Press release:
FILM DIRECTOR DAVID O. RUSSELL TO RECEIVE RETROSPECTIVE AT MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE
FILMMAKER TO BE JOINED BY SPIKE JONZE FOR SPECIAL SCREENING OF THE FIGHTER
ASTORIA, NY, January 11, 2011 – David O. Russell will be the subject of the first director retrospective at the newly expanded Museum of the Moving Image. From January 19 through February 6, 2011, Moving Image will screen all five of Russell’s feature films, from his audacious 1994 comedy Spanking the Monkey to his new film, The Fighter, which is a critical and popular success. The retrospective opens on Wednesday, January 19, with a special screening of The Fighter in the Museum’s magnificent new 267-seat Moving Image Theater. Russell will discuss the film in a post-screening conversation moderated by his friend, director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are).
Teeming with life, Russell’s acclaimed film The Fighter is at once assured and powerful, a cinematic experience that doesn’t fit neatly into any one genre. His debut, Spanking the Monkey, is a coming-of-age story that ventures into mother-son incest without sacrificing emotional honesty or comedy. Flirting with Disaster is a screwball family comedy that cheerfully explores adoption, adultery, and many other loaded subjects. Three Kings uses wild humor to attack the absurdity of modern warfare. And I Heart Huckabees is a playful, irreverent comedy that is completely serious in its exploration of profound existential questions. “In short, Russell has firmly established himself as one of the most consistently original and inventive contemporary filmmakers. With all the attention surrounding his latest film, this is a good time to take a look at his remarkable and unconventional career,” said David Schwartz, the Museum’s chief curator, who organized the retrospective.
The Films of David O. Russell
January 15–February 20, 2011
Special screening: The Fighter
Wednesday, January 19, 7:00 p.m.
A CONVERSATION WITH DAVID O. RUSSELL AND SPIKE JONZE
2010, 115 mins. Paramount Pictures. With Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams. Russell’s vibrant new film is a true-life boxing drama and a family drama about the rivalry between two brothers and between a controlling mother-manager and her son’s girlfriend. Gaining atmosphere from its Lowell, Massachusetts setting, this film features four of the year’s most indelible performances. A labor of love for producer/star Wahlberg, the film is also a dazzling comeback of sorts for Russell, making his first feature film in six years.
TICKETS: $15 public / $10 Museum members / Free for Silver Screen members and above. Order online at movingimage.us or call 718 777 6800.
Spanking the Monkey
Friday, January 21, 7:30 p.m.
1994, 100 mins. With Jeremy Davies. In his impressive debut, which won the Audience Award at Sundance, Russell brings deadpan humor and emotional complexity to what could have been very lurid subject matter: the improper relationship that develops over a summer between a housebound mother and her college-age son.
Flirting with Disaster
Saturday, January 29, 6:00 p.m.
1996, 92 mins. With Ben Stiller, Tea Leoni. Madcap road movie meets screwball romance meets dysfunctional family comedy in Russell’s wild and assured film about an adopted man who decides to track down his biological father. Russell’s sophomore film is filled with surprises and great acting from an ensemble that includes George Segal, Lily Tomlin, Patricia Arquette, Richard Jenkins, and Josh Brolin.
Three Kings
Saturday , February 5, 6:00 p.m.
1999, 114 mins. With George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube. An audacious, satirical movie and one of the few Hollywood films set during the first Gulf War, Three
Kings, about a group of cynical American soldiers tracking down a pile of gold stolen by Saddam Hussein, was described by Roger Ebert as “some kind of weird masterpiece, a screw-loose war picture that sends action and humor crashing head-on into each other and spinning off into political anger.”
I Heart Huckabees
Sunday , February 6, 5:30 p.m.
2004, 107 mins. With Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jason Schwartzman. A down-on-his-luck poet/activist enlists the help of an existential detective agency to help solve some cosmic questions in Russell’s brilliant one-of-a-kind philosophical comedy about nothing less than the meaning of life and the nature of reality. Russell’s most provocative and unpredictable movie is also his most personal.
MUSEUM INFORMATION
Hours (beginning January 15, 2011): Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday, 10:30 to 8:00 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Holiday Openings: Monday, January 17 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and Monday, February 21 (Washington’s Birthday), 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Closed on Monday except for holiday openings).
Film Screenings: See schedule above for schedule.
Museum Admission: $10.00 for adults; $7.50 for persons over 65 and for students with ID; $5.00 for children ages 5-18. Children under 5 and Museum members are admitted free. Admission to the galleries is free on Fridays, 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. Paid admission includes film screenings (except for special ticketed events and Friday evenings) Tickets for special screenings and events may be purchased in advance online at movingimage.us or by phone at 718.777.6800.
Location: 35 Avenue at 37 Street in Astoria.
Subway: R or M trains (R on weekends) to Steinway Street. N or Q trains to 36 Avenue.
Program Information: Telephone: 718.777.6888; Website: http://movingimage.us
The Museum is housed in a building owned by the City of New York and its operations are made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York City Economic Development Corporation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation). The Museum also receives generous support from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. For more information, please visit http://movingimage.us/.
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