One of my many guilty pleasures is movies. I love ’em in just about every variety from art house fare to good bad movies (Armies of Darkness for example). Thankfully where I live makes it very easy to feed that urge. Rochester has two great theatre for lovers of non-mainstream movies (and a bunch of great mainstream theatres too): The Little Theatre and The Dryden Theatre at the Eastman House. The Little is our local art house theatre. If you’re interested in seeing indy films here in town, it’s the place to go. And that’s cool…

But for the best selection of films, good and bad, new and old, you’ve got to go to the Dryden. The George Eastman House is both a museum and film preservation institute. They are responsible for salvaging, restoring and storing massive amounts of film. When the Wizard of Oz was re-released into theatres a few years back, they were showing a print that was restored at the Eastman House. Almost every night of the week you can go to the Dryden and catch a different film, with an introductory lecture, for about 7 bucks.

So where is this blog going you ask? Well August is a kick bootie month at the Dryden for Fan Boy’s like me. You can check the calendar yourself, but here are a couple highlights:

  • 8/2 Godzilla (1954) – the original Japanese print, subtitles, no Raymond Burr
  • 8/3 Oceans 11 (1960) – see the brat pack movie before the star studded remake is release this December
  • 8/7 The Valiant Ones (1975) – Old School good Kung Fu cinema
  • 8/8 Annie Hall (1977) – Arguably Woody Allen’s most mainstream film and one of his best
  • 8/9 Destroy All Monsters (1968) – More rubber suit goodness than you can handle. 11 Monsters and Godzilla throwing a drop kick. What more could you want in a film
  • 8/10 La Femme Nikita (1991) – forget the crappy American Remake or the bad TV series, this is the good stuff
  • 8/12 Touch of Evil (1958) – Only Orson Wells could figure out a way for Charlton Heston to play a convincing Mexican
  • 8/14 Zu: Warriors from the Magic Mountain (1983) – Before Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon there was The Bride with White Hair. And before the Bride there was Zu. This was one of Hong Kong first big Kung Fu/Fantasy/Wire Work/Sword Play films and still one of the best (thanks to the presence of talent like Yuen Bao and Summo Hung). Also a lot funnier too
  • fingers are getting tired… to many good movies… one last
  • 8/21 Swordsman II (1991) – Before Jet Li came to the US he made his name in period Kung Fu films. This is regarded as one of his best.

Fact is, just about every movie in August is a good one. Check the calendar for yourself And if you’re in the area and want to take in a flick, drop me a note.