Champlain Valley Film Society

The Champlain Valley Film Society shows current and classic movies throughout the year in upstate New York, from Essex and Elizabethtown to Westport and Willsboro.

2008 Movie Schedule

August 2 Air Guitar Nation Ballard Park
Westport		 8:00
August 23 Annie Hall Ballard Park
Westport		 8:00
September 13 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days TBA 8:00
September 23 TBA TBA 8:00
October 11 King Corn TBA 8:00
October 25 Taxi to the Dark Side TBA 8:00
November 8 TBA Willsboro Central School 8:00
November 22 TBA Willsboro Central School 8:00
December 6 TBA Willsboro Central School 8:00

Air Guitar Contest

1st ADIRONDACK AIR GUITAR CONTEST

Saturday, August 2nd
6:00 PM
Ballard Park, 645 Main Street, Westport, NY

  • 1. All contestants must register in advance by emailing your name, age, and phone number to cvfilmsociety@aol.com
  • 2. The entry fee is $5; you can pay on August 2nd at Ballard. This also allows you to see the film Air Guitar Nation at 8:00 PM that same night.
  • 3. All contestants will perform in the 1st Round. Five contestants will be selected by the judges for the 2nd Round.
  • 4. Contestants pick their songs for the 1st Round. The maximum length is 60 second but it can be a little shorter, if necessary. If your song is longer than one minute, select the part you want to use and copy that onto a CD or flashdrive. We must be able to transfer your music into the Ballard Park sound system. If for some reason we cannot transfer your song, you will be asked to play the first minute of TK by TBA so be prepared in case of technical difficulties.
  • 5. The five finalists will be asked to play a new 60-second song chosen by the judges. This "compulsory" song will be kept secret until the finalists are selected, therefore you will have to improvise.
  • 6. The judges score the performances on a 4.0 to 6.0 scale that's similar to the one used in international figure skating. The criteria for judging are:
  • Technical Merit - how well does your performance match the music you've selected, including accurate fretwork, chords, solos and technical moves?
  • Stage Presence - do you have the charisma of a rock star, the ability to rock an audience with athletic guitar moves and emotional intensity?
  • Airness - the most subjective yet most important criterion is your ability to transcend the imitation of a real guitar and make your performance an art form by itself.
  • 7. Contestants must play alone. Backing bands, either with real or air instruments are not allowed. Roadies and groupies are allowed, but only briefly; they must leave the stage before a performance begins.
  • 8. No real musical equipment is allowed: no guitar picks, no amplifiers, no effect pedals, etc.
  • 9. The scoring by the judges is final and cannot be appealed.
  • Please note: Air guitarists usually perform under a stage name. You can make up your own or go to http://www.airguitarnation.com/airname/

In addition to the $100 First Prize, the Winner will lead the other contestants -- and any members of the audience who wish to join us -- in a final air guitar song after the conclusion of the movie. The Second Place prize is $50 and Third Place is $25.

For more information, including a video preview of the film Air Guitar Nation, please go to http://cvfsguitar.blogspot.com/

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Film Reviews

AIR GUITAR NATION

Saturday, August 2 - Ballard Park, Westport - 8:00 PM

This award-winning documentary is a hilarious look at the strange world of air guitar, where the musicians really rock even though the instruments are invisible. You will see the best in the world compete at the World Air Guitar Championship in Finland (who knew?). The exciting finale of this cult classic pits David "C Diddy" Jung against his archrival, Dan "Bjorn Turoque" Crane.

  • "Genius...On a scale of 1-7, I give it an 11" - Newsweek
  • "Hilarious!" - Variety
  • "As funny as Spinal Tap" - Hollywood Reporter
  • "This film totally rocks!" - Salon.com
  • "Fascinating" - TV Guide
  • "Funny stuff" - Christian Science Monitor
  • "It's for real, even if the guitars are not" - Los Angeles Times
  • "You'll have a damn good time" - Austin Chronicle
  • "Pitch-pefect" - San Francisco Chronicle

Rated R for some language and brief nudity

Movie Review Links

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ANNIE HALL

Saturday, August 23 - Ballard Park, Westport - 8:00 PM

Winner of 4 Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Woody Allen) and Best Actress (Diane Keaton). The crown jewel of Woody Allen's career follows the romance between neurotic, intellectual Alvy Singer and the vivacious but flaky Annie Hall.

