May 17-23

Graceland

Ron Morales / 2012, Philippines / Color / Blu-ray / 84min

In this unpredictable and tightly-paced Filipino thriller, family man Marlon Villar--a longtime chauffeur to corrupt politician Manuel Chango--is faced with an unthinkable predicament when he gets ambushed while driving both his boss’s twelve year-old girl and his own daughter home from school one afternoon. In the chaos of the kidnapping attempt, things go horribly awry and Marlon’s daughter is taken and held for ransom instead. Desperate to save his daughter, Marlon must navigate the conflicting motives between the ruthless kidnappers, untrustworthy Chango and determined detectives eager to name him a suspect without letting on the wrong girl was taken hostage. As events progress wildly unaccording to plan, Marlon, Chango and their families are forced into a rapid downward spiral of deceit and betrayal that will leave no one innocent. In Tagalog with English subtitles.

"Twisted enough to keep even the most seasoned thriller aficionado second guessing up to the end." Twitch Film

"Mesmerizing..." Indiewire

"A potent combo of hostage thriller and high-impact morality play." Variety

May 24-30

Repulsion
New 35mm print!

Roman Polanski / 1965, UK / B&W / 105min / 35mm

Roman Polanski followed up his international breakthrough Knife in the Water with this controversial, chilling tale of psychosis. Catherine Deneuve is Carol, a fragile, frigid young beauty cracking up in her London flat when left alone by her vacationing sister. She is soon haunted by specters real and imagined, and her insanity grows to a violent, hysterical pitch. Thanks to its disturbing detail and Polanski’s adeptness at turning claustrophobic space into an emotional minefield, Repulsion is a surreal, mind-bending odyssey into personal horror, and it remains one of cinema’s most shocking psychological thrillers. New 35mm print!

"Polanski's first film in English is still his scariest and most disturbing." Jonathan Rosenbaum

"Very few films cast the kind of eerie spell that this 1965 classic achieves..." Robert Horton

May 31-June 6

Greenwich Village: Music That Defined A Generation

Laura Archibald / 2013, Canada / Color / 92min / Blu-ray

Featuring poignant interviews with Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Don McLean, Peter Yarrow, Arlo Guthrie, Lucy and Carly Simon, Tom Chapin and Judy Collins, among dozens of other music luminaries, GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION combines talking heads with rare archival footage and new live performances to tell a story about a community that created a generation-defining music. Greenwich Village was the birthplace of the singer/songwriter and songs of love and relationships. Between 1961-1973, many musicians in The Village banded together to sing about the radical social upheaval of the time. As these new singers emerged, Greenwich blossomed as a place that promoted a better future. Their music challenged the status quo by singing about taboo subjects - fighting for civil liberties, protesting the Vietnam War, and holding governments accountable for their actions. GREENWICH VILLAGE: MUSIC THAT DEFINED A GENERATION is the amazing untold story about the very people whose music helped change the world.

"A history lesson that holds some pleasures even for those who know its material by heart..." Hollywood Reporter

May 31-June 2

Java Heat

Conor Allyn / 2013, USA / Color / 104min / Blu-ray

After a terrorist attack rocks Indonesia and kills the country’s much beloved Sultana and her daughter is kidnapped, Jake (Kellan Lutz), a reckless American tough guy becomes embroiled in the turmoil ensuing the attacks. Jake is bent on vengeance but quickly finds the world a more complicated place than he can solve with violence alone. Lost among labyrinths of religious, political and cultural havoc, Jake must ally with cerebral Muslim detective Hashim (rising Indonesian star Ario Bayu), who handles Jake more like a suspect than a partner. The uneasy friendship leads to a treacherous man-hunt for the attack’s real instigator, a new breed of klepto-terrorist (Mickey Rourke), who is even more twisted and terrifying than the Jihadist terrorists he hides behind.

June 7-13

Herman's House

Angad Singh Bhalla / 2012, USA-Canada-UK / Color / 81min / Blu-ray

"What kind of house does a man who has been imprisoned in a six-foot-by-nine-foot cell for over 30 years dream of?" There are 2.2 million people in jail in the U.S and more than 80,000 of those are in solitary confinement. Falsely accused of murdering a prison guard, Herman Wallace has been in solitary in Louisiana's Angola prison ("The Alcatraz of the South") longer than anyone. With compassion and meaningful artistry, the film captures the remarkable creative journey and friendship of Herman, one of the Angola 3, and artist Jackie Sumell as they create Herman's dream home.

