“Attica!”
The word conjures a small town in western New York—and, more infamously, the 1971 prison uprising that ended in bloodshed. But for most people, “Attica!” calls to mind Al Pacino, hair damp with sweat, storming a Brooklyn sidewalk in “Dog Day Afternoon,” shouting the word until the crowd roars it back.
That chant—one of cinema’s most enduring lines—wasn’t in the script. When Sidney Lumet moved his cameras outside to capture Pacino’s standoff with police, he let real Park Slope residents mingle with the extras, their excitement turning the shoot into a genuine spectacle. Assistant director Burtt Harris quietly suggested Pacino invoke the prison riots. The crowd’s raw response electrified the scene, giving the film a moment that still resonates half a century later.
It was an inspired accident, but one that crystallized the film’s themes. Based on a true story, “Dog Day Afternoon” follows a would-be bank robber whose attempt to finance his wife’s gender-affirming surgery spirals into a hostage crisis. Like the Attica uprising, it is a story of people pushed to the margins, forced into desperate acts that expose the fractures in the society around them.
The tragedy of “Attica” is that while Pacino’s chant lingers in the zeitgeist, the reforms demanded after the uprising never fully arrived. What was once an urgent rallying cry has faded into a footnote. When Pacino screamed “Attica” in 1975, audiences felt its sting because they knew what it meant. Today, it plays differently—a plea from the past, brimming with anger, asking us not to forget.
“Dog Day Afternoon” plays this Sunday, August 24, at 5 p.m. Free for Triplex Premium members!
Now Playing
“Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers”
A rediscovered lo-fi queer musical comedy!
Rediscover a lo-fi queer cult classic when we screen “Scarecrow In A Garden Of Cucumbers” on August 23! Starring Warhol factory muse and pioneering trans actress Holly Woodlawn, “Scarecrow” follows Eve Harrington (Woodlawn), an aspiring actress from Kansas who comes to New York and meets a host of zany characters in this musical comedy that includes appearances from Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin.
Long thought lost and never released on home media, don’t miss your chance to see this landmark film on the big screen with a special video introduction from writer Sandra Scoppettone!
August 23, at 8 p.m.
“The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western plays as part of “Sweaty Cinema.”
“Sweaty Cinema” continues on August 28 with “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” Sergio Leone’s iconic spaghetti western about three outlaws on the hunt for buried gold during the American Civil War. Clint Eastwood is at his steely eyed best as The Man With No Name, a bounty hunter who teams up and tees off with a bandit (Eli Wallach) and mercenary (Lee Van Cleef) in the pursuit of fortune in this finale to Leone and Eastwood’s Dollars Trilogy.
August 28, at 7:30 p.m.
“Highest 2 Lowest”
The new thriller from Spike Lee and Denzel Washington.
A music mogul on the verge of a massive merger has his cool demeanor put to the test when a kidnapping threatens everything he has built in “Highest 2 Lowest,” the fifth collaboration between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. A modern adaptation of Kurosawa’s crime classic “High and Low” that transports the tension to modern day New York, “Highest 2 Lowest” is an expertly crafted thriller that sees director and star firing on all cylinders.
Ends Thursday!
“In the Mood For Love”
Celebrate the 25th anniversary of Wong Kar-wai’s stunning romance.
Recently named one of the 10 best movies of the 21st century by The New York Times, director Wong Kar-wai’s visually stunning “In The Mood For Love” returns to theaters for its 25th anniversary! An achingly romantic tale of two Hong Kong residents in the 1960s who realize their spouses are having an affair and set out to discover how it happened, only to develop their own deep connection.
Part of our Limited Engagement series, “In The Mood For Love” plays for one week starting this Friday!
“The Life of Chuck”
A life-affirming Stephen King adaptation.
Director Mike Flanagan continues his streak of winning Stephen King adaptations with “The Life Of Chuck,” a story of how one life contains a universe of meaning. Starring Tom Hiddelston, Jacob Tremblay, and Benjamin Pajak as the titular everyman, “The Life Of Chuck” winds back the clock to show how Chuck’s seemingly simple story ripples through the lives of others.
Held over for one more week!
“Freakier Friday”
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan are back for another round of body swapping!
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis see lightning strike twice in “Freakier Friday”! A follow-up to the beloved early aughts comedy sees mother and daughter swap bodies with a new generation right before Anna (Lohan) is set to be married, giving her daughter (Julia Butters) and stepdaughter-to-be (Sophia Hammons) the chance to stop the wedding from happening.
Ends Thursday!
Coming Soon
“The Roses”
Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing—as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. A reimagining of the 1989 classic film “The War of the Roses,” don’t miss this delightful dark comedy featuring a stacked cast including Alison Janney, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, and more!
Starts August 29.
“Caught Stealing”
Austin Butler is a former baseball player fighting for his life when all of early-’90s New York’s underworld comes after him in “Caught Stealing”! The latest from acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky, don’t miss this fast-paced thriller when it comes to The Triplex on August 29! Scoppettone!
Starts August 29.
“Jaws”
One screening of Jaws wouldn’t be enough—so we have it for a whole week! Check out Steven Spielberg’s landmark—or is it a watermark?—action blockbuster that follows a sheriff trying to save his small New England island town from a danger lurking deep within the waters when it plays as part of our “1975 at 50” series starting August 29!
Join us for “The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn thing,” a special interactive screening of “Jaws” with a pre-show costume contest and trivia on August 30!
Starts August 29.
“Cool Hand Luke”
“Sweaty Cinema” heads to the Deep South on September 4 with “Cool Hand Luke”! A night of drunken vandalism leads Luke (Paul Newman) to a sentence on a chain gang, where his anti-establishment world view quickly puts him at odds with his fellow prisoners and the sadistic warden.
Featuring one of Newman’s best (and sweatiest) performances, don’t miss your chance to catch this classic on the big screen!
September 4, at 8 p.m.
