Cafe not reopening Mon., June 8; reopening (for curbside service) date to be announced soon
Music: GoBruCcio improvise Thurs., May 23
The trio GoBruCcio play Best Video Performance Space on Thursday, May 23. The show starts at 8 PM and the cover is a sliding scale of $5-10 (pay what you can in that range).
Please join us for two sets of improvised music in one of New Haven’s great listening spaces. This trio—Bob Gorry (guitar), Pete Brunelli (bass), Peter Riccio (drums)—is creating textures and rhythms, working in space and shadow, treading a line between minimalism and free ambient soundscape. No birds will be harmed in the name of agitated air molecules.
Literary reading: “Remembered In Their Own Words: A Memorial Reading for Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon” Mon. Sept. 24, at 7:30 PM
The work of poets Donald Hall and Jane Kenyon will be highlighted in a memorial reading on Monday, Sept. 24, at 7:30 PM. Local writers Allan Appel, Daisy C. Abreu, Joy Bush and Stephen V. Kobasa will read from the oeuvre of the two renowned poets, who were husband and wife. A donation of $5 to support Best Video Film & Cultural Center is suggested.
Donald Hall, who passed away June 23 at the age of 89, was a Hamden native who attended Spring Glen Grammar School and Hamden High School. Writing in the Daily Nutmeg a few week’s before Hall’s passing, Kathy Czepiel noted some of his accomplishments:
The list of Hall’s accomplishments as a poet is long: editor of the Paris Review, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, U.S. poet laureate, author of multiple poetry volumes as well as memoirs, academic essays, children’s books and the perennial manual Writing Well (first published in 1971). Hall also taught at the University of Michigan, where he met his second wife, Jane Kenyon. She, too, became a critically acclaimed poet, but her death from leukemia in 1995 cut her career short and devastated Hall, who later grieved her in poetry and memoir.
Kenyon was an acclaimed poet in her own right; at her passing in 1995, she was New Hampshire poet laureate. From a post on poets.org:
During her lifetime Jane Kenyon published four books of poetry: Constance (Graywolf Press, 1993), Let Evening Come (Graywolf Press, 1990), The Boat of Quiet Hours (Graywolf Press, 1986), and From Room to Room (Alice James Books, 1978), as well as a book of translation, Twenty Poems of Anna Akhmatova (Ally Press, 1985). She received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1981.
UPCOMING EVENTS (Music events start at 8 PM unless otherwise noted; screenings start at 7 PM unless otherwise noted):
• Friday, Sept. 14. ACOUSTIC GUITAR: ROBERT MESSORE, STEPHEN NYSTRUP
• Sunday, Sept. 16, 2-4 PM. IRISH MUSIC JAM
• Monday, Sept. 17, 6 PM. GUITARTOWNCT MONTHLY EVENING BLUEGRASS JAM
• Wednesday, Sept. 19. OLD TIMEY/BLUES: ZU ZAZZ STRING ORKESTRA
• Thursday, Sept. 20. GARAGE ROCK: THE 509ERS
• Friday, Sept. 21. JAZZ: JAZZPHORIA (HAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ COMBO)
• Saturday, Sept. 22. SINGER-SONGWRITER: ANNE MARIE MENTA BAND
• Monday, Sept. 24, 7:30 PM. REMEMBERED IN THEIR OWN WORDS: A MEMORIAL READING FOR DONALD HALL & JANE KENYON
• Tuesday, Sept. 25. FILM SCREENING: NH DOCS—THE NEW HAVEN DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL & BVFCC PRESENT “FAMILY MEAL” with director JAMES O’CONNOR
• Wednesday, Sept. 26, 7:30 PM. BLUEGRASS: COURTNEY HARTMAN & TAYLOR ASHTON (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Thursday, Sept. 27, 7 PM. INDIE ROCK: PLANET WHAT (TULSA, OK), VIET RAHM (CHICAGO), DR. MARTINO, COMMERCIAL INTERRUPTION
• Friday, Sept. 28. AFRO-FUNK FUSION: THE LOST TRIBE
• Saturday, Sept. 29. JUG BAND MUSIC: WASHBOARD SLIM & THE BLUE LIGHTS
• Sunday, Sept. 30, 2 PM. FILM SCREENING: PROF. MARK SCHENKER PRESENTS “REAR WINDOW”
• Monday, Oct. 1, 7:30 PM. TRIVIA 237—A BEST VIDEO MONTHLY TRIVIA NIGHT
