West Newton Cinema

ABOUT THE FILM 
CAUGHT BY THE TIDES (风流一代) is an ambitious, genre-blending film from acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhangke. Spanning over two decades, the film interlaces newly shot scenes with archival footage, fragments from Jia’s earlier films, and documentary-style material to create a haunting portrait of love, memory, and transformation in modern China.

 The story follows Qiaoqiao (Zhao Tao), a dancer and club performer in early-2000s Datong, whose lover, Guo Bin, abruptly leaves to seek fortune elsewhere. Her quiet, persistent search for him unfolds against the sweeping changes of the nation—from mass displacement during the Three Gorges Dam project, to rapid urbanization, to the isolating years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 POST SCREENING PANEL DISCUSSION 
Our distinguished panel will delve into the film’s themes and its broader cultural, historical, and cinematic contexts. The discussion will consider how CAUGHT BY THE TIDES reflects on China’s transformation, the interplay between personal stories and national history, and the ways cinema can blur the lines between fiction and documentary. 

SHUJEN WANG, Ph.D
 Professor of Media Studies, Emerson College; Research Associate, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University

 Shujen Wang is the author of Framing Piracy: Globalization and Film Distribution in Greater China (2003), and her research spans media globalization, platformization, film distribution, piracy, and global copyright governance. She has contributed to multiple anthologies and published in leading journals including Cinema Journal, Film Quarterly, and International Journal of Cultural Studies. Former president of the Chinese Communication Association, Dr. Wang has served as a research associate at Harvard’s Fairbank Center since 2002 and sits on the editorial advisory boards of several peer-reviewed journals. Her work has been translated into Portuguese and Chinese, reflecting her global scholarly influence. 

CATHERINE YEH, Ph.D.
 Professor of Chinese & Comparative Literature, Boston University 

 Catherine Yeh’s scholarship examines 19th- and 20th-century Chinese literary, media, and visual culture, with particular attention to the role of entertainment, literature, and “marginal” figures in driving modernity. Her books include Shanghai Love: Courtesans, Intellectuals, and Entertainment Culture, 1850–1910 and Performing the ‘Nation’ (co-edited, 2008). She has written extensively on Shanghai courtesan culture, the political novel, the entertainment press, and the rise of modern Chinese star culture. A recipient of numerous fellowships and research grants, Professor Yeh’s work illuminates the intersections of art, politics, gender, and urban modernity in China’s cultural transformation. 

Moderator:  
XUEPING ZHONG, Ph.D 
Professor of Modern Chinese Literature, Chinese Culture, Film, Tufts University. Xueping Zhong is the author of the Masculinity Besieged?: Issues of Modernity and Male Subjectivity in Chinese Literature of the Late Twentieth Century.

Special Event- followed by a discussion of the film with Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and The Ikeda Center for Peace, Learning, and Dialogue. From the legendary Studio Ghibli and director Hayao Miyazaki comes a rollicking adventure about a a young girl with a mysterious crystal pendant who falls out of the sky and into the arms and life of young Pazu. Together they search for a floating island, the site of a long-dead civilization promising enormous wealth and power to those who can unlock its secrets. But greedy pirates, spies, and the army are also all in hot pursuit! As one of Studio Ghibli’s earliest films, and the first to be released officially under the studio’s banner, "Castle in the Sky" quickly established the studio’s reputation for strong heroines, unforgettable storytelling and beautiful artwork.

Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) was a high-school baseball phenom who can’t play anymore, but everything else is going okay. He’s got a great girl (Zoë Kravitz), tends bar at a New York dive, and his favorite team is making an underdog run at the pennant. When his punk-rock neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) asks him to take care of his cat for a few days, Hank suddenly finds himself caught in the middle of a motley crew of threatening gangsters. They all want a piece of him; the problem is he has no idea why. As Hank attempts to evade their ever-tightening grip, he’s got to use all his hustle to stay alive long enough to find out… Caught Stealing is directed by Academy Award® nominee Darren Aronofsky, screenplay by Charlie Huston, based on his book of the same name. The film stars Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent D’Onofrio, Griffin Dunne, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, and Carol Kane.

The real-life of one of America's foremost founding fathers and first Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Filmed live on Broadway from the Richard Rodgers Theatre with the original Broadway cast.

WEST NEWTON CINEMA READS: A Night of Mystery at the West Newton Cinema Come celebrate the launch of Hank Phillippi Ryan’s latest “nail-biting” thriller, ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS, with Newtonville Books at the historic West Newton Cinema with special guest Lisa Gardner. Browse books & mingle in the lobby with mystery-themed activities & snacks starting at 6:30PM for early arrivers. At 7PM, Hank will be joined on stage in theatre 2 for a conversation about her new book, with fellow best-selling mystery author Lisa Gardner, followed by a Q&A in the theatre, and then a book signing in the lobby. ABOUT THE AUTHOR USA Today best-selling author HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN has won five Agatha Awards, five Anthony Awards, the Daphne, the Macavity, and the Mary Higgins Clark Award. As on-air investigative reporter for Boston's WHDH-TV, she won thirty-seven Emmy Awards and many more journalism honors. A past president of national Sisters in Crime, a founder of Mystery Writers of America University, and a board member of International Thriller Writers, Ryan lives in West Newton. LISA GARDNER is the acclaimed #1 New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty suspense novels, published in more than thirty countries. This free event includes: Admittance to the Hank Phillippi Ryan launch & talk Free popcorn and soda! Copies of Hank’s books, as well as Lisa Gardner’s books, including her latest novel, KISS HER GOODBYE, will be available for purchase at the Newtonville Books table in the Cinema lobby.

