1/13 Me, The “Other”

For our annual collaboration with the Huron Valley Martin Luther King Jr. Day Committee, who are celebrating 20 years of tremendous work in our community, the Milford Independent Cinema will be screening the documentary Me, The “Other”.  The film reveals the inner and outer lives of twelve students living in Michigan, on the frontlines of prejudice, by asking the questions we don’t discuss in classrooms, workplaces, and social places.  A few of the students featured in the film will be at the Cinema that night as part of our discussion!

2/17 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (50th Anniversary)

The second film ever to win best picture, director, screenplay, actor, and actress at the Academy Awards, Milos Forman’s film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest remains, 50 years after its release, a powerful and empathetic film about those who are on the margins of society and how power structures treat them.  Jack Nicholson’s fiery performance as McMurphy, a man who thinks spending time in an asylum will be much easier than prison, is counterbalanced by the icy control wielded by Nurse Ratched, played by Louise Fletcher.  A fantastic supporting cast, including Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, Brad Dourif, and Will Sampson, help to bring humor and tragedy to this brilliant adaptation.

3/10 The Apartment (65th Anniversary)

Director Billy Wilder’s comedy The Apartment stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine as two people who find the wrong kinds of relationships on their way to finding each other.  Lemmon plays an insurance salesman who helps his coworkers conduct extramarital affairs in the hopes it will help him climb the corporate ladder, not realizing he will meet the woman of his dreams in the process.  A multiple Oscar winner, including Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay, The Apartment is widely considered one of the great films of all time and an excellent film to celebrate on its 65th anniversary.

4/7 The Philadelphia Story (85th Anniversary)

Katharine Hepburn reignited her box office career by bringing her stage role in The Philadelphia Story to the big screen, also earning her third nomination for Best Actress in the process.  Hepburn plays socialite Tracy Lord, who finds her wedding plans complicated by the arrival of her ex-husband (played by Cary Grant) and a newspaper reporter (played by James Stewart in an Oscar winning performance).  Reflecting societal norms (and Production Code restrictions) of 85 years ago, The Philadelphia Story still entertains thanks to strong direction, a great script, and performances by some of the greatest stars of its era.

5/5 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Paul Newman and Robert Redford made some terrific films together, and one of the most beloved is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  The highest grossing film of 1969, this western features a witty script by William Goldman (writer of The Princess Bride amongst many other modern classics) that tells the story of two outlaws trying to escape the posse which relentlessly pursues them.  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a film whose critical reputation has grown as it stands the test of time as a hugely entertaining time at the movies!

6/16 The Hunt for Red October (35th Anniversary)

Director John McTiernan’s  adaptation of Tom Clancy’s 1984 novel of the same name, The Hunt for Red October is the first film to feature the character Jack Ryan, who would go on to be played by several famous actors, as he tries to avert an escalation in the Cold War due to the possible defection of a Soviet submarine.  McTiernan finished a tremendous three-film run (after Predator and Die Hard) with this hugely entertaining movie that features an all-time cast including Sean Connery, James Earl Jones, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, Scott Glenn, and Tim Curry.  Tense, exciting, and always engaging, The Hunt for Red October is great action filmmaking best seen on the big screen!

7/21 Airplane! (45th Anniversary)

Airplane!, the Abraham and Zucker brothers send-up of big budget Hollywood disaster films, features nonstop visual jokes, ridiculous puns, running gags, endlessly quotable lines, and hilariously straight-faced performances from actors (such as Lloyd Bridges, Peter Graves, Robert Stack, and especially Leslie Nielsen) typically not known for their comedic chops.  An inexpensive film that would go on to make over 20 times its budget at the box office, Airplane! is as sublimely ridiculous and hilarious today as it was upon its release 45 years ago!

8/25 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (50th anniversary)

Highly revered and with a tremendous cultural impact, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has become a ubiquitous part of cinema’s comedic heritage.  Monty Python’s first original film story, Holy Grail parodies Arthurian legend and modern life in equally quotable measure.  After 50 years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has never left the popular consciousness, due to the strength of the film itself and subsequent projects, like the musical Spamalot.  Always hilarious, this movie is a tremendous experience when enjoyed with an audience!

9/22 Rebel Without a Cause (70th Anniversary)

James Dean was in only eight films during his big-screen career, and yet his name and image are still instantly recognizable today, 70 years after his tragic death.  This is due in no small part to the impact of Rebel Without a Cause, the first film released after his passing.  Dean’s iconic look and his emotionally powerful performance marked a new approach to films about generational strife, leaving a legacy that fans of the film and popular culture in general still recall to this day, decades after the film’s initial release.

10/20 Bride of Frankenstein (90th Anniversary)

Four years after the release of Frankenstein, director James Whale and star Boris Karloff reunited for this sequel that has, in the minds of many, surpassed the original.  Building off of Mary Shelley’s source novel, Bride of Frankenstein brings back the classic Universal monster and gives him an equally striking mate, whose hairdo and white dress are immediately recognizable today.  Directed with style to spare and fantastic visuals, Bride of Frankenstein is a clear victor in the battle against time as it celebrates 90 years of release!

11/3 Goodfellas (35th Anniversary)

Considered one of the best films of the 90s, one of the best films about gangsters, and one of the best films of a great director’s career, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas is an exhilarating and terrifying look into the life of a mobster who wants out before he ends up dead.  Scorsese’s film interweaves brilliant technique and breathless storytelling with tremendous performances by its leads (Liotta, Bracco, DeNiro, Pesci, Sorvino) and many recognizable faces in smaller roles (including many who’d go on to big careers, such as Samuel L. Jackson, and many, many others who’d appear on The Sopranos).  Always gripping, always entertaining, always brilliant, Goodfellas is one of the best American films.

*Films subject to change as available from the box offices