Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am offers an artful and intimate meditation on the life and works of the acclaimed novelist. From her childhood in the steel town of Lorain, Ohio to ‘70s-era book tours with Muhammad Ali, from the front lines with Angela Davis to her own riverfront writing room, Toni Morrison leads an assembly of her peers, critics and colleagues on an exploration of race, America, history and the human condition as seen through the prism of her own literature. Woven together with a rich collection of art, history, literature and personality, the film includes discussions about her many critically acclaimed works, including novels “The Bluest Eye,” “Sula” and “Song of Solomon,” her role as an editor of iconic African-American literature and her time teaching at Princeton University.

Starring: Kotono Mitsuishi, Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara

Under constant attack by Angels, NERV introduces two new pilots: the mysterious Makinami Mari Illustrous and the intense Asuka Langley Shikinami. Parallel to the incursion, Gendo Ikari and SEELE proceed the secret project that involves both Rei and Shinji.

Starring: Shigeru Chiba, Hisao Egawa, Kayoko Fujii

Memories is made up of three separate science-fiction stories. In the first, “Magnetic Rose,” four space travelers are drawn into an abandoned spaceship that contains a world created by one woman’s memories. In “Stink Bomb,” a young lab assistant accidentally transforms himself into a human biological weapon set on a direct course for Tôkyô. The final episode, “Cannon Fodder,” depicts a day in the life of a city whose entire purpose is the firing of cannons at an unseen enemy.

Starring: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Kotono Mitsuishi

The fate of the world is threatened by seemingly monstrous entities known as Angels. NERV is an organisation set up to counter this threat and it is up to young pilots to protect Earth but exactly what are the real motives behind NERV?

Starring: Jennifer Grey, Patrick Swayze, Jerry Orbach

$5 from each cocktail special sold and a portion of popcorn sales will be donated to the National Network of Abortion Funds

Baby (Jennifer Grey) is one listless summer away from the Peace Corps. Hoping to enjoy her youth while it lasts, she’s disappointed when her summer plans deposit her at a sleepy resort in the Catskills with her parents. Her luck turns around, however, when the resort’s dance instructor, Johnny (Patrick Swayze), enlists Baby as his new partner, and the two fall in love. Baby’s father forbids her from seeing Johnny, but she’s determined to help him perform the last big dance of the summer.

Starring: Viveik Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra

1987. When music fanatic Javed discovers the illustrious back catalogue of The Boss, his world is turned upside down; already a creative soul his passion for music and writing is set alight by the songs of the working-class poet, whose lyrics feel all too familiar to the aspirational teenager. Yearning to escape his rundown hometown and the rules of his traditional Pakistani household, Javed finds himself caught in between two worlds and must discover if he too is Born to Run.

Playing before each screening of Blinded by the Light is the short film Pa’lante directed by Kristian Mercado (Music Driven Award Winner, 2018 Nitehawk Shorts Festival).

Pa’lante is the story of an estranged working class Puerto Rican family trying to reconnect in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Set both in New York and Puerto Rico, the film stars Mela Murder as Milagros, and Kareem Savinon as Manuel. Playing to the vocals of Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff. The film chronicles the Nuyorican and Puerto Rican experience and is a contemplation of family, love, and loss.

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Idris Elba, Helen Mirren, Vanessa Kirby, Eiza Gonzalez

Ever since hulking lawman Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson), a loyal agent of America’s Diplomatic Security Service, and lawless outcast Shaw (Jason Statham), a former British military elite operative, first faced off in 2015’s Furious 7, the duo have swapped smack talk and body blows as they’ve tried to take each other down. But when cyber-genetically enhanced anarchist Brixton (Idris Elba) gains control of an insidious bio-threat that could alter humanity forever–and bests a brilliant and fearless rogue MI6 agent (Vanessa Kirby), who just happens to be Shaw’s sister–these two sworn enemies will have to partner up to bring down the only guy who might be badder than themselves.

NEUROTICA.
Directed by Laura Moss, Written by Nick Kocher | 2019 | 20 min
A comedic sci-fi anthology series exploring personal anxieties. In episode 1, eureka!, a chronic procrastinator (Karen Gillan) meets an otherworldly being responsible for giving humanity its great ideas.

On why they selected Brigsby Bear: “Brigsby Bear and neurotica. both depict (in very different ways) the trials and tribulations of bringing an idea to life. They examine the difficulty of knowing you’re making something flawed, something that might not measure up, but choosing to do it anyway. Brigbsy Bear also manages to create the perfect blend of absurd humor and grounded drama, with heartwarming moments and ironic commentary. It’s unique, it takes risks, and at the end of the day…it’s just really really good.”

BRIGSBY BEAR
Superfan James is obsessed with the clever if quaintly goofy kids’ show Brigsby Bear to the point of religiosity. A bright, sensitive young adult still living at home, he has grown up with this fantasy series, and the program has grown with him as well — getting more complex over the years. But to say James’ intensely protective parents have kept their son a bit sheltered is an understatement.

One dramatic night, James’ insular world is upended. Through the disorienting but sporadically hilarious transition to a new life that follows, Brigsby remains James’ security blanket and, upon learning the series has been cancelled, he adopts the old adage that the show must go on. Family members and authority figures fret over James’ fixation, but by becoming Brigsby Bear’s new creator instead of just a viewer in the dark, he finally accesses all the meaningful connections his life has lacked. By telling his story, James repairs it — producing in the process an inventively offbeat and profoundly uplifting love letter to the redemptive power of creativity.

Starring: Richard Attenborough, Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, B.D. Wong, Samuel L. Jackson, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Wayne Knight

Based on the science fiction novel by Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park shows a very scary possibility of what happens when science interferes with nature or, in this case, brings it back from extinction! Extreme tension and welcome comic relief pumps throughout the film as a group of visitors touring Jurassic Park (an upcoming amusement park from the prehistoric age) on Isla Nublar fight for their lives! All of this is made even more terrifying by the incredible visual effects and animatronics in the film – those dinosaurs look real! Velociraptor, Tyrannosaurus, and Triceratops, oh my!

Starring: Himesh Patel, Lily James, Kate McKinnon, Ed Sheeran

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is a struggling singer-songwriter in a tiny English seaside town whose dreams of fame are rapidly fading, despite the fierce devotion and support of his childhood best friend, Ellie (Lily James). Then, after a freak bus accident during a mysterious global blackout, Jack wakes up to discover that The Beatles have never existed… and he finds himself with a very complicated problem, indeed.