New York City Repertory Cinema

[beamish14]

[-X

Do we anticipate proper releases for Lancelot du Lac and The Devil, Probably? I am certain I am the only fan of the latter in existence.

Do you mean theatrical releases or physical media? I would say no for the former since they’re distributed here by The Film Desk who, I don’t think, have never distributed anything outside New York beyond one-off screenings and festivals. They do have their own active Blu-ray line through Vinegar Syndrome, though.

Film Desk has distributed a number of titles that I’ve seen on the West Coast, including new prints of works by Rohmer, Truffaut, Resnais, Pialat and Garrel.

As an aside, they’ve now entered the publishing industry, and they’ve released a fabulous-looking new work about Vanishing Point(1971)

[hearthesilence]

Saw Metrograph's 35mm screening of The Heartbreak Kid. GREAT looking print from the Academy Film Archive, when a Metrograph representative did the introduction, they said it was pretty tough getting it - basically the archive wanted to know if the venue was covered by a really good insurance plan and stressed that they really couldn't f*** up the print.

Maybe someone who knows something about film stocks can chime in, but one thing the OOP DVD doesn't convey very well is the rich, grainy texture of the movie. I'm sure some artificial lighting (at minimum reflectors) were used, but the whole film really has an unvarnished "natural" look to it as if it was done like a documentary albeit with less-mobile 35mm cameras. It's as if Owen Roizman carried over the general aesthetic of his work from The French Connection (released the previous year) - quite a departure from A New Leaf, but given how Mikey and Nicky looks, one wonders if May took something from Roizman's work that influenced her next film. Granted, I realize Cassavetes was already taking a cinema vérité approach to the way he shot his films and his work is an obvious influence on Mikey and Nicky, but you never know how inspiration and creativity actually plays out.

[beamish14]

Saw Metrograph's 35mm screening of The Heartbreak Kid. GREAT looking print from the Academy Film Archive, when a Metrograph representative did the introduction, they said it was pretty tough getting it - basically the archive wanted to know if the venue was covered by a really good insurance plan and stressed that they really couldn't f*** up the print.

Maybe someone who knows something about film stocks can chime in, but one thing the OOP DVD doesn't convey very well is the rich, grainy texture of the movie. I'm sure some artificial lighting (at minimum reflectors) were used, but the whole film really has an unvarnished "natural" look to it as if it was done like a documentary albeit with less-mobile 35mm cameras. It's as if Owen Roizman carried over the general aesthetic of his work from The French Connection (released the previous year) - quite a departure from A New Leaf, but given how Mikey and Nicky looks, one wonders if May took something from Roizman's work that influenced her next film. Granted, I realize Cassavetes was already taking a cinema vérité approach to the way he shot his films and his work is an obvious influence on Mikey and Nicky, but you never know how inspiration and creativity actually plays out.

It was the Academy’s and not the British Film Institute’s? The latter’s played for 3 sold out nights here in Los Angeles last year

[hearthesilence]

It was the Academy’s and not the British Film Institute’s? The latter’s played for 3 sold out nights here in Los Angeles last year

Yes, the Academy - I noticed that about the BFI too! (Came up when I was searching for some info on the movie in general.) Weird, maybe the print wasn't available during the LA screenings? Either that or there was a strict limit on how often they could run the film through a projector - Metrograph is screening this one and only one time only. For comparison's sake, when the Shimizu retrospective was happening, it was mentioned at every screening that the prints were so rare that in many cases the archive would not ship them out unless they get a guarantee that the films in question would be run through the projector only once.

[GoodOldNeon]

I will be visiting New York for ten days in October/November. Are there any historically important or otherwise excellent film theaters that people would recommend I visit?

[Tom Amolad]

I can't think of anything to recommend for architectural considerations (maybe Anthology?), if that's what you mean. If you want to see what's showing, keep an eye on Screenslate as it gets a little closer.

