New York City Repertory Cinema

[beamish14]

I do love Lincoln Center, but I haven't been there in quite a while. A Bela Tarr retro was the last time I was there.

Were you by any chance at the screening of The Outsider, which was touted as being from one of the only prints in existence, where it burned up in the projector? I'm not sure I've ever heard an audience gasp that loudly before.

No, I was not. I was there for Damnation and Werckmeister Harmonies. That sounds like a disappointing viewing experience. Perhaps there should've been a warning posted by LC

Bela Tarr came to a screening of The Turin Horse at the American Cinematheque that apparently turned into a predictable cringe fest of lunacy when the moderator let the audience ask questions. Supposedly someone asked him about how to get a project set up at Netflix. Los Angeles audiences also pissed off Mike Leigh recently

[FrauBlucher]

Yeah, I'm not really a fan of general audience questions unless it's students entering the film biz. They always seem to have the right perspective.

I went to see Scorsese do a Q&A after a screening of Kundun. So this was the late 90s. It was sponsored by the DGA. It was not good, but one questioner imparticular really seemed to rattle him. I'm paraphrasing but it went something like this. At your age how could you find the energy to do this? Scorsese went silent for about 5 to 10 seconds. I too was embarrassed by the question. Scorsese finally said, I don't know I just do it. And the moderator quickly moved on

[hearthesilence]

Worth bumping from Dec 30, 2012:

Just came back from tonight's screening of My Fair Lady and it proved an unexpectedly rare experience. The film was barely shown theatrically in recent years and the 70-mm projection at Lincoln Center tonight could well be the last one for the public for years to come, according to the statement prepared by Mr. Robert Harris (who couldn't personally attend because of the snowy weather), as in the transition period of film print to DCP the studios were now taking extreme caution with film elements and preferred all the original and restored materials to be kept and guarded rather than traveling and touring. After tonight this print was supposed to go back to the AMPAS and never come out again. But a most unfortunate event took place when we were approaching the last reel of the film. In the scene of Eliza and Henry quarreling in Mrs. Higgins' house, the film came to a pause right at a medium shot of Ms. Hepburn and a screen flame engulfed the freezing frame. We saw Ms. Hepburn's beautiful face swallowed by a rapidly growing black hole with burning rim. The screen soon went black and a collective groan swooped the auditorium. In a bizarre and surreal moment the audience seemed to be transformed into the famous scene of Cinema Paradiso where a similar burn-up of film stock happened in the middle of a film projection. Fortunately the organizer immediately came up and reassured us that the issue would be fixed and the last reel of film would go on in a few minutes (personally I would rather they stop the screening immediately and never let the print run through that machine any longer), and he half-jokingly commented on how vulnerable film prints are and pointed out DCP wouldn't have caught a fire, but everyone in the room realized that one of the few extant 70-mm prints of My Fair Lady, at least part of it, had just gone into ashes and we just witnessed the last moment of it. I cannot help but wonder if Mr Harris were present, what would he have thought and felt about this incident. I'm still a bit disoriented of the whole thing and I believe many who attended the event are, judging by the shocked look of people during the brief interruption.

As they say, sic transit gloria.

From Twitter that same evening:

Will McKinley ‏@willmckinley
Just watched 1 of 3 extant 70mm prints of the 1994 restoration of MY FAIR LADY. As the guy behind me said, "I guess there are 2 left now."

[MichaelB]

As a regular moderator myself of some two decades’ standing, I can confirm from extensive experience that there’s a real art to determining when to throw things out to the audience.

On a couple of occasions I did it earlier than usual, but for very different reasons: Aleksey Balabanov was being such an insufferable git that I basically thought “well, I give up; let’s see if anyone else can get anything interesting out of him”. The first questioner absolutely loathed his film (Cargo 200 and they had a huge (verbal) fight over it, during which I put on my best Jerry Springer tribute face while inwardly going “thank you, God”.

The second one was much more benign. I was supposed to interview director Wojciech Staroń, but he couldn’t make it in the end—but instead he sent over the nonagenarian painter Alfons Kułakowski, one of the subjects of his documentary Brothers. Which was great, but I hadn’t prepped any questions for Kułakowski and the ones I’d prepped for Staroń mostly wouldn’t have worked—and given that he spent much of the running time sitting in total silence with his brother, I wondered whether I’d get anything out of him at all.

Not a bit of it; practically the first thing he said was “I’m not as boring as I am in the film, I promise”, and it became very clear very quickly that the audience absolutely adored him, so after a couple of questions I threw it out to them, and everyone had a whale of a time; it’s one of my happiest moderating memories.

[hearthesilence]

Bela Tarr came to a screening of The Turin Horse at the American Cinematheque that apparently turned into a predictable cringe fest of lunacy when the moderator let the audience ask questions. Supposedly someone asked him about how to get a project set up at Netflix. Los Angeles audiences also pissed off Mike Leigh recently

When Jodie Foster did a Q&A for The Beaver and when Juliette Binoche did a free talk at the NYFF, there were different people in the audience who basically wanted them to help break them into the business. In Foster's case, everyone immediately groaned in intense irritation while Foster just grimaced and said "if you're any good, you'll make it" then moved on. In Binoche's case, the person kept rambling on (maybe even for 10 or so minutes) about whatever the fuck she wanted to make and people kept telling her to shut up but she refused. Binoche basically gave a diplomatic response, after which the moderator ended the discussion and whisked her and the other guest away.

