A note from the Programmer

September 7, 2017

Hi all,

Welcome to the fall semester! One movie news development we failed to note a few weeks back: the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is Moberly native John Bailey, a renowned cinematographer we Skyped with last year following a screening of Robert Altman's 3 WOMEN. His tenure is already off to a great start; yesterday, the Academy announced its four lifetime achievement award recipients. The list includes Agnès Varda (recent Director's Choice selection CLEO FROM 5 TO 7) and Charles Burnett (screenwriter and cinematographer of BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS).

Before we delve into this week's new releases, we wanted to remind you that 7:50pm tonight is your last chance to watch WORK, an out-of-print 1990s New Queer Cinema classic from Missouri native Rachel Reichman. The rest of our lineup sticks around for another week.

Tomorrow, we open INGRID GOES WEST, a wonderfully deranged dark comedy starring Aubrey Plaza (THE LITTLE HOURS) and Elizabeth Olsen (WIND RIVER). Plaza plays Ingrid Thorburn, a social media stalker with a dangerous tendency to misread "likes" and overstep boundaries. Taylor Sloane (Olsen) is an Instagram star who's attracted millions of followers by posting a steady stream of images documenting her boho-chic lifestyle. Ingrid becomes obsessed with Taylor and decides to move to Los Angeles to befriend her. O'Shea Jackson, Jr. co-stars as Ingrid's Batman-obsessed landlord.

At RogerEbert.com, Sheila O'Malley calls it "a daring comedy with a very sharp bite." She goes on to note that, "Plaza's understanding of the character's inner abyss is extraordinary. Her real gift is in making Ingrid both hilarious and tragic."

The Los Angeles Times' Jen Yamata says "this dark comedy is the real EMOJI MOVIE, a true horror story for our times. Plaza shines here in her most multifaceted role to date, fearless in her willingness to take Ingrid to cringe-worthy depths with chameleonic precision." At Entertainment Weekly, Leah Greenblatt calls it "clever, shiny pop satire."

On Tuesday, we present two special screenings of MAY IT LAST, Judd Apatow's Avett Brothers documentary. Filmed with extraordinary access over more than two years, MAY IT LAST: A PORTRAIT OF THE AVETT BROTHERS is a deeply intimate and revealing look at the Grammy Award-nominated North Carolina band. As many of you know, we don't usually offer advance tickets, but we're making an exception for MAY IT LAST. If you're interested in seeing the film, we encourage you to purchase yours soon, either in person or on our website.