The Green Knight is one of our most anticipated movies of 2021. It was also one of our most anticipated movies of 2020. Now, after a long, long wait, it’s finally coming to US theaters. Before it does though, we can watch the films that influenced it. Writer-director David Lowery shared the five movies that inspired his take on the Arthurian legend. Lowery dropped the list during Alamo Drafthouse Cinema‘s new retrospective series “Guest Selects.”
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema calls the series “an open invitation to the movie-eatery’s favorite filmmakers, writers, and performers to draw on their diverse backgrounds and eclectic tastes to program films that they think are essential big screen experiences.” To help kick off the program, The Green Knight‘s David Lowery shared the five movies that most influenced his own.
That list includes some beloved films: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, The Dark Crystal, Marie Antoinette, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Willow.
His “Guest Selects” video, which you can watch above, will also air in theaters across the country. “I’m honored to be a part of Alamo Drafthouse’s ‘Guest Selects’ program and hope that everyone gets a chance to see The Green Knight on the big screen,” said Lowery in a statement. “And then takes advantage of the great opportunity to revisit these enduring classics that helped shape the film.”
A24
Moviegoers will get a chance to revisit two of them on the big screen later this year. Alamo Drafthouse will screen The Dark Crystal starting August 13. Followed by Bram Stoker’s Dracula beginning on September 17. Both will also feature special recorded introductions from Lowery himself. Tickets are on sale now at drafthouse.com.
Other “Guest Selects” participants also include The Sparks Ron and Russel Mael. They talked about their love of Ishtar. And M. Night Shyamalan discussed why Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws are his “North Star” films that help guide him.
“For nearly twenty-five years we’ve been honored to welcome guest programmers – from Quentin Tarantino’s hand-selected QT Fest in the early 2000s to last month’s packed screenings of Ishtar, curated by the band Sparks,” said Alamo Drafthouse founder and Executive Chairman Tim League in a press release. “I’m very excited that we’re officially continuing this tradition—and the explorations into the influences of our favorite filmmakers—with David Lowery and our new Guest Selects series.”
And we’re excited to have some movies to help us pass the agonizing last few days we have before we can finally see The Green Knight.