At a NYFF Q&A many years ago, someone gave what Mike Leigh thought was a terrible interpretation of Another Year, and he was like "don't even talk to me. NEXT."

I think I posted about some other bad ones from the NYFF, particular insulting remarks that clearly pissed off Marion Cotillard (an old man snobbishly telling her she shouldn't have been cast in Two Days, One Night, aka the film we just saw) and stunned Brady Jandreau of The Rider (a lady asking him how he could be so articulate when he was "uneducated" - to his credit, he gently told her he did have quite a bit of education).

I've noticed in recent years that most Q&A's avoid taking questions from the audience altogether, and I can't say I blame them.

[MichaelB]

American audiences sound a lot ruder than British ones, as I’ve never had to deal with anything like that.

I always let the audience get involved—there was one Q&A when I was told I had to clear the auditorium within fifteen minutes max as the last evening show was much more commercially important than an obscure Polish film, and so I was advised not to involve the audience, but instead I said “OK, we’ve got fifteen minutes and you can have half, but can I please urge you to make your questions brief and straightforward, and in particular I don’t want to hear the phrase ‘This isn’t so much a question as an observation’.” Which got a big laugh, and they behaved impeccably.

[rrenault]

“How do I break into the business” type questions would never happen at Paris Q&As…

[Matt]

Noah Baumbach got a "will you read my script" questions at a Q&A I was at. I don't recall any memorably awful interactions from the countless filmmaker Q&As I've attended, but I do enjoy the story of Claire Denis doing a Q&A after a screening of High Life. Someone in the audience asked her why she doesn't have more strong female leads in her movies, and Denis responded "What the fuck? I'm not a social worker." I did once see a Q&A with her—it's on the Blu-ray of 35 Shots of Rum—but she had no barbed comments for the audience quite like that.

[hearthesilence]

“How do I break into the business” type questions would never happen at Paris Q&As…

"Jean-Luc, I want to work with François - can I have his number?"

(probably the last time Godard came to America)

[beamish14]

Bela Tarr came to a screening of The Turin Horse at the American Cinematheque that apparently turned into a predictable cringe fest of lunacy when the moderator let the audience ask questions. Supposedly someone asked him about how to get a project set up at Netflix. Los Angeles audiences also pissed off Mike Leigh recently

When Jodie Foster did a Q&A for The Beaver and when Juliette Binoche did a free talk at the NYFF, there were different people in the audience who basically wanted them to help break them into the business. In Foster's case, everyone immediately groaned in intense irritation while Foster just grimaced and said "if you're any good, you'll make it" then moved on. In Binoche's case, the person kept rambling on (maybe even for 10 or so minutes) about whatever the fuck she wanted to make and people kept telling her to shut up but she refused. Binoche basically gave a diplomatic response, after which the moderator ended the discussion and whisked her and the other guest away.

At a NYFF Q&A many years ago, someone gave what Mike Leigh thought was a terrible interpretation of Another Year, and he was like "don't even talk to me. NEXT."

I think I posted about some other bad ones from the NYFF, particular insulting remarks that clearly pissed off Marion Cotillard (an old man snobbishly telling her she shouldn't have been cast in Two Days, One Night, aka the film we just saw) and stunned Brady Jandreau of The Rider (a lady asking him how he could be so articulate when he was "uneducated" - to his credit, he gently told her he did have quite a bit of education).

I've noticed in recent years that most Q&A's avoid taking questions from the audience altogether, and I can't say I blame them.

I don’t envy actresses and the shit they have to take at press conferences and screenings. Julie Delpy did a wonderfully entertaining talk after an early screening 2 Days in Paris and gamely signed promotional postcards that were given out to theatre goers, but she also had to contend with gross men who were relentlessly hounding her for information about who represents her.

[hearthesilence]

I think I posted about some other bad ones from the NYFF, particular insulting remarks that...stunned Brady Jandreau of The Rider (a lady asking him how he could be so articulate when he was "uneducated" - to his credit, he gently told her he did have quite a bit of education).

In fairness, I just realized that his character in the film did not graduate from high school (at least according to Richard Brody's review) and given how much of the film borrows from Jandreau's life (going as far as casting his father and sibling to play his character's father and sibling), it's possible that may have been the biggest motivating factor in the lady's assumption...but quite a few of us still gasped when she made that remark.

[FrauBlucher]

Does Film Forum still do the lime popcorn?

I was there a few days ago. I asked. No Lime. That must’ve been something from years ago. Do you remember when you had it?

[domino harvey]

2010ish I think so yeah, quite a while ago! Too bad, it was delicious (and I don’t even like lime flavored things)

[Guido]

I've noticed in recent years that most Q&A's avoid taking questions from the audience altogether, and I can't say I blame them.

