The documentary “Koch”, chronicling the career and life of the former New York Mayor, and the ensemble comedy “The Kitchen”, starring Laura Prepon, open Friday at the Ross. Both films play for one week.

“Koch” is not rated, “The Kitchen” is rated R.

Former Mayor Ed Koch is the quintessential New Yorker. Still ferocious, charismatic, and hilariously blunt, the now 87-year-old Koch ruled New York from 1978 to 1989-a down-and-dirty decade of grit, graffiti, near-bankruptcy and rampant crime. First-time filmmaker (and former Wall Street Journal reporter) Neil Barsky has crafted an intimate and revealing portrait of this intensely private man, his legacy as a political titan, and the town he helped transform. The tumult of his three terms included a fiercely competitive 1977 election; an infamous 1980 transit strike; the burgeoning AIDS epidemic; landmark housing renewal initiatives; and an irreparable municipal corruption scandal. Through candid interviews and rare archival footage, Koch thrillingly chronicles the personal and political toll of running the world’s most wondrous city in a time of upheaval and reinvention.

“The Kitchen” is an ensemble comedy from director Ishai Setton. Jennifer (Laura Prepon) is turning 30 and her best friend, Stan (Matt Bush), is throwing her a party. But she is in no mood to celebrate. She just left her job, as well as her cheating boyfriend, Paul (Bryan Greenberg). Her cynical little sister Penny (Dreama Walker) is threatening to overshadow the whole affair with the most inappropriate party announcement. And she is pretty sure she’s too old to still be living with her creepy roommate. 



What starts out as a well-intentioned day of celebration quickly spirals into a most ill-fated disaster, from an ex-boyfriend who can’t “get enough” to the bands dueling in the backyard and from disloyal friends showing their true colors to a manic-depressive party photographer who may have forgotten to take his meds. 



In this hilarious ensemble comedy set entirely inside a kitchen, turning 30 has never looked this chaotic!