SATURDAY MORNING CLASSICS, Cinema 21
SATURDAY MORNING CLASSICS
Programmed Exclusively for Cinema 21 by Elliot Lavine
5 FROM THE 80s!
APRIL 6 – MAY 4:
Celebrating an influential decade with FIVE indispensable films!
Every Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
APRIL 27 - DINER (1982)
The film that Vanity Fair called “the most influential film of the 80s.” A cast of virtual nobodies (including the director) became immediately ingrained in the public’s imagination in its aftermath—a film seemingly about nothing other than the convivial chit chat between a group of young guys on the verge of sudden manhood in Baltimore, 1959. But of course, it’s so much more than that. The once in a lifetime cast (most, if not all of them being seen for the first time) includes Mickey Rourke, Keven Bacon, Steve Guttenberg, Daniel Stern, Ellen Barkin, Tim Daly, Paul Reiser, Michael Tucker. Written and directed by Barry Levenson. In Color. 110 mins. 1982.
MAY 4 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Who but Steven Spielberg could have brought such a magical cinematic experience to the big screen? No one, that’s who. The simple story of a ten-year-old boy who befriends an alien from another planet who finds itself stranded and alone on Earth remains one of the key films of the 1980s. As heartwarming as anything this great director has ever given us and every bit as inspiring as it was forty-two years ago. Starring Dee Wallace, Henry Thomas, Peter Coyote, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton. Written and directed by STEVEN SPIELBERG. In Color. 115 mins. 1982.
(PLEASE NOTE): This will be the original 1982 theatrical cut.
3 by POWELL & PRESSBURGER!
The final three Saturdays in May will be devoted to the esteemed British filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – a trio of stunning films displaying an astounding command of cinematic language. All three of these classics were photographed by the legendary Jack Cardiff, one of the true giants of Technicolor cinematography. Saturday mornings at 11 a.m. from MAY 11 – 25
MAY 11 - A Matter of Life and Death (1946)
During the final days of World War II, Peter, a British Air Force pilot is on his way home to England from a bombing mission in a badly damaged aircraft. Before bailing out of the plane into the ocean, he contacts an Allied radio operator named June with whom he shares what he believes to be his final moments on Earth. But Peter survives this terrifying ordeal, finds June and they fall in love. But a problem arises when a divine messenger arrives to escort Peter to heaven to rectify his wrongful survival. Will love conquer all, even death? A beautifully realized and emotionally satisfying masterpiece. Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring, Robert Coote, Roger Livesey. Written and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Photographed by Jack Cardiff. In Color. 104 mins.
MAY 18 - Black Narcissus (1947)
This dramatically challenging film details the conflict between the spirit and the flesh and is considered by many to be the epitome of Powell’s and Pressburger’s uniquely sensuous style of cinematic storytelling. A group of nuns struggles to establish a convent in the Himalayas, where isolation, extreme weather at dangerously high altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad. A darkly elaborate film that won Oscars for Alfred Junge's art direction and Jack Cardiff's cinematography, Black Narcissus has more than earned its permanent enshrinement as one of the visionary filmmakers’ greatest achievements. Starring Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, David Farrar, Jenny Laird, Katherine Byron, Esmond Knight, Sabu. Written and directed Powell and Pressburger, adapted from the novel by Rumer Godden. In Color. 101 mins.
MAY 25 - The Red Shoes (1948)
In one of the Cinema’s premiere dance dramas, Powell and Pressburger established a new level of sublime accomplishment with THE RED SHOES, the story of Vicky Page, an aspiring and supremely talented ballerina who finds herself torn between her obsessive dedication to dance and her yearning desire to love. No sooner does her arrogantly imperious instructor urges to her to forget anything but ballet, Vicky begins to fall for the charming young composer Julian Craster. Eventually Vicky, under great and mounting emotional stress, must choose to pursue either her art or her ever-increasing romantic yearnings, a decision that will carry serious consequences regardless of her choice. Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Robert Helpmann. Written and directed by Powell and Pressburger, based on the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. Photographed by Jack Cardiff. In Color. 134 mins.
5 FROM THE 90s!
Five incredible films from a transformative decade! Indelible classics as well as seldom seem films eager to engage with new audiences! EVERY SATURDAY MORNING in JUNE at 11:00 a.m. from JUNE 1 – 29
JUNE 1 - Pulp Fiction (1994)
Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield are an unusual pair of hitmen on a perilous journey through the maze that is Los Angeles. In this mind-blowing, multi-layered crime movie, their storyline is interwoven with those of their boss, gangster Marcellus Wallace, his beautiful and seductive wife, Mia, struggling boxer Butch Coolidge, and a host of fascinating others, creating one of the decade’s most audacious box office bonanzas, setting off a chain of wannabe imitations, clogging up the multi-plexes for years. This one is the real deal. Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Quentin Tarantino. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. In Color. 154 mins.
JUNE 8 - Fargo (1996)
This eccentric, reality-based crime drama set in Minnesota in 1987 tells the tale ofJerry Lundegaard, a car salesman who has gotten himself so deeply in debt and so desperate for money that he hires a pair of thugs to kidnap his own wife. The plan calls for Jerry to collect the ransom from her wealthy father, paying the thugs a small portion and keeping the rest to satisfy his debts. An unexpected act of violence throws the whole plot into a spiraling frenzy, and in the process helps create one of the Coen Brtohers’ most endearing and enduring classics. Starring William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Kristen Rudrud, Harve Presnell. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. In Color. 98 mins.
JUNE 15 - Unforgiven (1992)
After prostitute Delilah Fitzgerald is disfigured by a pair of sadistic cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, her fellow brothel workers post a reward for their murder, much to the displeasure of sheriff Bill Daggett, who won’t stand for vigilantism in his town. Two groups of gunfighters, one led by aging former bandit William Munny, the other by the flamboyant English Bob—and they’ve both come to collect the reward money—not only clashing with each other, but the sheriff as well. Starring Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Richard Harris, Anna Thomson. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Winner of four Oscars including Best Picture, Director, and Supporting Actor. Directed by Clint Eastwood. In Color. 130 mins.
JUNE 22 - To Die For (1995)
Beautiful Suzanne Stone is a weather reporter at her small-town cable television station, but she has exciting aspirations of being a high-powered news anchor with a major network someday. Convinced that her crude, middle-class husband is holding her back from achieving this dream, she seduces and recruits a high school student to have him murdered. When things become complicated, the husband’s family begins to suspect foul play. An absolutely astounding satire, chilling in its implications, darkly hilarious in its stunning execution. Starring Nicole Kidman, Matt Dillion, Joaquin Phoenix, Illeana Douglas, Casey Affleck. Directed by Gus Van Sant. Screenplay by Joyce Maynard and Buck Henry. In Color. 106 mins.
JUNE 29 - The Last of the Mohicans (1992)
The last members of a dying Native American tribe, the Mohicans—Uncas, his father Chingachgook, and his adopted half-white brother Hawkeye—live in peace alongside British colonists in the 1750s. But when the daughters of a British colonel are kidnapped by a traitorous scout, Hawkeye and Uncas must rescue them in the crossfire of a gruesome military conflict of which they wanted no part: the French and Indian War. Based on James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel, this thrilling adaptation gives the story a welcome reinvigorating sheen, turning it into one of the decade’s most exciting spectacles. Starring Daniel Day Lewis, Madeline Stowe, Jodhi May, Eric Schweid, Russell Means. Directed by Michael Mann. In Color. 122 mins.