Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing March 14-March 27

Hello moviegoers! Welcome back to Crucial Viewing, and happy March! I hope you all have been enjoying the slightly warmer weather as much as I have. Enjoy the sunshine, and when the temperatures start to drop after sunset, consider going to the movies, perhaps? Seems like a good time to me. I want to shout out our community in Kingston real quick for the amazing turn out at our most recent screenings. Big Night sold out in 11 minutes (wtf!) and we had such a great time with all of you. We also had a full house at Rough Draft on Monday for The Big Sleep, which was a great way to kickoff our monthly series there. We couldn’t do this without you guys showing up for the movies we put on, so we can’t thank you enough. That being said, we’ve also got some more ways you can help out this year. If you have any interest in volunteering with Kingston Film Foundation, you can fill out this and we’ll reach out to you in the coming weeks and months. KFF is a labor of love, and any and all interest helps us. If you don’t have time (or interest) in volunteering, you can always donate 😉 

Okay, enough business! We’ve got 6 great movies for you this week. So good, in fact, Brian popped back in to write about one of them. Check it out.

Peter Weir’s PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK
Starr Cinema, Rhinebeck – Opens Friday, March 14

Did you guys know they remade Picnic at Hanging Rock in 2018? I really can’t imagine why. The film is based on a John Lindsay novel, and I suppose we are in a particularly lucrative moment for period adaptations, but I don’t think you could recapture the spirit of the original film, which is what made it into a cult classic. I think Hanging Rock first ended up on my radar during the buzz around Ari Aster’s Midsommar in 2019. I remember a lot of listicles popping up on my timelines around then about “daylight horror” and the unique kind of fear that can be established in the blazing light of midday sun. There’s Wicker Man, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Don’t Look Now (a personal favorite for me), but nothing quite feels the way that Hanging Rock does. It’s got the gauzy, ethereal visuals of The Virgin Suicides, and a gothic undertone that’s hard to describe. It’s eerie and mysterious and its tone and style lend itself so well to the story at hand. This is the kind of movie that would’ve probably defined my entire aesthetic for a year if I’d seen it at age 15. Hanging Rock is more of a thriller than a true horror film, but its central mystery gestures towards the unknown, and its themes reveal a gendered horror that is dealt with delicately. If you’ve liked any of the Australian films we’ve recommended over the last few months and haven’t seen this one, you’re missing out on a pretty key part of the country’s film history. (1975, 115min)

John Waters’ PINK FLAMINGOS and DESPERATE LIVING
Story Screen, Hudson – Saturday, March 15, 7:00pm

Do I really have to say much to convince you to go to this John Waters double feature beyond saying “it’s a John Waters double feature”? It can be hard to figure out how to sell Waters’ films to those who aren’t amongst his fanatic, at times cultish fans. His early work pushes at the bounds of civility, propriety, and censorship. Waters is a great flip-side to David Lynch’s work, if you’ve been digging the retrospective screenings that have been going on around the Hudson Valley. Both filmmakers were obsessed with The Wizard of Oz, though Waters took from it the camp, the fear, and the spectacle, where Lynch (I think) was more impacted by the themes of doubled identities and the “Reality v.s. Dream” premise. But, I digress. Pink Flamingos and Desperate Living are two of the three films in Waters’ “Trash Trilogy”. Pink Flamingos is the film most casual viewers are probably familiar with. It features frequent Waters’ collaborator Divine in her break-out role as the deranged Babs Johnson, otherwise known as “the filthiest person alive”. It’s an exploitation film taken to the furthest reaches. It’s hard to even list all of the talking points, but the wikipedia summary does a great job, if you want some warnings going in. Desperate Living is a baffling black comedy about a murderous housewife, her on-again-off-again lover née housekeeper, and their residency in the outcast, shanty town Mortville. Both films are designed to shock, and while the disgust you might feel watching them is real, so too is Waters’ ability to play in camp, in queer aesthetics, and with the medium of film itself. Don’t expect Crybaby or Hairspray with these films, but you will see how that style developed from Waters’ early, shocking work. Let loose a little, and propriety be damned, I bet you’ll have fun. (1972, 92min; 1977, 90min)

Luc Besson’s THE FIFTH ELEMENT
Rosendale Theater, Rosendale: WTF! Wednesdays – Wednesday, March 18th, 7:00pm

Okay, so when I was a young, weird nerd who sat around most weekends watching movies with my mom, I was consistently baffled by the actors that she thought were “sexy” versus the ones I had burgeoning, celebrity crushes on. It’s always really funny to think about moments or movies that made you realize you were starting to grow up, based on who you think is abjectly sexy versus not. Bruce Willis in The Fifth Element is a really good example of that, for me. Bel at age 14 didn’t get it. Me now, cultured, vibing, in my lane, gets it. His stupid hair! His little orange tank top! C’mon! Okay, I know that this is not going to convince any of you to go see this movie (unless it does, which, cool). Here’s some other stuff I love about it:

