Free Movie Night - King Kong (1931)

FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT

The Backyard Garden will be showing King Kong (1931 Version) this Saturday, July 23rd at 8:30pm. Bring a blanket or a chair and your popcorn and ENJOY!!

Rooftop Films at the Waterfront Museum!

Rooftop Films comes to Red Hook on Thursday, August 1 at the Waterfront Museum aboard the 914 Lehigh Valley Barge #79, In the water at 290 Conover Street. (Next to Fairway.)

The Expedition to the End of the World (Daniel Dencik | Denmark | 88 min.) NY Premiere
Rooftop sets to sea for this spirited documentary about a three-mast sailboat full of daring artists and off-beat scientists exploring territory only recently revealed by polar ice melts.

*Preceded by:
Reindeer (Eva Weber | 6 min.)
A poetic study in movement and sound, this film takes you on a journey to the twilight expanses of the Lappish wilderness to experience the ancient practice of reindeer herding or ‘husbandry’.

7:30PM: Doors Open8:00PM: Live Music by Biet and Black
8:30PM: Films Begin
10:30PM-12:00AM: After Party at Brooklyn Crab (24 Reed Street) courtesy of Red Stripe & Tito's Vodka

Tickets and more information: http://rooftopfilms.com/2013/schedule/the-expedition-to-the-end-of-the-world/

Screening events coming to Jalopy

ExScEX (Expanded Screening Experience) events will include the projection of a film plus a short, live music, or an activist presentation, or a panel. Each event will have a theme: activism, fashion, or music. 


Two events are coming up at our own Jalopy Theater on March 20 and April 24. The film Vodka Rocks! will have its Kickstarter Premiere at  in Brooklyn on March 20, 7:45. Free to Kickstarter donors and crew & cast,  the screening will be accompanied by a performance by G.R.A.S.S., the ska and reggae band featuring on sax Michael Blake who wrote the score for Vodka Rocks!, a vodka tasting, Twitter competition, and Q&A with director John Rubino, DP James Callanan, Music Composer Michael Blake. 


Jalopy, 315 Columbia St
Tuesday March 20 at 8pm. $10
http://www.vodka-rocks.com 
http://skuflix.com/ 


The second event's theme is "actitainment." It will look into the expansion of a movement which joins entertainment with performance: adbusters, Yes Men, Reverend Billy, etc. There will be a panel discussion, a band, and a screening. Plus Twitter competition & vodka tasting! April 24, 8pm, also at Jalopy. 


Reverend Billy is a hero of mine (neighborlujah!) so I'll be sure not to miss that one.

Red Hook Ramblers to accompany Buster Keaton comedies at the Fabulous Jalopy

Who: The Red Hook Ramblers
What: Live Music-Silent Film Screening of Buster Keaton’s “Cops” and “The Playhouse”

When: Sunday, April 10, 8:00 p.m.
Phone: 718.395.3214
Where: Jalopy Theater & School of Music

Cost: $10

Dixieland band teams with acclaimed old-time music venue for jazz-age movie night; screening to include short classics “Cops” & “The Playhouse”

The Red Hook Ramblers, Brooklyn’s premier Dixieland band, will make their first-ever foray into silent film accompaniment when they provide live music for a pair of silent comedy classics at Jalopy Theater & School of Music in Brooklyn this Sunday.

On April 10^th, the six-piece band will perform their New Orleans-style jazz to screenings of Buster Keaton’s “The Playhouse” (1921) and “Cops” (1922), two of the most popular short comedies by the iconic silent film director and actor. Following the screenings, the band will perform selections from their new CD, Something More Sinister, a collection of burlesque-inspired original tracks.

The show is presented by Jalopy Theater & School of Music, a celebrated mainstay of the city’s country, blues, folk, and jazz community located in Red Hook, Brooklyn. In 2008, the Village Voice named Jalopy the Best Old-Timey Venue in New York.

