Movies for Cheapskates: Every Little Step

The New York Observer and Sony Picture Classics are offering passes to a New York City screening of Every Little Step.

Fresh from the New Directors/New Films Festival, Every Little Step documents the tryouts behind the recent Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, with flashbacks to the fascinating original production.

Want to see if Every Little Step is one cinema sensation? Click here for a chance at the screening.

Date Wednesday, April 15
Time 7 pm
Location Downtown

Here's the trailer.



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Movies for Cheapskates: He's Just Not That Into You

The New York Observer is offering NYC run-of-engagement passes to He's Just Not That Into You.

Based on a phrase heard on the television series Sex and the City, He's Just Not That Into You stars Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, and Scarlett Johansson in a comedic tale about dating woes.

Click here for a shot at the passes and a special grand prize.



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Movies for Cheapskates: Valkyrie

The New York Observer and MGM and United Artists are offering passes to an NYC screening of Valkyrie.

Valkyrie stars Tom Cruise as a Nazi involved in a plot to knock off Hitler. You don't really need to know more than that, do you?

Date Thursday, December 18
Time 7pm
Place Midtown

To apply for the passes, click here.



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Movies for Cheapskates: Last Chance Harvey

The New York Observer and Overture Films are offering passes to an NYC screening of Last Chance Harvey.

Starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson and Kathy Baker and James Brolin and Eileen Atkins, Last Chance Harvey is the story of indie movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's attempt to find the golden ticket that will enable him to fulfill his dream of visiting Willy Wonka's famed chocolate factory.

Date Tuesday, December 16
Time 7pm
Place Uptown

To apply for the passes, click here.

I kinda like the trailer—a sign of age?



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Theater for Cheapskates: What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling

Branching out into the realm of live performance, The New York Observer is offering vouchers to see the musical theater comedy What's That Smell: The Music of Jacob Sterling this month at Worldwide Plaza's New World Stages.

And here's a post about the show before it moved uptown from Chris Caggiano's blog Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals.

Click here for more info about the voucher offer.

Here's a glimpse of the show.



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Movies for Cheapskates: The Reader

There might be a mistake here, but apparently The New York Observer is offering passes to the NYC premiere of The Reader...on Wednesday, December 3?

Directed by Stephen Daldry and written by David Hare from the novel by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader stars Kate Winslet, Bruno Ganz, and Ralph Fiennes in a tale revolving around eroticism and...Nazi war crimes?

The thing is, The Observer doesn't seem to be giving people much advance notice....

Date Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Time 7:30PM
Place Uptown

Register here for a chance at the passes.



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Movies for Cheapskates: Frost/Nixon

What a coincidence: I had just returned from an American Theatre Wing screening of Frost/Nixon (thanks, Myra!) when I noticed that The New York Observer and Universal Pictures are offering NYC screening passes to the flick.

I recommend the movie Frost/Nixon. Sure, some of the production is cliched (it's a Ron Howard-Brian Grazer production), but in many respects it improved on the Broadway version. One helpful addition is a kind of preamble that outlines the scandal and contextualizes the drama. With makeup and cinematography that seems inspired by period photographs, Frank Langella comes across more as Nixon than he did on stage. And it's nice to see former Broadway and Hollywood child star Patty McCormack playing another Pat—Tricky Dick's wife.

It's not hard to find connections between Nixon's attitudes and those of his political descendants in the Bush administration—but you can also make connections between Nixon and Bill Clinton (who eulogized Nixon as a great American). Perhaps the story of Frost/Nixon could apply to any President or world leader or power broker.

Date Thursday, December 4, 2008
Time 7:00PM
Place Uptown

Register here for a chance at the passes.



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Movies for Cheapskates: Choke

The New York Observer is offering NYC screening passes to Choke.

Starring Brad William Henke, Anjelica Huston, Kelly Macdonald, and Sam Rockwell (with Joel Grey and Bijou Phillips), Choke looks at the sexy side of pretending to choke in restaurants.

Date Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Time 7:00PM
Place Midtown

Register here for a chance at the passes.



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Movies for Cheapskates: Burn After Reading and Righteous Kill

If you feel like standing in line to see a free New York City movie screening on the anniversary of 9/11, you might be interested in one or both of these two high-profile screenings, hosted by The New York Observer. If you get a pass, show up at least one hour early to have the best chance of getting in.

Burn After Reading
New Coen Brothers Movie!
Date: Thursday, September 11
Time: 7:30PM
Location: Uptown
Click here to apply

Righteous Kill
De Niro and Pacino—together again!
Date: Thursday, September 11
Time: 7PM
Location: Uptown
Click here to apply

Movies for Cheapskates: Bottle Shock

Freestyle Releasing and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to Bottle Shock.

A sort of conceptual prequel to Sideways, Bottle Shock dramatizes the ascent of California wine-making in the 1970s. The cast includes Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Rachael Taylor, Dennis Farina, and Eliza Dushku.

Screening Details:

Date Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Place Down location TBA
Time 7:00 pm

Apply for the tickets here.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: AMERICAN TEEN

Paramount Vantage and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to American Teen.

Nanette Burstein directed this documentary about senior high school students in Indiana. It's like a real-life John Hughes movie in the age of mumblecore and Juno!

