June 18
GOD'S FIDDLER (USA, 2012, 87 min.)
Introduced by director Peter Rosen
The only film biography of the world's most renowned violinist, featuring his family home movies in Los Angeles and all over the world. Itzhak Perlman said about Jascha Heifetz, “When I spoke with him, I can't believe, I'm talking to God.” Heifetz became a legend in his lifetime and the film explores the complexity of artistic genius and how an individual manages a great artistic gift. What do the demands of a great talent do to the artist as a person, and how do they affect his humanity, his relationship to his friends and family, and himself.

June 25
GIVE ME THE BANJO (USA, 2011, 90 min.)
A comprehensive look by documentary filmmaker Marc Fields at a quintessential American musical instrument, the banjo, from its African roots to contemporary jazz and into the 21st century. The banjo's long and contested history has encompassed many popular musical forms, from black folk styles and the 19th century minstrel show, to blues, ragtime, early jazz, old time folk and bluegrass. The film includes footage of Ralph Stanley, Abigail Washburn, Taj Mahal, Bela Fleck and many more. The film is part of The Banjo Project. The Project’s Music Director Tony Trischka will be performing at PS21 on Saturday, June 29.

Click here for the website for The Banjo Project
Click here to read more about Tony Trischka’s performance at PS21 this summer.
Click here to read about the banjo talk/demonstration at Roe Jan Library sponsored by PS21

July 2
MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (USA, 1944, 113 min.)
Director Vincent Minelli’s valentine to American small town life and to his soon to be wife Judy Garland. It is St. Louis 1903 and the whole town is preparing for the World’s Fair but the family is devastated to learn that their father is being transferred to New York City. Garland sings “The Boy Next Door,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song.” Mary Astor is the mother. Margaret O’Brien won an honorary Oscar for her portrayal of Tootie, the nine-year-old youngest sister.

“Minnelli's richly layered and detailed compositions in Meet Me in St. Louis, which seem to embed (or embalm) the Smith family in fabrics and woodcuts, ends up transmitting what's important about family unity and young love through physical patterns of impossible complexity.” – Jamie Christley, Slant Magazine

July 9
HUMORESQUE (USA, 1947, 125 min.)
Based on a Fanny Hurst novel with a script by Clifford Odet this classic 1940s melodrama stars Joan Crawford and John Garfield. He is a talented classical violinist from the slums and she is the wealthy, spoiled socialite who becomes his patron and lover. Crawford makes Helen a rich, layered character torn between selfless love and selfish impulses. Garfield matches her as the driven genius.
Garfield’s dazzling violin playing is dubbed by Isaac Stern. With Oscar Levant.

“…an iconic Joan Crawford performance.” – Slant Magazine

July 16
COVER GIRL (USA, 1944, 107 min.)
Directed by Charles Vidor, starring Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth the film is shot in lush Technicolor, and includes a special effects sequence in which Kelly dances down the street with his own ghost-like reflection. A young 19 year old Stanley Donan who later directed Kelly in Singin’ in the Rain worked as a co-choreographer on this film. Also with Phil Silvers and Eve Arden as hilarious side-kicks. Songs by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin include the hit “Long Ago and Far Away.” 

July 23
ROUND MIDNIGHT (France, 1986, 133 min.)
Directed by Bertrand Travenier the legendary sax player Dexter Gordon plays the part of Dale Turner, a jazz musician living in New York in the 1950s and spiraling down into despair and a worsening addiction to alcohol and drugs. He escapes to Paris where he finds temporary respite and becomes friends with a Frenchman who is a jazz aficionado.

Musical supervision was provided by Herbie Hancock.
“…a moving dramatic tribute to the great black musicians who lived and performed in Paris in the late 1950s.” – Variety

July 30
THE MAGIC FLUTE (Sweden, 1975, 134 min.)
Ingmar Bergman’s film of Mozart’s opera sung in Swedish tells the story of Tamino’s (Josef Köstlinger) adventures as he tries to rescue a beautiful princess (Irma Urrila) from the clutches of the vengeful Queen of the Night (Brigit Nordin). Papageno the flute playing bird catcher is played by Hakan Hagegard. The gorgeous cinematography is by Sven Nyquist.

