HUDSON VALLEY CRUCIAL VIEWING: November 7- 20

Your Guide to Repertory Movies in the Hudson Valley

Author

Bel Simek
November 07, 2025

Hello moviegoers! Back (and on time) this week with some repertory recommendations for you all. Not much to report on our end, so I’ll keep this brief. Thanks to everyone who came out this past Monday for our screening of Carnival of Souls at Rough Draft! We took a much needed break in October to let everyone reset but we’re back in action now. Mark your calendars for the first Monday of December, we’ll be showing a fun, seasonally appropriate film to wrap up the end of the year, so stay tuned. Besides that, maybe you’ve seen our Heist series has started at Upstate Films. Michael Mann’s Thief showed this week and Rififi, Inside Man, and Point Break are upcoming. We’ll give you a teaser later this month for our December series, it’s a really fun one. Thanks as always for showing up and supporting us and we can’t wait to bring you more great films in the coming months. Anyway, on to the list!

THE LIST

Friday, November 7

Saturday, November 8

Sunday, November 9

Bel’s Pick: Look, I’ll say it up front: writing about Woody Allen films is complicated. Whether you love him or hate him though, you can’t deny the impact his early oeuvre has had on contemporary cinema. His work, alongside many other voices in independent cinema, particularly in New York, opened the door for a new kind of cinematic voice. Annie Hall is, of course, arguably one of the most defining films from his catalog, but it’s my pick, more than anything, for cinematographer Gordon Willis and the radiant Diane Keaton. Man, it’s hard to explain how sad I was to hear of her passing. For me, as an awkward, boyish teenager, Diane Keaton was the ultimate cool-girl. This movie showed me, and the rest of the world, who she was, this multi-faceted, funny, elegant, bumbling, charming, chic, one-of-a-kind force. There is no Annie Hall without Keaton, and the film is a feat of performance. This is a talking film, and a lot of that talking is done in long takes courtesy of Willis’ ingenious camera work. It’s a work of neurotic portraiture, empathetic to all parties (even though Allen’s typical, light spitefulness does bleed in). Here’s the thing: there’s a reason everyone says you have to see this movie. It’s hard to explain the why, it’s just true. It’s shot with care, it’s directed gently and with humanity, it’s funny, it’s tender, it’s contemplative, and it’s a showcase of what was beginning to shift in independent cinema, what helped define a new mode of movie-making, one that reflects instead of fantasizes, but still leaves ample space for the fantasies to be conjured and created. I understand the many reasons you might not want to watch it, but I still think you should, at least once if you haven’t.

Rififi - Upstate Midtown, Kingston, 7:30pm (Presented by Kingston Film Foundation)

Bel’s Pick:

Monday, November 10

Wednesday, November 12

Rififi - Upstate Midtown, Kingston, 7:30pm (Presented by Kingston Film Foundation)

Guys, if you haven’t seen this movie before I cannot stress enough that you cannot miss it. It’s widely regarded as one of, if not the, best films in the noir genre. Directed by blacklisted American director Jules Dassin on a miniscule budget ($200,000) with a largely unknown cast, the film is excellently performed, excellently shot, and endlessly entertaining. Most famous, perhaps, for its intricate, 30-minute long heist scene, the film has inspired real-life burglaries. If you remember our screening of Le Cercle Rouge last year and enjoyed it, this one is a can’t miss.

Thursday, November 13

Friday, November 14

Saturday, November 15

Here’s my write-up of Wizard of Oz from last December.

Sunday, November 16

Monday, November 17

Bel’s Pick: Our lovely board member Lauren wrote about When Harry Met Sally for our holiday round-up last December (which, if you enjoyed that, stay tuned this year, we’ve been cooking up something fun for y’all). If I’m being honest, I was jealous that she got to do the write-up way back when, but I knew my opportunity would come. I think it would be fair to argue that there is a B.W.H.M.S. (Before When Harry Met Sally) and an A.W.H.M.S. (After When Harry Met Sally). By 1989 Nora Ephron had written two screenplays (one of which was directed by Mike Nichols) but she was hardly the household name she is today. Partnering with co-writer and director Rob Reiner, Ephron wrote a film that has defined an entire genre of movies, and that impact still hangs in the zeitgeist. You can certainly trace the roots of the modern day rom-com back to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and 40s, but Ephron’s character writing and wry humor are hallmarks of the contemporary rom-com. When Harry Met Sally poses the dated question “can men and women be friends?” and excavates from that a romantic, mature, heartfelt contemplation on the nature of relationships. You could certainly criticize the film for how it answers that question, or if you want to be really cynical, say that it reaffirms sexist beliefs about the nature of desire and opposite-sex friendships. You can say that, but not in my house. I think that this film illustrates the nuances of adult relationships, how they can shift and grow, and what intimacy looks like, and how we learn to ask for it from our friends and our lovers. I think it still feels modern, it still feels relevant, and it’s still charming and funny and full of life. Plus, the costuming. If GQ’s done a whole retrospective on your male lead’s outfits you know you’ve got a keeper.

Tuesday, November 18

Wednesday, November 19

Inside Man - Upstate Midtown, Kingston, time TBD (Presented by Kingston Film Foundation)

Thursday, November 20