First,  Joker: Folie à Deux continues for one last week, with final shows on October 17. It’s been quite fascinating to see the response to the film, from backlash from fans of the original film who do not like the directorial choices of the new film, to the incessant hand-wringing about the disappointing box office (as if a film’s value depends on how much money it makes). 

It was, certainly, inevitable that a sequel to a wildly popular film would sustain extra scrutiny, but I find it quite discouraging that much of the discussion surrounding the film does not seem to be based on an analysis of the film itself, but rather, on disappointment that it is not enough like the first film or on an assessment of its dollar value. 

I loved what Pickford friend Genevieve, co-owner of the Barnyard Cinema in Winthrop, recently had to say about Joker: Folie à Deux in an Instagram post: “The criticism breaks our hearts. We understand if the take on JOKER is too dark for some, but the film is about mental illness, after all. And Gaga and Joaquin mine that reality expertly, movingly, and achingly. It's not Batman, not Robin. It’s Joker. Heath Ledger would applaud, and we do, too. Hope you come and make up your own mind.” 

Love a film or hate it, we each, as cinema-goers have every right to our own opinions, our own tastes. But we, with our friends at the Barnyard, also believe in the fundamental point that each film should be taken and assessed on its own terms. Irrespective of the box office or of the first film, what is this film about? What does this film want to say? And what do I think or feel about it? And true, Joker: Folie à Deux may very well not go down in history as a film that makes all the “Best of” lists. But now is the chance to see it and decide for ourselves. 

Second, we’ve also got the next film in our Third Eye cult classics series: They Live.  This underrated gem of a film by director John Carpenter is this month’s pick from projectionist Benjamin Owens. Ben will have more to tell us at the screening, but They Live is one of those films that is hugely entertaining while also offering plenty to think about thematically. As Phil Hoad noted in The Guardian in 2018 for the film’s 30th anniversary in 1988, They Live “was responding to the start of the US rust belt and Reagan-era consumerism, but its themes of working-class subjugation and omnipresent media control have only become more pressing” -- themes that are only all the more relevant in 2024. 

Join us on Saturday night at 10 pm! Tickets are just $10 for general admission ($9 for members). And don’t forget, this season of Third Eye (Sept 2024-Feb 2025) comes with a Third Eye Challenge: 

“See FIVE of the SIX films within one season and get a free movie pass. You will also be entered to win a limited edition custom Third Eye Jones soda 6-pack.”  Pick-up a Third Eye punch card at the box office, if you haven’t done so already!  

Third, our Bad Blood October series continues with this week’s wonderful The Lost Boys. Joel Schumacher's ridiculously fun teen vampire thriller offers everything we love about 1980’s popcorn movies: an 80’s-tastic cast, including both Coreys (Corey Haim and Corey Feldman), Kiefer Sutherland, Dianne Wiest, Jami Gertz, and Jason Patric; a soundtrack featuring INXS and Echo & the Bunnymen’s version of “People Are Strange”; feathered hair and leather jackets; and a dizzyingly delightful mix of camp-horror, actual horror, and comedy. 

Join us on Wednesday, October 16, at 7:45 pm. (Reminder: Free small popcorn to all county students on Wednesdays!) 

First We Bombed New Mexico -- Fri., Oct. 11 (final showing!), featuring a pre-recorded conversation with director, Lois Lipman, and film protagonist Tina Cordova. Co-presented by No More Bombs and WWU Political Science Dept

Between the Mountain and the Sky -- Fri., Oct. 11, film protagonist Maggie Doyne’s “Maggie’s Uncle Ed,” Ed Doyne, will be visiting us in the lobby with copies of Maggie’s book, Between the Mountain in the Sky, available for by-donation purchase

Secret Mall Apartment -- Fri., Oct. 11, with filmmaker statement/introduction. Co-presented by Make.Shift Art Space