Starring: Bernadette Peters, Adam Coleman Howard, Nick Corri, Madeleine Potter, Chris Sarandon, Mary Beth Hurt

As downtown rent prices increase and money fails to trickle down to the avant-garde artist set, Eleanor feels trapped in her live-in relationship with her boyfriend Stash (Adam Coleman Howard), a volatile artist whose temper might be more negligible than his talent. What he lacks in real feeling Stash makes up for in real estate, and the waifish but worldly Eleanor endures Stash’s infidelities with his rich groupie Daria (Madeleine Potter) as she struggles for recognition as an artist in her own right.

Taking their cue from Tama Janowitz’s edgy prose, on which she based her screenplay for the film, director James Ivory and cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts use a bold palate of colors and light to evoke New York as seen through the eyes of young artists. The avant-garde art world is here in form as well as content: split screen techniques that evoke Warhol (who was interested in filming these stories) and a relentless use of primary colors are the visual counterpart of these characters’ artistic styles and artistic temperaments. Slaves, which was very well received by European audiences, features some of Merchant Ivory’s most thoroughly realized design elements by production designer David Gropman and costume designer Carol Ramsey. Janowitz called the characters in her stories ‘modern saints,’ and ‘early Madonna’ might best describe the bold and outrageous clothes Ramsey creates for Eleanor and her circle.

Though many audiences, expecting another ‘frock film,’ were surprised by Merchant and Ivory’s unusual choice of subject matter in 1989, Eleanor has come to fit into the Merchant Ivory canon both as a displaced wanderer – a subject explored by the filmmakers again and again – and as a young female artist whose own talents are dominated by a temperamental male artist, the province of Francoise Gilot in Surviving Picasso.

A person talking during a film can be the most annoying thing imaginable – unless that person is the director. Join Vimeo curator Jeffrey Bowers as he screens recent and upcoming Staff Picked films with live, unscripted commentary from some of the best creators on Vimeo. Founded in 2008, Vimeo Staff Picks has emerged as one of the preeminent channels for online video and one of the most coveted awards for young filmmakers, having helped launch the careers of many celebrated directors. Hear from the next generation of storytellers in a format that’s sure to be eclectic and insightful.

The entire program will screen once, then a second time with commentary by the directors.

the Scared is Scared
Director Bianca Giaever
2013 / 8 MIN
I asked a six-year-old what my movie should be about, and this is what he told me.

A Brief History of John Baldessari
Directors Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman
2012 / 6 MIN
The life and work of artist John Baldessari.

Hurray for the Riff Raff – Pa’lante
Director Kristian Mercado
2018 / 8 MIN
Pa’lante is the story of an estranged family trying to reconnect in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

Prom Night
Director Celia Rowlson Hall
2010 / 9 MIN
Prom night is ritual, disco balls, expectation, corsages, dresses, holding, sweating, status, dancing slow and fast.

Young Thug – Wyclef Jean
Directors Ryan Staake and Young Thug
2018 / 5 MIN
Ryan Staake co-directed this music video with Young Thug, but never met him and he’s the star.

Starring: Mindy Kaling, Emma Thompson, John Lithgow

A legendary late-night talk show host’s world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer. Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision has unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women separated by culture and generation are united by their love of a biting punchline.

Starring: Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Luke Evans, McKaley Miller, Missi Pyle

Oscar winner Octavia Spencer stars as Sue Ann, a loner who keeps to herself in her quiet Ohio town. One day, she is asked by Maggie, a new teenager in town, to buy some booze for her and her friends, and Sue Ann sees the chance to make some unsuspecting, if younger, friends of her own. She offers the kids the chance to avoid drinking and driving by hanging out in the basement of her home. But there are some house rules: One of the kids has to stay sober. Don’t curse. Never go upstairs. And call her “Ma.” But as Ma’s hospitality starts to curdle into obsession, what began as a teenage dream turns into a terrorizing nightmare, and Ma’s place goes from the best place in town to the worst place on earth.

Starring: Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Jean Hagen, Donald O’Connor

Set during the advent of “talkies,” Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) has risen to stardom during Hollywood’s silent-movie era—paired with the beautiful, jealous and dumb Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen in her Oscar-nominated performance). And when Lockwood becomes attracted to young studio singer Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds), Lamont has her fired. But with the introduction of talking pictures, Lockwood finds his career in jeopardy after audiences laugh when they hear Lamont speak in her shrill voice for the first time… until the studio decides to use Selden to dub her voice.

Starring: Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong, Robert Patrick

Ten years after a futuristic cyborg was sent to kill Sarah Conner and she survived, a stronger Terminator (T-1000) comes back into her life to kill her son, John Conner. Again, the robotic assassins visit the past to eliminate the future leader of the resistance party (i.e. John Conner) but, thankfully, the rebels re-send a protector to keep them all alive. But this time, it’s the old Terminator, who’s out to save the future! As past selves meet the decisions of future selves (the mind melts), Terminator 2 is an exciting sequel complete with stunning make-up and special effects. Hasta la vista, baby.

Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott

Joan Crawford gives an Academy Award-winning performance in the title role of this melodramatic film noir. After Mildred’s second husband is murdered, flashbacks reveal the events leading up to his death. A doting mother, Mildred rises from waitress to restaurant-chain owner, but her spoiled daughter’s selfishness results in heartbreak.

Starring: Michael Beck, James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, Dorsey Wright

The Warriors is Walter Hill’s dystopian vision of a future New York run by ruthless (yet cleverly themed) street gangs. The “Armies of the Night” (gangs such as The Furies, The Boppers, The Hi-Hats, The Lizzies, The Turnball AC’s, The Gramercy Riffs and The Warriors) rule a future, gritty and violent New York. But when Cyrus, the leader of the most powerful gang The Gramercy Riffs, is killed after plotting to have all the gangs unite as a superpower to overthrow the police, The Warriors get blamed and things get really ugly. Taking place over one night with The Warriors gang has to get from the Bronx to their homebase in Coney Island, The Warriors shows their one shot at escaping the wrath of rival gangs and angry police.

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Mia Goth, André Benjamin

Monte (Robert Pattinson) and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to deep space. The crew—death-row inmates led by a doctor (Juliette Binoche) with sinister motives—has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole.

Starring: Seth Rogen, Donald Glove, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keegan-Michael Key, Amy Sedaris, James Earl Jones, Billy Eichner, Beyoncé, Eric André

Screening in 2D

From Disney Live Action, director Jon Favreau’s all-new The Lion King journeys to the African savanna where a future king is born. Simba idolizes his father, King Mufasa, and takes to heart his own royal destiny. But not everyone in the kingdom celebrates the new cub’s arrival. Scar, Mufasa’s brother-and former heir to the throne-has plans of his own. The battle for Pride Rock is ravaged with betrayal, tragedy and drama, ultimately resulting in Simba’s exile. With help from a curious pair of newfound friends, Simba will have to figure out how to grow up and take back what is rightfully his.