May 15-Thursday May 19 at the Michigan Theater. “Inside Hana’s Suitcase,” “Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny,” the Allen Ginsberg biopic “Howl,” “Ajami,” “Ingelore,” “Just Like Home,” “Holy Rollers” and “Nora’s Will” are just a few of the acclaimed films I was fortunate enough to see at the Sundance, Cleveland and Toronto Film Festivals. You can see these films starting Sunday as part of the Lenore Marwill Jewish Film Festival. For show times and full roster of films go to jccannarbor.org, and watch for a full preview article Friday on AnnArbor.com.

Oscar winner Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire (“Vagabond,” “La Cérémonie”) square off in the stylish and sophisticated "Queen to Play." Set on the postcard-perfect isle of Corsica, French chambermaid Hélène (Bonnaire) discovers her love for chess when, one day, she comes upon a couple (Jennifer Beals and Dominic Gould) engaged in an intense match. Her obsession with the game leads her to seek the tutelage of a reclusive American doctor (Kline), a liaison that radically transforms both of their lackluster lives. The Seattle Times says, "Bonnaire beautifully captures her character's simmering intelligence and vague discontent; Kline, performing his entire role in French for the first time, again proves himself a master…” "Queen to Play" opens Friday at the Michigan.

Adapted and directed by Dan Rush, and based on a short story by Raymond Carver, "Everything Must Go" tells the story of Nick Porter (Will Ferrell), a career salesman whose days of being on top are gone. The same day Nick gets fired, he returns home to discover his wife has left him, and dumped all his possessions out on the front yard. Faced with these self-inflicted challenges, Nick puts it all on the line — or more properly, on the lawn — holding a yard sale that becomes his unique strategy for survival. Salon.com says, "This is an old-school independent film . . . it's refreshingly honest, depicts the kinds of American lives not often seen on-screen and shows us a familiar star in a striking new light." "Everything Must Go" opens Friday at the Michigan Theater.

"Hesher," played with an appealing edge by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, brings chaos into the lives of middle school student TJ (Devin Brochu) and his clinically depressed father Paul (Rainn Wilson). Grief-stricken by the loss of TJ's mother in a car accident, Paul cannot muster the strength to evict this strange and maybe even dangerous squatter, and Hesher becomes a fixture in the household. Boxoffice Magazine says, "Gordon-Levitt's Hesher is raw destruction and aggro-comedy punctuated with a blast of crunching metal." "Hesher" opens Friday at the State Theatre. "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," the breathtaking 3-D documentary about remarkable 30,000 year old cave painting in the Chauvet Cave in France, ends its run with screenings at 4:45, 7:00 and 9:30 tonight and at 9:30 Friday and 7:15 on Saturday. This hit Werner Herzog film must close on Saturday. Don’t miss it in state-of-the-art digital 3-D at the Michigan Theater!

Special screenings

Silent-film master Buster Keaton plays a movie projectionist and janitor who falls asleep on the job and dreams that he is a Sherlock Holmes-type detective in "Sherlock Jr." this Sunday, May 15 at 1:30 p.m. at the Michigan! The film is presented with live organ accompaniment from Steven Ball and will also feature a selection of silent-era cartoons, also presented with live music. As always, films in our Family Friendly Film Series are free for kids 12 and under!

Opening at the cineplex

"Priest", a western post-apocalyptic thriller, is set during a war between man and vampires. Paul Bettany stars as a Warrior Priest who now lives in obscurity among the human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece (Lily Collins) is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on an obsessive quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. "Priest" opens Friday.

"Bridesmaids" stars Kristen Wiig as Annie, a maid of honor whose life is a mess. When she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love. The film also stars Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper. Christy Lemire of the Associate Press says, "'Bridesmaids' surely doesn't mark the end of conventional female-centric comedies, but it works on so many levels, it'll hopefully make future filmmakers stop and think twice before approaching this kind of project and realize it can be done (better)." See you at the movies!

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.