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weekendwarriorblog · 5 years

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND March 29, 2019 - GODZILLA vs. ROCKETMAN vs. MA

As I mentioned over at The Beat, this is gonna be a doozy of a weekend, one where we can see some interesting things at the box office as three fairly strong movies open against the second weekend of Disney’s Aladdin.

The big (and I do mean “BIG”) movie of the weekend, and one I quite enjoyed was Mike (Krampus) Dougherty’s GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (Warner Bros.), which continues the story set in Legendary Pictures’ 2014 reboot and adds new characters, and more importantly, MORE MONSTERS!!! I think there are still fans of Godzilla out there who will want more monsters and hopefully an interesting way to build on the Shared Universe being created by Legendary with next year’s Godzilla vs. Kong. I hope this movie does well enough that they keep making these movies, which I’m sure aren’t inexpensive.

You can read my review of that here, and check out my interview with Mr. Doughtery over at The Beat.

A movie that I was surprised by how much I LOVED LOVED LOVED is Dexter Fletcher’s ROCKETMAN (Paramount), starring Taron Egerton as singer/songwriter Elton John. It’s a straight-up jukebox musical of a biopic that uses John’s songs as the framework to share his memories with Egerton singing most of the songs himself. He’s absolutely amazing, and I wouldn’t even be remotely surprised if he is nominated and wins in the Lead Actor category, because he gives an unprecedented performance. (I’m hoping I can finish up my glowing review of the movie soon, but as you can surmise from the above, I loved the movie and I recommend it highly to anyone not interested in Godzilla – but I question those who aren’t interested in Godzilla, too.)

MY REVIEW OF ROCKETMAN

I wasn’t quite a big fan of Tate Taylor and Octavia Spencer’s MA (Universal), a thriller with a fun premise that finally puts Spencer in the spotlight with a leading role. That said, I do feel like it gives way too much away in the trailers. It’s definitely a weird and pretty effed up movie, and Spencer is great, as is the young cast, but it just didn’t connect with me or wow me as much as I hoped. I wish I had more time to write a review, but I will have an interview with Tate Taylor soon. (Honestly, the interview didn’t go great, which didn’t help when I wasn’t that enamored with the film in the first place.)

LIMITED RELEASES

My favorite movie of the weekend, outside of Rocketman, and one of the few I’ve seen is the new film from Denys Arcand (The Barbarian Invasion). THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE (Sony Pictures Classics) seems like a different movie from him, starring Alexandre Landry as Pierre Paul Daoust, a courier who happens upon a botched robbery and ends up taking millions of dollars left behind by the robbers. Of course, he uses his newfound riches to hire a high-priced escort (Maripier Morin), who he falls in love with, and hires an ex-con imprisoned for money laundering (Remy Girard) to be his financial adviser. Unfortunately, the gang whose money he stole and the police are all looking for the money, and they get very violent with anyone they think might know where it is. It’s another fantastic ensemble piece from Arcand that has all of his humor but is a bit darker and more violent, and there are aspects of the film that reminds me of the films of David Mamet. Ultimately, it’s quite an amazing fable about how if you help out others (as Pierre Paul does), things will come back to you in return.

Filmmaker Brian de Palma is back with DOMINO (Saban Films), which stars Game of Thones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a Danish police officer named Christian who wants to get justice for his partner killed by an ISIS member. This puts him into a conflict with a CIA agent (Guy Pearce) who is using that ISIS member to trap others. Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to see this, but it also stars Carice van Houten (from Black Book) and it will be in theaters and On Demand this Friday.

Premiering at Film at Lincoln CenterFriday is Dominga Sotomayor’s Too Late to Die Young (KimStim), which takes place in 1990 as Chile transitions to democracy as seen through the eyes of a 16-year-old named Sofia. The movie premiered at last year’s 56thNew York Film Festival, and Sotomayor will be in town for screenings on Friday and Saturday.

Premiering at the Metrographto correspond with and tie into the theater’s Northern Ireland: Battle of Images series (see below in Repertory) is Donal Foreman’s THE IMAGE YOU MISSED, which goes through thirty years of footage left behind by his late father Arthur MacCaig (who has two movies in the series) and shows never-before-seen images from the war in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I’m deploy interested in the “Troubles” that plagued the area for decades, and I hope I can get over there to see this and some of the movies in the series.

