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East
3rd Street, between Avenues A and B (closer to A) * New York City * USA |
| MAY
2006 |
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Fangoria presents THE LOST (dir. Chris Sivertson, 115 mins, year) Screening from 35mm Mon May 1 6:30pm - buy tix WEBSITES: www.thelostmovie.net This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff. |
What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done? “A
slice of CNN pie that corkscrews down into hell. A must see.” "THE
LOST is unrelenting - a vicious, abrasive film that begins with an unforgiving
sucker punch of an opening, then evolves like a slow motion train wreck
that you just can?t take your eyes off of." "THE
LOST is an incredible film. Running the gamut from hilarious to thought
provoking to outright terrifying, the movie grabs you by the collar
and slams you against the wall, daring you to look away for just a single
second." It started on an unseasonably warm autumn day. Ray, Tim, and Jennifer were just three teenage friends hanging out in the campgrounds, drinking a little. But Tim and Jen didn’t know Ray had in mind. And if they’d known, they wouldn’t have thought he was serious. Then they saw what he did to the two girls at the neighboring campsite—and knew he was dead serious. It’s now four years later and Ray has not been charged with the murders in the campgrounds, but there’s one cop determined to make him pay. Ray figures he’s in the clear. Tim and Jennifer think the worst is behind them, that the horrors are all in the past. They’re wrong. The worst is still to come. An excerpt from THE LOST recently appeared in THE OUTLAW BIBLE OF AMERICAN LITERATURE alongside excerpts from other writers such as William Burroughs, Hunter S. Thompson, Jack Kerouac, and Henry Miller. STARRING: Marc Senter, Shay Astar, Alex Frost, Megan Henning, Robin Sydney, Michael Bowen, Ed Lauter, Dee Wallace-Stone, Erin Brown, Ruby La Rocca, and Eddie Steeples. SXSW Film Festival, Sitges Festival Interncaional de Cinema de Catalunya (Sitges, Spain), Ravenna Nightmare Film Festival (Ravenna, Italy), and the International Week of Fantastic Film (Malaga, Spain). |
|
Free Culture at NYU presents ALTERNATIVE FREEDOM (dir. Twila Raftu & Shaun Cronin, 68 mins, 2006) Mon May 1
9pm - buy
tix |
but what is the future of free culture? this fascinating documentary about the invisible war on free culture features perspectives from such luminaries as DJ Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig, Richard Stallman, and many others While Congress changes our copyright laws under the behests of a few powerful corporations, individuals across the United States are losing their digital rights. Activists are working together to change this oppressive regime and create an alternative of freedom. Two filmmakers uncover the problems in one of the most important legal battles of our time: copyright law and digital rights management. Featuring interviews with DJ Danger Mouse, Lawrence Lessig, Richard Stallman and more. |
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Tues May 2 7pm - buy tix (78 min program TRT) This is a Tuesdays@7 program, generously sponsored by Magic Hat. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
The Slamdance Film Festival presents a series of shorts from their 2006 festival.
THE DAY I DIED by Maryam Keshavarz GRAND
LUNCHEONETTE by Peter Sillen RISING
TIDE by Robert Todd & Michael Dwyer THE
HOMECOMING by Michael Lucid & Amanda Barrett
HIGH WINDS by Vanessa Ly
LISTENING by Yvonne Buchanan
NO EXIT, by Etienne Kallos |
|
Newfest presents eXposed: (dir. Mr. Pam, 95 mins, 2006) Weds May 3 7pm - buy tix This is an LGBT Wednesdays program. At 7pm on the First Two Wednesdays of every month, NewFest presents highlights from their festival. Other Wednesdays at 7pm often, though not always, feature LGBT programming. |
NewFest LGBT Film Festival presents a highlight from their 2005 festival. This rollicking, rock-hard film documents the making of BuckleRoos, an award winning porn film. |
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(dir. Donald Quest, 81 mins, 2005) Thurs May 4 7pm - buy tix |
Starring: Latin Daddy, Glenys Javier, Gerardo Diaz, Jennifer Weathers and Aisha Williams What happens when you stick a prostitute, drug dealer, ex-con and a random black girl in the same room? HOOD POLITICS. |
| Brave
