New York City may get all the new releases first, but there’s a lot more to the film culture here than just what’s in the mainstream theaters! Every week we bring you the top 5 cinematic events to check out.
New Directors/New Films (Film Society at Lincoln Center/MoMa)
This is the big one this week (and next). The annual Lincoln Center program has some highly anticipated films that have been garnering acclaim at Sundance, Toronto, and elsewhere, most notably Alexandre Moors’ Blue Caprice (which is opening the series), Shane Carruth’s Upstream Color, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, Kazik Radwanski’s Tower, and Jazmin Lopez’s Leones. That’s but the tip of the iceberg, and the dedicated NYC cinephile could do worse than just seeing the whole damn thing; this week’s top 5 could easily just be ND/NF films and be close to comprehensive.
Ongoing
The Gatekeepers (Film Forum)
Held over for another week, The Gatekeepers is a documentary consisting of interviews with former heads of the Shin Bet, the Israeli state security agency. The organization is, by its very nature, a highly secretive one, thus these interviews lend new perspectives to the last few decades of Israeli history. The New York Times‘ A.O. Scott said the film “is guaranteed to trouble anyone, left, right, center, or head in the sand, with confidence or certainty in his or her own opinions.” If that sounds like your cup of tea, this will be your cup of tea.
Ongoing
Freaks (Nithehawk Cinema)
Tod Browning’s 1932 classic midnight movie gets the literal midnight movie treatment at Williamsburg’s increasingly essential movie house. As always with the Nitehawk’s midnight movies, whether it’s your first time or zillionth, seeing such movies with a crowd is always a good idea.
Friday, March 22nd, 12:15am
Trash Humpers (Museum of the Moving Image)
With his new Spring Breakers getting such delirious raves from critics and setting limited-release box-office records, here’s a chance to see Harmony Korine’s last film (which Spring Breakers has already outgrossed), which features people having sex with dumpsters and is shot on VHS. Seriously, though, when are you ever going to get that opportunity again?
Friday, March 22nd, 7pm
Pont du Nord (BAM)
Jacques Rivette, y’all. Time out London raves, of his 1981 film, “…underworld and wonderland merge in the open air; joyous whimsy blurs with justified worry; and Rivette risks exploring the scarifying powers of fantasy and paranoia with a panning, punning documentary eye.” It’s been described as a darker, more paranoid companion piece to Céline and Julie Go Boating, and who doesn’t want to see a darker, more paranoid companion piece to Céline and Julie Go Boating? No one, that’s who.
March 22-28
One thought on “What’s Playing in NYC This Weekend? (3/19-3/26)”
I’m in the minority in that Trash Humpers is, in its own strange way, kind of brilliant. It meanders and it’s disgusting, but I really can’t think of a more accurate depiction of what a psychopath would do with a video camera. It’s disturbing and unlike anything else. I’d certainly pay to see it on the big screen just for everyone’s befuddled reactions.