Last Updated on May 10, 2024, 3:58 PM | Published: May 9, 2024
Even the most simplistic, by-the-numbers films often require a huge amount of creativity and vision in order to make it from idea to screen, but let’s be honest here: a lot of movies are just playing it safe these days.
Between floods of forgettable franchise films and cookie-cutter streaming fare seemingly designed to be “watched” while texting and scrolling, it really feels like a lot of filmmakers (or at least the investors behind them) are afraid of producing anything that might discomfort, shock, or challenge an audience.
But then, every so often, we get a heartening little explosion of true, auteurist creativity across all levels of cinema at once, from multimillion-dollar budget actioners to revised, reconsidered classics, and from the quietest of quiet art films to the most subversive of subversion comedies.
Throughout the month of May, OKC theaters will be offering audiences a rare chance to jump out of their comfort zones again and again and to dive instead into the minds, eyes, and visions of some truly creative filmmakers.
‘The People’s Joker’ – Rodeo Cinema Film Row – May 3rd through May 16th
I struggle to even compare writer/director Vera Drew’s “The People’s Joker” to any other film in my memory.
Genuinely subversive, practically anarchic, and absolutely unconcerned with anything even resembling traditional ideals, fan expectations, or corporate copyrights, “The People’s Joker” uses a slew of fan-favorite (and legally protected) DC Comics characters to tell a deeply personal and painfully honest story of gender transition and self-discovery.
Drew plays an aspiring comedian in a weirdo, hyper-fascist, Day-Glo version of Gotham City that’s controlled by a totalitarian Batman and a set of interminable and strictly gender-delineated rules about what kind of comedy is allowed and who can be a star.
While struggling with gender identity and mental health, she establishes her own “Joker” persona and convenes a band of like-minded converts to “anti-comedy,” testing all limits of taste, society, and copyright law.
Billed as “a fair use film” under parody protections, it’s all skewering the hyper-masculine, boyhood power fantasy that Batman too often represents, as well as comedy gatekeeping, sexual pearl-clutching, and of course Jared Leto’s nauseating portrayal of the Joker in 2016’s “Suicide Squad.”
Perhaps more than any other clear cinematic target, though, Drew’s aim feels appropriately centered on 2019’s “Joker” and its grating, annoying angry-young-man ethos of anti-hero worship and entitled, fragile masculinity that struck all the worst chords with all the worst viewers.
Good for Vera Drew. The world needs more “nothing is sacred” subversion, more unfettered emotional honesty and trans-centric storytelling, and way, way more “Joker” bashing.
For showtimes, tickets, and more info, visit rodeocinema.org.
‘One from the Heart: Reprise’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – May 16th through May 18th
Famously panned and derided upon its 1981 release, cinematic iconoclast Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to untouchable classics “The Godfather,” “The Conversation,” “The Godfather Part II,” and “Apocalypse Now,” was decidedly not what people expected.
The 1970s’ greatest filmic purveyor of paranoia and the allure of human darkness instead gave the world “One from the Heart,” a neon-washed, old-Hollywood musical rom-com full of love, dancing, and songs by the master himself, Mr. Tom Waits.
No one knew quite what to make of the unapologetically grand, open-hearted love letter to classic musical cinema, and it faded from the mainstream pretty quickly as a massive bomb.
But Coppola’s uncompromising vision – and Waits’ unsurprisingly fantastic music – retained a small cult fandom through the years, and now “One from the Heart” is back in a newly revised, reinvigorated, and re-edited form.
“One from the Heart: Reprise,” aims to improve upon the original version with a smoother cut and a vivid new 4K transfer overseen by Coppola himself.
It’s a steamy, romantic story of love, tension, and reconciliation in the sweltering summertime, and it deserves to be seen (and heard) on the big silver screen.
For showtimes, tickets, and more info, visit okcmoa.com.
‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ – Everywhere – Opens May 24th
It would be a crime to talk about uncompromising creative minds and not include the legendary George Miller, the visionary behind “Mad Max” and its continuing, persistently rich world.
2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” was perhaps the most elusive and rare form of film: a high-energy, bright, loud action extravaganza that also appealed to art-film lovers and prestige critics. It was enough to even land the apocalyptic sci-fi car chase flick an infinitely deserved Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.
Miller is finally back in the “Mad Max” world once again, but this time focusing on a different character, “Fury Road” breakout Furiosa, brought to vibrant life originally by Charlize Theron, but portrayed in younger life here by the recently buzzing Anya Taylor-Joy.
“Furiosa” looks to be the most sprawling, massive, and flat-out insane entry yet for the franchise, and it’s all still flowing directly from the source with Miller himself conceiving, writing, and directing with his unflinchingly unique and singular style.
If you love shocking, psychological, and visually stunning character studies of trauma and environmental cautionary tales, be there to see this one.
And if you love car chases, explosions, and big screen craziness, be there twice as hard.
For showtimes, tickets, and more, visit flixbrewhouse.com, harkins.com, and cinemark.com.
‘Abiding Nowhere’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – May 25th
A nameless monk in red robes walks very slowly through nature, down hallways, and around Washington D.C.
A nameless random man walks a bit more quickly around the same places.
They don’t meet. They don’t speak. There is no story.
There are only our physical spaces and the short moments in time in which we pass through them as human beings, disconnected from one another’s minds and spirits, but connected always through the material world in which we all inhabit.
That might be the closest thing to a synopsis that you’re likely to find for Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang’s “Abiding Nowhere,” the tenth entry in his decade-plus “Walker Series,” all following the same red-robed monk walking very slowly through different locales around the world.
It’s pure artistic filmmaking, offering the audience a quiet glimpse at a simple, delicately changing visual, deeply considered and deliberate, but with all meaning and interpretation left up to the viewer much like a painting or a still photograph in a gallery.
It’s an experience to be had, like a guided group mediation aided by the sights and sounds of our human world and the movements and mechanisms of our human bodies in motion.
For showtime, tickets, and more, visit okcmoa.com.
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.
