Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing February 28-March 13

Hello cinephiles, welcome back to another installment of Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing. Today I googled other words to use besides cinephile at the top of this newsletter and got some of the most ridiculous, AI generated answers possible (highlights include “celluloid addict” and “big-screen binge-watcher” in case you were curious). I think I’ll stick with the non-generative terms going forward. As always, it’s a great time for repertory cinema in the Hudson Valley. We have two of our own KFF screenings in the next two weeks (which I implore you to attend) as well as a slew of other movies from our friends in the independent cinema world. While it doesn’t fit into our purview for repertory cinema, our pals at Upstate Film are doing their “Oscar nominated shorts” screenings leading up to the 97th Oscar ceremony and I couldn’t more strongly recommend trying to make it out for either (they show both the animated shorts as well as the “live-action” ones!) Either way, we’ve still got a bit more of the winter blues to wait out, so why not do it in the cozy seat of a theater near you. And, if you want to help us on our journey to opening a brick & mortar in Kingston, reach out.

Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci’s BIG NIGHT
Reher Center, Kingston – Friday, February 28, 6:00pm

Look, Big Night is kind of an “if you know you know” movie, at least to me. It’s some classic Italian-American cinema, and not of the Scorsese Italian mob variety. It’s one of those movies where you can sort of just name the cast and people are gonna know if it’s for them. Tony Shalhoub and Stanley Tucci play brothers who own a down on its luck Italian Restaurant! Isabella Rosselinni is in it! Minnie Driver is in it (remember her?)! There’s back-stabbing, there’s an affair, there’s a scheme! They make a timpano! I know I’m being kind of silly about this movie but it is actually really fantastic. It’s one of the great “food” films (that I’d happily rank close to the all-time Tampopo) but it’s also a thoughtful and heartfelt immigrant story and a beautiful examination of familial bonds. Plus, we’re lucky enough to get to show you this movie in as close to our version of a recreation as possible. There will be wine (thanks Kingston Wine Co), there will be a timpano (thanks Masa Midtown), and there will be joy. Who doesn’t love dinner and a movie, you know? We can’t wait to see you there. (1996, 107min)

David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY
Story Screen, Hudson – Monday, March 3, 8:30pm

I’m really glad the Lynch love hasn’t died down yet, at least in the Hudson Valley. It’s been amazing to see, not just the outpouring of love from independent programmers here, but also the continued support from folks like you all, who have actually been coming out for all of these screenings and honoring Lynch’s work and his legacy. I showed Lost Highway the day that he died in perhaps the worst (but also maybe the most fitting?) way: on the very small flatscreen TV mounted in the corner at Tubby’s. I could not ask you more sincerely to please go watch it in a theater (even if you were there that night.) Lost Highway is, arguably Lynch’s second most controversial film. I’m gonna put Inland Empire in first place, and we don’t need to talk about Dune (at least not yet). Famously, Lynch used Siskel and Ebert’s initial review of the film (“two thumbs down”) in the promotional material. Lost Highway is a complicated movie, and one of the films that I’ve seen the most discussion about following his death. There’s the famous essay from David Foster Wallace about his time on the set (if you want a .pdf hit my line) that’s been circulating pretty heavily over the last few weeks. It’s a rich film that continues to confound and inspire analysis and digestion even nearly 30 years after its release. It’s one of Lynch’s scarier films, and also one of his most overtly referential. He’s playing heavily in the Noir genre and there’s tons of moments you can pinpoint that reference very specific films from that legacy. It also has some of his harshest considerations on the plight of misogynistic violence, at times in a way that’s almost too much to look at. To me it’s really a film about reincarnation and purgatory, but there’s so much more to get into than I can in this newsletter. Let’s all go and get in the weeds about it afterwards, how about? (1997, 134min)