The main repertory houses, in no particular order, are:

Film Forum
Lincoln Center
MoMA
Museum of the Moving Image (in Queens, so a bit harder to get to, but worth a visit for the musum itself, aside from any screening]
BAM (though their repertory programming has been less active in recent years
Anthology Film Archive (a rather cool place -- it was Mekas's baby)
Metrograph (hippest of them, and with add-ons like a bookstore, bar, etc; also perhaps the likeliest to sell out quickly)
IFC Center

There are also occasional repertory screenings at a few other spots - the Roxy, the Alamo, the Nitehawk, the Paris

[beamish14]

Does Anthology still sell those amazing t-shirts? I have one that’s a letter Agnes Varda wrote to Mekas

[hearthesilence]

I've yet to investigate them further, but Japan Society and FIAF are also good repertory venues for their respective focuses.

FWIW, pretty much all of those theaters are in areas worth visiting, and a couple are obviously great museums too. Many are close to each other - IFC and Film Forum, MoMA and the Paris Theater (and if you keep walking another 15 minutes, Lincoln Center). And obviously BAM and Lincoln Center host a variety of arts. The Village and the UWS are probably the best because you could spend all day in those areas and never get bored - great restaurants, great shopping, great concert venues, great parks, etc. They're generally hotspots for tourism for that reason, but not to an overwhelming degree like Times Square.

I would also add the NYFF is in October, but it'll be the first two weeks.

[GoodOldNeon]

I can't think of anything to recommend for architectural considerations (maybe Anthology?), if that's what you mean. If you want to see what's showing, keep an eye on Screenslate as it gets a little closer.

Thanks for the list of suggestions. What I was mainly thinking of are theaters where the theater itself becomes an integral part of the viewing experience, perhaps because of historical or architectural reasons. For example, if someone was looking for a film theater in Finland, I would recommend Orion, since it has been operating in the same location since 1927 and has maintained its original art deco look to this day.

[Tom Amolad]

Yeah, I'm not sure New York really has anything like what you're describing. Maybe Anthology (an old building, built as a courthouse, I believe; Anthology took it over in the late 70s). I'm fond of the typeface on the EXIT signs at MoMA, but that's a bit of a stretch. Most of the old theaters got torn down or turned into something else long ago.

Maybe the Paris, which dates to 1948, though you'll see upthread that they're in a wee bit of trouble right now...

[Drucker]

You won't find what you are looking for. But you can get a Pastrami Sandwich at Katz's, eat it, and then walk to Film Forum, and then walk to the Hudson River and stare at a beautiful view. That's what I would do (and already do!)

[pistolwink]

I'd recommend the main theater at the Village East, which used to be the Yiddish Art Theatre—and you can still see the Jewish-themed decor on the ceiling. They have some smaller theaters downstairs, but the main theater is as big as it ever was and retains a lot of its charm (even if the projection has a bit of keystoning).

[yoloswegmaster]

MoMA is hosting a Johnnie To retrospective next month, with the following titles:

Justice, My Foot!
The Heroic Trio
Executioners
Loving You
Lifeline (35mm)
Expect the Unexpected
The Mission (35mm)
Running Out of Time
Needing You…
My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (35mm)
PTU (aka PTU: Police Tactical Unit) (35mm)
Breaking News
Throw Down
Election (35mm)
Election 2 (35mm)
Exiled (35mm)
Triangle (35mm)
Sparrow
Vengeance
Life Without Principle
Drug War
Blind Detective
Office
Mad Detective

Missing some key titles like Romancing in Thin Air, A Hero Never Dies, and Fat Choi Spirit but it's still a great looking series and I'm very jealous of anyone who gets to catch it.

[beamish14]

MoMA is hosting a Johnnie To retrospective next month, with the following titles:

Justice, My Foot!
The Heroic Trio
Executioners
Loving You
Lifeline (35mm)
Expect the Unexpected
The Mission (35mm)
Running Out of Time
Needing You…
My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (35mm)
PTU (aka PTU: Police Tactical Unit) (35mm)
Breaking News
Throw Down
Election (35mm)
Election 2 (35mm)
Exiled (35mm)
Triangle (35mm)
Sparrow
Vengeance
Life Without Principle
Drug War
Blind Detective
Office
Mad Detective

Missing some key titles like Romancing in Thin Air, A Hero Never Dies, and Fat Choi Spirit but it's still a great looking series and I'm very jealous of anyone who gets to catch it.

