Movies You Missed: The Final Chapter
It's been fun writing Movies You Missed. But, with Burlington's Waterfront Video due to close its doors for the last time on Tuesday evening, I no longer have a reliable source for movies that never reached our theaters because they were too indie, arty, foreign, misguided, insane and/or weird.
True, many of those movies will still pop up on the-streaming-service-whose-name-we-don't-speak and its companion discs-through-the-mail service, not to mention iTunes and other services I don't know about. (Full disclosure: I've been streaming from Netflix for the past couple of months. It's great for catching up on "Friday Night Lights" and "Fringe," but no substitute for an excellent video store.)
I'll continue to use this weekly space to preview the weekend's new movies (in theaters and on DVD) and, perhaps, to write short reviews of MYMs that pop up on whatever service I'm using. (For instance, did you know you can stream local director Liz Canner's Orgasm Inc.?)
But for now, back to Waterfront Video, where you can still rent movies for one more weekend. I asked buyer/curator Seth Jarvis and manager Chris LaPointe to name some of their all-time most memorable movies that never reached (or didn't stay in) Vermont theaters.
The first three titles they named probably aren't Movies You Missed — anymore. Donnie Darko, The Big Lebowski and Office Space all bombed in theaters before finding flourishing second lives on home video. (The last two did play in Vermont. I'm not sure about Darko, which had an unfortunate theatrical release close to 9/11.)
Then Jarvis and LaPointe offered some less familiar MYMs:
Let It Be (The 1970 Beatles doc has yet to be released on DVD; Waterfront has it on VHS.)
Five Corners (One of Jarvis' personal favorite overlooked movies, this 1987 drama stars Jodie Foster and Tim Robbins.)
My Winnipeg (Another pick from Jarvis is experimental maverick Guy Maddin's 2007 portrait of his hometown.)
Attack the Block (Aliens vs. inner-city London kids! I reviewed it here.)
The Station Agent (Critically acclaimed but little seen, this 2003 drama stars Peter Dinklage in pre-"Game of Thrones" days. I think it played the Roxy.)
The Raid: Redemption (LaPointe likes this no-holds-barred martial-arts film from Indonesia, which definitely played the Roxy — for about a week.)
Speaking of theatrical runs you might miss — Lore starts at the Palace 9 today. It's about an SS officer's teen daughter coping with his crimes at the end of WWII.
Robert Redford the director (and actor) is back with The Company You Keep at the Roxy and Savoy.
Terrence Malick is back, too — but you can only see To the Wonder at the Savoy for now.
Then there's Mud (pictured), which, depending on your point of view, is a Matthew McConaughey/Reese Witherspoon movie or a Jeff Nichols movie (he also directed Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories). Two things are for sure: It's no rom com, and it's only at the Roxy.
Oh, and there's a Michael Bay movie with the Rock, and a rom com about a Big Wedding with a lot of famous actors who should probably know better. Enjoy! Showtimes are here.
