Gary's Corner

New Plaza Cinema at the West End Theatre will be “on hiatus” in July and August due to the theatre’s lack of air conditioning. We expect to be back after Labor Day, and you will know our exact plans and dates as soon as we do.

We’re very grateful to the Church of St Peter and St Andrew — Pastor K. Karpen, general manager Brent Ness and his dedicated staff — for hosting us during these five intensely gratifying months, along with our projection and big-screen “techs,” Roger and Steve Getzoff.  It’s been a lot of hard work and long hours, but the joyful support of you, our audience has made every day and every show worthwhile.

We look forward to greeting you again in cooler, drier temperatures!

For the final weekend of this five-month “stand,” we’ll be continuing with both our long-running hit The Automat — whose peripatetic director Lisa Hurwitz will return for another Q&A on Sunday — and recent attractions The Northman, Petite Maman, Benediction, Crimes of the Future, and A Man of Integrity, as well as two new additions:

1982: A first feature (and 2021 Cannes prizewinner) chronicling the lives of a classroom of Lebanese grade-schoolers whose world is upended by the Israeli invasion of that fateful year. This will be the first Upper West Side screening following its successful downtown premiere this month.

Tahara: In his NY Times “Critic’s Pick,” Teo Bugbee writes: “This Hebrew-school comedy mimics the zinging pleasure of overhearing teenagers as they walk home from school…The story follows two longtime friends, Carrie and Hannah (Rachel Sennott, star of last year’s sleeper hit Shiva Baby) for a day of mourning alongside their classmates, crushes and nemeses at a Rochester NY synagogue…”  

Please join us for this multi-national celebration of cinema!

Gary Palmucci, Film Curator
New Plaza Cinema