November 14th 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.
Y'know, I try to judge these things by their qualities, their successes, not so much by their shortcomings. So, without giving anything away, I'll employ terms begat by my beloved game of baseball, and declare that while Christopher Nolan may well have hit a double that drove in two runs, perhaps even a triple that cleared the bags, he by no means has hit a grand slam with INTERSTELLAR. That ruling may change, I would gamble towards its positive assessment, but for now, bereft of any video replay, I'll stand by that endorsement.
Continuing series today include Acteurism: The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-43 and To Save and Project: The 12th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation at MoMA, Fassbinder: Romantic Anarchist Part Two at the Film Society, Ways to Freedom: Polish Film and the Rise to Democracy at Museum of the Moving Image, Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, and the unwaveringly cool Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The rep hijinks be thus;
Film Forum
LE JOUR SE LEVE (1939) Dir; Marcel Carne
VERTIGO (1958) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
MoMA
Acteurism: The Emergence of Ann Sheridan, 1937-43
ALCATRAZ ISLAND (1937) Dir; William McGann
To Save and Project: The 12th MoMA International Festival of Film Preservation
RAMONA (1928) Dir; Edwin Carewe
REPEAT PERFORMANCE (1947) Dir; Alfred L. Werker
LEO THE LAST (1970) Dir; John Boorman
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Fassbinder: Romantic Anarchist Part Two
DESPAIR (1978) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
MOTHER KUSTERS GOES TO HEAVEN (1975) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
LOLA (1981) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
IN A YEAR OF THIRTEEN MOONS (1978) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
BAM Cinématek
THE SACRIFICE (1986) Dir; Andrei Tarkovksy
Museum of the Moving Image
Ways to Freedom: Polish Film and the Rise to Democracy
INTERROGATION (1982) Dir; Ryszard Bugajski
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957) Dir; Billy Wilder
Rubin Museum
THE HIRED HAND (1971) Dir; Peter Fonda
Today's Pick? I gotta admit, I'm sorta stumped today, with no clear winner presenting itself but several worthy maybes tempting me from either shoulder. Both MoMA and the Film Society offer the opportunity to burrow into a theater seat for the day entire at mere sheckles' cost, the former boasting Ann Sheridan, Dolores del Rio and Marcello Mastroianni, the latter Rainer Werner Fassbinder, who alone may equal the heft of the three. I meant artistically, you nabobs, not physically! Jeez!
Film Forum premieres Marcel Carne's LE JOUR SE LEVE in its spankin'-new DCP iteration, simultaneously inviting VERTIGO back for a return engagement. Strictly speakin', I got two weeks to choose the Carne, and I've got five to not choose the Hitch.
Two films from the ex-U.S.S.R. tempt mightily today, and screen in environs as foreign to a Manhattanite as the onetime Eastern Bloc; Tarkovsky's THE SACRIFICE sees Brooklyn repping Russia, and Ryszard Bugajski's INTERROGATION makes all Astorians Polish this eve. Knowing alomst nothing of the former and absolutely nothing of the latter, I feel the tractor-beam pull of these screenings, if only to sate my desire to dive blindly into the unknown. But if I'm gonna commit to that philosophy this night there exists, frankly, a more intriguing screening, one seldom offered, buried in it studio's vaults whence flopping upon initial release. I'm no fan of the much-lauded EASY RIDER, what I deem a mess made relevant only by its ability to touch a nerve in dire need of touching, and at a delicate moment culturally, but I do appreciate its importance in the cinematic timeline, its Big-Bang-like ability to help spawn the entire New Hollywood of the 70's. I've always actually been more interested in the harde- to-see follow-ups from co-directors Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda, both films delving even deeper, and more clearly in terms thematic and visual, into Hollywood's western genre iconography, its powerful strengths and its diabolical dishonesties. Hopper, no shock, went the more radical route with THE LAST MOVIE, a work that reverted the power of western legend back into indigenous tribal hands, literally deconstructing the filmmaking process in the, um, process, as well as defaming its ability to transfix and transform. Fonda went subtler, slightly more aloof in his demythification. He examined a classic American west in some ways struggling to keep pace with its legend, a transposing of the late 60's-early 70's dropout mentality on the cowpoke of folklore. Never seen. Only read about. That's enough to convince this moi.
Peter Fonda's THE HIRED HAND screens tonight at the Rubin Museum as part of their excellent Cabaret Cinema series. Now, that thing they're serving that looks like a controlled substance? It is. It's called booze. And ten bucks' worth gains you a seat to the screening. Seats fill up quickly, though, so get there early. Take a look around while you're there, I hear there's a museum attached to the screening space.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in November '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!
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!
