Another Maine summer might be winding down, but that just gives us all an excuse to come inside and watch some great movies. (Or, in a couple of cases, stay outside and watch some great movies.) Here’s a sampling of Maine movie events coming in the next two weeks.

‘The Last Class,’ PMA Films, Portland

1 p.m. Thursday; 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission $10 general/$7 members. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress St., Portland. portlandmuseum.org/films

You might know the name Robert Reich as a former Labor Secretary, or from his viral social media posts making the case against everything from predatory capitalism to the current anti-democratic actions of Donald Trump and the GOP. But this documentary (wrapping up its PMA run) strikingly depicts the 79-year-old figure as what he truly is — a teacher.

Watching a professor lecture to 1,000 students for 71 minutes might not sound like a wild time at the movies, but Reich’s vision of a perilous present and possible future America is timely, fascinating stuff. 

‘Jaws’ and ‘Tremors,’ Congress Square Park, Portland 

“Jaws,” 7 p.m. Thursday; “Tremors,” 7 p.m. Sept. 23. Free. Congress Square Park, Portland. Congresssquarepark.org

Thanks be to the fine folks that are the Friends of Congress Square Park, who have once more put on a summer’s worth of crowd-wowing outdoor movie screenings right in the heart of downtown Portland. And what better way to send off summer with a bang — or a splash — than by projecting Steven Spielberg’s ultimate summer blockbuster about the world’s most terrifying fish. Thankfully, “Jaws” fans will be safe on land, which can’t be said for the “Tremors” audience, since the underground burrowers in that 1990 B-movie “Jaws” homage/ripoff threaten to burst right up through the Congress Street pavement. (You’ll probably be fine.) 

‘Spinal Tap II: The End Continues’ opening everywhere Friday

Comedy sequels are risky propositions, never mind ones coming over 40 years later. And yet, comedy fans like me are positively giddy at the return of Spinal Tap, the cluelessly rocking heavy metal-head trio played once more by comic geniuses Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer in this long-awaited mockumentary return, once again directed by Rob Reiner. Can this “Tap” tap into the improvisational comic brilliance and spot-on satirical song stylings of 1984’s “This Is Spinal Tap?” No doubt the aged British rockers, themselves looking for another unlikely career rebirth, will leave it all out there on the stage — even if it kills them. (Or another drummer.)  

‘Kiss Me Deadly,’ Kinonik, Portland

7 p.m. Saturday. Admission $10 general/$8 members. 121 Cassidy Point Drive, Portland. Kinonik.org

Since I’m saluting Maine movie folk, here’s to the dedicated film preservationists at Kinonik, who regularly screen classic films the way they were intended — on film. Their Cassidy Point screening venue is the place to go to have an old-school movie experience surrounded by film fanatics just like you while you hear the whirr of a 16mm projector in the flickering dark. And this feature’s a doozy, Robert Aldrich’s 1955 Mickey Spillane adaptation in which Ralph Meeker’s even-more-thuggish-than-in-the-books Mike Hammer chases after a mysterious, occasionally glowing briefcase through the dingy, dangerous streets of Los Angeles. Anybody who’s seen “Pulp Fiction” knows how much filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino cribbed from this low-budget cult classic. 

‘Souleymane’s Story,’ PMA Films, Portland

2 and 6 p.m. Friday; noon Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday; 4 p.m. Sept. 18. Admission $10 general/$7 members. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress St., Portland. portlandmuseum.org/films

Back to PMA Films for this beyond-timely story of a hard-working immigrant just trying to get by. Abou Sangaré stars as Souleymane, a Guinean immigrant to France. Working as a bike messenger while he prepares for an all-important asylum interview, he races through the Paris streets, seeking a place to stay for the night, chasing down money he’s owed, and basically doing everything any of us would do to secure a safe and dignified life in a world where being undocumented means being terrifyingly vulnerable. 

’76 Days Adrift,’ PMA Films, Portland

2 p.m. Sept. 19; noon Sept. 21; 1 p.m. Sept. 24. Admission $10 general/$7 members. Portland Museum of Art, 7 Congress St., Portland. portlandmuseum.org/films

You’ve probably read Mainer Steven Callahan’s book “Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea,” about the sailor and boat builder’s harrowing epic ordeal after a whale sunk his ship in the middle of the Atlantic.

Now executive producer Ang Lee and director Joe Wein bring you a visually stunning documentary showing just how hopeless Callahan’s plight in his tiny life raft was, and how ridiculously fortunate he is to be telling his story for the second time. 

‘Happyend,’ Space, Portland

7 p.m. Sept. 22. Admission $10 general/$7 members. Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland. space538.org

In a near-future Japan where a looming mega-earthquake and an encroaching dystopian surveillance state hem in a frightened population, two rebellious high school friends hatch schemes to preserve some scraps of precious freedom. In Neo Sora’s bracing and deeply relevant new film, creeping totalitarianism and the willingness of a populace to trade liberty for the illusion of security vie with an energetic story of friendship and youthful resistance. 

‘Misery,’ Nickelodeon Cinemas, Portland

7 p.m. Sept. 24. Admission $13 adults. Patriotcinemas.com

What better way to close out a few weeks at the movies than by watching Rob Reiner’s 1990 Stephen King adaptation about a novelist forced to continue writing the book series he’s grown sick of by his “No. 1 fan” (Kathy Bates, winning Best Actress)? With Bangor’s favorite son King boasting three more adaptations of his work in theaters this movie year alone (“The Monkey,” “The Running Man” and “The Long Walk”), there’s no point in resisting the pull of some King chills on the big screen. 

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Opera House Arts Film Club Voting Deadline, Sept. 26

And before you head out to the movies… here’s a chance to vote on what to watch next. Opera House Arts in Stonington is planning its second Film Club movie series, where members can choose the six films to be shown on Opera House Arts’ beautiful big screen. $30 bucks gets you into all six screenings (nominees from the AFI list include everything from 1932’s “It Happened One Night” to 1994’s “The Shawshank Redemption”— and there’s Stephen King again), and entitles you to help program the series, which runs from October through November. 

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