New Europe: May - June 2006 No one can be surprised that good films are coming from Central and Eastern Europe, both as a source of production and as a subject for films by foreigners. This May and early June, the Pioneer very proudly hosts a wide range of films from and about the very diverse region that stretches from the Baltics to the Balkans, and from the Rhine to the Urals. Other than some very loose historical and geographic similarities, the films have little in common. We're just taking the moment to celebrate some films from and about the region. We look forward to welcoming filmmakers and other friends from across the region, as well as people just looking for some strong movies. At the moment, this program is not complete. We will be adding to it as other films are confirmed. Titles in the program are incorporated into the general schedule below. Click here for only the Brave New Europe program. Presented with the generous collaboration of Daniela and Andrej Urem (Doors Art Foundation), Zoya Rozin, Wanda Bershen (Red Diaper Productions), Marjorie Sweeney, Signe Baumane, Krzysztof Kamyszew and Ewa Domeredzka (Society for Arts / Chicago), Phil Bajorat (Chicago International Film Festival), Shalom Neumann (Fusion Arts Museum), Marc Mauceri (First Run Features), Victor Dashuk, Gorazd Poposki (Gallery MC), Edita Zulic, Karel Och (Karlovy Vary International Film Festival), and many others. |
Brave
New Europe: HOW I KILLED A SAINT (dir. Teona Strugar Mitevska, 82 mins, 2004) France / Republic of Macedonia / Slovenia. In Macedonian subtitled in English, with some sequences in English. Thurs May
4 9pm - buy
tix |
*
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival * Rotterdam Film Festival * Teona Strugar Mitsevska’s stunning first feature presents a slice of Macedonian life in 2001, the year the former Yugoslav republic skirted civil war with its ethnic Albanian citizens. Presenting an affecting story of a brother and sister who love each other but have to bridge different political ideas and personal agendas effectively captures the tension of the time. Viola (Labina Mitevska, who played the young Albanian girl in BEFORE THE RAIN) returns from college in the U.S. moody and withdrawn. Guns are being fired and bombs exploding in Skopje, the city where her family lives. Her brother Kokan engages Viola as a cover in one of his pick-ups and their trip to the Albanian border to get a bag full of money turns into a harrowing homeward journey through police inspections and land mines. About the same time, Viola tells Kokan her secret: She has a baby daughter she left behind with a diplomat's family when she left for America. Nominated for a Tiger award at the Rotterdam festival in 2004, and subsequently screened at several other festivals, Mitsevka has been praised by VARIETY as a talented young director and someone to watch. Presented by Red Diaper Productions, as part of their program "Screening Women: Recent Films from the New Europe."
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24 HOURS ON CRAIGSLIST (dir. Michael Ferris Gibson, 82 mins, 2005) Fri May 5
11pm - buy
tix
|
one
city, one day, one website, no limits “It’s
an absolute blast. . .24 HOURS ON CRAIGSLIST is the ultimate people zoo.” “a whirlwind
tour. . .a colorful mosaic. . .crowd-pleaser. . .engaging. . .zippy. .
.sharp” “Hilarious” “fun
and titillating. . .mesmerizing. . .this film is poignant” You know Craigslist-- it's the secret engine that drives the local economy, the place you likely found your last job, apartment, car, couch, bandmate, dance lesson, bankruptcy attorney or Friday-night date. Everybody's got a Craigslist story, and filmmaker Michael Ferris Gibson came up with an ingenious idea to find a few of them: he set out to document one random day on Craigslist. What he delivers is a rollicking portrait of the urban experience in all its eccentric glory - a cross section of folks doing everything from selling 250 pairs of women's army-surplus pants to everything-they-own (to finance a trip around the world); guys looking for roommates or wives; an Ethel Merman impersonator looking for a back-up band and a strange fellow hoping some hot chicks will show up for his basement sex party. Looking for a support group for your diabetic cat? Need to rent a husband, find a horny poodle, a gay sperm donor or a pre-op transsexual escort? Maybe you need a movie crew (that's right - Gibson's cast, crew and music were all found through Craigslist). Gibson even found what can only be called the Ultimate Craigslist Story, which you've just gotta hear. There may be Craigslists all over the globe at this point, but Craigslist will always be a uniquely American creation, and Gibson's terrific movie is a giddy celebration of total freedom and everything we love and hate about it. Find a date on Craigslist, and come and see it! |
Brave
New Europe: Michael
Haneke: (dir. Nina Kusturica
and Sat May 6 7:30pm - buy tix
|
A
documentary on Michael Haneke, director of Caché and The Piano
Teacher, one of the most provocative and important filmmaker working today.
