Film Forum is the OG but Metrograph is younger and hungrier, with a more diverse slate of films and an emphasis on rediscovered or neglected classics. Great atmosphere too, with a restaurant and bookstore. you can’t go wrong!
Apr 22, 2024
Related Recs
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On ludlow. best movie theater in the city? Their selection is so good and they have great speakers discussing the films from time to time
Mar 22, 2024
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Is this currently my favorite movie theater in NYC because they premiered my new film and hosted a complete retrospective of my work? Duh! But it’s deeper than that. Two years ago I was convinced the arthouse theatrical experience was doomed and that the future was ramshackle cine-clubs for a handful of scorched psychos. Turns out I was wrong. Things are back to normal and on any given night now there’s a surplus of amazing programming all across the city again. The biggest plot twist, though, was the rise of this posh, art deco, single screen theater beneath a fancy hotel in the heart of Tribeca as the new epicenter for contemporary indie cinema. While other venues floundered at first, the Roxy reopened with a bang, finally giving a theatrical run to Eugene Kotlyarenko’s Spree (which never got a proper theatrical release due to covid). Next thing I knew they gave Project Space 13 a run there too, despite not having played any festivals or any of that shit… and it was selling out! They’re doing the same for Betsey Brown’s Actors right now, which keeps getting extended. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a theater tap in this hard. Recent events with Abel Ferrara, the Ion Pack, Alex Ross Perry, and more have been unforgettable. Seeing ASAP Rocky hop on stage to freestyle with Abel after the Siberia premiere is one of my all time fondest memories there. It’s tight being able to see new films like The Scary of Sixty-First, Zola, or El Planeta balanced perfectly with rep fare like Screen Slate’s Bad Habits nun series and Sean Price Williams and Nick Pinkerton’s monthly ‘City Dudes.’ Head programmer Illyse Singer and her cohort Mitchell are heroes. Bonus points for being walking distance to the best new record store in town, Paradise of Replica.
Apr 7, 2022
I haven't been in NYC for that long but I've found that the well for film in NYC is pretty deep and you can really find anything you are looking for on a given night. Obscure, Foreign, Indie, Cult Classic, whatever.
Screen Slate is a good resource to find whats playing where all around the city.
I would also suggest following a lot of the theaters on ig and they will have posts about showings that might pique your interest.
Spectacle and Film Noir are pretty cool screening rooms in BK that are pretty low key and DIY if you are looking for an interesting night out.
Finally, getting a membership to metrograph, ifc or film forum is a good option if you go to one of them and like it. Reduced prices go along way if you are going to a theater pretty frequently.
Apr 22, 2024
Top Recs from @jeffisawesome
I'm leaving for Vegas tonight to see the final performance of their latest residency, so I spent all week re-listening to all of their albums on vinyl. Apparently when you crack open my crusty shell, the 13-year old version is still intact within, gobsmacked by how seriously a bunch of adults can pursue their silliness.
I spent about five minutes worrying that I'd be disappointed seeing them again now that they (and I) are so old, but then I told myself to shut up. “They’re so over the hill” is the least B-52s sentiment imaginable. Their edginess was never dependent upon youth. They weren't exactly rebels, but they gloried in pillaging what’s old and awkward for the creation of something new and cool that embraces squareness rather than mocking it. What they want - what they’ve always wanted - is for people to have FUN, and they’re entirely non-judgmental about how you want to do it (unless it involves putting anyone down, in which case, no thanks). It’s a spirit that makes just as much sense old as it does young. As a blueprint for a culture, you could hardly do better. And I guess that’s why they’ve always been my favorites - because I still wistfully believe that if everyone shared their courage, spirit, and humor, this would be a better world.
Anyway, "Song for a Future Generation" is one of the greatest things ever committed to video.
Apr 19, 2024
Bugs is the great American hero, but Daffy has the most range. From his psychopathic hoo-hoo-hoo-HOO origins to his mature later incarnation as a petty, grasping striver with delusions of grandeur, he covers a broad gamut of the human experience. His desperate ambition slots so wonderfully into an array of genre roles that elevate him just to take him down: Robin Hood, Duck Dodgers, the Scarlet Pumpernickel… Bugs is who we wish we could be, but Daffy is who we are.
Apr 21, 2024
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New circumstances trick our minds into revealing vivid insights about ourselves. Last night in the hotel, I acted with impeccable moral integrity in an absurd situation (Pauly Shore and Magnum PI disassembling an elevator without permission outside my apartment window), and I woke up radiating with pride. I barely minded that it took me an hour to get back to sleep.
Apr 21, 2024