Fall 2018 Schedule
9/10 Tully (2018, USA, d. Jason Reitman) 95 min R
Marlo (Charlize Theron) already has two children when her third child is born. When her brother offers her the gift of a nanny, she at first refuses but changes her mind as she becomes increasingly overwhelmed. She hires Tully (Mackenzie Davis) to come in for the night shift, and the two women form an unusual friendship, even going out together occasionally. When Marlo crashes her car on one of their nights out, she has to come to terms with what is really going on. Ross Miler, of The National, call the film “a perceptive, bittersweet, warts-and-all portrayal that feels like a love letter to motherhood itself.” (language, some sexuality/nudity)
9/17 Sorry to Bother You (2018, USA, d. Boots Riley) 105 min R
Musician and activist Boots Riley makes his directorial debut with a film that is “a reflection of the insane times we live in” (Melanie Macfarland, Salon.com). In Sorry to Bother You, Lakeith Stanfield (Get Out) stars as a young African-American telemarketer who discovers that the key to his success is adopting a white accent, propelling him into a spiraling conspiracy which forces him to either succeed in a corrupt world or join together with his friends who are fighting for organized labor. Bizarre, uncomfortable, hilarious, and unexpected, Sorry to Bother You is “an uncompromising and timely film of unapologetic brilliance” (Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch). (pervasive language, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use)
9/24 RBG (2018, USA, d. Julie Cohen and Betsy West) 95 min PG
Revelatory, bold, and gratifying, RBG is the first definitive documentary on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The film chronicles how Ginsburg’s career as a moral authority helped her become a pop-culture icon, from her beginnings as a lawyer fighting to end gender discrimination to her eventual appointment to the Supreme Court during the Clinton Administration. Inspiring and surprisingly romantic, “the movie’s touch is light and its spirit buoyant, but there is no mistaking its seriousness or its passion” (A. O. Scott, New York Times). (thematic elements, language)
10/1 On the Seventh Day / En el Séptimo Día (2017, USA, d. Jim McKay) 97 min NR
José, a hard-working, Mexican-born Brooklynite, is a bicycle delivery worker during the week. On Sundays, however, he is the captain of a winning soccer team. When his team makes the finals, José finds his job on the line as his boss forces him to choose between working on the Sunday of the game or standing up for himself and his teammates. In an Indiewire interview, director McKay says, “I hope people can see some of themselves in this guy and can also look at him and say, ‘Isn’t this the kind of American we want to be neighbors with?’’
Post film online Q&A with director Jim McKay
10/15 Leave No Trace (2018, USA, d. Debra Granick) 109 min PG
The director of Winter’s Bone brings to this film her characteristic compassion and understanding of complicated relationships in this story of a troubled war veteran and his daughter who live off the grid in a wooded park near Portland, Oregon. After an encounter with Social Services, the pair set out to get back to their home in the wild. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian, says the film is “careful, realistic, with a sense of what is possible and what is at stake for those people who really do attempt to turn their backs on conventional living and also reject the stigma of homelessness, but also what is at stake for children who have no choice in the matter. (mature themes)
10/22 Kedi (2016, Turkey/USA, d. Ceyda Torun) 79 min NR
For centuries, thousands of cats have lived on the streets of Istanbul where their presence is largely taken for granted. This documentary focuses on the lives of seven of those cats. John Hartle, writing in the Seattle Times, says, “What’s most memorable about Kedi are the individual self-contained moments: the quiet grace of street scenes in which cameras operate on a cat’s-eye level; the philosophical episodes that encourage speculation about the role of feline behavior in the universe; the delightful, if slightly wacky sincerity of an obsessed human who always makes room in his family for purring creatures.” (some feline fighting, eating whole fish)
10/29 A Ghost Story (2017, USA, d. David Lowery) 92 min R
A Ghost Story is a rare, patient love story that does what few other tales of haunting can: follow in the footsteps of the ghost. Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck star in director David Lowery’s (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) sprawling, time-traveling saga of a ghost who cannot bear to leave the home he shared with his wife before he died. A Ghost Story is often unforgiving, sometimes tense, and always lonely. Bob Mondello of NPR called the film “a meditation on loss but also on legacy - on our enduring need to endure.” (brief language, disturbing images including some gore)
11/5 A Fantastic Woman / Una Mujer Fantástica (2017, Chile/Germany/Spain/USA, d. Sebastián Lelio) 100 min R
This film, which won the 2018 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, tells the story of Marina (Daniela Vega), a transgender woman who works as a waitress and a night club singer. When her older boyfriend, Orlando (Francisco Reyes), dies in their bed of a brain aneurysm, she panics at first and flees the scene. She is suspected of causing his death, and then members of his transphobic family deprive her of her apartment, and even her dog, and drive her away from Orlando’s funeral, assaulting and threatening her. Calvin , Wilson, of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, comments, “In our increasingly polarized time, A Fantastic Woman bridges the gap between ignorance and understanding through the transcendent power of art.” (language, sexual content, nudity, a disturbing assault)
11/12 First Reformed (2017, USA, d. Paul Schrader) 108 min R
Sometimes even a pastor needs a pastor. First Reformed is writer-director Paul Schrader’s (Taxi Driver) exploration of faith and humanity in an age of cultural upheaval. Ethan Hawke stars as Reverend Ernst Toller, who is called upon to lead the congregation of a fledgling church in an upstate New York town; the film asks if the Reverend can find redemption in violence. Writes Chris Vognar of the Dallas Morning News, “this is a movie about faith tested, and people trying to reconcile hope with a world that can feel hopeless. It’s a film to be seen in a dark theater with an audience hushed in reverence of the power of cinema.” (some disturbing violent images)
11/26 The Death of Stalin (2017, France/UK/Belgium/Canada, d. Armando Iannucci) 107 min R
After Josef Stalin unexpectedly drops dead, it’s up to the sycophants who haunt his halls to decide who will back-stab their way to the top of the pecking order. This satirical outing by director Armando Iannucci (Veep) is as bold and absurd as it is timely. With an all star cast that includes Jason Isaacs and Steve Buscemi, The Death of Stalin has been praised for its striking visuals and sophisticated approach to comedy that sometimes embraces slapstick. About the film, Adam Graham of The Detroit News said, “...given the current state of politics, it’s as on-point as a breaking news alert.”
(language throughout, violence, some sexual references)