Some interesting stuff at the IFC Center (and possibly other locations) this weekend, including A.B. Shawky’s Egyptian film Yomeddine, as well Joshuea Riehl’s doc The Russian Five about how a quintet of Russian hockey players helped save the Detroit Red Wings in the late ‘80s. (This has actually played in other parts of the country, but I missed the listing. Sorry!) Richard Miron’s doc For the Birds (Dogwoof) also opens there, looking at a woman named Kathy who has 200 pet chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. It will then move to the Laemlle Monica on June 14.

New York’s Film Forum gets Gerald Fox’s doc Leaving Home, Coming Home: A Portrait of Robert Frank (Greenwich) starting Wednesday about the famed photographer.

I wrote about Andrew Slater’s doc ECHO IN THE CANYON (Greenwich) when it opened in L.A. last week, but I finally got a chance to watch it before it opens this Friday at Angelika Film Center, and it’s much better than I expected. The film covers the California Sound out of the Laurel Canyon area in the mid-60s, which included the Beach Boys, the Mamas and Papas, as well as the Byrds and others. I was never really into that scene or music so much but hearing some of these songs again in this context gave me goosebumps, as Slater and exec. producer Jakob Dylan, who does many of the interviews, did a fantastic job telling the story of this music scene.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

There’s some great festivals taking place in New York and surrounding areas as well as a place quite a bit away.

Let me start by mentioning that the New York African Film Festival continues on Thursday up at Film at Lincoln Center, beginning with Frances-Anne Solomon’sHERO: Inspired by the Life and Times of Mr. Ulric Cross, about a West Indian lawyer who joined the Pan-African movements in the ‘60s. The Centerpiece of this leg of the festival is Joel Karekezi’s The Mercy of the Jungle on Saturday about the Second Congo War. It’s quite a rich line-up that you can read about at either of the links above.

Next, let’s go down to the IFC Center for the 3RD ANNUAL SPLIT SCREENS FESTIVAL which celebrates the “Art and Craft of Television” with a number of amazing events and screenings, beginning Weds. May 29 and running through Monday, June 3. People who attend can see an early screening of Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us and Deadwood: The Movie (see streaming below), as well as events/presentations for CBS’ Instinct with Alan Cumming in person, as well as Pamela Adlon’s Better Things (she’ll be there, too!) and a special presentation of (S)Heroes: Women of Action. Check out the schedule, because if you’re into television, there is a LOT of great stuff here every year. (I attended theVanguard Award presentation last year for Sandra Oh, for instance.)

If you don’t mind hopping on a train trip out of the city, you should try to get out to the 5th GREENWICH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, which will present early screenings of lots of movies, as well as panels and presentations with Eva Longoria Baston and Bobby Walker Jr. receiving special honors. Some of the filmsbeing shown include Gurinder Chanda’s Blinded by the Light, Tom Shadyac’s Brian Banks as well as Mads Brügger’s doc Cold Case Hammarskjöld and the doc I Want My MTV. Local animation house Blue Sky Studios has a special panel on Sunday, and there’s also an anniversary party including a performance by Kesha, so this is a pretty big deal.

A bit off the beaten path is this year’s Overlook Film Festival, held in New Orleans, which is becoming one of the must-attend genre film festivals. (Of course, I’ve never attended.) It’s being billed as “a four day celebration of all things horror in America’s most haunted city,” opening with Jim Jarmuch’s The Dead Don’t Die and Tate Taylor’s Ma, but also including a bunch of films that have played festivals like Ant Timpson’s Come to Daddy, starring Elijah Wood, and Peter Strickland’s In Fabric, which both played the Tribeca Film Festival.

Basically, there’s a lot to do this weekend if you’re not busy with some of the movies mentioned above.

STREAMING AND CABLE

I’m really looking forward to the Netflix romantic comedy ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE, which stars stand-up Ali Wong and Randall Park (one of my favorite comic actors) as childhood friends who have an awkward tryst in college and suddenly run into each other 15 years later. The two actors co-wrote the script, it’s directed by Nahnatchka Khan, exec. producer of Park’s show Fresh Off the Boat, and it also stars Daniel Dae Kim (as Wong’s fiancé who breaks up with her) AND Keanu Reeves! Can’t wait to see this!

Also premiering on Netflix Thursday is the Ava Duvernay=directed series When They See Us (premiering a night early at the Split Screens Festival mentioned above) about the Central Park Five.

HBO will premiere David Milch’s Deadwood: The Movie, which I’ll have to watch but only after rewatching the three seasons which ran from 2004 to 2006, which I haven’t watched since then.

I don’t have DC Universe (yet!) but premiering this Friday is the new SWAMP THING series produced by James Wan, which might finally give me the excuse to subscribe to the network so I can see this as well as Doom Patroland other things I’ve been meaning to check out.

