Programmers' Picks: Colleen O'Holleran

Scala!!!

This documentary about the Scala, a music venue-turned-movie theater, is made for lovers of genre cinema and cult movies. Featuring stories of programmers and cinema aficionados over the years, Scala!!! speaks to the power of movie theaters to inspire culture and host creative spaces for the weirdos, underdogs, punks, queer community, outsiders, and artists.

RATS!

I had a perma-grin through this entire film! It is so funny and irreverent and satisfying, and I can’t wait to watch it with an audience. So go see it, and we can do that!

My Sextortion Diary

Filmmaker Patricia Franquesa uses tech-mosaic to tell this thrilling and fast-paced story. Weaving together text correspondences, social media posts, and recorded phone calls, she takes us through the transformative experience she had finding her voice and power when confronted by a hacker trying to shame and extort her.

The Primevals

Fellow fans of Ray Harryhausen, take note: This one's for you! Directed by David Allen, who did visual effects for such classics as The Howling (1981), and co-written by Randall William Cook, who did special effects for The Gate (1987), The Primevals pushes all the nostalgia buttons while taking us on an adventure unlike any other.

Killing Romance

Absurd and funny, Killing Romance is a fantastical thriller. Oh, and it’s a musical. And it’s a romance. Being all these things and more, it’s impossible to pin down but irresistibly entertaining.

In a Violent Nature

In a Violent Nature takes the familiar elements of a slasher film, deconstructs them, and puts them back together through the perspective of that ’80s prototype killer who just won't die.

Tenement

Set in a crumbling tenement in contemporary urban Cambodia, this atmospheric horror film interweaves supernatural storytelling with shadows of the country's turbulent political past.

Red Rooms

Absolutely unnerving, Red Rooms goes beyond the scope of a courtroom thriller and into a vein reminiscent of New French Extremity (without actually showing any violence). An element of terror permeates the entire film, and scenes that would be otherwise considered mundane had me holding my breath.