Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing: July 5- July 18

Happy July to all you cinephiles out there. There are some great opportunities to see repertory cinema this month, including some in person appearances from stars and directors you shouldn’t miss. Plus, our Shades of Summer series continues at Headstone Gallery in Kingston with our presentation of M. Hulot’s Holiday. Lots of options that I’m going to let Bel tell you all about. Without further ado, let’s get into…

Harold P. Warren's MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE
w/ riff track from “The Mads Are Back” and live Q&A with Frank Conniff
Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale – Saturday, July 6, 7:00pm

Brian here. If you’re an older millennial like myself, you probably spent a decent amount of time watching a unique and magnificent program known as Mystery Science Theater 3000. For the uninitiated, MST3K was a TV show wherein a janitor and his two robot companions were held captive by a pair of mad scientists (“The Mads”) and forced to watch terrible B-movies of the 50s and 60s. To keep their sanity in the face of terrible entertainment, said janitor/robots would maintain constant, hilarious commentary (“riffing”) throughout the films. Manos: The Hands of Fate was a standout episode of the show, because the source material is particularly bad, and the riffing was particularly good. This screening features a new riff performed by The Mads (Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff) as well as a personal appearance by Conniff after the film for a Q&A. This should be a very funny evening and a unique opportunity to revisit one of the best comedy shows of the 1990s! (1966, 150min)

Jacques Tati's M. HULOT’S HOLIDAY
Headstone Gallery, Kingston – Saturday, July 13, 8:00pm

I wrote to you all last week about Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and the enduring, empathetic humanism of Keaton’s character in The Cameraman. This week we get to show you the director who, I believe, is the true successor to that legacy: the inimitable Jacques Tati. M. Hulot’s Holiday is Tati’s second film, and the first to feature the now-iconic character of Monsieur Hulot. There is so much to say about why Tati’s work is so lovable. From the unbelievable, Rube Goldberg-esque designs of his later work, to his clever, biting critique of post-war modernism, his films are like visual candy. Ultimately, though, I think what makes his films, and the Hulot series in particular, so endlessly watchable is how human they are. While I could sit here and pick apart the perfect choreography of his gags, the dollhouse-like sets, or the obsessive attention to detail, what it really comes down to is how much fondness you feel watching Hulot bumble through a world that is moving faster than he can keep up with. If you loved seeing The Cameraman, or went to see Playtime at UPAC last year, you shouldn’t miss this one. Maybe someone will come along soon and start making Tati-esque films about the AI/internet age… I think we could use it. (1953, 85min)

Joel and Ethan Coen's BURN AFTER READING
w/ actor Frances McDormand, in person (!)
Starr, Rhinebeck – Sunday, July 14, 6:30pm

I don’t get the lists for this newsletter until the week before it goes out. When I jokingly mentioned watching Burn After Reading after the Dr. Strangelove screening at Hi-Way in the last newsletter, I had no idea that The Orpheum would be showing it right after. What a treat to get to tell you all in more detail why you should go rewatch it now if you didn’t follow my advice last time. The Coen brothers are such powerhouses of American cinema. In some ways Burn After Reading gets lost in the rest of the filmography, overpowered by the dark, brutal, contemplativeness of No Country for Old Men or the blackly comic, enduringly iconic Fargo. Burn After Reading operates in a much more forwardly comedic field of play, and its focused satire gives the Coens opportunity to engage much more openly with political opinion and slapstick. The insular bureaucracy of Washington and the overwhelming ego of all the characters allows for a comedy of errors that laughs hard at the myth of American individualism. Plus, it’s a fantastic opportunity to see Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt use their comedic chops to extremes, which is never to be missed. It’s a harsh reminder that the people in charge are often just as foolish as the people they’re in charge of. (2008, 96min)

Susan Seidelman's DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN
Orpheum, Saugerties – Monday, July 15, 6:30pm

You know those movies that, whether for their title, or who’s in it, or the cultural impact they left, become so ubiquitous that you never actually end up watching them? Desperately Seeking Susan was like that for me for a long, longgg time. I finally watched it during Covid lockdown when I was digging through movies from the 80s and trying to formulate some thoughts about why movies these days just aren’t very sexy. I don’t know if this movie is always sexy, but it is sexed-up in a way I think we’ve lost touch with in the last decade and a half. The whole plot is kicked off by a dissatisfied housewife voyeuristically chasing down Susan through personal ads exchanged between her and her boyfriend. There’s a kind of unremarked upon sexuality and eroticism to movies of this decade, an acknowledgement of sex as a part of life that makes it feel so much more real. This is also a powerhouse “ladies” movie with a pair of incredible performances by Rosanna Arquette and Madonna. My favorite Madonna role is probably as Mae in A League of Their Own (can we get KFF to do an all baseball movie month for the world series this year…? I’d go…)[Editor’s note: Let’s talk.] but her portrayal of Susan feels so iconic in the way it marries her image as a pop star with her burgeoning acting career. It also manages to tell a coherent story about envy, desire, and freedom without ever feeling cruel in the way it engages with and portrays its two female leads. Have you watched it? It’s probably about time you did. (1985, 104min)

Jan de Bont's TWISTER
Story Screen, Hudson – Wednesday, July 17, 7:00pm

What is there even to say about Twister to make a naysayer want to see it? It’s one of those movies where if you don’t get it you just never will. It would be easy to put it in the same category as the CGI blockbusters that have dominated the disaster genre since SyFy released the first Sharknado, but it’s more than just goofy schlock to watch in a dark room with a bunch of your friends (it is, also, perfect for that, but hear me out, okay?) It has an insanely stacked cast, is one of my favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman performances (how is he in this movie…), and at its heart it’s about two people who are still in love reconciling their failed marriage. This goofy disaster movie has HEART guys. It has heart and it has exceptional practical effects and I don’t know what else to tell you. Why do you think they’re doing a sequel/remake/reboot of it almost 30 years later? Because it rocks, that’s why. Go see Twister, and then let’s all go see Twisters together, okay? It’ll be fun. (1996, 113min)