Jean-Luc Godard screenings this month at the Quad Cinema

Wednesday nights in October, the Quad is presenting a selection of films by Jean-Luc Godard ... as part of the theater's ongoing "From the Vault: Cohen Film Collection" repertory series. 

The series starts this Wednesday with "A Married Woman" from 1964.

   

Visit this link for more information on the films and showtimes. 

Godard died on Sept. 13 at age 91. 

Report: Landmark Theatres now booking films at the Quad on 13th Street

[EVG file photo]

Back in December, distributor, producer and real-estate magnate Charles S. Cohen bought the Landmark Theatres chain from Mark Cuban.

So perhaps it isn't a surprise to learn that Landmark Theatres is now booking the films nearby at the Cohen-owned Quad Cinema (an EVG favorite) on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, as IndieWire first reported last evening.

Moving forward, the fourplex theater — Manhattan's first multiplex when it opened in 1972 — will be known as the Landmark Quad Cinema.

Per the IndieWire article:

[The Quad has] played specialized films for most of its existence, but never with the clout and expertise of Landmark. Still, it’s unlikely to vault ahead of its Lower Manhattan competition.

And...

Under Landmark, it remains to be seen whether the Quad will continue to provide a haven for viable titles that don’t conform to 90-day theatrical windows and don’t want to four-wall screens to play them. In New York City, reportedly the IFC Center is the only other theater willing to provide this opportunity to select distributors.

Consistent with Cohen Releasing’s acquisition of primarily foreign-language titles, the Quad has played many first-run subtitled films. One question to be confirmed is the continuation of repertory programming, which has previously been a priority for Cohen. ... According to Cohen, the Landmark Quad Cinema will continue to showcase restored and classic films.

As previously reported, Cohen bought the Quad Cinema in 2014. The theater reopened after extensive renovations in April 2017.

Landmark operated the Sunshine Cinema on East Houston Street until January 2018. The theater, which dates to 1898, is awaiting demolition to make way for an office building.

And one more tidbit from the IndieWire piece: Regal's Union Square theater will temporarily lose six screens this summer to renovation. Meanwhile, as first noted on Sunday, the Regal Essex Crossing is now open.

Previously on EV Grieve:
A quick look at the all-new Quad Cinema

'Shadowman,' the documentary on Richard Hambleton, debuts today at the Quad

As previously reported, Richard Hambleton, a street artist who came to prominence in the 1980s East Village alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, died in late October at age 65.

Hambleton, who most recently was living in an East Village studio, had enjoyed a revival this year. "Shadowman," Oren Jacoby's documentary about his life and work, debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival back in the spring.

And the film makes its theatrical debut today at the Quad Cinema over on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

"Shadowman" has been generating positive reviews. Here'a what the Times had to say:

This intense documentary shows a driven creator walking the walk, so to speak, in the most perverse fashion possible. The story is both repellent and strangely inspiring.

Jacoby will be doing a Q-and-A after the 7:30 screenings tonight and tomorrow. Head to the Quad website for showtimes.

'Also Starring Harry Dean Stanton' starting Friday at the Quad Cinema

RIP Harry Dean Stanton (1926 - 2017)

A post shared by Quad Cinema (@quadcinema) on Sep 15, 2017 at 3:40pm PDT

As you may have heard, Harry Dean Stanton died on Friday at age 91.

Back on Aug. 16, the Quad Cinema, nearby on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, had announced a retrospect of the actor's work scheduled for Sept 22 to Oct. 3.

Per the Quad:

Few actors are as recognizable in American movies as Harry Dean Stanton. The singularly mild-mannered face of the New Hollywood, his repertoire expands to dozens of appearances in beloved studio, cult, and independent movies, with only a handful of lead roles to his name.

In a career spanning more than 60 years, Stanton’s inimitable hangdog persona revealed a distinctive capacity for harebrained agitation and laconic, low-key melancholy that prove equally disarming. Stanton has worked with many cinema greats, from Carpenter to Wenders to Lynch. On the occasion of his starring role in Lucky (opening September 29) ... the Quad is proud to present a wide-ranging selection of his most memorable roles.

