FILM

Order online and pay no service fees at 92YTribeca.org or call 212.415.5500 All screenings are $12 unless otherwise noted. 92Y Tribeca Film Club members get $4 off all tickets. Visit 92YTribeca.org for updates and additions. 200 Hudson Street (just south of Canal) | An agency of UJA-Federation

MAY 2013

THU, MAY 2, 7:30 PM

PLAN 10 FROM OUTER SPACEPost-screening Q&A moderated by Grady Hendrix.

Playing like an episode of “The Adventures of Pete & Pete,” Trent Harris’s Salt Lake City send-up finds its lead Lucinda stumbling upon weird intergalactic secrets after finding a mysterious book penned by a Mormon prophet.

Eventually she discovers that Brigham Young’s 28th neglected wife, an alien Nehor (played by the Karen Black), seeks revenge on Utah and has her beehive shaped spaceship aimed to attack. But the strange creatures are not all from outer space – others include Lucinda’s raving mad brother and her dancing-in-underwear neighbor. Inventive and never predictable, Plan 10 is a candy colored rare treat.

Director: Trent Harris. 80 min. 1995. 16mm.

FRI, MAY 3, 7:30 PM

RUBIN AND EDPost-screening Q&A moderated by Aaron Hillis.

Trent Harris’ under-appreciated Rubin and Ed provides somewhat of an explanation to Crispin Glover’s notorious 1987 “Late Night with David Letterman” appearance, as Glover’s pageboy wig and platform heeled getup belonged to his character in the film, a young man mourning the loss of his cat and living in one of his mother’s motel rooms.

His mother’s insistence on him finding a friend brings him to aging real estate agent Ed Tuttle (Howard Hesseman), with whom he sets off on a surreal journey to find the perfect spot to bury his cat. Complete with a waterskiing cat sequence and a costarring turn from Karen Black, Rubin and Ed shows that there is indeed some method to Glover’s madness.

Director: Trent Harris. 82 min. 1991. 35mm.

“I make films to keep from going mad. I’m not sure it’s working.”

This May we welcome legendary cult director Trent Harris for three nights showcasing his work, a program that will make its way across the country this spring.

Harris first gained a following with Rubin and Ed, a college-crowd favorite that carried over to reach cult status. Following that up with Plan 10 from Outer Space which premiered at Sundance, he captured more of the character in his hometown of Salt Lake City. Years in the making, The Beaver Trilogy has long been sought after, listed by the London Guardian as one of ”Fifty Lost Masterpieces” and in the “Top Ten” list of Art Forum Magazine.

Harris will appear at each screening for a Q&A with a different moderator each night.

Programmed with the help of Galen Rosenthal.

WED, MAY 1, 7:30 PM

THE BEAVER TRILOGYPost-screening Q&A moderated by Starlee Kine.

This now-legendary film all began when Trent Harris stumbled upon the earnestly charming “Groovin’ Gary” hamming it up in a TV station parking lot as Harris tested a camera.

Accepting an invitation to see Gary perform in his hometown Beaver, he recorded it on a lark but soon realized he’d found something special. All the pieces were there: a talent show, mortician-applied make-up, a dizzying Olivia Newton-John song, and most importantly Gary – a small town kid dolled up as the pop queen, aching for a chance to get on the tube. Reworking it into fiction some years later with a pre-Spicoli Sean Penn (doing a spot-on impression) and then Crispin Glover, Harris ultimately realized the three versions worked wonderfully side-by-side. Traded on bootleg tapes for years, The Beaver Trilogy continues to be hard to see, becoming even more sought-after following a segment on “This American Life.”

Director: Trent Harris. 83 min. 2000. BluRay.

HEARTMAMMAS

SAT, MAY 4, 8 PM, $10

THE IRON MULE SHORT COMEDY FILM FESTIVALIron Mule is a collective of filmmakers and film lovers who meet monthly to celebrate funny and inventive short cinema among friends.

Fashion tips from a person on crack. A battle where pockets become deadly weapons. A disease that helps you get attention. Models who have adventures. This and more awaits you at the next Iron Mule.

SUN, MAY 5, 7 PM, $15

A CONVERSATION WITH ISABELLA ROSSELLINI AND PREVIEW OF MAMMASIsabella Rossellini joins us for a lively discussion moderated by Pop Candy’s Whitney Matheson, and offers a sneak peek at her brand new series.

After showing the world the unconventional mating and fascinating sex lives of animals in her Webby award winning internationally acclaimed short film series Green Porno and Green Porno Seduce Me, Isabella Rossellini returns and sets her provocative lens on creatures’ rites of passage into motherhood in her latest series Mammas. Featuring fantastical costumes and weirdly delightful enactments, the actress writes and directs nine episodes – slipping into the role of a range of creatures. From cuckoos who willingly hand their young to another mother, to fiercely loving wasps who bury animals alive for baby food, Isabella’s entertaining and educational portrayals will show varying ways mothers provide for their offspring.

