Deadpan Crime Thrillers March 30, 2012

All Titles Screened in 35mm on our BIG 50ft Wide Screen

Friday, March 30 8PM
"The Big Lebowski" Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi. Directed by Joel Coen. 1998, 127mins. Color. Rated R.

The Coen Brothers (Joel directed and co-wrote the screenplay; Ethan co-wrote and produced) tend to put a distinct stamp on everything they do. Sometimes, the result is a movie that is embraced with cult-like devotion by some and loathed by others – with little room in between. So it is with this gleefully absurd film. The plot of this Raymond Chandler-esque comedy crime caper from the Coens pivots around a case of mistaken identity complicated by extortion, double-crosses, deception, embezzlement, sex, pot, and gallons of White Russians (made with fresh cream, please). Having said that, the film doesn't really have much use for established storytelling techniques: it's more of a series of bizarre vignettes, which might be a problem if they weren't so funny. The title character, brilliantly played by Jeff Bridges, is a latter-day, stoner version of Philip Marlowe; it's one of the many homages the Coens make to films of decades past. The supporting players -- including John Goodman as Lebowski's buddy, and John Turturro as the wonderfully profane bowling champ Jesus -- are excellent as well. The soundtrack includes Bob Dylan, Yma Sumac, Moondog, Captain Beefheart, and the Sons of the Pioneers.
$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).

Saturday, March 31 6PM
"Fargo" Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell. Directed by Joel Coen. 1996, 97mins, Color. Rated R.

Unlike the Coen Brother’s “The Big Lebowski”, “Fargo” unwinds more or less in traditional, linear storytelling. What is unusual about the film is how successfully it manages to be both an absurdist comedy AND an edgy, stylized crime drama at the same time. While the movie never shies away from the grim facts or graphic consequences of the kidnapping and multiple murders at the core of the narrative, “Fargo” does manage to skate playfully into a dryly comic (but also, oddly affectionate) look at life in the frozen wastes of Minnesota, where Joel and Ethan Coen hail from. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a noticeably pregnant police chief whose affable, folksy demeanor only partially obscures the fact that she's a clever, observant, and very effective cop. When a pair of motorists are found slain not far from the corpse of a state trooper, Marge begins piecing together a twisted case. Steve Buscemi steals every scene he's in as a weaselly crook whose every word and gesture screams, "I'm Not From Around Here." William H. Macy performs a tour de force as a pathetically compelling mass of misguided motivation and bad choices. Despite the film's assured comic sensibility, the Coens bring a nail-biting tension to the murder scenes. And while most of the Coens’ films are remarkable for a gymnastic visual style, “Fargo” has a stark, clean look that's the perfect match for the chilly, near-monochrome of the snowy Midwestern landscape. It is this mix of humor with drama, and the juxtaposition of the implacable low-key nature of a small Minnesotan town with grisly crime, all against the stark winter backdrop, that makes “Fargo” seem surreal and yet very real all at once -- and that's a big part of its quirky but undeniable charm. Frances McDormand won the Best Actress Oscar for her role.
$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).

Saturday, March 31 8:10PM
"Pulp Fiction" John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Havey Keitel, Bruce Willis. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. 1994, 160mins. Color. Rated R.

Quentin Tarantino’s outrageously violent yet ironically humorous “Pulp Fiction” is a remarkable stylistic pastiche and pop cultural funhouse, drawing from such disparate sources as hard-boiled crime novels of the 1930s, boxing movies, 1950s and ‘70s kitsch, Howard Hawks, Jean-Luc Goddard, American gangster movies, David Mamet, the wacky violence of Looney Tunes and other cartoons, Hong Kong action flicks, and Japanese anime, that plays out in a fragmented story telling structure arguably reminiscent of Citizen Kane, with brilliant if purposely wordy dialogue. The Oscar-winning script by Tarantino and Roger Avary weaves a twisted morality play as it joins the eventually intersecting storylines of Los Angeles mobsters, fringe players, small-time criminals, and a mysterious briefcase. Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta, in the role that single-handedly reignited his career, are hit men who have philosophical discussions on their way to and from “work”. Bruce Willis is a boxer out of a 1940s B-movie. Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Ving Rhames and Christopher Walken are among those who come in, out, and back into the story as it loops back on itself. Uma Thurman was launched into the “A” list of stars because of her role, which includes a dance sequence with Travolta that proved an instant classic. The surreal yet realistic atmosphere, long takes, and wittily pop-literate non-stop dialogue emotionally engage the viewer in the minutiae of the characters' experiences even as the film also comments on their status as pulp creations, rendering the moments of shockingly baroque violence simultaneously ghastly and humorous. There really had been nothing like Pulp Fiction before. Arguably it was a cultural watershed in its aestheticization of violence. Unquestionably, it was one of the most influential American movies of the 1990s.
$7 for Adults, $5 for Seniors (65+) and Children (12 & younger).
- - - Combo discounts available for multiple screenings in a weekend. - - -

**Film descriptions are compiled from various sources.

The Loew's Is Easy To Get To: The Loew's Jersey Theatre, at 54 Journal Square, Jersey City, NJ, is directly across JFK Boulevard from the JSQ PATH Center with trains to and from Lower and Midtown Manhattan and Newark's Penn Station, and is minutes from the NJ Turnpike, Rts 3 and 1&9 and the Holland & Lincoln Tunnels. We're easy to reach by car or mass transit from throughout the Metro Region.

Discount off-street parking is available in Square Ramp Garage adjoining the Loew's at the foot of Magnolia Avenue off of Tonnelle Avenue, behind the Loew's. Patrons must validate their parking ticket before leaving the Theatre.

What’s Special About Seeing A Movie At The Loew’s? The Landmark Loew’s Jersey Theatre is one of America’s grandest surviving Movie Palaces. We show movies the way they were meant to be seen: in a grandly ornate setting – on our BIG 50 ft wide screen! The Loew’s runs reel-to-reel -- not platter -- projection, which often allows us to screen an archival or studio vault print that is the best available copy of a movie title.

PLUS – Live organ entrance music (from the Loew’s magnificently restored pipe organ) before most screenings.