HUDSON VALLEY CRUCIAL VIEWING: December 19 - January 1

Your Guide to Repertory Movies in the Hudson Valley

Author

Bel Simek
December 18, 2025

Happy holidays moviegoers! I’m going to try and keep the newsletter short and sweet this week, but we’ve got a bunch of great programming for you to tide you over until the new year. If you’re not locked into our instagram content you’ll have missed our ongoing “12 days of KFF-mas” recommendation series. 12 movies, traditional or off the beaten path, that we think you should add into your holiday rotation. We’ll share them here once the series is done but if you want some daily recommendations from your favorite geeky film programmers, go check them out. Otherwise, there’s a whole slew of festive (and not) repertory fare from all the usual suspects. I’m giving myself a little break this week, so forgive me for shortening the standard rants to bite sized chunks, but we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled blabbing come 2026.

Until then, thanks to everyone who reads this silly little newsletter, showed up to screenings, and made it a joy to program movies in Kingston this year. We’re so grateful to have y’all as supporters, and can’t wait to bring you more films in the new year.

THE LIST

Friday, December 19

This is part of Community’s “The Lost Films of Covid” series and if you missed it in theaters (like most of us!) I’d strongly recommend trying to make it out to one of the screenings this weekend. Pig is a disturbing, darkly comic, and emotive tale of grief (and the restaurant industry). It’s one of my favorite recent turns from Nic Cage, and it’s a great example of the more serious turn his late career has taken. I love this movie as a double feature with Mandy, another fantastic, recent Cage role with shockingly similar themes and a totally different approach. If Pig doesn’t make you cry, I owe you a dollar.

Presented by our buds Sleepover Trading Co. this is a bonkers, off the beaten path Christmas flick. Amnesia, Geena Davis, wise-cracks, and classic 90s action movie nonsense, this is a blast from front to back. It’s a Shane Black screenplay and co-production, so if you know his work, you know what you’re getting yourself into. This was on my shortlist for 12 Days of KFF-Mas!

One of the most ambitious of the Muppet movies, and the best A Christmas Carol adaptation there is (fight me on it!). I remember reading once that this film has the most muppets in it, but after a cursory google search I can find no proof, so don’t quote me on it. Record breaking or not, marvel in the technical mastery of the film’s larger crowd shots. It’s a feat of muppetry and filmmaking. Also, here’s Michael Caine talking about his favorite, furry co-star.

Saturday, December 20

Sunday, December 21

Fun Fact about me, I licked a flag pole because of this movie, and let me tell you, your tongue will stick, and it really does suck. -10/10 would not recommend, but I do recommend going to see this one on the big screen. It won’t have the same charm as watching it on your old VCR, but the big screen provides its own perfect experience.

Monday, December 22

A true, blue, Billy Wilder classic. Deserves to be watched outside its usual, TCM rotation (no shade!)

Tuesday, December 23

Wednesday, December 24

Thursday, December 25

If you missed your chance to see this when we screened it at Rough Draft over the summer, don’t miss your chance now. This movie brings me to tears still, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Easily one of Gene Wilder’s most iconic roles, and one of the best adaptations of a Roald Dahl novel ever put to screen (sorry Wes Anderson, Mel Stuart’s got you beat…)

Friday, December 26

Saturday, December 27

I missed this in theaters when it was first released and am excited to get the chance to see it this time around. Lush, psychosexual, erotic, and poised, enjoy your tragic, lesbian, holiday period piece. Brian will be giving this one the long treatment in a few days, so keep your eyes peeled.

Sunday, December 28

Monday, December 29

Tuesday, December 30

Wednesday, December 31

If you’re looking for a way to spend New Year’s Eve that isn’t a house party, a show, or amateur hour at your local watering hole, this is the event for you. Sleepover Trading Co. gives us the pre-show treatment, there’s a toast to revenge at midnight, and you get to watch this campy, action classic in one fell swoop. If I could be there I would, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss it! We love Rosendale Theatre in this house, and they know how to do an event screening right.

Thursday, January 1