"A cinematic gem." The Globe and Mail

"A unique and moving story... inventive, poetic and original." Ezra Winton, Art Threat

"Captivating, compelling, and at turns even devastating and hopeful." Kalvin Henely, Slant Magazine

June 14, 15, 21 & 22

Manborg

Steven John Kostanski / 2011, Canada / Color / 60min / Blu-ray

The armies of Hell have taken over the Earth. All that stands in the way of the villainous Count Draculon and humanity‘s total extinction is a motley crew of misfits led by the mighty MANBORG: a warrior who‘s half-man, half machine, but all hero. Made for a mere $1000 (Canadian dollars), Manborg is a cheap rip-off of an ‘80s straight-to-video release, a B movie with plenty of cheese and lots of heart.

"Enjoyably ridiculous!" Variety

"An acid-washed cornucopia of action and laughs. Short, silly, and superbly crafted with next to no money, Manborg is a delight." Blu-ray.com

June 14-20

Pieta

Kim Ki-Duk / 2012, South Korea / Color / 104min / Blu-ray

Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2012 Venice Film Festival, Pieta is the acclaimed film from the celebrated and controversial Korean director Kim Ki-Duk (Bad Guy; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... And Spring; 3-Iron). In this intense and haunting story, a loan shark living an isolated and lonely existence uses brutality to threaten and collect paybacks from desperate borrowers for his moneylender boss. He proficiently and mercilessly collects the debts without regard to the pain he causes his countless victims. One day, a mysterious woman appears in front of him claiming to be his long-lost mother. After coldly rejecting her at first, he gradually accepts her in his life and decides to quit his cruel job and seek a decent, redemptive life. However, he soon discovers a dark secret stemming from his past and realizes it may be too late to escape the horrific consequences already set in motion from his previous life.

June 21-27

An Oversimplification of Her Beauty

Terence Nance / 2012, USA / Color / 89min / Blu-ray

Executive producers Jay-Z, Dream Hampton, and Wyatt Cenac present Terence Nance's explosively creative debut feature, An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. With arresting insight, vulnerability, and a delightful sense of humor, the film documents the relationship between Terence (Nance) and a lovely young woman (Namik Minter) as it teeters on the divide between platonic and romantic. Utilizing a tapestry of live action and multiple styles of animation, the film blurs the line between narrative, documentary, and experimental film as it explores the fantasies, emotions, and memories that race through Terence's mind as he examines and re-examines a singular moment in time.

"This brisk and self-searching, sharply intelligent, and deeply vulnerable romantic comedy is a masterwork." Richard Brody, The New Yorker

"Stunning. The kind of film--wildly inventive, aesthetically and structurally--for which the term 'visionary' was coined... makes other independent films look not just damnably safe, but inert." Noel Murray, The Onion A.V. Club

CRITICS' PICK: "Most lovely and meticulously handmade... dazzling and funny!" New York Times

June 28-July 3

Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie

Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger / 2012, USA / Color / 90min / Blu-ray

Before entire networks were built on populist personalities; before reality morphed into a TV genre; the masses fixated on a single, sociopathic star: controversial talk-show host Morton Downey, Jr. In the late ‘80s, Downey tore apart the traditional talk format by turning debate of current issues into a gladiator pit. His blow-smoke-in-your-face style drew a rabid cult following, but also the title “Father of Trash Television.” Through interviews, show clips, never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage and animation, Evocateur dissects the mind and motivation of television's most notorious agitator. Featuring Herman Cain, Pat Buchanan, Chris Elliott, Gloria Allred, Sally Jessy Raphael, Alan Dershowitz, Curtis Sliwa, and Richard Bey.

"Remorselessly entertaining" Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

July 5-11

Downloaded

Alex Winter / 2012, USA / Color / 106min / Blu-ray

In 1998 Shawn Fanning, a teenage hacker and programmer, created the code that would become the basis for all peer-to-peer file sharing. In 1999, Fanning and his business partner, fellow teenager Sean Parker, launched the file-sharing service Napster. And what had begun as a largely unknown underground distribution medium erupted into a full-blown global revolution. "Downloaded" explores this revolution from its genesis to its peak, and explains Napster's downfall. Featuring The Beastie Boys' Mike D, Noel Gallagher, Henry Rollins, former Sony Music Chairman, Don Ienner, former record producer and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Hilary Rosen, former CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

