Hudson Valley Crucial Viewing: November 8- 21

Hey there cinephiles. We’re going to get to the calendar, but movies feel a little trivial after a pretty awful week for our country. A lot of us are worried about the future and what it portends. As the parent of a young child, I certainly worry about the world she’s going to inherit. The best thing we can do right now is to care for the people in our community, especially those who may be more directly affected by the policies that are to come. The Hudson Valley is a special place to me, in no small part because of the people who live here, and the level of creativity and kindness we routinely display that’s hard to find in a lot of places in this country. I urge you all to stay kind and stay strong, and while we may feel despair, we can’t lose hope.
From personal experience, I also recommend staying away from doomscrolling or cable news binge-watching at a time like this. Go for a walk, get outside, meet up with some friends, or, yes, maybe even go see a movie. Be kind to yourselves and do a little favor for your soul. It might help restore some of that hope.

Hal Ashby's HAROLD AND MAUDE
Tinker St. Cinema, Woodstock – opens Friday, November 8

It’s hard to imagine a culture that doesn’t love Harold and Maude. Today, the film feels synonymous with outsider youthfulness, revered and adored by teenagers and young adults struggling with their emotions and place in the world. But, in 1971 when it first released, Hal Ashby’s darkly comedic romance was panned by critics. Even my beloved Ebert disliked it, giving it a brutal 1 ½ stars and a brusque review. You have to think though, it acquired cult status for a reason right? And not just because edgy kids are attached to it. In part, I think it's due to screenwriter Colin Higgins’ incredible script (he’s best known for 9 to 5, didya know?). Though Ebert disagrees with me, Higgins’ deft writing manages to humanize two characters that start as archetypes, essentially walking metaphors. Where Harold could easily end up a Wednesday Addams-esque parody of the overly melancholic, grim, depressive young man, he becomes sweet and misunderstood. His morbid obsessions are a representation of his youthful inexperience and naivete. Maude, who could be an offensive stereotype of the lively old biddy, is a soft, beautiful representation of a 20th century woman who has lived through hardship and come out not better for it but with a value for the life she has lived. The film is a beautiful rumination on intergenerational friendship and what we gain from allowing other people to teach us about their perspectives, not just tell us about them. And, age-gap be damned, the end will never not bring a little tear to my eye. Maude is my favorite cradle-robber. Without Harold and Maude paving the way for quirky, genuine, off-beat storytelling we wouldn’t have the likes of many indie darlings (I’m looking at you The Royal Tenenbaums…). Get back in touch with your emo-teen and give it a rewatch, why don’t you? (1971, 91min)

Rudy Wurlitzer and Robert Frank’s CANDY MOUNTAIN
TSL, Hudson – opens Friday, November 8

Before I get into why I think you should go see this movie in Hudson this week I just want to ask you to watch this trailer. Can you do that for me? It’s a minute and a half long, I know you’ve got time, I’ll just wait…. Okay. Cool. Now tell me you don’t really wanna go see this movie. If you don’t, I don’t believe you. I know we all know that I’ve got a thing about road movies. We’ve talked about it ad nauseum in this newsletter. I know what you’re thinking “I’m sick of it! All Bel ever wants me to watch are these slow, boring movies about getting from point A to point B and, yeah, okay, maybe they’re pretty fun, maybe I liked a few of em, but let’s break it up! Gimme something different!” And listen, I hear you. I really do. Except, this one is really fun. It’s the American musician’s road movie. It was codirected and written by a descendant of Robert Wurlitzer (yes, that Wurlitzer). You get to watch Tom Waits ham it up on screen! It’s got it all, and a great set of music to boot. Joking aside, I think what I love the most about this movie is Wurlitzer’s contributions. His experiences working with the likes of Claes Oldenburg and Philip Glass, as well as the philosophical, psychedelic influence his novels had on the script make it stand out. It could be overly pretentious, knowing that, but it feels incredibly human. And, as someone who works in a venue and talks to touring musicians for a living, I think it really gets it. It’s a late 20th century take on the delta blues folk tale of the devil at the crossroads. What lengths would you go to to get what you want? How far does the desire for fame take you? This one belongs with the greats of music movies, particularly because it has something to say and its own story to tell, not someone else’s. I’d give it a shot if I were you, especially because if you don’t see it now, you might have a hard time finding it later. (1988, 91min)

Jean Pierre Melville's LE CERCLE ROUGE
World’s End Comics, Kingston – Sunday, November 10, 5:00pm

