Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Reel Time

Lower the lights and pop the corn! A cinema scene is cropping up in the heart of the Mad River Valley. Waitsfield’s Tuesday Night at the Movies draws area film buffs to the Big Picture Theater & Café every fourth Tuesday of the month. Organized by the local Rotary club, the big-screen bash runs a selection of classic, indie, sleeper and festival flicks. Sure, you could get most of them on Netflix, but “it’s become a great format for people coming together,” enthuses Big Picture co-owner Claudia Becker. She notes that close to 50 filmgoers showed up for September’s screening of Chinatown, and roughly 80 arrived the following month for The 39 Steps. December’s pick is the 2006 comedy Venus, starring Peter O’Toole as an aging actor who finds himself intrigued by a friend’s great-niece. Come early for dinner, and stay late for informal discussion.