October 17th 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.
Over the course of the last month I've been fortunate to bear witness to both sides of the cinephile coin; the mean-spirited, self-aggrandizing misanthropes, and the genuinely welcoming and generous, in terms of both their time and knowledge. Film is a mass market industry still, but with much to be mined in its niche categories, just as the music industry still protects its classical and jazz legacy residuals. Within these niche categories, which also celebrate the history of the genre, aficionados are usually divided by individual taste, which is not only perfectly human but enhances the art, enables it to continue beyond its past and current fanbase and into posterity. However, occasionally, self-serving, even self-destructive proponents, some who view art as fodder for their own ego and not vice versa, bring down the dialogue, reduce it, chill the otherwise warm proceedings fans and curators and authors and actual participants love to indulge in. Very recently it's been my unequivocal drag to fall into a social media opportunist's bottomless attention-seeking ambitions, manifested as a series of mettle-depreciating tweets and posts on the interwebs.
To which I say, yawn.
Ink might be an archaic term as pertains to modern media, but I'm still offering the following call to arms to my filcker compatriots regarding social media morons who pick logically and factually unfounded fights in order to increase their profile; don't give 'em any ink. Ignore the idiots. They've gone away when ignored in the past and they will do again. The media may change, but human nature holds steady.
Before I return my soapbox to storage, let me just say that my entire experience at this year's New York Film Fest was exactly the real-world opposite of its internet cousin, everything it should be for the film devoted; opinionated without derison, open-eyed without predetermined attack. Everyone from talent to staff to attendees seemed for the most part willing to dive into the full megillah with whole heart in hand. We're all part of the same film-obsessed community, and barring any who seek to poison the well to increase their personal profile, we should all be tolerant, inclusive, aware that the constant monologue and dialogue regarding our passions enhance them.
Soapbox, exunt.
New and continuing series this day include By Marguerite Duras at the Film Society, CAPRA! at the Film Forum, Acteurism: The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-43 at MoMA, Matías Piñeiro Presents: Bridges Across Argentinian Cinema at Anthology Film Archives, Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, and Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum of Art. The full repertory tomfoolery looks thus;
Film Society of Lincoln Center
INDIA SONG (1975) Dir; Marguerite Duras
LES ENFANTS (1985) Dir; Marguerite Duras
LE NAVIRE NIGHT (1979) Dir; Marguerite Duras
EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF (1980) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959) Dir; Alain Resnais
Film Forum
AMERICAN MADNESS (1932) Dir; Frank Capra
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933) Dir; Frank Capra
HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (1959) Dir; Alain Resnais
MoMA
Acteurism: The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-43
JUKE GIRL (1941) Dir; Curtis Bernhardt
Anthology Film Archives
Matías Piñeiro Presents: Bridges Across Argentinian Cinema
THE KIDNAPPER (1958) Dir; Leopoldo Torre Nilsson
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
FLOWER DRUM SONG (1961) Dir; Henry Koster
Rubin Museum of Art
BEFORE THE REVOLUTION (1964) Dir; Bernardo Bertolucci
IFC Center
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) Dir; Amy Heckerling
EL TOPO (1970) Dir; Alejandro Jodorowsky
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
PSYCHO (1960) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Nitehawk Cinema
THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) Dir; Tobe Hooper
Today's Pick? There's a helluva lot to choose from today: the Duras and Piñeiro series are still unfolding, offering choice cuts from French and Argentinian cinema otherwise rare to our screens; MoMA's Acteurism, celebrating the efforts of stalwart movie broad Ann Sheridan; Film Forum's CAPRA!, arriving at just about its midway point; and the Rubin Museum's newly re-started Cabaret Cinema, offering tonight Bernardo Bertolucci's directorial debut. As tempting as those screenings be, there is one that I've been stalling and stalling on for decades now, a HUGE bucket-lister. As it attained its initial notoriety as one of the original cult Midnight Movies of the late 60's/early 70's, alongside Romero's LIVING DEAD and Waters' PINK FLAMINGOS, it seems absolutely unthinkable to finally experience this film under any other circumstances than one closest to its first iteration. So I'll see you at midnight. Maybe in costume.
Alejandro Jodorowsky's EL TOPO unspools its digital 1's and 0's tonight at IFC Center. That's about all I can say regarding this potentially metaphysical cinematic journey. Trust me, I'll have plenty to say once it's screened.
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 too.
-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!
