Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing June 20-July 3

It’s half-way through June, it’s finally hot, and we’re back with another 2 weeks of film programming in the Hudson Valley. If you need to cool off as the temperatures rise over the next few weeks, where better to do it than at the movies. Like last week, most of what we’re featuring in this newsletter is our own programming. This has been our biggest month of programming since our organization started. Since we don’t wanna bog you down with too much info, I want to quickly shout out three films at our friends in independent cinema that we’re excited about and couldn’t feature here. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth runs for a week at TSL starting Friday, June 20th, the 4K rerelease of Akira Kurasawa’s Ran opens at the Starr in Rhinebeck on Friday June 27th, and Story Screen Hudson is showing one of my favorite films, Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho on Monday, June 30th to wrap up Pride Month. Hopefully you can make it out for one of these, as well as some of our programs this month. If you can’t make it out to support, you can always reach out about volunteering with us, or make a one-off contribution. On with the movies!

Luc Besson’s THE FIFTH ELEMENT & Michael Anderson’s LOGAN’S RUN 
Hi-Way Drive-In, Coxsackie – opens Fri, June 20, 7:30pm

Okay, guys, I screwed up. Last weekend was the first double feature in our collaborative series with Hi-Way Drive-In and I FORGOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT IT. It won’t happen again, okay? I’ve been extremely excited about this series and had the pleasure of actually co-programming every single double feature with Hi-Way. Last week we showed A Boy and His Dog (1975) and Mad Max: Road Warrior (1981) which is a dream double-feature if I’ve ever heard of one. But don’t you fret, we’re bringing the heat again this week with the neo-futurist fever dreams of The Fifth Element and Logan’s Run. If you missed it I wrote extensively about The Fifth Element back in March of this year. In a lot of ways Logan’s Run seemed like the right fit on a visual level alone. While Besson’s film has a futurist aesthetic that definitely wears its 90s influence on its sleeve, it also has a lot of throwback costuming and set design that has always reminded me of the vision of the future pioneered in the 60s and 70s. Think the iconic styles of Star Trek or the Jetsons that have key features of the retro-futurist movement in art and design. Beyond that, though, Logan’s Run is just a blast. You could make a strong argument that it’s one of the precursors to the teen dystopian fads of the 2010s. In the far flung future, everyone lives in apparent, hedonistic utopia until the age of 30, when they are systematically eliminated in a public ritual called the “Carrousel.” I bet you can guess where it goes next. It’s a blast of classic, 1970s genre fare. We’ll have lots more movies from the Sci-Way series coming at you soon, but you also have 3 chances to catch this pair, so don’t sleep on it! (1997, 126min; 1976, 118min)

Gillo Pontecorvo’s THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS
CPW, Kingston – Tuesday, June 24, 7:30pm

The Battle of Algiers is the kind of movie you expect to see on a college syllabus. Its subject matter, style, and context allow it to function as a perfect teaching device. That’s not to say it’s a boring movie, or overly academic, but because The Battle of Algiers is intended, in part, to be treated as a kind of historical document. It’s shot in a way that intentionally blurs the line between documentary and fiction, which allows it to meditate on its historic subject and its feelings about violence and imperialism. Pontecorvo uses techniques pioneered by post-WWII Italian neo-realist cinema to create a portrait of the French occupation of Algeria that is as close to reality as he could get. This includes not just the style of cinematography but also the cast, a majority of whom were non-actors who had actually participated in the battle the film attempts to recreate. CPW specifically asked that we present a film that synthesized cinema and photography as mediums. Pontecorvo does this and also leaves us with questions about what cinema has the power to do and the ethics of that power. Algiers is an explicitly political film, a piece of fiction that simultaneously serves as documentary, as document, as proof of a moment in history that could have been erased, nullified, white-washed. This is a particularly important film to think about at this moment, in what it shows us and what it tells us about the brutal power of imperialism, and the power of the resistance. Cinema can be a lot of things, and though we often highlight films in this newsletter that speak forward to the current climate politically, we also like to highlight ones that bring levity, that spark joy. The rest of this newsletter is bringing you that levity, and I hope you go see some of those movies, but I also ask that you please come see this one. I know that we don’t always have the capacity to stare heavy things in the face but I would strongly, strongly urge you to do so here. (1966, 121min)

