418 South Illinois Avenue, Carbondale, Illinois 62901, United States
Upcoming FilMS - Winter 26
Pretty Woman (1990)
Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise (1995)
7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 6
Bar and Doors at 6
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Starring: Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Héctor Elizondo
Before it became a romantic comedy icon, Pretty Woman was a gritty drama about prostitution and class in Los Angeles. Re-imagined as a glossy modern fairy tale, it became a cultural phenomenon. But what are we really watching – a love story for the ages, a problematic fantasy, or a sharp, if sugar-coated, satire of 1980s excess? Join us as we look past the opera gloves and ruby slippers to examine the film’s enduring, complicated legacy.
On the surface, it’s the ultimate Cinderella story: Edward Lewis (Richard Gere), a cold corporate raider, hires Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts), a charismatic Hollywood Boulevard sex worker, for a week as his elegant escort for business functions. What begins as a transactional arrangement slowly, improbably, transforms into a connection that challenges them both to rediscover their humanity.
Keep an eye on Héctor Elizondo's performance as the hotel manager, Mr. Thompson – often cited as the film's true "fairy godmother." Listen for the clever use of the opera La Traviata (the story of a courtesan who must abandon her lover).
Runtime: 119 minutes
Rated R
Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise (1995)
7 p.m. Feb. 13
Bar and Doors at 6
Directed by Richard Linklater
Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy
What if the most meaningful romance of your life lasted only one night? Forget epic quests or grand dramas; Before Sunrise is an exquisite, minimalist experiment in connection. It’s a film built entirely from a walk and a talk – a fleeting, profound conversation between two strangers, Jesse and Céline, who meet on a train and decide to spend one spontaneous night wandering through meandering streets, quiet cafés, and moonlit parks, explore everything from personal memories and philosophical ideals to the fragile hope of love. Each conversation deepens their bond, turning the simple act of walking and talking into a quietly suspenseful journey of the heart.
Director Richard Linklater, alongside co-writer Kim Krizan and his remarkable leads, crafts a movie that feels less like a scripted story and more like you’ve been granted privileged access to a real, unfolding intimacy. There are no villains, no car chases, no manufactured plots – just the thrilling, vulnerable, and often hilarious dance of two young people discovering each other and, in the process, articulating their own hopes, fears, and philosophies about life and love.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Rated R
Mickey 17 (2025)
Before Sunrise (1995)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
7 p.m. Feb. 20
Bar and Doors at 6
Directed by Bong Joon Ho
Starring Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo, Naomi Ackie
From Bong Joon Ho, the Oscar-winning visionary behind Parasite and Snowpiercer, comes a high-concept sci-fi that is equal parts existential nightmare, dark comedy, and social satire. Welcome to the life (and deaths) of Mickey Barnes.
Mickey17 (Robert Pattinson) is an “expendable” – a disposable employee on a dangerous, generations-long colonization mission to the ice world of Niflheim. When one Mickey dies, a new clone is printed with most of his memories intact, ready to take over the grunt work. The company rule is simple: Only one version can be active at a time. But what happens when Mickey17 doesn’t die as expected, and returns to base to find Mickey18 already on duty?
Two versions of the same man must fight for a single life, uncovering the dark, absurd truths of the society they were built to serve.
Runtime: Approximately 136 minutes
Rated R
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
7 p.m. Friday, March 6
Bar and Doors at 6
Directed by Frank Darabont
Starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman
Routinely voted one of the greatest films of all time by audiences worldwide, The Shawshank Redemption is far more than a prison drama. It is a deeply profound, deeply human story about the resilience of the human spirit, the quiet persistence of hope, and the friendships that sustain us through our darkest winters.
Adapted from a Stephen King novella, the film chronicles two decades in the lives of Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), a banker wrongfully convicted of murder, and Ellis "Red" Redding (Morgan Freeman), the prison fixer who becomes his unlikely friend. Within the crushing stone walls of Shawshank State Penitentiary, they navigate a world of corruption, brutality, and despair. Yet, through acts of defiant dignity, patience, and ingenuity, Andy proves that some walls are meant to be scaled from within, and that freedom is ultimately a state of mind.
More than a tale of escape, The Shawshank Redemption is a testament to the unbreakable self and the redemptive power of friendship. It reminds us that, as Red says, “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Runtime: 142 minutes
Rated R
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
7 p.m. Friday, March 13
Bar and Doors at 6
Written and directed by Wes Anderson
Starring Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Danny Glover
Wes Anderson’s third feature is a defining masterpiece of his meticulously crafted world. The Royal Tenenbaums unfolds like a storybook about a family of washed-up prodigies, each haunted by their abandoned potential and united by the spectacular return of their deceitful patriarch.
Set in a heightened, autumnal New York City, the film chronicles the sudden reunion of the Tenenbaum clan. Royal (Gene Hackman), the long-absent father, falsely claims a terminal illness to move back into the family home – a museum of arrested development. He attempts to reconnect with his emotionally scarred children: Chas (Ben Stiller), a finance genius consumed by loss; Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow), a playwright wrestling with secretive melancholy; and Richie (Luke Wilson), a former tennis champion derailed by unrequited love.
Narrated with dry precision, the film is a deeply human tragicomedy about forgiveness, failure, and the strange glue that binds families together.
This film codified the "Andersonian" style: the detailed production design, the deadpan delivery, the curated soundtrack (featuring Nico, Elliott Smith, and The Rolling Stones), and the deep emotional core beneath the quirk. It’s a foundational text for understanding indie cinema of the 2000s.
Gene Hackman delivers a career-topping performance as the charmingly rotten Royal. The cast, including Anjelica Huston, Danny Glover, Bill Murray, and the Wilson brothers, creates a rich tapestry of quirks and quiet sorrows.
Runtime: 110 minutes
Rated R
The Dark Knight (2007)
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
7 p.m. Friday, March 27
Bar and Doors at 6
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
Forget the comic book label. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is a sprawling, urgent crime epic that uses the mythos of Batman to probe the darkest corners of justice, chaos, and moral compromise in a post-9/11 world. Rarely does a blockbuster redefine its genre and elevate popular cinema to the level of grand philosophical drama. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is that exception.
From Wally Pfister’s stunning cinematography to Lee Smith’s precise editing and Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s pounding, nerve-shredding score, every element serves a grand, immersive vision.
When a new criminal mastermind known only as The Joker unleashes a wave of anarchy upon Gotham City, Batman, Police Lieutenant Jim Gordon, and District Attorney Harvey Dent form an alliance to dismantle the organized crime that has crippled their city. But the Joker is no ordinary thief; he is an "agent of chaos" with a singular goal: to prove that beneath civilization’s thin veneer, everyone is as ugly and savage as him.
The film becomes a relentless, ticking-clock thriller that forces its heroes – and its audience – to ask: How far is too far to protect the innocent? And what must a hero become to defeat a villain who believes in nothing?
Heath Ledger’s posthumous Oscar-winning turn as The Joker is not just a great comic book villain – it is one of the most terrifying and mesmerizing portrayals of pure, philosophical chaos in film history. Every line, every tic, is a masterpiece of unpredictable menace.
The film grapples with profound questions: Can we be good in a world that rewards evil? Is lying to the public justified to maintain hope? What is the true cost of heroism?
Runtime: 152 minutes
Rated PG-13
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