April 11th 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.
Continuing series today include IFC's American Hustlers, Tout Truffaut at Film Forum, An Auteurist History of Film and The Aesthetics of Shadow Part 2: Europe and America at MoMA, and the Rubin Museum's Cabaret Cinema. The repertory hijinks look a little something like this;
IFC Center
PAPER MOON (1973) Dir; Peter Bogdanovich
CAT PEOPLE (1982) Dir; Paul Schrader
MS. 45 (1980) Dir; Abel Ferrara
Film Forum
TWO ENGLISH GIRLS (1974) Dir; Francois Truffaut
MoMA
BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) Dir; Arthur Penn
ZOO IN BUDAPEST (1933) Rowland V. Lee
SHANGAHI EXPRESS (1932) Dir; Joseph von Sternberg
BAM Cinematek
THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967) Dir; Jacques Demy
Rubin Museum
A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1932) Dir; Frank Borzage
Today's Pick? I'm sorely tempted to choose Bogdanovich's last great hurrah, 1973's PAPER MOON, but its 11am start time confuses and frightens me. I'm just an unfrozen caveman after all. I also recently chose Abel Ferrara's first stab at greatness, MS. 45, as part of BAM's Vengeance is Hers series, and I try not to repeat myself within a certain timeframe. The luminous Marlene Dietrich snagged my Pick twice this week as part of the just expired Blonde Venus series at BAM, so the overlapping screening of von Sternberg's SHANGHAI EXPRESS at MoMA would feel like overkill. And Demy's YOUNG GIRLS are in town for a week, so I'd rather settle on a different, more vacant day on the rep circuit to make it my choice.
What's left? A sojourn to that brick and mortar trib to Tibetan art and philosophy, the Rubin Museum of Art, to take advantage of their excellent Cabaret Cinema series, tonight unspooling master stylist Frank Borzage's Hemingway adap A FAREWELL TO ARMS, the 1932 box office smash that further solidified Gary Cooper's star status and won master DP Charles Lang (THE BIG HEAT, SOME LIKE IT HOT) his lone little gold guy in 18 tries. Hem himself was apparently peeved, to put it mildly, at Borzage's melodramatizing of his WWI roman a clef, which is slightly ironic given how, shall we say heightened, some of his prose reads in history's rear view mirror. Nevertheless it remains a sterling example of Borzage's CV, someone not usually spoken of in the same breaths with some of the great auteurs, particularly those who emerged from the silent era into sound with F. W. Murnau perched firmly on their shoulders, while still staking out territory unmistakably thier own. As usual a sawbuck bartab merits a comp tik to the screening, but seats go quick so make sure to arrive early. Love this joint.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in April '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. For the monthly overview listen in to the inaugural podcast! 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 prep for rain, but anticipate sunny skies. Yeh I'm feelin' my inner Ziggy today.
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 the 2012 hurricane. Be a mensch.