Founded in 2005, the Red Hook Ramblers are among the leading torchbearers of New York's revitalized traditional jazz scene. In past years, they’ve led the Louis Armstrong House Museum’s celebration of the trumpeter’s birthday, toured Switzerland, and played a sold-out concert with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. More recently, they’ve been named the New York Jets’ Home Game Hype Band, and have established themselves as in-demand live burlesque accompaniment through residencies at the Slipper Room and Galapagos Art Space's Floating Kabarette as well as appearances in other neo-vaudeville productions.

Widely regarded as one of the best comic actors and film directors of all time, Buster Keaton was among the silent era’s biggest comedic stars, along with Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. His flair for rapid-fire gags is at its peak in the classic chase farce “Cops,” while “The Playhouse,” which opens with Keaton playing nine roles at once, showcases his genius for special effects.

“Buster Keaton’s comedy was so pure and universal that the humor translates flawlessly today, and that’s the kind of timelessness we try to convey when we perform traditional jazz,” said Jason Benjamin, cornetist with the Red Hook Ramblers. “It’s thrilling to collaborate in this way with an artist from an era so close to our hearts, and there’s no better place to conjure his spirit and share our joy for his work than Jalopy.”

In the burlesque spirit of the band’s new CD, Jalopy will kick off the show by screening a series of short burlesque clips from the silent era, accompanied by selections from Jalopy’s collection of vintage jazz recordings.

Tickets are $10 and will be available for purchase at the door. Jalopy has a limited bar that serves beer, wine, soft drinks, and coffee drinks.

The Secret Garden at Big Movies for Little Kids next Monday

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and neglected. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

I remember reading the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett as a kid and loving it. This movie version is very well done and perfect at this time of year. You will want to grow things, you know, in dirt.


Monday, April 4th at 4pm, at Cobble Hill Cinemas.

Big Movies for Little Kids is calling for students film entries.

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Call for Student Film Festival Entries

You’ve seen our films. Now let us see yours!

Big Movies for Little Kids, the celebrated classic film series for children, announces its first-ever student film festival. Short films by New York City students are now being accepted for consideration. Selected films will be screened on the BIG screen at the Big Movies for Little Kids season finale on June 6^th, 2011 at 4pm, at Cobble Hill Cinemas (265 Court Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231).

Last year, a group of fourth-graders from Packer Collegiate Institute made a short film to screen alongside our Tom & Jerry show. A live-action romp, the film was such a hit with our young audience that we’ve added an entire short film festival to our lineup!

Students 18 years old and younger who attend school in New York City (public, private, home school, we don’t care) are eligible to participate.

Films must be submitted in DVD format by May 1^st, 2011. There are no entry fees but there is a limit of one film per student or group. Finalists will be screened and introduced by a well-known film director (TBA) at the June 6^th festival. Children attending the festival will select one grand-prize winner, which will be shown at the BigMovies/Rooftop Films Drive-In Outdoor Movie Night on June 17^th.

Big Movies for Little Kids, which has introduced over 200 classic films to NYC children and their adults celebrates its sixth anniversary this year. We screen films every other Monday, following the school calendar, at the independently-owned Cobble Hill Cinemas. Our outreach program, Short Cuts, allows us to offer free admission to Brooklyn children and families who cannot afford the ticket price. Big Movies for Little Kids is sponsored, in part, by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council for the Arts, administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council. We are honored to be named "Best Film Series" in New York Magazine's "Best of New York 2009".

For more in formation click here.

Big Movies for Little Kids -Valentine's Day Special

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

at Cobble Hill Cinemas

Valentine’s Day Special!

Monday, February 14th at 4pm

I LOVE LUCY

We love Lucy so we're bringing three more episodes to Big Movies for Little Kids as a Valentine's Day treat. Join us for some of Lucy's most hilarious antics: stomping grapes in Italy; making a commercial for Vitameatavegamin, and appearing on a game show to pay for a trip to Hawaii. (USA; 1951-1956; not rated; black and white; 66 minutes)

BONUS: I Love Lucy giveaways for the kids!

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

At Cobble Hill Cinemas

Time: 4pm (every other Monday, following the public school calendar)

Ages: 2 and up (all ages welcome)

Location: Cobble Hill Cinemas, 265 Court Street @ Butler Street, Brooklyn

Cost: $7.00 per person (as per theater policy, all walkers need a ticket)

To secure seats at Cobble Hill Cinemas, tickets may be purchased on-line here.

