Rolling Down Thunder Road in the Merry Month of May
It’s the merry month of May, dear readers! With the verdant nature of the season ever so intoxicating and baseball season underway, both the good Professor Kaufmann and I were hard pressed to get ourselves to the theatre in recent weeks. But we still managed to sneak a few movies in and we have an interesting array of films for your considerations this month.
The good professor covers the yin and yang of the spectrum with reviews of Jon Favreau’s ‘live action’ remake of The Jungle Book and the action thriller Criminal starring the ever more grizzly Kevin Costner. I meanwhile take a look at the latest film from Tom Twyker, A Hologram For A King and Alan Rickman’s last film Eye In The Sky.
Our DVD picks for the month dovetail nicely with our reviews. Chip decided to revisit the 1967 animated classic The Jungle Book after seeing the new film, and I took inspiration from both Tom Twyker and Alan Rickman and recommend an oddly fascinating film from 2006 Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer.
Unfortunately we were unable to screen Miles Ahead or Elvis & Nixon before press time, but both looked quite promising. The big openings this month will be Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse. Mainstream titles will also include the comedy action flick Keanu, starring TV comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele and an adorable tabby kitten. For the more refined palate, art titles in town this month include The Man Who Knew Infinity, Love & Friendship, A Bigger Splash, and Bigger Than Bombs.
Last month we reported that the Asheville Film Society (AFS), had found a new home with the soon-to-open Grail Movie House, after the Carolina Cinema on Hendersonville Road was purchased by the Texas-based Corporation Cinemark. The Grail hasn’t quite opened yet, but we’re hoping we’ll have news about it next month and with it regular, monthly listings for AFS. In the meanwhile the Hendersonville Film Society is still offering up great movies every Sunday afternoon. See this month’s schedule on page 14.
Film lovers may also want to check out a special screening of Thunder Road on May 11 at The Fine Arts Theatre, sponsored by the Mountain Xpress. Shot on location in Asheville almost 60 years ago, Thunder Road was an ‘indie film’ ahead of its time. Robert Mitchum stars as a Korean War hero who returns to his Appalachian hometown to take over his family’s bootleg moonshine business and subsequently has to deal with both the mob and the feds.
Mitchum was fully committed to the project. He produced, starred and was rumored to have directed much of the film. He also co-wrote and performed the film’s theme song “The Ballad of Thunder Road.” Mitchum’s son James Mitchum co-stars in the film as do Gene Barry and Keely Smith. If you’ve never seen this cult classica it’s worth the view. If you’re a Mitchum fan, you won’t be disappointed. You can still recognize some of the locations, including the river district, the south slope and the Log Cabin Court. At press time, details for the screening were still pending, but just go to the Fine Arts Theatre website, www.fineartstheatre.com, for details.
Until next time, enjoy the show.