We’ve made a list of films worth checking out this week, because you definitely don’t need another person to tell you to go see Birdman.
Listen Up Philip
Ok, so at first glance this film may look familiar. It’s all Woody Allen and a self-centered, self-hating Jason Schwartzman we’ve seen before. Even the opening credits are undeniably Allenesque. There’s even a cute/charming/eccentric girl involved (played by Elizabeth Moss). Oh, and not to shock you to your core or anything– but this movie’s about the New York literary scene. But we read this Dissolve review that suggests otherwise. Listen Up Philip “somehow both honors that tradition while burning the whole establishment to the ground.” Sounds like it’s another one of those meta-movies for all you movie nerds out there. Friday October 17th through Thursday October 23rd at IFC Center, various show times; tickets, $14
Pictures From A Revolution
Photojournalist Susan Meiselas will be on hand to talk about her 1991 documentary film. In Pictures From A Revolution, she returns to Nicaragua to interview the people depicted in her photographs chronicling the Sandanista Revolution. Monday October 20th at Anthology Film Archives, 7pm; tickets, $10
Revenge Of The Mekons
The evolution and reigning musical supremacy of OG British country punks, The Mekons, are on display in this new documentary. Formed in 1977 by a gaggle of art students (one member recalled they had no idea what they were doing and that “it was an art project basically”) the band is still putting out records today. Wednesday October 29th and Tuesday November 3th, various showtimes at Film Forum; tickets, $13
Imagine Science Film Festival
Exploratorium and more at “A 16mm History Of Looking”
Spend your Saturday afternoon watching old-school science- and science-fiction-themed films at Spectacle Theater. The headliner is a 1974 16mm film about the San Francisco science museum. Several other shorter bits will be screened as well. Saturday October 18, 3pm at Spectacle Theater; tickets, $5 at the door
Je T’aime, Je T’aime
Another happening during the Imagine Science Film Festival worth checking out is this rare screening of a 60’s French sci-fi film that is at once visually arresting and totally mind-bending. Anthology Film Archives calls it a “time travel classic.” Tuesday October 21st at Anthology Film Archives, doors at 6:30 pm; tickets, $10
I Wish I Knew
From Chinese director Jia Zhangke comes this documentary focusing on the effects of the communist revolution in China on Shanghai and its citizens. The film is part oral history, part present-day documentary. The subjects recount their lives and families being ripped apart by the often brutal Party takeover and ideological campaigns; while some stayed in Shanghai, others ended up in Taiwan or Hong Kong. The film is full of beautiful landscape shots and visual effects to recreate bygone Shanghai. Friday October 17th at 7pm, Museum of the Moving Image in Long Island City; tickets, $12