Screenings start on Friday, and include "Paris, Texas," "Repo Man," "Alien," "Escape From New York," "The Straight Story" and "Pretty in Pink," among many others.

A quick look at the all-new Quad Cinema

Been meaning to post something about the refurbished Quad Cinema... not too far away from the neighborhood on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

The four-screen cinema reopened on April 14. These photos are from April 16...





On this day, I went to see the 12:20 p.m. screening of Katell Quillevere’s "Heal the Living" (quite compelling!) ... it was Easter Sunday, and at this hour there were only three other people in the theater... (it was much more crowded during other visits)...





As previously reported, the Quad Cinema, family-owned and operated since 1972, was sold in 2014 to real-estate developer, film producer-distributor and movie buff Charles S. Cohen (his distribution company was conveniently behind the U.S. release of "Heal the Living"). The theater then went under an extensive renovation to upgrade the space. Cohen hired C. Mason Wells, the IFC film programmer, and Gavin Smith, former Film Comment editor, to help with programming.

The Quad has been screening some interesting work, showcasing foreign, independent and classic films... upcoming, for instance, they're featuring retrospectives of New York-born director Frank Perry and his screenwriter wife Eleanor Perry ... as well as actor Sam Elliott (including "Road House" on June 8!).

There's a lot to choose from on any given day. For instance, tomorrow (Saturday), there are nine different films featured, including screenings of "The Man Who Fell to Earth," "Stranger Than Paradise," "Liquid Sky" and "Superman." (Tickets are $15, which is the same at the Village East Cinema on Second Avenue ... and less than the $17.50 that the AMC Village 7 on Third Avenue fetches.)

There is a cafe connected to the Quad's lobby. It was not open when I was there. And the cafe is for pre or post screenings. This isn't a theater where you bring drinks into the auditorium (a la Alamo Drafthouse).

In any event, I've enjoyed going to the Quad... it's one more choice to go along with the Metrograph on Ludlow Street and my usual go-to theater, the Anthology Film Archives on Second Street and Second Avenue... not to mention the Film Forum, the IFC Center, the Angelika Film Center and Cinema Village.

I'm glad the Quad is there. I'm still going to miss the Sunshine when it ultimately closes next year. The Sunshine is the closest theater to where I live, and I'll miss running out for those last-minute, early-afternoon screenings on the occasional days off...

A refurbished Quad Cinema reopens next Friday (April 14!)

[Photo from Monday]

The countdown is on for the return of the Quad Cinema on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

The Quad has announced an April 14 reopening date for the refurbished theater.

Here are some details on what to expect via a piece in Variety:

The updates to the facility include a new modern design; the capability to screen films in 35mm, 16mm, 4K digital and 3D formats; and a wine bar adjacent to the lobby.

In the overhaul, the venue’s seating capacity will downsize from 560 seats to 430, divided among four theaters meant to have the intimate feel of private screening rooms with improved sightlines and seats. The theater’s rebranding also includes a new logo.

And for what will be playing...

A retrospective of the work of Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmuller will coincide with the relaunch of the Quad, where inaugural first-run titles will include Terence Davies’ “A Quiet Passion,” Katell Quillevere’s “Heal the Living” and “Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back,” Maura Axelrod’s documentary about a conceptual artist.

Programmers also have on the docket a Bertrand Tavernier retrospective timed to the upcoming first-run engagement of the French filmmaker’s latest, “Journey Through French Cinema.” The repertory screen will also show titles that are featured in the documentary.

The Quad's Instagram account is posting some coming-soon highlights...

A post shared by Quad Cinema (@quadcinema) on Apr 4, 2017 at 8:25am PDT

And there'll be double features...

Nazi hunter Jon Voight infiltrates a cabal of former SS officers at large in Ronald Neame's suspense-filled THE ODESSA FILE, screening at the Quad as part of our ongoing Two for Tuesdays on a double feature with another classic '70s Frederick Forsyth adaptation, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. #jonvoight #andrewlloydwebber #theodessafile #frederickforsyth #doublefeature #twofortuesday

A post shared by Quad Cinema (@quadcinema) on Mar 29, 2017 at 8:22am PDT

Back in the summer of 2014, news broke that the Quad Cinema, family-owned and operated since 1972, was now the property of real-estate developer, film producer-distributor and movie buff Charles S. Cohen. He since hired C. Mason Wells, the IFC film programmer, and Gavin Smith, former Film Comment editor, to help with programming.

“Not only was the Quad New York’s first multi-screen cinema, it was also a true neighborhood theater, drawing Village audiences with its sophisticated art-house fare,” Cohen said in a statement announcing the April 14 reopening. "The new Quad will preserve both the welcoming, communal atmosphere and the cultural cachet of the original theater while updating — and upgrading — the moviegoing experience for contemporary cinephiles."

The Quad closed for the renovations in May 2015.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Now playing at the Quad Cinema: Closed for Renovations

A state-of-the-art Quad Cinema expected to open this spring

[Photo from Wednesday]

Walking by 34 E. 13th St. between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, you wouldn't know that there was a movie theater in this space.

Back in the summer of 2014, news broke that the Quad Cinema, family-owned and operated since 1972, was now the property of real-estate developer, film producer-distributor and movie buff Charles S. Cohen.

Since then, the theater has been undergoing a gut rehab to upgrade the space to showcase foreign, independent and classic films.

Cohen, whose personal wealth is a reported $2.8 billion, has given several interviews of late. For starters, the Quad is expected to reopen this spring.

Here's more from a Q-and-A published Feb. 4 at LA West Media:

What is the biggest challenge of being a distributor?

The biggest challenge a distributor has for limited release films is finding screens. The highest and best use of real estate in New York City is not movie theaters. So there are very few screens and the real estate for screenings is very tight. We have done very well with the current screens, but I wanted my own screens so I could insure that I could play the films that I feel strongly about that might not otherwise find a home. I tried years ago to buy the Walter Reed chain, but that didn’t work out. So in 2014, I acquired the Quad Cinema ... It’s going through massive renovations. It originally had 570 seats, but will open in April with four state-of-the-art screens, with 430 seats each.

There are more Quad details in a feature on Cohen in Surface magazine (H/T Jeremiah Moss!).

C. Mason Wells, the IFC film programmer who Cohen hired to co-run the Quad, tells me that he tracked Cohen down after hearing that he’d bought the theater. “I was so impressed by the scope of what he was doing,” Wells says. “There are so many people who do individual components, but not altogether—distribution, production, restoration and exhibition. That’s something I want to be a part of.” (Former Film Comment editor Gavin Smith was also brought on board to program the cinema.)

What clinched the deal was Cohen’s decision to dedicate one of the Quad’s four screens to classic cinema, which Wells wanted to focus on, and which is often relegated to matinee or midnight screenings at other theaters.

“Finding a fellow fan is great,” Wells says. “At our weekly meetings we’ll start talking about movies and the merits of them even when there’s other stuff on the docket. He watches pretty much everything that comes out and he can rattle off film facts like a human IMDB. It almost turns into a game of, ‘Oh man, I got stumped by Charles again.’”

And!

“I think it’s going to be a game changer,” he says of the Quad. “I think it’s going to be one of the best places to see film in New York. The programmers will create a new standard. It’s what New York is missing.”

As our time together came to a close, I wondered some things aloud.

What would it have that other theaters didn’t?

“They don’t have what I’m looking for,” Cohen says.

But what was he looking for?

“A soul,” he says. “Going to a movie should be more of an event. It should energize you and provoke discussion. It should be a curated experience, there should be someone to welcome you, to provide history, interpretation. It should be a window on the world.” One with a wine bar.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Quad was Manhattan's first four-screen theater when it opened in 1972.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Now playing at the Quad Cinema: Closed for Renovations

UPDATED The Quad Cinema reopening pushed back to the fall

[Image via Cinema Treasures]

In August 2014, news broke that the Quad Cinema, family-owned and operated since 1972, was under new ownership.