• Tuesday, Oct. 2, 7 PM. LITERARY READING: ALICE MATTISON, SANDI KAHN SHELTON
• Wednesday, Oct. 3, 7:30 PM. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: THE RIGHT OFFS; JAMES DARLING & THE NUCLEAR HEARTBREAK; CHRISTIAN MARRONE (SOLO ACOUSTIC)
• Thursday, Oct. 4. INDIE AMERICANA: TINY OCEAN
• Friday, Oct. 5. JAZZ: BADSLAX
• Tuesday, Oct. 9. BLUEGRASS: THE ELM CITY RAMBLERS
• Wednesday, Oct. 10, 7 PM. SECOND WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC
• Thursday, Oct. 11. SINGER-SONGWRITER: DAVID BROOKS
• Friday, Oct. 12. DEEP HAMDEN FESTIVAL: GOODNIGHT BLUE MOON, JUNEBUG SADDLE
• Saturday, Oct. 13. DEEP HAMDEN FESTIVAL: ALLEN LOWE—A LOVE SUPINE (with ADAM MATLOCK, BENJAMIN SMITH, ESDRAS LUBIN, JEFF CEDRONE, BOB GORRY)
• Sunday, Oct. 14. DEEP HAMDEN FESTIVAL: BRIAN JARAWA GRAY, LITTLE SILVER
• Wednesday. Oct. 17. ELM CITY NOISE FEST: performers TBA
• Thursday, Oct. 18. JAZZ: NICK DI MARIA QUARTET presents MR. MILLENNIAL’S REVENGE
• Friday, Oct. 19, 7:30 PM. BLUEGRASS: MISSY RAINES & THE NEW HIP (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Wednesday, Oct. 24, 7:30. PSYCHEDELIC: PHEOBE
• Thursday, Oct. 25. SOLO GUITAR: GLENN ROTH; SINGER-SONGWRITER: FRANK CRITELLI
• Friday, Oct. 26, 7 PM. ANNUAL HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: LIGHT UPON BLIGHT ENSEMBLE scores HORROR FILM
• Sunday, Oct. 28, 1 PM. PROF. MARK SCHENKER: HOW TO READ A FILM—A QUARTET OF NOIR (“THE KILLERS,” 1946)
• Thursday, Nov. 1. SINGER-SONGWRITERS: PONYBIRD, MEGGIE CZEPIEL, RAQUEL VIDAL, MELISSA TALHEM
• Friday, Nov. 2. INDIE ROCK: LYS GUILLORN & HER BAND, ELISA FLYNN
• Sunday, Nov. 4, 1 PM. PROF. MARK SCHENKER: HOW TO READ A FILM—A QUARTET OF NOIR (“OUT OF THE PAST,” 1947)
• Sunday, Nov. 4, 5-8 PM. GUITARTOWNCT MONTHLY SUNDAY BLUEGRASS JAM
• Monday, Nov. 5, 7:30 PM. TRIVIA 237—A BEST VIDEO MONTHLY TRIVIA NIGHT
• Wednesday, Nov. 7. IMPROVISATION: WEST STREET TRIO, FUCHSPRELLEN
• Thursday, Nov. 8. CLASSICAL GUITAR: MAX STEINHOFF
• Friday, Nov. 9, 7:30 PM. BLUEGRASS: KENNY & AMANDA SMITH (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Sunday, Nov. 11, 1 PM. PROF. MARK SCHENKER: HOW TO READ A FILM—A QUARTET OF NOIR (“THE THIRD MAN,” 1949)
• Monday, Nov. 12. FILM SCREENING: NH DOCS—THE NEW HAVEN DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL & BVFCC PRESENT “PLAYING SOLDIER” with director ED GENDRON
• Tuesday, Nov. 13, 7 PM. FILM SCREENING: “REGARDING GRAVITY” (PRESENTED & WITH MUSIC BY SHAWN PERSINGER)
• Saturday, Nov. 10. BLUEGRASS: GEORGIA RAE, THE ANGRY O’HARAS
• Wednesday, Nov. 14, 7 PM. SECOND WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC
• Thursday, Nov. 15. ROCK/PUNK/ROOTS: THE CHRISTIAN MARRONE TRIO
• Friday, Nov. 16. BLUES/ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: JOE MILLER & THE HIPSHAKERS
• Sunday, Nov. 18, 1 PM. PROF. MARK SCHENKER: HOW TO READ A FILM—A QUARTET OF NOIR (“A TOUCH OF EVIL,” 1958)
• Friday, Nov. 23, 7:30 PM. BLUEGRASS: DAVID PETERSON (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Wednesday, Nov. 28. INDIE FOLK: CLARA ENGEL; ART SONG: AN HISTORIC
• Friday, Nov. 30. INDIE ROCK: AUDIO JANE
• Saturday, Dec. 1. BLUES/JUGBAND MUSIC: WASHBOARD SLIM & THE BLUE LIGHTS
• Monday, Dec. 3, 7:30 PM. TRIVIA 237—A BEST VIDEO MONTHLY TRIVIA NIGHT
• Thursday, Dec. 6, 7:30 PM. SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND: FRANK CRITELLI, RICHARD NEAL, BOB CSUGIE, MARK MIRANDO
• Friday, Dec. 7, 7:30 PM. BLUEGRASS: HONEY DEWDROPS (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Wednesday, Dec. 12, 7 PM. SECOND WEDNESDAY OPEN MIC
• Friday, Dec. 21, 7:30 PM. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CHRISTMAS SHOW: DUST HAT, BRONSON ROCK
Music: Olive Tiger (solo), Daniel Eugene play Fri., Mar. 3
Indie folk singer-songwriters Olive Tiger (solo) and Daniel Eugene play Best Video Performance Space on Friday, Mar. 3. The show starts at 8 PM and the cover is $5.
