Director Bette Gordon and stars Sandy McLeod, Will Patton, and Luis Guzman in person!

The sexually charged tale of a woman’s journey of self discovery, VARIETY is a fascinating independent film that challenges common notions about feminism and pornography. Emerging out of the underground NYC arts scene that produced the late 80s boom in American independent cinema, VARIETY contains the contributions of an impressive array of talent, including cinematographer Tom DiCillo (Living in Oblivion), actor Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights), a script by the late cult novelist Kathy Acker, and a score by actor and musician John Lurie (Stranger than Paradise). The film stars Sandy McLeod as a woman who takes a job selling tickets at a Times Square porn theatre, gradually becoming drawn into the life a gangster (Richard Davidson). Will Patton, Spalding Grey and Nan Goldin co-star. Joining Gordon for a post-screening discussion will be a panel of talent from the film’s cast and crew including Luis Guzman, Will Patton, Sandy McLeod and others to be announced. Screening courtesy of Kino.

Thu Apr 8 at 7:30pm

We’re proud to welcome legendary director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct, Starship Troopers, RoboCop) in person April 8 to present Monty Python’s LIFE OF BRIAN as part of our ongoing “Movie Night” series. Verhoeven — the subject of our popular recent midnight series “Base Instincts: Verhoeven in the U.S.A.” — will talk about LIFE OF BRIAN, his career, and Jesus in a special Q&A session after the film.

In 1985, Verhoeven became the only non-theologian admitted into Los Angeles’s Jesus Seminar, a group of 77 eminent scholars in theology, philosophy, linguistics, and biblical history. Verhoeven is the author of the new book Jesus of Nazareth (Seven Stories Press), exploring his lifelong fascination with the facts and fictions surrounding the life of Jesus. Copies of Jesus of Nazareth will be available for purchase at our concession stand; there will be a book signing with Verhoeven following the screening.

About LIFE OF BRIAN:

“Terry Jones’s Sunday-school travesty follows the career of the unintentionally messianic Brian of Nazareth. It’s a hearty burlesque in which the three wise men signal their presence with a discreet belch and lisping Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin) can’t stop babbling about his “fwiend” Biggus Dickus.

“Graham Chapman is appropriately nonplussed in the Gene Wilder-ish role of Brian while, tricked out in fake beards, the rest of the gang (John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle) pop up as centurions, prophets, terrorists from the People’s Front of Judea, and wiseass members of the rabble.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice

About Paul Verhoeven:

“[Verhoeven] has become something like our Fritz Lang — Hollywood’s comic-book artist deluxe, the suavely brutal purveyor of hardcore pulp.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice

“Verhoeven may be the bravest and most assured satirist in Hollywood, insofar as he succeeds in making big genre movies no one knows whether to take seriously or not.” – Michael Atkinson

About “Movie Night”:

In our “Movie Night” series, we turn over a theater to special guests and let them call the shots. Audiences can discover what some of their favorite authors, musicians, artists, and filmmakers would pick if it were Movie Night at their house. Participants appear in person to acknowledge the brilliance of a timeless classic, spotlight an unsung gem, or defend a guilty pleasure. Past guests include filmmaker David Gordon Green, Slovenian theorist and philosopher Slavoj Zizek, singer-songwriter-actor Will Oldham, director and Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam, French auteur Gaspar Noe, author Jonathan Lethem, performer and director John Cameron Mitchell, iconoclastic filmmaker David Lynch, actress and filmmaker Isabella Rossellini, provocative director James Toback, and comedian and “Saturday Night Live” cast member Fred Armisen and Canadian cineaste Guy Maddin.