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, July 24, 2008
Place Midtown location TBA
Time 7:30 pm

Apply for the tickets here.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: THE CHILDREN OF HUANG SHI

Sony Pictures Classics, The American Red Cross, and The New York Observer are offering RSVP-only New York City screening admission to The Children of Huang Shi.

Based on the true story of a British journalist and an Australian nurse who saved the lives of Chinese orphans after the Japanese occupation, The Children of Huang Shi stars Yun-Fat Chow, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Radha Mitchell, and Michelle Yeoh.

Screening Details:

Date Sunday, May 18, 2008
Place DGA Theater (West 57th Street)
Time 6:30 pm
RSVP REQUIRED

Apply to attend by sending an email to rsvp at ddanielspr.net.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: SHINE A LIGHT

The New York Observer is offering New York City screening passes to Shine a Light.

The long-awaited sequel to Gimme Shelter, Shine a Light finds The Rolling Stones performing at a wealthy family's birthday party on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Screening Details:

Date Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Place Uptown
Time 7:00 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.




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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: SLEEPWALKING Overture Films and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to Sleepwalking.

Starring Charlize Theron, Dennis Hopper, and Woody Harrelson, Sleepwalking is the long-awaited Hollywood remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, March 13, 2008
Place Uptown
Time 7:00 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: THE BAND'S VISIT Sony Pictures Classics and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to The Band's Visit.

Not a documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, The Band's Visit is an international co-production about Egyptian musicians traveling to Israel to perform at an Arab Cultural Center.

Screening Details:

Date Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Place Downtown
Time 7:30 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.



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GUITARCHIKS: MARY KAYE Mary Kaye of the Mary Kaye Trio is among the permanently departed of 2007 who were recently mourned by Rex Reed in the New York Observer: "They were giant lures on the casino-lounge scene for two decades, and their devoted fans included Elvis Presley and Howard Hughes."

Mary Kaye was famous for playing a Fender Stratocaster but she seems to have preferred a D'Angelico.

Look for Bobby Troup in this clip presented by Dumpsterpiece Theatre.



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Click here for more Guitarchiks.

REX REED'S 2007 GOODBYES

Rex Reed offered some interesting—and enticing—remarks in his New York Observer salute to the permanent departees of 2007.

On his friend June Allyson:

Sailing her way across the Tait campus in Good News and nailing the role of tomboyish Jo in the lavish Technicolor remake of Louisa May Alcott's Little Women made such an impression on me that I couldn't believe my luck when, years later, I found myself interviewing her on a Hawaiian cruise. After putting her husband, David, to bed, we watched her old movies in the ship's theater, munching popcorn while she whispered naughty, unprintable secrets in my ear about what was going on before and behind the camera as each scene rolled.

Oh, please tell!

And who can forget the bombastic energy of showstopping Betty Hutton, who earned millions in a spectacular career and lost millions more in a tragic personal life that plummeted from stardom in films, Broadway musicals, concert stages, nightclubs and her own television series, down to scrubbing floors in a Catholic rectory in Rhode Island. This is a show-business soap opera just waiting to be filmed—a life almost as tumultuous as Edith Piaf’s, except that the melodrama lasted longer.

And then there's Reed's memory of

Brett Somers, the popular raspy-voiced panelist on Match Game and the wife of Jack Klugman (I’ll never forget the time I walked into a restaurant and she stopped her dinner companions cold, yelling, "Kiss ass—he writes!")

Reed also shares this one:

I won’t laugh as much after the death of Tom Poston, a bug-eyed regular on the old Steve Allen Show who went on to become a weekly fixture on Newhart, where he met his wife, smoky-voiced actress Suzanne Pleshette, who survives him. Both in failing health for the last few years but never losing their edgy sense of humor, they sent out one of the best Christmas cards of 2007. Following a page crammed with a Webster’s dictionary of fatal diseases, a drawing of both of them in bed with thermometers in their mouths and the words: "DON’T SEND US ANY PRESENTS THIS YEAR—WE HAVE EVERYTHING ALREADY!" Without laughter, we are doomed.

Actually, we're doomed anyway, but the laughter lessens the pain.

Reed misses another person I hope to cover soon.

MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: THERE WILL BE BLOOD Paramount Vantage and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to There Will Be Blood.

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and featuring a character with the name Daniel Plainview but no one named Daniel Old Bethpage, There Will Be Blood stars—deep breath—Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview and Paul Dano as Eli Sunday. (Dano is currently performing at the Acorn Theatre in Things We Want).

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, December 20, 2007
Place Uptown
Time 7:30 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: ATONEMENT Focus Features and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to Atonement.

Based on the novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement is about an Irish Catholic family that observes the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur ever year.

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, December 6, 2007
Place Uptown
Time 7:00 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.



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MOVIES FOR CHEAPSKATES: MARGOT AT THE WEDDING. Paramount Vantage and The New York Observer are offering New York City screening passes to Margot at the Wedding.

Directed by Noah (Squid and the Whale) Baumbach and featuring Jack Black, Nicole Kidman, and Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding follows sibling tensions at a wedding.

Screening Details:

Date Thursday, November 15, 2007
Place Downtown
Time 7:30 pm

Apply here. Those who get tickets should show up as early as reasonable (an hour in advance is usually safe) to heighten their chances of getting in.



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