Starring: Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, John Cazale, Talia Shire
The Godfather: Part II traces two generations of crime starting with the beginning of a gangster family in Sicily and early 1920s New York life of a young “godfather” Vito Corleone (played by Robert de Niro). It also focuses on his son Michael’s (Al Pacino) budding life of crime as he takes control over their crime syndicate stretching from Nevada to Cuba in the late 1950s. The Godfather films set the tone for a new wave of gangster films and this one is rightly considered an American classic; oh, and quite possibly cinema’s greatest sequel.
Revenge of the Mekons charts the unlikely career of the genre-defying collective notorious for being “the band that took punk ideology most seriously.” Featuring a Q&A with director Joe Angio and other special guests to be announced.
Born out of the 1977 British punk scene, the Mekons progressed from a group of socialist art students with no musical skills to the prolific, raucous progeny of Hank Williams. Joe Angio’s exuberant documentary follows their improbable history – a surprising and influential embrace of folk and country music; forays into the art world (collaborations with Vito Acconci and Kathy Acker); and consistent bad luck with major record labels. Revenge of the Mekons reveals how, four decades into an ever-evolving career, punk’s reigning contrarians continue to make bold, unpredictable music while staying true to the punk ethos.
Part of Nitehawk Cinema’s MUSIC DRIVEN signature series. Presented with our media partner, Noisey.
ART SEEN presents special weekend screenings of the darkly personal documentary on surrealist artist H.R. Giger, DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER’S WORLD. Courtesy Icarus Films.
Surrealist artist H. R. Giger (1940–2014) terrified audiences with his Oscar-winning monsters in Ridley Scott’s ALIEN. Sci-fi, horror, music, album covers, tattoos and fetish art have been influenced by his dark, intricate paintings and sculptures depicting birth, death and sex. Both a mesmerizing introduction to Giger’s oeuvre and a must-see for Giger devotees, Belinda Sallin’s definitive documentary DARK STAR: H. R. GIGER’S WORLD shares the intimate last years of the artist’s life and reveals how deeply he resided within his own artistic visions.
Behind the shuttered windows and ivy-covered walls of his residence in Zurich, Switzerland, DARK STAR brings viewers into Giger’s mysterious realm: from the first skull he was given by his father at the age of six, to macabre dinner parties with his close-knit team, to the grisly souvenirs from his time spent on the ALIEN set and reminiscences about model Li Tobler, Giger’s one-time muse, whose suicide reverberates throughout his work.
The film also addresses Giger’s complex relationship to the art world, where he defied traditional categories and embraced commercial projects for musicians including Debbie Harry, Korn, Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the Dead Kennedys. Fittingly enshrined in a museum dedicated to his work, Giger’s output includes sculpture, painting, drawing, film and architecture, integrating meticulous technique with a instantly-recognizable sensibility that has inspired generations of nightmares.
ART SEEN is in partnership with frieze.
Two mismatched personal trainers’ lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client.
Recently divorced, newly rich, and utterly miserable, Danny (Kevin Corrigan) would seem to be the perfect test subject for a definitive look at the relationship between money and happiness. Danny’s well-funded ennui is interrupted by a momentous trip to the local gym, where he meets self-styled guru/owner Trevor (Guy Pearce) and irresistibly acerbic trainer Kat (Cobie Smulders). Soon, their three lives are inextricably knotted, both professionally and personally.
Who will survive the attack of the killer lions in ROAR?
No animals were harmed in the making of this movie. 70 members of the cast and crew were. An unprecedented––and wholly unpredictable––action-adventure, Roar follows wildlife preservationist Hank (The Exorcist producer Noel Marshall in his sole and career-derailing turn as an actor and director), who lives harmoniously alongside a menagerie of 100+ untamed animals, including cheetahs, elephants, lions and tigers on a preservation in the African plains. When his wife and children arrive (real-life wife Tippi Hedren, The Birds, and step-daughter Melanie Griffith, Working Girl) for a visit, a long-brewing battle for dominance between the lions erupts and threatens their very lives.
Part of Nitehawk’s July ANIMAL ATTACKS! midnite and brunch series.
Based on a true story, INFINITELY POLAR BEAR is a funny and heartbreaking portrait of the many unexpected ways in which parents and children save each other.
The year is 1978. Cam Stuart, black sheep of an old New England family, is fresh off a manic-depressive breakdown. His wife, Maggie, has left him, taking their two young girls. Cam misses his family terribly; and when Maggie goes to New York City to get her MBA, she asks Cam to move in and take care of their daughters. Cam insists that Maggie return to help him every weekend, and eventually the four of them figure out a new and unconventional way to be a family.
Starring: Erwin Leder, Silvia Rabenreither, Edith Rosset
Banned across Europe during its initial release due to its intense violence, Austrian filmmaker Gerald Kargl’s brutal and formally transgressive Angst remains one of horror’s most under-appreciated works of sick genius. Ostensibly a look at a homicide-filled day in the life of an unnamed serial killer fresh out of prison, it’s a chilling exercise in intimate, documentary-like sadism in the hands of an overlooked director whose biggest fan is none other than Gaspar Noé. See why for yourself as Brooklyn Horror presents a special 40th anniversary screening. —Matt Barone
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory
In 1962, the iconic thriller The Manchurian Candidate foretold the story of media in shaping public opinion in an insider threat (homegrown terrorism anyone?) about a Korean War hero secretly programmed as a sleeper mole to assassinate a Presidential candidate. The pseudo-documentary initially flopped at the box office, was banned in Soviet bloc countries, and withdrawn from circulation after the assassination of JFK. It was also remade in 2004 with Denzel Washington and a demonic Hillary Clinton (whoops! Meryl Streep) to add, umm, color. The original, starring Frank Sinatra and Angela Lansbury, still stands up with a Hitchcock-like climax.
A remarkable film record of the legendary Everest expedition of 1924, newly restored by the BFI National Archive.
The third attempt to climb Everest culminated in the deaths of two of the finest climbers of their generation, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, and sparked an on-going debate over whether or not they did indeed reach the summit. Filming in brutally harsh conditions with a hand-cranked camera, Captain John Noel captured images of breathtaking beauty and considerable historic significance. The film is also among the earliest filmed records of life in Tibet and features sequences at Phari Dzong (Pagri), Shekar Dzong (Xegar) and Rongbuk monastery. But what resonates so deeply is Noel’s ability to frame the vulnerability, isolation and courage of people persevering in one of the world’s harshest landscapes.
The restoration by the BFI National Archive has transformed the quality of the surviving elements of the film and reintroduced the original colored tints and tones. Revealed by the restoration, few images in cinema are as epic – or moving – as the final shots of a blood red sunset over the Himalayas.
LOVE & MERCY explores the life, love and genius of Brian Wilson, co-founder of The Beach Boys.
LOVE & MERCY presents an unconventional portrait of Brian Wilson, the mercurial singer, songwriter and leader of The Beach Boys. Set against the era-defining catalog of Wilson’s music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the icon whose success came at extraordinary personal cost.
