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Coming up in repertory film: Gene Wilder, six days of horror, and more
Hollywood lost one of its best with the passing of Gene Wilder last month. He left behind a bevy of classic performances, one of the most notable being his turn as a washed-up gunslinger in the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy Blazing Saddles. On September 12 at 8pm, the Trocadero Theatre will pay tribute to Wilder with a screening of the beloved yet timelessly edgy Western spoof. Like all Movie Mondays at the Troc, admission costs $3, but that money can go toward a drink or snack.
Summer is almost over, but horror season is just beginning
Cinema Ray continues its weekly series of horror film staples at the Ruba Club. It starts on September 15 with the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the quintessential slasher films of the 1970s. (Feel free to skip the 2003 remake.) On September 21 we’ll fast forward to 1987 for the sci-fi/horror crossover Hellraiser, which introduced the world to Pinhead, one of the more bizarre villains in cinematic history. Finally, September 28 will bring The Evil Dead, the first low-budget film in a schlocky series that put director Sam Raimi on the map. Tickets to each show cost $8.
While it isn’t a horror movie per se, Lars von Trier taps into some frightening corners of the human psyche with Breaking the Waves, his 1996 exploration of sexuality, religion, and mental illness. To mark the film’s 20th anniversary, the Roxy Theater will screen it during a September 17 matinee. The Roxy will also host a more traditional horror film, Don Coscarelli’s 1979 cult classic Phantasm, on September 24.
If you crave even more blood, guts, and screams, the Philadelphia Psychotronic Film Society will have its monthly meeting at PhilaMOCA on September 26. Admission is free, but the movie hasn’t yet been announced — and may remain a surprise, as the Psychotronic Film Society is wont to do.
BlackStar at the Barnes
If you missed the BlackStar Film Festival this summer but would like a dose of pan-African movie magic, head to the Barnes Foundation on September 16 for a film screening and panel discussion with Jamyla and Pierre Bennu, a Baltimore-based filmmaker couple (who actually gained fame for a line of natural skin and hair products). A party, with music by TV on the Radio band member Kyp Malone, will follow. General admission costs $40 for the film and party, or just $30 for the party alone.
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