Consolidated Theatres will being showing more independent, foreign and specialty films to Kukui Theatre on Maui, officials with the theater company said today.

The executive team behind the Consolidated Theatres circuit in Hawai‘i also operates the Angelika Film Center in New York City (www.AngelikaFilmCenter.com), the most successful dedicated arthouse in North America that was among the first to show films like “The Blairwitch Project,” “Supersize Me,” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”
The Kahala 8, which has also been showing more independent and foreign films, falls under the Consolidated Theatres umbrella.
“We are thrilled to bring this new film selection to the Kukui Theatre,” said Rachel Gibson, Consolidated Theatres’ Promotions and Events Manager. “The array of independent and foreign films we will offer is an excellent fit with the community’s interest in art and specialty films.”
While the Kukui Theatre will continue to exhibit some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters this summer, the following specialty films are scheduled , though release dates may change.
 
VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR – Opens June 5
Critics and audiences around the world are raving about this behind-the-scenes look at the life of legendary designer Valentino, and his longtime partner, Giancarlo Giammetti.  The film follows these two men for the last two years of their careers, and shows the struggles they face as they confront the final act of a nearly 50-year career at the top of the fashion world.  The struggle of art against commerce is at the center of the film.  In the end, however, the story proves to be not one about money or expensive clothes, but about love.
 
DEPARTURES – Opens June 19
Academy Award Winner - Best Foreign Language Film
 
Winner of awards around the globe, including the Audience Award at the 2008 Hawaii International Film Festival, DEPARTURES follows Daigo (Masahiro Motoki), a cellist who suddenly loses his job with a premier Tokyo orchestra.  Dejected, he takes his adoring wife back to his home town and applies for a job at “Departures”, a funeral preparations business he mistakenly believes to be a travel business. 
 
EASY VIRTUE – Opens June 19
Director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) delivers a sparkling adaptation of a Noël Coward play about the culture clash that ensues after a young Englishman (Prince Caspian’s Ben Barnes) marries a glamorous, spirited American (Jessica Biel) and introduces her to his conservative British family.  Hilarious and witty performances by Colin Firth and Oscar nominee Kristen Scott Thomas (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG) add to this crowd pleasing romp.
 
AWAY WE GO – Opens July 3
From Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes (AMERICAN BEAUTY, REVOLUTIONARY ROAD) comes a funny and heartfelt film about the journey of an expectant couple as they travel the U.S. in search of the perfect place to put down roots and raise their family.  Mendes’ all star cast includes John Krasinski (THE OFFICE), Maya Rudolph (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), Jeff Daniels, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Josh Hamilton, Allison Janney, Catherine O’Hara and Paul Schneider.
 
WHATEVER WORKS – Opens July 3
Three-time Academy Award winner and legendary writer/director Woody Allen returns to his first love: romantic comedy in New York City. Starring CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and SEINFELD creator Larry David, Golden Globe nominees Evan Rachel Wood (THE WRESTLER, THIRTEEN), Ed Begley Jr. and Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson (PIECES OF APRIL), WHATEVER WORKS is sure to delight fans of both Allen’s original and contemporary pieces.

CHERI – Opens July 10
The luminous Michelle Pfeiffer (DANGEROUS LIASONS) returns to the screen in the playful adaptation of Colette’s unconventional romance, Cherí.  Accomplished director Stephen Frears (THE QUEEN, DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, DANGEROUS LIASONS) and Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (ATONEMENT, DANGEROUS LIASONS) tell the story of the ravishing Lea (Pfeiffer), who contemplates retirement from her renowned stature as Paris’s most envied courtesan, until her arch rival (played by Oscar winner Kathy Bates) convinces her to teach her disaffected 19 year-old son — a bon vivant nicknamed “Chéri” (Rupert Friend) — a thing or two about women.
 
RUDO Y CURSI – Opens July 24
Already one of the highest grossing films in Mexico’s box office history, RUDO Y CURSI reunites Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN stars Diego Luna (MILK) and Gael García Bernal (MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, BABEL) with their Academy Award-nominated writer/director Carlos Cuar?n. Luna and Bernal display perfect chemistry as brothers working in banana plantations, dreaming of a better future. When a soccer talent scout discovers them, they become rivals in their new profession.
 
EVERY LITTLE STEP – Opens July 31
From the directors of THE YEAR OF YAO and …SO GOES THE NATION comes a new documentary about one of Broadway’s most defining shows.  Following the trials and triumphs of real-life auditionees for A Chorus Line, EVERY LITTLE STEP, goes behind the scenes of the audition process while also reflecting on the history of the show in both its original and current versions.
 
TYSON – Opens July 31
Acclaimed indie director James Toback's inventive portrait of Mike Tyson is called “elemental, essential viewing” by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. Richard Corliss of Time Magazine says “the trick of any one man documentary is the personality of the subject: a powerful voice that brings perspective to an unusual life story.  Tyson has all that...a movie that’s a contender for best sports documentary, heavyweight class.”
 
JULIE AND JULIA – Opens August 7
Oscar winner Meryl Streep plays Julia Child, the beloved cookbook author and public television chef. Based on the wildly popular blog and novel by Julie Powell, JULIE AND JULIA is one frustrated temp’s journey to salvation through food.  Julie (Oscar nominee Amy Adams) aims, in one year’s time, to cook all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking in her tiny kitchen.  Flanked by legends Meryl Streep, Golden Globe winner Stanley Tucci and director Nora Ephron (WHEN HARRY MET SALLY), Adams brings Julie’s words to life.
 
500 DAYS OF SUMMER – Opens August 7
Beloved Queen of quirky comedy Zooey Deschanel (ALL THE REAL GIRLS) stars with Joseph Gordon-Levitt (BRICK, MYSTERIOUS SKIN) in 500 DAYS OF SUMMER, a post modern love story and debut feature from music video director Marc Webber.  Tom (Gordon-Levitt) falls helplessly in love with Summer (Deschanel) but when Summer doesn’t return his fervor, Tom sifts through their 500 days together, searching for answers.  He instead rediscovers the things in life about which he is most passionate.

ADAM – Opens August 28
Winner of the Alfred P. Sloan Feature prize this year at Sundance, ADAM is an unusual, tender love story focused on a character with an alternative happily-ever-after.  Emmy nominee Hugh Dancy (THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB) plays Adam, a curious young man with a severe case of Asperger’s syndrome.  He falls for his neighbor Beth (Rose Byrne), stirring tensions with her friends and family – who don’t understand his blunt honesty and peculiar manners – and can only see the differences between Adam and Beth.
 
TAKING WOODSTOCK – Opens Late Summer
Ang Lee and James Schamus, who have collaborated on box office sensations BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, deliver the big screen adaptation of Elliot Tiber’s memoir. While working at his parents’ motel in the Catskills in the summer of ’69, Tiber (rising comedic star Demetri Martin) inadvertently set in motion a generation-defining concert. The film also stars Imelda Staunton (SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE), Emile Hirsch (INTO THE WILD), Eugene Levy, Paul Dano (THERE WILL BE BLOOD) and Liev Schreiber (DEFIANCE).

More information about these summer films and other film programming can be found at www.ConsolidatedTheatres.com.