Olive Tiger is driven by the obsessive need to bring imagined sounds to life, creating experiences of beauty and transcendence in the process. Based in New Haven, CT, Olive uses cello, guitar, and electronics to craft a unique blend of melody-driven orchestral sounds. Olive’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and cello are intensified by a loop pedal, crafting a result landing somewhere between My Brightest Diamond, tUnE-yArDs, St. Vincent, and Andrew Bird. Olive Tiger’s debut album “Until My Body Breaks” is available everywhere September 2016.
Daniel Eugene is a mystic-poet type from the rural New Haven outskirt of Bethany, CT — the hill before the valley.
Eugene’s major musical influences include both sacred and secular vocal music of the 16th century, especially Elizabethan part-songs from composers such as John Dowland and Thomas Tomkins. Jethro Tull continues as a major influence and it cannot be overestimated the impact on Eugene of their seminal prog-rock album “Thick As A Brick.” Certainly not least to be mentioned as important influences are the diva-ballads of such outstanding female pop vocalists as Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
• Wednesday, Mar. 1. INDIE ROCK: JELLYSHIRTS (rescheduled from Feb. 9)
• Thursday, Mar. 2. SURF ROCK: THE CLAMS
• Friday, Mar. 3. SINGER-SONGWRITER: OLIVE TIGER (solo), DANIEL EUGENE
• Sunday, Mar. 5. FREE FIRST SUNDAY AFTERNOON BLUEGRASS JAM HOSTED BY GUITARTOWNCT
• Monday, Mar. 6. FILM SERIES SCREENING: “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
• Tuesday, Mar. 7 ORCHESTRAL EXPERIMENTAL ROCK: FAUN AND A PAN FLUTE (from Atlanta, Georgia); EXPERIMENTAL: LARGE OBJECTS
• Wednesday, Mar. 8. JAZZ: BADSLAX
• Friday, Mar. 10. JAZZ GUITAR: MICHAEL COPPOLA
• Saturday, Mar. 11. JAZZ: THE FAKE MUSIC ENSEMBLE PLAYS “BLACK, BROWN AND BEIGE; YELLOW, TRANS AND QUEER: MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THIS (A PROTEST SUITE COMPOSED BY ALLEN LOWE)
• Monday, Mar. 13. FILM SERIES SCREENING: “MOONLIGHT”
• Wednesday, Mar. 15. SINGER-SONGWRITER: SHULA WEINSTEIN & BEN ROSS
• Thursday, Mar. 16. SINGER-SONGWRITER: SETH ADAM, KATHY MUIR
• Friday, Mar. 17. INDIE ROCK: DISCO TEEN 66
• Saturday, Mar. 18. INDIE FOLK: JAMES AM DOWNES, BROOMS, GABE MORTALI
• Wednesday, Mar. 22. CLASSICAL: 4-3-2-1: A EUPHONIUM AND FRIENDS PRODUCTION
• Friday, Mar. 24. SOLO GUITAR: GLENN ROTH; SINGER-SONGWRITER: BELLE OF THE FALL
• Saturday, Mar. 25. JAZZ: : THE FAKE MUSIC ENSEMBLE PLAYS “BLACK, BROWN AND BEIGE; YELLOW, TRANS AND QUEER: MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THIS (A PROTEST SUITE COMPOSED BY ALLEN LOWE)
• Sunday, Mar. 26. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “REPO MAN”
• Wednesday, Mar. 29. SINGER-SONGWRITER: LAMONT
• Thursday, Mar. 30. ALTERNATIVE/AMERICANA: THE WYRD BROTHERS; DANCY DREAM POP: FOVEA
• Saturday, Apr. 1. CULT FILM SCREENING: TBA
• Sunday, Apr. 2. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “WARGAMES”
• Thursday, Apr. 6. AVANT-GARDE: ELM FICTION
• Saturday, Apr. 8. CLASSICAL GUITAR: MAX LYMAN; AMERICAN PRIMITIVE GUITAR: ALEXANDER
• Sunday, Apr. 9. REDSCROLL RECORDS SCREENING AND MUSIC
• Friday, Apr. 14. JAZZ: JOVAN ALEXANDRE
• Sunday, Apr. 16. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “BLUE VELVET”
• Sunday, Apr. 23. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “DO THE RIGHT THING”
• Friday, Apr. 28. BLUEGRASS: THE SLOCAN RAMBLERS (A GUITARTOWNCT CONCERT)
• Sunday, Apr. 30. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “THELMA AND LOUISE”
• Sunday, May 7. GEN X FILM SERIES SCREENING: “MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDERETTE”
• Friday, May 12. SINGER-SONGWRITER: SHAWN TAYLOR & WANDERING ROOTS (CD Release)
• Friday, May 5. SINGER-SONGWRITERS IN THE ROUND: JENNIFER DAUPHINAIS, CHRISTOPHER BOUSQUET, FRANK CRITELLI
• Saturday, May 6. CULT FILM SCREENING: TBA
• Friday, June 2. JAZZ VOCAL: LINDA SATIN & JOE CARTER DUO
• Friday, June 16. BLUEGRASS: MILE TWELVE (GUITARTOWNCT PRODUCTIONS)
• Friday, June 23. CHAMBER ROCK: THE TET OFFENSIVE
• Friday, Aug. 4. BLUEGRASS: HONEY DEWDROPS (GUITARTOWNCT PRODUCTIONS)
• Friday, Sept. 15. BLUEGRASS: ROB ICKES & TREY HENSLEY (GUITARTOWNCT PRODUCTIONS)
New releases 8/9/16
Top Hits