The inventive two-minute shorts center on the art of being a mother and questioning the assumed altruistic nature of mothers. Mammas is written and directed by Isabella Rossellini and produced by Patrice Haddad and Claire Marquet in association with Sundance Channel.

Mammas will premiere on Sundance Channel and Sundancechannel.com on Mother’s Day, May 12th.

WED, MAY 15, 7:30 PM

HEARTVery rare 35mm film screening with screenwriter/producer Randy Jurgensen in person for Q&A moderated by Jonathan Hertzberg.

In one of his final big screen starring roles the late Brad Davis (Midnight Express) is an aging, hard-luck palooka who is offered a fight that seems too good to be true to everyone … except him. A baby-faced Steve Buscemi, already displaying the mannerisms that have made him legend, is Davis’ shady manager. Also putting in an early film appearance is Frances Fisher (Unforgiven) as Davis’ girlfriend. Made on location in pre-gentrified Queens by director/co-writer James Lemmo (d.p. on Ms. 45 and Vigilante) and co-writer/producer Randy Jurgensen (real-life French Connection cop and the inspiration for Cruising), Heart is a timeless tale told with the requisite amount of grit and a refreshing lack of sentimentality.

Director: James Lemmo. 90 min. 1987. 35mm.

FRI, MAY 17, 8 PM

WEREWOLVES ACROSS AMERICANew York Premiere. Screening and live performance by Viking Moses, plus Q&A.

Capturing nomadic folk icon Viking Moses as he plays music in unexpected venues – churches, basements and maybe even sidewalks – Werewolves Across America wonders what another sort of American Dream looks like. Sometimes with Deer Tick, The Shivers and Phospherescent, Viking Moses moves across the country and energizes crowds of all sizes

all the while rejecting stability in favor of magnificent surprise moments.

Directors: James Hall & Edward Lovelace. 85 min.

2010. BluRay.

WED, MAY 22, 7 PM

THE PROFESSIONALS“Go to hell.” “Yes, ma’am, I’m on my way.”

If you want something done right, hire Lee Marvin, and Burt Lancaster, and Robert Ryan, and Woody Strode. Richards Brooks’s impossibly satisfying Western adventure precedes The Dirty Dozen with its men-on-a-mission heroics, specialized expertise (dynamite! bow-and-arrow! horse care!), and explosions / bodily crunches / creative assaults. Claudia Cardinale is their $100,000 target in the desert, shacked up with

a Mexican revolutionary named Rasa (played by Jack Palance, of course). Ralph Bellamy, aka Brooks’s stand-in for no-good studio producers he has known, wants her back. Shot in wide-screen Technicolor by Conrad Hall (the year before he did Brooks’s In Cold Blood).

Director: Richard Brooks. 1966. 117 min. 35mm.

THU, MAY 23, 7 PM

CINEMA TROPICAL: JARDS “The celebrated composer and musician Jards Macalé is in the recording studio where director Eryk Rocha captures him in a wide variety of poses and states of creating, imaginatively varying style and shooting formats. Fashioning an intimately attuned portrait of an artist, Rocha uses his camera as an instrument to riff with Jards in a poetic exchange between images

and music. The repetitive, time-stopping process of rehearsal and the flow of energy between the two art forms create an elegiac vision of the creativity of some of Brazil’s most beloved singers and musicians.” New Directors/New Films FSLC/MoMA

Director: Eryk Rocha. 93 min. 2012. Portuguese with

English subtitles. Digital projection.

Part of the series Janeiro in New York / Music + Film

Series, presented by Cinema Tropical.

FRI, MAY 24, 7:30 PM

ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTORScreening along with a selection of VHS trailers from Matt Desiderio.

A passion project from the creators of VHShitfest, Horror Boobs and Lunchmeat Magazine, this documentary assembles an entire community who share a love of the VHS format. Using some of the visual elements that are part of the charm of VHS (particular fonts, blue screens and of course the tracking signal) the filmmakers interview the most hardcore VHS collectors and delve into the legends (did someone really pay over $600 for Tales from the Quadead Zone??). Clips from some of the quintessential direct-to-video releases accompany ruminations on the best cover art, all making for a convincing case that may result in a true resurrection of a beloved format.

Directors: Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic. 84 min.

2013. VHS.

THUR, MAY 30, 7:30 PM

ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION“You know, even though I had to wear that stupid back brace and you were kind of fat, we were still totally cutting edge.”

