The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY presents the "Play This Movie Loud!" film series in conjunction with video exhibition Spectacle: The Music Video.
The eighteen-film screening series will celebrate music movies on the big screen, including concert films, documentaries, and fiction films that focus on a single performer or band. Already featured have been the 1965 Beatles movie Help, directed by Richard Lester, and D.A. Pennebaker's Dont Look Back documentary of Bob Dylan's 1965 UK tour and the 1973 David Bowie concert film Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders Of Mars.
Next up is a screening tonight, Tuesday May 7, of U2 3D in Dolby Digital 3D. Director Mark Pellington will be in attendance to introduce the movie and discuss his entire career. The evening kicks off at 7p and costs $15 for the general public.
All other movies in the series are currently free events, boating such classics as The Rolling Stones "Gimme Shelter," The Who "Quadrophenia," Bjork "Dancer In The Dark," Jimmy Cliff "The Harder They Come," Fugazi "Instrument" and much more.
See below for the full schedule and visit movingimage.us for more details...
THE BEATLES
A Hard Day’s Night
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Richard Lester, 1964, 87 mins. 35mm. With The Beatles, Wilfred Brambell. “Are you a mod or a rocker,” Ringo Starr—playing a character named Ringo—is asked during a press conference in Richard Lester’s freewheeling semi-documentary romp A Hard Day’s Night. “I’m a mocker,” he deadpans, perfectly capturing the irreverent spirit of the film, and of The Beatles themselves. More inspired byBreathless than the stilted Elvis vehicles and other music movies of the time, A Hard Day’s Night brought artistry to the genre in a film propelled by the energy of such hit songs as “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better,” and “Happy Just to Dance with You.”
THE ROLLING STONES
Gimme Shelter
SATURDAY, MAY 11, 5:00 P.M.
Dirs. Albert and David Maysles, Charlotte Zwerin. 1970, 91 mins. 35mm. With Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor. When an 18-year-old black man was stabbed to death by a Hell’s Angel at the Rolling Stone’s Altamont concert in December 1969, it felt to many that the spirit of the 1960s died along with him. The Maysles Brothers capture the events that led up to the concert as well as the mounting tension, unraveling nerves, and loss of control that took place afterwards. The haunted look on Mick Jagger’s face as he watches the fatal moment registers all of the loss, shock, and disappointment that came with the passing of an era. A mesmerizing and electrifying vérité classic, Gimme Shelter is both disturbing and enthralling, an essential rock movie.
THE WHO
Quadrophenia
SUNDAY, MAY 12, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Franc Roddam. 1979, 117 mins. 35mm. With Phil Daniels, Leslie Ash, Philip Davis. The battle between the Mods and the Rockers, alluded to in A Hard Day’s Night, is played out in Quadrophenia. Youth, motor scooters, music, rebellion—these were the visible elements of England in the 1960s that belied the restlessness, disillusionment, and malaise fermenting beneath the surface of civil society. Based on The Who’s rock opera of the same name, the film follows an angst-ridden boy who falls in with the Mods to find his own meaning.Quadrophenia is an atmospheric coming-of-age tale that brings to life the world in which The Who grew up and found their inspiration.
THE BAND
The Last Waltz
SATURDAY, MAY 18, 6:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, MAY 19, 6:30 P.M.
Dir. Martin Scorsese. 1978, 117 mins. 35mm. With Robbie Robertson, Muddy Waters, Neil Young. Often hailed as the best concert film ever made, The Last Waltz documents The Band’s final performance on Thanksgiving Day, 1976. A pantheon of rock legends join them, including Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and more. In backstage interviews and studio segments, Scorsese traces the rise and fall of The Band, a group immortalized by this masterful film.
THE MONKEES
Head
SUNDAY, MAY 19, 4:00 P.M.
Dir. Bob Rafelson. 1968, 86 mins. 35mm. With Peter Tork, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz. Psychedelic, stream-of-conscious, and surreal,this tour-de-force captures the band The Monkees at its most hilarious—and also its most reflexive. Head manages to be utterly self-conscious and nonsensical at the same time. The band, aware they are actors within a movie, attempt to break free from a dictatorial director, but find that their every action is already preordained. Filled with sight gags and slapstick drawn from the atmosphere of the delirious 1960s cultural landscape, Head offers a trenchant critique of the social climate of the period beneath its veneer of lighthearted adventure.
JIMMY CLIFF
The Harder They Come
SATURDAY, MAY 25, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Perry Henzell. 1972, 120 mins. 35mm. With Jimmy Cliff, Janet Bartley, Carl Bradshaw.
Jamaica’s first feature-length film transformed reggae from a regional genre into an international sensation. Combining gritty realism with a killer soundtrack, The Harder They Come follows Ivanhoe Martin as he moves to Kingston from the countryside to pursue his dream of being a big-time singer. He soon learns the harsh truths of the streets and when he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, he also finds that he has become a modern-day folk hero.
