WEEKEND PICKS: MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL (MAY 11 - 13)

WEEKEND PICKS: MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL (MAY 11 - 13)

Celebrate your mother with a bunch of mother themed movies (often of the more dysfunctional variety!), and even if cult movies aren't her thing, there's plenty of treats in store this weekend, including a blaxploitation classic and a new restoration of Terry Gilliam's Jabberwocky!
 

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MOMMIE DEAREST (1981 / DCP)
Sun May 13th 2pm
Special hosted event!
Music Box Theatre, Chicago IL

MOMMIE DEAREST, the beloved 1981 camp classic returns to The Music Box Theatre with a special Mother’s Day screening! The festivities, hosted by Dick O’Day, features special guests Joan Crawford (portrayed by David Cerda, Playwright/Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions and lead singer of The Joans rock-n-roll band) and Joan's assistant and chief flunky Carol Ann (portrayed by Ed Jones of Hell in a Handbag Productions and The Joans rock-n-roll band).

The fun kicks off at 2pm with a mother-daughter costume contest featuring MOMMIE DEAREST-themed prizes, followed by a screening (complete with interactive screening guide) of the 1981 Mount Everest of mother’s day movies. Based on the national bestseller, the notorious box office bomb stars Faye Dunaway in her infamous, over-the-top performance as ultimate movie star Joan Crawford and details the battle of wills with her adopted daughter Christina (portrayed by Mara Hobel and Diana Scarwid). Mother’s Day mimosas will be available in the Music Box Lounge. Please note that this event is NOT suitable for children under 17 years of age. MOMMIE DEAREST is Rated R. (Program notes by Music Box Theatre)

 

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Mother’s Day at The Roxy NYC
Roxy Cinema, New York City

Celebrate with your Mom at downtown NYC’s gorgeous little art deco film house with an assortment of Mom related viewing treats!

TROOP BEVERLY HILLS (1989 / DCP)
Sun May 13th 12pm

Jeff Kanew’s Troop Beverly Hills wasn’t exactly a smash when it was released in 1989, but has since found favor as a cult comedy, especially in the camp-appreciating gay community. Coming hot off her years on the beloved 80s sitcom Cheers, Shelley Long plays a shopaholic Beverly Hills mom who, in an effort to prove her husband’s accusations of selfishness wrong, volunteers to become den mother to her daughter’s wilderness troop.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990 / DCP)
Sun May 13th 2:05pm

Based on Carrie Fisher’s semi-autobiographical novel, Mike Nichols’ 1990 adaptation of Postcards From the Edge remains one of the most funny and honest examinations of addiction, Hollywood pressures and mother-daughter relationships in the annals of cinema. The script – also written by Fisher – details the travails of a film actress/drug addict (Meryl Streep) who is forced to move back in with her competitive and manipulative former starlet mother (Shirley MacLaine) after suffering an overdose on the set of a movie.

IMITATION OF LIFE (1959 / DCP)
Sun May 13th 4:10pm

His last Hollywood film, master of melodrama Douglas Sirk’s 1959 Imitation of Life is also his most audacious. Based on Fannie Hurst’s novel, Sirk’s take concerns a single mother/struggling actress (screen siren Lana Turner) who hires an African American single mother (Juanita Moore) as a housekeeper and defacto nanny, a dynamic complicated by the fact that the housekeeper’s own light-skinned daughter is able to pass for white. The real beauty is the way the director’s use of high-drama takes the sting out of the hard-hitting racial themes at the film’s core, making them palatable to a racially divided world right on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement.

(All program notes by Roxy Cinema)

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The legendary Blaxpolitation era classic
BLACK CAESER (1973 / 35mm Print)
Fred Williamson in person!
Fri May 11th 7:30pm
Hollywood Theatre, Portland OR

