This past week I realized we were in the waning days of the summer, and I found myself lamenting its quick passing. In my world, it’s been a strange season filled with life slapping challenges, change and metamorphosis. In May an illness in the family yanked the rug out of from under our household. At about the same time, Rapid River Magazine went through some transitions, my esteemed colleague and co-reviewer Chip Kaufmann decided to refocus his cinematic attentions, and Ken Hanke, beloved Mountain Xpress movie critic, died, leaving a profound hole in our little circle of local film critics.

Circling back to the start of that list, we have a new favorite t-shirt in our family, “F#ck Cancer”. Enough said. As far as Reel Takes goes, our reviews will now be found online. We’ll work with the new monthly print schedule as we can, but we’ll stay current with online reviews instead. This actually gives us a little more freedom to review what we want to review, and it gives us place to welcome your feedback as well.

The good Professor Kaufmann will offer the occasional article or review, but he will focus on teaching and on his contributions as a film historian. With Hanke’s passing, Kaufmann is now the only walking encyclopedia of film I know.

Hanke’s young protégés at the Mountain Xpress, Scott Douglas and Justin Souther, as well as Asheville Citizen-Times critic Edwin Arnaudin have kept the Asehville Film Society’s monthly series running without missing a beat. A Ken Hanke Memorial Film Library, to be housed at the Grail, is also in the works, but more on that as we know it.For me, movies had to take a back seat for a couple of months. At the time I thought, “No worries. It’s summertime. I’ll just miss a couple of bloated, big budget blockbusters.” Holy moly was I wrong! 2016 is shaping up to be a cinephile’s dream and I’m playing a big game of catch up. I’m so remiss in my reviewing duties, many of you can probably tell me what to see. If anyone reading this (in the Asheville area) has not seen quirky kiwi comedy Hunt for the Wilderpeople, get your butt to the Fine Arts Theatre this week! Fine Arts manager, Neal Reed brought the film back to the theatre, by popular demand, but it won’t be here long. In mainstream titles, Jason Bourne is still a good bet. If you haven’t seen it, and you like the Bourne franchise, it plays much better on the big screen than the small screen.

For those of you who have read Reel Takes for a while, you know that the good Professor Kaufmann and I are champions of [the often] overlooked and under-marketed smaller titles. We are fortunate to have The Fine Arts Theatre, The Grail Movie House and The Carolina (now part of the Cinemark franchise) as venues for such films.  Anthropoid, Captain Fantastic, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hell or High Water, Indignation, and Summertime are all incredibly worthwhile titles playing on the big screen this week at the aforementioned theatres.

Special screenings this week include offerings from the Asheville Film Society (AFS). The AFS, founded by the late Ken Hanke and now curated by Mountain Xpress critic Scott Douglas, will screen the Buster Keaton classic The General, Tuesday night at 7:30 at the Grail Moviehouse. The screening is free for members and $6 for non-members. The Thursday Horror Picture Show (also at the Grail) will screen the 1973 cult classic Wicker Man. A $5 donation is suggested, and to those of you slackers who like to show up and pretend you’re as funny and witty as the creators of Science Fiction Theatre, this means you too. The Grail will also screen Midnight Run, with Charles Grodin and Robert DeNiro, as part of its Grail Canon Series, August 26.

Look for reel takes this week of Anthropoid, Captain Fantastic, Florence Foster Jenkins and Hell or High Water. And with that, we’re back in the saddle again . . .

Michelle Keenan
Reel Takes