Dubai Debt Issues Push Stocks Down
Family Gets Early Christmas Gift From Ellen DeGeneres
Photos of D Train Murder Depict Bloody Panic
Mayor: Sex Trafficking Victims, Please Speak Up
GMA: Adam Lambert, No; Chris Brown, Yes
By now we’ll assume most saw Episode III or are at least quite tired of seeing it butchered and plastered all over their Burger King fountain sodas. So I guess we can focus our attention back to more current matters, like deciphering Katie & Tom's publicity gymnastics (who else caught the jump, fall-to-one-knee, & arm wrestle move on Oprah?) and the new movies opening this weekend:
New York’s animated zoo animals move from the Big apple to the jungle of Madagascar, which we love because it features Ali G as a lemur king and a gang of rebellious penguins; MTV’s 1974 remake of The Longest Yard, in which Adam Sandler plays a huge NFL star leading his fellow convicts to football glory (oh yeah, nevermind he once played The Waterboy); Saving Face, a witty ethnic-themed (though not in a stereotypical My Big Fat Greek Wedding style) and endearing romantic comedy, follows a young lesbian Chinese doctor struggling to deal with her own sexuality and her conservative mother, who shows up on her doorstep pregnant; NYU grad Adam Bhala Lough’s Bomb the System is a gritty portrayal of NYC’s underground graffiti culture, focusing on graffiti artists tagging the town while fighting off corrupt police members.
DOCUMENTARIES: A League of Ordinary Gentlemen chronicles members of the professional bowling league, having suffered declining public support and eventually bought by Microsoft, which tried to to give the game a higher profile; The Fearless Freaks is yet another rock documentary, this time tracing the Flaming Lips’ development and highlighting their drug addiction, sci-fi "Christmas on Mars" movie aspirations, and humble beginnings. And we hope there's some footage of when Gothamist dressed as an owl and joined the Flaming Lips onstage.
TODAY
As part of the 112 Years of Cinema, which resurrects movies that will touch on each year in film history, the MOMA presents Hitchcock’s Rebecca, the Oscar-winning mystery based on the bestselling novel by Daphne du Maurier: Joan Fontaine plays a rich land mogul's new wife haunted and constantly reminded, specifically by her eery housekeeper, of her husband's deceased first wife. Plays at 5:30 PM at the MOMA, 11 W. 53rd.
Cleaview’s Chelsea Cinema presents Fatal Attraction, the classic thriller (“I wont be ignored!”) in which Michael Douglas plays, as usual, a yuppie scumbag with a penchant for dangerous older women, at 7:00 PM.
Legendary filmmaker Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria was a “love letter to his wife,” and tells the story of a sympathetic and hypnotized prostitute who roams the streets in search of love. The final scene of this episodic melodrama is one of the most famous endings in cinema (remember Diane Lane referencing it in Under the Tuscan Sun?). Showtimes are to 5:30, 7:45, and 10:00 PM at Film Forum, 209 West Houston St. at Sixth Ave, $10
Hud, the 1963 Oscar winning film about Paul Newman as an undisciplined, selfish, yet charismatic cowboy, plays at 8:30 PM at the MOMA, 11 W. 53rd between 5th and 6th, $10 (or free with museum admission)
Martin Scorsese's boxing classic, Raging Bull, is a biographical look at the angry & emotionally self-destructive champ Jake LaMotta, played by Robert Deniro (in his pre-Meet the Fockers, good-movie glory days). 2:30 PM at the New York Public Library.
The End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones, about the the roots and rise of one of rock's greatest bands, plays at 7: 00 PM, Two Boots Pioneer Theatre, 155 E 3rd st at Ave A, $9
The Calamari Wrestler, about an ambitious, oversized restaurant-appetizer who revitalizes the Japanese pro wrestling industry by triumphing in their title championship, plays at 5:30 and 10:10 PM @ImaginAsian Theatre, 239 East 59th Street, between 2nd and 3rd.
FRIDAY:
Woody Allen’s neurotic classic Manhattan plays at Landmark's Sunshine Cinema at midnight, 143 E Houston (1st and 2nd).
SATURDAY:
The Lower East Side Film Festival offers a free day of films, including Jim Jarmusch’s collection of black and white vignettes, Coffee and Cigarettes. FREE, all day Saturday, visit their site for the schedule.
SUNDAY
Experimenter Michael Snows' Shorts, combining “swiveling pans that are super imposed over each other to presumably mind-expanding effect," premiereS at 8:30PM @ the Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Ave., $8.
Francois Truffaut’s 1959 The Four Hundred Blows, a landmark of the French new wave cinema (nouvelle vague) and considered one of the greatest coming-of-age movies, follows a neglected rebellious 14 year old Parisian. 2:00 PM at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street, $10
Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, a comedy in which Cary Grant struggles to move his family to CT, plays at 2Pm at the MOMA.
Michael Powell’s ballet masterpiece,The Red Shoes, is about a young ballerina torn between devotion to her ballet instructor and her love for the composer. Showtimes at 2:00 and 6:30 PM @ Walter Reade Theatre, 165 W. 65th.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
"saving face" is really good - i saw it twice at sundance and another festival in los angeles. the story about how it got made is pretty amazing.
i look forward to seeing Madagascar
Anyone see "Lords of" - that skater movie?
Yes, I saw Lords of Dogtown about two weeks ago and it was terrific (both Victor Rasuk and Heath Ledger gave impressive performances).
I think fans of the doc will definitely appreciate the film.
Yeah, when it was called "Dogtown and Z Boys"
I was also able to see Saving Face at Sundance and I agree with Patty. It's a great movie! The performances were all stellar and it managed to be funny and touching at the same time. A definite must-see if you like good, independent movies...
I believe the full title is "Lords of Dogtown: The Dogtown and Z-Boys Dramatization." If you make a documentary, then you make a fictional film based on the true story covered by your documentary, then you make a making of documentary about the film...
Well gosh, then Stacy Peralta is almost at the point with Dogtown where the Browns are with the many Endless Summer variations.
Why all the hate towards "Lords of Dogtown". Let's face the facts people, documentaries are not popular even if they are popular. And as much as I liked "Dogtown & Z Boys" it would take a pretty strong pill to get some people to be open-minded and just see it as-is.
A dramatization of a documentary makes sense if you have something to say. It smooths over the rough edges and gives the story a narrative that is easier to follow. Not saying the rough edges are not interesting; in fact they are. But there is a benefit in creating a more 'user-friendly' version of this cool story.
I know, I know. It's verboten to say that film-goers enjoy narratives that are easy to swallow. But that's the deal. And if "Lords of Dogtown" leads to more people becoming more interested in the seminal years of skater culture in the 1970s--and see/rent/buy "Dogtown & Z-Boys"--then more power to everyone involved.
Hey, the link to the gritty ny subculture thing does not work.
Documentaries are biased as well; why not create a piece that's enjoyable at least.
Memorial Day is the perfect time to remember these brave graffiti artists. They make the ultimate sacrifice by taking on evil cops. Please say a prayer for them this weekend.
I'm not meaning to spew any hatred Dogtown's way. In fact, I'm more excited about it than I am in Star Wars (which I reckon I'll see sometime or other). But that doesn't mean I can't poke a little fun.
What's the story behind how Saving Face got made?