Pawtucket Film Festival

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(11.3) This weekend it’s a short hop up to the Pawtucket Film Festival which culminates on Sunday night with a screening of the 1991 Providence epic “A Complex World” followed by a Q&A with writer and director Jim Wolpaw. The weekend takes place in two venues.

Friday night is dedicated to a screening of the silent film “Nosferatu” with a live original score by Quantum Moon. They will perform prior to the film as well. (music 5:30pm/ film 6:30pm). This event takes place outside at 190 Exchange Street.

The remainder of the weekend takes place indoors at 175 Main Street.

On Saturday, films start at 1:30pm. Titles include “The Nantucket Spaghetti Festival” and “What the Hell Happened to Blood, Sweat and Tears?”

On Sunday the movies start at 1pm. The evening takes off at 5pm with music from the wildly entertaining performer, George Leonard, then the documentary “This is Elvis Sinatra!” followed by a Q&A with Mr. Leonard. George plays regularly at Nick-A-Nee’s and was inducted into the RI Music Hall of Fame in 2015. He’s got quite a story!

Sunday winds up with “A Complex World” followed by Q&A with writer/director Jim Wolpaw. Movie starts at 7pm. Running time is 81 minutes. (IMDb)

The Heartbreak Hotel nightclub in Providence is having a busy night: the owner’s politician father is trying to shut the club down, one of the bands is making phone calls to the afterworld, and a pathetic folk-singer/terrorist is planning to make this his night of flaming glory.
Tagged as “A Rock ‘n’ Roll comedy that will blow you away” the movie features many places (Lupo’s, downtown Providence) and people (The Young Adults, my favorite bartender) that are fun to see again.  Seen here is Stanley Matis who plays Morris, the protagonist (is that the right word?). Executive producer and proprietor of the Heartbreak Hotel, Rich Lupo, gets a writing credit as well as an acting credit; he plays The Mayor, although his performance may have ended up on the cutting room floor. The Heartbreak Hotel was on the first floor of The Conrad building where the Coal Fired Pizza place is now.
Another favorite character is the Reverend Tilman Gandy Jr. who was a fixture around downtown for several years. He always wore white and this is really how he spoke. He would deliver these little sermonettes, always with a smile.
And you may recognize Daniel von Bargen from “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Amistad,” and as Mr. Kruger on “Seinfeld.” And there is of course, professional wrestler Captain Lou Albano, who had already appeared in Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”
The New York Times described the film as “An amiable rock and roll farce that has the antic spirit of a Marx Brothers comedy.”
And the Young Adults were an awesome awesome band!
Pawtucket Film Festival, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, November 1, 2, 3

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