Average Joe
High school football coach Joe Kennedy has always been a fighter. He had no other choice. Abandoned by his biological mother, Joe spent his childhood fighting through the cold realities of foster care and group-home life. At 18, he finally found a home for his warrior spirit: in the Marine Corps, where he served in the Gulf War. Following a distinguished career in the Corps, he returned home not realizing that his biggest battle was yet to come. After retiring from the Marines, Joe felt led by God to help coach high school football—where he could pour into a generation of young men the love and guidance he so desperately sought at that age. Retired, happily married, building into kids as a strong role model … it all was finally coming together for Joe. Until he prayed. Yep, Joe was fired. For praying. Silently. By himself. After the games. From Emmy® Award-winning director Harold Cronk (God’s Not Dead, Unbroken: Path To Redemption) and the producers of God’s Not Dead and The Blind comes AVERAGE JOE.
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story
The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from unknown actor to iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today. Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films and played dozens of other roles that displayed his talent and range as an actor, before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. After becoming a quadriplegic, he became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care – all while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera and dedicating himself to his beloved family. From the directors of McQueen, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, this film includes never-before-seen intimate home movies and an extraordinary trove of personal archive material, as well as the first extended interviews ever filmed with Reeve’s three children about their father, and interviews with the A-list Hollywood actors who were Reeve’s colleagues and friends. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.
The Metropolitan Opera: Grounded
Two-time Tony Award–winning composer Jeanine Tesori’s powerful new opera Grounded, commissioned by the Met and based on librettist George Brant’s acclaimed play, wrestles with the ethical quandaries and psychological toll of 21st-century warfare. Mezzo-soprano Emily D’Angelo, one of opera’s most compelling young stars, portrays Jess, a hot-shot fighter pilot whose unplanned pregnancy takes her out of the cockpit and lands her in Las Vegas, operating a Reaper drone halfway around the world. As she struggles to adjust to this new way of doing battle, she fights to maintain her sanity, and her soul, as she is called to rain down death by remote control. Met Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin oversees the Met premiere of Tesori’s kaleidoscopic score and a cast that also features tenor Ben Bliss as the Wyoming rancher who becomes Jess’s husband. Michael Mayer’s high-tech staging, using a vast array of LED screens, presents a variety of perspectives on the action, including the drone’s predatory view from high above. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to movie theaters across the globe.
