Films this week 4/24/2026 to 4/30/26
by Gary Palmucci | 24th April 2026 | Gary's Corner
For the next few weeks here at New Plaza Cinema we’re in that annual cycle of partial operation to accommodate CUNY commencement-related events.
This weekend we’re screening six films on Friday and Sunday:
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The President’s Cake – Iraq is still very much entangled in the current Middle East maelstrom, and this early-80s-set drama is, I think, as worthy of your attention as any of this past year’s Oscar nominees.
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YES – love it, hate it or in between (I’ve heard all three reactions head-on, from patrons coming out of our cinema) the fearless, often enraged but always compassionate gaze of Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid is a must-experience.
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Calle Malaga – Carmen Maura’s lit-from-within performance in this Tangiers-set drama has been ‘capacity’ at virtually all our screenings, and I expect more this weekend.
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Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It – If you remember his indelible performances on that London roof in Let It Be, and at MSG in The Concert for Bangladesh, this documentary chronicle of a tragi-glorious career is a must-see.
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Fantasy Life – Writer-director-lead actor Matthew Shear will again join us for Q&A after his incisive, UWS-centric romcom, moderated by a very special guest: writer-director Claudia Weill (the late 70s NY indie classic Girlfriends; Thirtysomething etc) — we’re thrilled to welcome her for a rare public appearance.
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An Officer and a Spy – Many patrons have asked us for an encore screening of Roman Polanski’s razor-sharp dissection of the Dreyfus Case , and we’re pleased to finally oblige. Jean Dujardin, Mathieu Amalric, Louis Garrel and Emmanuelle Seigner head the sterling cast.