Documentary on photographer Jay Maisel's life at 190 Bowery opens today

As a reminder, "Jay Myself," the documentary about photographer-artist Jay Maisel's time living in 190 Bowery, opens today (July 31) for a two-week run at the Film Forum on West Houston.

Maisel bought No. 190 Bowery at Spring Street in 1966 for $102,000. He sold the six-story, 72-room building where he lived with his wife and daughter to Aby Rosen in early 2015 for $55 million.

The sale of No. 190 — the circa 1898 Germania Bank Building — was the biggest, and most interesting, downtown real-estate transaction in recent years (and maybe ever).

Here's the official trailer...



So far the reviews have been positive.

Find ticket info at this Film Forum link.

Previously on EV Grieve:
This documentary takes you inside Jay Maisel's move from the legendary 190 Bowery

Film Forum reopens today after months-long revamp

[Image via @FilmForumNYC]

Over on West Houston, the Film Forum reopens today with a fourth screen and new seating, among other improvements. (The movie house closed back on May 2 for the upgrades. Read more about the changes here.)

The re-opening day lineup includes the start of a Jacques Becker retrospective and the biopic "NICO, 1988."

Meanwhile, enjoy this time-lapse clip of the renovations...



The Film Forum has been in its Houston Street space between Sixth Avenue and Varick since 1990. It was established in 1970.

Film Forum now closed for renovation, expansion

[Image via @filmforumnyc]

As expected, the Film Forum over on West Houston closed after its screenings Tuesday night for the next two months to add a fourth screen and upgrade its three existing auditoriums.

As the Times reported last fall:

The updates will also involve a full renovation of the theater’s other three screens, including new seats, more leg room and a more dramatic slope (with stadium seating in the rear rows) to improve sightlines.

Those seats were really awful.

Oh, and Film Forum director Karen Cooper on the expansion via a news release:

Too often, New York landmarks disappear, only to be replaced by nail salons and chain drug stores. Happily, New Yorkers are committed to seeing films that take risks and break the mold, as well as discovering movie history.

You can read more about the renovations at the Film Forum website here.

The Film Forum has been in its Houston Street space between Sixth Avenue and Varick since 1990. It was established in 1970.

Closer to home, there are plenty of movie-theater choices... such as the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street and Second Avenue ... the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue at 12th Street ... the Angelika Film Center on Houston and Mercer ... Cinema Village on 12th Street near University...the Metrograph down on Ludlow near Canal ... and the Quad Cinema on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

Report: The Film Forum adding new screen; upgrading auditoriums

Of possible interest outside the neighborhood ... not too far away.

The New York Times reported yesterday that the Film Forum at 209 W. Houston St. will add a fourth screen and upgrade its three existing auditoriums next year.

Per the Times:

The new screen will be built using space next to Film Forum and allow for more flexibility in its programming schedule. The updates will also involve a full renovation of the theater’s other three screens, including new seats, more leg room and a more dramatic slope (with stadium seating in the rear rows) to improve sightlines.

These will probably be welcome changes for theater patrons who were surveyed in 2016 and offered feedback (including complaints) about the current setup. But they do come at a price: The improvements are expected to cost the nonprofit cinema about $5 million, though more than half of that budget has already been raised. The Thompson Family Foundation will make a gift to name the fourth screen. And a capital campaign is underway to raise the remaining money and lift the endowment.

Film Forum director Karen Cooper had this to say in a news release about the expansion:

Too often, New York landmarks disappear, only to be replaced by nail salons and chain drug stores. Happily, New Yorkers are committed to seeing films that take risks and break the mold, as well as discovering movie history.

The repertory movie house expects to close in May, with renovations complete in July.

The Film Forum has been in its Houston Street space between Sixth Avenue and Varick since 1990. It was established in 1970.

Image via Facebook

That 70s show at the Film Forum

Not East Village-related but of possible interest... the "New York in the 70s" series starts Wednesday at the Film Forum with "Midnight Cowboy." (Cheating! This movie is from 1969!)

In total there are 44 films in the 23-day series, including some expected classics like "Dog Day Afternoon," "Serpico," "Manhattan" and "The Warriors" as well as more lesser-known titles like "Across 110th Street" and "A New Leaf."

Find the full schedule here. The Film Forum is at 209 W. Houston St., west of Sixth Avenue.

Where to find True Crime in the next few weeks

The Film Forum has a True Crime series running though Aug. 5, screening such classics as "Badlands," "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "The French Connection," among many many others. ("In Cold Blood" screens today.) You can find the calendar here.

'On the Bowery' held over through Tuesday

In case you haven't seen "On the Bowery" yet, then you still have some time: The Film Forum has extending the 1956 classic's run through Tuesday.

I saw it, and, like a dork, took photos of the signage.

Anyway!

Here's what New York's David Edelstein had to say about it this week ... "'On the Bowery' is the most important movie playing in New York: a window to the past, a dark glass on the present."

(I think he meant to write: "... the most important movie playing in New York NOT called "The Expendables." Woo!)



P.S.

Anyone wearing these...



...or these...



WILL NOT be admitted.

Behind the scenes: The Panic in Needle Park

The Panic in Needle Park gets a run at the Film Forum starting Jan. 30. This week's Time Out talks with a few members of the cast and crew about the making of the 1971 smack classic. (No Al Pacino, though. Busy making 89 Minutes?)

Here's the trailer for the film:

Baby it's you

Rosemary's Baby begins a one-week run today at the Film Forum. Will McKinley writes an appreciation of the Roman Polanski classic in this week's issue of The Villager. As for me, I love the intro...

New York Herald Tribune!

Breathless at the Film Forum today and tomorrow. And it's 2-for-1 with Band of Outsiders.