The Hollywood Theater welcomes action hero maverick Fred “The Hammer” Williamson for a rare 35mm screening of his ass kicking pièce de résistance BLACK CAESAR! Discerning genre enthusiasts have come to adore Fred Williamson’s bold screen persona as a thundering reverberation of Sidney Poitier’s iconic smack to the face of American racism… except “The Hammer” strikes with clenched fists! His gritty breakout hit BLACK CAESAR, a remake of LITTLE CAESAR (1931), directed by exploitation auteur Larry Cohen, reimagines the pathologically ambitious hoodlum archetype as a swaggering criminal who hustles his way up the food chain, wages war on the Mob, and builds a precarious empire of dirty money, bloody revenge, and very bad karma. Boasting an electrifying score by James Brown, BLACK CAESAR is a high-water mark in the cannon of so-called Blaxploitation films that dominated grindhouses throughout the '70s. Spend the night with... the Godfather of Harlem! Autograph signing starting at 6:30pm (autographs are $20, cash only). Film at 7:30pm, followed by a Q&A. (Program notes by Hollywood Theatre)

Terry Gilliam Double
JABBERWOCKY (1977 / New 4K DCP) plus MONTH PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL (1975 / DCP)
Fri May 11th 5:30pm
Castro Theatre, San Francisco CA

Welcome to the kingdom of Terry Gilliam and his gonzo medieval comedy Jabberwocky! Amid the filth and muck of England in the Dark Ages, a fearsome dragon stalks the land, casting a shadow of terror upon the kingdom of Bruno the Questionable. Who should emerge as the town’s only possible savior but Dennis Cooper (Monty Python’s Michael Palin), an endearingly witless bumpkin who stumbles onto the scene and is flung into the role of brave knight. The first outing as a solo director by Terry Gilliam (Brazil)—inspired by Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky” and made on the heels of Gilliam’s success as a member of the iconic comedy troupe Monty Python—showcases his delight in comic nonsense, with a cast chock-full of beloved British character actors. A giddy romp through blood and excrement, Jabberwocky remains one of the filmmaker’s most uproarious visions of society gone berserk. New 4K digital restoration supervised by Gilliam himself!

After intermission, It’s Square Pegs at the Round Table as England’s zaniest humorists take on the Middle Ages and convert Arthurian legend into uncontrollable lunacy! Written and performed by all your favorite Pythons, Holy Grail has been fully re-mastered in high definition and now includes the new, never-before-seen 12-minute short feature “Terry Gilliam’s Lost Animations.”

(Program notes by Castro Theatre)

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Tim Burton’s Gothic Fairytale
EDWARD SCISSORHANDS (1990 / DCP)
Sun May 13th 4pm
Astor Theatre, Melbourne Australia

Johnny Depp is wonderfully innocent in the story of a man, with scissors for hands, brought to life by a kindly inventor (Vincent Price). Taken in by a beauty sales rep (Dianne Wiest), Edward is spun into the strange world of American suburbia, and falls in love with a teenage girl (Winona Ryder). Paced perfectly, whimsical and often heart breaking, Edward Scissorhands remains a modern classic.

LABYRINTH (1986 / DCP)
Special Labyrinth Masquerade Ball Screening
Sat May 12th 8pm, Prince Charles Cinema, London UK

"In 9 hours and 23 minutes... you'll be mine." Come and join the Prince Charles Cinem as they venture into the dark unknown that is Jareth's Labyrinth! Before the film begins each guest receives a goodie-bag to help bring the screening to life, as well as a hosted pre-show featuring PCC's very own 'Jareth' who'll be there to guide you through the Rules of The Labyrinth.

Cheer Sarah along as she battles her way through the twists and turns to reach her little Brother, Toby, so they may escape the grasp of the Goblin King! Along the way, "FRIEND" along with Ludo, get Hoggle's name wrong (or is it Higgle?), cheer the wondrous Sir Didymus, echo the sounds of the Bog Of Eternal Stench and of course throw a cheeky swoon Jareth's way too. Fancy Dress is strongly encouraged, with spot prizes for the Best Dressed. 10% of the box office for EVERY Masquerade Ball screening goes to  Macmillan Cancer Support .(Program notes by Prince Charles Cinema)
 

The ‘Caan’ Film Festival
THE GODFATHER (1972 / 35mm Print)
Fri May 11th 7pm
Museum of the Moving Image, Astoria NY

The Museum of the Moving Image (an incredible place to visit by the way), is paying tribute to actor James Caan with a series of movie greats starring the legendary actor. The granddaddy of contemporary crime films remains one of Hollywood's greatest works of modern storytelling. With this first part of the multilayered Corleone saga, a violent allegory of American industry, Coppola instantly became a cinematic titan, Brando found a colossal role he would always be remembered for, Pacino became a bona fide movie star, and Caan (in his only Academy Award–nominated performance) stole the show as Sonny, the tetchy, combustible id of the family. It is gripping from the first frame to last, with exquisite visual texture courtesy of cinematographer Gordon Willis. (Contains program notes by Museum of the Moving Image).

