Coolidge Corner Theatre to Present 'Big Screen Debuts' Series Featuring Films by Renowned Auteurs

In a nod to the imminent debut of its 14,000 sq ft theatre expansion, the Coolidge Corner Theatre (‘the Coolidge') today announced the lineup for its new Big Screen Debut series. Co-presented by WBUR, the series showcases the first feature films of renowned auteurs, including The Coen Brothers (Blood Simple), Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy), David Lynch (Eraserhead), Christopher Nolan (Following), and Satyajit Ray (Pather Panchali).

 

Four of the November/December screenings (Thief, The Maltese Falcon, Night of the Hunter, and The 400 Blows) will be preceded by Coolidge education seminars taught by local filmmakers, critics, and professors, who will provide added history and context for each film. Additional Big Screen Debuts education seminars will be announced in the coming weeks.

 

The Coolidge Corner Theatre expansion is slated to open later this year, and will include two new, state-of-the-art screens, a new Education and Community Engagement Center, and an expanded lobby.

 

“For the past 90 years, the Coolidge has been a launching pad for some of the most exciting voices in cinema. We can think of no better way to debut our new space than by highlighting the dazzling debut features—many in 35mm—that put so many of our favorite filmmakers on the map. ” commented Mark Anastasio, Director of Special Programming.

 

The full lineup for Big Screen Debuts is listed below.

 

About the Coolidge Corner Theatre

The nonprofit Coolidge Corner Theatre is a premier American independent cinema renowned for its curated feature film programming and innovative signature educational, cultural, and entertainment programs. A beloved movie house, the Coolidge welcomes over 225,000 patrons per year and has been pleasing audiences with the best in cinematic entertainment since 1933.

 

In addition to showcasing the best in contemporary independent cinema, the Coolidge has developed a wide range of programing to reach all sectors of the community, including: Big Screen Classics, After Midnite, Senior Matinees, Talk Cinema, Science on Screen, Cinema Jukebox, PANORAMA, The Sounds of Silents, Kids' Shows, Rewind!, Box Office Babies, and adult education film classes. The Coolidge hosts several prominent film festivals and has welcomed film luminaries such as Meryl Streep, Werner Herzog, Jane Fonda, Liv Ullmann, Ethan Hawke, Viggo Mortensen, and more. For more information, visit coolidge.org.

 

BIG SCREEN DEBUTS, CO-PRESENTED BY WBUR

Screenings take place at 7pm unless otherwise indicated; for tickets and showtimes, please visit coolidge.org. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA. Unless otherwise noted, tickets are $15.50 general admission and $12.50 for Coolidge members.

 

January - March dates and titles are subject to change. Please visit coolidge.org for the latest info.

 

November 2023

 

Thief (1981) [also screening as part of our Noirvember series]

Tuesday, November 7

Pre-screening Coolidge Education seminar at 6:15pm, taught by filmmaker Justin Liberman

Finding hypnotic beauty in neon and rain-slick streets, sparks and steel, Thief effortlessly established the moody stylishness and tactile approach to action that would also define later iconic entertainments from director Michael Mann.

Runtime: 2h 2m

Format: 35mm

 

The Maltese Falcon (1941) [also screening as part of our Noirvember series]

Wednesday, November 15

Pre-screening Coolidge Education seminar at 6:15pm, taught by  film critic Jake Mulligan

John Huston's directorial debut stars Humphrey Bogart as private eye Sam Spade. A gallery of high-living lowlifes will stop at nothing to get their sweaty hands on a jewel-encrusted falcon, and Sam wants to find out why…

Runtime: 1h 41m

Format: DCP

 

Brick (2005) [also screening as part of our Noirvember series]

Wednesday, November 22

Rian Johnson wrote and directed this clever and twist-filled neo-noir that wowed audiences and critics alike.

Runtime: 2h 05m

Format: 35mm

 

The Night of the Hunter (1955) [also screening as part of our Noirvember series]

Monday, November 27

Pre-screening Coolidge Education seminar at 6:15pm, taught by Coolidge veteran instructor Kaj Wilson

The only film the great actor Charles Laughton ever directed, is truly a stand-alone masterwork. A horror movie with qualities of a Grimm fairy tale, it stars a sublimely sinister Robert Mitchum as a traveling preacher named Harry Powell, whose nefarious motives for marrying a fragile widow are uncovered by her terrified young children.

Runtime: 1h 32m

Format: DCP (New Restoration!)

