Repertory

by Matt Prigge

Ambler Theater
Free (members only). 108 E. Butler Ave. 215.345.7855. www.amblertheater.com

The War
(2007) (Shown on video): Ambler/Bryn Mawr/County members get a free sneak peek at Ken Burns’ breathtakingly anticipated new mega-doc, with the first hour of his WWII examination up for grabs before making the PBS rounds. Is Burns’ zoom-in-on-still-photos shtick still fresh, even a decade after Mr. Show’s devastating parody? See the other participating theaters for additional screenings. (Not reviewed.) Wed., Sept. 19, 7pm.

Andrew’s Video Vault
Free. Rotunda, 4014 Walnut St. 215.573.3234. www.armcinema25.com

Riot on 42nd Street/Children of Times Square/Fleshpot on 42nd Street
(1987/1986/1972) (Shown on video): Just as William Friedkin’s notorious pre-AIDS gay sex thriller Cruising reinvades Manhattan screens, the latest AVV resurrects the Deuce (the colloquial term for Times Square pre-cleanup). Riot on 42nd Street arrived just as Ed Koch was about to clean up the area’s grindhouses, but the film’s mix of stiff acting and stiffer action is pure DTV anyway. Equipped with ripped abs and a mustache on loan from Tom Selleck, stuntman John Hayden plays an ex-con who returns to New York to run a nightclub and take on a local mob boss with badly slicked-back hair. Though taking a break from gay porn, director Tim Kincaid keeps the aesthetics roughly the same, often shooting entire smackown scenes in grossly overextended long takes. Expect the quickest catfight in film history, plus a plodding nightclub massacre that’s a YouTube phenom waiting to happen. Curtis Hanson fans will want to imbibe his early TV movie Children of Times Square, which finds the future L.A. Confidential director draining a good deal of the hysteria out of what should be a cautionary tale. The story of an apple-cheeked suburban runaway who winds up a young teen coke dealer, the movie spends most of its time on a nonjudgmental, fascinating portrayal of how the system works, only occasionally cutting back to worried mom Joanna Cassidy (who is very good). Hanson, who also wrote, obviously imagines this as a neo-Oliver Twist (Larry B. Scott makes a fine Fagin), but it’s closer to Dickens than you’d think, even given the pat finale. Fleshpot on 42nd Street, from semi-legendary “outsider artist” Andy Milligan, doesn’t need home video or TV—nor the grindhouse, it seems. Not since Herschell Gordon Lewis has a film had such contempt for technique. A one-man cinematic band, Milligan reportedly did all the technical stuff—from shooting to lighting to sound recording—lending at least four extra layers of grime to this portrait of a hooker with a heart of gold in ’70s Times Square. Milligan’s framing is never pretty—hope you like head room—but the acting is shockingly good for this fare; the thesps fully give in to the director’s idea of a melodrama soaked in grime. C-/B-/C+ Thurs., Sept. 13, 8pm.

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
$3.50-$9.25 (unless otherwise noted). 824 W. Lancaster Ave., Bryn Mawr. 610.527.9898. www.brynmawrfilm.org

The War
(2007) (Shown on video): See Ambler Theater. (Not reviewed.) Wed., Sept. 19, 7pm.

Colonial Theatre
$4-$7. 227 Bridge St., Phoenixville. 610.917.0223. www.thecolonialtheatre.com

The Harder They Fall
(1956) (Shown on film): After the brilliant movies he made for Val Lewton, but before the camp of Valley of the Dolls, Mark Robson filmed Humphrey Bogart’s last performance. Based on a Budd Schulberg novel, the film finds Bogie as a sportswriter embroiled in shadiness involving an easily exploitable Argentinian boxer. Rod Steiger co-stars, strengthening the On the Waterfront connection, as does Ace in the Hole’s Jan Sterling. (Not reviewed.) Sun., Sept. 16, 2pm.

County Theater
$4.50-$8.50. 20 E. State St., Doylestown. 215.345.6789. www.countytheater.com

The War
(2007) (Shown on video): See Ambler Theater. (Not reviewed.) Wed., Sept. 19, 7pm.

Liberties Walk
Free. 1040 N. American St. www.myspace.com/libertieswalk

Fried Green Tomatoes
(1992) (Shown on DVD): Whatever happened to Mary Stuart Masterson anyway? Wed., Sept. 12, 8:30pm.

N. Third
Free. Third and Brown sts. 215.413.3666. www.norththird.com

Fancy Pants Cinema
(Shown on video and DVD): Lug along your homemade opus to this weekly barrage of short films, or just swing by to catch stuff made by strangers. Tues., Sept. 18, 10pm.

Secret Cinema
$7. Moore College of Art & Design, 20th and Race sts. 215.965.4099. www.thesecretcinema.com

Secret Cinema Shorts: The Best of a Decade
(Shown on film): Roving nomads though they are, SC’s closest thing to a home has been the auditorium in the Moore College of Art & Design, which has hosted them for 87 different shows over the last decade. Having feted their 15th anniversary earlier this year, they now turn to their 10 years at their most frequented venue, whipping out a best-of of their inexhaustible collection of odd, archaic shorts. SC has kept the screening list a surprise, but expect the usual mind-blowing cavalcade of industrial films, educational reels, home movies and the like. Check out the site for a mini-history of the group’s tenure at Moore. Fri., Sept. 14, 7pm.

Trocadero
$3. 1003 Arch St. 215.922.LIVE. www.thetroc.com

Clueless
(1995) (Shown on DVD): Whatever happened to Alicia Silverstone anyway? B Mon., Sept. 17, 7:30pm.

Villanova University
$3.50-$5. Connelly Center Cinema, 800 Lancaster Ave., Villanova. 610.519.4750. www.culturalfilms.villanova.edu

Murderball
(2005) (Shown on DVD): The post-Spellbound wave of niche documentaries—just extended with The King of Kong—really began in earnest with this entertaining but frustratingly shallow look at the sport more politely referred to as quad rugby. After losing their championship title to Team Canada, the U.S. Paralympic muderball team replenishes its juices, often with cameras locked right to the chair’s wheels. Kickass! Interestingly facial-haired star Andy Cohn later popped up in a better, more fascinating and infinitely more entertaining documentary involving pubic-hair beards and penis-biting snakes. B- Sat., Sept. 15, and Mon., Sept. 17, 7pm; Sun., Sept. 16, 3:30pm and 7pm.

Wooden Shoe Books
Free. 508 S. Fifth St. 215.413.0999. www.woodenshoebooks.com

After Stonewall
(1999) (Shown on DVD): Picking up where 1984 ’s seminal Before Stonewall left off, John Scagliotti’s doc rushes through all the landmarks of the gay rights movement following the 1969 Stonewall Riots: Harvey Milk, Anita Bryant, San Francisco, disco, Rock Hudson, AIDS, etc. (Not reviewed.) Sat., Sept. 15, 7:30pm.