Starring: William Holden, Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stroheim, Nancy Olson, Fred Clark, Jack Webb
Are you ready for your close up? Sunset Boulevard is Billy Wilder’s essential Hollywood noir about the bizarre relationship between a down-and-out screenwriter and a silent movie star has-been. Starring real-life silent era actress Gloria Swanson, the film weaves together a changing moment in the movie business with the extreme things people will do to hold on or gain industry success. It’s pretty unique in the fact that the audience knows the fate of the leading man from the very first scene and, from that point on, his ghost leads us through his unfortunate journey.
Starring: Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Giancarlo Esposito, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Rosie Perez, Isaach de Bankolé, Béatrice Dalle, Roberto Benigni, Paolo Bonacelli
Five cities. Five taxicabs. A multitude of strangers in the night.
Night on Earth is one of Jim Jarmusch’s most charming and beloved films. So spend the night with us and this extraordinary international cast of actors for this hilarious quintet of tales of urban displacement and existential angst, spanning time zones, continents, and languages. Stories include a no-nonsense taxi driver Corky (Winona Ryder) and a Hollywood casting agent (Gena Rowlands), a Parisian cabbie (Isaach De Bankolé) and some rowdy African diplomats, and an Italian taxi ride that finds quirky driver Gino (Roberto Benigni) making a lively confession to an ailing priest. It’s a lovingly askew view of humanity from the passenger seat which, frankly, we need to see right now.
Take a trip to the beautifully strange Memphis, Tennessee in Jim Jarmusch’s MYSTERY TRAIN.
Presented on 35mm.
Mystery Train is Jim Jarmusch’s episodic love letter to Memphis, Tennessee and one of his very best films. A beautiful pilgrimage into this wonderfully weird place, Mystery Train pays tribute to all the things that make the city sing: Stax Records, Sun Studios, Graceland, Carl Perkins, and the King himself (it is named after an Elvis Presley song, after all). Separate stories that include a kitsch-obsessed Japanese couple (heads up, look out for Paterson cameo), an Italian widow, and a trio of amateur robbers are all linked together by a seedy hotel and its night clerk played by Memphis legend by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, and, of course, Elvis!
Part of Nitehawk’s January JARMUSCH AT MIDNITE midnite series.
Starring: Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Frank Minucci, Damon Whitaker
Roger Ebert wrote, “It helps to understand that the hero of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is crazy. Of course he is.” The film stars Forest Whitaker as this crazy hero, a modern day mafia hit man greatly inspired by the old ways of the samurai, plus it features a soundtrack by the RZA. So, you know it’s good. It’s an inventive and surreal twist on the gangster film as Ghost Dog is a loyal contract killer who is now the target after a job gone wrong. Just remember, “The Way of the Samurai is one of immediacy, and it is best to dash in headlong.”
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska
Set against the desolation of the once-vibrant cities of Detroit and Tangier, an underground musician, deeply depressed by the direction the world is going, reunites with his resilient and enigmatic lover. Their love story has already endured at least several centuries, but their debauched, romantic idyll is soon disrupted by the woman’s wild and uncontrollable younger sister. Can these wise, but fragile, outsiders continue to survive as the modern world collapses around them?
Based on a true story… that isn’t over yet.
Presented in 35mm.
Late one evening, an invisible evil descends on Carla Moran, a young mother living in California. Attacked and raped in the night by her invisible assailant, the woman seeks help from friends and family; doctors and psychiatrists — all of whom think her more crazy than under assault. It’s not until she meets two parapsychologists that her case gets taken seriously. Desperate, Carla agrees to a dangerous experiment to lure the entity into a trap using her as the bait. Based on a true story (except not really).
Part of Nitehawk’s January BECAUSE I’M EVIL midnite series.
LA LA LAND is an original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams.
Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Damien Chazelle, LA LA LAND tells the story of Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a dedicated jazz musician, who are struggling to make ends meet in a city known for crushing hopes and breaking hearts. Set in modern day Los Angeles, this original musical about everyday life explores the joy and pain of pursuing your dreams. This film is just what the doctor ordered.
Have yourself a dirty little Christmas on THE DEUCE, when the Jockeys – and guest curator Casey Scott – stop by the Capri Cinema for Shaun Costello’s THE PASSIONS OF CAROL!!
Plus: Prizes and surprises, Fernet-Branca cocktails featured at the after-party, and music by Maestro Jeff! Presented by THE DEUCE JOCKEYS: Jeff, Andy, and Joe!
From the twisted and brilliant mind of New York adult film legend Shaun Costello comes a novel take on Dickens’ classic “A Christmas Carol”, unlike anything ever produced before or since in the annals of X-rated cinema. Simultaneously opening at the Quad Cinema (yes, that Quad Cinema) and the Capri on March 24, 1975, the Quad audience wasn’t prepared for what hit them, and the film closed there within two weeks. But the Capri found great success with this unexpected erotic masterpiece, running the film for over two months, to the delight of Christmas fetishists city-wide.
Cult starlet Mary Stuart stars as Carol Scrooge, a haughty magazine publisher with a heart of ice who makes life hell for her most devoted employee (the legendary Jamie Gillis). Come Christmas Eve, Carol is visited by the ghost of former partner Lance Marley (Mr. 10 ½” Marc Stevens), as well as three spirits who show her the errors of her wicked, wicked ways. Costello, working under the pseudonym “Amanda Barton”, crafts a visually stylish and sexually provocative tale within his limited budget and shooting schedule, hinting at bigger things ahead in his lengthy and impressive directorial career. Featuring some of the greatest unsung names in New York adult cinema, including Alan Marlow, Ashley Moore, Susan Sloan, Day Jason, and future political candidate Sonny Landham, THE PASSIONS OF CAROL is a festive delight from start to finish.
MUSIC DRIVEN presents a screening of the new doc on Paul “HR” Hudson from Bad Brains in HR “FINDING JOSEPH 1.”
Include a Q&A with Paul H.R. Hudson & Director James Lathos.
HR “Finding Joseph I” is a documentary chronicling the eccentric life and struggles of punk rock reggae singer, Paul “HR” Hudson from Bad Brains. The charismatic frontman’s explosive live performances helped pioneer hardcore punk while delivering an enlightening message of positive mental attitude. HR’s heavy devotion to the Rastafarian faith guided him in a spiritual direction leaving the band several times to explore his love for reggae music. Over the years HR’s increasingly unpredictable and abnormal behavior has many convinced that he his suffering from mental illness. Finding Joseph I delicately illustrates the true story behind the legendary lead singers life, career and struggles with never before seen archival footage, photography and exclusive interviews.
Just in time for Thanksgiving. Nitehawk salutes the great Herschell Gordon Lewis with midnite screenings of his classic BLOOD FEAST.
Presented on 35mm!
Get ready for a splatter-feast! In the sleepy suburbs of Miami, seemingly normal Egyptian immigrant Fuad Ramses runs a successful catering business. He also murders young women and plans to use their body parts to revive the goddess Ishtar. The insane Ramses hypnotizes a socialite in order to land a job catering a party for her debutante daughter, Suzette Fremont, and turns the event into an evening of gruesome deaths, bloody dismemberment and ritual sacrifice.
