December 10th 2014. Pick of the Day.
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Okay. I'll come clean. I played hooky yesterday from my usual Tuesday-post assignment. I'm not proud of that fact, but sometimes, y'know, life intervenes. Call me unprofessional, call me mercurial, call me an eccentric genius with the English language. God knows I've got all three designations coming to me. Just don't call me late for a movie. I haven't hepled my cause a jot, have I? Okay, let's just get to it.
Ongoing series today include Acteurism: Joan Bennett and Robert Altman at MoMA, and Screenwriters and the Blacklist: Before, During and After at Anthology Film Archives. The select slapstickery be thus;
Film Forum
THE PASSIONATE THIEF (1960) Dir; Mario monicelli
MoMA
THE TRIALS OF VIVIENNE WARE (1932) Dir; William K. Howard
THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK (1969) Dir; Robert Altman
MCCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) Dir; Robert Altman
Anthology Film Archives
Screenwriters and the Blacklist: Before, During and After
THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN (1958) Dir; Paul Wendkos
HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951) Dir; John Berry
Today's Pick? Lord knows I'm not the man's biggest admirer, an understatement if ever there was one, but I do honor the intentions and hard work the programmers at venues like MoMA devote to their series, especially when it's a completeist trib to a highly, if wrongly sez me, regarded filmmaker. I appreciate the importance of these massive retrospectives, and acknowledge that in certain, albeit rare instances, they may actually turn me a full 180 in my opinion of the director and their output. Not often, but it has occurred.
Altman, Altman, Altman, you go-to name for baloon-headed name-dropping uninspired film snobs everywhere. Oh how I find you a most unpleasant acquired taste. Sorta the celluloid equivalent of Uni. Sushi lovers need no further explanation.
To quote Shakespeare, shall I be plain?
But as is true of truisms, they sometimes speak truth, and one of my faves goes thus; even a broken clock is right twice a day. Hence, my admission that even a director I find unduly granted a career, and I haven't stopped eyeballing YOU, de Palma, might still have one or two items on his CV that deserve championing. In BdP's case you'll find no more ardent drum-beater for 1974's PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, unquestionably his best. Altman made something of a career train-wreck avert by honoring a brilliant script and not, for a change, smudging it with barely intelligable audio and pointless tracks and slow zooms. He returned to relevance with that effort, 1992's THE PLAYER, an absolutely fantastic film. More than 20 years earlier, however, he delivered his first, and perhaps only, true masterpiece. There have always been contentions to the film's true authorship, a great number of film aficionados making the case that star Warren Beatty was most responsible for its script, for Vilmos Zsigmond's earthy, gorgoeus cinematography, and for the natural, nuanced perfs from both co-star Julie Christie and the wonderful and eclectic supporting cast. Perhaps it's true, but to my knowledge Beatty has never backed up such a claim, and I can't imagine an ego like Warren's simply letting such a major credit pass so passively to another. So for today anyway, I'll credit the man credited in the credits. I'm class like that.
MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER screens tonight as part of MoMA's massive and comprehensive trib to director Robert Altman. It truly is one of the greatest Westerns that ever came out of Hollywood, during a time when names like Coppola, Friedkin and Bogdanovich were also resoling some badly worn shoes. It's magic, it's clever, it's beautiful. It may even be profoud. Judge for yourself, but do so tonight when it screens large. Murka.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in December '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 fully entwined in winter's embrace, 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!