A Hologram for the King (comedy/drama, Tom Hanks. Rotten Tomatoes: 70%. Metacritic: 58. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Stephen Holden’s Times review: “It takes an actor with the finesse of Tom Hanks to turn a story of confusion, perplexity, frustration and panic into an agreeably uncomfortable comedy. But that’s what Mr. Hanks accomplishes in the German filmmaker Tom Tykwer’s easygoing screen adaptation of Dave Eggers’ novel ‘A Hologram for the King.’ This fanciful tale about Alan Clay, an American consultant visiting Saudi Arabia to sell a holographic teleconferencing system to the Saudi government, has been transformed through the force of Mr. Hanks’s nice-guy personality. His performance elevates an ominous, downbeat reflection on American decline and runaway technology into a subdued absurdist farce with dark geopolitical undercurrents.” Read more…)
Confirmation (historical drama, Kerry Washington. Rotten Tomatoes: 80%. Metacritic: 72. From James Poniewozik’s New York Times television review: “‘Confirmation,’ a conventional but smart HBO docudrama airing Saturday, features a persuasive Kerry Washington as Ms. Hill and a fiery Wendell Pierce as Mr. Thomas. But it is also about the forces massed behind each of them and sitting in uneasy judgment.” Read more…)
Gods of Egypt (action, Gerard Butler. Rotten Tomatoes: 16%. Metacritic: 25. From Manohla Dargis’ New York Times review: “Bosomy damsels and brawny slabs; cheering digital crowds; a lachrymose sphinx; a bedazzled Geoffrey Rush; a galactic cruise ship; an Egyptian god played by the Dane Nikolaj Coster-Waldau; the sword-and-sandals enabler Gerard Butler; a smoky monster that from one angle looks like a fanged doughnut and from another an alarmingly enraged anus — ‘Gods of Egypt’ attests that they do make them like they used to, or at least like the King of the Bs, Roger Corman, once did, except with far more money. If ‘Gods of Egypt’ were any worse, it might be a masterpiece.” Read more…)
11.22.63 (Stephen King mini-series, James Franco. Rotten Tomatoes: 80%. Metacritic: 69. From Neil Genzlinger’s New York Times review: “‘11.22.63,’ which begins Monday, is a capable adaptation of [author Stephen] King’s 2011 best seller, appealing enough to snag a general audience and yet different enough from the book to give hard-core King fans plenty to grouse about.” Read more…)
New Foreign
Sweet Bean (Japan, drama, Kirin Kiki. Rotten Tomatoes: 87%. Metacritic: 60. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Glenn Kenny’s Times review: “Some of the most entertaining food-themed films ever made have arrived from Japan over the past 30 years. ‘Sweet Bean’ crosses this subgenre with the old-person-imparts-wisdom-to-younger-acolyte variety, but it is not typical of either kind of movie. As the two characters learn more about each other, sadness piles up at a pace that’s deliberate and relentless.” Read more…)
Parched (India, drama, Tannishta Chatterjee. Rotten Tomatoes: 92%. Metacritic: 67. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Glenn Kenny’s Times review: “The title of this movie, written and directed by Leena Yadav, is an apt description of the desert village in northwestern India which its three female leads toil and suffer. The women themselves, however, are thankfully not arid in any sense, though frequently starved for tenderness.” Read more…)
A Monster With a Thousand Heads (Mexico, drama, Jana Raluy. Rotten Tomatoes: 89%. Metacritic: 71. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Stephen Holden’s Times review: “The mounting frustrations of Sonia Bonet [Jana Raluy], a middle-aged Mexican woman with a gravely ill husband, as she navigates the impenetrable bureaucracy of an insurance company in ‘A Monster With a Thousand Heads’ add up to a nightmare of bureaucratic stonewalling. Sonia is determined to secure her dying husband, Guillermo, an expensive pain medication to which he’s entitled but that the company is reluctant to provide. Her struggle is an enraging depiction of the plight of an individual fighting a corrupt, greedy system.” Read more…)
New Classic DVDs (pre-1960)
The Mississippi Gambler (1953, Technicolor period drama, Tyrone Power)
New releases 6/28/16
Top Hits
