15 Questions With Matt Pifko
"there’s nothing better than watching a 3-hour film on a Sunday that just absolutely eats up your day"
Name: Matt Pifko
Location: Brooklyn
Occupation: Acquisitions at Kanopy
Ps. Kanopy is an incredibly underrated streaming service that’s free if you have a library card, or if you’re a student or a professor. Highly, highly recommend checking them out.
Links: Kanopy on IG, Matt on IG
1. What’s your favorite day & time to go to the movies?
I love a Sunday matinee. I tend to pick the day and time to see something based on the movie’s vibes. I let the film dictate my choice whenever I can. With that in mind, a Sunday matinee is very luxurious, plush, and deluxe. I truly use it for self-care. There’s nothing better than watching a 3-hour film on a Sunday that just absolutely eats up your day, stumbling in half-awake and exiting into a 4pm winter dusk.
2. What’s your favorite movie theater?
This is a hard decision for me, I have a sentimental attachment to a lot of theaters. My favorite is probably Film Forum. I don’t know if it’s the older skewing audiences, or the shabby cushions on the seats, or the fact that Kirsten Johnson and Ira Sachs’ co-parenting throuple live down the street, but it feels connected to a strain of habitual moviegoing and assumed baselines of taste in NYC that mostly disappeared before I was born. It’s learned in a casual, shrugged-off kind of way, like it’s not posturing for anyone.
3. What’s your go-to movie theater snack & drink combo?
This fluctuates. My go-to is a giant bottle of Polar seltzer, preferably raspberry-lime, but a lot of bodegas haven’t been carrying Polar, so I’ve switched to a guava goddess flavored kombucha. If I’m beholden to movie theater snacks, Twizzlers and a seltzer.
4. What’s your dream movie theater snack & drink combo (if noise and sound weren’t an issue)?
My hot take is that movie theater concessions are just fine the way they are. You don’t need to be eating an artisan pizza in a movie theater. Nor a cheeseburger. And definitely not a caesar salad. Popcorn is perfectly engineered for movie theater consumption. It’s relatively uniform, it’s relatively mess-free, and it’s very salty. What more do you need?
5. First movie you remember seeing in a theater?
Batman Begins, age 5, during which I cried very hard seeing the Scarecrow’s face covered in worms and had to be removed. My parents had watched Batman & Robin and assumed its long delayed sequel by “some hack named Christopher Nolan” would be tonally in-line with Schumacher’s vision.
6. Last movie you saw in a theater?
None other than Conclave, the second half of a delicious faith-based double feature with Heretic that I programmed for myself at AMC 19th Street. During the final twist, someone a couple rows back muttered, ‘Oopsie’.
7. Movie you wish you could have seen in a theater?
Too many to name, this is something I fantasize about often. On The Silver Globe has to be number one, followed closely by SAW 3D.
8. Please describe your ideal movie theater seat!
Row G in Lincoln Center’s IMAX. Structurally speaking, I think Film Forum’s plush-yet-rigid approach is perfect. I shouldn’t be able to fall asleep in my seat too easily. Williamsburg Cinemas has some good ones, too.
9. One thing you would change to make movie theaters better?
I miss popcorn guy from the old AMC preshow.
10. What’s the ideal number/length of previews before a movie?
20 minutes, baby. Give me all the trailers. I love trailers, especially the bad ones that I can begin to quote with my friends who torture themselves watching every single new wide-release movie: “Fall collection, Ikea”.
11. Do you prefer seeing movies alone or with someone/a group?
I was dreading this question. I really, really love both for different reasons. I’ve had some of the most magical experiences watching movies alone, it truly does allow you to sort of plunge through the screen and submerge yourself in that dreamy, womb-like, total blackness of the theater. On the other hand, I have so many irreplaceable, perfect memories of seeing stuff with friends. I do think we go to the movies to be with other people, it’s the communal thing that’s the key to the alchemy. There’s simply nothing like watching a horror movie in a packed theater with everyone yelling at the screen, “Run! Run!”
12. Movie you’re looking forward to seeing?
I’m incredibly excited for Almodovar’s new film, The Room Next Door. Julianne Moore is one of my favorite actresses of all time and Almodovar is one of our last living legends. I think his recent run of films has been quite exceptional. Also, I already have my ticket for the 70mm IMAX re-release of Interstellar, of course.
13. One movie recommendation (that you think people might not know about or should give another chance to):
Love & Pop. Also, if you haven’t seen The House Bunny, watch The House Bunny. If you haven’t seen The House Bunny in over a year, watch The House Bunny again.
14. What’s your dream combination of director & lead(s)?
Nothing will ever surpass Bergman and Ullmann, except maybe Tsai and Lee. In terms of combinations that haven’t happened yet, I’m going with Holly Hunter and Todd Haynes.
15. If you could live in a movie, which one would it be?
Only Lovers Left Alive for the winter, Pauline à la plage for the summer.
Adore Matt. Also love Film Forum.
OOOOPSIE!