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Posted: **Wed Apr 08, 2026 3:52 am**

It used to be that quite a few of the "cultural institutes" connected to consulates, or at least with some official status, had good film programming... the Alliance Française, the Goethe Institut, etc. Japan Society is really the only one left that does this regularly and/or has any dedication to 35mm.

Posted: **Tue Apr 21, 2026 5:54 pm**

Terry Zwigoff has been doing Q&A’s for a retrospective at Film Forum and he’s got one more tonight at 5:20 for Louie Bluie. Highly recommended, I only attended last night for Zwigoff’s cut of Bad Santa and it was pretty amazing - it was long (45 minutes to an hour, I didn’t realize it until later) but didn’t feel long and they went deep into the making of the film. No video or recordings are allowed so definitely go and check it out.

Posted: **Mon May 04, 2026 12:49 am**

Lots of gems in this Fleischer retrospective. Bodyguard and The Happy Time look particularly interesting.

Posted: **Mon May 04, 2026 1:55 am**

Drucker wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 12:49 am Lots of gems in this Fleischer retrospective. Bodyguard and The Happy Time look particularly interesting.

Barabbas is a treat to see in 35.

I wish this was showing Mandingo, but Quentin Tarantino’s IB Technicolor print (possibly the very last title to also get Technicolor prints until the process was briefly revived in 1997) is likely the only one of its kind in America, and I doubt it will ever get new prints.

Posted: **Mon May 04, 2026 2:41 am**

beamish14 wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 1:55 am I doubt it will ever get new prints.

Beamish14, is it really that controversial? Or are you thinking of some different reason for this? I haven't seen the film, but is it really so different from, say, Django Unchained?

Posted: **Mon May 04, 2026 3:22 am**

Beloved Aunt wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 2:41 am
beamish14 wrote: Mon May 04, 2026 1:55 am I doubt it will ever get new prints.
Beamish14, is it really that controversial? Or are you thinking of some different reason for this? I haven't seen the film, but is it really so different from, say, Django Unchained?

A few reasons, I think. Yes, it will definitely provoke modern audiences, and it dives into exploitation territory without a whole lot of subtlety. I do think it could benefit from contextualization from a defender of it like Jonathan Rosenbaum.

It was very successful in its initial release, but I think that by the time the Roots miniseries was released two years later, it was probably seen as inflammatory instead of subversive like Coonskin or Darktown Strutters. Even Richard Fleischer was extremely dismissive of it in his autobiography

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2026 10:10 pm**

Roger Ebert caught the reappraisals for Mandingo but said he stood by his original dismissal and referred everyone to Odie Henderson's puerile takedown. Fleischer did vigorously defend his work, as documented in this blog post that was written when he passed, and here's a scan of an old newspaper article where he gives a thorough defense. As someone who can't stand sitting through Gone with the Wind anymore, it doesn't surprise me that so many who completely embraced that vision of the South would flat out reject a much uglier reality depicted in Mandingo. I don't think Tarantino's film is really comparable, he wrote his around an entertaining revenge fantasy featuring larger-than-life heroes and his stylish sense of humor.

Posted: **Tue May 05, 2026 11:52 pm**

In the interests of balance, here’s Canadian producer Greg Klymkiw’s impassioned defence.

A sample:

Finally though, there is no denying that Mandingo is a genuinely great picture. In fact, I would argue that it is both a serious dramatic expose of slavery AND an exploitation film. Not that this means the picture is a mess and has no idea what it’s trying to do, but frankly, this notion that there even exists such a thing as “exploitation” films is something I find just a little bit idiotic. Film by its very nature as a visual AND commercial art form IS exploitative – it ultimately has to be in order to be successful. Like melodrama, it’s either good or bad. It works or it doesn’t. And Mandingo works – it communicates a truth as hard and blistering as we’ve seen on this subject. Frankly, not even the legendary television adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots and most certainly not McQueen's 12 Years a Slave come close to matching the sheer creepy, jaw-dropping horror of Mandingo.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2026 3:16 am**

hearthesilence wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2026 5:42 am The demand for Lincoln Center's Tony Leung retrospective is so great that all four of his scheduled appearances (including an hour-long talk that was priced at $40) sold out pretty much immediately as soon as the members' pre-sale opened...

For those thinking of standby, I saw some commenter complain that he stood in standby for well over three hours and didn't get into the talk tonight. (They did let in six, but I have no idea how long they waited.) So if you're looking to get in via standby to one of his appearances, get there really, really early or be prepared to bail if you get there after an unsurmountable line has formed.

