Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol and Halston helped make Studio 54 a legendary nightspot in 1970s New York City. The discotheque is the subject of a new documentary by Matt Tyrnauer. (Photo by Adam Scull, courtesy of Zeitgeist Films/Kino Lorber)

Capital Projections: ‘Velvet rope’ edition

By Pat Padua On Oct 25, 2018 Last updated Oct 25, 2018

Capital Projections is The DC Line’s selective and subjective guide to some of the most interesting arthouse and repertory screenings in the coming week.

STUDIO 54

Director Matt Tyrnauer knows something about the allure of celebrity. After all, he directed the recent tell-all documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood, about a Los Angeles gas station attendant who became a gigolo to the stars. Now the director sets his sights on the East Coast with this story of the legendary New York discotheque that became the symbol of the star-studded “me” decade. Studio 54 doesn’t skimp on glamor and decadence, from the sordid origins of the velvet rope (a crowd-control measure that was originally used to keep the area’s prostitutes out of the club) to the who’s who of ‘70s pop culture that frequented the nightspot. Yet the heart of the film — and the club — is more somber, as co-founder Ian Schrager recounts his exciting rise and inevitable fall in an era that seemed to be over before it started. Though short on cultural insight, the movie gets by on personal history.

Watch the trailer.

Opens Friday at the Landmark E Street Cinema. $12.50.

Artist Jeff Koons in front of one of his “Gazing Ball” paintings. (Courtesy of HBO Documentary Films.)

THE PRICE OF EVERYTHING

This fast-paced documentary observes artists, collectors and dealers as they navigate the dizzying heights of a contemporary art market in which a stainless steel sculpture of an inflatable rabbit has ballooned in value to $60 million. Artist Jeff Koons — whose work, like the 1986 “Rabbit,” fetches enormous prices at auction — worked as a Wall Street stockbroker before he transformed the art market with his slick salesmanship. But auction houses and collectors such as Stefan Edlis (who purchased Koons’ carrot-wielding bunny when it was a steal at six figures) are essential pieces of the feeding frenzy. Director Nathaniel Kahn (whose first documentary feature, My Architect, profiled his father Louis Kahn) tells this story of inspiration and investment with the deftness of an arthouse thriller, and depicts a bitter contrast between the luxurious studios of Koons and George Condo and the rustic home of painter Larry Poons, a former art market star who has fallen out of favor.

Watch the trailer.

Opens Friday at the AFI Silver Theatre. $13.

THE PUBLIC IMAGE IS ROTTEN

Punk rock legend Johnny Rotten (born John Lydon) led the infamous Sex Pistols through a notorious and all-too-brief existence. But the bulk of his musical legacy belongs to the band that he took on as a second act. Director Tabbert Fiiller charts Public Image Ltd. from such early against-the-grain landmarks as Metal Box to a late-career resurgence and commercialism that flew in the face of the anti-establishment sneering that was punk’s signature. “Even if you’ve scratched your head over Mr. Lydon’s TV ad work and other efforts to maintain a professional life in recent years,” The New York Times’ Glenn Kenny writes, “this affectionate and frank movie can elicit newfound admiration for a slightly mellowed iconoclast.”

Watch the trailer.

Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Landmark E Street Cinema. $13.50.

LULLABY KILLER

This Polish true-crime drama tells the story of a serial killer known as the “Gentleman Murderer.” Władysław Mazurkiewicz was a well-to-do socialite who illegally traded gold and diamonds. His killing spree claimed as many as 30 victims (although he was only convicted of six murders). Directed by Krzysztof Lang, this 2017 film focuses on the police investigator on the trail of a smooth-talking monster.

Watch the trailer.

Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m. at the Avalon Theatre. $12.50.

WANDA

Writer, director and actress Barbara Loden told The New York Times, after the release of her 1970 film Wanda, “I really hate slick pictures. … They’re too perfect to be believable.” Her only feature film as a director is as far from Hollywood glamor as you can get. Loden was married to Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan, but her inspiration came primarily from underground filmmakers. This raw crime drama, in which she stars as a woman who leaves her family and gets caught up with a fugitive robber, is considered a classic of independent cinema.

Watch the trailer.

Monday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, Nov. 1, at 5:15 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre. $13.

SUSPIRIA

The buzz has been mixed on Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming remake of this 1977 horror classic. So before you see the new, 154-minute Suspiria, which opens next weekend, see Dario Argento’s garishly colored and relatively taut 92-minute original. Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American dance student who arrives at a prestigious German ballet school to find that its terpsichorean program is far outweighed by extracurriculars right out of Grand Guignol, the notoriously graphic Parisian horror shows. With its magnificent art nouveau setting, lurid cinematography and horror-prog score by Goblin, the movie is typical Argento: a feast for the senses that doesn’t always make sense. Still, as nightmares go, this one should be seen on the big screen.

Watch the trailer.

Friday, Oct. 26, at 11 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 27, at 10 p.m. and 11:55 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 28, at 9:30 p.m.; and Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 11 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre. $13.

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