Also streaming on Hulustarting Saturday is Ryan White’s doc Ask Dr. Ruth about Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the Holocaust survivor turned sex therapist who celebrated her 90thbirthday last year.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

This is a huge week at the Metrograph as they’re kicking off an extensive Jim Jarmuschseries with some of his best movies, ranging from his earliest film Permanent Vacation (1980) and Stranger than Paradise (1984) right through his 2016 films Paterson and the Stooges doc Gimme Danger. Jarmusch will be there for select screenings, although as of this writing, it hasn’t been announced which ones. This weekend sees Down by Law (1986), Dead Man (1995) and Stranger Than Paradise.

I’m also intrigued by another new series called Northern Ireland: Battle of Images, a series of docs and shorts about the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. Sadly, I haven’t seen any of what they’re showing but I generally trust the Metrograph programmers and many of the films in the series only screen once, so don’t miss out.

Late Nites at Metrograph presents Georges Franju’s 1960 thriller Eyes Without a Face which inspired both John Carpenter’s Halloween and Billy Idol’s hit song, while Playtime: Family Matinees is Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (1953), which is a great introduction to the French mime-turned-filmmaker. Also, on Wednesday, Metrograph is presenting a new restoration of Derek Jarman’s little-seen 1990 film The Garden (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber), starring Tilda Swinton, which was never been released on DVD or Blu-ray. (Tilda will introduce a screening of this Tuesday night as well as be there for a sold-out screening of Sally Potter’s Orlando.)

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

If I get this up on time, you may be able to see the Weds. matinee of Howard Hawks’Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), starring Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe. Weds. and Thurs. sees a double feature of Eve’s Bayou (1997) and Daughters of the Dust (1991), while Friday and Saturday is a Dorothy Arzner double feature of Dance, Girl, Dance(1940) and The Bride Wore Red (1937). This weekend’s KIDDEE MATINEE is one of my favorite early Disney movies,The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), starring a very young Kurt Russell. Friday night’s Midnight movie is Tarantino’s Death Proof, while Saturday’s midnight is the Canadian comedy Outrageous! (1977), starring Craig Russell – no relation to Jane or Kurt, I imagine. Monday afternoon offers a matinee of Neil Jordan’s Anne Rice adaptation of Interview with a Vampire (1994), starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. Also, Sunday and Monday sees double features of Stanley Donen’s gay comedy Staircase (1969) and John Huston’s Reflection in a Golden Eye (1967), starring Elizabeth Taylor.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

The Jewish Soul: Classics of Yiddish Cinema continues its run with Edward Ulmer’s 1940 musical comedy American Matchmaker. Harold Lloyd is back at Film Forum Jr with his 1923 film Safety Last! with piano accompaniment. Also, the international retrospective The Hour of Liberation: Decolonizing Cinema 1966 – 1981continues over the weekend with the 1969 Brazilian film Macunaima, the Bolivian film Blood of the Condor (also from 1969), Nelson Pereira dos Santos’ How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman (1971), Med Hondos’ 1970 filmSoleil O (which is supposed to get a 4k restoration soon), Perfumed Nightmare (1977) and more.

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

TheCassavetes/Scorsese: Love is Strange isn’t quite finished yet, but on Thursday, it continues with Love Streams (1984) and Casino (1995).Thom Anderson will be on hand to show his 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday, then on Saturday, there’s a Malcolm McDowell double feature of Cat People in 35mm(1989) and Time after Time (1979). There’s a special FREE event on Sunday for the TV show Good Girls with a panel of the creators/cast that’s followed by a screening of the 1980 movie 9 to 5.

AERO (LA):

The late French filmmaker Agnes Varda gets a tribute double feature with screenings of One Sings, the Other Doesn’t (1977) and the 2017 doc Faces Places on Thursday, and then Whit Stilman has a TRIPLE feature Friday for the 25thanniversary of 1994’s Barcelona, along with Metropolitan (1990) and The Last Days of Disco (1998). Saturday sees a Terry Gilliam double feature of 1985’s Brazil – my all-time favorite #1 film by the way – and 1981’s Time Bandits, and there’s a family matinee of Brian Levant’s The Flintstones (1994) with Levant in person, celebrating the film’s 25th anniversary. Not to be outdone by Metrograph, they’re showing a double feature of Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger than Paradise (1984) and Down by Law (1986) and next Wednesday, there’s a free screening of Jarmusch’s new movie The Dead Don’t Die.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This weekend, Waverly Midnights: Parental Guidance shows Mary Lambert’s movie based on Stephen King’s Pet Sematary (1989), Weekend Classics: Love Mom and Dad will screen the classic Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Late Night Favorites: Spring will show Dario Argento’s 1977 film Suspiria… again. (Has anyone not seen it at this point?)