Big Movies for Little Kids - Pippi Goes on Board

At Cobble Hill Cinemas

Monday, December 20th at 4pm

Pippi Goes on Board

The last entry in the Pippi Longstocking series finds Pippi preparing to reunite with her seafaring father, who's been living as the king of a magical South Seas isle. But before bidding adieu to Tommy and Anika, Pippi throws an offbeat birthday bash, causes bedlam at a carnival, creates the world's biggest snowball and hosts an unconventional Christmas. (Sweden; 1975; rated G; color; live-action; 79 minutes)

Sponsored by Appaman kid's apparel: free t-shirts for all kids attending.
For more information, click here.

Big Movies for Little Kids - Meet Me in St Louis

Monday, December 6th, at 4pm, come watch the classic Meet Me in St Louis at the Cobble Hill Cinemas.

Judy Garland stars as Esther Smith in director Vincente Minnelli's musical masterpiece about the trials and tribulations of a tight-knit family living in St. Louis on the eve of the 1904 World's Fair. Memorable characters and charming songs, which include "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and "The Trolley Song," make this one of the greatest American musicals ever filmed. (USA; 1944; not rated; color; live action; 113 minutes)

Special PS 29 Benefit Evening - Tue, Nov 16

The PS 29 PTA & Strong Place

Cordially Invite You to

LENNONYC

A Special PS 29 Benefit Evening

Tuesday, November 16th

7:00 PM

A Private Preview of LENNONYC

at Cobble Hill Cinemas

Featuring a Talkback with Film Director/Writer Michael Epstein

(an Academy Award-nominated PS 29 Dad)

Immediately Followed by a Reception at Strong Place

$30 ticket price includes the screening, talkback

beer or wine & hors d'oeuvres

Sponsored by Sixpoint Craft Ales

Click here for tickets

Proceeds Benefit PS 29!

Local resident shares his talent

Red Hook (Comp Studies:1) by Herman Bergman.

We love this, hope you will too.

Tom & Jerry at Big Movies for Little Kids

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Celebrating Our Fifth Anniversary!

Monday, May 3^rd at 4pm

TOM & JERRY

Trends come and go, but the chase is eternal! The most famous cat and mouse team are back for more hilarious antics on the big screen at Big Movies. (USA; 1965; not rated; color animation; approximately 70 minutes)

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Time: 4pm (every other Monday, following the public school calendar)

Ages: 2 and up (all ages welcome)

Location: Cobble Hill Cinemas, 265 Court Street @ Butler

Cost: $6.50 per person (as per theater policy, all walkers need a ticket)

For more information: www.bigmoviesforlittlekids.blogspot.com

To secure seats, tickets may be purchased on-line at: www.cobblehilltheatre.com

Earth day with Big Movies for Little Kids

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

at Cobble Hill Cinemas

Monday, April 19^th at 4pm

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION!

To usher in Earth Day (April 22^nd) Big Movies presents two celebrated, animated films about our fragile environment: Dr. Seuss’s THE LORAX and the Academy Award-winning film by Frederic Back, THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES.

“Gluppity Glup, Shloppity Shlop!” THE LORAX chronicles the plight of the Truffula Trees, and the Bar-ba-loots, Swomee Swans and other fantastical beings that lived among them. A greedy industrialist, the Once-ler, recounts how he destroyed the forest for his Thneed-making business, and the strange little creature, The Lorax , “I speak for the trees,” who tried to stop him. (USA; 1972; not rated; color animation; 25 minutes)

Based on the beautiful short story by Jean Giono, The Man Who Planted Trees tells the story of a lone shepherd's effort to re-forest a decimated valley in the foothills of the Alps over the course of four decades. Narrated by Christopher Plummer (Canada; 1987; not rated; color animation; English narration; 30 minutes)

BIG MOVIES FOR LITTLE KIDS

Time: 4pm (every other Monday, following the public school calendar)

Ages: 2 and up (all ages welcome)

Location: Cobble Hill Cinemas, 265 Court Street @ Butler

Subway: F train to Bergen Street

Cost: $6.50 per person (as per theater policy, all walkers need a ticket)

For more information: www.bigmoviesforlittlekids.blogspot.com

To secure seats tickets may be purchased on-line at: www.cobblehilltheatre.com

See you at the movies!