HELLO BEAUTIFUL will be presented on September 18 & 19 for two engaging evenings, featuring a Q&A with the Director and the author whose personal story inspired the film. September 18th is the Junior League of Boston Benefit Screening with Q&A. September 19th is the Looking and Feeling Fab Screening with Q&A. 
 ABOUT THE FILM HELLO BEAUTIFUL centers on Willow’s world, once defined by beauty and success, now upended as she confronts the physical and emotional toll of her illness. Stripped of the very attributes that shaped her identity, Willow must navigate a profound personal transformation, redefining her sense of self and discovering what truly matters. Her journey is not hers alone—her family, friends, and loved ones are equally impacted, each grappling with their own fears, vulnerabilities, and growth. Hello Beautiful is a story that defines the very meaning of the word resilience. Hello Beautiful has garnered significant recognition, including the prestigious Golden Palm Award for Best Film at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. The film also won Best Feature Film at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
 SCREENING FOLLOWED BY Q&A 
 ZIAD H. HAMZEH Director Ziad Hamzeh's body of work as a director, producer and writer has earned over fifty awards and honors. Most recently, Ziad won the Golden Palm for best film in all categories at the 25th Beverly Hills Film Festival for his new film Hello Beautiful. Earlier, he produced the Tunisian hit film Take My Breath. CHRISTINE HANDY Author Christine Handy’s semi-autobiographical best-selling novel, WALK BESIDE ME, is the basis for the film HELLO BEAUTIFUL. An accomplished model, Christine began her modeling career at the age of 11 in her hometown of St. Louis, later working with major brands. Today, she uses her platform to inspire hope and resilience, sharing her journey as a breast cancer survivor through her book, and as a speaker, spokesperson, and ambassador for cancer-related causes.

When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.

HONEY DON’T! is a dark comedy about Honey O’Donahue, a small-town private investigator, who delves into a series of strange deaths tied to a mysterious church.

When a gigantic great white shark begins to menace the small island community of Amity, a police chief, a marine scientist and grizzled fisherman set out to stop it.

WEST NEWTON CINEMA READS: Christina the Astonishing Join us for a delightful afternoon with MARIANNE LEONE—author, actress, screenwriter, and award-winning essayist—as she shares how growing up Italian-American in Nonantum shaped the world of her recently published novel, CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING. Marianne will be joined by her husband, Academy Award-winning actor CHRIS COOPER, for dramatic readings from CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING. Together, they will bring to life Christina Falcone—wild-haired, awkward, and irresistibly defiant. Set in 1960s Newton, this sharp, heartfelt coming-of-age story follows Christina as she battles merciless Catholic school nuns, navigates the tumult of Italian American family life, and dreams of redemption—not through sainthood, but through survival, wit, and escape to something greater. Filled with brio, brash humor, and unforgettable kitchen-table moments, Christina’s story unfolds against the vivid backdrop of working class Nonantum (“The Lake”). In collaboration with Newtonville Books, CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING will be available for purchase and signing. This is a free event; registration is required.

An accountant is chased by bounty hunters, the F.B.I., and the Mafia after jumping bail. This screening of Midnight Run is hosted by Boston Jewish Film, as part of their run up to their 37th Annual Boston Jewish Film Festival, which will be held from November 5-19.

