Alamo Drafthouse has just announced a new and ongoing retrospective programming series called Guest Selects, and one of their first guests is David Lowery, the director of the upcoming The Green Knight. Guest Selects offers the best filmmakers, writers, and performers to select films that they think audiences must see on the big screen. Lowery has chosen Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Dark Crystal to screen this September for moviegoers.
In his Guest Selects video, which will run in Alamo Drafthouse theaters, Lowery discusses how he chose these two films. They are just two of several movies that helped to inspire The Green Knight, including Marie Antoinette, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and Willow. He focuses most on the tone, setting, and production and technical design of these films, and it's easy to see where he pulled references for The Green Knight. There are also a couple of new shots from the film that Lowery and Alamo Drafthouse sneak in the video.
Lowery said in an official statement, "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, and then takes advantage of the great opportunity to revisit these enduring classics that helped shape the film."
Jim Henson and Frank Oz's dark fantasy epic The Dark Crystal will be the first film to screen on August 13. The 1982 cult classic follows Jen, a Gelfling who must restore balance to the world of Thra by restoring a powerful broken Crystal. The setting and puppetry are beautiful, and Lowery notes the importance of fantasy illustrator Brian Froud for his designs. He also urges audiences to check out Netflix's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which came out during the filming of The Green Knight and had a significant impact on its production.
Francis Ford Coppola's installation into the vampire lexicon Bram Stoker's Dracula will screen on September 17. Considered one of the most faithful adaptations of the classic novel, Coppola's exquisite and doomed masterpiece is certainly a must-see on the big screen. Lowery points out the importance of Coppola's technical feats, as well as Eiko Ishioka's singular costume design. Proving himself a true cinephile in his own right, Lowery notes how impressive the techniques Coppola uses to tell the story: "[he] just used everything in the kitchen sink and threw it all in a blender to make, what I think, is the most technically accomplished films of his entire career."
Both films will have special recorded introductions from Lowery, and you can catch his Guest Selects video below. Tickets are on sale now at drafthouse.com. See his latest feature, The Green Knight, in theaters this Friday, July 30.