Pingu showing at Big Movies for Little Kids on 2/22

A selection of episodes from the show Pingu will be showing at Big Movies for Little Kids on 2/22 at 4pm.

Big Movies for Little Kids takes place at Cobble Hill Theatere.

Check out their blog here for more details about this and other upcoming screenings.

The BQE

The BQE - a movie inspired by the roadway that in many ways defines/confines our neighborhood - was released on DVD this week. And no, its not a documentary about the history of the expressway, but rather a musical and visual piece inspired by it, featuring epic music created by Sufjan Stevens and a group of hula-hoopers dancing throughout.

Check out a selection of the various associated merchandise available (including the soundtrack, comics, posters, and more) here

...or a WNYC interview with creator Sufjan Stevens here

Or the trailer here:

THE BQE- A Film By Sufjan Stevens from Asthmatic Kitty on Vimeo.

Freebird interviews Jacob Burckhardt

In anticipation of the Freebird / Word On Columbia St. screening of "It Don't Pay to Be an Honest Citizen" on October 11th, Freebird's Peter Miller conducted a Q&A with the film's director Jacob Burckhardt, who lived on Columbia St. at the time of the film's creation 25 years ago.

The interview is reposted below. Head over to Freebird's site for some other commentary and background information related to the interview and the event.
------------------------

So the movie is based on your experience being mugged. What happened exactly to you?

The events happened in, I think, 1978. After the second day I realized that, while I was a bit scared by it all, it was pretty interesting and funny, and I started keeping a diary. The movie script was based on that. All of the best lines in the movie were actually said to me, and almost all of the characters were based on real people, with names changed to protect the guilty. The exceptions to this were the visiting girlfriend, who was an amalgam of several people who were made nervous by the neighborhood, and the scene with Allen Ginsberg and Yoshiko Chuma, which was a total fiction in order to get them in the movie (Toi Jugatsu, one of the Japanese car burners is somewhat famous in Japan). There was also an episode with an insurance agent that didn’t make it into the movie.

Where did you live in the neighborhood?

297 Columbia Street, between Summit and Woodhull. First on the ground floor, which had been Sam’s Work Clothes, then at the time of these events on the top floor. Afterwards I was nervous that too many people knew where I lived and I moved to Rapelye Street, between Columbia and Hicks. A difficult move because my rent went up to $150.


What was the make up of the community at the time?

Italian and Hispanic, with a few bohemians sprinkled around.


Was there an arts scene in the area?

The only art scene that I was aware of consisted of some friends – Noah Baen, Geoff Davis, Vincas Meilus, Bill Belfer, Tom Jablonka, Dak and Delia Grodt, David Grossman, Sidelle and Jack Scott, Robert Bentley to name a few. I didn’t know anyone in “Red Hook Proper”, south of Hamilton Avenue. No galleries or bars or other hangouts.


The film suggests you had some run-ins with the local mob. Were you intimidated?

The bar scene in the movie happened originally in a social club on Columbia street, and I found out at some point, maybe later, that some of those guys had connections with the Gallos. The last scene happened somewhere in Canarsie. In both of those scenes I felt not intimidated but humiliated, especially in the last one. I hope that’s clear in the movie.


What do you make of the changes in the area? In over the last 25 years?

You could write a book about that, and it would be boring. Sometimes I think nostalgia for the old days is just nostalgia for our youth.

Oct 11: It don't pay to be an honest citizen at Freebird

Sunday, October 11, 7 pm

The Word on Columbia Street and Freebird Books host a rare screening of

IT DON'T PAY TO BE AN HONEST CITIZEN

Join us in the outdoor lot next to Freebird for refreshments and commentary from the director, Jacob Burckhardt.

