Sure, there are always blockbusters playing at the multiplex, but Maine’s movie theaters always have smaller (and usually more interesting) fare just waiting for you. This time out, we’ve got two wildly different 1964 masterpieces, a couple of Maine-centric film festivals, and one mammoth, five-hour cult classic (Plus one bonus, Maine-related streaming pick). So here are some of the best, off-the-beaten-path movies playing through Dec. 7. 

‘Seduced and Abandoned’

Wednesday, Nov. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 29, Kinonik, 12 Cassidy Point Drive, Portland. kinonik.org

This 1964 dark comedy by Italian maestro Pietro Germi (‘Divorce Italian Style’) mixes knockabout farce with scathing social satire so dizzyingly that viewers, both then and still, come away stunned at both the tonal balancing act and the harsh truths. After the 15-year-old daughter (Stefania Sandrelli) of a powerful Sicilian industrialist is, as the title spoils, left pregnant by an older man, both families involved scurry to navigate the law, antiquated ideas of male honor and female virtue, and even murder.

Germi tears away at the all the moral hypocrisy, cultural misogyny, and male monstrosity underpinning this tale of a young girl groomed, used, and discarded thanks to the grimy lust of powerful men. Any parallels you might notice in current events are, ahem, up to you. As ever, the film is presented on glorious 16mm film by the movie preservationists at Kinonik. 

‘A Hard Day’s Night’

Saturday, Nov. 29, PMA Films, 7 Congress Square, Portland, portlandmuseum.org/films

The Beatles could have just tossed off this 1964 entry into the then-mandatory rock musical genre. After all, pop bands at the time routinely shoehorned an album’s worth of songs into a flimsy jukebox flick and counted the cash. But director Richard Lester was an inspired choice, turning this fictionalized glimpse into John, Paul, George and Ringo’s life in the heady days of Beatlemania into a raucous, slyly funny, cinematically adventurous masterpiece. Plus, the Beatles themselves are funny. (John Lennon, especially, has the cheeky presence and comic timing of a natural star.) Both a celebration of the band’s mounting popularity and a sneaky satire of the hype machinery that brought the movie to life in the first place, “A Hard Day’s Night” remains a genuine joy to watch — and listen to. 

Dirigo Docs Presented by Points North

Tuesday, Dec. 2, Colonial Theatre, 163 High St., Belfast, colonialtheatre.com

The fine folks at Points North Institute, founders of the fantastic Camden International Film Festival, have pulled together seven Maine-centric shorts from the last 10 CIFF seasons. As anyone who’s made the smart call to attend Camden International over the years knows, these Maine movies are the best of the best, each one a compelling, insightful, visually stunning deep dive into the people, places, and issues all around us. 

‘Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair’

Opening Friday, Dec. 5, Maine Film Center, 93 Main St., Waterville, www.watervillecreates.org

I go back and forth on Quentin Tarantino. The director’s film geek shtick in paying homage to the exploitation films that formed him while simultaneously both subverting and outdoing the sex and violence is a dicey proposition, after all. And while his best films (“Jackie Brown” remains the tip-top, says me) are revelatory explorations of our movie legacy, his worst excesses (and problematic personal tendencies) can get exhausting. So why not sit yourself down for a full four hours and 41 minutes of a magnificent Uma Thurman channeling Tarantino’s martial arts, revenge flick exploitation dreams in this edited-together expansion of ‘Kill Bill’ volumes 1 and 2 into one dizzying, blood-drenched extravaganza. Always the filmmaker’s intention, this near five-hour film was split in two for release and I have to admit that, emerging dazzled and dazed after sitting through the 2002 Part I, I do remember thinking, “Man, I could watch another two hours of this, no problem.”

Water Women Film Fest 2

Sunday, Dec. 7, Space, 534 Congress St., space538.org

I wrote about the first iteration of this all-women (or woman-identifying) short film festival last year, and the celebration of women who love the water continues at Space. Founders Ebb (Kelsy Hartley) and Flow (Caitlin Hopkins) (also aka Two Maine Mermaids) and Maine Outdoor Film Festival’s Julia Dunlavey might have met engaging in one of those dead-of-winter ocean plunges, but for the rest of us, their short film festival is a drier, warmer way to explore the transformative power their female subjects find in water, be it rivers, ponds, or even the big, freezing ocean. 

‘Sallywood’

Available on most streaming platforms.

Okay, this column is all about getting you to leave home and actually see movies on the big screen, but the recent passing of screen legend Sally Kirkland, plus this indie film’s Maine connections, is enough to make an exception. Based on a true story of writer-director Xaque Gruber’s 20-year relationship with the Oscar-nominated Kirkland (who died on Nov. 11 at age 84), the film sees a young Maine film fanatic drive cross-country to meet his idol after her Best Actress nomination for 1987’s “Anna,” only to find himself serving as the devoted assistant to Kirkland as she struggles to find work in everything from B-movies to TV. In her last ever role as herself, the perennially busy Kirkland (275 acting credits on IMDb.com) caps off a wild and varied career with a warm and loving homage from a friend from Maine. 

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and his cat.