“An absolutely dazzling film entertainment, so full of beauty, intelligence, wit, and fun that it becomes a testimonial not only to man's possibilities but also to his high spirits.” – Vincent Canby, New York Times

August 6
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDS (USA, 1953, 91 min.)
Howard Hawks directs Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in this musical comedy based on Anita Loos’s novels about Two Little Girls from Little Rock.  In her role as Lorali Lee Monroe gets to show off her delightful comedic talent. Her iconic performance of Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend is unforgettable. The music is by two songwriting teams: Hoagy Carmichael & Harold Adamson who wrote the numbers form the Broadway show and Jule Styne and Leo Robin who wrote songs especially for the film. Charles Coburn is Sir Francis “Piggy” Beekman and Marcel Dalio is the Magistrate.

“A landmark encounter in the battle of the sexes.” – David Kehr, Chicago Reader

“A joy.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

August 13
THIS IS SPINAL TAP (USA, 1984, 82 min.)
Rob Reiner’s directorial debut has developed into a cult phenomenon. The film that invented the “rockumentary” has now outlasted most of the bands it mocked. Following the ill-fated American comeback tour of an aging heavy-metal group, this film has joined the ranks of the greatest comedies ever made. With Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap.

… vastly amusing satire.” – Variety

August 20
100 YEARS OF DANCE ON CAMERA
An evening of short films and excerpts of some of the best dance films ever made, curated and introduced by Deirdre Towers. The films explore a range of dance forms.

This collection “demonstrates the importance of dance, not only as a language, but as a sensibility.” Deirdre sees dance on film as an art form in its own right, not simply a visual record of a performance. The film should create its own viewing reality. Deirdre has organized dance film festivals in places as geographically diverse as Brooklyn's Prospect Park and Iceland. Her own documentary is titled 100 Years of Dance on Camera.

August 27
PINA (Germany, 2011, 100 min.)
Pina Bausch is a legendary German dancer and choreographer. Her unique creations transformed the language of dance and offer a visual experience like no other. This revolutionary film from director Wim Wenders captures the aesthetic of Pina Bausch’s greatest works. Wenders was making a film about Pina Bausch when she died of cancer in 2009 and at first was too devastated to go on with the film. However, two years later he picked up the film again to made this remarkable tribute to her work, her dancers, and her city of Wuppertal.

“Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost.” – Pina Bausch

Monday, August 5
SLEEPER (USA, 1973, 89 min.)
In this classic futuristic comedy Keystone Cops meet Flash Gordon in the wild imagination of Woody Allen. Allen is a Greenwich Village musician/health food store owner who is kept frozen for 200 years and comes back to life in a totalitarian state governed by inane  conformity and an unseen Leader. Allen disguises himself as a robot (who looks a lot like silent comic Harold Lloyd) meets Luna (Diane Keaton) and the fun takes off with abundant visual gags and Allen’s hilarious one-liners.

“Sleeper is the closest Allen has come to classic slapstick-and-chase comedy, and he's good at it.” – Roger Ebert

" Sleeper is terrific.” – Vincent Canby, NY Times

Tuesday, August 6
GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDS (USA, 1953, 91 min.)
Howard Hawks directs Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in this musical comedy based on Anita Loos’s novels about Two Little Girls from Little Rock.  In her role as Lorali Lee Monroe gets to show off her delightful comedic talent. Her iconic performance of Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend is unforgettable. The music is by two songwriting teams: Hoagy Carmichael & Harold Adamson who wrote the numbers form the Broadway show and Jule Styne and Leo Robin who wrote songs especially for the film. Charles Coburn is Sir Francis “Piggy” Beekman and Marcel Dalio is the Magistrate.

“A landmark encounter in the battle of the sexes.” – David Kehr, Chicago Reader

“A joy.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Wednesday, August 7
MR. BEAN: THE MOVIE (UK, 1997, 85 min.)
Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) is a well-meaning but hopelessly clumsy and destructive guard at the Royal National Gallery in London. The Gallery’s Board wants to get rid of him so sends him to America when he is given the responsibility of unveiling the painting of “Whistler’s Mother” at a Los Angeles museum, where he creates more havoc. Mr. Bean began as a British comedy television series of 14 written by and starring Rowan Atkinson.