First off I just wanna shout out Joey and World’s End for their fantastic double feature that we highlighted here a few weeks ago. I’m stoked that KFF is getting the opportunity to host a screening in their wonderful space, and what a great movie to get to show. This is Jean-Pierre Melville at his absolute peak. If you’re unfamiliar with this behemoth of French cinema, Melville is essentially the father of French New Wave filmmaking, becoming one of the first successful, independent filmmakers in France. Arguably, I think he is best known on our side of the pond for Le Samouraï, another one of his fantastic noir films. All of Melville’s films are excellent, delicately shot romps through the seedy underbelly of society, but Le Cercle Rouge takes the cake for me as his best. Famous for its incredible, nearly dialogue free, hour long heist sequence at the end, I think it’s fair to say that without it we would not have much of the visual language that has become synonymous with the crime and heist genre today. There’s so much in this film that we can trace to modern films. Whether it be the exceptional, precise choreography and coordination of the shots, to the gadgets and perspective shifts (I think often of the way he shoots through the lens of a scope), to its premise, the joined forces of 3 strangers to attempt the impossible. This movie has it all, and those tropes still resonate through the genre today. Heist movies are among my favorite films, and we struggle nowadays to achieve the tense pace and tone that this movie sets. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. It’s also a superb showing from its 3 leads, particularly Alain Delon, who I love to see shirk the overt sex appeal for something a little more subtle and undercut. It also features one of my favorite of Melville’s tricks – a falsely attributed epitaph that primes the viewers for the movie. What is the eponymous red circle? Watch the damn movie and figure it out! And afterwards, read this excellent essay from Criterion about just that. (1970, 140min)

Ernst Lubitsch's THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale – Thursday, November 14, 7:00pm

I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned to you all before that I am kind of a huge fan of Meg Ryan films. I watched all her movies with my mom as a kid yadda yadda yadda you’ve heard it here before. I have to tell you now, though, You’ve Got Mail is a despicable film. Have I seen it a million times? Yeah, totally. Do I think it’s ethically and politically reprehensible? Also yes. I mean, c’mon, it's pretty brutal to watch the independent brick & mortar get swallowed up by the Barnes & Noble stand in, all in the name of love. Why can’t she have both! Oh the capitalistic craze of the 90s… But wait, did you know You’ve Got Mail is a remake? Because guess what baby, it is, and you can go see the original in a week at the Rosendale Theater. The Shop Around the Corner is a much more grounded workplace romance, centered around classic screwball tropes of mistaken identities and false assumptions. Jimmy Stewart gives a great early career show as the salary man love interest, and Margaret Sullavan is a picture perfect leading lady, this film being the most well-known of her relatively short studio career. I love the anonymous letter writing premise, and it’s so fun to watch the drama unfold, knowing full well our work place enemies are falling for each other. Do any of you follow that instagram account “longlostpersonals”? If you do, you’ll love this movie. If you don’t, I don’t know, check it out, live a little! RIP the world of print. I feel like everyone’s been complaining over the last five-ish years that we lost the art of the romcom in the 90s. If you feel the same way, please, I implore you, look back a little further. I’m sure there’s a ton of amazing romance movies from early Hollywood that’ll scratch that itch. This is one of them. (1940, 99min)

Martin Scorsese’s THE LAST WALTZ
as part of the Story Screen Music Film Festival
Story Screen, Hudson – Saturday, November 16, 4:00pm

Legally I don’t think I should be allowed to talk to you all about this movie. Much like how I felt a few weeks ago writing about Moonstruck, there is too much for me to say here, and not enough space. I want you to want to read these, and I already sound like a raving lunatic half the time. I have a reputation to uphold. 
In all seriousness though, I really do think this is one of the greatest music films of all time. I’m a sucker for the rock music of the 1970s, especially the blues and country-fueled rock that The Band played. This is one of those movies I watch once a year religiously, usually (and appropriately) around the holiday season. Last year I watched it on my couch at 3 in the morning on New Year’s Eve, yelling about how handsome Rick Danko is with my friend until one of my roommates finally came out of their room and told me to shut up. Martin Scorsese really has a deft hand for filming live bands, a talent that’s often overlooked when discussing his legacy as one of the great American directors. I don’t think you can overstate how hard it is to shoot bands with a cinematic eye. Unless the whole thing is staged, you have to be adaptable and dynamic in order to capture the energy of the performance, the crowd, and the music. Scorsese does it perfectly, and even though it was all planned, still conveys the spontaneity and life of the concert. It’s an unbelievable confluence of energy and passion. This movie makes me emotional! It’s one of the hardest parts of critical writing about music. So much about what makes it good or bad is how it makes us feel, and that will never be objective. I feel the same way about this film, because no matter how technically proficient and elegantly put together it is, it’s a movie about the music, and what matters most is how the music makes us feel. This movie makes me feel full of heart-ache, and emotional, and elated. Can’t be objective about that. But I can tell you, nothing feels better than to watch this movie with other people who care, and watching it in a theater full of those people probably feels amazing. If you care, I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice not going. (1978, 116min)