Classic Movies Showing in Miami This May

New month means new movies, except we're focusing on the classics here! So while Avengers: Age of Ultron takes over every multiplex, raking in those millions, here's a variety of options if you're looking for something a little more vintage. It's not everything, but you won't be short on options any week this May.
 
1. It's MAYsles Month
Just this March, documentarian Albert Maysles passed away. His final film, Iris, premiered at the Miami International Film Festival just a few days later, and this month, with its wide release in Miami, multiple theaters are whipping out some of his classic works in his honor. At O Cinema Wynwood, we have the most popular of them all running from May 15 through 21: Grey Gardens.  

And if we cross over to the beach, the Miami Beach Cinematheque is doing a full retrospective of his work, including the aforementioned film from May 14 through 17. Also showing are: What's Happening: The Beatles in the USA on May 7, Gimme Shelter on May 21, and Islands on May 28. 


2. Gables Cinema's Essentials
In April, Coral Gables Art Cinema kicked off their new Essentials series with the ballet masterpiece The Red Shoes. This month, the theater will be showing a rather interesting selection of films with this program, including a modern pick we'll skip right on by. On the week of May 23, is a series of comedies by the Marx Brothers, their first five: Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup. Closing the month on May 30 and 31 is Eric Rohmer's Marquise of O, which should be quite the treat.

3. All About That 35mm
One theater takes the cake with this category in May and that theater happens to be Coral Gables Art Cinema. In addition to their daytime programming, their After Hours program has some treats for folks in Caddyshack and The Evil Dead on 35mm on May 18 and 25 respectively (with Aliens and Fantastic Planet on the prior Saturday's in restored DCP form). Even more exciting though is the Rocky Horror Picture Show screening at the end of the month, complete with both the film on 35mm and a shadowcast.

4. Alain Delon Retrospective
Over at Tower, we have a different kind of retrospective than that of a filmmaker. Here, three rarely fully restored prints of three Alain Delon thrillers will be shown. They're a bunch rarely screened in the states, so they're a bunch not to be missed. The films included in the program, which started on May 1, are: Two Men In Town (Deux homes dans la ville), The Gang (Le gang), and Three Men to Kill (Trois homme a abattre). And if you want to check out all three at a reduced price, there's a special for all three films at $15.

5. Free! Free!! Free!!!
As always, the line-up at Shirley's in the back room of Gramps offers a collection of free movies. This month, there's Clue on May 5, Purple Rain on May 12, and Heavy Metal on May 19.

Miami Beach Soundscape at New World Center has their usual outdoor choices, a mix of new and classic, the latter of which we'll mention here. Fletch on May 6, Meatballs on May 7, the classic thriller Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte on May 14, A League of Their Own on May 20, and Uncle Buck on May 28.


6. A Very Weird, But Cool, Bunch of Strays
So, there's always some stuff that doesn't fit into the totally arbitrary categories that come up each month, and in an attempt not to leave them out, these three deserve a little highlighting.

The first comes from O Cinema Miami Beach on May 7, in collaboration with FUNDarte, and that happens to be a screening of fascinating queer filmmaker Derek Jarman's Caravaggio.

The next takes place on May 9 and 14 at the Blue Starlite Drive-In (one night at the beach, one in the Grove): The Wizard of Oz with your choice of the original soundtrack and dialogue or — here's the cool part — with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon synced up with the film.

And finally, back at O Cinema (this time Wynwood), is the monthly Popcorn Nights anniversary screening, with May offering a 20th anniversary showing of Kevin Smith's Mallrats. 

Follow Juan Barquin on Twitter @woahitsjuanito