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This long weekend observance of the Juneteenth federal holiday affords New Plaza Cinema<\/strong> the opportunity to present an unusually eclectic\u00a0batch of films at the West End Theatre. In addition to hold-over screenings of Fanny: the Right to Rock, Petite Maman, West Side Story (2021<\/em>)<\/strong>, and of course The Automat<\/strong>,<\/em> whose ebullient director Lisa Hurwitz will once again join us, consider these films.<\/p>\n Crimes of the Future<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0As usual, in her Critic’s Pick review the NYT’s<\/em> Manohla Dargis nailed it:<\/p>\n “Few filmmakers slither under the skin and directly into the head as mercilessly as David Cronenberg. For decades, he has been unsettling audiences, derailing genre expectations and expanding the limits of big-screen entertainment with exploding heads, gasping wounds and desiring, suffering, metamorphosing bodies.”<\/em><\/p>\n His first new film in eight years\u00a0\u2014 direct from last month’s Cannes premiere \u2014\u00a0features Viggo Mortensen, Lea Seydoux and Kristen Stewart as travelers in a stygian underworld where, as more than one character intones, “surgery is the new sex.”\u00a0 More plot detail here is just unnecessary \u2014 \u00a0prepare to be immersed in the unique vision of a master filmmaker.<\/p>\n Two important Middle Eastern filmmakers are also showcased this weekend. Iran’s Mohammad Rasoulof has been examining corruption and repression in that nation for nearly two decades, often at the cost of his own personal freedom. New Plaza Cinema <\/strong>viewers may recall his recent, award-winning There Is No Evil<\/em> from our virtual cinema program. In A Man of Integrity<\/strong><\/em> he delves deeper into those issues, depicting a former university professor, now a struggling fish farmer confronted with threats of bribery and intimidation. Check out the review in the\u00a0June\u00a017th\u00a0NY Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n Turkey’s Nuri Bilge Ceylan broke through on the international film scene with his 2003 Cannes-prize-winner Distant,<\/strong><\/em> which has been restored for theatrical reissue. I was fortunate to attend the festival that year and vividly recall the film, which was recently revisited by J. Hoberman in the NY Times.<\/em><\/p>\n “The miracle of Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s Distant <\/strong>is that it is continually absorbing, even when not much is happening…a master of existential angst and transfigured dailiness whose movies invite contemplation.”<\/p>\n