Vera Drew’s THE PEOPLE’S JOKER
Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale – Wednesday, June 25, 7:30pm

Warner Brothers (allegedly) does not want you to see this film. And, really, isn’t that a good enough reason to go? Vera Drew, who you may or may not know from her work on Comedy Bang! Bang! and Who is America? wrote and directed this satirical coming-of-age superhero origin story. Drew takes the familiar, overly saturated tropes of the superhero flick to draw out an honest portrait of coming-out, one that speaks to the trans experience and manages to poke fun at the homogeneity of our society (and our film culture) all at once. I know cinemaphile culture likes to fancy itself as entirely anti superhero films, but Drew manages to synthesize all the things that helped the genre gain its footing. If we think back in the history of comic book adaptations there was a lot of creativity on display. Drew’s film has a delightfully handmade style, featuring work from more than 100 different artists. There are definitely parts of it that remind me of Tim Burton’s excellent, German Expressionist inspired set design in the Michael Keaton Batman flicks. Her commitment to the aesthetics of her film lend themselves to the comic book stylings and creates a delightfully fantastic setting for what is ultimately a pretty grounded narrative. It’s got heart, it’s got style, and it’s funny to boot. (2022, 92min)

Drew DeNicola & Olivia Mori’s BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME
Orpheum Theatre, Saugerties – Monday, June 30, 7:00pm

Another day another repertory music documentary in the books. If you’re like me you’ve also been absolutely obsessed with the cult-favorite, 70s rock band Big Star since you were about 12. Maybe it was growing up in the Hudson Valley, where these sort of could’ve-been rock bands hold a special level of prestige, or maybe it’s just because I tried (and failed) to learn the four guitar parts on “Thirteen” as my first major undertaking as an amateur guitar player. Who knows. What matters is this is one of my favorite bands of all time and if nothing else DeNicola and Mori’s 2012 documentary is a perfect introduction to the band. In some ways this film feels more like a “Best of” record with commentary tracks than a documentary, and I mean that in a good way. The film is extremely focused on the band's legacy, and its music, rather than its downfall and lack of commercial success. It’s an honest portrait by true fans and that makes it feel particularly convincing. There’s not much footage of Big Star performing so the film does have to rely on interviews and the music itself, and I think the slim pickings when it comes to footage results in a more interesting piece of documentary work. If you’re a hardcore fan, it’ll scratch the itch of loving the band, and if you’re uninitiated, it’ll be a great starting point. Plus, this is a part of Upstate Films “Close-Up” series, so you’ll be able to pick both directors’ brains. (2012, 113min)

John Waters’ POLYESTER
Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale – Wednesday, July 2, 7:30pm

If you don’t know John Waters then I don’t know what to tell you. Arguably he’s probably one of Queer Cinema’s most beloved outsider artists. The self-proclaimed Pope of Trash, Waters has also managed to make some of his most fringe films part of a new canon, one that has undoubtedly helped generations of filmgoers to embrace more challenging films. Part of what Waters does best is take the familiar framework of classic cinema and pervert it, taking white-picket Americana and exposing its darkest, dirtiest, most absurd secrets. Polyester is a master class in that style. Waters’ muse, the drag queen Divine, plays the keen-nosed suburban housewife, Francine Fishpaw. Beset by delinquent children, an adulterous, pornographer husband, and a cocaine-fueled mother from hell, Francine’s world collapses around her. The typical family unit implodes in utterly melodramatic fashion, channeling Douglas Sirk in this send-up of exploitative, b-movie “women’s pictures.” We’re also excited to present this film as intended, with Odorama cards. Lovingly re-created from the original “3M” cards given out when the film premiered, these will help you experience the film in all its trashy, multi-sensory glory. (1981, 86min)