Déjà View: PINK FLAMINGOS

Watch Trailer Director: John Waters
Writer(s): John Waters
Cast: Divine, David Lochary, Mary Vivian Pearce, Mink Stole

This fall, the Athena presents Déjà Vu: Cult Classics Series. Shock value may have put some of these movies on the map but their lasting relevance is a testament to a deeper resonance. There is more to these films than sex, violence and potty humor. These films are about, by and for the outsiders. Each in its own way, these films celebrate the freak and delight in the different. And they do so with pride, triumph and joy, and a fair amount of filth and fun. And what better way to start off the series than with one of the most controversial films ever made, Pink Flamingos?

When notorious Baltimore criminal Divine is named “The Filthiest Person Alive” by a tabloid, a deranged couple scheme to steal her title. When the low-budget film was released it shocked audiences with its unchecked obscenity but had deeper resonance as Waters declared war on oppressive middle class values and celebrated misfits and nonconformity with defiant delight.

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Running Time: 93 min93 MIN
NC-17 Rated

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INDIGNATION: Last Day Thursday, August 25th

Watch Trailer Director: James Schamus
Writer(s): Phillip Roth (novel), James Schamus (screenplay)
Cast: Logan Lerman, Sarah Gadon, Tracy Letts

*CaptiView® Closed Caption & Audio Description devices are available for this film. All showings on Mondays will feature Open Captions.*

OHIO, 1951- A young Jewish college student named Marcus struggles to fit in at a midwestern college, as he clashes with his conservative dean and becomes romantically involved with a girl whose history with mental illness makes him question his upbringing. Based on the best-selling novel by Phillip Roth.

Indignation might be dismissed as a small, exquisite period piece, but it is so precisely rendered that it gets deeply under your skin. There are a lot of words, and every one counts. You feel the social pressures bearing down on characters who, in accordance with the reticence of the times, tend to withhold their emotions and suffer in silence.”- Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“Indignation tells a very particular story, one that’s bittersweet, heartbreaking and bleakly comic all at once, and it gets it right.” -Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“This is one helluva compelling film that presents us with several of the very best performances of the year. Lerman and Letts, in particular, present us with fully-developed characterizations that will remain with audiences long after they leave the theater.”- Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times

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Running Time: 110 mins110 MIN
R Rated

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ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE: Last Day Thursday, August 25th

Watch Trailer Director: Mandie Fletcher
Writer(s): Jennifer Saunders
Cast: Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Jane Horrocks

*CaptiView® Closed Caption, Audio Description, & Assistive Listening devices are available for this film. All showings on Mondays will feature Open Captions.*

A sequel to the hit UK show, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie follows best friends Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone who are still partying their way around London. When they accidentally push supermodel Kate Moss into the River Thames, Edina and Patsy escape to the French Riviera where they hatch a plan to live fabulously forever.

“the real joy in Absolutely Fabulous, as ever, comes from the charisma between Saunders and Lumley.”- Rebecca Keegan, Los Angeles Times

“To understand what Absolutely Fabulous (first a TV show and now a movie) means to Brits, you’d have to go back to the TV premiere, in 1992. Margaret Thatcher had their economy in a stranglehold until her departure as prime minister two years earlier, and when every sensible citizen was looking for a way out of the first Gulf War and a more liberal savior, somehow — miraculously, unfortunately — conservatives showed up to the polls in record numbers and took the general election. The rich had gotten richer with tax cuts mirroring our own trickle-down Reaganomics and, with little control over economic trends, the only thing left to do was make fun of the wealthy. Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Joanna Lumley), two hard-drinking, youth-obsessed bacchanalian ne’er-do-wells, were fit for the skewer. Now, in this post-Brexit world, they are back once again to lampoon the swells, the racists, the tech-and-vanity addicted. The pair revels in excess and proves that we all take ourselves a little too seriously.”- April Wolfe, Village Voice

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Running Time: 91 min91 MIN
R Rated

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CAFÉ SOCIETY: Last Day Thursday, September 1st

Watch Trailer Director: Woody Allen
Writer(s): Woody Allen
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Blake Lively

*CaptiView® Closed Caption, Audio Description, & Assistive Listening devices are available for this film. All showings on Mondays will feature Open Captions.*

Attracted to the glamor of Hollywood in the 1930s, Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg) leaves his home in the Bronx and joins his uncle (Steve Carell) in California. Bobby falls in love with his uncles’s assistant Vonnie (Kristen Stewart), who does not return his feelings. Disillusioned, Bobby returns to New York and falls in love with Veronica (Blake Lively), a beautiful socialite, only to be caught off guard when Vonnie re-enters his life.

 

Café Society is a gorgeous and lightweight confection, a love letter to the Hollywood of the mid-1930s, as well as the New York of the same era.”- Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

“Romantic, bittersweet and funny as hell, Café Society turns Hollywood inside out, rooting through the superficial tinsel to find the real tinsel. You go away gobsmacked, beaming and happy to be both.”- Rex Reed, New York Observer

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Running Time: 96 min96 MIN
PG-13 Rated

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CAPTAIN FANTASTIC: Last Day Thursday, September 8th

Watch Trailer Director: Matt Ross
Writer(s): Matt Ross
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler

*A CaptiView® Closed Caption device is available for this film. All showings on Mondays will feature Open Captions.*

Following the death of his wife, Ben (Viggo Mortensen) and his children are forced to leave their idyllic lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest and face the challenges of modern society. Ben’s family-in-law, seeing how sheltered his children are, demand that he permanently re-enter mainstream society or face a custody battle.

