Jun 21, 2018
Check out what’s playing at Cinematheque in the Now Playing section and purchase advance tickets. Download a PDF copy of the July/August program guide.
Summer is a time to chill and search out movies you aren’t going to see at the multiplex. Movies like Brimstone and Glory – an amazing documentary about the National Pyrotechnic Fireworks Festival in Mexico where teams show off their chops in creating explosive fireworks. Movies like: Hirokazu Kore-eda’s riveting courtroom drama The Third Murder which was one of my favourite films at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Kor-eda just won the Cannes Grand Prize last month for his new film Shoplifters. Finally the imagineNATIVE festival presents Femme Totale, an evening of great new works by emerging Indigenous women filmmakers including works by Kristin Flattery and Victoria Inglis, and introduced by filmmaker and actress Michelle Latimer. – Dave Barber, Cinematheque Programming Coordinator
This summer, I’m excited to see Michael Pearce’s “disturbing adult fairy tale” Beast. My guilty-pleasure is romantic movies with a dark edge, something that I am sure Beast will accomplish beautifully and mysteriously. This movie is for those of us who are tired of the usual Hollywood romances and want to be challenged. I am also thrilled to see Brimstone and Glory by Viktor Jakovleski. Pyrotechnics are thrilling on the surface, but for Mexico’s National Pyrotechnic Festivals, things are taken to a whole new terrifying and breath-taking level. Quite frankly, I was already clenching my butt during the trailer. – Jessica Seburn, Cinematheque Box Office
The July/August program has a lot of cool movies to check out from Wonderstruck to Midnight Run. But the film I am most excited to see is Remains, Human by Cody Halcrow (playing with Basket Case). Halcrow is great new voice in Winnipeg film and his short horror film looks like it’s right up my alley. I can’t wait to check out Remains, Human! Go Cody Go! – Milos Mitrovic, Cinematheque Technical Liaison
Basket Case, a grotesquely creepy, garishly gross, penultimately perverse and mordantly hilarious 1982 horror classic, in which a dweeb’s deformed bloodthirsty Siamese Twin brother wreaks havoc on the mean streets of New York, is one of the best no-budget indies of all time. The 4K restoration captures every frame of filth and sleaze with the kind of care and love the film deserves. If you have a weak stomach, please pity our cleaners and bring a receptacle for your, uh, ejections. – Greg Klymkiw, Executive Director
When looking at the films coming up this summer, Wonderstruck really stood out to me. The inclusion of young deaf actress, Millicent Simmonds playing a deaf character is a choice I hope more directors take as well. Following the success of Carol, Todd Haynes has really shown himself to be a talented director, who will not disappoint. Beast is another film I am looking forward to seeing due to hearing so many good things. With it being Michael Pearce’s first feature I am excited to see his career progress and be able to witness the beginning. – Thomas Hanan, Cinematheque Box Office
The Femme Totale program promises to be an engaging series of short works by indigenous women artists. It has a selection of films from 2015 & 2016, so for anyone interested in seeing modern short works this is a great opportunity. The Third Murder by Hirokazu Kore-eda (director of After the Storm) is a film I’m very excited to see. We have shown his films in the past and I’ve always really enjoyed them. Make sure to check it out when it plays! – Dylan Baillie, Cinematheque Projection
Find some time between barbecues, summer festivals and camping this summer to come out to the air conditioned Cinematheque for some great flicks. The tender and beautiful The Rider by Chloé Zhao is one of my favourite films of the year and heralds an exciting new female voice in cinema. Let the Sunshine In is the latest from French master filmmaker Claire Denis, with a powerhouse performance of complexity and nuance by the always wondrous Juliette Binoche – it should not be missed! The horror hound within me is screaming a little with our run of the new Basket Case restoration, which will pair terrifyingly-well with Winnipeg director Cody Halcrow’s short Remains, Human. Lastly, I saw Cielo at Hot Docs and can attest to its sublime beauty and profound quiet. – David Knipe, Cinematheque Operations Manager
I think often about how living in a big city facilitates an ease of swift accessibility and connectivity to anything and everything. But this disconnects us from nature and due to the intense light pollution in a big city – you barely ever even see a lone star in the night sky and this makes you forget that you live on a tiny planet amid millions and millions other planets, suns, solar systems and galaxies. So, I find myself especially excited to have the opportunity to gaze into the infinite unknown of the beautiful, breathtaking natural night sky of the Atacama Desert in Alison McAlpine’s new film Cielo. Also, tapeheads rejoice, we are screening the restoration of Basket Case! I love me some 80s trash horror with killer monster puppets! – Jaimz Asmundson, Cinematheque Programming Director
If you were unable to catch Sergio Corbucci’s bleak spaghetti western The Great Silence I would recommend coming to the shows we have added in July. My other recommendation would be to check out recent Palme d’Or winner Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder, a very different take on his family dramas we have shown before at the theatre. – Eric Peterson, Cinematheque Projection