SEPTEMBER 2012 WEEK ONE. THE FRENCH OLD WAVE, HOLLYWOOD GAGSTERS, GIALLO FEVER AND CONNERY; SHAKEN NOT STIRRED!

Ya gotta love a town whose repertory screen space devotes equal appreciation to both Renoir and Reiner. That's what ya call thorough.

Welcome to September and month deux of our interactive calendar, Stockers! I'm pleased to say it's been a mostly smooth ride so far and the site seems to be helpful to you, the adoring public and cinegeek! We began as listings-only and graduated to the interactive mishegoss to the right of this column and hope to keep improving the service month by month to provide the most complete experience for the film fanatic. Armed to the teeth with your goodwill and encouragement, we trod boldly forth into this month we lovingly call September, only because every other month's name was taken.

The Film Forum's French Old Wave retrospective strides confidently into its second leg, like the French do. Upcoming are career bests from Rene Clair and Jean Renoir, Jean Gremillon and Jean Cocteau. I don't mean to imply that 3 out of every 4 Frenchmen are named Jean. Draw your own conclusion.

Rene Clair gets his due this month, beginning with a screening of his last silent film, THE ITALIAN STRAW HAT, which borrowed film techniques from the late 19th century in order to tell a story set in that era. One of the first instances of "homage" in cinema. Railing against the innovation of sound cinema he nevertheless turned out an early sound masterpiece, a musical no less, with UNDER THE ROOFS OF PARIS, which employed the free camera techniques he'd mastered before the microphone with the standstill visuals that the new device demanded. An utter work of art. Clair's LE MILLION and A NOUS LA LIBERTE also screen at the Forum, and Chaplin swore he'd never seen either. Honest.

Some of Renoir's most important and enduring works are to screen in the coming weeks. Jean Gabin, that great movie idol of early French sound cinema, is on display in three of the master's best; LA BETE HUMAINE, RULES OF THE GAME, and perhaps the pinnacle of Messr. Renoir's powers GRAND ILLUSION. All demand a viewing on the big screen, but the Forum's space will suffice. Kiddin'. Drag yer ass to FF's loving embrace and catch some classic film. Their popcorn's best.

Carne's CHILDREN OF PARADISE, Ophuls' THE EARRING O MADAME DE..., and Gremillon's LE CIEL EST A VOUS round out the must-sees, but I will gladly argue that above these the early works of Henri-Georges Clouzot, L'ASSASSIN HABITE AU 21 and QUAI DES ORFERVES are the picks of the litter. Misanthropy was never so empathetic as under this man's watchful gaze. Regarde!

Also at the Forum this month are week-long screenings of some of the greatest flicks ever made in their debut DCP screenings. DCP's are Digital Cinema Packages, and are the new format we'll be experiencing the classics in on the rep screens. While the lamenting of fewer actual 35mm prints in circulation is a legitimate pain, the DCP's I've seen so far seem to recreate the film experience with little complaint on my part. Some have seemed as pristine and warm as what I feel the original prints looked like in their day. What an awful shill I've become. Commence the stoning!

The DCP screenings at the Forum this month include Leone's totally fucking awesome THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE, the former Sight And Sound champ for greatest film of all time, and Hitchcock's VERTIGO, the current champ in Sight And Sound's poll. Which pretty much tells me Sight And Sound don't know what the Hell it's talkin' about. I'm just sayin'.

Actually they're both wrong. THE THIRD MAN's the greatest movie ever made. Try me.

The Film forum also premieres the DCP restoration of INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION, from the great Elio Petri, who will also be repped in the Anthology Film Archives Giallo Fever! series. Gian Maria Volonte sells his usual brand of tighly wound knucklehead for our mutual amusement. Hilarity and brutality ensue.

In non-DCP news the Forum presents Terry Gilliam's BRAZIL for a week at the end of the month. And why not sez me? Triplets?!? How time flies...

BAM's Hollywood Gagsters retrospective also continues well through the month. A massive and nearly comprehensive overview of the American comedy film, we find oureselves at the beginning of this month entering into the 80's concept comedy. Its blueprint and breath of rarefied air THE JERK kicks off a series of collaborations between Steve Martin and the man who made him a star, the increasingly awesome Carl Reiner. Their shared comic vision reappears with screenings of THE MAN WITH TWO BRAINS and ALL OF ME. They never made a film together that wasn't worth watching.

Further shenanigans at BAM include the ZAZ team's repping with AIRPLANE! and THE NAKED GUN!, and Bill Murray's teamings with Ivan Reitman STRIPES and GHOSTBUSTERS. All of which are amongst the most quoted films of the last 30 plus years. Don't ya feel ooooooooooooooooooooooollllllddd?

