Films this week 11/24 to 11/26/2023
by Gary Palmucci | 24th November 2023 | Gary's Corner
On this Thanksgiving weekend we’re adding the latest from one of the most gifted American filmmakers of his generation — David Fincher, whose body of work includes Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network, and my personal favorite, Zodiac.
In The Killer, Michael Fassbender portrays a peerless hired assassin who himself becomes the hunted when a “job” goes awry. Tilda Swinton and Arliss Howard co-star. I was intrigued by the comments from former, longtime Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers:
“It’s Fincher’s deliciously depraved conceit that his perfectionist process is not unlike the killer’s. In his hands, and with a mesmerizing title turn from Fassbinder, what could have been a hitman cliche becomes a tangle of loose ends hauntingly left untied.”
My colleague, New Plaza Cinema house manager and Fincher-ologist Andrew Lewis and I will take turns introducing this weekend’s screenings on our compact but well-configured wide screen, the director’s favorite shooting format.
Also this weekend, reprise shows of the crowd-pleasing documentaries Joan Baez: I Am a Noise and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, the acclaimed Argentinian “intimate epic” The Delinquents and, as the various critics’ groups commence their year-end voting, our beloved Past Lives.
Please note these very special screenings for next weekend:
- Thursday Nov 30, 7 pm: A unique weeknight showing, kicking off a new monthly series of social-justice-themed films, of The Five Demands, chronicling the 1969 CUNY student strike.
- Saturday Dec 2, 4:45 pm: Only in Theatres, with director Raphael Sbarge hosting an encore of his doc on the difficult post-pandemic journey of an independent cinema chain; owner Greg Laemmle will supply an update on this past eventful exhibition year
- Sunday Dec 3, 2:45 pm: 50th Anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, with Mary Pat Kelly, author of Martin Scorsese – A Journey (just out in a new, updated edition) on hand to introduce and join me in a Q&A on a Scorsese classic that has inspired and influenced filmgoers and filmmakers around the world…
Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema