Peace, Love and Laughter

Ask Chief LeDuff or Mayor Holden, and they’ll tell you that even cultural milestones need permits. Woodstock was no exception, and without the logistical efforts of Elliot Tiber, the legendary music festival may not have happened. Dramatized from Tiber’s memoir and coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the event, Taking Woodstock is acclaimed director Ang Lee’s lighthearted love letter to the late 1960s and the music that inspired a generation. Comedian Demetri Martin takes his first lead role in a feature film as an out-of-work interior designer living at home with his parents and helping them run a low-rent motel in upstate New York. When he hears that a nearby town has denied an application for a large outdoor concert, he contacts Woodstock’s producers thinking that a music festival could drum up some much-needed business for the motel. What he gets are a half-million people and a life-changing weekend of peace, love and music. Paul Dano, Kelli Garner, Emile Hirsch, and Eugene Levy co-star. Rated R. (Photo courtesy Focus Features)