“Atkinson's reactive brand of bug-eyed and near-silent comedy has always been more akin to Jacques Tati--plus a lecherous pinch of Jerry Lewis…” – Bob Nelson, The Boston Phoenix

Thursday, August 8
THE JERK (USA, 1979, 104 min.)
Steve Martin made his film-starring debut in this wacky comedy hit. He is Navin Johnson, adopted son of a poor black sharecropper family, whose crazy inventions lead him from rags to riches and right back to rags. Along the way, he's smitten with a lady motorcycle racer (Bernadette Peters), survives a series of screwball attacks by a deranged killer, becomes a millionaire by inventing the "Opti-grab" handle for glasses - and shows why he is one of the world’s great comic performers.

The film’s basic premise came from one of Martin’s stand-up routines. Directed by Carl Reiner, the film was written by Steve Martin, Carl Gottlieb and Michael Elias.

Friday, August 9
KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (UK, 1949, 106 min.)
In this darkly funny Ealing comedy Dennis Price plays Louis D'Ascoyne whose mother was rejected by her noble family for marrying an Italian tenor for love. Louis decides to avenge his mother by murdering the relatives ahead of him in line for the dukedom, all of whom are played with incredible virtuosity by the brilliant Alec Guinness. They range from a youthful D'Ascoyne to a slew of uncles and one Aunt Agatha.

“The sly and adroit Mr. Guinness plays eight Edwardian fuddy-duds with such devastating wit and variety that he naturally dominates the film.” – Bosley Crowther, New York Times

Saturday, August 10
A SHOT IN THE DARK (UK, 1964, 102 min.)
This, the second of the Peter Sellers hilarious Pink Panther movies directed by Blake Edwards, is often cited as the greatest of the series.  When rich M. Ballon's (George Sanders) Spanish driver is found shot dead, Inspector Clouseau is the first official on the scene. All evidence suggests that Maria Gambrelli, the maid, (Elke Sommer) is the murderer, but because he is attracted to her, Clouseau is sure she is innocent.  He has her released from jail, but things do not work out the way the he hoped and people keep being murdered, and each time innocent Maria seems to be the killer.  With a score by Henry Mancini.

Sunday, August 11
MON ONCLE (France, 1958, 117 min.)
M. Hulot (Jacques Tati) is the dreamy, impractical, and adored uncle of young Gérard (nine years old), who lives with his materialistic parents in an ultra-modern geometric house and garden in a new suburb of Paris. Slapstick prevails when Jacques Tati’s eccentric hero is let loose in his brother-in-law’s home and in an antiseptic factory that manufactures plastic hose. In choosing modern architecture to punctuate his satire, Tati once stated, "Les lignes géométriques ne rendent pas les gens aimables" ("geometrical lines do not produce likeable people")

Mon Oncle won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, a Special Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Language Film
.
 “Jacques Tati's film has inventiveness, gags, warmth and a 'poetic' approach to satire" - Variety

Monday, August 12
THE PRODUCERS (USA, 1968 88 min.)
The Producers is written and directed by the legendary comic genius Mel Brooks (Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs) Low-rent Broadway producer Max Bialystock (Zero Mostel) and his high-strung accountant, Leo Bloom (Gene Wilder), discover that, with the help of a few gullible investors, they can make more money on a flop than on a hit! Armed with the worst show ever written ("Springtime for Hitler") and an equally horrific cast, this double-dealing duo is banking on disaster. But then their sure-to-offend musical becomes a surprise smash hit! 

"startling, stunning, outrageous [and] breathtaking debut.” – Los Angeles Times

"pure pell-Mel lunacy [and] wild, ad-lib energy [into an] uproariously funny film" – Time

Tuesday, August 13
THIS IS SPINAL TAP (USA, 1984, 82 min.)
Rob Reiner’s directorial debut has developed into a cult phenomenon. The film that invented the “rockumentary” has now outlasted most of the bands it mocked. Following the ill-fated American comeback tour of an aging heavy-metal group, this film has joined the ranks of the greatest comedies ever made. With Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest as David St. Hubbins, Derek Smalls, and Nigel Tufnel, the key members of a going-nowhere British heavy metal band called Spinal Tap.

… vastly amusing satire.” – Variety