The Song Remains the Same Sat, Jul 22 | 7:30pm | DGT Rock-and-roll mythmaking at its grandest, The Song Remains the Same intercuts highlights from Led Zeppelin’s thunderous set over a three-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 1973 with fantastical visions of the individual band members’ personal lives among misty manors and ancient castles, plus an unforgettable turn by the band’s towering, gruff manager Peter Grant. The film’s singular blend of sword and sorcery with riff-spewing, long-haired abandon makes for a potent brew that has spellbound rock fans for decades. DIRECTED BY: Peter Clifton, Joe Massot. WITH: Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul-Jones. 1976. 138 min. UK/USA. Color. English. DCP.
engrosses its viewer in intimate moments of studio rehearsals that lead into ecstatic onstage performances for a fitting ode to this prolific, treasured Oklahoma-based musician and his surroundings. This meeting of Blank and Russell, two men who lived and breathed their respective crafts, would not be officially released until after Blank’s death in 2015, thanks to the efforts of his son Harrod to secure proper rights for distribution. This small miracle of a film emits a lingering afterglow long after the last note is sung. DIRECTED/WRITTEN BY: Les Blank. WITH: Leon Russell, Eric Andersen, Richard V. Armstrong, Audie Ashworth. 1974. 90 min. USA. Color. English. DCP.
THE LAST WALTZ (1976)
The Last Waltz Fri, Jul 28 | 7:30pm | DGT Martin Scorsese and a rogues’ gallery of great
cinematographers—Michael Chapman, Vilmos Zsigmond, and László Kovács among them—capture the farewell performance of rock icons The Band in a bespoke setting. The brainchild of promoter Bill Graham and production designed by West Side Story ’s (1961) Boris Leven, The Band’s Thanksgiving 1976 performance at San Francisco’s iconic Winterland Ballroom is intercut with casual conversations with members of the group. The crowded, smoke-ringed stage hosts raucous turns from Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and The Staple Singers, who gracefully transform “The Weight” into a call-and-response anthem. DIRECTED BY: Martin Scorsese. WITH: Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Robbie Robertson. 1976. 117 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG. 4K DCP.
SIGN O' THE TIMES (1987)
Sign o’ the Times Fri, Aug 4 | 7:30pm | DGT
Prince returned to the big screen after a hit debut (Oscar- winner Purple Rain ) and a flop follow-up (the underrated Under the Cherry Moon ) with a simpler yet no less ingenious concept: a concert film devoted to material from his newly released hit double-LP Sign o’ the Times . Reinventing the concert film itself, Prince brings together choreographed theatrical numbers, high ’80s silhouettes, and a neon-drenched stage blazing with funk, soul, and rock. Combining live footage from both Prince’s European tour and a performance at his residential Paisley Park studios, the film features a drum showcase for Sheila E., a music video interlude with Sheena Easton, and more plasma globes than you’ve seen in forty years. DIRECTED BY: Prince. WITH: Prince, Sheila E., Cat Glover, Doctor Fink. 1987. 85 min. USA. Color. English. Rated PG-13. DCP.
THE LAST WALTZ (1976)
A Poem Is a Naked Person Sat, Jul 29 | 4pm | TMT
Far more than a straightforward concert film, Les Blank’s lyrical, rich portrait of singer-songwriter Leon Russell
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