Having a ball in their Venice Beach apartment and honing their DIY style, lifelong friends Romy and Michele are totally fine with their boyfriend-free and barely-employed existence. That is until their high school reunion creeps up on them, forcing them to reassess not only the women they have become, but what their roles were back then. Thus they half-bake new personas—as the inventors of Post-Its, they are sure to gain the respect of their former classmates, right? Even funnier than you remember, Romy and Michele is made strong with Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino as the leads, supported by the contrastingly dark-humored, chain-smoking Janeane Garofalo.

In addition to the screening, we will salute DIY fashion and take a look at some of the other achievements of costume designer Mona May.

Director: David Mirkin. 92 mins. 1997. 35mm.

Part of the series 2 Good 2 B 4Gotten, co-presented with Bonnie & Maude and xoJane.

FILMMAY 2013Order online and pay no service fees at 92YTribeca.org or call 212.415.5500 All screenings are $12 unless otherwise noted. 92Y Tribeca Film Club members get $4 off all tickets. Visit 92YTribeca.org for updates and additions. 200 Hudson Street (just south of Canal)

SAT, MAY 25, 8 PM

MAN FROM DEEP RIVERWith the basic premise of A Man Called Horse involving a white man captured by natives and eventually learning to live as one of them, Umberto Lenzi’s Man from Deep River (aka Sacrifice!) finds a British photographer abducted while in a rain forest of Thailand. Adapting is made easy after he marries the village hot girl (selected by her after a blindfolded breast-fondling ritual of sorts).

Also capitalizing on the success of the Mondo movies, Lenzi incorporates brutal scenes of tribal life and recreational activities – a weasel fighting a cobra, really, makes cockfighting look like a kissing contest. The movie is also said to have kicked off the cannibal cinema craze due to its truly gnarly flesh eating content.

Director: Umberto Lenzi. 93 min. 1972. 35mm.

WED, MAY 29, 7:30 PM

HIGH CRIMEThe first collaboration between star Franco Nero (Django) and director Enzo Castellari kicked off the Italian cop movie craze and remains one of the highest points of the genre.

Nero is a loose-cannon police inspector on the trail of a crime outfit smuggling heroin into Rome who begins to uncover corruption at the highest echelons of power. Released in the UK as The Marseilles Connection, Castellari’s full-throttle actioner owes more than a little to William Friedkin’s seminal police procedural (it, too, features a supporting turn by Fernando Rey), but separates itself from the dozens of other rip-offs by virtue of another ass-kicking Nero performance, numerous kinetic set-pieces and one of the most rockin’ Guido and Maurizio De Angelis (aka Oliver Onions) soundtracks of the decade.

Director: Enzo Castellari. 100 min. 1973. 35mm.

The expression “Italians do it better” could most certainly be applied to the country’s genre films of the 1970s and 1980s. Boasting some masterful talent, their best directors of that period had no shame in borrowing elements from Hollywood’s box office successes. As a result the films are not only a joy to watch, they usually have better music, more attractive casts and will go to extremes of spectacle that the originals might not have been so bold to explore. For this series we’ve picked three favorites from Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi and Enzo Castellari, plus a special Kevin Geeks Out exploring Rip Off Cinema.

FRI, MAY 10, 8 PM

KEVIN GEEKS OUT ABOUT RIP-OFF CINEMAKevin Geeks Out is the comedy-variety show hosted by writer-comedian Kevin Maher—a confabulation of vintage film clips and videos, new finds, guest experts, games and curiosities. To geek out with Kevin you don’t need to be a geek, you just need to love cool stuff.

This month, Kevin Geeks Out about RIP-OFF CINEMA, chronicling the “knockbusters” that attempt to capture the magic of E.T., KING KONG, War of the Worlds and other big-budget blockbusters. The two-hour cultural cavalcade includes trivia, snacks, prizes and guest speakers presenting rare film footage and TV clips you won’t find on YouTube or Netflix.

THU, MAY 16, 7:30 PM

CONQUESTLucio Fulci’s Conan the Barbarian rip-off is not only better than the blueprint – it will also make every movie you see for the rest of your life a drab, inadequate waste of time.

Our villain is an always-nude woman wrapped in a python, capped off with a gold, bald head. Taunted by visions of a faceless man with a laser bow, she sends out various breeds of goons to eliminate him and his sweaty-muscled partner. With foggy cinematography covering up some of the low budget qualities and bursts of Fulci’s expected gore, Conquest has more visual surprises than should be possible in the physical world. Also, the synth score is something you’ll want to carry in your brain later to enhance your now even more dull existence.

Director: Lucio Fulci. 88 min. 1983. 35mm.

ROMY AND MICHELE’S HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

MON, MAY 13, 8 PM (Lexington Avenue at 92nd St)

AN EVENING WITH SIDNEY POITIERJoin us for Sidney Poitier’s only New York City appearance and special program with clips from his acclaimed films, lecture, followed by questions.

Coming up at 92nd Street Y