Starring: Anna Biller, Jared Sanford, Bridget Brno, Chad England
Nearly 10 years before her instantly iconic The Love Witch, director Anna Biller crafted her first feature Viva, a colorful sex comedy set in the 70s for which she is not only credited as writer, director, producer, editor, production designer and costume designer, but also plays the lead.
Citing the main influences as early Playboy photo spreads and Luis Buñuel’s Belle de Jour, Biller created the suburban world of Barbi, a housewife who has her world turned upside down after her husband abandons her. She dives into the sexual revolution, and indulges in all it has to offer, testing her own boundaries. With her signature meticulousness, Biller fills the frame with colorful decor and wild costumes (she even painted some of the canvases on display), effectively making Viva seem like a rediscovered lost film.
Includes a raffle of early copies of Anna Biller’s new book, “Bluebeard’s Castle.”
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, Brian Cox
In the wake of her grandmother’s funeral, hotel manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) is waiting to fly back home when she meets charming Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) at check-in. She thinks it luck that they’re seated together on the plane, but soon learns otherwise. Jackson hopes to assassinate the head of Homeland Security, but to do so, he needs Lisa to reassign the official’s room number at her hotel. As insurance, Jackson has kidnapped Lisa’s father (Brian Cox).
Starring: Robert Townsend, Anne-Marie Johnson, Starletta DuPois, Helen Martin, Craigus R Johnson
Aspiring actor and hot-dog stand employee Bobby Taylor (Robert Townsend) catches the ire of his grandmother (Helen Martin) for auditioning for a role in the regrettably titled exploitation film “Jivetime Jimmy’s Revenge.” When Tinseltown Studios casts Taylor in the title role, he has a series of conflicted dreams satirizing African-American stereotypes in Hollywood, and must reconcile his career goals with his desire to remain a positive role model for his little brother (Craigus R Johnson).
Starring: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz, Robert J. Wilke
A screen poem about life in America at the turn of the century. A story of love and murder told through the voice of a child and expressive images of nature in 1916. A steelworker flees Chicago after a fight with his boss; he takes his little sister and girlfriend with him.
Starring: Shirley Stoler, Tony Lo Bianco, Doris Roberts, Mary Jane Higby
Martha Beck (Shirley Stoler), an obese nurse who is desperately lonely, joins a “correspondence club” and finds a romantic pen pal in Ray Fernandez (Tony Lo Bianco). Martha falls hard for Ray, and is intent on sticking with him even when she discovers he’s a con man who seduces lonely single women, kills them and then takes their money. She poses as Ray’s sister and joins Ray on a wild killing spree, fueled by her lingering concern that Ray will leave her for one of his marks.
Starring: Cathy O’Donnell, Farley Granger, Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen
Wrongly convicted for murder as a teen, “Bowie” Bowers (Farley Granger) breaks out of prison with two other criminals, Chickamaw (Howard da Silva) and T-Dub (Jay C. Flippen). While hiding out, Bowie meets Chickamaw’s niece, Keechie (Cathy O’Donnell), and they bond. Wanting to clear his name, Bowie decides to participate in a robbery with the others, so he can afford a lawyer. As he gets drawn further into crime, Bowie contemplates running away with Keechie and starting over.
Starring: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Inspired by real-life killers Charles Starkweather and Caril-Ann Fugate, this tale of crime and love begins in a dead-end town. Teenage girl Holly (Sissy Spacek) angers her father (Warren Oates) when she begins dating an older and rebellious boy (Martin Sheen). After a conflict between Holly and her father erupts in murder, the young lovers are forced to flee. In the ensuing crime spree, they journey through the Midwest to the Badlands of Montana, eluding authorities along the way.
Starring: Sean Penn, Christopher Walken, Mary Stuart Masterson, Chris Penn, Millie Perkins
Note: This rare print includes Spanish subtitles
Following starmaking turns in films like Fast Times in Ridgemont High and The Falcon and the Snowman, Sean Penn cemented his method acting chops and bad boy image with this “based on a true story” crime drama from James Foley (Reckless, Glengarry Glen Ross).
A mustachioed Christopher Walken (in “zaddy baddie” mode) is Brad Whitewood, Sr., a career criminal in rural Pennsylvania. When Brad’s unlawful activities begin intersecting with his sons (played by real life brothers Sean and Chris Penn), a series of illegal and dark events force Penn’s Brad, Jr. to decide between allegiance to his family or the police. Will blood be thicker than water? Featuring performances from a who’s who of the decade’s rising stars (Mary Stuart Masterson, Kiefer Sutherland, Crispin Glover) and a theme song by Penn’s then spouse, Madonna, At Close Range offers an 80s vision of a Shakespearean-Americana opera broadcasting Penn at his pin-up broodiest.
Introduced by Mark Pagán, host and creator of the podcast Other Men Need Help
Starring: Clint Eastwood, John Malkovich, Rene Russo, Dylan McDermott, Gary Cole, Fred Dalton Thompson
A Secret Service agent is taunted by calls from a would-be killer who has detailed information about the agent – including the fact that he failed to save President John F. Kennedy from assassination. The caller is revealed as an ex-CIA assassin, and the agent, who is investigating a threat to the current president, is determined not to let history repeat itself.
Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Lance Henriksen, Chuck Pfarrer, Yancy Butler, Kasi Lemmons, Wilford Brimley
Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme), a sailor skilled in martial arts, is employed to guard Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) as she tracks down her father, an itinerant Vietnam veteran living in New Orleans named Douglas (Chuck Pfarrer). They soon uncover a sinister group of wealthy men who hunt the homeless for sport, paying them $10,000 if they can survive a crosstown journey. When Chance discovers that Natasha’s father was one of their victims, he decides to destroy the evil hunters.
