Robert Pattinson in Damsel, a twisted Western at the Strand

Damsel

Strand Theatre

Saturday, September 1

at 7 PM

Official Selection:
2018 Sundance Film Festival – World Premiere
68th Berlinale 2018 – Competition 
2018 SXSW Film Festival 

First he was Cedric in the Harry Potter films, then he was Edward Cullen in the Twilight films, now Robert Pattinson is Samuel Alabaster, a different kind of "hero". in a different kind of Western.

Samuel Alabaster (Robert Pattinson), an affluent pioneer, ventures across the American Frontier to marry the love of his life, Penelope (Mia Wasikowska). As Samuel traverses the Wild West with a drunkard named Parson Henry (David Zellner) and a miniature horse called Butterscotch, their once-simple journey grows treacherous, blurring the lines between hero, villain and damsel. A loving reinvention of the western genre from the Zellner brothers, DAMSEL showcases their trademark unpredictability, off-kilter sense of humor, and unique brand of humanism.

The Bros. – David and Nathan – don’t see things the same way the rest of us do. They are, it turns out, great aficionados of westerns. “We’re HUGE fans,” David enthuses. The brothers began churning around ideas for one, but he notes, “We didn’t want to do an ersatz version of the classic western. We knew we wanted to come up with an approach that would be interesting to us and do something different.” They looked not simply to the beloved Sergio Leone spaghetti western classics of the 60s, but also to the films of another favorite, director Budd Boetticher, whom, David notes, “They bridge the classic John Ford type of western into the Leone or Sam Peckinpah era, almost a merging of those two. On the surface they can seem wholesome, with a simple black and white morality, but underneath it’s much more complex and murky.” In other words, right up Zellner alley.

So what’s the classic western setup? How about a damsel in distress? And maybe one whose degree of distress depends on who’s telling the story. “We liked the idea of taking some of the tropes that are all too common – the hero and the villain, the damsel in distress – and giving them more levels, making it more complex,” David explains. Damsels, he notes, are so often weak and simplistic in these films, or they’re just there to supplement the heroic male character. “So we wanted to come up with a dynamic that would honor the tropes of the genre, but have it be more relatable on a human level, instead of these one-dimensional archetypes.”

See the trailer: 

Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse: $5
At the door: $7

Incredible True Story - The Man Who Saved the World

The Man Who Saved the World

New Film at the Strand

Saturday, August 25 at 7 PM

Few people know of Stanislav Petrov… yet hundreds of millions of people are alive because of him."

The Man Who Saved the World (Starring: Walter Cronkite, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon and Kevin Costner) tells the gripping true story of Stanislav Petrov - a man who single-handedly averted a fullscale NUCLEAR WORLD WAR, but now struggles to get his life back on track… before it is too late.

An epic and grand Cold War thriller that sends shivers down your spine and shows us just how close we came to Apocalypse … and it’s not over yet! With a NEW COLD WAR rising and thousands of nuclear weapons on hair-trigger alert, we still live under the same catastrophic danger that Stanislav faced back then.

"...this account of a Cold War near miss deserves a wide audience." - Daniel Gold, New York Times

Watch trailer 

$5 Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse
$7 at the door

Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 - live onstage at the Strand

As the play begins:: the creative team responsible for a recent Broadway flop (in which three chorus girls were murdered by the mysterious "Stage Door Slasher") assemble for a backer's audition of their new show at the Westchester estate of a wealthy "angel." The house is replete with sliding panels, secret passageways and a German maid who...and then stuff happens...

The audience is treated to a sidesplitting good time and a generous serving of the author's biting, satiric and refreshingly irreverent wit.
An ingenious and wildly comic romp which enjoyed a long and critically hailed run both on and Off-Broadway. Poking antic fun at the more ridiculous aspects of "show biz" and the corny thrillers of Hollywood's heyday, the play is a non-stop barrage of laughter as those assembled (or at least those who aren't killed off) untangle the mystery of the "Stage Door Slasher."

"…a kind of crossbreeding of Charles Ludlam The Mystery of Irma Vep and Terrence McNally It's Only a Play seasoned with a soupcon of NOISES OFF." —NY Times. 

"…enormous fun…Its strength comes in part from the sheer diamond wit and diamante showbiz glitter of Bishop's writing. Even his corn is succulently served." —NY Post.

"…Bishop gives us a nakedly silly and relentlessly convoluted murder-mystery plot, with twist piled on twist till you have to give way and start laughing at the silliness…it's hugely enjoyable." —Village Voice.

"MURDERS is the intelligent person's kind of nonsense." —NY Magazine.

Performances: Friday & Saturday: August 10, 11, 17, 18. All performances at 7:30.

Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse or online are $10

At the door: $15

Three Identical Strangers - film at the Strand

Coming to the Strand Saturday, August 4 at 7 PM

Tim Wardle’s acclaimed documentary 

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS 

is the most amazing, incredible, remarkable true story ever told. 

Three strangers are reunited by astonishing coincidence after being born identical triplets, separated at birth, and adopted by three different families. Their jaw-dropping, feel-good story instantly becomes a global sensation complete with fame and celebrity, however, the fairy-tale reunion sets in motion a series of events that unearth an unimaginable secret –– a secret with radical repercussions for us all. 