  • "Very, very funny" - Roger Ebert
  • "Woody Allen is one of the best directors we have" - New York Times
  • "More superb gags in one minute than most movies manage in 90" - The Guardian
  • "A hilarious look at comtemporary relationships" - TV Guide
  • "Woody Allen's masterpiece" - The Greatest Movies
  • "A truly hilarious love story" - Variety
  • "Woody Allen's best work" - Channel 4 Film

Movie Review Links

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4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS

Saturday, September 13 - 8:00 PM

Winner, Best Film at the Cannes Film Festival as well as 17 other film awards. This thrilling drama is set in Romania in the 1980s. In a country where abortion is outlawed, a young college student finds herself in trouble and turns to her roommate for help.

  • "One of the strongest movies in recent years" - Time
  • "Riveting. One of the very best movies of the year" Entertainment Weekly
  • "Brilliantly acted" - Wall Street Journal
  • "Creates scenes unlike any ever filmed" - San Francisco Chronicle
  • "A masterpiece" - Christian Science Monitor
  • "A deeply affecting human drama" - Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  • "A truly great movie" - Chicago Reader
  • "Brilliant, suspenseful and absolutely riveting" - Miami Herald

Not Rated

Movie Review Links

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About CVFS

The Champlain Valley Film Society began showing movies in 2003 in the theater at the Willsboro Central School in Willsboro, NY, debuting with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Breaking Away, and Shakespeare in Love. In the summer of 2004 we started screening films outdoors behind the Essex Inn, in Essex, NY, with Some Like It Hot and North by Northwest. The summer movie series continued in 2005 with such films as Notorious and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. In the winter of 2006 we began a new indoor series, with films such as March of the Penguins, The Battle of Algiers, and Capote. That summer we also began showing movies outdoors at Ballard Park in Westport, NY, with Master and Commander and A Hard Day's Night.

The Champlain Valley Film Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible.

We are very grateful for the many donations from the community and for grants from the following organizations: the Adirondack Community Trust, the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks, the Boquet River Association, the Essex Community Fund, and the Honeybee Foundation.

Our 2008 schedule of films is made possible, in part, with a Developing Community Arts Grant with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program administered locally by the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks

    2003: A Bug's Life; Breaking Away; Close Encounters of the Third Kind; Dumb and Dumber, Grease; Shakespeare in Love

    2004: North by Northwest; Some Like It Hot

    2005: Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Notorious; Putting It Together; Sweeney Todd

    2006: The Battle of Algiers; The Beauty Academy of Kabul; Best In Show; Capote; Disappearances; Good Night and Good Luck; A Hard Day's Night; An Inconvenient Truth; The Incredibles; L. A. Confidential; Life Is Beautiful; Mad Hot Ballroom; March of the Penguins; Master and Commander; Much Ado About Nothing; Neil Young: Heart of Gold; A Prairie Home Companion; Rockwell Kent;Spirited Away; Z

    2007: Basquiat; Bobby; Charade; Children of Men; Concert for George; Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing; The Heart of the Game; Henry V; Hot Fuzz; Kung Fu Hustle; The Last King of Scotland; Letters from Iwo Jima; Little Miss Sunshine; The Lives of Others; Local Hero; The Namesake; Once; Pan's Labyrinth; The Princess Bride; The Queen; Sicko; The Sting; Three Farms; Waitress; Whale Rider

    2008: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days; The 11th Hour; Air Guitar Nation; Annie Hall; Atonement; Au Revoir, les Enfants; Away From Her; Charlie Wilson's War; The Darjeeling Limited; Death at a Funeral; The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Into the Wild; Juno; King Corn; Lars and the Real Girl; No Country for Old Men; Taxi to the Dark Side; Touching the Void

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Contact Us

cvfilmsociety@aol.com

    Box 743, Willsboro, NY 12996

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Local Businesses

Adirondack Community News
The place to post public news, comments, ideas, suggestions, etc..
Adirondack Country Homes Realty, Inc.
For homes, land, commercial properties, and waterfront real estate.
Essex County
For info about culture, recreation, business, education, government and more.
The Cupola House on Lake Champlain
Essex: Guest House and Vacation Rental Extraordinaire.
The Deer's Head Inn Restaurant
Elizabethtown: Casual Fine Dining.
The Inn on the Library Lawn
Westport: an Adirondack retreat overlooking Lake Champlain.
Turtle Island Cafe
Willsboro: Named "Best Area Restaurant" by the New York Times.
Westport, NY
Westport Chamber of Commerce
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