Win free movie tickets

Editor's note: Comment on today's "Cinema Chat" for a chance to win free movie tickets to the Michigan Theater. Some time between now and 9 a.m. Monday, leave a comment on this column, written by the Michigan Theater's Russ Collins. Offer your opinion on a recent movie you've seen, or on anything Russ mentions. A winner will be randomly selected, and we’ll notify that person via the email address they signed up with. They will get two passes to a movie of their choice, courtesy of The Michigan Theater. Full rules here.

“Sound of Music” Sing-along!

The Summer Classics series continues at the Michigan with one of the most beloved musicals of all time, “The Sound Of Music”! A landmark of cinema, the Michigan Theater is proud to present this very special sing-along presentation complete with on-stage costume parade, onscreen lyrics, goodie bags, and more for the whole family long after the event is over. It stars Julie Andrews as Maria and Christopher Plummer as Georg von Trapp from the original Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway classic, featuring the songs "Climb E'vry Mountain," "Edelweiss," "Do-Re-M,i, "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" and "My Favorite Things." ”Sing Along Sound Of Music” plays Sunday, August 14 at 1:30 p.m. and August 16 at 7 p.m. Purchase tickets at the door or in advance at ticketweb.com.

Opening downtown

“Tabloid,” from the imaginative director of documentaries Errol Morris (“Thin Red Line”), follows the salacious adventures of a beauty queen with an IQ of 168 whose single-minded devotion to the man of her dreams leads her across the globe, into jail and onto the front page. Miss Wyoming Joyce McKinney’s labyrinthine crusade for love takes her through a surreal world of kidnapping, manacled Mormons, risqué photography, magic underwear and celestial sex—until her dream is finally realized in a cloning laboratory in Seoul, South Korea. Roger Ebert of the Chicago-Sun Times says, “As is often the case with Morris, we can never be sure what he thinks, only that he wants to baffle us with the impenetrable strangeness of reality.” “Tabloid” opens Friday at the Michigan Theater.

In “Sarah’s Key,” Academy Award winner Kristen Scott Thomas stars as an American journalist commissioned to write an article about the notorious Vel d'Hiv roundup, which took place in Paris in 1942. She stumbles upon a family secret that will link her forever to the destiny of a young Jewish girl, Sarah. Julia learns that the apartment she and her husband, Bertrand, plan to move into was acquired by Bertrand's family when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed and deported 60 years before. The more Julia discovers—especially about Sarah, the only member of the Starzynski family to survive—the more she uncovers about Bertrand's family, about France and, finally, herself. Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter says the film is “a heartbreaking, wonderfully acted and superbly dramatized drama.” “Sarah’s Key” opens Friday at the Michigan Theater.

Opening at the cineplex

“The Help” stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Viola Davis as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minny - three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the early 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel says the film “transcends its comfort-food-for-Oprah's Book Club wrapping to get at something deeper, the gray in a story that seems so far removed as to be utterly black and white.” “The Help” opened on Wednesday.

In “30 Minutes or Less,” Nick (Jesse Eisenberg) is a small-town pizza delivery guy whose mundane life collides with the big plans of two want-to-be criminal masterminds (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson). It is this week’s lowbrow youth comedy, but Glenn Kenny of MSN Movies says, “It's punchy, nasty, laugh-out-loud-funny stuff that doesn't flag or wear out its welcome.” So, if that’s what tickles your fancy, know that “30 Minutes or Less” opens Friday.

“Glee: The 3D Concert Movie,” based on the award-winning television program, is a concert documentary shot during the Glee Live! In Concert! Summer 2011 tour - opens Friday.

In “Final Destination 5”, Death is just as omnipresent as ever and is unleashed after one man's premonition saves a group of coworkers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But this group of unsuspecting souls was never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated group frantically tries to discover a way to escape Death's ultimate agenda. “Final Destination 5” opens Friday.

Classics playing downtown

Summer Documentaries continue this week with the classic “The Last Waltz.” Martin Scorsese's 1978 concert documentary of The Band features Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan and many more. “The Last Waltz” plays August 15 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan Theater.

The midnight classic “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” was director Tim Burton's first feature film but already displayed his distinctive visual style. Co-written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, the film follows Pee Wee (Reubens)—an overgrown man-child sporting a molded Princeton cut, blush, lipstick, and a shrunken gray flannel suit—as he embarks on an epic cross-country search to find his lost bike. “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” plays Saturday, August 13 at 11:59 p.m.

Russ Collins is executive director of the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Tune in to the audio version of “Cinema Chat” on WEMU radio (89.1-FM) each Thursday at 7:40 a.m. and 5:40 p.m., or listen to it online at WEMU's web site.