Crosstown Theater

In John Waters’ POLYESTER (JOHN WATERS/1981/86 minutes), Divine is a suburban housewife who turns to the bottle when life gets too hard. She has a husband who runs a porno theater and two lousy children with serious problems of their own. Teen pregnancy, murder, cocaine, booze, Edith Massey the egg lady as Cuddles Kovinsky!, Stiv Bators (RIP!). From the Dead Boys as Bo-Bo Belsinger, dogs dead by apparent suicide, macrame (the craft!), and TAB HUNTER AS TODD TOMORROW (!!), THIS MOVIE IS TOO GOOD TO MISS!!  We are still unsure as to whether or not we will be able to present this film in its original format complete with Odorama, but we can assure viewers that there will be smells.

WITH A PIECE IN HIS HAND, HE TAKES ON THE MAN! The epochal cultural moment that first brought reggae to the international stage, made Jimmy Cliff a star, and demonstrated how music can change the world. Fifty years on, THE HARDER THEY COME is still electric with the feeling of discovery. This SCARFACE-y blend of crime drama and musical tracks Cliff’s country-boy-in-search-of-fame through Jamaica under the guises of laborer, recording artist, convict, ganja dealer, and outlaw folk hero. Before THE HARDER THEY COME, the collective perception of a “foreign film” was limited to the Bergmans and the Kurosawas of the world. This game-changer forever blew those doors off — and it still hasn’t lost a drop of its cool, its edge, or its way of making you dance.

BLUE COLLAR was Paul Schrader’s debut as a director, and making the movie reportedly literally drove him insane. BLUE COLLAR is a caper about three auto workers (Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto) who rob their union and unexpectedly uncover an illegal loan operation and ties to organized crime. BLUE COLLAR is about corruption, the impossible grind of the working class, powerlessness, and most definitely, the use of racial difference as a weapon by the oppressors against the oppressed.  

Directed by Otto Preminger and based on an Oscar Hammerstein musical, in turn based on the opera Carmen, CARMEN JONES tells the story of Carmen Jones , who works in a parachute factory in North Carolina during WWII.  Carmen is arrested for fighting with a co-worker who reported her for arriving late for work. Foreman Sgt. Brown assigns young soldier Joe to deliver her to the authorities, much to the dismay of Joe's fiancée Cindy Lou, who had agreed to marry him during his leave.  Carmen Jones features a Saul Bass title sequence and Diahann Carroll (Dominique Deveraux in the hit television show Dynasty)!

David Byrne makes his directorial debut with TRUE STORIES, a movie loosely based around drawings Bryne had made about tabloid stories. Byrne is the main narrator as he traverses through the town of Virgil, Texas, as they prepare for the “Celebration of Specialness.”  With Spalding Gray (Swimming to Cambodia!! Farmer’s Daughters!!) and Pops Staples!!!

You know that story "Little Red Riding Hood"? You know that girl who works over at the City Thrift on Summer? The one with the creepy stepdad and the mom who hooks up by Tee Jay’s? The one who’s always talking about blowing Memphis to go live with her me-maw in a trailer park in […]

** The event is postponed until further notice.

Jane Fonda (Cat Ballou, They Shoot Horses Don’t They?, Barbarella) stars as a groovy call girl and wannabe actress who may or may not be connected to a dead john (who ran a chemical company by day). Donald Sutherland (MASH,  The Kentucky Fried Movie) plays the title character Klute, a detective brought in by a chemical company executive to find out what really happened. Co-starring Roy Scheider (Jaws, Jaws II) as Jane Fonda’s pimp. Also co-starring the super-fun and sleazy NYC of the 1970s. Klute won a lot of Oscars, but don’t hold that against it. IT IS A GREAT MOVIE ANYWAY!! 

The Crosstown Arthouse Film Series showcases a diverse collection of independent, international, historically significant, artistic, experimental, cult, underground and documentary features.