BULLY takes a frank, head-on look at the bullying epidemic happening in America's middle and high schools. It profiles several young victims -- including Alex, a 12-year-old in Sioux City, Iowa, who endures merciless teasing and physical abuse on the school bus every day, and Kelby, a 16-year-old in Tuttle, Okla., who has been ostracized and attacked ever since coming out as a lesbian. In telling their stories and others, Bully explores the full range of bullying's impact on kids, their families, and their communities, from the devastation of teen suicide to frustrated parents getting nowhere with school administrators. And, more than anything, it encourages teens to make a difference -- to stand up against bullying instead of standing by. This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied at school, online, on the bus, at home, through their cell phones and on the streets of their towns, making it the most common form of violence young people in this country experience. BULLY is the first feature documentary film to show how we've all been affected by bullying, whether we've been victims, perpetrators or stood silent witness. Lee Hirsch and Alicia Dwyer's painfully earnest plea on behalf of persecuted children should be seen by kids, above all.

What Parents Need to Know about BULLY from Common Sense Media:
Bully is a no-holds-barred documentary that intimately portrays bullying victims' daily lives. While it's often heartbreaking and deals with tough issues like suicide, the movie addresses an incredibly important, timely topic -- bullying -- in a frank, relatable way that's age appropriate for teens and relevant for middle schoolers if an adult is present to guide discussion. Bully contains strong language but none of the swearing is gratuitous. Like it or not, it's a realistic portrayal of what every middle schooler and older hears every day. This gives the film veracity and credibility with kids, and it will justifiably shock parents. Bully's most challenging material isn't just the language, but the suicides. Seeing grieving parents and friends could potentially be upsetting to teens and preteens, so they should definitely watch with adults. Bully also addresses the concepts of cutting, physical abuse, and more, but in a way that presents the consequences as well as the behavior itself. Victims' parents are generally portrayed as supportive and loving, while school administrators come off in a much less positive light. Ultimately, Bully encourages kids to stand up to bullies, not stand by, and reinforces the fact that everyone can make a difference when it comes to this essential issue. The film has been deemed to be appropriate for viewing by children as young as 12, when accompanied by an adult.

Admission for matinees will be $5 for students 18 years of age and under, and $8 for adults (over the age of 18).

Admission for evening screenings will be $7 for students 18 years of age and under, and $10 for adults (over the age of 18).

Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner star in this Rogers and Hammerstein musical set in 19^th century Siam/Thailand.  Come sing along with "Getting to Know You, "Hello Young Lovers" "Shall we Dance"  "etcetera, etcetera, etcetera."  Directed by Walter Lang. 

From its prosaic name, which recalls a short story title, to its carefully calibrated observations on the ways we disconnect, co-writer/directors Annie Howell and Lisa Robinson's Small, Beautifully Moving Parts is a tiny, sweet gem. Sarah (Anna Margaret Hollyman) is pregnant for the first time and trying to discern what kind of mother she could be. She's a woman who loves the intricacies of technology. She can understand wiring and apps and gadgets, but inside herself there's mystery. Arriving from New York at her sister's place in California for a baby shower, she decides to reconcile with her estranged mother as a way to find answers. But her mom, it turns out, has "gone off the grid." Unlike her daughter, Sarah's mom is crunchy to the bone. ("Too analog," as Sarah might say.). A road trip to see the woman she never truly knew may seem like a bad idea, but Sarah needs it to find a pathway to her next stage in life. Adapted, appropriately, from a web series, "Small Beautifully Moving Parts" - an award winner at the Hamptons Film Festival - is effortless in its merging of 21st-century techie stuff and that most basic of beta systems: our own hearts. During Sarah's '70s-movie style trip to Big Sur, where mom Marjorie hangs with her fellow commune dwellers, Hollyman is never less than real. As she tries to find the unnamable thing she seeks, her face lights up with satisfied recognition when some programmable comfort pops up. This charming, unprogrammed movie provides the same kind of charge.  "A wonderfully naturally break-out performance!" - The Huffington Post "Unmistakably human in its warmth, an indie road movie that runs like clockwork." - IFC.com

Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Monsieur Lazhar tells the poignant story of a Montreal middle school class shaken by the death of their well-liked teacher. Bachir Lazhar (Fellag), a 55-year-old Algerian immigrant, offers the school his services as a substitute teacher and is quickly hired. As he helps the children heal, he also learns to accept his own painful past. This moving film features exquisite performances by Fellag and a stunning ensemble of child actors. This official selection of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the film has been a consistent crowd-pleaser at Art Houses and a Critic's Pick since its 2011 release.  "Superb naturalistic performances devoid of cuteness and stereotyping. Like no other film about middle school life that I can recall" - Stephen Holden, New York Times

This tales of two rivals, both eccentric professors who have dedicated their lives to their work in Talmudic Studies, is actually the tale of a father and son. The father, Eliezer, is a stubborn purist who fears the establishment while his son, Uriel, is an up-and-coming star in the field.  The tables turn when Eliezer learns that he is to be awarded the Israel Prize, the most valuable honor for scholarship in the country. The honor inadvertently exposes his vanity and desperate need for validation. Uriel is thrilled to see his father's achievements finally recognized but, in a darkly funny twist, is forced to choose between the advancement of his own career and possibly sabotaging his father's glory. Footnote, at its heart, is the story of  academic competition, the dichotomy between admiration and envy for a role model, and the very complicated relationship between a father and his son. Nominated in 2012 for Best Foreign Language Film; winner of Best Screenplay winner at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival; and a nominee for Best Screenplay at the 2012 Independent Spirit Award competition. "One of the smartest and most merciless comedies to come along in a while." -- Rober Ebert, Chicago Sun Times  "Filmmaking of the highest level" - Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times  "A piercing satire, a poignant family drama and an investigation of the competing claims of honesty, loyalty, ambition and love." - AO Scott, New York Times  "Nothing short of brilliant" - Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Ready for root beer floats, a costume parade and dancing in the aisles of The State to one of the best film soundtracks in history? So are we! Join us for our annual screening of American Graffiti, a crowd-pleasing classic starring Ron Howard, Harrison Ford, Richard Dreyfuss, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark and many more.  The State owns a 35mm archival print, stored and maintained year-round in the UCLA film vault, and it's that pristine print that you'll see for two joyous screenings where dancing and singing and still part of the fun, just as they were when American Graffiti was released more than 38 years ago!  Every year we also roll back admission to only $3 so, bring 10 of your closest personal friends and have a blast!  The State's frothy and now-famous root beer floats will also be available so get here early, while there's plenty of A&W root beer and French vanilla ice cream left. At only $2.50 each, they go fast!  Don your best duds from the late ‘50s and early ‘60s and enter our costume parade by dressing as your favorite character from American Graffiti, George Lucas' consummate coming-of-age film. Watch the gang from Mel's Drive-in as they spend the last summer night of 1962 together before heading to college. Nominated in 1974 for five Oscars, American Graffiti is one film that never fails to leave viewers feeling good. Rediscover drag racing, Inspiration Point and drive-ins all over again in this nostalgic look at the ‘60s. The incredible soundtrack brings you the most memorable rock ‘n' roll hits of the era. Join us for feel-good glimpse of the good old days when American Graffiti makes its annual one-day run at The State.

Admission: $3

Musicians James Taylor and Dennis Wilson star in cult director Monte Hellman's underrated, 1971 existential road movie Two-Lane Blacktop, the Modesto Film Society Cinema Club selection for June. In a recent article, The Observer's film critic Philip French wrote: The concept of the road movie goes back to Homer's Odyssey. But the genre wasn't named until the early 1970s when a group of American countercultural pictures much influenced by the new European cinema demanded collective recognition. Arguably the best was Two-Lane Blacktop, an existential masterpiece directed by Monte Hellman, who'd been responsible for the first West Coast production of Waiting for Godot and learned his moviemaking skills working on low-budget Roger Corman films. It centers on a driving contest across the American Southwest between two cool, laconic hipsters (musicians Dennis Wilson and James Taylor) driving a souped-up 1955 Chevrolet, and a chameleon conman (Warren Oates's finest performance), who drives a GTO Pontiac and presents a different face to everyone he meets. None of the characters has a name, and the film's epigraph could well be a line from Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee" that figures on the soundtrack: "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"  Two-Lane Blacktop should have established Hellman as one of the great directors of his generation. Instead, its box-office failure made him an enduring cult figure.  A discussion led by a local filmmaker will follow the film.

