Each year as summer approaches, movie theaters start to fill with blockbuster films, spectacle events, and the occasional family-friendly cartoon movie. Theater screens are taken over by superheroes, square chickens, Southern vampires and Tom Cruise, while the independent film circuit finds itself mostly on hiatus until summer’s end, all the while, some local movie theaters continue to find the perfect repertoire flicks to share to fill in the gaps.
If you’re in the mood for some classic cinema watching, look no further than the Hudson Valley’s independent movies. Here are five screenings and film events to keep on your calendar for the month of May.
The Insider
Michael Mann’s phenomenal 1999 biographical thriller, The Insider, is getting what every great movie deserves: a 35mm screening at the Jacob Burns Film Center. JBFC is one of the finest spaces in the area to catch a movie and one of the absolute best formats to watch a film on, it also helps that the movie is jam-packed with amazing performances, including from Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, and Christopher Plummer, to name a few. The film follows a Big Tobacco executive, played by Crowe, whose world is turned upside down when he chooses to speak out against the terrible actions of the companies he represents, guided along the way by a no-nonsense TV producer, played by Pacino. Even with this leading ensemble, the nearly three-hour film has plenty of room for what is ultimately a character actor smorgasbord, with just about every scene overflowing with talent.
The Insider screens May 7 at Jacob Burns Film Center.
Muriel’s Wedding
The movie that made Toni Collette a household name back in 1994, Muriel’s Wedding is a laugh-out-loud riot and the perfect movie to watch with a crowd of friends and strangers alike. The flick also happens to have a fantastic soundtrack, including songs from ABBA, The Turtles and Blondie, which makes it the perfect feature to be part of the “Girls Night Out Sing Out Loud” events happening at the Rosendale Theatre this month. The event features a screening of the film that can only be described as loving and energetic, as the audience is encouraged to interact with each other and the film through song, laughter, and maybe even dance! The theater will also be serving free cake and coffee for all, and the first 50 guests through the door will receive a sparkly tiara in honor of the film and Muriel herself. If you haven’t seen it, you should fix that immediately! The story follows Muriel Heslop, played by Collette, who has always dreamed of finally living the life of her fantasies, which include falling in love, but more importantly, an extravagant wedding. Through trial and error, and one really good friend (played by an amazing Rachel Griffiths), she embarks on a journey to discover herself and fulfill those fantasies, and maybe even develop a few more.
Muriel’s Wedding screens May 15 at The Rosendale Theater.
The Shrouds
While this independent, recent release isn’t a classic in the literal sense, it is made by arguably one of the greatest film directors to ever live, who also happens to be one of the most interesting artists working today: David Cronenberg. From his body-horror classics of the ’80s, such as The Fly, Scanners and Videodrome, to his more dramatic outings, like A History of Violence and A Dangerous Method, there’s seemingly no genre Cronenberg can’t tackle. But the thing that always makes his movies just as distinctive as they are intriguing is his ability to put his signature on whatever type of story he’s telling. His most recent film, The Shrouds, is a combination of these body-horror and dramatic elements, used in a way for the director himself to work through his own personal grief after the sudden loss of his wife, Carolyn Zeifman, in 2017. The film follows a grieving, recently widowed tech innovator, played by the great Vincent Cassell, as he develops a way to interact, and possibly communicate, with the deceased. In typical Cronenberg fashion, the film asks more questions than it answers, leaving the viewer to parse through their own way of dealing with loss and abandonment in the face of the ticking clock that is life.
The Shrouds starts May 16 at The Moviehouse.
Shaft
There are fewer fictional characters cooler than John Shaft, the original bad and black detective, whose name is just as recognizable as his theme song performed by Isaac Hayes. While Richard Roundtree, who portrays the titular character, went on to appear in many more film installments and adaptations, it was the 1971 original film from director Gordon Parks that swept the nation, breaking box office records and almost singlehandedly creating an entire new genre in film called Blaxploitation. The screening is just one of many movies in the month-long “Black Then: Again!” series, a celebration of the Blaxploitation films of the ’70s and beyond. The series is curated by Josiah Howard, whose book, “Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide,” is the go-to source on America’s one and only black motion picture boom, and it’s required Cinema Studies reading at more than 50 universities. All events, including screenings of Coffy, Together Brothers, The Defiant Ones, Black Mama White Mama, and I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, will include an in-person introduction from Josiah Howard.
Shaft screens May 19 at Story Screen Cinema.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
One of the greatest films ever made is coming to the Hudson Valley in a screening that allows you to see it the way its main character would probably most prefer: under the stars! Upstate Films and Hudson Valley Picture Show present a fantastic viewing of Steven Spielberg’s 1981 masterpiece, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, at Opus 40 in Saugerties. If you’ve never seen this movie on the big screen, you are missing out. The classic fantasy drama follows a young boy who discovers an alien in his backyard who has been left behind by his people. When they discover that the government is after the creature, lovingly named E.T., the children of the town try their best to keep him safe, all the while E.T. learns more and more about Earth and us silly humans. With a monumentally important and iconic score by John Williams that is guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye, it just might be the most perfect film Spielberg has ever made, and that is saying a lot.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial screens May 23 at Opus 40 in partnership with Upstate Films.
