September 5th 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.
You think it's perverse of me to advise you to spend this perfectly awesome June day, occuring at September's unfold, within the darkened confines of a movie theater? Wait'll you get a load of the exact screening I'm pushing. I have no shame.
New and continuing series today include 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Simenon Redux: Maigret on Film at Anthology Film Archives, and Nitehawk Nasties at the Nitehawk Cinema. The flickering follies be thus;
IFC Center
1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year
THE WOMEN (1939) Dir; George Cukor
HAUSU (1977) Dir; Nobuhiko Obayashi
Film Forum
FEDORA (1978) Dir; Billy Wilder
Film Society of Lincoln Center
50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take?
EARLY JOHN WATERS SHORTS (1964-68) Dir; Guess Who?
FEMALE TROUBLE (1974) Dir; John Waters
MoMA
The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy
HOTEL IMPERIAL (1927) Dir; Mauritz Stiller
BARBED WIRE (1927) Dir; Rowland V. Lee
HAT CHECK GIRL (1932) Dir; Sidney Lanfield
Anthology Film Archives
Simenon Redux: Maigret on Film
NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS (1932) Dir; Jean Renoir
Nitehawk Cinema
FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN (1973) Dir; Paul Morrissey
Today's Pick? 1964's HAG IN A BLACK LEATHER JACKET, 1966's ROMAN CANDLES, and 1968's EAT YOUR MAKEUP, all the primordial lurchings of a burgeoning filmmaking talent, a most tasteless talent. Or rather, one that revelled in taste unconformed, unrefined and unwelcome. From such personal predilections are manifestos made, and their subsequent responders, the like-minded and those discovering they are such upon recognition. What we routinely refer to as cults, a term with mostly negative correlation, which here, ironic perhaps to its initiator's darkest wish-list, belies a most benign corruption. The short history of the cinema had many champions, some emblematic of its worst iterations, but, before the ascendance of today's awfteur, none, perhaps, who so aggressively sought to represent the celluloid trash bins, who wallowed in its worst excess, its most cringe-worthy histrionics, its most visually and aurally fragrant sewer-sweet aromas. Which promise he'd one day make completely good on with the process known as Odorama. If you still own that goofy scratch-n-sniff accoutrement it fetches big on E-Bay. So I'm told.
In short, there was and is only one John Waters, Baltimore's Baron of Bad Taste, Maryland's Auteur of Atrocity. Without him, without his eager shameless desire to celebrate all things cinematic that would make God Himself wince, especially God Himself, how much poorer the world would be, how much less joy we would derive from the movies. Perhaps no Midnight Movie circuit, no Golden Turkeys compendium, no Ed Wood revival, no MST3K, no critical subset for the bad film afficionado, no creation of the Guilty Pleasure category, and, finally, no BRAVO network. You can check my math, I'm pretty sure I'm right.
The man himself will be in attendance tonight to discuss his work and participate in an audience Q&A. So you have exactly what reason to skip this? Hm?
John Waters' EARLY SHORTS and FEMALE TROUBLE unspool tonight at the Walter Reade Theater to kick off the series 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? You know the answer.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in September '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. For the monthly overview and other audio tomfoolery check out the podcast, and follow me on SoundCloud! For reviews of contemporary cinema and my streaming habits (keep it clean!) check out my Letterboxd 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 safe, sound, make sure the next knucklehead is too. In honor of the War to End All Wars.
-Joe Walsh