"I
always say that film is 24 lies per second at the service of truth or
at the service of the attempt to find the truth." Michael Haneke, the Austrian director of such acclaimed films as THE PIANO TEACHER, TIME OF THE WOLF, CODE UNKNOWN, and FUNNY GAMES is arguably the most provocative and important filmmaker working today. His most recent film, CACHE (HIDDEN), starring Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil, winner of the Best Director prize at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, is one of the best reviewed films of the year and has appeared on numerous critics’ top ten lists. 24 REALITIES PER SECONDis a compelling documentary that provides a rare window into the life, ideas and work of the celebrated filmmaker. Directors Nina Kusturica and Eva Testor followed Michael Haneke for a period of two and a half years. They accompanied him to film premieres and public appearances, radio interviews and photo shoots; they observed him as he scouted locations, directed actors on the set, and made final cuts in the editing room. In between, on long train and car rides, Haneke spoke candidly about his childhood, his transition to filmmaking, and his views on cinema, discussing films that inspired him and his own work (he counts THE SEVENTH CONTINENT and 71 FRAGMENTS OF A CHRONOLOGY OF CHANCE among his favorites). What emerges in this insightful documentary is a portrait of a dedicated filmmaker, a charming yet elusive figure in thrall to cinema and the constant perfection of his craft. |
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Chicago City Limits First Sundays Comedy Films First Sundays Sun May 7 7pm - buy tix filmmakers & special guests will attend! This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
Part stand-up comedy act, part film festival, part party, First Sundays is a monthly festival featuring the best in short comedy films from around the world. Each screening features new films, audience and judges awards, and an after party sponsored by Stella Artois. |
Brave
New Europe: Clayton Patterson presents Mon May 8 7pm - buy tix This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff. |
Lower East Side Videographer and Documentarian extraordinaire Clayton Patterson presents a program drawn from his vast archives. This
month: Freaks, fire eaters, people who can stretch their skin, walk on glass, stick drills up the nose, world record for laying on a bed of nails, with the least number of nails... |
Brave
New Europe: HESTER STREET Tues May 9 6:45pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program, generously sponsored by Magic Hat. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
Join
the Young Leaders of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) on May 9th
This acclaimed Yiddish film from the director of CROSSING DELANCEY brings to life the story of a recently emigrated Russian Jewish family in the Lower East Side at the turn of the century. Introduction:Valery
Bazarov, HIAS From the Shtetl to the States is a series of cultural events celebrating the immigrant experience in New York, which supports our efforts to save our bubbes and zaydes (elderly Jewish refugees from the former Soviet Union who are now at risk of losing their Supplemental Security Income, a life-sustaining public benefits program). Stay tuned for upcoming events in the series.To learn more about HIAS campaign to assist elderly Jewish refugees, visit here. To
learn more about HIAS Young Leaders, visit here. |
|
Newfest presents Cycles
of Porn: (dir. Jochen Hick, 104 mins, 2006) projected from DVD Weds May 10 7pm - buy tix This is an LGBT Wednesdays program. At 7pm on the First Two Wednesdays of every month, NewFest presents highlights from their festival. Other Wednesdays at 7pm often, though not always, feature LGBT programming. |
NewFest LGBT Film Festival presents a highlight from their 2005 festival. CYCLES OF PORN is a revealing, scintillating and non-judgmental glimpse into a world where sex, art and business collide in the City of Angels. |
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(dir. Greg Whiteley, 78 mins, 2005) Thurs May 11 7:15pm - buy tix
|
"As
journeys go, this is one to treasure." "Greg
Whiteley's small, tender documentary portrait looks at life after rock
'n' roll as experienced by the original bassist for the New York Dolls." A recovering alcoholic and recently converted Mormon, we first meet mild-mannered Arthur Kane on the LA bus he takes most days to his job at the Family History Center library. No one would connect the shy 55-year-old in the suit and tie to Arthur "Killer" Kane, statuesque bassist for the legendary '70s rock band, The New York Dolls. Arthur became the bass player for the Dolls in 1971 and helped form, in rocker Morrissey's words, "one of the most raucous, notorious bands in musical history." Decked out in platform heels, skin-tight pants, smeared lipstick and hair a mile high, the Dolls' gender-bending stage antics belied a ferocious sound that presaged punk and influenced a generation of musicians. But drug abuse and inner-band bickering led to a split in 1975, with Arthur himself bottoming out. In the early spring of 2004, Morrissey, former President of the New York Dolls fan club and curator of the 2004 Meltdown Festival in London, asked the Dolls to reunite for two shows. Arthur was ecstatic. But
how would it all turn out? |
Brave
New Europe: LIGHT FROM THE EAST (dir. Amy Grappell,
72 mins, 2005) Thurs May
11 9pm - buy
tix
|
“Personal, political, historical, I loved It.”
