Films this week 5/24 to 5/27/2024
by Gary Palmucci | 23rd May 2024 | Gary's Corner
New Plaza Cinema’s “Memorial Day weekend mixtape” will include nearly a dozen titles: various holdovers, five screenings featuring Q&As, a couple of encores, and an Orson Welles classic.
Woody Allen’s Coup de Chance, Daniel Auteuil (premiering a new film at Cannes this week) in Farewell Mr Haffmann, Catching Fire: The Story of Anita Pallenberg, Wicked Little Letters with its world-class British cast, the drily hilarious Gad Elmaleh in Stay With Us, and Ken Loach’s mournful and moving The Old Oak will all be back on screen. The latter two titles were our surprise crowd-pleasers last weekend, and both worthy of your attention.
In the “personal appearance” department:
- NYC Short Film Showcase — Our tireless programmer Michael Jacobsohn has assembled yet another eclectic batch of shorts, including two from New Plaza Cinema staff members which we’re particularly proud of. The filmmakers will all be present to discuss their efforts afterward. This program always sells out, so act accordingly!
- Veselka – The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World — The beloved Ukrainian diner at Second Avenue and Ninth Street has been celebrated for decades and for these past two years, also deeply invested in the tragic events on the other side of the world. Filmmaker Michael Fiore gives us the history, past and present, and after a long, successful run on the lower east side, will on Saturday bring his film uptown for an after-discussion.
- Kiss Me Kosher — actor John Carroll Lynch (featured in such American classics as Fargo, Zodiac, and TV’s The Americans) joined us a few weeks ago for a very articulate Q&A about this Israeli (sort of) rom-com in which he co-stars. He has offered to come back for another one, for which we’re very grateful.
- Make Me Famous — The clock’s ticking toward New Plaza Cinema’s one-year-anniversary of our premiere of this raucous documentary, about an unforgettable character from the downtown NYC 80’s Art Scene. Filmmakers Brian Vincent and Heather Spore have tirelessly promoted and Q&A’d numerous shows here. This time they’ll be just back from some shooting on their new project, which they may or may not want to tell us about…
- Chimes At Midnight — Perhaps Orson Welles’ least known masterpiece, his 1966 fresco fuses portions of Richard II, Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV & V into a rueful, tumultuous whole, capped by his quintessential performance as Falstaff. There’s wonderful support from John Gielgud, Jeanne Moreau, Keith Baxter, and Margaret Rutherford, along with one of the great battle scenes in movie history (“Harry, thou hast robbed me of my youth…”). Finally available in a first-class DCP presentation, this is a great way to mark Welles’ birthday (earlier this month). Max Alvarez and I will be there afterwards to tell you more.
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Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema