One of my personal favorite cultural centers in Baltimore is The Charles Theatre. Not only does the Charles show some of the best independent films emerging in contemporary cinema, they also offer other events such as Cinema Sundays. This Sunday, as part of this series, the theater will be showing Waking Life, the newest effort of director Richard Linklater (The Newton Boys, Slacker, Dazed and Confused), "an animated film that explores the nature of reality and how we separate dreams and consciousness" following the struggles of an "everyman college grad." Even if you're not a fan of animated film, Waking Life is supposed to have an engaging psychadelic/psychological twist. Featuring the voices of Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke (both of whom starred in Linklater's Before Sunrise) and Adam Goldberg, Waking Life has been touring the independent film festival circuit, eliciting great praise from critics and viewers alike. The cost of the event is $15 at the door and includes breakfast, as well as a post-screening question and answer session with guest speakers Skizz Cyzyk and Dan Krovich of the Maryland Film Festival. Doors open at 9:45 am; showtime is 10:30 am.
The Charles Theatre is located at 1711 N. Charles St. For more information, call 1-800-727-FILM or check out www.thecharles.com.The Cinema Sunday series will continue nearly every week through Dec. 16.
