The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema Picks, September 9-15
Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
Directed by Susan Seidelman
Those in need of weekend fashion inspiration should be sure not to miss Desperately Seeking Susan. Madonna’s acting skills may be oft-maligned, but in this tale of mistaken identity, she’s eminently likable playing a supercool downtown girl—essentially herself, right on the cusp of superstardom. Every frame has at least ten articles of clothing/accessories/home furnishings worth coveting: bracelets are piled on with abandon, boxer shorts and stockings with garters constitute an outfit, and in one memorable moment, a bathroom hand dryer is glamorously used to dry armpits. With the strong interplay between two female protagonists, as partially inspired by Jacques Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating, it’s a pop feminist essential. Abbey Bender (September 13, 6pm at the Museum of the Moving Image’s “See It Big! New York in Film”)