May 1st 2013. Pick Of The Day.

THE FIRST OF MAY!!! MAY 1ST 2013!! MAY MAY MAY!!! HAVE I MENTIONED IT'S MAY???

Finally, we may assure ourselves of the Frost Giants' demise as warmer winds caress our fair metropolis and summer looms large on the horizon. Very soon we'll be swamped by the rep screening plans the programmers have been hatching all winter, not to mention the NBA playoffs, the meat of the baseball season and the city's annual fireworks display on the Hudson. Personally it all pales compared to the upcoming annual Scripp's spelling bee. That's just me. Bottom line is we have another magnificent school break/popcorn flick season upon us, and this calls for much merry making. So on to today's selections in classic film.

MOMA's excellent series dedicated to the immediate influence German expressionist cinema of the 20's had on Hollywood of the 30's and thenceforth marches forward into its final week. Today The Weimar Touch offers both Powell & Pressburger's THE SMALL BACK ROOM and George Pal's production of the popular 30's sci fi novel WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE. The P&P flick centers on a WW II bomb expert's battle with alcoholism, and the Rudolph Mate directed SFX classic concerns a cataclysm of the galactic variety. Terrence Malick is probably a huge fan of both. Love 'em but don't Pick 'em today.

Roberto Rossellini's esteemed classic VOYAGE TO ITALY is afforded the rare 9-day week starting today at Film Forum, as the venerable rep house presents the film in its new DCP restoration. George Sanders and Ingrid Bergman play a seemingly well-married couple whose trip to the titluar destination uncovers long standing resentments and satisfactions unmet. Never seen it, and I'll be taking the Forum up on this opportunity to cross one off my bucket list, but methinks even had I been familiar with this film I'd pass it up for another, one of the more magic efforts the celluloid medium has offered in its brief history. It begins with a waning soul, and ends with its complete eclipse, and the decadence that accompanies that journey never looked more beautiful than through Gianni Di Vananzo's dreamy lens. A time capsule of an exciting moment in the medium, a comment on the glamorous, vacuous detritus that was postwar Italy. How the European New Wave must've blasted open the doors of moviegoers' perceptions back when it first crashed.

Whatevz. Anita Ekberg's crazy hot.

Federico Fellini's luminous LA DOLCE VITA screens tonight at the Mid-Manhattan Library at 7pm. I know the library dosn't screen 35mm but they put in a great effort and I wanna reward it. This Three Auteurs of World Cinema series is pollen to any Cinegeek bee. Make sure you don't have any outstanding accounts. Library cops, man, library cops...

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Occupy Sandy could always use a little extra help. Check with the incredibly dedicated men and women who are helping rebuild from the hurricane damage still to see if you might be able to donate/volunteer.

Be safe, be sound, make sure your counterparts in the species are as well. Back tomorrow with more classic film screening goodness and a new Pick. Happy May Day, Stockahz! Workers of the world unite!

-Joe Walsh