Winner of Sundance Film Festival’s Special Jury Award, THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS is an exuberant celebration of family that transforms into a thriller with colossal implications and proof that life is truly is stranger than fiction. 

See the trailer:

Read NY Times review

Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse: $5
At the door: $7

Concert for George (Harrison of the Beatles)

Concert for George

Strand Theatre

Saturday, July 28 at 7 PM

On November 29, 2002, one year after the passing of George Harrison, Olivia Harrison and longtime friend Eric Clapton organized a performance tribute in his honor. Held at London's Royal Albert Hall, the momentous evening featured George's songs, and music he loved, performed by a lineup that included Clapton, Joe Brown, Dhani Harrison, Jools Holland, Jeff Lynne, Paul McCartney, Monty Python, Tom Petty, Billy Preston, Ravi and Anoushka Shankar, Ringo Starr and many more. Directed by David Leland (whose credits include the feature Wish You Were Here, HBO’s Band Of Brothers and the Traveling Wilburys video “Handle With Care”), CONCERT FOR GEORGE captures stunning renditions of some of the most significant music of the 20th century, including “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (featuring Eric Clapton on guitar, Paul McCartney on piano and Starr on drums), “Taxman” (performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) and “The Inner Light” (covered by Jeff Lynne and Anoushka Shankar). Lynne, Harrison’s longtime friend and collaborator, produced the audio elements of the concert, while Clapton oversaw the entire proceedings as Musical Director.

"The sweet, solemn music of George Harrison...has rarely sounded more majestic than in the sweeping performances of the enlarged star-studded band that gathered in London at Royal Albert Hall ...to commerorate his legacy..." (Read Stephen Holden's entire review for the New York Times)

See the trailer: 

$ 5 Advance tickets available at Highway 61 Coffeehouse

$7 at the door.

Loving Vincent - Hand painted film about Van Gogh - at the Strand

Loving Vincent - Saturday, July 21 at 7 PM

Strand Thetare

717 Clay Street

Vicksburg, MS 39183

In July 1890 a gaunt figure stumbled down a drowsy high street at twilight in the small French country town of Auvers. The man was carrying nothing; his hands clasped to a fresh bullet wound leaking blood from his belly. This was Vincent van Gogh, then a little known artist; now the most famous artist in the world. His tragic death has long been known, what has remained a mystery is how and why he came to be shot.

Loving Vincent tells that story

Vincent van Gogh is the world’s most famous painter. His Starry Night, Café Terrace at Night, Sunflowers, Wheatfield with Crows and indeed his own face in his many self-portraits are among the most recognised images in our world.

Vincent is not only famous for his paintings, but also for his tortured life, notably for cutting off his ear and shooting himself while painting at his easel; painting to the bitter end of his unhappy misunderstood life. He is the world’s totemic ‘tortured artist’. Loving Vincent explores Vincent’s life and work by bringing to life some of Vincent van Gogh’s most inspirational paintings to tell his story.

The creators of the film explain their process: "We painted over 65,000 frames on over 1,000 canvases. We shot the film with actors, and literally painted over it frame by frame. This is a very laborious and time-consuming process. It has taken us 4 years to develop the technique, and it took us over 2 years with a team of over 100 painters working at studios in the Polish cities of Gdansk and Wroclaw, and a studio in Athens to complete the film."

"The reason we made the film is not because we want to be the first, or that we want to set any records, it is because we believe that you cannot truly tell Vincent’s story without his paintings, so we needed to bring his paintings to life."

Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/CGzKnyhYDQI

"A one-of-a-kind work of art." - Variety
"An animated masterpiece. I have never seen anything like it before." - Peter Hammond, Deadline 
"A new film that tears up the rule book of animation...I’ve not experienced anything like it before." – Florence Waters, The Telegraph
"Unique and incredible" — Jan Wahl, KCBS Radio, San Francisco
" Like nothing you’ve ever seen & absolutely wonderful." — Jan Wahl, KCBS Radio, San Francisco
"A jaw-droppingly beautiful film." - Tomris Laffly, Film Journal International
"It is fantastic! A magical new cinema experience! I loved it." - Lee Thomas / WJBK-TV (FOX) 

Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse: $5
At the door: $7

Blazing Saddles?

Blazing Saddles

Saturday, July 14 at 7 PM

"My name's Jim, but most people call me - Jim...I used to be known as the Waco Kid."

“How ’bout some more beans, Mr. Taggart?”

“Hello, handsome. Is that a 10-gallon hat, or are you just enjoying the show?”

"I’m working for Mel Brooks!”

"Excuse me while I whip this out."

"Candygram for Mongo!"

"Oh, it's twue. It's twue. It's twue, it's twue!"

"What the hell are you worried about? It's 1874, you can sue her"

"The Sheriff is near?"

Okay, maybe it's the heat, but for some reason we are following up Airplane with Blazing Saddles. We know it may be inappropriate and offensive, but it is funny; in fact Blazing Saddles was nominated for three Academy Awards, and is ranked No. 6 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Laughs list.

It's a 1974 American satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, 

Watch the trailer:

Advance tickets at Highway 61 Coffeehouse: $5

At the door: $7