Dear New Parkway Lover:
While Oakland likes musicals a tad more than it likes Tom Cruise, it was a wee bit miserable for Les Mis. In short, in the battle for New Parkway supremacy, it got its ass handed to it by Django. This week, Django battles the Hobbit in its cage match for all the glory, with a few other features and a chunk of repertory favorites looking on. Here are some the highlights:
· Not one but two directors coming for Q & A’s following their films. Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary director Stephen Vittoria will be in the house both Friday night (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/349955) and Saturday afternoon (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/349958), and Waiting Room director, Pete Nicks, will join us on Saturday as well (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/352122). Tickets for all of these shows with the filmmaker in attendance cost $10. All the other showings without the filmmaker are $6, and the latter are only available through walk-up same day sales through our box office.
· Cult favorite They Live (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/350179), tomorrow, followed by cult favorite Serenity (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/352134), Saturday, 11:15PM, followed by cult favorite Hedwig and the Angry Inch (http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/344278), Saturday at 11:55PM. How many cultists do we have out there?
· Feelmore Fresh Friday is back, tomorrow at 10 PM. http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/338044
· Oppa Oakland Style is back on Monday night, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/346649
· Brooklyn Reconstructed is back on Tuesday night, http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/352085
· And last but not least, soccer on the big screen, next Wednesday at lunchtime, Barcelona v. AC Milan, 11:45AM. Free!
Come for the movies, stay for the food, drink, couches, and now the Monday-Thursday evening activities (including live music, beer tasting, team trivia, happy hour, arts and crafts, board games, and funky wigs). Find us at 474 24th Street (with free parking a half block away) and online at www.thenewparkway.com.
And is if that were not enough, here’s what Adam has to say about this week’s features:
Hi All:
This week we have a perfect blend of fun popcorn flicks and gripping documentaries. Well actually, documentaries usually only depress me so my perfect blend would be mainly popcorn. But the Parkway's core demographic is way more socially progressive and probably feel guilty when they don't contribute to PBS or NPR. Or they are the few that do contribute when NPR's multiple sales techniques break through. And documentaries are right down their alley. So for most on this email list, this is a perfect blend of movies. For those who switch to their favorite music station during pledge week, not so much.
Django Unchained
Usually politics come into play and odd movies get Best Picture Oscars that are thoroughly undeserved (I am looking at you 'Chicago'). But the Best Original Screenplay Award is usually the movie that is the best of the year. Past winners include Almost Famous, Fargo, The Usual Suspects and Ghost (eh- 1990 was a really weak year for movies). And this year Quentin Tarantino got his second Oscar for writing.
Tarantino is one of the few directors with very few blemishes on his record. There was that dubious decision to split Kill Bill into two movies when it could have been a 3 hour masterpiece. Every genre he tries (well, revenge is his only genre) he succeeds in. Django Unchained is no exception. It is violent, funny, and original in equal parts. With another great role for Christopher Waltz (with another Oscar to boot). Let's enjoy Tarantino on the big screen while we can.
The Hobbit
Speaking of questionable decisions to split up movies into multiple segments to maximize dollars, the Hobbit comes fairly high on the list to debate. After sticking with Frodo through thick and thin, the Return of the King finished with roughly 12 endings and caused many a numb butt. When the decision was made to adapt a child's book into a trilogy, I was fully expecting the stretching of boring, irrelevant material into huge segments. I was delighted to discover this wasn't the case. Yes, it is 3 hours long. And the pace isn't as quick as Lord of the Rings. But the story is just fun and in a weird way nostalgic.
If you have not seen any of the Lord of the Rings movie, you obviously had a specific reason a decade ago. The Hobbit has a very familiar feel (characters, atmosphere, tone) so if you hated the Lord of the Rings, you will hate the Hobbit. If you loved it, you will probably really like the Hobbit. Martin Freeman is perfectly cast. Gollum is wonderful. Lots of great things to see here. If you had any reservations when this first came out at Xmas, now is your time to see it on the big screen. It's a worthwhile trip that you won't regret.
The Waiting Room
This one hits close to home. Literally. I live about 50 feet from Highland Hospital. This documentary goes behind the doors of an Oakland public hospital struggling to care for a community of largely uninsured patients. Dealing with all aspects of the hospital including patients, doctors, administrators, it looks into how each cope with disease, bureaucracy and hard choices.It details a day in the life of an ER ward. But crazily enough, there are no George Clooney lookalikes spouting witty dialogue throughout the day.