I think I finally swore off Q&As after seeing Wim Wenders present Paris, Texas at the Harvard Film Archive. When the floor was opened for questions, a woman grabbed the mic to question (in the most rambling way) why Wenders would make a film “celebrating” a “whore” who would treat her child that way. Somehow they didn’t shut the whole thing down then and there.

[hearthesilence]

I've noticed in recent years that most Q&A's avoid taking questions from the audience altogether, and I can't say I blame them.

I think I finally swore off Q&As after seeing Wim Wenders present Paris, Texas at the Harvard Film Archive. When the floor was opened for questions, a woman grabbed the mic to question (in the most rambling way) why Wenders would make a film “celebrating” a “whore” who would treat her child that way. Somehow they didn’t shut the whole thing down then and there.

I saw him at MoMA when afterwards a bunch of NYU students approached him and one said obnoxiously “do you REALLY like Sam FULLER?” As I was walking away I could hear him grumble in annoyance “uh….YES….”

This wasn’t after any of the ones Fuller appeared in but those films were included in the retrospective.

[MichaelB]

I think I finally swore off Q&As after seeing Wim Wenders present Paris, Texas at the Harvard Film Archive. When the floor was opened for questions, a woman grabbed the mic to question (in the most rambling way) why Wenders would make a film “celebrating” a “whore” who would treat her child that way. Somehow they didn’t shut the whole thing down then and there.

That reminds me of when I was interviewing Małgorzata Szumowska about In the Name Of... (a film about a gay priest) in London, and this middle-aged woman clad from head to toe in retina-scorching pink stood up and really ranted at Szumowska in Polish—she sounded absolutely furious. While she was doing that, I quietly asked Szumowska if she wanted me to shut this down, and she said "No, no, I'm enjoying it!" They then had a huge row (in Polish), at the end of which security threw the woman out, and that was that.

But Szumowska told me afterwards that she relished every minute, not least because it was so surprising—because she'd been touring the film around Poland constantly expecting a reaction like that from a rabid homophobe (startlingly, it's just about the first mainstream Polish features ever to have a gay protagonist, fully 52 years after its British counterpart Victim), but audiences there were impeccably behaved and respectful—and then she went to London and that happened. God knows why the woman was in the audience in the first place; I daresay she must have been a fan of lead actor Andrzej Chyra.

[Drucker]

Film Forum posted showtimes for their Tenement Stories series and there's a ton of lesser-known/lesser-shown films to love.

Also Linoln Center is doing a weeklong Diane Keaton retrospective, with most of the films in 35mm.

[Lowry_Sam]

Film Forum posted showtimes for their Tenement Stories series and there's a ton of lesser-known/lesser-shown films to love.

That link is for Street Scene (1931) (the perfect film to open the series with), the full roster of Tenement Stories is here.

[pistolwink]

wow, that's an amazing series. I wish more rep theaters did stuff like that. when I was in Paris that sort of thing was more common -- I remember most of the Forum Les Halles programming, and much of the Action cinemas programming, were thematic and/or "high concept" series. in particular, I remember a "femme disparu" (lady vanishes) series at Action Ecoles which was a lot of fun.

[Drucker]

MOMA doing a Marilyn Monroe retrospective for her 100 year, and an 80s retrospective , including:

This collection showcase provides a rare and compelling context in which films as varied as Béla Tarr’s Almanac of Fall, Krzysztof Kieślowski’s Blind Chance, John McTiernan’s Die Hard, Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, Kathryn Bigelow’s Near Dark, Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, Euzhan Palcy’s Sugar Cane Alley, Agnès Varda’s Vagabond, and Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House?, among others, can be brought into dialogue. Collectively, these works represent a vibrant decade of filmmaking and spectatorship—and underscore MoMA’s ever-evolving contribution to film preservation, exhibition, and scholarship. All films are presented in archival 16mm and 35mm prints.

[Never Cursed]

Unclear if repertory, but: Rendez-vous with French Cinema 2026 schedule! I will certainly try my hardest to make the Desplechin Q&A, for one

[domino harvey]

One of the better slates in recent memory! Until recently it was looking like we were going to make it out to NYC for the first few days, but good eating there for those who can

[Drucker]

I don't usually attend new screenings, but I'm kinda feeling like I need to be better about checking out new films. Love Me Tender looks like a fun night of crying at the cinema, maybe I'll go that.

[FrauBlucher]

Billy Preston doc opens tomorrow at the Film Forum
Trailer

[hearthesilence]

Might as well share this here, but Lincoln Center kicks off their Raymond Depardon retrospective tonight, which is entirely made up of new restorations (encompassing both brand-new 2K and 4K restorations) as well as newly "remastered" DCP's for the remainder.

Richard Brody makes a strong recommendation for many of these films in the New Yorker, if you're looking for suggestions. Tomorrow/Saturday is fine weather-wise, but there's potentially a big snowstorm coming in on Sunday that will last into Monday morning. However, the temperatures go up into the 40's the following days, which means most if not all of the snow will likely melt away, but regardless, I wouldn't count on these restorations making their way on to Blu-ray so go check them out. Program runs through March 1st with discounts on multi-ticket packages.