Definitely a bummer, I was hoping to catch an appearance, but I ain't waiting hours for it.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2026 8:56 am**

hearthesilence wrote: Wed May 06, 2026 3:16 am
hearthesilence wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2026 5:42 am The demand for Lincoln Center's Tony Leung retrospective is so great that all four of his scheduled appearances (including an hour-long talk that was priced at $40) sold out pretty much immediately as soon as the members' pre-sale opened...
For those thinking of standby, I saw some commenter complain that he stood in standby for well over three hours and didn't get into the talk tonight. (They did let in six, but I have no idea how long they waited.) So if you're looking to get in via standby to one of his appearances, get there really, really early or be prepared to bail if you get there after an unsurmountable line has formed.

Definitely a bummer, I was hoping to catch an appearance, but I ain't waiting hours for it.

Haha, that was me. 3 hours 20 minutes in line, the 6 people in front of me got in, I did not. The people at the front of the line seemed to have been there since at least noon if not before, so 6+ hours. People kept showing up to the standby line, it extended to at least 60 people, which is insane, I'm surprised more of them didn't see the line and turn away because there's no way they would've gotten in.

I already have other plans in the afternoon today and tomorrow (Made In USA 35mm this afternoon, The Grandmaster HK cut tomorrow afternoon - yes I have the HK blu of The Grandmaster but the encode is shit and I still wanna see it in a rare US theatrical screening), so my only chance for the Silent Friend standby line would be Friday, so I guess I'm getting there 5 hours early just to be safe. That said, I feel a little better about missing the discussion last night, as people on the NYCmovies subreddit are saying that the moderation sucked and that Tony was clearly a bit frustrated with how boring the questions were (though he's very calm and professional so handled it well). That same moderator also sucked the life out of the room during the Assayas and Dano Q&A for The Wizard of the Kremlin a couple months ago. FLC is great but they need to get their act together when it comes to discussion moderation quality and managing high-demand events. (That said, all of the Petzold Q&A's recently were fantastic, because they had better moderators and Petzold naturally talks for ages.)

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2026 8:52 pm**

Good luck to you, hope you get in! I've had plenty of friends who will/have camped out for tickets to sporting events and concerts (especially in college), but I don't think I could do more than two on a good day.

His wife Carina Lau is here, and given her filmography, that's a big deal in itself! I don't think she's doing any Q&A's or talks though, which is too bad. I think there have been more Q&A's with Wong's cinematographers over the last 15 years in NYC than there have been with him or any of his other collaborators, so a discussion with two at the same time would've been really amazing.

Posted: **Wed May 06, 2026 10:08 pm**

On another topic, anyone been going to IFC Center much lately? I haven't had any bad experiences in the past year, but I've seen people complain about some horrific stuff like a sewage leak in the lobby. Am I just lucky that I've missed all this or is it not nearly as bad as some make it out to be?

Also, I understand Leung is the main draw, but I hope people here don't leave a Q&A just because he had to bail. Apparently that's what happened at an Angelika Q&A when a ton of people left as Ildikó Enyedi was talking.

Posted: **Mon May 11, 2026 5:59 am**

The talk with Tony Leung is now on Lincoln Center's YouTube channel.

I'm halfway through it and in all honesty, it doesn't play like the disaster some make it out to be. Granted, it looks like some editing has been done to tighten it up, but for the most part, 1) he seems to be happy and genuinely enjoying the conversation, and 2) his responses so far are very long and thorough, and they're actually much more detailed than what you'd find in the recent print interview for the Film Stage. The fact that the audience hasn't seen the new film is immediately explained (first screening isn't until the next day) and though he's surprised, he hardly looks bothered by it. Leung was there to promote his new movie, so it's no surprise he was going to discuss it in great detail. I can see how that sucks if you're already attending one of the Q&A's, but that's like complaining about a concert setlist that doesn't change from one night to the next - nobody puts these things together prioritizing repeat attendees who are going to be in the minority, not unless you're the Grateful Dead.

I get it if someone doesn't like the interviewer or their style, but the responses are a lot more important to me. Navigation/flow is typically wonky at live discussions, but the priority is getting good answers from the guest. I can see why people may be upset if he doesn't talk about their favorite films, but he's going deep into detail about the two he did with Hou Hsiao-hsien, which quite frankly are the two he's done that I love most (edging out even WKW's films like In the Mood for Love). Given how inaccessible those films were for so long and how neither were popular commercial endeavors like, say, Infernal Affairs, it's probably not surprising how some people don't value what he's discussing about those films. But an hour isn't a lot of time for an interview, it fills up fast, and given his vast filmography, it's a trade off between how much detail can be discussed and how many films (or anything else) you want to cover. Just look at your favorite podcasts, especially ones that spill into multiple parts out of necessity.

