Calendars tell us the new year begins in January, but in many ways September is our most notable time for beginnings — new academic years, fresh performing arts seasons, and the renewal of.patterns and routines interrupted by summer vacations.
At Cinema Salem, September is arriving with a twist. Along with our regular fare. we’ve scheduled three special screenings during the month, two from legendary director Alfred Hitchcock and one from outer space.
Hitchcock Classics
VERTIGO, Sunday, September 5, 11 a.m. Buy tickets now
REAR WINDOW: Thursday, September 23, 7 p.m. Buy tickets now
VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW. are generally judged to be among the director’s best work. Both have earned spots on multiple “greatest films ever” lists .
VERTIGO, Hitch’s iconic 1958 psychological mystery, is relentlessly strange, hypnotic and suspenseful. James Stewart and Kim Novak star. Reviews of the original release were mixed. My, how things have changed! (Incidentally, the film’s score by Bernard Herrmann is also considered one of the greatest ever. If this intrigues you, keep reading to learn about the upcoming Cinema Sounds talks.)
REAR WINDOW: No mixed reviews on this one. It has been praised by critics and loved by audiences since its 1954 opening. This murder-mystery thriller once again gives James Stewart the leading role, paired here with Grace Kelly as Hitchcock’s legendary cold blonde.
Cinema Sounds
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
Thursday, Sept. 9, 7 p.m. Buy tickets now
Most films have music, but some actually rely on music to make them work. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS is one such film.
Join us as we kick off our Cinema Sounds series, a look at some great films with great music. Our guide will be Richard Guérin, a record producer (among numerous other talents) who has worked for many years with multi-Oscar nominated composer Philip Glass (Candyman, The Truman Show, The Hours) and Oscar-winning composer Elliot Goldenthal (Batman Forever, Interview with a Vampire, Alien 3), John Williams, who scored CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, unquestionably ranks among the greatest composers for the screen.
He has cited this score as one of his very best. (Read more in the August 17 newsletter; scroll down after you click to find the Cinema Sounds heading.)
Looking ahead to October
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
Saturday, Oct. 16, 10 p.m. Buy tickets now
Saturday, Oct. 23, 10 p.m. Buy tickets now
We’ve had so many requests for ROCKY HORROR that we couldn’t live with ourselves if we didn’t respond. So back by popular demand, the Teseracte Players of Boston will revisit Cinema Salem on two consecutive Saturdays in October, the 16th and 23rd, with their own special take on this ritualistic late-night insanity. Teseracte claims 20-plus years of providing the ROCKY HORROR experience across New England. Every ticket comes with a prop bag.
Back to the Present
At long last, CANDYMAN arrives this Friday, August 27. We know you’re excited about this one, and early reviews say you’re right. Buy tickets now
The following Friday, September 3, brings SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS.
According to Nick Allen, writing on RogerEbert.com, the film “fits into Marvel packaging in its own way, but it has an immense soulfulness that other MCU movies, superhero movies, and action movies in general should take notes from.” Buy tickets now
IN THE HEIGHTS returns for special youth screenings
The Salem News covered the day of special screenings.
The Salem community took the extra step last week to allow even more young people to see IN THE HEIGHTS, a film that we originally screened in June. The NY Times wrote then: “It’s a piece of mainstream American entertainment in the best sense – an assertion of impatience and faith, a celebration of communal ties and individual gumption, a testimony to the power of art to turn struggles into the stuff of dreams”
The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salem, Creative Collective, the Northshore CDC, Mary Queen of the Apostles Parish, the Point Neighborhood Association, and the Salem Pantry all helped us put free passes into the hands of young people across Salem.
A generous donor who had seen this milestone film in June helped offset the cost. Mayor Kim Driscoll came to kick-off the late afternoon show.
