Premiere and Party for the year’s top Oscar contender!

The State Theatre is returning to the days when one of our town’s most anticipated events was the opening of a new film. The Artist, nominated for 10 Academy Awards, offered the perfect excuse to roll out the red carpet so, we’re inviting you to not just a movie premiere, but a Premiere Party! Dress up in your black-and-white best (semi and formal attire or period dress) and follow the search light to The State where we hope you’ll join us complimentary Champagne, red carnations for the first 75 ladies, an organ concert, courtesy of Mr. Darrell Tucker, and so much more. Join us for a gala, one-night return to the ’20s, and experience a movie premiere the way it was done back Hollywood’s heyday! Admission is only $10 for a truly unforgettable night out on the town!

The Artist Opening Night

& Gala Premiere Party Fri. Feb. 10 Doors & Party at 6; film at 7 p.m. The Artist, the winner of three Golden Globes (Best Picture – comedy or musical; Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical (Jean Dujardin); and Best Original Score), a leading nominee (12) for the BAFTAs, and one of the most celebrated films of the year is coming to The State. As the transition to talkies gets under way in 1927, a silent movie star (Dujardin, declareed Best Actor at Cannes 2011 for this performance) who will soon be on his way down meets an extra (Bérénice Bejo) who will soon be on her way up. Michel Hazanavicius (OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies) wrote and directed this black-and-white film without spoken dialogue. With John Goodman, James Cromwell and Penelope Ann Miller. “Here is one of the most entertaining films in many a moon, a film that charms because of its story, its performances and because of the sly way it plays with being silent and black and white.” – Roger Ebert “This is not a work of film history but rather a generous, touching and slightly daffy expression of unbridled movie love. Though its protagonist mourns the arrival of sound, The Artist itself is more interested in celebrating the range and power of a medium that can sparkle, swoon and suffer so beautifully that it doesn’t really need to have anything to say.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Opens Sat. Jan. 14, 2012 at 7 p.m.

(R) 2 Hrs. 5 Min. (Digital) In French with English subtitles

For his fifth film, Bertrand Bonello (Tiresea) depicts a highly cinematic and atmospheric look at the final days of a turn of the century brothel when much of the Parisian sex trade was confined to grand maisons, populated by elegant madams and vetted clientele. Within L’Apollonide’s walls, Bonello tracks the lives of the Madam and close to a dozen girls. Despite the fact that desire often mixes with danger and disease rears its ugly head, the film is filled with moments of intimacy and camaraderie amongst the girls. Using a bag of cinematic techniques which include split screen, time shifts and a modern soundtrack, Bonello has made a provocative and beautiful film on not only the world’s oldest profession but also a commentary on history as remembered by art and literature. An official selection of the 2011 Cannes and Toronto International film festivals. “Visually ravishing, troublingly seductive.” – Karina Longworth, LA Weekly “Hypnotic. The heavy candlelit chiaroscuro paints the women as mobile Renoirs, Degases and Manets. The soundtrack, punctuated with raw soul songs, also uses “Nights in White Satin” by the Moody Blues and excerpts from “La Bohème” for maximum contrast and dramatic effect.” – New York Times “A gorgeously filmed portrait of a bygone era, with painstaking attention to period detail.” – New York Post

Sun. Jan. 15, 2012 at 3 p.m.

A presentation of the Modesto Film Society (Unrated) 1 Hr. 42 Min.

Director Alfred Hitchcock’s visually stunning tale of suspense and romance features Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant who infiltrate a ring of Nazi spies, led by Claude Rains, in post-war Rio. Roger Ebert writes that taken together with the earlier Casablanca, “Notorious assures Ingrid Bergman’s immortality.”

Opens Fri. Jan. 13, 2012 at 7 p.m.

(R) 1 Hr. 42 Min. (Digital) In English

The directorial debut of William Monahan, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of The Departed, London Boulevard follows an ex-con (Colin Farrell) trying to make a fresh start in a relationship with a reclusive actress (Kiera Knightley). A sexy, stylish gangster thriller bristling with wit and brutal intrigue, London Boulevard follows two star-crossed lovers who run afoul of one of London’s most vicious crime bosses. “A mix of 1960s Brit gangster-movie flourish and 1940s Hollywood noir… Hard-boiled crime yarn with Irish wit, colorful characters and considerable style” – Hollywood Reporter

Romantic dramas are scarce. All the more reason to cheer Drake Doremus’ fresh, vibrant film Like Crazy, which is anything but a conventional genre piece. Anton Yelchin and Felicity Jones win us over as college students who fall deeply in love and then try to sustain that feeling when circumstances separate them. (After graduating from school she’s forced to return to her native England, while he’s establishing a business in Los Angeles.) There seems to be no artifice in their performances; it’s as if we’re peeking through a window and observing a guileless, likable young couple, up close, as they experience the first flush of love, then suffer the anguish of physical separation and emotional distance. The actors’ work is appealing and beautifully nuanced; no wonder Jones won a Special Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film itself won the Grand Jury Prize. The seeming spontaneity of Like Crazy belies the filmmaker’s canny editing, careful choice of camera placement, color schemes, and structural underpinnings. All of this perfectly complements the actors’ striking and believable characterizations. That applies to the supporting cast, as well, which includes Jennifer Lawrence, Charlie Bewley, Finola Hughes, and Alex Kingston and Oliver Muirhead as Jones’s sympathetic parents. The pinpoint precision of their work, in just a handful of scenes, achieves more than most actors can with reams of dialogue. Like Crazy is invigorating entertainment, and Drake Doremus is an exemplar of independent filmmaking. He’s already working on his next feature, and I can’t wait to see it. – Eric Kohn, for indieWIRE

Fri. Jan. 6 at 7 p.m.; Sat. Jan. 7 at 3:30 p.m. (matinee); Sun. Jan. 8 at 1 p.m. (matinee); Mon. Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.; Tues. Jan. 10 at 4 p.m. (matinee); Wed. Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.; Thurs. Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.