Eye in the Sky (war drama, Helen Mirren. Rotten Tomatoes: 95%. Metacritic: 73. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Stephen Holden’s Times review: “An alternative title to ‘Eye in the Sky,’ a riveting thriller about drone warfare and its perils, might be ‘Passing the Buck.’ When urgent life-or-death decisions are required in a race against time to kill terrorists preparing a suicide attack, officials, wary of being held responsible for civilian casualties, repeatedly “refer up” to higher authorities for final approval.” Read more…)
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (comedy, Tina Fey. Rotten Tomatoes: 68%. Metacritic: 57. From Nicolas Rapold’s New York Times review: “Based on Kim Barker’s memoir, ‘The Taliban Shuffle,’ ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot’ contains the fondly, proudly recalled details of battle-tested experience. Kim — last name ‘Baker’ in the film — goes from typing TV news in an office to a tour of duty as a journalist in war-ravaged Afghanistan. She dashes into a shootout to get video, parries the clumsy advances of an Afghan government official and frequents the hormone-addled expat party scene. Somewhere along the way, she also finds herself and cracks a few jokes. That’s not entirely unexpected, because Kim is played by Tina Fey, an old hand at portraying the self-deprecating, nerdy workaholic getting a handle on her personal life.” Read more…)
Kung Fu Panda 3 (animated feature, Jack Black [voice]. Rotten Tomatoes: 86%. Metacritic: 66. From Neil Genzlinger’s New York Times review: “That give this entry in the franchise [directed by Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh Nelson] a darker feel than the first two — young viewers will have to process not only the scary Kai, but also thoughts of mortality, absence, selfhood, afterlife. But if they’re familiar with the earlier movies, they’ll know that the tenacious Po is not about to let his beloved teacher, Shifu [Mr. Hoffman], or his five fighting sidekicks [voiced by Ms. Jolie, Ms. Liu, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan and David Cross] be turned into trinkets.” Read more…)
Mistress America (comedy, Greta Gerwig. Rotten Tomatoes: 83%. Metacritic: 75. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Stephen Holden’s Times review: “Noah Baumbach’s ‘Mistress America’ advertises itself as a screwball comedy. But this smart, fast-paced film is not really the zany, lighter-than-air divertissement that the term usually conjures. There are scattered sharp one-liners, but not enough to infuse the movie with a sustained bonhomie. It’s fair to say that “Mistress America” revises and subverts this most buoyant of genres with a steady undertow of anxiety, dread and anger.” Read more…)
New Blu-Ray
Eye in the Sky
New Foreign
Rams (Iceland, drama, Sigurdur Sigurjonsson. Rotten Tomatoes: 95%. Metacritic: 82. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From A.O. Scott’s Times review: “Even though they live in rural Iceland, thousands of miles from the Holy Land, and in a modern reality of computers and mechanized farm equipment, Gummi and Kiddi have a decidedly Old Testament vibe. It’s not just the untended beards and the well-tended sheep. The two men, who live on neighboring farms in a quiet valley, are feuding brothers, locked in a sibling rivalry that recalls Jacob and Esau or Cain and Abel. The sources of the bad blood are never specified, but it trickles though ‘Rams,’ Grimur Hakonarson’s new film, like an icy stream.” Read more…)
Rabin: The Last Day (Israel, docudrama, Yitzhak Hizkiya. Rotten Tomatoes: 65%. Metacritic: 66. From A.O. Scott’s New York Times review of Israeli director Amos Gitai’s movie about the assassintion of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: “Rabin” is not merely an expression of political pessimism, though it certainly is that. In movie terms, it is radically negative, undermining any of the genre categories that might make sense of it. It’s a political thriller with an almost infinite tolerance for tedium, a detective story with an obvious culprit, a courtroom procedural caught up in irrelevant details. It’s a profoundly frustrating movie, which is to say that it’s an authentic expression of profound frustration.” Read more…)
Detective Montalbano: Episodes 27 & 28 (Italy, detective series, Luca Zingaretti)
Young Montalbano: Episodes 7-9 (Italy, detective series, Michele Riondino)
Margarita with a Straw (India/United States, drama/romance, Kalki Koechlin. Rotten Tomatoes: 92%. Metacritic: 63.)
