September 11th 2014. Pick of the Day.
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In the wee small hours of September 11th, 2001, I returned home after catching a screening of Kevin Smith's JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, stepped out of a cab on the corner of Bleecker Street and La Guardia Place. And, as was my wont, as I'd spent my childhood dreaming of living in Manhattan and had, at that point, been the realizer of said dream for 7 years, paused at the corner, looked down West Broadway at my perfect view of the Twin Towers, and reminded myself that I'd been trying to learn to whistle. So I practiced a few feeble attempts, gazed at the old boys, and took note once more how lucky I was to be in NYC. Since then I've managed to master a very rudimentary version of Whistle While You Work. I never perform it without a specific set of listeners in mind.
New and continuing series today include The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Chelsea Classics at the BowTie Chelsea Cinemas, 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and The 10th Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives. The shenanigans be thus;
Film Forum
FEDORA (1978) Dir; Billy Wilder
MoMA
The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy
GRAND ILLUSION (1937) Dir; Jean Renoir
HOMECOMING (1928) Dir; Joe May
BowTie Chelsea Cinemas
REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) Dir; Nicholas Ray
Film Society of Lincoln Center
50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take?
CELLULOID ATROCITY NIGHT (1969-70) Dir; John Waters
Anthology Film Archives
The 10th Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr.
GLEN OR GLENDA (1953) Dir; Edward D. Wood, Jr.
BRIDE OF THE MONSTER (1955) Dir; Edward D. Wood, Jr.
Nitehawk Cinema
KING KONG (1976) Dir; John Guillerman
Today's Pick? Under normal circumstances there exists exactly one (1) snowball's chance in hell I'd consider what amounts to a cheap capitalization on a most unique example of movie magic, one from cinema's tweener period, that realized the dreams of pioneers like Georges Méliès and Windsor McCay, as even a remote possibility to recieve the Nitrate Stock™ seal of approval. Men have spilled blood for this honor. Okay, men have spilled hot popcorn butter for this honor. To some of us that's more precious.
But rarely if ever do I get the opportunity to endorse a goof, in this case a very bad one, in the face of seemingly insurmountable suffering, both solemn and sustained. And yes, this mere 13 years hence the phrase "too soon" need not be uttered. But I am a firm believer that sorrow without levity can only manifest itself as melancholy. And that is unacceptable, if only as honor to those we've lost. To paraphrase Warren Beatty's BULWORTH, if you don't believe in spirits you only have ghosts.
So to hell with all things lachrymose this day. Let's go revisit our lost twins, who undertake perhaps their greatest supporting performance in a motion picture, in tonight's Pick. They are joined by names like Bridges, Grodin and Lange, and even that of celluloid's most seminal simian, but those cast members are mere backdrop for the true stars on display this eve. Let us scale them, you and I.
John Guillerman's 1976 remake of KING KONG unspools in glorious 35mm at the Nitehawk Cinema as part of the series The Deuce. It'll be good to see you again, fellas.
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 remember we are all NY'ers today. Behave accordingly.
-Joe Walsh
