The Two Boots Pioneer Theater in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which opened in February 2000, quickly developed a track record of supporting niche interests. It’s where the Donnie Darkocult was born, via midnight screenings that began four months after Richard Kelly’s film had opened in mainstream theaters and lasted for 28 consecutive months. It’s also where a number of recent indies we’ve supported at Spout had their first and/or only New York engagements, including Dance Party USA, LOL, Jones and Kamp Katrina. And now it’s gone, the victim of a rent increase and general economic fatigue.
The theater had its last screening on Halloween night (of George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, natch) — but with no direct competition in the area (we love Anthology Film Archives, but while they are a reliable home for spelunked jems past and present, they don’t roll with the lowbrow very often), it won’t be easily forgotten. So if you’re in the neighborhood tonight or can easily be, come out to the Pioneer’s going away party. It starts at 6pm, and the theater’s website (which you should check out regardless of whether you’re looking to attend the party, to see testimonials/triubutes to the theater from the likes of Bingham Ray and In The Soup director Alexandre Rockwell) promises “free movies, popcorn and reminiscences.” I’m going to try to stop by a little later in the evening — hopefully right when the reminiscences are starting to get smutty and incriminating — so if you see me, come say hi.
New York gentrification moves faster than video format extinction. Kim’s Video on Avenue A shut down while I was in grad school at NYU, and that made it hard enough to find VHS copies of older films that hadn’t yet been released on DVD (and hasn’t that space gone through like three cheesy bars since Kim’s lost their lease? Please advise.) Later, I ended up buying a bunch of those tapes (including Fassbinder’s Gods of the Plague and Herzog’s Where the Green Ants Dream) at Mondo Kim’s on Saint Marks. Now, that Kim’s location is getting ready to move, and they’re unloading their library of 55,000 video rentals in the process.
A couple of local eye witnesses have sent in reports of a flyer that’s being passed out at the store (Ray Pride has posted a scan), advertising Mr. Kim’s search for “institutions, schools, businesses or individuals who can accomodate Kim’s full line of film collection.” Apparently, they want to keep the collection intact; in fact, the stated mandates for parties interested in acquiring it are an ability to devote “3,000 square feet of space, committment to give access to Kim’s members (charging minimum membership fee), and maintaining the collection.” Takers can click above for contact info.
Ever since word broke at Toronto that IFC had picked up Steven Soderbergh’s Che for US distribution, there have been conflicting rumors as to how the company, known for its day-and-date theatrical and VOD releases, would handle a film of this length, scope, and potential Oscar cachet. At yesterday’s NYFF press conference, Soderbergh talked a bit about the “roadshow” concept, through which the entire two-part film will first hit theaters.
He confirmed that in each market the film enters, it’ll screen for just one week, on one screen, with ticket buyers paying a premium (probably $25 each, including full-color printed program) for the experience. “I think that’s the ideal way to see it,” the director said, although he acknowledged that “it’s a lot to ask of an audience, to throw away an entire day.”
A source told me last night that IFC is banking that a lot of people are going to want to throw away their days on Che.
Here’s a bit of candy to keep you entertained while I settle into the post-Cannes, post-holiday bloggy business as usual. Continuing the Muppets revisionist cinematic history trend (first came Sesame Streets by Martin Scorsese, then Elmo auditioned for a remake of Casino (he lost the role to Ernie, apparently), here comes The Muppets Take Manhattan. We always suspected that Kermit was the Woody Allen of Sesame Street, and now we have the visual proof.
The Tribeca Film Festival continues its mission to wow us with quantity over discovery by booking a full sidebar of festival leftovers like Savage Grace (which will have been on the festival circuit for about 50 weeks by the time it hits lower Manhattan courtesy of Robert DeNiro and American Express) and The Wackness(which will make its multiplex debut via Sony Classics a month or two after its Tribeca screening). But, as always, the festival’s Restored and Rediscovered program offers hope, including screenings of new prints of Fellini’s Toby Dammit, and Curtis Harrington’s Cat People–inspired, young-Dennis Hopper-starring Night Tide.
While we’re on the topic of festival exports: Nanette Burstein’s American Teenwill open the 2008 edition of Sundance at BAM on May 29.
Would it even be news that a new Patrick Swayze movie is having its world premiere in Austria, if Swayze’s battle with cancer wasn’t currently grade-A tabloid grist, and if his health didn’t preclude his attendance? Yes––but only because Uwe Boll is distributing the movie.
Kit Blog takes a look at Woody Allen’s use of Windsor-EF Elongated, the font in which the director has rendered the opening and/or closing credits of almost every project since Annie Hall. The analysis doesn’t fully answer Kit’s question of whether Allen’s Windsor addiction is “a Kubrick-eque case of typographic fetish or if Woody Allen built a visual identity in order to brand his products,” but through a commenter, he is able to offer a clue as to how the filmmaker landed on his font of choice.
On her blog, Variety’s Anne Thompson is linking to a subscription-only New York Times item which states that Lionsgate (who are distributing the pic in partnership with The Weinstein Company) have pushed up the opening of Michael Moore’s Sicko in response to the film’s widespread piracy. The health care doc will now open on one screen only in Manhattan this Friday, only to expand on its original opening date a week later.
I guess this is what passes as aggressive action against piracy these days, but I’m not sure what good it will do. It’ll force the Times to run their review a week early, possibly pushing Evan Almighty off the the Arts front page (which, if Nikki Finke is to be believed, could do further damage to the already poorly-tracking most expensive comedy ever made). I don’t know what the stats are regarding the rate at which online piracy decreases once a film is in theaters, but I do know that releasing the movie a week earlier in Manhattan just ensures that camcorder bootlegs will be available a week earlier on Canal Street. And by admitting that piracy is enough of a problem that they need to change their release date (I believe this is the first time a studio has shifted an opening date in response to a leak, but do let me know if I’m wrong), aren’t Lionsgate effectively letting the terrorists win?
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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The Two Boots Pioneer Theater in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, which opened in February 2000, quickly developed a track record of supporting niche interests. It’s where the 
New York gentrification moves faster than video format extinction. Kim’s Video on Avenue A shut down while I was in grad school at NYU, and that made it hard enough to find VHS copies of older films that hadn’t yet been released on DVD (and hasn’t that space gone through like three cheesy bars since Kim’s lost their lease? Please advise.) Later, I ended up buying a bunch of those tapes (including Fassbinder’s Gods of the Plague and Herzog’s Where the Green Ants Dream) at Mondo Kim’s on Saint Marks. Now, that Kim’s location is getting ready to move, and they’re unloading their library of 55,000 video rentals in the process.
Ever since word broke at Toronto that 
The Tribeca Film Festival continues its mission to wow us with quantity over discovery by booking 