New American Back Catalog DVDs (post-1960)
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, legendary Stanley Kubrick Cold War black comedy in Criterion edition, Peter Sellers. Rotten Tomatoes: 99%. Metacritic: 96. From Bosley Crowther’s 1964 New York Times review[requires log-in]: “Stanley Kubrick’s new film, called ‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,’ is beyond any question the most shattering sick joke I’ve ever come across. And I say that with full recollection of some of the grim ones I’ve heard from Mort Sahl, some of the cartoons I’ve seen by Charles Addams, and some of the stuff I’ve read in Mad magazine. For this brazenly jesting speculation of what might happen within the Pentagon and within the most responsible council of the President of the United States if some maniac Air Force general should suddenly order a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union is at the same time one of the cleverest and most incisive satiric thrusts at the awkwardness and folly of the military that has ever been on the screen.” Read more…)
Really Weird Tales (1987, made-for-TV comedy genre spoofs, John Candy)
New Documentaries
Elstree 1976 (Star Wars extras, pop culture, movie history. Rotten Tomatoes: 81%. Metacritic: 66. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Neil Genzlinger’s Times review: “‘Elstree 1976,’ a documentary both sweet and bittersweet, might sound as if it’s only for “Star Wars” nerds. But in telling a small story of bit players, the director, Jon Spira, captures a more universal picture of the droplets of fame created by a pop-culture tidal wave.” Read more…)
Dream/Killer (criminal justice, wrongful conviction. From Ken Jaworski’s New York Times review: “I won’t reveal the end of ‘dream/killer,’ but I will predict what you’ll feel after watching it: This documentary elicits large measures of incredulity, frustration and astonishment.” Read more…)
Fastball (sports, baseball, physics, Narrated by Kevin Costner. Rotten Tomatoes: 89%. Metacritic: 74. A New York Times Critic’s Pick. From Neil Genzlinger’s Times review: “The narration, read by Kevin Costner, finds a certain elemental beauty in the confrontation that takes place when a good hitter is challenged by a good fastball pitcher. It is, Mr. Costner says, ‘a showdown between the fastest it’s humanly possible to throw a ball and the fastest it’s humanly possible to react to it.’ This appealing documentary makes you understand why aficionados regard baseball as a form of poetry.” Read more…)
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (movie history, sci-fi/fantasy, stop motion animation. Rotten Tomatoes: 91%.)
New Gay & Lesbian DVDs
Margarita with a Straw (India/United States, drama/romance, Kalki Koechlin)
New Children’s DVDs
Kung Fu Panda 3 (animated feature, Jack Black [voice]. Rotten Tomatoes: 86%. Metacritic: 66. From Neil Genzlinger’s New York Times review: “That give this entry in the franchise [directed by Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh Nelson] a darker feel than the first two — young viewers will have to process not only the scary Kai, but also thoughts of mortality, absence, selfhood, afterlife. But if they’re familiar with the earlier movies, they’ll know that the tenacious Po is not about to let his beloved teacher, Shifu [Mr. Hoffman], or his five fighting sidekicks [voiced by Ms. Jolie, Ms. Liu, Seth Rogen, Jackie Chan and David Cross] be turned into trinkets.” Read more…)
New releases 5/3/16
Top Hits
Joy (drama/biopic, Jennifer Lawrence. Rotten Tomatoes: 61%. Metacritic: 56. From A.O. Scott’s New York Times review: “On paper, David O. Russell’s new film, ‘Joy,’ looks perfectly straightforward, even square. It’s a bootstrap-capitalist fable, a tale of adversity overcome and rags exchanged for riches, a case study in success suitable for a self-improvement seminar. But Mr. Russell likes to tell conventional stories in unconventional ways. In the chapter of his career that began with ‘The Fighter’ [2010], he has emerged as something of a genre magician, able to make formulas and clichés disappear behind a smoke screen of artful misdirection. ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ [2012] was an assembly-line romantic comedy tricked out with a wild paint job and a souped-up, custom-built engine. ‘American Hustle’ [2013] was a caper movie blown up into a pop opera. ‘The Fighter’ itself — the movie ‘Joy’ most resembles — was a boxing picture with an irregular heartbeat and a wildly talented cast.” Read more…)
Remember (thriller, Christopher Plummer. Rotten Tomatoes: 70%. Metacritic: 52. From Neil Genzlinger’s New York Times review: “Christopher Plummer puts on a master class in acting, and his director, Atom Egoyan, delivers one in audience manipulation in ‘Remember,’ a psychological thriller featuring that most blood-boiling of plot devices: a Nazi who escaped justice.” Read more…)