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

The Tribeca hotel-based theater is showing Luchino Visconti’s 1963 film The Leopard in 35mm on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, eand then the ‘80s classic The Lost Boys (also on 35mm) Friday.

FILM OF LINCOLN CENTER(NYC):

Ester Krumbachova: Unknown Master of the Czechoslovakia New Wav eends Wednesday, while the reshowing of Sergei Bondarchuk’s 7-hour 1969 adaptation of Tolstoy’s War and Peace (winner of the Foreign Language Oscar that year) will run this week through Thursday.

MOMA (NYC):

Abel Ferrara: Unrated wraps up this week with China Girl (1987) on Weds., 2005’s Mary on Thursday and then Ferrara’s fairly recent Alive in France on Friday. TheJean-Claude Carrière series also continues.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Queens-based theater is also showing Thom Anderson’s 2003 film Los Angeles Plays Itself on Friday (as part of an “Essay L.A.” program), but obviously, if you read above, you know that Anderson will actually be in L.A. that night. Saturday afternoon, Jackie Chan’s Police Story (1985) is playing as part of MOMI’s “See It Big! Action” series.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

This Friday’s midnight movie is the Beatle’s A Hard Day’s Night (1964).

Next week, it’s Universal’s animated sequel The Secret Life of Pets 2 vs. Fox/Disney’s Dark Phoenix! Plus Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson’s Sundance hit Late Night is also released.

#WhatToWatchthisWeekend Godzilla Rocketman Ma

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ghostcultmagazine · 6 years

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Doc’n Roll Film Festival Set To Return For Its Fifth Year

