Hello from Monoform Cinema, a new pop-up micro-cinema in Kalamazoo!

A primal scream echoing through the static, Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow is one part Lynchian suburban nightmare, one part nostalgic love letter to monster-of-the-week millennial-core TV shows, and fully integrated into a newly-minted queer cinema classic. Striking neon visuals suck you into this uniquely existential coming-of-age horror story, of repression and self-discovery denied. High-schoolers Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Jack Haven) bond over their shared love of The Pink Opaque, a sci-fi/horror TV show about powerful psychically-linked teenage heroines, Isabel and Tara. When Maddy reappears in Owen's life after a long absence, she poses a question to Owen that threatens to open doors within him that he has forcefully kept shut: what if The Pink Opaque was more than a TV show?

Directed by ninth-degree black belt/philosopher/author/inspirational speaker Grandmaster Y.K. Kim, beloved cult film Miami Connection is one of the most entertaining martial arts movies made in America that you will ever see. The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida's narcotics trade, annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound has had enough and embarks on a roundhouse wreck wave of crime-crushing justice in the streets of Orlando. It'll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can't stop until they've completely destroyed the drug dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine” ...and the entire Miami Connection.

The 40th anniversary theatrical re-release of Clue did not come to Kalamazoo and that must be rectified! Was it Colonel Mustard in the study with the gun? Miss Scarlet in the billiard room with the rope? Or was it Wadsworth the butler? Meet all of the notorious suspects and discover all of their foul playthings. You'll love their dastardly doings as the bodies and the laughs pile up before your eyes. A murderously funny movie based on the world-famous CLUE® board game, and brought to crackling life by an all-star cast including Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Eileen Brennan, Martin Mull, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael McKean, Colleen Camp, and more! Brought to you with all three surprise endings!

When grad student Helen Lyne (Virginia Madsen) begins working on a thesis about urban legends, she comes across the terrifying tale of the Candyman (Tony Todd) - a vengeful, hook-handed spirit who can be summoned by saying his name five times in the mirror. As her research leads her into the bowels of Chicago's housing projects and deeper into the Candyman's world, Helen learns that some legends are best left well alone. Expertly directed by British filmmaker Bernard Rose and boasting an astounding score by composer Philip Glass, Candyman ingeniously reworks Clive Barker's original short story 'The Forbidden' into an intelligent, socially-conscious modern horror parable that remains as timely today as ever.

We love Halloween here at Monoform Cinema, and we are celebrating with our second annual mystery 'movie'. We won't be announcing the title until just before we start the film! The mystery movie* has been described as: charming, autumnal, haunting, beautiful, spooky, whimsical, complex and iconic. It has been embraced as a modern seasonal classic, and many re-watch it every fall. One of our Monoform team members even has a tattoo inspired by it. This may be your only chance to see it in a theater!

Calling all fans of Possession! “A small group of cosmic explorers leave Earth to start a new civilization. They do not realize that within themselves they carry the end of their own dream. They die one by one, while their children revert to a primitive native culture, creating new myths and a new god.” Based on a trilogy of books written in 1901 by director Andrzej Żuławski's own grand-uncle, On the Silver Globe is a marvel of filmmaking and media preservation. A year into its production, filming was shut down by the Polish government and all footage, props, and costumes were ordered to be destroyed. Cast and crew hid them and the film was finished ten years later. For the missing footage, the director did his own narration, voiced over shots of modern Poland. Come see a science-fiction film like no other.

A must see for America's 250th anniversary. This cornerstone of 1970s American moviemaking from Robert Altman is a panoramic view of the country's political and cultural landscapes, set in the nation's music capital. Nashville weaves the stories of twenty-four characters—from country star to wannabe to reporter to waitress—into a cinematic tapestry that is equal parts comedy, tragedy, and musical. Many members of the astonishing cast wrote their own songs and performed them live on location, which lends another layer to the film's authenticity. Altman's ability to get to the heart of American life via its eccentric byways was never put to better use than in this grand, rollicking triumph, which barrels forward to an unforgettable conclusion.

Stephen King's novel The Shining, a tale of a family isolated in a haunted hotel, is transformed here by Stanley Kubrick into a meticulously crafted exercise in overwhelming dread, and a descent into psychological terror. Few horror films have claimed as prominent a place in pop culture (and our collective subconscious) as this one, and for good reason. Anchored by two incredible performances from Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall as Jack and Wendy Torrance, the haunting visions in The Shining are brought to life with surgical precision by Kubrick's gliding camera and unnerving formal symmetry. There are images in this film that you will never forget - no matter how hard you try. A searing portrait of domestic violence set against a chilling backdrop of supernatural unease, and the inescapable truth that nowhere is safe from the horrors of the past.