Posted: **Mon May 11, 2026 3:06 pm**

Where are people calling it a disaster?

Posted: **Tue May 12, 2026 3:25 am**

malachi mentioned the NYCmovies subreddit but even that YouTube link has someone trashing Florence in the comments.

Posted: **Tue May 12, 2026 1:55 pm**

That post is deranged. Have they ever been to a Q&A ever? Go back to Tiktok nerds.

Posted: **Tue May 12, 2026 6:43 pm**

Drucker wrote: Tue May 12, 2026 1:55 pm That post is deranged. Have they ever been to a Q&A ever? Go back to Tiktok nerds.

We used to have a thread about nightmare Q&A experiences. There is nothing here as bad as a rando asking Buck Henry about how well his cancer treatment was going, Harmony Korine’s best friend using the word “wigger”, or giving Tim Burton a handmade dress.

I no longer stay for Q&A’s.

Posted: **Tue May 12, 2026 8:08 pm**

A nightmare Q&A is Larry Wilmore just being bombared with "more of a comment than a question" for 45 minutes at Film Forum after the screening of Parallax View I saw. Not a single question, 25 comments.

Posted: **Wed May 13, 2026 12:56 am**

Drucker wrote: Tue May 12, 2026 8:08 pm A nightmare Q&A is Larry Wilmore just being bombared with "more of a comment than a question" for 45 minutes at Film Forum after the screening of Parallax View I saw. Not a single question, 25 comments.

That's pretty much what every audience Q&A ends up becoming during TIFF. I've learned that it's best to just skip those.

Posted: **Fri May 15, 2026 1:41 pm**

Bleak Week 2026 screenings are now up at Paris Theater. Definitely interested in seeing Lonely Are The Brave.

Posted: **Fri May 15, 2026 4:23 pm**

Free tickets! The Paris Theater invites you and a guest to attend a screening of D.A. Pennebaker's Dont Look Back, part of the series Branch Selects, co-presented by the Academy Museum.

Q&A with Academy Documentary Branch Governor Chris Hegedus on Wednesday, May 27.

RSVP Now

Selected by the Academy's Documentary Branch. D. A. Pennebaker (The War Room), a 2012 Honorary Award winner for his remarkable career as a documentarian, followed Bob Dylan’s 1965 concert tour of England for this groundbreaking music documentary that was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1988. Still considered one of the pioneering examples of the genre, it features a wealth of Dylan music and some of his most iconic moments, including the opening “Subterranean Homesick Blues” number that features Dylan displaying the song’s lyrics on cue cards.

Posted: **Tue May 26, 2026 5:26 pm**

From de Sica thread:

Drucker wrote: Tue May 26, 2026 3:01 pm Thanks for the post. This is playing shortly in an upcoming Italian history film retrospective at Lincoln Center and now I'll definitely be trying to attend.

That program looks excellent! Hopefully I will be able to catch most of it while in town. How often do Lincoln Center screenings sell out? How far in advance to I need to buy a ticket to ensure getting in? I imagine the opening night's 1900 is the most likely as there is a complimentary spritz during intermission.

Posted: **Tue May 26, 2026 6:19 pm**

Lowry_Sam wrote: Tue May 26, 2026 5:26 pm From de Sica thread:

Drucker wrote: Tue May 26, 2026 3:01 pm Thanks for the post. This is playing shortly in an upcoming Italian history film retrospective at Lincoln Center and now I'll definitely be trying to attend.
That program looks excellent! Hopefully I will be able to catch most of it while in town. How often do Lincoln Center screenings sell out? How far in advance to I need to buy a ticket to ensure getting in? I imagine the opening night's 1900 is the most likely as there is a complimentary spritz during intermission.

Can be hit and miss. A few recent retrospectives apparently had poor attendance. But their Visconti retrospective in 2018 was their biggest ever. I would say a good chance the big named ones like 1900, Leopard, Senso, Amarcord sell out. But I'd be shocked if you need to buy in advance for some of the lesser-known ones.

Posted: **Sat May 30, 2026 4:14 am**

A bit late with this, but the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is screening an archival 35mm IB Technicolor print of Shane at 3:30 p.m., just a little over 15 hours from now.

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