Long-running and diverse the Fifth Annual Doc’n Roll Film Festival will take over London this 1 to 18 November across ten of the city’s best-loved movie houses. Doc’n Roll London 2018 will screen 28 music documentaries that spotlight the icons and rebels of Afghanistan, Wales, Ethiopia and Ukraine; tell the stories of the groundbreaking record labels Blue Note and Trojan; map the worlds of grindcore (Slave To The Grind), metal (RockKabul) blues, Detroit techno, “she-punks” and Kirtan mantras; and go behind the scenes with artists including Slow Club, Silvana, Sepultura, the Wedding Present, Chilly Gonzales, Badly Drawn Boy and Blondie’s Clem Burke. Watch a bunch of awesome trailers and get the full details below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=7Qf1pr_AuuA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1eruG0yuU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgpL1loMCq4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ORUKP3BR0&t=6s https://vimeo.com/218723564 https://vimeo.com/291567144/634fdbbeeb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIbEIBE-L0o This year’s edition includes 25 world, European, UK and London premieres, filmmaker and artist Q&As and live music events. 2018 also marks Doc’n Roll’s debut collaboration with The Photographers’ Gallery, in an exclusive event celebrating the world premiere of Kojey Radical, a short film by renowned photographer and filmmaker Dean Chalkley. Doc'n Roll Film Festival was launched in 2014 by founder Colm Forde to show some long-overdue love to the countless under-the-radar music docs being ignored by risk-averse film programmers. Colm comments: “Our 5th London edition is the culmination of five years of relentless DIY spirit - blood sweat and tears from ourselves and a passionate volunteer group of independent film and music fanatics. Along the way, we've grown an ever expanding young audience of underserved fans across the UK, while inspiring many flattering imitators and upsetting the industry dinosaurs! Our programme of 28 premiere films includes 16 first-time directors who champion the power of music and film as universal languages of hope and inclusion. We are also delighted to bring these amazing films on tour in 2019 to many alternative music cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Brighton and Nottingham – come and get 'em...!” Doc’n Roll programmer and festival CEO Vanessa Lobon Garcia says: “This is our fifth year of giving music lovers the opportunity to watch these films as they were designed to be watched – LOUD. We’re hugely proud to present an incredible line-up of films that represent who we are and what we stand for at Doc’n Roll, via the diversity of music subcultures represented. Doc’n Roll London’s fifth edition celebrates first-time filmmakers who bring a wide range of stories and themes to the screen – love and war, creativity and conflict, depression and hope, gender, equality, family and friendship – through the shared channel of music. These films allow us to travel to other countries, lives and cultures. If you love music, then you’ll love Doc’n Roll.” Six films premiering this year have been shortlisted for the Best Music Documentary 2018 prize, judged by a jury panel of Geoff Travis (founder, Rough Trade Records), Estella Adeyeri (musician and sound engineer), Kirsty Allison (poet and music journalist), Oli Harbottle (Head of Distribution, Dogwoof) and Jess Partridge (PRS Foundation and London in Stereo). Kicking the festival off in fine style on 1 November is the world premiere of Slow Club – Our Most Brilliant Friends at the Barbican Centre, featuring a Q&A with the band’s Rebecca Taylor and Charles Watson and director Piers Dennis. Tickets on sale from Friday 28th September via http://www.docnrollfestival.com/films/ Quick Listings: Thurs 1 Nov, 6.45pm – Barbican Centre Our Most Brilliant Friends (World Premiere + Q&A) Slow Club Fri 2 Nov, 6:30pm - The Photographers’ Gallery Kojey Radical short film (World Premiere + Q&A) Fri 2 Nov, 9pm – Genesis Cinema We Are The League (How Deep Do You Want It?) (World Premiere + Q&A) Anti-Nowhere League Sat 3 Nov, 3pm – Curzon Soho Some Other Guys - The Story of The Big Three (London Premiere + Q&A) The Big Three Sat 3 Nov, 4pm – Rio Dalston Something Left Behind (London Premiere + Q&A) The Wedding Present Sat 3 Nov, 6.30pm – Picturehouse Central My View: Clem Burke (London Premiere + Q&A) Sun 4 Nov, 2.30pm – Genesis Cinema RocKabul (UK Premiere + Q&A) Sun 4 Nov, 4pm – Barbican Centre Mantra: Sounds into Silence (UK premiere + Q&A) Sun 4 Nov, 5.30pm – Rio Dalston Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records + Q&A Wed 7 Nov, 8pm – Everyman King’s Cross Cinema Never Stop – A Music That Resists (UK Premiere + Q&A) Detroit Techno followed by after party at Spiritland Thur 8 Nov, 6.30pm – Picturehouse Central I Can Only Be Mary Lane (UK Premiere + Q&A) Thur 8 Nov, 8.45pm – Barbican Centre Anorac (London Premiere + Q&A) Welsh-language pop music Friday 9 Nov, 6.30pm – Picturehouse Central Is It Punk Music? (UK Premiere + Q&A) Cassels Sat 10 Nov, 3.00pm – The Castle Cinema Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records Sat 10 Nov, 3.30pm – Barbican Centre Anne Clark: I’ll Walk Out Into Tomorrow (UK Premiere + Q&A) Sat 10 Nov, 6pm – Curzon Soho Silvana (London Premiere + Q&A) Sat 10 Nov, 7pm – Genesis Cinema Stories from She Punks (World Premiere + Q&A) Sun 11 Nov 3pm – Picturehouse Central Blue Note Records – Beyond the Notes (London Premiere + Q&A) Sun 11 Nov, 4pm – Rio Dalston Sepultura Endurance (UK Premiere) Sun 11 Nov 5pm – Curzon Soho The Library Music Film (London Premiere + Q&A) Mon 12 Nov, 8.45pm – Barbican Centre Chilly Gonzales – Shut Up and Play The Piano + Q&A Tue 13 Nov, 8.30pm – Rich Mix My Darling Son: Morski & The Turbans (UK Premiere + Q&A) Wed 14 Nov, 6.30pm – Picturehouse Central Myth (UK Premiere + Q&A) Vasyl Slipak Opera Singer Wed 14 Nov, 8.30pm – Rich Mix Slave to the Grind (London Premiere + Q&A) Grindcore Thur 5 Nov, 8.45pm – Ritzy Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records Thur 15 Nov, 9.10pm – Picturehouse Central About a Badly Drawn Boy: The Story of The Hour Of Bewilderbeast (London Premiere + Q&A) Sat 17 Nov 1pm – Ronnie Scotts Blue Note Records – Beyond the Notes + Q&A Sat 17 Nov, 4pm – Picturehouse Central How They Got Over: Black Quartets and the Road to Rock’n’Roll (UK Premiere + Q&A) Sat 17 Nov, 6.30pm – Genesis Cinema So, Which Band Is Your Boyfriend In…? (London Premiere + Q&A) UK Female DIY and underground scene Sun 18 Nov, 4pm – Bertha Doc House Pure Love: The Voice Of Ella Fitzgerald Sun 18 Nov, 5.30pm – Curzon Soho Ethiopiques: Revolt of the Soul (UK Premiere + Q&A) Sun 18 Nov, 6pm – Picturehouse Central Listen To My Song (World Premiere + Q&A) Ex FARC Colombian musician Esteban Read the full article

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