Alex Ross Perry's The Color Wheel

The Color Wheel

After building a devoted critical following across a 2011 festival run that culminated in it being crowned “Best Undistributed Film” by Village Voice, The Color Wheel landed in U.S. cinemas in May 2012 with a push from Frownland distributor Factory25. While writer/director/editor Alex Ross Perry would go on to make more elegant, accomplished films, The Color Wheel remains one of his finest achievements, course correcting away from the wimpy, wayward American independent cinema of the late 2000’s towards something more fearsome and cool, in large part thanks to Sean Price William’s immediately iconic B&W 16mm cinematography. Though of course, Perry’s screenplay (co-written with co-star Carlen Altman) remains distinctive in its own right, broader and more slapstick than what was to come, but captivatingly snotty and erudite in his now expected fashion. A borderline surreal road trip saga undertaken by a pair of ultra petty siblings locked in a competition of cruelty, The Color Wheel’s provocations are many, and no less serrated or deranged after a decade’s passing. The moment that made this film a sort of grass roots, independent success may have passed, but The Color Wheel undoubtedly reoriented independent cinema for the better, and helped codify a filmmaking scene that still persists.

The Color Wheel will be showing in 35mm Friday and Sat Night. Featuring Special Q&A’s with Alex Ross Perry. We will also be showing Queen Of Earth, Golden Exits, and Listen Up Philip on 35MM.  Purchase tickets here.