Wiener-Dog

press release:

SAT., 8/27, 8:30 p.m. WIENER-DOG: USA | 2016 | DCP | 89 min.

Director: Todd Solondz; Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Greta Gerwig, Danny DeVito

The latest curmudgeon’s delight from comic misanthrope Todd Solondz (Happiness) follows a dopey, lovable dachshund through a series of woefully broken homes.  The all-star cast of owners taking temporary solace in this four-legged friend includes DeVito as a hilariously frustrated film professor and Gerwig as the grown-up Dawn Wiener, anti-heroine of Solondz’s 1995 breakout Welcome to the Dollhouse.  Packed with dark laughs and even darker observations on human nature, Wiener-Dog is “bleakly funny and weirdly heartfelt” (NPR).

Premiere Showcase is the Cinematheque’s effort to bring the boldest and most exciting new cinema back to the big screen. Crafted with the same curat­orial acuity we bring to our repertory series, Premiere Showcase presents exciting new work by contem­porary directors that would otherwise have no theatrical venue in the area. Our selections for Fall 2016 begin with two highly acclaimed indies that made their debuts at the Sundance Film Festival in January: the political documentary Weiner and Todd Solondz’ latest, Wiener-Dog. You’ll also see Brady Corbet’s Venice prize-winner The Childhood of a Leader and edgier fare like Roberto Minervini’s exploration of the Louisiana backwoods, The Other Side, and master collagist Lewis Klahr’s acclaimed compilation movie, Sixty Six.