The theater's new owner, real-estate developer and film buff Charles S. Cohen, announced plans to renovate the cinema on 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. As Variety first reported:

Cohen plans to transform the facility into a repertory house, featuring films from the Cohen Film Collection. It’s a library that boasts 700 works by the likes of D.W. Griffith, Buster Keaton, Jean-Luc Godard, W.C. Fields and Alfred Hitchcock, and the exhibitions will include talks and lectures pegged to the movies being shown.

In addition to film classics, the theater will also play foreign and indie titles.

The Quad closed for the upgrade in May 2015 ... with an announced reopening of the fall 2015...



...then it became the summer of 2016.

Anyway, I walked by the other day looking for the marquee. I thought I was on the wrong block for a second.



I checked in on the Quad website... which now notes that the theater will reopen in the fall of 2017...



According to Cinema Treasures, the Quad was Manhattan's first four-screen theater when it opened in 1972.

UPDATED 10 a.m.

A Quad rep reached out to us... there was a typo on the Quad website. The theater will reopen THIS fall.

Much better!

Previously on EV Grieve:
Now playing at the Quad Cinema: Closed for Renovations

An unsettling sneak preview at the Quad Cinema

The Quad Cinema closed for renovations back on May 1.

EVG reader Michael Alex shared this photo showing the current state of the 43-year-old theater on East 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue…



Real-estate developer Charles S. Cohen, a well-known film buff, bought the theater last summer.

"New York City has perhaps the greatest concentration of serious cinema lovers in the country," said Cohen in a statement published by Indiewire, "but for too long, these great, knowledgeable fans have had few places to see classic and important films on the big screen. The always-vital Quad Cinema will now become an even more important destination for classic films and compelling new ones – and the moviegoers who love them."

The Quad website says the theater will return in the fall.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Now playing at the Quad Cinema: Closed for Renovations

Now playing at the Quad Cinema: Closed for Renovations

[Image via Cinema Treasures]

Last August, Variety reported that the Quad Cinema had been sold to real-estate developer Charles S. Cohen.

Cohen, a well-known film buff, has plans to renovate the 43-year-old theater on East 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue.

Anyway, it's now renovation time. The theater closed back on Friday, and will return in the fall, per the Quad's website:



"New York City has perhaps the greatest concentration of serious cinema lovers in the country," said Cohen in a statement published by Indiewire, "but for too long, these great, knowledgeable fans have had few places to see classic and important films on the big screen. The always-vital Quad Cinema will now become an even more important destination for classic films and compelling new ones – and the moviegoers who love them."

The present plan is for the theater to keep its name and to maintain its four-screen configuration.

"The torch has been passed so that the Quad can remain a beacon of opportunity here in New York for the independent film community," Cohen said.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Quad was Manhattan's first four-screen theater when it opened in 1972.

Previously

Report: 'Film-loving real estate developer' buys the Quad Cinema

[Image via Cinema Treasures]

The Quad Cinema, family-owned and operated since 1972, is under new ownership, Variety reported.

Gulp! The theater's new owner is real-estate developer Charles S. Cohen. So can we expect the Quad Condos here soon on East 13th Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue?

No! Per Variety:

Cohen plans to transform the facility into a repertory house, featuring films from the Cohen Film Collection. It’s a library that boasts 700 works by the likes of D.W. Griffith, Buster Keaton, Jean-Luc Godard, W.C. Fields and Alfred Hitchcock, and the exhibitions will include talks and lectures pegged to the movies being shown.

In addition to film classics, the theater will also play foreign and indie titles.

And what else?

The Quad will begin a top-to-bottom renovation in 2015, Cohen said, and will be outfitted with the latest in digital projection and sound. One screen will still be able to show film prints. The name will remain unchanged.

According to Cinema Treasures, the Quad was Manhattan's first four-screen theater when it opened in 1972.