• The set design, costume design, and general aesthetic are so bright, so out of control, and so exciting. We’ve really fallen into a certain realm with sci-fi these days, and it leans very minimalist, very clean, very brutalist. Or it goes the opposite direction, and it’s dystopic, it’s poverty stricken, it’s a return to an earlier 20th century aesthetic with a little tech on the edges. I get it, it feels reflective of the (frankly dystopian) moment we’re living through. But there’s a real joy to the space age, almost 1960s tech-optimist futurism on display here. It’s fantasy through a sci-fi lens!

• For my fashion heads: Jean Paul Gaultier did the costume design! C’mon. Enough said.

• This scene. I don’t want to go too into detail, but something you should know is that the opera piece performed here was historically known to be near impossible to perform. Read up about it, if that piques your interest.

That being said, this movie is also worth critical examination. It’s a pretty textbook example of problematic gender dynamics in film, both with regards to its relationship to its female characters, as well as its deeply stereotyped views on masculinity. There’s a ton of great criticism out there that breaks this down more thoroughly than I will here. If you want some further reading I’d recommend Stefan Brandt’s Subverting Masculinity or, if you’re a video essay guy (like me), I love this breakdown of the “born sexy yesterday” trope. That said, and I want to emphasize this thoroughly, movies worth critiquing are also worth watching! I love this film, I love a pop movie that leaves you with something to chew on. Watch more movies that make you think (especially if they’re fun!) (1997, 126min)

Sidney Lumet’s NETWORK
Bardavon, Poughkeepsie – Thursday, March 20th, 7:30pm

The central premise of Network- a news anchor becoming wildly popular for editorializing the frustration of modern life- feels remarkably quaint in today's media hellscape. It's like looking into the past at a warning that was ultimately unheeded. As Roger Ebert said in his list of great movies, Network was "like prophecy. When [screenwriter Paddy] Chayefsky created Howard Beale, could he have imagined Jerry Springer, Howard Stern, and the World Wrestling Federation?" At the same time, it's a reflection of the time of its creation, with the on air suicide of news anchor Christine Chubbuck (subject of the 2016 biopic Christine) serving as inspiration. What really cements Network's classic status are the performances. Peter Finch was not the first choice for anchor Howard Beale, but his Oscar for Best Actor was well deserved. Likewise, Faye Dunaway won Best Actress for her role as the network's Head of Programming, embodying the dangers of blurring the lines between news and entertainment. Beatrice Straight won Best Supporting Actress and she was only in the movie for a hair over five minutes; to this date it's still the least amount of screen time for an Oscar winner. What felt thematically like extreme satire now probably feels pretty mild, but Network is nevertheless a well-written and constructed film with several excellent performances. It's worth your time to check it out on the big screen, and for free no less. – Brian (1976, 121min.)

Elaine May’s A NEW LEAF
Starr Cinema, Rhinebeck – Opens Friday, March 21st, 5:00pm

Finally, we’ve got another late 20th century screwball comedy to round out the list. For those unfamiliar with Elaine May – she had her start in a comedy partnership with Mike Nichols (as in director of The Graduate, The Birdcage, etc. etc.) in the 1960s. After their split, she struck out to pursue her own independent career as a writer, actor, and director. A New Leaf was her directorial debut. Adapted from a short story by Jack Ritchie, the film centers around wealthy playboy Henry (Walter Matthau) who is seeking a wealthy heiress to marry and then murder in order to pay off his debts. The film is dark and charming, warmly adopting the convoluted scheme at its heart. May’s performance is particularly outstanding as the mousy botanist Henrietta. May stands amongst the great comedians of the end of the 20th century for her smart, dry, and hilarious writing, and it shines in every facet of A New Leaf. Its behind the scenes story is also a classic for women in old Hollywood. May was paid $50,000 for directing and starring in the film, and faced hurdles throughout the production. Though her contract stipulated that she had final say on the editing of the film, after a troubled, over-budget production, and 10 months of her cutting the film, Paramount wrested control from her and released their cut of the film. There have been attempts to restore it in subsequent years, but the cut film has, apparently, been lost to time. In spite of this, the film remains an incredible standout from the 1970s, and a fantastic example of a powerhouse female filmmaker at the start of her career. I think Roger Ebert may have said it best in his review for The Chicago Sun-Times:  “A New Leaf is, in fact, one of the funniest movies of our unfunny age." (1971, 102min)