Movie Blog: Summer Series Calendars Announced
Temperatures have managed to hover above 60 degrees for more than just a couple days in a row. You know what that means. Yep, summer's almost over!
Seriously, though, I think some of us are finally in the mindset to enjoy what remains of our impending summer season, disregarding the fact that the solstice is a mere month and one week away, at which point daylight starts to disappear again.
OK, OK. Sorry for slipping (again) into bitter pessimism about being shortchanged this spring. This is a time for celebration and, more to the point, time for some of the Twin Cities' best repertory theaters to unveil their special retro titles for the upcoming dog days.
Here's a quick overview of what you can expect to occupy those muggy, sunburn-tending evenings.
TAKE-UP PRODUCTIONS
Take-Up Productions' Trylon Microcinema will be celebrating their second anniversary this coming summer, and they've got plenty of showstoppers on their ticket.
First up, June brings a series of pirate movies, all of which could incidentally swash the buckles right off Capt. Jack Sparrow's latest bloated Pirates of the Caribbean epic. Yes, that includes Gene Kelly's daring-do in Vincente Minnelli's The Pirate.
In July, the Trylon breaks it up with a series of "micro-series," meaning each weekend brings a new themed double- or even triple-feature. Dario Argento, Robert Altman and Errol Morris are all highlit during the month.
And in August comes an acerbic tribute to the movies of satirical legend Billy Wilder. Perfect timing for that all-too-soon moment in the summer when we Minnesotans realize the summer's about to draw to a close and we're still painfully pale.
Take-Up Productions also has a hand in a June series at the Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. Called "The Lighter Side of Homicide," murder most goofy colors the selection, from The Thin Man to Laura.
Check out the full upcoming slate here.
WILLOW CREEK
The Retros at Willow Creek continue forth this summer with a full slate of beloved audience favorites, and this time the entire enterprise has been accompanied with a 13-minute short film "explaining" how the retro titles are chosen. (I've watched it, and I'm not entirely sure it's accurate, but hey, summer is the time for fantasy.)
Among this summer's titles are Jurassic Park, American Graffiti, Back to the Future, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Poltergeist. (Here's the full list.) Children of the '80s are going to be extremely comfortable at Willow Creek this summer ...
RIVERVIEW THEATER
... And they might find themselves just as comfortable at Riverview Theater in Minneapolis, where a Facebook poll helped decide the titles that would play during the weekend midnight movies throughout the summer.
I confess, I voted in the poll, and I am a little bit saddened that my choice -- Death Becomes Her -- didn't manage a high enough tally to register. I guess that one hasn't quite reached cult critical mass yet. Some day.
Nevermind, there's plenty of other options, including Die Hard, Sixteen Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Batman and even a few non '80s hits like Serenity and The Matrix.
Check the full list here.