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Skip School Like A Pro…
FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986 / DCP)
Fri May 11th 11am & Midnight
Sat May 12th 11am & Midnight
Sun May 13th 11am
IFC Center, New York City

“You’re not dying, you just can’t think of anything better to do!” In one of the seminal teen movies of the ’80s, Ferris (Matthew Broderick) cuts class with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara), his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck), and Cameron’s dad’s Ferrari in tow, taking in the sights of downtown Chicago and evading his vindictive school principal (Jeffrey Jones).
 

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Late Night Romp Through 1980s Soho NYC
AFTER HOURS (1985 / 35mm Print)
Fri May 11th 10:40am & Midnight
Sat May 12th 10:40am & Midnight
Sun May 13th 10:40am
IFC Center, New York City

Take a trip through a very different time in downtown NYC, when Soho wasn’t all yuppies and boutiques, and a million tourists shopping along Broadway, but a seedy yet vibrant enclave for artists and misfits. “A quiet New York computer programmer (Dunne) travels downtown to SoHo for a vaguely arranged date. Losing his taxi fare en route is only the first of the night’s many increasingly menacing situations, with neurotic New Yorkers all apparently determined to prevent his returning home alive. Scorsese’s screwball comedy is perhaps his most frightening picture to date as Dunne slowly but inexorably sinks into a whirlpool of mad and murderous emotions; but a tight and witty script and perfectly tuned performances, perilously balanced between normality and insanity, keep the laughs flowing, while the direction is as polished and energetic as ever… innovative filmmaking of the first order.” – Time Out (London)

Buster Keaton for Mother’s Day
STEAMBOAT BILL JR (1928 / 35mm Print)
Silent Film with Live Musical Accompaniment
Sun May 13th 2pm, Somerville Theatre, Somerville Massachusetts

In this silent comedy, college boy William Canfield Jr. (Buster Keaton) reunites with his boat captain father in a Mississippi River town. Though he's flummoxed by Willie's citified appearance, the elder Canfield seems to have found an ally to help him compete with fellow riverboat owner John James King (Tom McGuire). Willie finds himself falling for King's daughter, Mary (Marion Byron), but he has more pressing concerns when the weather turns bad and his father in arrested. (Program notes by Somerville Theatre).

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Newborn Terror!
IT’S ALIVE (1974 / 35mm Print)
Fri May 11th Midnight
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline Massachusetts

It's newborn and ... It's Alive ... and murder is what it knows best! A proud couple's bundle of joy is really a newborn terror in filmmaker Larry Cohen's cautionary cult hit that tapped into environmental fears. Rare 35mm Print. (Program notes by Coolidge Corner)
 

Psycho Triple Feature - All in 35mm!
PSYCHO (1960 / 35mm Print) plus PSYCHO II (1983 / 35mm Print) plus PSYCHO III (1986 / 35mm Print) 
Fri May 11th 7:30pm
Aero Theatre, Santa Monica CA

Check into the Bates Motel with a horror triple feature of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic shocker and its two theatrical sequels, all starring Anthony Perkins as lethal mama’s boy Norman Bates. Follow Norman as he goes from bad to worse in the fallout of that ill fated visit from Janet Leigh in the original.

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Mother’s Day Weekend Special at Nitehawk
Nighthawk Cinema, Brooklyn NY


Celebrate a slightly off kilter celebration of dysfunctional motherhood!

PSYCHO (1960 / DCP)
Fri May 11th & Sat May 12th Midnight
Anthony Perkins takes in a fleeing thief who gets a little too close to his secret about ‘mother’.

MOMMIE DEAREST (1981 / DCP)
Sat May 12th & Sun May 13th11:30am
Faye Dunaway plays superstar actress Joan Crawford who adopts two children to fill a void in her life, but becomes an overbearing nightmare.

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE (1990 / DCP)
Sat May 12th & Sun May 13th 11:30am
Based on Carrie Fisher’s novel, Meryl Streep plays a daughter coming out of rehab to move in with her alcoholic mother (Shirley MacLaine).

MID WEEK UPDATE (MAY 21 - 24)

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