The beginning of this week features a pair of intriguing local screenings that might float under the radar. Over at Anthology Film Archives tonight you can catch Dominic DeJoesph's rare indie sequel Johnny Berlin 2: Notes from the Dumpster. A 70 minutes follow up to his Michael Stipe/Jim McKay produced look at a lonely train porter with dreams of writing the Great American Novel, this film finds the title character destitute in Phnom Penh after having gambled away the money he saved to carry on a Southeastern exploration for deeper truths. Tonight's screening is being put on by the Flaherty Seminar, an NYC screening group which hopes through its monthly events "to foster exploration, dialogue, and introspection about the art and craft of all forms of the moving image." The group's progenitors include a number of the City's more serious and discerning young critics and programmers, such as Steve Holmgren and my Hammer to Nail colleague, L Magazine critic Cullen Gallagher.Over at Cinema Nolita tomorrow night at 11 is Paul Schrader's ageless American Gigolo. Featuring one of only a handful of truly significant performances by Richard Gere, it still has the capable to stir and repel.
