OKLAHOMA CITY — The summer heat is finally blowing in for its big annual August peak, but there’s a slew of nostalgic classics riding the heatwave into OKC theaters all month to celebrate some big anniversaries.
Just as August is the biggest and most common birthday month (it’s true, look it up) it’s apparently also one of the months most likely to produce large influential landmarks and cult classics across the cinema world.
So all through this month, local theaters are getting in on the time-honoring celebrations and presenting screenings of these indelible favorites from decades past, with most of them recently restored or updated to the most pristine 4K picture and cutting-edge sound.
So whether you need some zombie comedy, some cartoonish comic book madness, or the all-time cinematic samurai centerpiece, these anniversary screenings will do you right.
‘Seven Samurai’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – August 9th through August 11th
In a career and life as storied as that of the great Akira Kurosawa, there’s bound to be any number of films that you could easily and respectably call his very greatest, including “Ran,” “Rashoman,” “Yojimbo,” and more.
But it’s difficult to think of any other film carrying the same weight in the history of cinema as “Seven Samurai,” Kurosawa’s massive, monumental ode to class divisions, hardships, and violence of feudal Japan in the 1500s.
Fearing for the safety of their town and the crop harvest that will sustain them, a group of villagers pools their paltry resources to recruit a gang of distrusting, scrappy samurai to ward off the encroaching bandit horde.
If it’s a story you’ve seen a hundred times in a hundred forms, know that it started right here in Kurosawa’s sprawling, 3 hours and 45-minute epic that remains one of film history’s most revered, acclaimed, and copied masterworks.
To celebrate its 70th anniversary, OKCMOA will present a stunning, newly transferred 4K restoration that’ll stagger even longtime repeat viewers.
And don’t worry, there will be an intermission.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
‘The Mask’ – Harkins Theatres Bricktown – August 20th
Maybe the brand new “Deadpool & Wolverine” has you clamoring for more crass, wacky comic book violence, or maybe you shun all that new Marvel stuff and yearn only for the original obnoxious, fast-talking, killer hero.
Either way, you can’t go wrong with this gloriously ridiculous, hyper-colorful, Looney-Tunes-ian take on the superhero genre, which was still largely in its cinematic infancy when “The Mask” hit theaters all the way back in 1994.
The story is classic comic book craziness, with a hapless bank clerk discovering a mysterious mask that transforms him into a manic, green-headed, sometimes psychotic superhero, played to irritating, comedic perfection by a still-blossoming, rubber-faced Jim Carrey.
In honor of its 30th anniversary, Harkins in Bricktown is presenting “The Mask” for one night only as part of their weekly Tuesday Night Classics lineup.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit harkins.com.
‘Rear Window’ – AMC Quail Springs – August 25th and August 28th
I know, I know. “Rear Window” has already been a mainstay in recent columns thanks to the delightful “Edith Head: Hollywood’s Costume Designer” at OKCMOA, but Hitchcock’s paranoid pinnacle is also marking its 70th anniversary in 2024, and that means dedicated celebratory screenings.
If you couldn’t catch this most classic of all classic thrillers during the museum’s recent screening (which is possible, as showings were selling out,) here’s your next best chance.
And of course, after you do, then you can still pop over to the exhibit and see one of Grace Kelly’s stunning screen-worn dresses designed for the film by the great Edith Head.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit amctheatres.com.
‘Shaun of the Dead’ – AMC Quail Springs – August 29th through September 3rd
I’d be lying if I said that this entry wasn’t the reason for this entire column.
One of the most quietly influential and integral films of the 21st Century so far, the quintessential zombie comedy introduced worldwide audiences to the inimitable talents of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and writer/director Edgar Wright, following the success of their brilliant series “Spaced” in Britain.
“Shaun” became a showcase for everything they did best, marrying hysterical, stitch-inducing comedy with a shockingly poignant and genuine story of romance, family, the hard journey into adulthood, and above all else, the unique love between friends.
Oh, and also there are zombies. Loads and loads of bloody, grotesque living dead shambling (never running) to bite, gnaw, rip, and tear their way through a crumbling London, all while Shaun tries to juggle his own crumbling personal life.
Wright’s direction draws from everything great and wonderful in the classic makeup-and-practical-effects zombie flicks of years past, and his energetic, whip-smart filmmaking established him overnight as one of the most exciting directorial figures in young cinema.
But twenty whole years have passed now, bringing with them a full catalog of genre-mashing movie riots from Wright and an unexpectedly welcome action turn for Pegg in franchises like “Mission: Impossible” and “Star Trek.”
To celebrate the 20th anniversary, theaters the world over are bringing the modern classic back to the big screen so that our collective nostalgia can once again feed on our brains.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit amctheatres.com.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.