Wine and Watch at the Speakeasy Cinema
Written By: Romany Reagan on Wed, May 21st 2008
One thing I love about NYC is the BYOB. There are BYOB restaurants everywhere, but there is a little known other BYOB once a month, and that is BYOB Cinema. My friend and colleague Matt Kohn puts on Speakeasy Cinema one Monday a month at The Tank theatre on Church St. in Tribeca. (Incidentally the same theatre where, in July, yours truly will be producing a play she wrote - however more on that later.)
After a decidedly uninspiring Indian dinner, which was too tragic to dull your eyes with describing, we hit up Trader Joes' Wine Shop and headed downtown for The Film. One of the mad cool things about Speakeasy Cinema is you never know what you're in for. Matt has his guest director (or cinephile) for the evening pick a movie that inspires them, they screen it, then there is an open floor discussion at the end. We never know what movie we're about to see, we don't get so much as the title before the lights go out and the screen lights up. This is my dream come true and a point on which my friends and I differ greatly. I HATE previews. I have friends who rush to movies early to catch every one - quite literally missing a preview is considered being late for a movie. (???) I despise the evil Preview. Occasionally there are glorious examples that are no more than a montage over the score which gives you the feeling of the movie without divulging the entire plot or, even worse, in a comedy giving away every remotely funny joke, thus rendering the movie pre-watched from the moment you sit down to actually see it, but this happens very rarely. Usually it is of the former form, and I hate this. I don't even want to see the poster. I don't want to know the title. I want the story to enfold in the exact order the director wanted it to -- because when a screenwriter or a director craft a film they don't envision hideous plot-ruining trailers or posters or press, no, they are building a world that they show to you piece by piece in an artistically structured way. I want to experience it they way THEY intended. Ok, well, enough on that digression. Point is, there is a whole lot of what I love at Speakeasy Cinema -- you know absolutely nothing when you sit down Cabernet in hand.
So now on to the point where this is relevant to you: the glories of the BYOB. They are perfect for everyone. Whether you're a very educated wine aficionado or you're a bargain basement NYU kid who's running low on Dad's dough -- you're set! Those with a discerning palate do not have to torture themselves with what ever tragic wine list the establishment has cursed them, and those who cannot (or refuse to) pay the tripled wine prices for a bottle can bring their own 2 Buck Chuck! (Aka: 3-Buck Chuck for those fellow New Yorkers out there.)
Last night we watched Fallen Angel directed by Otto Preminger. A luscious noir about a femme fatal and the horrid man who loves her. There is this long-suffering blonde there too, but whatever. Lovely movie, vibrant discussion -- and my own wine! I highly suggest you check this out next time it comes around. They don't have a website because they're that underground and hiptastic, but if you email Matt at firewalkfilm@earthlink.net you can be added to the email list and enjoy many booze-friendly mind-expanding evenings with me. Now whether this is exciting because I get to bring my '97 Châteauneuf-du-Pape or my 3-Buck is for me to know and you to find out.
