Category Archives: Love and Life

Spencer? We hardly even knew ‘er!

March 3, 2022Love and Life, Movies, NewScreen Stuff, Strange Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

My choice of tonight’s feature was rather polarizing. Some of you wouldn’t even consider watching another (supposed) biopic about Lady Di, and/or the Royal Family, for various reasons political and otherwise (one person loved The Crown so much, that they weren’t eager to see the royals portrayed by actors that they were unfamiliar with in their roles). Still others can’t bear to watch Kristen Stewart at all, and were recently appalled by her Oscar nomination for Spencer.

I beg to differ! This trippy movie was never meant to be an accurate account of Diana’s life, rather a dark portrayal of a woman imprisoned in a loveless marriage, on the verge of cracking up completely. Personally, I believe this fictional account was full of non-fiction. Of course, there were some purely fantastical elements thrown in to spice up this twisted dish, but the “dish” came out of the oven cooked to perfection. Stewart did an amazing job, albeit the same job she always does. This time she had something more to sink her lovely teeth into.

A point of trivia for you movie lovers: have you noticed that Neon seems to have become the new A24? Almost everything good that I see these days is a Neon release.

As Putin’s murderous onslaught rages on, we repeated short intro: a rousing video performance of the anti war Disenchantment, by the Ukrainian metal band, Ignea. Planning to attend the I Stand with Ukraine rally in Times Square on Saturday, rocking this two-sided sign. Bigly.

The Worst Person in the World? Clearly his name is Vladimir.

February 24, 2022Love and Life, Movies, Strange Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

Just a few hours before tonight’s screening, Russia invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine, using the preposterous pretext of keeping the peace in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Unfortunately, many Russians have no easy access to real news, and have swallowed Putin’s lies whole. There but for the grace of god go we. Think “Fox News” and now “Truth Social”.

Our crew of four managed to find some solace in each others’ company though, and occasionally rise above the pervading sense of doom . Although it wasn’t always easy to concentrate on the movie, when we could, we were moved to laughter and tears.

As a tribute to our friends in Ukraine, our short intro featured a rousing video performance of the anti war Disenchantment, by the Ukrainian metal band, Ignea

Pain and Glory. Make that a double, please.

March 13, 2020Love and Life, Movies, NewScreen Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

I hope I’m wrong about this, but our Friday night showing was possibly the last NewScreen of the year, due to the coronavirus pandemic. There were four of us, so social distancing wasn’t an issue… well maybe it was at the bar, but precautions were taken and hands were well washed.

We settled into our sofas, probably only 5 feet apart, and enjoyed Amodóvar’s best film in years, and then returned to the bar to demolish half a loaf of freshly baked banana bread. Tradition is important, specially in tough times.

Our short feature was In Pursuit of Ghosts, by Max Cooper and Tim Hodge – a mesmerizing loop of an Eadweard Muybridge human motion study, with added graphics.

Beanpole. A “tall” tale, deeply-rooted in uncomfortable truths.

January 30, 2020Love and Life, Movies, NewScreen Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

Russia’s official submission to the 2019 Oscars, 27 year old (then – now 28) director Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole (Dylda) left our audience in a state of ecstatic shock tonight. For a few, the memory of propaganda surrounding the “great patriotic war” was uncomfortably close to home, but for those of us lucky enough to be peeking through this window for the first time, or perhaps looking through the same window with a different perspective, this tableau of beautiful bleakness was a gorgeous treat, with outstanding performances by Viktoria Miroshnichenko and Vasilisa Perelygina. I’m already looking forward to watching it again with some dinner guests (you know who you are). Thank you to my lovely friend Anastasia Komarova for suggesting (insisting, even) that I see this ))

Tonight’s short feature was Le Silence de la rue, directed by Marie Opron. Also beautiful.

And, yes… of course there was banana bread!

Border. Troll-y F**k!

March 7, 2019Love and Life, Movies, Strange Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

Border came as a complete surprise to many of our guests this week! Ali Abbasi’s fantasy drama centers around a romance between two trolls. One is unaware of her origin, thinking that she is a human with a genetic flaw, and has assimilated into society, working as a customs agent and able to “smell fear” on would-be bad actors. The other lives rough, eats larvae, and has sworn vengeance upon the wicked human race for the horrible treatment of his parents, and other trolls in the past.

There are subplots and twists aplenty in this fascinating film, but one takeaway: trolls don’t hold back during orgasm!

This week’s short was the delightful Stems, a stop motion film by Ainslie Henderson.

Capernaum. Tears were shed.

February 28, 2019Love and Life, Movies, NewScreen Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

NewScreen was on fine form this week with Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum – one of this year’s foreign-language Oscar nominees, and the Jury Prize-winner at Cannes last year. In the words of Robbie Collin from the Telegraph, ” It’s the story of a child surviving on the streets of Beirut, infused with the richness of great fiction and the heart-in-mouth power of frontline news footage. The peril feels so truthful and specific, and the young cast’s reactions to it so astonishingly natural, that my heart couldn’t work out whether it should break or pop.”

I couldn’t put it better. We cried, and then we applauded.

Incidentally, this is the third foreign-language Oscar nominee to appear at NewScreen (Cold War and Roma preceded), and we’re not done yet. Watch this space!

Tonight’s short feature was Brain Wave directed by Jake Fried.

Casablanca. Play it (again), Richard!

February 14, 2019Love and Life, Movies, NewScreen Stuffnewscreen_mt6x3h

As much as I feel that Valentine’s Day is bull*hit, I am an unabashed romantic. I thought it would be great to show a classic love story tonight. Marie suggested Casablanca, since it was also showing at the wonderful Metrograph, just down the road. Great suggestion. This film ticks all the right boxes. As I expected, there were a few guests seeing this for the first time, and I was proud to present a crisp remaster, on the big screen.

Also… we have another hit cocktail on our hands! The (Barely) Pink Lady went “viral” at the bar. Sooooo delicious!

Tonight’s short feature was Splitscreen: A Love Story, directed by James W. Griffiths. So sweet!