 Admission is $8 for non MFS Cinema Club members

What's the highest-grossing musical of all time? Grease! Could it get any better than the 1978 original? The answer is a resounding "yes!" The State just obtained the newly restored and remastered 35mm print being released to select theaters throughout the U.S., so be sure and join hundreds of other Grease fans when they sing along to the best high school musical - ever! Dress up as your favorite character from the film, compete for prizes, and dance in the aisles while Rydell High's most famous graduating class - including greaser Danny Zuko (John Travolta), good girl Sandy Olsen (Olivia Newton-John) , the T-Birds and the Pink Ladies - romp their way through a summer of love. If you're longing for the a return to the good old days of the ‘50s, come to The State and sing away your cares to favorites from "You're The One (That I'm With)," "Summer Nights," "Beauty School Dropout," and the now-famous "Greased Lightning." As always, there will be fun giveaways, drink specials and contests for prizes.

Tickets are $5

The classic American film, To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece by Harper Lee, is celebrating it's 50th anniversary, a benchmark celebrated by President Barack Obama on April 26 with a special screening at the Family Theater at The White House. The broadcast featured the newly released, digitally remastered print of the film which is also going to be shown at The State June 17 in honor of Father's Day. Lee, the novel's reclusive author and an Alabama native, even offered a rare statement about Obama's participation: "I'm deeply honored that President Obama will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird by introducing it to a national audience. I believe it remains the best translation of a book to film ever made, and I'm proud to know that Gregory Peck's portrayal of Atticus Finch lives on -- in a world that needs him now more than ever." The 1962 film won three Oscars, including a Best Actor prize for Peck, who starred as the Southern lawyer and inspired generations of civil rights attorneys, and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for 9-year-old newcomer Mary Badham, who perfectly plays Atticus' plucky daughter, Scout Finch who narrates the film, in one of the finest book-to-screen adaptations ever. The film, a despairing characterization of racism in American, is on practically every Top Ten list ever created. Robert Duvall stars as Boo Radley; Brock Peters stars as Tom Robinson, a black man charged with an undeserved charge of rape by a white woman in the Depression-era South.

Admission to this special Father's Day presentation is free to Modesto Film Society and Cinema Club members, and only $5 to the general public.

In Music From The Big House, Rita Chiarelli, Canada's Goddess of the Blues, takes a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Blues: Louisiana State Maximum Security Penitentiary, aka Angola Prison - formerly the bloodiest prison in America. Rita's trip turns into an unprecedented historic jailhouse performance, playing with - rather than for - musician inmates serving life sentences. Their shared bond of music, and Chiarelli's ebullient personality, draw striking revelations from the inmates. Rather than sensational stories of convicts, we witness remarkable voices of hope as their love of music radiates humanity and redemption on their quest for forgiveness. Chiarelli, a gifted songwriter and performer, with a soaring, three-octave voice that sets her apart from her peers, will be at The State to discuss the film, and recording the soundtrack. She developed the original concept for the film, in which she organizes an historic, unprecedented jailhouse performance with inmates serving life sentences, that came to fruition thanks to her perseverance, passion for the project, and her belief in the redemptive power of music. Discuss this decade-long journey that took her from her native Canada to Angola, a piece of land that has seen more suffering and brutality than almost anywhere in the country. A former plantation worked by slaves, and now a maximum-security penitentiary, Angola also boasts an incredibly rich musical tradition.
"Excuse me for gushing, but documentary filmmaking does not get any better than this. This is one of those documentaries that deserve to be seen by... everyone." Don Schwartz, Cine Source Magazine

Admission: $10

www.musicfromthebighouse.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Music-From-The-Big-House/327529824794

