October 10th 2014. Pick of the Day.
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We have come to my last day of attendance regarding the filmmaker retrospective at this year's NYFF, the comprehensive and thoroughly impressive Joseph L. Mankiewicz - The Essential Iconoclast. It's been quite the ride, sometimes quiet, sometimes bumpy, sometimes crooked, sometimes threatening to shake the foundations like a closely passing elevated subway train. My admiration for this craftsman has grown, an esteem already elevated. And while I've been denied the big-screen viewing of the film I most looked forward to, still the fave of his CV in my humble opinion, I will not allow the cancellation of 1972's SLEUTH to color my opinion of the rest of the fest. Indeed, its absence may have strengthened my focus toward his other, heretofore lesser appraised gems, evalutaions which have changed by degrees over the last week-and-a-half. Many thanks to the good folks at the Film Society for availing me of this opportunity. Here's looking forward to doing this again.
Ongoing series today include 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year and New York Super Week at IFC Center, CAPRA! at Film Forum, Acteurism - The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-45 and Iris Barry - MoMA's Lady in the Dark at MoMA, NYFF52 - Revivals and Joseph L. Mankiewicz - The Essential Iconoclast at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum, and Final Girl at the Nitehawk Cinema. The felonious haberdashery be thus;
IFC Center
1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year
MIDNIGHT (1939) Dir; Mitchell Leisen
THE TOXIC AVENGER (1984) Dir; Lloyd Kaufmann
Film Forum
LOST HORIZON (1935) Dir; Frank Capra
MoMA
Acteurism - The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-45
EDGE OF DARKNESS (1943) Dir; Lewis Milestone
Iris Barry - MoMA's Lady in the Dark
THEY LIVE BY NIGHT (1948) Dir; Nicholas Ray
Film Society of Lincoln Center
HIROSHIMA, MON AMOUR (1959) Dir; Alain Resnais
Joseph L. Mankiewicz - The Essential Iconoclast
A LETTER TO THREE WIVES (1949) Dir; Joseph L. Mankiewicz
SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER (1959) Dir; Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Rubin Museum
VIVRE SA VIE (1964) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
Nitehawk Cinema
HALLOWEEN (1978) Dir; John Carpenter
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
ALIEN (1979) Dir; Ridley Scott
Today's Pick? The Joe Mank fest, which is slowly and sadly winding down. Specifically, this eve, his 1959 Tennessee Williams adap SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER, from 1959, starring Kate Hepburn, Monty Clift, and Elizabeth Taylor as a famous one-piece bathing suit pinup. Why? Two reasons. NO, knuckleheads, get yer brain outta the gutters! My reasons for choosing it are thus; 1.) the completely batshit melodrama concerning repressed homosexuality, forced lobotomy, and Mercedes McCambridge, and 2.) that one-peice bathing suit okay screw it I'll be called anything but a liar.
Joseph L. Mankiewicz's SUDDENLY, LAST SUMMER unspools its digital 1's and 0's as part of the retrospective Joseph L. Mankiewicz - The Essential Iconoclast, tonight at the Howard Gilman Theater. I don't care how much Richard Burton bitched. He married her twice, didn't he?
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in October '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 m'gawd lookit Liz in that bathing suit!
-Joe Walsh
P. S. We're swiftly returning to the winter climate, and believe it or not some of our fellow NY'ers have still yet to be made whole in the wake of the 2012 storm. Should you be feeling charitable please visit the folks at OccupySandy.net, follow their hammer-in-hand efforts to restore people's lives, and donate/volunteer if you have the inclination and availability. Be a collective mensch, Stockahz!
