NYC Weekend Picks, Jan 20-22: Dealing with Trump, Early Scorsese, Adapting Patricia Highsmith, Poetic Docs From Iran, and a Jarmusch Classic

Featured Critic; New York City, New York

I wasn’t with it, but just that very minute, it occurred to me the suckers had authority …

– Public Enemy, “Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos”

 

Today is when it all goes down, figuratively and literally. Regardless of where you sit on the political spectrum, the gravity and the portentousness of today's events in Washington D.C. can hardly be understated, even if it often seems that the ascendant occupant of the U.S.'s highest office doesn't fully appreciate that fact.  

 

So, whether you wish to contemplate the consequences of our new national and world order, are looking for inspiration for resisting it, or just want to forget about the whole thing for a couple of hours, my choices this week have you covered.  

 

In the gallery below, you will find details on Trump-inspired programming at Anthology Film Archives, two early Scorsese features and a trilogy of Iranian documentaries at Museum of the Moving Image, adaptations of novels by Patricia Highsmith at Metrograph, and a midnight screening of Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, one of Jim Jarmusch's finest works, at Nitehawk Cinema. 

Inauguration of the Displeasure Dome: Coping with the Election at Anthology Film Archives

New Yorkers have many options this weekend (and no doubt in the days, weeks, and years to come) to rage against the Trump machine, from marches, rallies, museum free admissions, and spoken word performances, to drowning your sorrows and/or anger in beer or other liquor, with the proceeds going to organizations fighting the good fight.

For cinematic contemplation of the issues and our new reality, Anthology Film Archives offers this series of films running from January 20-24, with chillingly prescient visions of dystopia and alternate realities - almost seeming like documentaries when seen from today's perspective - as well as inspiring visions of resistance to the powers that be.

These films include:

A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1956; Jan. 20, 6:30pm and Jan. 22, 3:15pm) (pictured), with Andy Griffith as a media celebrity who parlays his fame into demagogic political success (sound familiar?);

Punishment Park (Peter Watkins, 1970; Jan. 22, 6pm), a proto-Hunger Games scenario concerning anti-Vietnam War activists forced to play deadly games with law enforcement officers as an alternative to prison;

It Happened Here (Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo, 1965; Jan. 20, 9:15pm), a frightening, meticulously detailed alternate-history docudrama that imagines Germany winning World War II and occupying England.

(More info/tickets)

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A Face in the CrowdAlfred HitchcockAndrew MolloAnthony MinghellaCarolEd LachmanElia KazanGhost DogIt Happened HereJim JarmuschKevin BrownlowMartin ScorseseMean StreetsMehrdad OskoueiPatricia HighsmithPeter WatkinsPunishment ParkPurple NoonRene ClementStarless DreamsStrangers on a TrainThe American FriendThe Talented Mr. RipleyTodd HaynesWho's That Knocking at My Door?Wim Wenders

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