Shot in and around Columbia Street twenty five years ago, the film features the debut of Vincent D’Onofrio as well as a cast of amateur thespians including William Burroughs (as a mafia don), Allen Ginsberg (posing as a lawyer), recent MacArthur genius Rakestraw Downes (as an angry lunch counter proprietor), filmmaker and photographer Rudy Burckhardt (as a raving bum), and poet Reed Bye (as the film’s erstwhile protagonist).

Based on the director’s own absurd experience being mugged in Red Hook in the late 1970s, the movie centers on the efforts of Reed Bye’s character to retrieve a precious canister of film. Though the muggers (portrayed in part by D’Onofrio) are caught immediately, the reel remains elusively out of his grasp. To recover it he must spar with the neighborhood’s most illustrious residents—legit and other.

IT DON'T PAY TO BE AN HONEST CITIZEN captures the community in the throes of transition, after containerization had brought an end to longshoremen culture and taken the teeth out of local gangs like the Gallos, but before gentrification became widespread. Filmed all along the waterfront it showcases now defunct bars and luncheonettes, familiar landmarks (including the interior of the 76^th precinct headquarters), and buildings lost to the wrecking ball. One notable scene was shot inside an abandoned church at President and Van Brunt once famous as a Gallo hangout but later destroyed in the aftermath of a botched city sewer line.

Director Jacob Burckhardt and some of the cast members drawn from the neighborhood will be on hand to answer questions about the making of the film. Including, why is Midwesterner William Burroughs playing a cosa nostra kingpin?...

When: Sunday, October 11, 7 pm

Where: In the lot next to Freebird Books, 123 Columbia Street (between Kane and Degraw)

Image above from Gothamist. See a Gothamist interview with Director Jacob Burckhardt from a couple years back here.

Reminder: Potluck dinner at the Human Compass followed by House of Wax screening at Amazing

As part of the free art classes in the Human Compass garden, Launa Beuhler is hosting a potluck bbq thos Saturday, August 22, from 5 to 7:30pm.

Then move 2 blocks down to the Amazing garden for a screening of classic horror film "House of Wax", at 8:30pm. Bring a chair or a blanket (and bug repellent!).

Aug 22: "House of Wax" at the Amazing Garden

The Amazing Garden (corner of Columbia and Carroll Streets) will host an evening of "Movies in the Garden" on Saturday, August 22 at 8:30 p.m. Bring a chair or blanket (and bug repellent) and join us for the 1953 Vincent Price horror classic, "House of Wax."


Vincent Price always excels as an obsessed madman, and he’s at his best in this suspenseful thriller, stalking lovely Phyllis Kirk, aided by mute brute Charles Bronson. Originally shown in 3-D, this story plays well as a flat print on the strength of its story and characters. Add a star for the haunting set and props in his eerie Victorian wax museum! Yes, he’s stealing corpses from the morgue and dipping them in his waxy fondue pot. Nostalgic fun for young and old, you’ll scream when his fire-scarred face is revealed. With Frank Lovejoy, Carolyn Jones.

Crazy Joe film screening at The Backyard Garden

The Backyard Garden will be joining the long list of Joe Gallo themed events this summer with a film screening of Crazy Joe. A trailer of the movie is here and details about the event are below that:



THE BACKYARD PRESENTS at
8:00 PM Saturday. August 29
CRAZY JOE (1973)
FREE OUTDOOR MOVIE NIGHT in the Garden
at Hamilton Ave & Summit St.

See A Vintage Feature Film Plus Cartoon—All are Welcome!:
Based on the short life of Crazy Joe Gallo, with Peter Boyle as the hipster wiseguy and Fred Williamson as his eager associate. It’s almost a civil rights story as Joe tries to integrate the rackets and meets with fierce opposition. Lots of violent action and plenty of excellent character acting with Eli Wallach, Luther Adler, Rip Torn, Paula Prentiss. Can you spot Henry (Fonzie) Winkler as one of the crew? A film with a strong 70s feel, directed by Carlo Lizzani. ----Bring your own popcorn, etc.