To celebrate Montana Day (4/06), This House of Books, in partnership with Montana PBS and Art House Billings, will be presenting a special, free-admission screening of the new documentary Ivan Doig: Landscapes of a Western Mind. The film profiles the late author, who is considered a godfather of Montana literature and whose most famous work This House of Sky served as the inspiration for the bookstore’s name.
Innerspace | Staff Birthday Pick
Go on a fantastic voyage for Executive Director Matt Blakeslee’s Staff Birthday Pick! Joe Dante’s Innerspace is a fun filled adventure inside the human body that is one of the greatest sci-fi adventures of the 80s (and that’s saying a lot!)! A tiny Dennis Quaid inadvertently winds up inside Martin Short in this action-comedy adventure from the director of Gremlins, The ‘Burbs, and The Howling.
The Birds | Babcock Theatre
One of Alfred Hitchcock’s most uniquely terrifying films The Birds turns 60 this year, and there’s no better place than the Babcock to revisit this classic. A town is terrorized by a freakish feathered phenomenon as the birds turn on the humans, and Hitchcock slowly builds the tension as we witness the mayhem unfold. Two chances to catch this 60s classic on the big screen!
Birdemic: Shock & Terror | Garbage Day!
A modern masterpiece of trash cinema, Birdemic: Shock & Terror pays homage to Hitchcock’s The Birds in the most incomprehensible sort of way! Featuring the laziest of filmmaking, wooden performances, and unbelievably horrible effects, it became a treasure trove for connoisseurs of bad movies after director James Nguyen’s attempt to enter it to Sundance in 2010 and catching the attention of comedy duo Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. This goes beyond The Room into new levels of hilariously horrible cinema, so do not miss this abomination on the big screen!
Champions | Free Admission and Fundraiser for Special Olympics
Presented by the Yellowstone Valley chapter of Special Olympics Montana, enjoy a free screening of the new film from Bobby Farrelly Champions and help them raise money for their organization. Raffle tickets and other fundraising efforts available at this fun free family event!
Woody Harrelson stars in the hilarious and heartwarming story of a former minor-league basketball coach who, after a series of missteps, is ordered by the court to manage a team of players with intellectual disabilities. He soon realizes that despite his doubts, together, this team can go further than they ever imagined.
The Mummy | Staff Birthday Pick
A perfect blend of action, adventure, humor, and horror, The Mummy is coming to the Babcock for Timothy Tanzosh’s Staff Birthday Pick! Starring the newly awarded Best Actor Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, this blockbuster is worth revisiting on the big screen as a band of explorers uncover an ancient curse in this visually stunning adventure that employed practical and CG effects to mostly great use! Whether you’re revisiting the film or seeing it for the first time, it’s sure to be a cinematic experience that you won’t soon forget!
The Prince of Egypt | Free Admission • Movie Buffs
This Easter weekend, relive the adventure of biblical proportions with the 25th anniversary of The Prince of Egypt. An animated retelling of the Book of Exodus and the story of Moses, this was the debut film from Dreamworks Animation and tackles its subject matter with a serious tone that makes it easy to follow without pandering to its young audience. An essential entry from animation’s renaissance in the 90s before CG started to reign supreme, this is a fantastic family film to enjoy on the big screen this April!
Rushmore | Babcock Theatre
It’s been 25 years since Wes Anderson’s breakout coming-of-age comedy Rushmore hit theaters, and we’re bringing it to the Babcock to celebrate and in anticipation of the two new films he’ll be releasing in 2023! Jason Schwartzman steals the show as Max Fischer, Rushmore Academy’s ambitious (and yet worst) student, as he becomes smitten with a teacher that has also caught the eye of Max’s friend and mentor (Bill Murray). A brilliant comedy that established Anderson as one of our greatest contemporary filmmakers, revisit this classic indie comedy on the big screen!
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas | Late Night by Purple Cow
Panic and paranoia best describe the lunacy on screen as Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro go on a drug fueled trip in Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas! A bizarre and psychedelic take on Hunter S. Thompson’s heralded gonzo journalistic novel, the duo descend on Vegas to cover a motorcycle race only to find themselves in a haze of reckless decisions, delusions, and a massive hotel bill! A pitch black stoner comedy, Fear and Loathing is a mind-altering odyssey into the depravity of America and the failure of the 60s countercultural movement.
Bicycle Thieves | Art House Essentials
Free Admission to All Art House Memebers
The 75th anniversary of Vittorio de Sica’s neorealist masterpiece Bicycle Thieves is coming to the Babcock to kick off a string of Art House Essentials, celebrating the canon of indie and foreign films that birthed arthouse cinema! Set in post-war Rome, this story of a man searching for his stolen bicycle is a devastating look at city life at the time, the desperate hardships of poverty, and an emotional look at the breakdown of civil order. A bleak picture of a troubling cycle, Bicycle Thieves is one of the 20th century’s most influential pieces of art and an essential viewing experience for all cinema lovers.