“The movie really belongs to Mortensen, who allows Ben to be exasperating, arrogant and impatient but also warm, loving and caring. He’s a tough but adoring father, a grieving widower and an angry defender of his wife’s final wishes, and Mortensen plays all these notes and more with subtlety and grace.”- Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

“Viggo Mortensen gets the role he may well have been born to play, not as a superhero, but as a super-dad determined to raise his kids on his own terms.”- Peter Debruge, Variety

“…it’s a movie that enthralls the senses and engages the mind for two hours, proving no movie is too long when you’re having fun.” – Rex Reed, New York Observer

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Running Time: 118 min118 MIN
R Rated

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HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE: Last Day Thursday, September 8th

Watch Trailer Director: Taika Waititi
Writer(s): Taika Waititi, Barry Crump
Cast: Sam Neill, Julian Dennison, Rima Te Wiata

Based on the novel Hunt by Barry Crump, troublemaker Ricky is sent to the countryside of New Zealand to live with a foster family. When his foster aunt tragically passes away, Ricky is told by child services that he is going to return to the city, against his will. Ricky runs away from his foster uncle, who follows him into the wilderness, leading the authorities to believe that Ricky has been kidnapped by his foster uncle.

“Like Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, Hunt for the Wilderpeople magically taps into the logic, thought processes, and emotions of a child. It’s a rich, strange, and wondrous world.”-Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer 

“…One of the most sincere and funny portraits of family life to come along in a while.”- April Wolfe, Village Voice

 

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Running Time: 101 min101 MIN
PG-13 Rated

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LIFE, ANIMATED: Last Day Thursday, August 11th

Watch Trailer Director: Roger Ross Williams
Writer(s): based on the book by Ron Suskind

The inspirational story of Owen Suskind, a young man who was unable to speak as a child until he and his family discovered a unique way to communicate by immersing themselves in the world of classic Disney animated films. This emotional coming-of-age story follows Owen as he graduates to adulthood and takes his first steps toward independence.

“It’s the best Disney movie that Disney didn’t make.” -Eric Kohn, indieWIRE

Life, Animated makes fascinating points, about the power of cinema, about meeting our loved ones where they are and, as Ron says, about who gets to decide what constitutes a meaningful life.” -Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“If you believe in magic, Life, Animated is the potion for you.” -Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter

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Running Time: 89 minutes89 MIN
PG Rated

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GOING FURTHUR

Watch Trailer Director: Lindsay Kent, Colby Rex O'Neill, Matt Pidutti

In 1964, Ken Kesey and his “band of merry pranksters” drove across the country in a painted bus and laid the groundwork for the mainstream psychedelic movement that majorly influenced modern popular culture. 50 years later, Kesey’s son Zane decided to take the bus back on the road and explore the modern counterculture movement.

There will be a talkback with the cast and crew following the screening.  For more info, please visit goingfurther.com

 

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Running Time: 1hr 36min136 MIN

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THE MUSIC OF STRANGERS: Last Day Thursday, August 4th

Watch Trailer Director: Morgan Neville

From the director of 20 Feet From Stardom comes a documentary about the power of artistic expression and creative collaboration. Music of Strangers is an intimate look into the personal history of the members of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, a project that the celebrated cellist began in 2000.

“Neville’s film, an irresistible kaleidoscope of music and good fellowship, lets us explore the globe with a group of talented musicians.” -Moira Macdonald, The Seattle Times 

“As directed by Morgan Neville, Strangers turns out to be as concerned with emotion as with performance, spending much of its time investigating how so much joyous music was able to come out of exploration, disturbance, even pain.”- Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“A first-rate music film capturing a restless desire to communicate beyond the boundaries of any single idiom, The Music of Strangers watches as Yo-Yo Ma, a giant in the world of Western classical music, puts Bach and Beethoven aside to spend time with his multicultural Silk Road Ensemble.”- John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

 

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Running Time: 96 minutes96 MIN
PG-13 Rated

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WIENER-DOG: Last Day Thursday, July 28th

Watch Trailer Director: Todd Solondz
Writer(s): Todd Solondz
Cast: Danny Devito, Greta Gerwig, Keaton Nigel Cooke, Tracy Letts

Experience life through the eyes of one wiener-dog, who is shuffled from one unique home to the next.

“…mordantly funny, but most importantly, poignant.” -Nigel M Smith, The Guardian

Wiener-Dog has a satirical edge as sharp as any Solondz has fashioned, but it is also filled with disarming moments of absurdist humor.” -Tirdad Derakhshani, The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Elegantly shot by Carol cinematographer Edward Lachman, Wiener-Dog combines surrealism with deadpan humor…” -Eric Kohn, indieWIRE

*CaptiView® Closed Caption is available for this film.*

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Running Time: 90 minutes90 MIN
R Rated

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