Film Discussion and Recall This Book podcast recording. When their evil nemesis resurfaces after sixteen years, a band of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own. Join us for a special, opening-weekend screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s big-budget, shrouded-in-mystery, action-adventure-indie-dystopian-satire One Battle After Another, based largely, or loosely, on Thomas Pynchon’s love-it-or-hate-it 1990 novel Vineland, followed by a free-form, focused, off-the-cuff, expertly improvised (recorded) conversation and Q&A about the film, Pynchon, Paul Thomas Anderson, Reaganism, radicalism, postmodernism, rebellion, ninjas, narcs, American cinema, American apocrypha, Rushdie v. Kermode, and the People’s Republic of Rock and Roll, among other tropics of concern. This conversation will be moderated by John Plotz, co-host of the popular Recall This Book podcast, distributed by New Books Network, and will kindly feature appearances by Peter Coviello and Ethan Warren. Recall This Book is a free-ranging, warm but involved and sometimes spicy discussion of books from the past that cast a sideways light on today’s world. PETER COVIELLO is the author of six books, including Make Yourselves Gods, a finalist for the 2020 John Whitmer Historical Association Best Book Prize; Long Players, a memoir selected as one of ARTFORUM’s Best Books of 2018; and Is There God After Prince?: Dispatches from an Age of Last Things, chosen by The Millions, the Lambda Literary Review, and the Chicago Tribune as a notable book from 2023. He writes as well for venues such as N+1, the Boston Review, Public Books, Frieze, and The Believer, and his book about Thomas Pynchon, Vineland Reread, was listed among the New York Times’s “New and Noteworthy” titles for January of 2021. He taught for many years at Bowdoin College and since 2014 has been at University of Illinois Chicago, where he is Professor and Head of English. ETHAN WARREN is the author of The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha, published in 2023 by Columbia University Press. He is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and editor-in-chief of the online journal of arts and culture Broad Sound, with bylines at Bright Wall/Dark Room, LitHub, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and elsewhere. His next book for Columbia University Press will be titled When I Paint My Masterpiece: The Cinematic Dylan. He lives in Norwell with his wife and children. JOHN PLOTZ is Mandel Professor of Humanities at Brandeis University and editor of the B-Sides feature in Public Books, as well as B-Side Books, published by Columbia University Press. He co-hosts two podcasts: Novel Dialogue and Recall This Book, and oversees the annual Brandeis Novel Symposium. His books include Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea, The Crowd: British Literature and Public Politics, Portable Property: Victorian Culture on the Move, and Semi-Detached: Aesthetic Experience from Dickens to Keaton, and he is among the co-founders of the Brandeis Educational Justice Initiative.

STAFF SELECTION NIGHT This month's selection is from Tim Leong, Assistant Manager at the West Newton Cinema. Join him for a Q&A following the film. A note from Tim: "John Cassavetes’ OPENING NIGHT brilliantly intertwines themes of aging, womanhood, and performance, all while expertly exploring the audience-actor-director relationship. The metacommentary in OPENING NIGHT never overshadows the human drama, but it gives insight into Cassavetes’ own relationship with acting and filmmaking. This is a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen, so don’t miss out!" ABOUT THE FILM A young woman is killed in an accident while trying to meet her favorite actress Myrtle Gordon after a play. Myrtle Gordon feels responsible for the killing, leading her to an emotional crisis that interferes with her professional work as an actress.

Rebel with a Clause is a charming and insightful documentary that follows grammarian Ellen Jovin as she travels the country with her “Grammar Table,” sparking spontaneous conversations about commas, clauses, and the quirks of English with curious passersby. What begins as a playful educational project turns into a moving exploration of civility, curiosity, and the unexpected ways language brings people together.

Shari Lewis was a dancer, singer, and magician but is best known as the ventriloquist behind sock puppets Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and, of course, Lamb Chop. This lively doc charts the life, loves, and career hits and misses of this spunky perfectionist, who forever changed the face of children’s television.

Join us on NATIONAL SILENT MOVIE DAY for the long-lost first theatrical version of SNOW WHITE (1916) with live musical accompaniment.

 ABOUT THE FILM Everyone knows Disney’s classic animated film Snow White (1937), but few are aware that a teenage Walt Disney growing up in Kansas City saw the original silent movie of the fairy tale, and it was this 1916 silent that inspired him to blaze a path in filmmaking and make his own version in 1937.

 Like all silent films, SNOW WHITE was made on flammable nitrate film stock, and for many years, it was rumored to have been destroyed in a vault fire. But a single theatrical print was discovered in the Netherlands in 1992, and a heroic restoration was performed by the George Eastman House film archive. LIVE MUSIC LESLIE McMICHAEL and BARBARA McMICHAEL Harpist-composer Leslie McMichael will perform her original score live on the concert harp for the 63-minute film, accompanied by her sister Barbara McMichael on viola. The score uses recurring musical themes for each character.

In Twinless, two young men meet in a twin support group and form an unlikely friendship. Roman (Dylan O'Brien) and Dennis (James Sweeney) both search for solace and an identity without their other halves and soon become inseparable outside the group. But when Roman meets Dennis’ ebullient co-worker, Marcie (Aisling Franciosi), all is revealed to be not what it seems, as each man harbors secrets that could unravel everything.

TY BURR’S MOVIE CLUB is hosted by the nationally recognized film critic Ty Burr. Each month Ty presents and discusses one of his favorite films with the audience. His selections span the spectrum from classics that have stood the test of time to contemporary films that merit a second viewing. ABOUT THE FILM In Tony Gilroy's 2007 dramatic thriller of corporate corruption and personal redemption, a law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit. MICHAEL CLAYTON is a no-frills, high-wire throwback to the 1970s moral thrillers of Sidney Lumet and Sydney Pollack (the latter of whom has a juicy part here as Clooney’s boss.)

The great Rimas Tuminas’ final Moscow production, the epic “War and Peace”, focuses on its three families as a microcosm of the human condition. The Napoleonic Wars become the background for the lives, ambitions, hopes and sorrows of the open-hearted Rostovs, the honorable and uncompromising Bolkonskys, and the arrogant and ravishing Kuragins. Tuminas creates, explores and comprehends destinies, paradoxes, madness, love, joy and despair. The world he presents to the audience is a beautiful, aesthetic, theatrical and fragile one, but one at constant risk of being destroyed by the ominous comet that is already in the sky above.