February 21st 2014.Pick of the Day.
New York City's premiere resource for classic film screenings in the metropolitan area. Offering reviews, recommendations, venues and a host of links keeping classic film and the silver screens alive.
I don't wanna jinx things so I'm not gonna mention the welcome break in the otherwise fear-inducing February weather today. Oh wait, jeez, does that count?
New and continuing series today include Film Forum's massive The Complete Hitchcock, IFC Center's surprise-to-me American Hustlers, MoMA's ongoing Auteurist History of Film, Anthology Film Archives' Russ Meyer & Roger Ebert, Museum of the Moving Image's See It Big! Musicals, and the Rubin Museum's classy Cabaret Cinema. The cinematic shenanigans be thus;
IFC Center
THE STING (1973) Dir; George Roy Hill
Film Forum
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
BLACKMAIL (1929) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
MoMA
WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964) Dir; Hiroshi Teshigahara
Anthology Film Archives
BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1973) Dir; Russ Meyer
UP! (1976) Dir; Russ Meyer
New York Historical Society
MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939) Dir; Frank Capra
Museum of the Moving Image
CABARET (1972) Dir; Bob Fosse
Rubin Museum
COOL HAND LUKE (1967) Dir; Stuart Rosenberg
Nitehawk Cinema
AKIRA (1988) Dir; Katsuhiro Otomo
Today's Pick? Animated entertainment, now a trillion-dollar industry, actually had a tough few decades following it's silver age of the 30's, 40's and 50's. What was once the domain of Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes, Tex Avery's MGM unit, Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker and, of course, Walt Disney, turned in the 60's and 70's into the stuff of Saturday mornings and afterschool homework procrastination. Ambitious souls like animators Richard Williams (who'd sadly whore himself out for a thing called WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT?) and Don Bluth (THE SECRET OF NIMH), and Canadia's Nelvana Studios (ROCK N' RULE) took some bold chances during this era, but were met with apathy, as more adult animated fare from Ralph Bakshi and the likes of the HEAVY METAL movie seemed the future of the genre. Even the audacious fantasies of the newly retired Hayao Miyazaki made only a cult dent in the mainstream film world. Of course animation's resurgence came about in the early 90's with the breakout success of Fox's THE SIMPSONS, MTV's LIQUID TELEVISION and REN & STIMPY, and Jeff Katzenberg's resurrection of Disney's ink & paint division with THE LITTLE MERMAID.
Just prior to that, though, a film made its way to our shores from Japan that caused a stir not merely among cult genre fans but serious film critics, no lesser than Roger Ebert making it his Video Pick of the Week in 1989. It was based on an insanely popular manga (or comic book) by artist/storyteller Katsuhiro Otomo, who also directed the film, cost more than any anime that preceded it, and strove to create the fullest, most immersive an experience any animated entertainment had attempted since the great Disney himself produced SNOW WHITE. It's still spoken of today with such reverence that the mere mention of its title straightens the spine and sobers the tone of any film discussion and its participants, said title so chosen to honor Otomo's film hero, the great Kurosawa. As beloved though it may be, it warrants only rare screenings in our burg, so when you get a chance to catch it in a truly exceptional screening space that will also serve you tater tots and get you drunk, you really shouldn't pass the opportunity up.
Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA screens at midnight tonight at the Nitehawk Cinema in wild n' wooly (well, more wooly than wild) Williamsburg. Beard optional.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in February '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me on both Facebook, where I provide further info and esoterica on the rep film circuit and star birthdays, and Twitter, where I provide a daily feed for the day's screenings and other blathery. Back tomorrow with a brand new Pick, til then I couldn't give a good goddam about hockey in general, but USA! USA! USA!
-Joe Walsh
P. S. Should you be feeling charitable during this harsh weather period please remember to check in with the good folks over at Occupy Sandy. Some of our NY neighbors are still feeling the effects of last year's hurricane. Be a mensch.
