Thursday December 20 - 7pm

A BENEFIT FOR CHAT and SAFE SPACE - ALL SEATS $10.00

ADVANCE TICKETS RECOMMENDED. Tickets go on sale Sunday 12/9 at BLACKBIRD: BOOKS, GALLERY, CAFE located at 1431 Park Ave in Chico. 530.433.1577

The holiday classic to define all holiday classics, IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is one of a handful of films worth an annual viewing. Now perhaps the most beloved American film. Frank Capra's masterwork deserves its status as a feel-good communal event, but it is also one of the most fascinating films in the American cinema, a multilayered work of Dickensian density. A benefit for CHAT (Chico Housing Action Team) and SAFE SPACE WINTER SHELTER

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE is about hunger. It's about greed. It's about the many ways a good man is held down by the system. George Bailey (played superbly by James Stewart) grows up in the small town of Bedford Falls, dreaming dreams of adventure and travel, but circumstances conspire to keep him enslaved to his home turf. Frustrated by his life, and haunted by an impending scandal, George prepares to commit suicide on Christmas Eve. A heavenly messenger (Henry Travers) arrives to show him a vision: what the world would have been like if George had never been born. The sequence is a dark and vivid depiction of the American Dream gone bad. Capra's triumph is to acknowledge the difficulties and disappointments of life, while affirming, in the teary-eyed final reel, his cherished values of friendship and individual achievement. IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE finds the perfect balance between bittersweet and optimistic in this timeless holiday tale, to remind us that life is always worth it, even in the worst of circumstances. A wonderful story that resonates for a very long time after it is over.

Starts Friday December 21

Website Reviews

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Saorise Ronan). Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie). Each young Queen beholds her "sister" in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones - and change the course of history.

MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS delivers smartly crafted period political thrills while offering a brilliant showcase for the talents of its well-matched leads.