- Richard Linklater , director of BEFORE SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET “Beautifully
captures the spirit of the former Soviet Union and the soul of its people.”
“After
the recent, quiet Revolution in Ukraine, this movie is a must see as it
uses a cultural exchange theater project for the focal point of examining
a people who despite political realities are driven by dreams that become
realities.” The story of an American theater troupe that witnessed the fall of Communism. 1991. Glasnost. Perestroika. The Soviet Union opens its doors to the West. A troupe of young American actors from La Mama Theater in NY travels to Kiev to participate in the first American/Ukrainian cultural exchange theater project in history. The play they are to perform is based on the life of Les Kurbas, a revolutionary Ukrainian theatre director who was murdered in one of Stalin’s purges. Two weeks into their trip, Gorbachev is kidnapped, the Kremlin is overthrown by a military coup and the entire USSR is plunged into volatile uncertainty. As rehearsals progress, the play ironically begins to mirror action in the streets. Kurbas and his company struggled to make art during the revolution that ushered in Communism; the international troupe performs the life of Kurbas as the walls of Communism come tumbling down. During the massive political changes of 1991, including the fall of Communism and the Ukraine declaring its national independence, LIGHT FROM THE EAST takes viewers on a philosophical inquiry into the meaning of freedom. |
|
Fri May 12 7pm (sharp!) - buy tix |
The Falcon Film Fiesta is a non-competive forum in which independent filmmakers have the opportunity to screen their short films before a capacity crowd in a New York City movie theatre. Our focus being the works of New York based ethnic, female, and foreign filmmakers. Confirmed
titles so far: |
THE
RAMONES (dir. Jim Fields & Michael Gramaglia, 110 mins, 2003) Sat May 13 6:30pm - buy tix |
Hey! Ho! Let's go! In 1974, the New York City music scene was shocked into consciousness by the violently new and raw sound of a band of misfits from Queens, called The Ramones. Playing in a seedy Bowery bar to a small group of fellow struggling musicians, the band struck a chord of disharmony that rocked the foundation of the mid-'70s music scene. This quartet of unlikely rock stars traveled across the country and around the world connecting with the disenfranchised everywhere, while sparking a movement that would resonate with two generations of outcasts across the globe. Although the band never reached the top of the Billboard charts, it managed to endure by maintaining a rigorous touring schedule for 22 years. |
|
(dir. Gerard Damiano, 61 mins, 1972) Sat May
6 11pm - buy
tix 18 AND
OVER |
The movie that changed the film industry (probably for the worse) How far does a girl have to go to untangle her tingle? Linda, frustrated that her hugely energetic sex life leaves her unsatisfied, seeks medical help. The doctor informs her that the reason for her problem is that her clitoris is mistakenly located at the back of her throat - but there is a very simple remedy, which the doctor, and various other men, proceed to demonstrate. . . |
|
(dir. Kathleen Slattery-Moschkau, 98 mins, 2005) |
A
young woman fumbles with love and ethics as she navigates a career with
one of corporate America’s darlings. . . the pharmaceutical industry.
Karly Hert (Katherine Heigl, GREY'S ANATOMY) has spent the last ten years selling drugs. . . legally, that is. Although fiction, SIDE EFFECTS is closely based on the writer/director's decade working directly for the pharmaceutical industry as a sales rep. The film provides a satirical, insider’s look at the daily marketing practices of big pharma. Before you pop your next pill you should see SIDE EFFECTS! "The
timing of Side Effects couldn’t be better.”
