Category: Nelson Civic Theatre

And the Pitch!
Enter a multiverse of madness with your favourite snarky surgeon-turned-superhero, Dr. Strange! The Sorcerer Supreme teams up with old friends and new allies to save the multiverse this week at the Civic!

The Pitch

Dip your toe in the multi-verse with this week’s indie darling, ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’, before cannonballing in with ‘Dr. Strange’ up next.  And on the split, lose yourself in ‘The Lost City’, before you lose your mind in ‘The Multi-Verse of Madness’ starting next week.  And while we are still in this week and in this universe, also check-out the latest from the Malayalam franchise with ‘CBI 5: The Brain’, on Monday.  

And finally, The year is 2025 and Eastern Ukraine exists in the postwar aftermath of a full-scale border war against Russia.  This is the setting of the remarkably prescient 2019 film, Atlantis, by Ukraine director, Valentyn Vasyanovych. Proceeds from this screening will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. – Wed. May 4th.

“See Nick Cage as… Nick Cage, starring alongside Pedro Pascal in the action comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, playing this week at the Civic! It’s Nicholas Cage as you’ve never seen him before… or maybe you have!”

The Pitch by Jason!

Another fantastic week at The Civic Theatre, and that’s aside from getting to see the next installment of ‘The Fantastic Beasts’ series.  

Reel Canada’s National Canadian Film Day turns 9 this year, and on Weds,  April, 20th, communities across the country will celebrate our Canadian film heritage with free screenings of current and classic Canadian titles. The Civic Theatre has taken part in National Canadian Film Day ever since its second outing back when we were but a babe in 2014, with a free screening of the iconic Canadian film, ‘C.R.A.Z.Y’, from director Jean-Marc Vallée, who we sadly lost this past year and whom Reel Canada has prepared a tribute to for this year’s celebration. Even throughout the Pandemic closures, The Civic managed to still take part with a free virtual online offering in 2020 and a drive-in screening of Atom Egoyan’s, ‘The Sweet Hereafter’ in 2021. And now, back in person in 2022, NCFD highlights the explosion of remarkable cinema by Indiginous filmmakers working in Canada. “Celebrating Indigenous Voices’ will be presented in association with imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival. For The Civic’s selection, we have settled upon a free/by donation 5pm screening of ‘Wildhood’ preceding Fantastic Beasts on April 20th 

One of TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten films of 2021, ‘Wildhood’ tells the story of two-spirit Mi’kmaw teenager Link (Phillip Lewitski) who is just discovering — and asserting — his sexuality when his already volatile home life goes off the rails. His abusive father explodes after the cops bust Link and his half-brother Travis (Avery Winters-Anthony) for stealing scrap metal. When he finds out that his supposedly dead mother may be alive, Link flees with Travis in tow. Sparks fly in a chance encounter with teen drifter Pasmay (Joshua Odjick), who shares Link’s Indigenous roots and offers to help find his mother — but will Link’s (well-founded) mistrust of people ruin his potential new relationship and the group’s mission? 

For the rest of the week, Apr. 15 – Apr. 21st, ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’ get spilled across The Civic’s screen. Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards and witches. They soon encounter an array of old and new beasts as they clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers. Mads Mikklesen takes on the Gellert Grindelwald mantle, which should be exciting.  I love Mads.

Happy National Canadian Film Day!    

“The Pitch!

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races onto the big screen this week at the Civic! Don’t miss an opportunity to see Sonic aka Blue Justice, trademark pending, in action against the hilariously nefarious Dr. Robotnik (played to perfection by Jim Carrey). But Dr. Robotnik has a secret weapon; Knuckles, a red ball of fury with the strength to take the sapphire speedster down! Exciting action, true friendship and fun for the whole family abound this week at your local independent cinema! “

Vote now for who you think will win big at the Oscars! The winners win free tickets and concessions! Voting closes 5pm March 27th and prizes will be awarded at the Oscars Live Stream

Vote Now!

International, documentary, shorts and Canadian films are often overlooked by cinema exhibition; especially if you only have 1-screen in town that primarily caters to the latest from the dream machine down south. But The Civic Theatre is committed to diverse programming, and this upcoming week, as well as last’s, proves this. From films from Bhutan, India, Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Afghanistan, Japan, Finland, UK and US, and Nova Scotia to Quebec, The Civic Theatre is bringing the world to our little mountain community. 

It is no easy feat in a city of our size and on a single-screen that is held to the screening restrictions around major motion pictures from the big studios to program these smaller jewels of cinema, and this is why we go all-in when a window presents itself.  So I urge you, pull back the curtain and look out of it while it’s still here.  Starting in April, a string of three consecutive on release blockbusters will lock down our screen for single weekly titles for the bulk of the month, but for this week at least, you will not be disappointed as The Civic continues its adventure with a pair of International Women’s Month selections, the amazing Nova Scotia film, Dawn, Her Dad and the Tractor. A story that revolves around Dawn, a young trans woman who returns to the family farm in the Maritimes after her mother dies, meeting her father and sister for the first time since she transitioned. The film is a first directorial debut from Shelly Thompson, who moved from in front of the camera with her role Barbara Lahey in the hit series Trailer Park Boys, to behind it with this touching story that was inspired by her own experience as a mother to a trans son. The second women’s month film is a phenomenal documentary that garnered a best feature documentary Oscar nomination.  Writing with Fire tells the story of Khabar Lahariya, the only news agency in India run by Dalit (oppressed-caste) women. Armed with smartphones, these women journalists report from some of the most difficult regions of the country, risking everything to speak truth to power. Led by Chief Reporter Meera and her feisty understudy, crime reporter Suneeta, the film bears witness to the wit, intelligence and compassion of these journalists in confronting the most urgent stories of our times. 100% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes!

And on the topic of Oscar nominations, complete your nominations viewing with the Oscar nominated shorts programs, live action, documentary and animated.  The Oscar shorts categories have always been the random guess on the Oscar ballot entries at the previous Civic live-streams of the Academy Awards, but with great prizes in store for the highest scored ballots, don’t take the chance; get the advantage by putting your discerning eyes on these amazing stories and make your picks confidently. The Oscars live-stream is on Sunday, Mar. 27th at 5pm.  You can find a ballot in person at the theatre or look for a link on our Facebook and website pages leading up to the event.  

Learn about the rest of the week’s great titles, Drive My Car, Compartment No. 6 and Une Révision, offered this week at here.