Howard Hawks’ THE BIG SLEEP
Rough Draft, Kingston – Monday, March 10, 8:00pm

Oo la la another noir! One of the greatest of all time, I might add. This is the first movie in our series with Rough Draft, and we couldn’t be more excited to kick things off with a classic. We were vaguely thinking about “adaptations” as we started planning the first couple of movies for the collaboration, and it felt like a disservice not to at least consider a Raymond Chandler novel as one of the movie picks. Chandler is a fun source to draw from because he worked both as a novelist and a screenwriter for much of his career and in many ways defined the “hard-boiled detective” genre in Hollywood. The Big Sleep is also a really fun example of Hays Code cinema. Chandler’s novel leans heavily on sexual overtones in its world of deception and much of that had to be toned down for the film. But part of the appeal of Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart as the film’s stars was their tabloid appeal. They had a significant age difference, and their marriage (Bogart’s third) started as an affair. Aside from the meta drama surrounding the film, it also has an incredible story. Full of intrigue and betrayal and twists, it feels quintessentially representative of the noir genre. Famously, midway through shooting Hawks called Chandler after realizing he didn’t know who had killed who and Chandler replied “They sent me a wire ... asking me, and dammit I didn't know either”. If all that doesn’t sound fun to you, I’m not sure what else to tell you. (1946, 116min)

David Lynch’s TWIN PEAKS (PILOT EPISODE)
Orpheum, Saugerties – Wednesday, March 12, 8:00pm

Okay sooo… we know this isn’t technically a movie but you’ve gotta let us run with the Lynch theme for a little while longer, okay? I just finished my rewatch of the first season of Twin Peaks this past week and I’m stoked to go see the first episode on a big screen. The first season of the show really does feel like a film at times. While it’s certainly more episodic in its narrative than The Return, its cinematographic style, framing, and execution feels cinematic in a way a lot of TV back then (and now!) never felt. It’s kind of funny looking back at Twin Peaks after 35 years of “prestige” television. I’m a TV freak, I’ll admit it. And there’s tons of prestige shows I love and respect, that take risks and feel really ambitious and creative. But there’s also a certain slickness I associate with a lot of modern day prestige television, and a lot of pitfalls, that I don’t feel about Twin Peaks. I wouldn’t describe it as slick, but it is heartfelt, and intimate, at times really silly and at others so achingly tender. Someone at the Wild at Heart screening was talking to me about it, and they mentioned watching it in their 20s with “total sincerity” and I think that’s the right way to take it. Even for all of the second season’s pitfalls and dallying side quests, it remains so committed to its central thesis and its ultimate question. It wasn’t ever really about who killed Laura Palmer, but why, and whether or not we have the capacity within ourselves to stave off the darkness. It’s a troubling question and, like the rest of Lynch’s work, feels especially relevant right now. We’re living through troubling times (and that’s putting it lightly). It’s worth thinking through these things, and it's also worth taking a break to enjoy something you love. With Twin Peaks, at least for me, you can do both. (1990, 95min)

Elia Kazan’s A FACE IN THE CROWD
Rosendale Theater, Rosendale – Thursday, March 13, 7:00pm

Speaking of troubling times, here’s a film that seems to have predicted it all 70 years early. A Face in the Crowd is an Elia Kazan picture, starring the then-unknown Andy Griffith, about a lonesome drifter who gets catapulted into fame, success, and influence. His downfall is the corruption of that power and his own ego, and it deals heavily with the ideas of celebrity, scare tactics, and the political relationship between media figures and politicians. It’s genuinely eerie how many things it reflects from our contemporary climate. While many in the last few years have compared Griffith’s “Lonesome” Rhodes to Donald Trump’s rise to power, I find myself thinking more of the cult of celebrity around figures like Alex Jones or even Elon Musk. Honestly, if there was a single movie to watch to really reflect our culture in the states right now, this would probably be the one I would recommend. It’s almost ironic that it stands as the first pillar in Griffith’s journey to stardom. They specifically tout him as Kazan’s newest star in an original trailer for the film. Beyond that though, Griffith’s overwrought and ghoulish performance feels not dissimilar to some political performances we see on the world stage today, and it's pretty exceptional to boot. It’s an interesting film for Kazan to have made, given his reputation as a cooperator for the House of Un-American Activities Commission in 1952, but Kazan’s entire filmography is rooted in and navigating the complicated post-war politics of America. If you only see one movie on this list in the coming weeks (and I really hope you see more than that) I think you should probably go see this one. I’d also recommend the essay and interview up on Criterion Collection about, if you want to do some further reading. (1957, 125min)