- Rita Rubin, USA TODAY |
|
FearsMag.com presents One Dark and Stormy Night Mon May 15 7pm - buy tix filmmakers & special guests will attend This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff. |
|
Brave
New Europe: Bitter
+ Tues May 16 7pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program, generously sponsored by Magic Hat. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
"Bitter!" (Gor'ko!) -
dir. Darya Zhuk , 2003, Russian with English subtitles - 40 min "Samantha
Smith Project" - dir. Irene Lusztig - 51 min |
|
SEND IN THE CLOWN (dir. Spencer Schilly, 96 mins, 2006 year) Weds May 17
7pm - buy
tix This is an LGBT Wednesdays program. Many Wednesdays at 7pm feature LGBT programming. |
Sometimes life can get a little twisted After waking from 13-year coma, a young man pursues his childhood dream of becoming a clown, while his unnerved father attempts to teach him how to be a car-salesmen instead. This sweet and quirky comedy begins on the eve of Wesley Watson’s 25th birthday when he wakes from a thirteen-year coma after his childhood mentor, Happy Henry, brings a small musical clown to his bedside. As the adult Wesley recovers, his father trains him to follow his paternal footsteps as a car salesman while the lovely Nurse Tami encourages Wesley to follow his childhood dream of becoming a clown. At first Wesley attempts to please his father but soon discovers that the car lot is no place for a man-boy who dreams of being a clown. So against his father’s wishes, Wesley decides to follow his own heart and pursue his childhood dream until a fatal clowning mishap sends Wesley back to the car lot! With
the help of Nurse Tami, Happy Henry, his mother, and the future Pumpkin
Queen, Wesley battles his inner-clown and outer-car salesmen in a struggle
that forces him to make a choice that ultimately saves lives and solves
a surprising decade-long mystery. |
Cultural
Thursdays Thurs May 18 9pm - buy tix A Cultural Thursdays program. Thursdays at 7pm often feature programming presented with ethnic and cultural groups. |
OUR
MODERN TIMES City
of Photos |
Brave
New Europe: FORGIVING DR. MENGELE (dir. Bob Hercules
and Cheri Pugh, 80 mins, 2006) Thurs May
18 7pm - buy
tix Sat May 20
5:15pm- buy
tix Sat May 20
9pm
- buy tix Sun May 21
5:15pm - buy
tix Sun May 21
9pm - buy
tix Mon May 22
5:15pm - buy
tix Mon May 22
9:30pm - buy
tix Tues May
23 5:15pm - buy
tix |
"It's
impossible not to be moved by [Eva Kor's] fierce capacity for life." "Affecting
. . .a portrait of an incredible yet flawed woman . . . chilling." "Compulsively
watchable." "Riveting.
. .heads for true importance." "Takes
one's breath away." Could you forgive a war criminal? Could you forgive your worst enemy if it released you from your past trauma? FORGIVING DR. MENGELE tells the story of a shocking act of forgiveness by Auschwitz survivor Eva Mozes Kor and the firestorm of criticism it has provoked. Eva and her twin sister, Miriam, were victims of Nazi doctor Josef Mengele's cruel genetic experiments--an experience that would haunt them their entire lives. We follow Eva's metamorphosis from embittered survivor to tireless advocate for reconciliation. This unexpected transformation was sparked when Eva, in an attempt to get information about the experiments, met with another former Auschwitz doctor. Eva's ideas about justice, revenge and the possibility of healing through forgiveness--as well as the passionate opposition from other survivors--become a window to a larger discussion of the many ways people define forgiveness.
|
Brave
New Europe: Latvian Shorts Sun May 21 7pm - buy tix This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
Esteemed filmmaker Dzintra Geka curates a program of distinguished short films from Latvia. White
Beast
/ Baltais zvers Water
/ Udens Signe
and... / Signe un... Insomnia
/ Bezmiegs Woman
/ Sieviete |
Brave
New Europe: WHAT IS A MAN WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE? (Što je muškarac bez brkova) (dir. Hrvoje Hribar, 109 mins, 2005) Croatia * in Croatian subtitled in English Mon May 22
7pm - buy
tix Thurs May
25 9pm - buy
tix |
Thessaloniki International Film Festival * Sarajevo Film Festival A
young widow, an aging immigrant who has returned home from Germany, and
a priest from a bankrupt parish are struggling to come to terms with the
post-war environment, complete with its prejudices, illusions, and unpleasant
mentality. What follows is a powerful, poignant romantic comedy set in
rough landscape, about a woman who falls in love with a local priest.
