Denver Cinema Club

4/4 stars on Rogerebert.com. We have all been adolescents, lets revisit from our grown up perspectives and be grateful we survived!

As adults, it’s tempting to look back on our younger years with a sense of wistful nostalgia. No responsibilities, no aches and pains, a full life and future ahead of us, nothing but friends and play and freedom. But for those of us who too easily forget that adolescence is, to be honest, a bitch, look no further than Charlie Polinger’s debut “The Plague,” a harrowing psychological thriller that transplants the tyranny of puberty to the anxieties of modern boyhood. It’s set in 2003, with the clothes and music and “Eighth Grade”-level early aughts awkwardness to match. Still, its twisting of bullying culture and the competitiveness of young boys portends all of the violent masculinities on display even today.
“The Plague” isn’t a horror movie per se, but it moves with the mood and music of one. Take its opening shot, the first of many that situates its young, innocent bodies in the great equalizer of water (in almost all cases, a large athletic swimming pool), the camera underwater watching limbs flail around in the blue while everyone’s heads are obscured above the surface. There’s a disorientation that happens when you try to navigate your body in water; you’re spindly, uncertain, consistently just a little bit afraid you’re going under. Right away, between these shots (courtesy of Steven Breckon’s unsettling cinematography) and Johan Lenox’s unsettling, vocal sample-heavy score, you already feel like you’re drowning. (Clint Worthington, Rogerebert.com)

Tickets available at the box office and online
https://www.amctheatres.com/showtimes/139511681/seats

Free Parking at the structure one block North of the theater

We will head to Postino after for snacks and discussion.

I have heard nothing but raves about this new film from Park Chan-Wook. Synopsis:
Abruptly laid off after 25 years at the same company, a desperate man goes to extreme lengths to eliminate the competition for the job he wants.
Let’s go see the 3:15 matinee on a winter Sunday, and then walk 2 blocks to Gusto, an Italian joint that also has great reviews, to have dinner at 6 (the movie is 2 hrs 20 min) and discussion. I will be in the lobby of the Alamo at 2:45 with a small Denver Cinema Club sign and we can head to our seats around 3. I suggest buying your ticket ahead of time as this will be a popular film (I am in Row 7, Seat 10). There is free parking in the garage across the street from the theater, with 4-hour validation, but since it is a Sunday, you will also be able to park on the street for free if you can find a place, perhaps near the restaurant!
PLEASE add a comment if you will NOT join for dinner so that I can make a res, thanks!

OK, branching out to Boulder as we have a dearth of independent cinema here in Denver, despite being a major metropolitan area? This is the very highly regarded directorial debut of actor Harris Dickinson, thumbs up from organizer Christy after very brief run in Denver. I live in NW Denver if anyone wants to car pool.

On the streets of London, Mike is hustling to get by. Roadside evangelizers won’t let him sleep in peace, his slippery friend won’t pay up the money he stole, and before long, he finds himself in trouble with the law. As he struggles to reintegrate into society, shuffling between gigs as a line cook and a trash collector, he must balance a newfound sense of community with his own itch for self-destruction. (Harris Dickinson, 2025, UK, 1:40, NR)
Tickets available at the box office and on line
https://thedairy.org/urchin/
Free street and lot parking at the Dairy
We will find a local place to chat after if folks are interested.