Glassland (drama, Toni Collette. Rotten Tomatoes: 81%. Metacritic: 66. From Stephen Holden’s New York Times review: “In ‘Glassland,’ Toni Collette’s portrayal of an embittered Irish woman drinking herself to death in her shabby home on the outskirts of Dublin, is one of the most unsparing screen depictions of extreme alcoholism that I can remember. For much of its running time, the movie gazes unblinkingly into an abyss of poverty and hopelessness. And the environment created by the writer and director Gerard Barrett and the cinematographer Piers McGrail looks as drab and forbidding as any ’60s British kitchen-sink drama.” Read more…)
The 5th Wave (sci-fi/action, Chloe Grace Moretz. Rotten Tomatoes: 17%. Metacritic: 33. From Andy Webster’s New York Times review: “Adapted from Rick Yancey’s young adult novel, the glossy if muddled ‘The 5th Wave’ blends the alien overlord airships of “Independence Day,” the natural disaster effects of ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and the auto-wreck-strewn highways of ‘Zombieland’ with a dusting of ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.'” Read more…)
A Royal Night Out (historical drama/romance, Emily Watson. Rotten Tomatoes: 72%. Metacritic: 58. From Stephen Holden’s new York Times review: “The aggressively charming ‘A Royal Night Out,’ is a grown-up fairy tale for audiences whose hearts go pitter-pat at the mere mention of anything to do with the British royal family. Sorry to be a spoilsport, reader, but my heart sinks at the sight of people bowing and scraping before aristocrats with titles they haven’t earned. It all seems so silly. This what-if fantasy, set on V.E. Day, May 8, 1945, follows the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, then 19 and 14, through an imaginary night of adventure when they are allowed out of Buckingham Palace to celebrate the official end of the war in Europe.” Read more…)
New Blu-Ray
Joy
New Foreign
Arabian Nights Vols. 1-3 (Portugal, drama/documentary. Rotten Tomatoes: 96%. Metacritic: 80. From A.O. Scott’s New York Times review: “The stories that make up ‘Arabian Nights,’ the anxious, ambitious new film by the Portuguese director Miguel Gomes, are nestled inside two distinct frames. One is what the title would lead you to expect: Scheherazade, daughter of the grand vizier of Baghdad, invents tales to prevent her fearsome new husband, the sultan, from taking her life. Each vignette in this three-part movie belongs to one of Scheherazade’s 1,001 nights. But Mr. Gomes isn’t adapting a famous work of literature. He’s using it as a conceit, a plaything and a structural principle. A lavishly costumed anthology of exotic fables may be the movie he dreams of making, but reality keeps distracting him. Or maybe it’s the other way around: His ambition to make a rigorous documentary about the state of the Portuguese working class is continually interrupted by dreams of far-off lands and naked women.” Read more…)
The Club (Chile, drama, Alfredo Castro. Rotten Tomatoes: 86%. Metacritic: 73. From A.O. Scott’s New York Times review: “Tom McCarthy’s ‘Spotlight,’ deservedly nominated for a bunch of Oscars, examines evil from the outside, shining a beam of journalistic illumination at the abuse and corruption that festered within the Roman Catholic hierarchy for decades. ‘The Club,’ the latest feature from the Chilean writer-director Pablo Larraín, looks at the same issue from the inside out, bringing the viewer into an uncomfortable state of intimacy with the perpetrators of hideous crimes.” Read more…)
New Classic DVDs (pre-1960)
Song of Russia (1944, pre-Cold War drama/romance, Robert Taylor. From Bosley Crowther’s 1944 New York Times review [log-in required]: “Prepare yourself for a surprise, folks—an exciting surprise, in fact—in the shape of ‘Song of Russia,’ which came to the Capitol yesterday. To judge by advance indications, which advertised the film as “the adventures of a Yank in Moscow,” with Robert Taylor in that inauspicious role, one might be led to imagine something just a shade that side of taste and tact. But it isn’t. It is really a honey of a topical musical film, full of rare good humor, rich vitality and a proper respect for the Russians’ fight in this war. Indeed, it comes very close to being the best film on Russia yet made in the popular Hollywood idiom. And it is sure to have wide appeal.” Read more…)
New American Back Catalog (post-1960)
Easy Rider (1969, counterculture classic, Criterion edition, Peter Fonda. Rotten Tomatoes: 88%. Metacritic: 86. From Vincent Canby’s 1969 New York Times review [log-in required]: “‘Easy Rider,’ which opened yesterday at the Beekman, is a motorcycle drama with decidedly superior airs about it. How else are we to approach a movie that advertises itself: ‘A man went looking for America. And couldn’t find it anywhere’? Right away you know that something superior is up, that somebody is making a statement, and you can bet your boots (cowboy, black leather) that it’s going to put down the whole rotten scene. What scene? Whose? Why? Man, I can’t tell you if you don’t know. What I mean to say is, if you don’t groove, you don’t groove. You might as well split.” It’s now seen as a counterculture classic but Canby didn’t dig it when it came out. Read more…)
New British
A Royal Night Out (historical drama/romance, Emily Watson. Rotten Tomatoes: 72%. Metacritic: 58.)
