Films This Week 5/14/21

by Gary Palmucci | 14th May 2021 | Gary's Corner

Hello everyone. We’re continuing for a bit longer with our two Oscar winners: The Father (Best Actor Anthony Hopkins, through May 17), Another Round (Best International Film), and from Romania, Collective, a double nominee for best international feature and documentary.

Many viewers may have noted New Plaza’s long history of screening music-driven documentaries — recently Heartworn Highways, FTA, Changing Times of Ike White, and Jazz on a Summer’s Day along with earlier in-depth looks at Aretha Franklin, Gordon Lightfoot, David Crosby, Linda Ronstadt, and the LA Canyon folk-rock scene. This week we’re looking at another musical-moment-in-time, the mid-70s punk rock scene in an unlikely locale — Washington DC. The documentary is titled Punk the Capital and our virtual screenings are exclusive in NYC.

The “District” was no stranger to spawning local musical movements of its own, including the funk/music hall-driven “go-go” sound of the 60s-70s, which was even featured in a now-forgotten mid-80s thriller, Good to Go starring Art Garfunkel(!!).

Punk the Capital chronicles the burgeoning punk scene during the Carter/Reagan years, showcasing performers like Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, and the band Bad Brains (later featured in Scorsese’s After Hours).

Next Thursday night (May 20) at 7 pm, the progressive art house Amherst Cinema in western Massachusetts will feature on Facebook (open to all) a live event with Punk the Capital’s director and some tba special guests.

Here’s a link to the Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/FVWaMAr1

Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema