An honest cop blows the whistle on police corruption and faces a serious backlash from his fellow officers.
Based on a true story, Sidney Lumet’s Serpico centers around a cop (played by the powerhouse Al Pacino) who refuses to take any of the money his fellow cops extort from local criminals. Because of this, people of the force turn against him, putting him in dangerous situations and, basically, making his life completely miserable. For twelve years (from 1960 – 1972) Serpico remains true to his convictions, soldiering on knowing that one day the truth will be known…and it does eventually break wide open.
Brooklyn Based: Though filmed a lot in Manhattan, Serpico locations included the Williamsburg Bridge and a very near spot of South 8th Street (between Driggs and Bedford).
Part of Nitehawk’s THX BKLYN November series.
Starring: Harvey Keitel, William Hurt, Harold Perrineau, Forest Whitaker, Stockard Channing, Ashley Judd
Two days, one summer, eighteen years. A Brooklyn smoke shop is the epicenter of the neighborhood and a haven to its inhabitants with problematic lives. Wayne Wang’s Smoke (written by Brooklynite Paul Auster and based off a 1990 short story he wrote for the New York Times) provides beautiful and touching glimpses into the fractured lives of the neighborhood folk who patron it. From a disheartened writer to a son in search of his father, the trials of troubled familial life unfold before the eyes of the Brooklyn Cigar Co. owner Auggie, including his own.
The Brooklyn Cigar Co. was located on the corner of 16th Street and Prospect Park West, right across Bartel-Pritchard Square from Nitehawk Prospect Park.
Rich and approaching thirty, Elgar Enders escapes wealthy apathy by purchasing a building in a black ghetto to become The Landlord.
Hal Ashby’s uniquely hilarious film, The Landlord, shows just how much Brooklyn has changed in the past forty-something years. When Elgar Enders (Beau Bridges) seeks independence from his wealthy (and truly strange) family, he learns that the world is more complex, painful, and colorful than he’d ever imagined. Rarely are race and class relations treated humorously and with such regard for the cultural complexity that they imbue as The Landlord and this film does it with true style and wit.
Brooklyn Based: the building Elgar Enders purchases is located in Park Slope.
Part of Nitehawk’s THX BKLYN November series.
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Jesse Eisenberg, Owen Kline, Anna Paquin, William Baldwin
Based on the real life experiences of Noah Baumbach and his brother after the separation of their parents in the 1980s, The Squid and The Whale is a piercingly honest portrayal of a family dealing with divorce. Produced by Wes Anderson (no surprise given the deadpan delivery and sensational vocabulary), the film touchingly deals with love, mistakes, family and failure with a sincere sense of humor. Interestingly, the movie is named after the giant squid and sperm whale diorama housed at the American Museum of Natural History.
Director Noah Baumbach was born in Brooklyn and the film was shot nearby in Park Slope.
Starring: Richard Brewster, Winifred Cushing, Jay Williams
Little Fugitive is a Live Sound Cinema event featuring a live score by Reel Orchestrette.
Joey is a young boy in Brooklyn who, after being tricked into believing he has killed his older brother while his mother is away, escapes to Coney Island. Collecting glass bottles in exchange for money to spend on amusement park rides, Joey forgets his troubles in the wash of amusement park excitement only to return home to find his mother and brother there! Little Fugitive is a landmark film featuring naturalist style and nonprofessional actors that considerably influenced the French New Wave movement.
Little Fugitive was filmed on location in Coney Island and other Brooklyn locations.
Forty-two children are forced into a televised battle where only one can survive. Battle Royale is a Live Sound Cinema event featuring a live original score by GUIZOT.
We all know that before The Hunger Games there was a shockingly original Japanese film called Battle Royale that showed us a not-too-distant future when young children had to battle to the death for public entertainment. A terrifying concept because it seems entirely within the realm of possibility, Battle Royale makes the claim that innocence is fleeting, loyalty is easily compromised, and the war for survival runs brutally deep.
Battle Royale is second-to-none and its sheer intensity will be heightened even more when you experience it with a live score by GUIZOT.
OPENING ON FRIDAY, MARCH 14! Cheryl Dunn’s documentary on New York street photography, Everybody Street, is back at Nitehawk by popular demand!
Everybody Street illuminates the lives and work of New York’s iconic street photographers and the incomparable city that has inspired them for decades. The documentary pays tribute to the spirit of street photography through a cinematic exploration of New York City, and captures the visceral rush, singular perseverance and at times immediate danger customary to these artists.
Produced and distributed by Alldayeveryday. Visit the main site for EVERYBODY STREET here.
The Tom Stathes Cartoon Carnival: SCHOOL BELLS. ALL 16mm FILM SHOW!
An assortment of rare, bizarre, funny and quirky 16mm cartoons from the 1910s thru the 40s that you’ll be sure to enjoy.
School bells are ringing! It’s time to get back to class and learn a thing or two, Cartoon Carnival style. Tom Stathes has hand-selected a group of weird, wacky, funny and obscure 16mm cartoons and educational films from the 1910s thru the 1940s that take place in the classroom or are educational in nature. There will be a couple well-known classic cartoon favorites, obscure curiosities and stop-motion wonders; all shown in actual vintage film prints. Pass a note to your classmates and tell them to attend –there’ll be no excuses for playing hooky this time!
Tom Stathes is a “Cartoon Cryptozoologist” with a rare film print collection comprised of over 1,000 shorts. His archive consists of pivotal series like Farmer Alfalfa, Felix the Cat, Out of the Inkwell, and many more. A native-New Yorker and lifelong cartoon fan, Stathes turned his passion for the city’s early animation legacy into a preservation mission. Tom’s long term goal has been to acquire and preserve early animated films as well as reintroduce them to the public. For more information about this historic undertaking, check out cartoonsonfilm.com and brayanimation.weebly.com.
For October’s MUSIC DRIVEN Nitehawk and Noisey present The Devil and Daniel Johnston, the 2005 documentary on manic-depressive genius singer/songwriter/artist Daniel Johnston.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston chronicles the life of American artist Daniel Johnston from his childhood up until the present, with an emphasis on his experiences with bipolar disorder, and how it manifested itself in demonic self-obsession. Jeff Feurzeig exquisitely depicts a perfect example of brilliance and madness going hand in hand with subject Daniel Johnston. As an artist suffering from manic depression with delusions of grandeur, Daniel Johnston’s wild fluctuations, numerous downward spirals, and periodic respites are exposed in this deeply moving documentary.
A New Jersey guy dedicated to his family, friends, and church, develops unrealistic expectations from watching porn and works to find happiness and intimacy with his potential true love.
Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a strong, handsome, good old fashioned guy. His buddies call him Don Jon due to his ability to “pull” a different woman every weekend, but even the finest fling doesn’t compare to the bliss he finds alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a bright, beautiful, good old fashioned girl. Raised on romantic Hollywood movies, she’s determined to find her Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset. Wrestling with good old fashioned expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against a media culture full of false fantasies to try and find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