Released 52 years before Sinners, Bill Gunn's revolutionary independent landmark Ganja & Hess strains the conventions of blaxploitation and horror through a singular avant-garde sensibility. This highly stylized, poetic, and utterly original film uses vampirism as a metaphor for black assimilation and identity, white cultural imperialism, addiction, desire, and the hypocrisies of organized religion. Duane Jones (Night of the Living Dead) stars as anthropologist Hess Green, who is stabbed with an ancient ceremonial dagger by his unstable assistant (Gunn), bestowing upon him the blessing of immortality and the curse of an unquenchable thirst for blood. When the assistant's beautiful and outspoken wife Ganja (Marlene Clark) comes searching for her missing husband, she and Hess form an unexpected partnership. Together, they explore just how much power blood holds. Only available in deeply altered cuts for decades, its restoration in 2018 brought Gunn's full vision back to our screens. Supported by an incredible soundtrack from Sam Waymon (Nina Simone's brother), both Bill Gunn and Ganja & Hess are still ahead of their time and have inspired many artists, including Spike Lee, who calls Gunn “one of the most under-appreciated filmmakers of his time” and remade this film in 2014 (Da Sweet Blood of Jesus). Rap group clipping.'s 2019 album There Existed an Addiction to Blood is also directly inspired by this film and named after a lyric from its soundtrack. Writer Tananarive Due, who executive produced Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, frequently cites the film as a landmark and states that unlike typical Blaxploitation films of the era, it's a unique and complex take on vampirism that de-centers white Eurocentrism.

One of the great psychedelic masterpieces of world animation, Son of the White Mare is a swirling, color-mad maelstrom of mythic monsters and Scythian heroes, lit by jagged bolts of lightning and drenched in rivers of blue, red, gold and green. A massive cosmic oak stands at the gates of the Underworld, holding seventy-seven dragons in its roots; to combat these monsters, a dazzling white mare goddess gives birth to three heroes - Treeshaker and his brothers - who embark on an epic journey to save the universe. Directed by Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics (famed for his 1974 Oscar-nominated short Sisyphus), Son of the White Mare has been restored in 4K using the original 35mm camera negative and sound elements by Arbelos in collaboration with the Hungarian National Film Institute. “Once upon a time, at the doors of Hell, there stood a tall turkey oak. It had 77 roots and 77 branches. On the 77 roots stood 77 dragons. On the 77 branches sat 77 crows. Let the one who doesn't listen to this tale have their soul stolen by the 77 dragons, and their eyes pecked by the 77 crows!”

Wear your best Grey Gardens outfits! Meet Big and Little Edie Beale: mother and daughter, high-society dropouts, and reclusive relatives of Jackie Onassis. This highly codependent pair live together (with many cats, and even a raccoon) in a decaying East Hampton mansion where life seemingly ended twenty years earlier, and yet there they remain as living ghosts, bickering and endlessly reminiscing about the past. This captivating, dysfunctional and deeply human documentary by Albert and David Maysles, codirected by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, quickly became a cult classic and established Little Edie as both fashion icon and philosopher queen.

America's war on books is more than a war on words. The Librarians, a new feature documentary from Academy Award nominee and Peabody Award winner Kim A. Snyder. In Texas, the Krause List targets 850 books focused on race and LGBTQIA+ stories - triggering sweeping book bans across the U.S. at an unprecedented rate. As tensions escalate, librarians connect the dots from heated school and library board meetings nationwide to lay bare the underpinnings of extremism fueling the censorship efforts. Despite facing harassment, threats, and laws aimed at criminalizing their work - the librarians' rallying cry for freedom to read is a chilling cautionary tale.

The tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle-shop owner on her quest for the perfect ramen, this rapturous “ramen western” by Japanese director Juzo Itami is an entertaining, genre-bending adventure underpinned by a satire of the way social conventions distort the most natural of human urges—our appetites. Interspersing the efforts of Tampopo (Nobuko Miyamoto) and friends to make her café a success with the erotic exploits, and glimpses of food culture both high and low; the sweet, sexy, and surreal Tampopo is a celebration of the sensual joys of nourishment, and one of the most mouthwatering examples of food on film ever made.

The audience is calling the shots on May 28th at Monoform Cinema, at an event we're calling MonoFREAK Night! The audience will vote to watch one of 5 mystery movies curated by our team around 8:30 pm, but when doors open at 7:30pm, we'll be playing YOUR VIDEOS in our first ever audience-curated pre-show hour!

Adapted from Tarell Alvin McCraney's unpublished and unproduced stage play, Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is a gorgeous triptych portrait of three defining chapters in the life of Chiron. Portrayed by three different actors through childhood (Alex Hibbert) adolescence (Ashton Sanders) and adulthood (Trevante Rhodes) Chiron is a quiet, bullied boy growing up in Miami as he grapples with questions of identity, family, and sexuality. Through him, Jenkins tells a poignant, heartbreaking story of what it means to be both Black and gay in America. Using minimal dialogue, Jenkins instead guides the audience through Chiron's emotional journey in an almost entirely visual language, with expressive editing and camerawork, and a richly evocative color palette. Adding to the tapestry of his life are incredible supporting performances by Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monae. Ten years after its initial release, Moonlight's recognition as a landmark film in American cinema has only grown.