The Roxy Theater is proud to present Essential Cinema. A monthly series of the most iconic and important films the artform has to offer.

John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy, part fish-out-of-water story, part psychedelic trip, part counter coulture exploration, remains one of the definitive New Hollywood films of the 1960's.

John Voight’s Joe Buck, a naive wannabe gigolo, leaves Texas and winds up hustling in Manhattan. There he finds Ratso (Dustin Hoffman) a petty theif in the city who tries to get Joe involved in his schemes. Together they forge a friendship that changes Joe's perecption of himself and his future. 

The film was infamously the first X-rated film to win Best Picture, but its cinematic legacy runs much deeper. This is a ballsy Hollywood film, filled with daring and assured choices from all involved. It's a very strange and indescribable masterpiece, which is exactly what the New Hollywood was all about. (Alamo Drafthouse)