{"id":41846,"date":"2026-04-05T11:37:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T11:37:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41846"},"modified":"2026-04-05T11:37:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T11:37:28","slug":"a-1980s-new-york-cult-movie-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=41846","title":{"rendered":"A 1980s New York Cult Movie Returns"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Writing for the Village Voice in 1990, Manohla Dargis called Phil Hartman\u2019s Sundance winner \u201cNo Picnic\u201d the \u201cone movie about the East Village that gets it right.\u201d That might have to do with the fact that the film<\/a> is directed by the co-owner of Two Boots Pizza, for decades a staple of downtown New York.<\/p>\n

This story of a true bygone era of downtown independent filmmaking \u2014 think Amos Poe (\u201cAlphabet City<\/a>\u201c) and Susan Seidelman<\/a> (\u201cSmithereens\u201d) \u2014 played six weeks at the beloved Anthology Film Archives in New York City in 1990. Now, the neo-noir comedy \u201cNo Picnic\u201d has been 4K-restored and will play at Film Forum<\/a> April 17 through 23, and IndieWire shares the fresh trailer exclusively below.<\/p>\n

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Per Film Forum, \u201cThe shaggy dog story follows Macabee Cohn, former lead singer of Three-Legged Dog (\u2018they were big, once<\/em>\u2018), now a jukebox warrior, traveling from joint to joint, filling records, collecting change, and falling for a mysterious woman in a striped dress. His quest \u2014 \u2018I was looking for someone to save, to save myself\u2019 \u2014 takes him on a journey through the downtown demimonde, where he encounters street poets, punkabillys, and too many reminders of his less-than-savory past. But he finally realizes that change is inevitable \u2014 for himself and his beloved neighborhood \u2014 when an unexpected package is left waiting on his doorstep.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cast of this lost cult classic includes David Brisbin, Richard Hell, Steve Buscemi, and Luis Guzm\u00e1n.<\/p>\n

Hartman also co-owned the erstwhile The Great Jones Cafe, which brought Cajun cooking to downtown New York and became a hub for the local indie film and music communities. But with those earnings, Hartman wrote and directed \u201cNo Picnic\u201d in summer 1985, with Wim Wenders\u2019 Grey City joining as executive producers. The movie went to Sundance in 1987, but with funds needed for post-production, Hartman co-founded Two Boots Pizza, which is still a beloved New York institution.<\/p>\n

Wenders\u2019 editor Peter Pryzgodda helped Hartman finish the movie, with even Christine Vachon<\/a> coming on board as the assistant sound editor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe clock was ticking in the East Village, even back in the summer of 1985. Change was everywhere, and \u2018No Picnic\u2019 sought to capture a legendary landscape before it became unrecognizable,\u201d Hartman said in a note shared by Film Forum. \u201cWe moved fast with a nimble crew, using an old VW bus as our production van and tried to grab images \u2014 from Adam\u2019s Purple Garden to the \u201986 Club\u2019 to the St. Mark\u2019s Cinema \u2014 that seemed to be vanishing before our eyes. Now, 40 years later, much of the neighborhood has changed, and most of the people are gone, but \u2018No Picnic\u2019 lives on, a testament to a time and place that looks larger than ever in our collective cultural memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Yorkers won\u2019t want to miss this unique snapshot of a bygone era of the city this Spring. The Film Desk handled the restoration.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Picnic\u201d runs at Film Forum April 17 through 23.<\/p>\n

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