The King of Comedy (1982, 109 Minutes) 

Playing as a part of Scorsese: More Than a Gangster

This delightfully cynical dark comedy is one countless movies have tried to imitate to varying degrees of quality (sorry Joker and Ingrid Goes West). The King of Comedy presents Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro), a socially awkward stand-up comedian with obsessive dreams of stardom and success. His fantasies surround his hopes of getting on the late-night talk show of Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis). But after getting rebuffed multiple times by Langford and his staff, he decides to take more extreme measures to achieve his dream. This is a film filled with excellent cringe comedy, getting you up close to the life and personality of a man who will stop at nothing to reflect the kind of life he watches on his television. De Niro is wonderful, but the usually zany Lewis steals the show with a much more somber performance as a disgruntled comic that brings into question if Pupkin will even be happy with the fame he dreams of.  

This screening will be introduced by Peter Wong. Wong has for years reviewed indie films and the infrequent unusual graphic novel for the Beyond Chron website.  For the fine folks at Broke-Ass Stuart’s, he’s done such things as previewing upcoming film festivals, sifted through Netflix’s and Hulu’s monthly offerings, and even assembled information on quesabirrias in the SF Bay Area.  An interview with “Tokyo Pop” director Fran Rubel Kuzui before the restored film’s recent screening at the 4-Star Theater was his most recent piece.”

Cast: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, and Sandra Bernhard

Playing back to back with After Hours at 9 PM. Catch both for $20.