Coolidge Corner Theatre presents Big Screen Classics lineup for early 2022

Rendering of expanded Coolidge Corner Theatre as seen from Centre Street.Höweler + Yoon Architecture

The Coolidge Corner Theatre kicked off its early 2022 Big Screen Classics series lineup, featuring projections of “The Piano,” “My Neighbor Totoro,” “Trainspotting,” and many others. The film-packed schedule arrives two months after the theatre began a 14,000-square-foot expansion project.

“We thought it would be cool to have a thematic Big Screen Classics program and program films that are groundbreaking in one way or another, to highlight the construction that’s going on,” said Mark Anastasio, the Coolidge’s director of special programming.

Through April, the Coolidge will run 7 p.m. screenings of these films in the theatre’s 432-seat Moviehouse I. Though all fall under the “groundbreaking” theme, there are few restrictions placed on the film selections except a “loose working rule” that they be over 10 years old.

The series kicked off on Jan. 10 with a 70mm screening of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which Anastasio called “one of the most influential science fiction films of all time.” Other films include “Losing Ground,” one of the first feature films directed by an African American woman (Kathleen Collins), and “The Thing,” which features Rob Bottin’s practical special effects that Anastasio called “absolutely out of this world.”

The theater will also be continuing its $12.5 million expansion project, which is expected to add two new screens and a Community Education and Engagement Center, according to a press release. Construction began in November and is expected to take 12-13 months.

“That screen space is going to allow for the Coolidge to program so much more,” Anastasio said. “It means more repertory programs, more signature programming, not only Big Screen Classics.”

Anastasio said the expansion project received “major” support from the local community. The theatre is over 90 percent of the way to its campaign fund-raising goal of $12.5 million, receiving donations from over 600 supporters, according to the campaign’s website.

Tickets to the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Big Screen Classics series cost $12.50 for members and $15.50 for non-members unless otherwise specified and can be purchased at coolidge.org.