The late Leslie Nielsen stars in Christmas Day double feature with Chinese buffet at 92YTribeca
92YTribeca
200 Hudson St. at Canal St.
Saturday, December 25, $25-$30 for both films and Chinese buffet, 2:00
212-415-5500
www.92YTribeca.org/film
It’s a grand holiday tradition that has taken off in recent years: On Christmas Day, Jews combine two of their favorite activities, eating Chinese food and going to the movies. But you don’t have to be Jewish to attend the annual Chinese & a Movie gathering at 92YTribeca, where they’ll be paying tribute to the late, great Leslie Nielsen with a double feature of two of the funniest, most-often-quoted films ever made, AIRPLANE! (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker, 1980), screening at 2:30, followed by THE NAKED GUN: FROM THE FILES OF POLICE SQUAD! (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams & Jerry Zucker, 1988) at 4:00. Surely, you can’t be serious. Indeed we are, and stop calling us Shirley. Nielsen, who died at the age of eighty-four in November, was the nephew of Jean Hersholt and got his start in playing more serious roles in dramas, Westerns, and romantic comedies, appearing in such films as FORBIDDEN PLANET, TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR, and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. But the Canadian-born actor and naturalized American citizen made his name playing Dr. Barry Rumack and Detective Frank Drebin, showing he could do low-grade slapstick with the best of them. Doors open at 2:00, with a Chinese buffet being served until it’s all gone. It’s a great way to spend Christmas if you’re not visiting friends and family — or if you want to specifically avoid visiting friends and family. And if you’re having a tough time of it, always remember these words: “The last thing he said to me, ‘Doc,’ he said, ‘some time when the crew is up against it, and the breaks are beating the boys, tell them to get out there and give it all they got and win just one for the Zipper. I don’t know where I’ll be then, Doc,’ he said, ‘but I won’t smell too good, that’s for sure.’”