The Waiting Room successfully captures the current state of the American medical system. And some of the results can be very alarming. It also stands as a very powerful rebuke of Romney's conception of emergency rooms as a reasonable option for the uninsured.
Mumia: Long-Distance Revolutionary
Before he was convicted of murdering a policeman in 1981 and sentenced to die, Mumia Abu-Jamal was a gifted journalist and brilliant writer. Since being on Death Row he has written several books and commentaries. This documentary avoids discussing the crime for which Abu-Jamal spent 29 years in solitary confinement on death row, instead tracing the path of a brilliant journalist whose message cannot be silenced.
And now for more information about our repertory and special events programming:
Feelmore Fresh Friday—Have you been wanting to feel more fresh on Fridays? Well, you’re in luck as tomorrow marks the second installment of our night of erotica, often followed by discussion/Q and A. This week, Feelmore Fresh is showing Sexing the Transman, a great documentary by Buck Angel. Here’s the blurb: Sexing the Transman is a groundbreaking mainstream documentary about FTM sexualities. Buck Angel elicits intimate, in-depth conversations with transmen and those who love them-about how their bodies, sexualities, and identities are affected by the medical and social processes of gender transition. Advance tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/338044.
Late Night Movies—We’ve got them on both Friday and Saturday nights, Friday with They Live, which I’ve been told is one of the greatest cult classics ever. We’ll see! As for Saturday night, we’ve got the stranger than strange Hedwig and the Angry Inch showing at 11:55 and Serenity at 11:15, both which could sell out. With all of these late night movies, we’re seeing which ones will make it into our regular rotation, so come on out to support the ones that you love. All advance tickets available at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/profile/226669
New Parkway Family Classics—this week we’re showing Babe, and what’s not to like about a talking pig. Fun for the whole family, especially the youngins. Babe shows tomorrow at 4:30 and Saturday at 12:30.
Spectrum Queer Cinema—SPECTRUM Queer Media.com presents Twirl: A Celebration of Queer Partnered Dance! The 3PM event will feature film shorts, instruction and live demonstrations of the following: queer salsa, tango, Chicago style stepping and country line dance! More info at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/SPECTRUM-Queer-Media/530576980288790?fref=ts.
Thrillville—THRILLVILLE THEATER presents THE PSYCHOTRONIC FILM FESTIVAL on Sunday at 6PM. Sci-Fi Bob Ekman personally projects rare 16mm gems from his own awesome film archives for the debut of his legendary PSYCHOTRONIC FILM FESTIVAL at the New Parkway, featuring midcentury music shorts and scopitones, classic drive-in movie trailers and snack ads, incredibly strange industrial films, memorable TV commercials, kooky cartoons and much more from the vintage vaults of outré cinema! Advance tickets link will be up soon on Facebook and the website!
Baby Brigade—Every Monday at 4:30 and 6:30, we’ve got baby-friendly showings or, better stated, babies are welcome to attend showings. This week we’ve got The Waiting Room and for the early showing and The Hobbit after that. And we’re now partnering with www.510Families.com to bring you these great family friendly showings, so there might be some added perks for folks who come on out.
Films from Afar—After a great debut last week to our international film night, we’ll be at it again this week with Oakland Oppa Style’s showing of Memories of Murder. Murder + Korean Cinema = You Got to See This!. Advance tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/346649
Doc Night—This Tuesday brings us the third installment of the Brooklyn Reconstructed series looking at gentrification and its connection to Oakland. Tuesday we’ll be showing Flag Wars about race, class, and orientation in Ohio. Good stuff! You can read more about it at http://www.pbs.org/pov/flagwars/#.UTjgWetAQso, and you can buy advance tickets at: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/352085.
2 for 1 Wednesdays—All day Wednesday, 2 for 1 admission prices with movies starting at 3:30. And now with Happy Hour drinks from 5-7PM followed by arts and crafts projects in the café that you can do with your buzz on.
Parkway Classics—Will the Thrill's PARKWAY CLASSICS presents AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (1997). Mike Myers plays the ultimate secret agent - as well as his arch nemesis, Dr. Evil - cryogenically frozen in the swingin' 60s but thawed out for the naughty 90s in the original shagadelic spy spoof.
Mailing List Removal—if you’ve had enough of this and want to be removed from the list, please do so at: http://thenewparkway.com/unsubscribe.php
Thanks for your continued and growing support of the New Parkway Theater. We think we’re building a pretty cool community space, adding new things each month, and it’s all thanks to you!
Moses
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