Also at BAM toward the end of this month is scheduled a John Le Carre mini-marathon. As much as I'd love to implore you all to finally catch Oldman's turn as George Smiley in last year's adaptation of TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY, that would be breaking my rule. Instead I urge you to catch Sidney Lumet's screen version of the first Smiley novel, with James Mason essaying the role but sans rights to the character's name. So he plays Charles Dobbs. Big whup. He's Smiley all the way. THE DEADLY AFFAIR also features Maximillan Schell, Harriet Anderson and Simone Signoret, as well as a sorta inappropraite upbeat jazz score from Quincy Jones. Don't miss this.

The IFC Center has cooked up a pretty cool week-long retrospect with their Connery/007 series. The big guy's first six outings as the character he made famous, and vice versa, are on display in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the series and anticipation of the next Craig outing. Sure, you've seen 'em countless times, but on the big screen? Here's your chance. DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, they're all here, screening all day every day this first week of September only. Unless there's a reprieve....

Anthology Film Archives gives with two fun series this month. From The Pen Of centers around screenwriters famous and forgotten, showing some geek love to Elmore Leonard and Joan Didion, Donald Westlake and John Fante, among others. The series skims the world of b-movie and early scuzzball cinema to paint a cohesive portrait of the writer as film auteur. Cool stuff.

AFA's follow-up series is equally fun. Giallo Fever! provides a large overview of that beloved sub-genre through a small sample size. Every scheduled flick, though, is worth attendance. Trashy, garish, lurid, these words are compliments in this world of soft-core horror and suspense! The magnificently baroque and batshit Mario Bava kicks off the proceedings, and possibly the sub-genre, with the stylish and lurid THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH and BLOOD AND BLACK LACE, which not only married the worlds of Hitchcock with H.G. Lewis, but paved the way for the slasher flick of the 70' and 80's. Dario Argento. giant of the medium, follows with perhaps the only breakout classic of the Giallo, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE. Gritty, paranoid and mesmeric, it's probably as close to Hitchcock as the form ever got. The notorious Lucio Fulci contributed PERVERSION STORY, and then went on to greater crimes against humanity. For which we thank him. Finally Elio Petri strikes again, with the bizarre and psycho sexual A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY, starring twin 60's icons Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero. Pleasant start, brutal finale. find out for yerself.

MOMA puts on a clinic for the Hollywood Western twice this month with a pair of monumental screenings. Howard Hawks' EL DORADO gets some prime time hugs in what promises to be an excellent print. Hawks' first remake of RIO BRAVO would be his best, although the BEST remake of RIO BRAVO would be directed by Steven Spielberg. Discuss.

MOMA's valentine to the Hollywood Western goes the distance this month, however, with their screening of JOHN FORD'S FIRST MOTHERFUCKING WESTERN!!! You read me right! STRAIGHT SHOOTING gets a three day screening as part of their Auteurist History Of Film series. If you ever needed a reason to drag yourself out of bed to catch a movie, you'll find no better reason kid! Did I mention this is John Ford's FIRST FUCKING WESTERN?!?

The Alliance Francais sponsors what must be the last outdoor screening of the summer this week as JULES AND JIM unspools on the steps at Columbia University's Library Steps. I can't think of any better thing to do that night.

Finally to the midnight goings on. Sunshine gives with AFTER HOURS and 2001; A SPACE ODYSSEY. Nitehawk gives with ANIMAL HOUSE, RIVER'S EDGE and PRINCE ACHMED. Perhaps best of all IFC Center gives with QUADROPHENIA, JAWS and PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE. Yeah, you're reading that right. I'm placing the DePalma in the headline spot. Why you ask? To which I respond, why you ask? No, here's my answer; from one of the worst filmmakers the planet's ever seen comes this gem that celebrates film like few movies do! References to Leroux's source story and subsequent adaptations featuring Chaney Sr. and Rains, as well as the Faust and Dorian Gray myths, mixed with 70's rock opera schtick and film homage from every decade, this should've been a hit and the film he was remembered for. As it stands the one signature piece of auteur filmmaking from Hollywood's biggest hack, a hint of what might've been had he simply unleashed his massive ego on the screen instead of burdening his more talented comrades with it. That's how dem chips fall. Check this flick out on the big screen and fall in love with a film lover's valentine to the art form.

I think that's it for now. I'll be back next week with updates and opinions. Until then be safe and sound and head out to the movies every chance you get. Excelsior, Knucks!

-Guiseppe Du Cinematek