How many ways can a body have fun indoors?
Well, if we’re talking wholesome activities that the whole family or friend group can enjoy, why not place air hockey, basketball, and other arcade games at the top of the list? Dinner and drinks always make for a good time, too.
And then, of course, we have the movies.
The recently reopened Madison Theatre in Hudson offers all these fabulous forms of fun, and more. I went for the first time this week to see Bottoms, an absurdist queer-fantasia comedy starring Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) and Rachel Sennott (Bodies Bodies Bodies) as teen best friends who start a women’s self-defense club at their high school to try and get with their crushes.
First, a word about the feature presentation. Meta-comedies with gay overtones are having a big moment right now; between this film, the campy juggernaut of Barbie, and the upcoming Dicks: The Musical, mainstream American cinema is embracing the idiosyncratic spectacle of queer culture to an unprecedented degree.
Bottoms – Photo by Courtesy of ORION Pictures Inc. – © 2023 ORION RELEASING LLC.
Directed by Emma Seligman from a screenplay she co-wrote with Sennott, Bottoms proves to be a blissfully ostentatious entry to this new or, at least, newly-revitalized subgenre. Brimming with bloody, improbable setpieces and whip-smart dialogue, it also boasts a magnetic supporting cast – including superstar model Kaia Gerber as the girls’ cheerleader love interest, and Red, White, and Royal Blue-star Nicholas Galitzine as the school’s deliciously narcissistic quarterback.
Bottoms – Photo by Courtesy of ORION Pictures Inc. – © 2023 ORION RELEASING LLC
You’ll have fun with Bottoms no matter where you see it, but you’ll have even more fun if you see it at the Madison. I went on a Tuesday evening, when the theater and its sister location in Albany offer $5 tickets, and enjoyed a personal pizza while watching adolescent lesbians hurl throat punches at one another. There were very few of us in attendance, but the staff were as alert, friendly and helpful as can be.
As we tearfully pack away our summer shorts and look to the chilly months of long johns that lie ahead, do yourself a favor and herd up your besties for an afternoon of games, drinks, and moviegoing pleasure at the Madison Theatre.
Bottoms is rated R, lasts for ninety-two minutes, and will be showing at the Madison for the next week, every day, at 4:45 PM and 7:15 PM. It’s also showing at 9:40 PM on Friday and Saturday, and at 2:15 PM on Saturday and Sunday.
Ben Rendich is a filmmaker and writer. He’s in pre-production on his first feature, and has a blog where he writes movie reviews and essays called Reflections on a Silver Screen. He lives in Catskill.