The Beatles' revolutionary, 1968 animated classic Yellow Submarine has been digitally restored and will be presented on the big screen at The State, giving Beatles fans of all ages the opportunity to come together and share in this visually stunning movie and soundtrack. Currently out of print, the film has been restored in 4K digital resolution for the first time by Paul Rutan Jr. and his team of specialists at Triage Motion Picture Services and Eque Inc. Due to the delicate nature of the hand-drawn original artwork, no automated software was used in the digital clean-up of the film's restored photochemical elements. This was all done by hand, frame by frame. Directed by George Dunning, and written by Lee Minoff, Al Brodax, Jack Mendelsohn and Erich Segal, Yellow Submarine began its voyage to the screen when Brodax, who had previously produced nearly 40 episodes of ABC's animated Beatles TV series, approached The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein with a unique vision for a full-length animated feature. Based on a song by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Yellow Submarine is a fantastic tale brimming with peace, love and hope, propelled by Beatles songs, including "Eleanor Rigby," "When I'm Sixty-Four," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "All You Need Is Love," and "It's All Too Much." When the film debuted in 1968, it was instantly recognized as a landmark achievement, revolutionizing a genre by integrating the freestyle approach of the era with innovative animation techniques. Inspired by the generation's new trends in art, the film resides with the dazzling Pop Art styles of Andy Warhol, Martin Sharp, Alan Aldridge and Peter Blake. With art direction and production design by Heinz Edelmann, the entire process took two years, 14 different scripts, 40 animators and 140 technical artists, ultimately producing a groundbreaking triumph of animation. The opening night of the film, the Modesto Film Society selection for July, will feature a discussion following the screening.

Yellow Submarine synopsis:
Once upon a time... or maybe twice, there was an unearthly paradise called Pepperland, a place where happiness and music reigned supreme. But all that was threatened when the terrible, music-hating Blue Meanies declared war and sent in their army led by a menacing Flying Glove to destroy all that was good. Enter John, Paul, George and Ringo who accompany Captain Fred in his submarine to save the day! Armed with little more than their humor and songs, The Beatles tackle the rough seas ahead in an effort to bring down the evil forces of bluedom.

Admission is $10 for non members for evening screenings and $8 for matinees

Hard to believe that Steven Spielberg's box office busting smash hit, Raiders of the Lost Ark, just celebrated its 30th anniversary! In Raiders, archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) is hired by the US government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis, and it plays like an anthology of the best parts from all the Saturday matinee serials ever made. It takes place in Africa, Nepal, Egypt, at sea and in a secret submarine base. It contains trucks, bulldozers, tanks, motorcycles, ships, subs, Pan Am Clippers, and a Nazi flying wing. It has snakes, spiders, booby traps and explosives. The hero is trapped in a snake pit, and the heroine finds herself assaulted by mummies. The weapons range from revolvers and machineguns to machetes and whips. And there is the supernatural, too, as the Ark of the Covenant triggers an eerie heavenly fire that bolts through the bodies of the Nazis. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by Philip Kaufman, George Lucas and an uncredited Spielberg, whose movie is just plain fun, and one of the classic entertainments of all time. Harrison Ford is the embodiment of Indiana Jones -- dry, fearless, and as indestructible as a cartoon coyote. Karen Allen plays Marian, his sidekick, a gutsy broad who has the duty of following the hero from one side of the globe to the other, while in constant danger. (She is nearly burned alive twice, shot at, faces down a King Cobra!)

Sat. Aug. 18 at 3 p.m.; doors at 2 p.m.
Admission: $8 for adults; $5 for children 12 years of age and under

The State is uniting with audiences in 250 cities across six continents via the World's First Global Film Festival. You can be part of an audience of more than 100,000 film lovers in art house cinemas, museums, colleges and universities across the globe who will view and vote on 10 of the most creative short films, all of which have been selected as finalists in the 15^th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival, one of the most exciting film events in the world today.  MANHATTAN SHORT selects 10 short films (18 minutes or under) from over 500 entries submitted by more than 48 countries worldwide. Past finalists from MANHATTAN SHORT have gone on to be nominated for Oscars and many of the filmmakers have subsequently moved into the feature film industry. From 30 international locations in places such as Russia, Kathmandu, Sydney, Dublin, Buenos Aires and cities in each of the 50 United States, MANHATTAN SHORT is akin to Earth Day for short films! You will join with others from across the globe to vote for the film you think should win the title of "Best MANHATTAN SHORT." As an audience member, you will be handed a voting card as well as a full-color program. After the last film has screened, you will be asked to vote for the film that stood out the most. Votes will be tallied by a venue representative and then emailed to MANHATTAN SHORT HQ. The winner will be announced on Sun, Oct. 7.

Fri. Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. - admission is $12
Sat. Sept. 29 at 7 p.m. - admission is $12
Sun. Sept. 30 at 3:30 p.m. - admission is $10