Oscar-oriented film series starts Mon., Jan. 11, with “The Walk” (UPDATED 12/30/15)
Best Video Film & Cultural Center launches a new seven-movie, Oscar-oriented film series on Monday, Jan. 11. Each screening starts at 7 PM and admission is $7. (Note: The schedule has been updated from the original post.)
Yes, there’s the Political Election but first, there’s the Oscar Race: Seven Oscar contenders—for one award or another—straight outta the theater to Best Video Film & Cultural Center’s Performance Space. The series runs consecutive Mondays from Jan. 11 through Feb. 22. (The televised Oscar ceremony is on Sunday, Feb. 28.)
Official Oscar nominations are unveiled on Jan. 18.
See the films, receive your ballot, and become a winner yourself — with a BVFCC prize for the most correct choices!
MON., JAN. 11 • THE WALK – A visual tour de force on our 100” screen in Blu ray, this is director Robert Zemickis’ (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump, Cast Away) best shot for his first Best PIcture Oscar. High suspense and tense drama accompany high wire artist Philippe Petit’s attempt to walk the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.
MON., JAN. 18 • STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON PAWN SACRIFICE – Chess prodigy Bobbie Fischer (Tobey Maguire) challenges the Soviet Empire during the Cold War while battling his own notorious demons (not to mention the CIA). With Liev Shreiber and Peter Saarsgaard.
MON., JAN. 25 • STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON – This highly entertaining and illuminating film dominated the box office with strong reviews. Offering depth in culture rather than simple glorification, this true-life story of the emergence of rap against L.A. police brutality in the ‘80s, is as relevant today as it was then.
MON., FEB. 1 • EVEREST THE MARTIAN – On a manned mission to Mars, an astronaut (Matt Damon) is presumed dead after a fierce storm and abandoned by his crew. Alone on a hostile planet, he must use his ingenuity, wit, and spirit to survive and find a way to signal earth that he is alive. Directed any Ridley Scott – smart, thrilling, and surprisingly funny.
MON., FEB. 8 • SICARIO – In this highly acclaimed thriller, an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) negotiates the lawless border between the USA and Mexico, and the porous loyalties of the elite agency (Benito del Torio, Josh Brolin) that hired her.
MON., FEB. 15 • SUFFRAGETTE – Carrie Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter portray early-century radicalized foot soldiers willing to sacrifice their jobs, homes, children, and lives for the right of all women to control their lives. Still a relevant issue for 2016.
MON., FEB. 22 • 99 HOMES – Taking place in Orlando, a young father (Andrew Garfield) struggles to get his home back (and keep his integrity) by working for the ambitious real estate broker (Michael Shannon) who foreclosed him. My favorite film of 2015.
Available now for a limited time: Gift bundles of a year of rentals, BVFCC t-shirt and Kennedy’s Kettle Corn
For a limited time, get a great gift bundle for the movie lover in your family—a year of free rentals (plus two extra months!), a black or blue t-shirt featuring the new Best Video Film & Cultural Center logo on the back and a bag of delicious locally-made Kennedy’s Kettle Corn!
Since we began offering them at the beginning of November, the new Membership Rental Plans have become very popular. BVFCC members on the new plans say they are renting more films. And even though it isn’t free, it feels free every time they come into BVFCC and get another movie without having to pull out their wallet.
• The One Movie Plan Gift Bundle — For $130, give a gift certificate for The One Movie Plan (normally $120), a new Best Video Film & Cultural Center t-shirt in either black or blue (a $15 value) and a bag of delicious locally-made Kennedy’s Kettle Corn.
• The Two Movie Plan Gift Bundle — For $250, give a gift certificate for The Two Movie Plan (normally $240), a new Best Video Film & Cultural Center t-shirt in either black or blue (a $15 value) and a bag of delicious locally-made Kennedy’s Kettle Corn.
• The Four Movie Plan Gift Bundle — For $360, give a gift certificate for The Four Movie Plan (normally $360) and get a new Best Video Film & Cultural Center t-shirt in either black or blue (a $15 value) and a bag of delicious locally-made Kennedy’s Kettle Corn added in for free.
Come into Best Video Film & Cultural Center and give the movie lover on your list the gift of endless movie-watching pleasure in 2016.