Gary’s Letter 11/1/24
by Gary Palmucci | 1st November 2024 | Gary's Corner
This will be another abbreviated New Plaza Cinema weekend- we’ll be closed on Sunday, due to the NYC Marathon’s finish line being just a few hundred feet from our doorstep. But it’ll be the last one of those for a while – in fact, next weekend will be a four day stanza, including the Veteran’s Day holiday.
There’s still plenty going on this weekend. Next Tuesday will be -regardless of the outcome – one of those ‘crossroads’ moments in American history. Whichever side you’re on, we urge you to get out and vote (if you haven’t already) and we have a very relevant documentary screening on Friday night. The title is One Person, One Vote?
My colleague Abbe Harris has been involved in programming several ‘sleeper’ documentary hits here at New Plaza, including Make Me Famous, Heaven Stood Still and Veselka (the latter two will be back on Nov 10) and she had this to say about One Person, One Vote!:
“In this latest installment of our First Fridays initiative – where we spotlight documentaries that center on social issues – we’re proud to present One Person, One Vote? on November 1 at 7:00 pm. Taking an unprecedented look at the Electoral College through the eyes of four presidential electors – a Republican, a Democrat, a Green, and a Kanye West elector – whose motivations range from noble to the absurd, this feature looks at the history of the College, up to and including the 2020 presidential election when it took center stage like never before. Viewers will come away with a complex and nonpartisan understanding of this institution that will likely once again be a huge factor in whatever happens during these next few days and weeks.”
Director Maximina Juson will be on hand for a Q&A following the screening.
And after last weekend’s near-capacity screenings, the irrepressible Aviva Kempner will be back to intro and Q&A two more shows of her classic doc The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, now digitally restored and including a ‘coda’ by Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
Other reprises this weekend: Saoirse Ronan in The Outurn, Oliver Sacks : HIs Own Life, and Jason Schwarzman and Carol Kane in Between the Temples, screening after sundown on Saturday.
And here’s just a sampling of other great film fare coming up later this month:
Docs with Special Guests — The World According to Allee Willis, on the songwriter of the Friends theme and other immortal tunes, premiering Nov 15; a Veselka encore screening with cast and crew, which we’ve also opened up to Academy members; Heaven Stood Still : The Incarnations of Willy DeVille, back after a few months’ hiatus (both on Nov 10).
Dark Comedies – Multiple Gotham Film Awards nominee A Different Man, back for a follow-up show; the NYC premiere of Hippo, more hi-jinks from executive producers David Gordon Green and Danny McBride.
Classics – On Nov 15, Mike Nichols’ Working Girl, with intro and Q&A from author and NYC historian Keith Taillon ; two film noir classics TBA on the weekends of Nov 17 and 24; the classic 1960s Cuban drama Memories of Underdevelopment, hosted by CUNY film professor Jerry Carlson.