He is not blind to her love, but is unable to choose between the church
and her, until the circumstances force him to make his choice. Presented by the Doors Art Foundation |
|
Tues May 23 7pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program, generously sponsored by Magic Hat. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
a program of short films presented by the Cinewomen, NY filmmaker group ECHOES OF MOTHERHOOD PERIOD
PIECE MAYBE
MUM’S NOT THE WORD THE
WHISPERER A
HARD PLACE THE
McCOMBIE WAY |
|
(dir. Tonje Hessen Schei, 75 mins, 2006) Weds May 24 9pm - buy tix |
``A
damning critique of the mainstream news media's gung-ho coverage of the
Iraq invasion.'' INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION is an award-winning documentary about the US media coverage of the war in Iraq. Focusing on the human costs of war, it contrasts the mass media’s coverage of the invasion of Iraq with independent reports of the brutal realities on the ground. INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION investigates important issues that govern today’s information flow, and looks at how this system reveals itself during times of war and political turmoil. INDEPENDENT INTERVENTION features Amy Goodman, Noam Chomsky, Dahr Jamail, Danny Schechter, Norman Solomon, David Barsamian, Kalle Lasn, James Zogby and Jim Hightower. It also includes the voices of Howard Zinn, Michael Moore, Bill Moyers, Arundhati Roy, Jeremy Scahill, US Senators and Iraqi people. |
Brave
New Europe: (dir. Gabor Zsigmond Papp, 82 mins, 2004) Hungary * In Hungarian with English subtitles Thurs May 25 7pm - buy tix |
Secret tapes of the Hungarian Communist Police! From 1958 to 1988, the film studio of the Hungarian Ministry of the Interior made several hundred propaganda films, including shorts, instructional works and features. Over a wide thematic range, these films sought to teach Hungarian policemen how to maintain public order. Topics included secret home-raids, operatives shadowing suspects, how to install interceptive devices and recruiting informers and agents. The monotone narration used in these films contrasts with the "elevated" cause they were supposed to serve. As a result, these films can seem wickedly comical, petty or shocking to us today as contemporary viewers. But in the 1960s and 1970s, plenty of time and effort was put into this form of ideological training. The films were also made with relatively large budgets, with the participation of renowned experts, and they utilised the most advanced technologies of their time. By selecting and masterfully assembling the strongest samples, director Zsigmond shows us how the operation of the totalitarian dictatorship under Kádár functioned, and the main forces underlying its efficiency. [synopsis adapted from International Documentary Festival Amsterdam description] |
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(dir. John Ford, 93 mins, 1935) Fri May 26 7pm - buy tix
|
Edward G. Robinson and Jean Arthur directed by John Ford Although
John Ford's films often included comic elements, he made few that were
pure comedies--THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING, starring Edward G. Robinson as
obsequious hardware-store clerk Arthur Jones, is one of them. A man of
almost appallingly regular habits, Arthur hasn't been late for work in
years. Although he has a long-standing crush on his lively coworker Wilhelmina
"Bill" Clark (Jean Arthur), he's unable to tell her how he feels.
While he's having lunch one day, he's arrested by police who mistake him
for mob boss Killer Manion. After his employer clears him, the police
give Arthur a pass identifying him as the non-Killer. As a gimmick, a
newspaper hires the clerk to write a series of articles speculating about
his unruly doppelgänger. The gangster reads the piece, learns about
the pass, and realizes how convenient such a document could be. He pays
the terrified Arthur a visit, extracting the pass and insisting the newspaper
series be devoted to his past exploits before departing for a night of
the usual mayhem. Robinson's career received a huge boost from this deliciously
humorous film, which toys amusingly with his gangster iconography. Not
all is comic, however, as Ford filters the Victorian Jekyll-and-Hyde notion
of a split self into his narrative to suggest Jones's evil twin corresponds
to the darker corridors of the meek clerk's unconscious mind. |
|
(dir. Sam Raimi, 85 mins, 1981) 35mm print is 1.33:1 aspect ratio Sat May 27 11:30pm - buy tix |
IT'S BACK! Director Sam Raimi's first film has achieved legendary status since its 1982 release, and for good reason. Though perhaps not as widely seen as its two sequels, EVIL DEAD 2 and ARMY OF DARKNESS, THE EVIL DEAD is arguably the best of the three. It is the story of five college-age friends who travel to a cabin in rural Tennessee where the stumble upon the Book of the Dead, an ancient tome bound in human flesh and inked in blood. After unwittingly awakening the unspeakable terror told of in the book, each of the friends is transformed into the evil dead, one by one, except for Ash (Bruce Campbell). So, Ash is left with no other way to survive than to dismember the living corpses of his sister, girlfriend, and two of his friends. Shot on a shoestring budget, the film boasts some impressive camera work and extremely over the top gore effects as well as a sense of humor much more subtle than the tongue-in-cheek aesthetic of the two sequels. |
Brave
New Europe: Sunday Shorts Fusion Arts Museum Presents Program #1 Program #2 filmmakers & special guests will attend! This is a Sunday Shorts program. Early evenings on many Sundays, the Pioneer presents programs of short films. |
Shalom Neuman, Czech native and director of Lower East Side's Fusion Arts Museum, presents two distinct programs of shorts from across Central and Eastern Europe. More details will follow. Program
1: TOXIC
PARADISE 1987
"impeachment of the oversight quilt"
2005 Program
2: WALL
OF CULTURAL CONFUSION |
Bizarro
Monday! (dir. Roman Polanski, 94 mins, 1962) Poland * In Polish with English subtitles Mon May 29 7pm - buy tix This is a "Bizarro Monday" program. Every Monday at 7pm the Pioneer presents the finest (and trashiest) in horror, sci-fi, freakshow, exploitation, martial arts, genre, b-movies, z-movies, and just plain weird stuff. |
Roman Polanski's breakthrough film Roman
Polanski's first feature-length film is a suspenseful three-person chamber
drama reminiscent of the work of Ingmar Bergman. KNIFE IN THE WATER was
filmed in the director's native Poland and financed through government
subsidies. Although denounced by local authorities as devoid of any significant
social or political content, the film caused a minor sensation in the
West, was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign Film, and even
made the cover of Time magazine. The action takes place almost entirely
within the confined setting of a sailboat owned by a wealthy journalist
(Leon Niemczyk) and his much younger wife (Jolanta Umecka). On their way
to the lake for a weekend of sailing, they are accosted by a young hitchhiker
(Zygmunt Malanowicz) who jumps in front of their car, forcing them to
stop. Annoyed by the youth's daredevil posturing, the journalist nevertheless
decides to invite him to join the couple on their boat, initiating a series
of playfully competitive games between the two men. Playfulness soon gives
way to hostility, however, as each tries to outshine and humiliate the
other in front of the woman, who appears to be taking a more than casual
interest in her husband's young rival. |
Tuesdays@7 Director Lodge Kerrigan in person! (dir. Lodge Kerrigan, 100 mins, 2004) Tues May 30 6:30pm - buy tix This is a Tuesdays@7 program, generously sponsored by Magic Hat. Every Tuesday at 7pm features special guests presenting their film, and is followed by a beer and pizza reception for ticket holders. |
Few recent American films possess the dueling austerity and rawness evident in Lodge Kerrigan's 2005 masterpiece KEANE. Damian Lewis portrays the title character, a schizophrenic lost in a panicked, squalid quest to find a young daughter who ostensibly vanished in the tumult of Port Authority. At the motel he calls home, he acquaints himself with single mother Lynn (Amy Ryan) and her own little girl, Kira (Abigail Breslin), both of whom embrace Keane out of a necessity as tactical as it is emotional. While Keane's subject matter recalls Kerrigan's 1994 breakthrough CLEAN, SHAVEN, the filmmaker reprises the earlier film's ache and chill without resorting to its singular horror. Rather, an astonishing turn by Lewis and (literally) unflinching camerawork by John Foster reveal a man awash in crisis and catharsis, on the verge of genuinely knowing something. Like its namesake, Keane is a discovery worth making. Join The Reeler editor S.T. VanAirsdale and friends Lawrence Levi (Looker) and Karina Longworth (Cinematical) for a post-screening, talk-show style discussion with filmmaker Lodge Kerrigan. The chat will be podcast around the globe on www.thereeler.com, so bring your critical A-game and tell New York and the world what you think. |
Pioneer Theater
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