THE DANDY WARHOLS AND THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
Dig!
SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. Ondi Timoner. 2004, 107 mins. 35mm. With Anton Newcombe, Courtney Taylor-Taylor, Joel Gion. Dig! charts the course of two rock bands as they vie for success in the early 2000s. Shot over seven years, the film chronicles the relationship between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre—particularly that of Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Anton Newcombe, the respective helmsmen. As they each come to prominence, the fates of the bands diverge significantly, with one steadily working its way up the industry ladder while the other becomes mired in personal conflict and drama. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, this riveting documentary evokes more than a touch of Spinal Tap.
NEIL YOUNG
Greendale
SUNDAY, MAY 26, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Neil Young. 2003, 87 mins. 35mm. With Sarah White, Eric Johnson, Ben Keith. Shot over three weeks on a Super-8 underwater camera, Neil Young’s Greendale falls somewhere between home movie and music video. Set in a seaside California town, the film follows the Green family as they try to navigate the troubled waters of contemporary American life by holding fast to a brand of political activism largely fallen to the wayside. Greendale contains no dialogue—Young’s quietly insistent voice sets the pace and tone of the film, speaking for the characters and narrating throughout. Committed to its do-it-yourself aesthetic and to its political ideals, Greendale is a moving swan song to the American dream.
RADIOHEAD
Meeting People Is Easy
SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 3:00 P.M.
Dir. Grant Gee. 1998, 99 mins. 35mm. With Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Ed O’Brien. A kaleidoscopic collection of backstage footage, band interviews, music video clips, and concert recordings from Radiohead’s 1997 OK Computer world tour, Meeting People Is Easyperfectly captures the schizophrenic nature of rock-and-roll superstardom. Moments of frenetic activity are followed by long stretches of tedium as the band travels from one city to the next. Over the course of 104 performances, the film charts the band’s growing apprehension towards the price of celebrity and their increasing disillusionment with the rigors of touring across the fragmented, media-saturated, postindustrial landscape.
FUGAZI
Instrument
FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 7:00 P.M.
Dir. Jem Cohen. 2003, 115 mins. Digital projection. With Brendan Canty, Joe Lally, Ian MacKaye. Fugazi’s DIY ethos is taken to heart inInstrument, Jem Cohen’s insightful video document of the band’s life over eleven years—from 1987 to 1998. The film, shot in numerous formats, compiles concert footage, interviews, and audience portraits spanning the range of Fugazi’s activity during the period. Instrumentis a tribute not only to the band’s continued critical and popular acclaim but also to the independent music scene of Washington, D.C. where Fugazi grew up and found its calling.
DAVID BYRNE
True Stories
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 2:00 P.M.
Dir. David Byrne. 1986, 90 mins. 35mm. With David Byrne, John Goodman, Annie McEnroe. On the occasion of its 150th anniversary, the town of Virgil, Texas stages a “Celebration of Specialness” to commemorate the event; meanwhile a cowboy-hat-wearing David Byrne takes the opportunity to make the acquaintance of some of the towns more eccentric citizens. Filled with off-kilter tales and meditations on the peculiar shape of modern living and featuring a bevy of musical interludes, True Stories is an absurdist look at small-town America filtered through the ever-inspired mind of the enigmatic Talking Heads front man.
TALKING HEADS
Stop Making Sense
SATURDAY, JUNE 8, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Jonathan Demme. 1984, 88 mins. 35mm. With David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir. In Stop Making Sense, big-white-suited Talking Heads leader David Byrne is on the verge of something; maybe a nervous breakdown, maybe transcendence. “Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire,” he warns early on, and this might as well serve as the description for the entire film. Each song contains an electrical pulse that passes from one moment to the next, building upon its own momentum until the entire performance lifts off the ground and vibrates on a frenetic, exuberantly joyful frequency captured beautifully by music-enthusiast director Jonathan Demme and a team of ace cinematographers led by Jordan Cronenweth.
BJÖRK
Dancer in the Dark
SUNDAY, JUNE 9, 5:00 P.M.
Dir. Lars von Trier. 2000, 140 mins. 35mm. With Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse. In Lars von Trier’s raw, hyper-real reinvention of the musical, Björk stars as Selma Ježková, a Czech immigrant who moves to America in order to raise money for her son’s eye operation. Going blind herself, Selma dreams of being in big Hollywood musicals while she struggles at her job at the local factory. Just as she is reaching her goal, tragedy strikes, and Selma is forced to face consequences outside of her control. Alternating between coarse hand-held camerawork and glossy musical production, Dancer in the Dark is an emotionally devastating portrait of the struggle between a woman’s dreams and her reality.