 

Blood Simple (1984) [also screening as part of our Noirvember series]

Wednesday, November 29

Joel and Ethan Coen's career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America began with this razor-sharp, hard-boiled neo-noir.
Runtime: 1h 39m

Format: DCP

 

December 2023

 

Following (1998)

Tuesday, December 5

Before he became a sensation with the twisty revenge story Memento, Christopher Nolan fashioned this low-budget, 16 mm black-and-white neo-noir with comparable precision and cunning.
Runtime: 1h 9m

Format: 35mm

 

This is Spinal Tap (1984)

Wednesday, December 6

Rob Reiner's mockumentary cranks it to 11 as it follows the exploits of a legendary British band's adventures on the road.
Runtime: 1h 22m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: TBC

 

Eraserhead (1977)

Thursday, December 7

David Lynch's startling debut feature, a lasting cult sensation influenced by the writings of Franz Kafka and Nikolai Gogol.
Runtime: 1h 25m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Massachusetts College of Art & Design

 

Shiva Baby (2020)

Tuesday, December 12

Sharp-witted and hilarious, Shiva Baby is an assured, vibrant debut from Emma Seligman (Bottoms).
Runtime: 1h 17m

Format: DCP

Co-Presenter: Boston Jewish Film Festival

 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Thursday, December 14

A hysterical, historical tour-de-force from Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.
Runtime: 1h 31m

Format: DCP

 

The 400 Blows (1959)

Tuesday, December 19

Pre-screening Coolidge Education seminar at 6:15pm, taught by film critic Jake Mulligan

François Truffaut's first feature is also his most personal.

Runtime: 1h 39m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: French Library

 

Big Night (1996)

Wednesday, December 20

Co-directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci, this sumptuous classic has long been considered “one of the great food movies” (Roger Ebert).
Runtime: 1h 49m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Parlour

 

January 2024

 

Citizen Kane (1941)

Monday, January 1

Orson Welles' masterwork remains grand entertainment, sharply acted and directed with inspired visual flair.

Runtime: 1h 59m

Format: DCP

 

THX-1138 (1971)

Wednesday, January 3

A chilling exploration of the future is also a compelling examination of the present in George Lucas's debut feature THX 1138, starring Robert Duvall as a man whose mind and body are controlled by the government.

Runtime: 1h 26m

Format: 35mm

 

The Watermelon Woman (1996)

Thursday, January 11

The wry, incisive debut feature by Cheryl Dunye gave cinema something bracingly new and groundbreaking: a vibrant representation of Black lesbian identity by a Black lesbian filmmaker.

Runtime: 1h 23m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: Wicked Queer

 

Pather Panchali (1955)

Thursday, January 18

With the release in 1955 of Satyajit Ray's debut, Pather Panchali, an eloquent and important new cinematic voice made itself heard all over the world.

Runtime: 2h 5m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: TBC

 

February 2024

 

Medicine for Melancholy (2008)

Tuesday, February 6

Barry Jenkins's captivating debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy, is a lo-fi romance that unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco.

Runtime: 1h 28m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: TBC

 

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Wednesday, February 7

Barry Jenkins's captivating debut feature, Medicine for Melancholy, is a lo-fi romance that unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco.

Runtime: 1h 28m

Format: DCP

 

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014)

Tuesday, February 13

The first Vampire Western ever made in the Farsi language, Ana Lily Amirpour's debut basks in the sheer pleasure of pulp.

Runtime: 1h 39m

Format: DCP

Co-presenter: The Boston Festival of Films from Iran

 

The Lives of Others (2006)

Wednesday, February 28

Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck's debut film is set in East Germany in the early ‘80s, where a Stasi officer's loyalty to the Communists is tested when he becomes engrossed in the private lives of a couple he's spying on.

Runtime: 2h 17m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Goethe-Institut Boston

 

March 2024

 

Hard Eight (1996)

Tuesday, March 5

In Paul Thomas Anderson's debut feature, a stranger (Philip Baker Hall) mentors a young Reno gambler (John C. Reilly) who weds a hooker (Gwyneth Paltrow) and befriends a vulgar casino regular.

Runtime: 1h 41m

Format: 35mm

 

Wanda (1970)

Wednesday, March 13

With her first and only feature film—a hard-luck drama she wrote, directed, and starred in—Barbara Loden turned in a groundbreaking work of American independent cinema, bringing to life a kind of character seldom seen on-screen.

Runtime: 1h 43m

Format: DCP

 

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Tuesday, March 19

Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton are ideal as malevolent marrieds Martha and George in first-time-director Mike Nichols' searing film of Edward Albee's groundbreaking Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Runtime: 2h 11m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Huntington Theatre Company

 

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Monday, March 25

With this debut feature, Sofia Coppola announced her singular vision, exploring the aesthetics of femininity while illuminating the interior lives of young women.

Runtime: 1h 37m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Brookline Booksmith

 

House (Hausu) (1977)

Wednesday, March 27

An unforgettable mixture of bubblegum teen melodrama and grisly phantasmagoria, Nobuhiko Obayashi's deranged fairy tale House (Hausu) is one of Japanese cinema's wildest supernatural ventures and a truly startling debut feature.

Runtime: 1h 28m

Format: 35mm

Co-presenter: Japan Society of Boston