The Big Heat, which screened at the New Beverly not too long ago, would’ve been nice as well. I’d love to see Exiled and the Election films in 35mm

[hearthesilence]

Full line-up for MoMA's upcoming program on Paramount in the 1970s. All the classics, all DCP's but mostly new 4K restorations.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

MoMA is hosting a Johnnie To retrospective next month, with the following titles:

Justice, My Foot!
The Heroic Trio
Executioners
Loving You
Lifeline (35mm)
Expect the Unexpected
The Mission (35mm)
Running Out of Time
Needing You…
My Left Eye Sees Ghosts (35mm)
PTU (aka PTU: Police Tactical Unit) (35mm)
Breaking News
Throw Down
Election (35mm)
Election 2 (35mm)
Exiled (35mm)
Triangle (35mm)
Sparrow
Vengeance
Life Without Principle
Drug War
Blind Detective
Office
Mad Detective

Missing some key titles like Romancing in Thin Air, A Hero Never Dies, and Fat Choi Spirit but it's still a great looking series and I'm very jealous of anyone who gets to catch it.

The Big Heat, which screened at the New Beverly not too long ago, would’ve been nice as well. I’d love to see Exiled and the Election films in 35mm

I love The Big Heat, but there is question on how much To directed as Tsui Hark and Ching Siu-tung directed a considerable chunk of it. The print the New Bev has ran a couple times is also considerably censored removing all the film's most graphic depictions of violence including

Spoiler

a hand being drilled apart, a head exploding, and a man being ripped apart by an elevator.

There's no final schedule for this series yet, right? Part of me wants to fly to New York for a few days just to see The Mission. I also wonder what version of Mad Detective they'll play.

[Mr Sausage]

I'm not a fan of The Big Heat--it feels cobbled together--but there is really no point watching a censored cut. The outrageous violence is the point.

[yoloswegmaster]

There's no final schedule for this series yet, right? Part of me wants to fly to New York for a few days just to see The Mission. I also wonder what version of Mad Detective they'll play.

It's from September 12 to October 13 and this is the schedule:

Spoiler

I just realized that they are also missing Fulltime Killer, which is a bit strange since I caught a 35mm print of it back in April. It's also a really good film, so I think it's a bit of a missed opportunity.

[pistolwink]

I wonder if some of these prints come from the collection David Bordwell deposited at the Academy Film Archive, which includes a number of To films including The Mission and Lifeline. I'm almost certain that his were the only prints of several of these films in North America, and they've been used for screenings in NYC and Los Angeles in the last decade or so. (IIRC he also had prints of The Longest Nite, Expect the Unexpected, and some of the other turn-of-the-century Milkyway masterpieces that don't appear to be in the MoMA retro.)

[beamish14]

I wonder if some of these prints come from the collection David Bordwell deposited at the Academy Film Archive, which includes a number of To films including The Mission and Lifeline. I'm almost certain that his were the only prints of several of these films in North America, and they've been used for screenings in NYC and Los Angeles in the last decade or so. (IIRC he also had prints of The Longest Nite, Expect the Unexpected, and some of the other turn-of-the-century Milkyway masterpieces that don't appear to be in the MoMA retro.)

The notes say they came from AGFA in Austin

[yoloswegmaster]

I wonder if some of these prints come from the collection David Bordwell deposited at the Academy Film Archive, which includes a number of To films including The Mission and Lifeline. I'm almost certain that his were the only prints of several of these films in North America, and they've been used for screenings in NYC and Los Angeles in the last decade or so. (IIRC he also had prints of The Longest Nite, Expect the Unexpected, and some of the other turn-of-the-century Milkyway masterpieces that don't appear to be in the MoMA retro.)

Expect the Unexpected is a part of the screening but will be screening on DCP.

[hearthesilence]

A DCP of a new 4K restoration of Godard's In Praise of Love is screening three times at FIAF: twice on September 10, once on September 12.

Should be interesting - IIRC half the film was shot in 35mm and the other half on standard-def video. (To further confuse matters, the previous DVD's had different aspect ratios - no idea which is "correct.")

[domino harvey]

I’m curious about this as well. If anyone goes, please report back on the AR

[hearthesilence]

Anyone see In Praise of Love and confirm the aspect ratio?

Also, looks like Johnnie To is now scheduled to do some post-screening Q&A's on Thursday and Friday. I usually go to these but this week's booked full from concerts and birthday parties.

[Black Hat]

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