July 6-8

A Girl and A Gun

Cathryne Czubek / 2012, USA / Color / 76min / Blu-ray

A Girl and A Gun shows the female perspective on an object whose history is deeply bound to men and masculinity. The classic Hollywood portrayals of pistol packin' mamas, tomboy sharp shooters, sexually twisted femme fatales, and high-heeled, cold-blooded assassins are caricatures. In truth, the typical woman who hangs out at rifle ranges and keeps ammo in her purse is the girl-next-door, the single mom, a hard working sister or aunt. Maybe she's a realist or has learned tough lessons from life; either way, she cares about her personal safety and may even find salvation, comfort or something satisfying in possessing a gun. In a word, she is empowered. Breaking through the caricatures, A Girl and a Gun reveals America's diverse and far-ranging female gun community. It depicts how this community is portrayed by the media and targeted by the gun industry; and shows, through personal stories, how guns change women's lives.

July 12-18

Maniac

Franck Khalfoun / 2012, France-USA / Color / 90min / Blu-ray

Just when the streets seemed safe, a serial killer with a fetish for scalps is back and on the hunt. Frank (Elijah Wood) is the withdrawn owner of a mannequin store, but his life changes when young artist Anna (Nora Arnezeder) appears asking for his help with her new exhibition. As their friendship develops and Frank's obsession escalates, it becomes clear that she has unleashed a long-repressed compulsion. A 21st century Jack the Ripper set in present day LA, Franck Khalfoun's Maniac is a re-boot of the William Lustig cult film considered by many to be the most suspenseful slasher movie ever made. It's an intimate, visually daring, psychologically complex and profoundly horrific trip into the downward spiraling nightmare of a killer and his victims.

"Brilliant... a perfect fusion of European horror and American grindhouse." Starburst

"Moody... Noir-ish... An intelligent horror remake." Empire

July 19-25

Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me

Drew DeNicola, Olivia Mori / 2012, USA / Color / 100min / Blu-ray

While mainstream success eluded them, Big Star’s three albums have become critically lauded touchstones of the rock music canon. A seminal band in the history of alternative music, Big Star has been cited as an influence by artists including REM, The Replacements, Belle & Sebastian, Elliot Smith and Flaming Lips, to name just a few. With never-before-seen footage and photos of the band, in-depth interviews and a rousing musical tribute by the bands they inspired, BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME is a story of artistic and musical salvation.

July 26-31

The Films of Trent Harris

Trent Harris / 1991-2011, USA / Color / Blu-ray, 16mm, 35mm

The Grand Illusion is proud to present this four-film retrospective of legendary cult filmmaker Trent Harris. In Rubin & Ed, Crispin Glover & Howard Hesseman take a surreal road trip across a barren Utah landscape to bury a dead, frozen cat. Plan 10 From Outer Space (no relation to Ed Wood's classic) is a psychedelic sci-fi musical satire of Mormonism, predating Matt Stone & Trey Parker's current Mormon musical by over 15 years! The Beaver Trilogy takes a serendipitous encounter with a small town Olivia Newton-John impersonator and warps it into three separate movies: one documentary and two dramatizations starring Sean Penn and Crispin Glover. Shot in Cambodia, Mexico, Sierra Leone and Rwanda Harris' newest film, Luna Mesa, is the story of woman on a cryptic odyssey to discover what killed her lover.

August 1

Scarecrow Video presents
Video Vengeance

Various / 80min / VHS

Vengeance is a dish best served… on VHS! Scarecrow Video once again dives into their vast archive to deliver this action-overpacked collection from the glory days of consumer home video. It's a molotov cocktail of guns, knives, explosions, car chases, stunts, ninjas, bad one-liners, roid heads, spandex, sex scenes and straight-to-video anti-blockbusters.

August 2-8

Grabbers

Jon Wright / 2012, Ireland / Color / 94min / Blu-ray

Strange doings are afoot in a small Irish fishing village: the crew of a boat disappeared, whales have appeared dead on the shore and weirdest of all, a local lobsterman caught a strange tentacled creature in his trap. There’s something big out there, and it’s hungry. When folks discover the blood-sucking aliens are allergic to alcohol, it’s time to rally the villagers, arm the troops…and head to the pub!

"Funny, gory and with some feckin' good CGI!" Total Film

"FOUR STARS… Enjoy irresponsibly!" Daily Telegraph UK

"Fantastically silly… likable and technically impressive." The Guardian UK

Coming this Summer

Adjust Your Tracking
The untold story of the VHS collector.

Rewind This!
The definitive documentary about the home video revolution.