December 30th 2014. Penultimate Pick of 2014.
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.
Chilling the champagne. Prepping the noisemakers. Sorting out the firecrackers. Which of course, at this time of year, can mean only one thing; Katy Perry's dropping by my place again.
Hey, you make your New Year's resolutions and I'll make mine. Balloon-popper.
Continuing series this day include Let There Be Light: The Films of John Huston at the Film Society and MoMA's comprehensive trib to Robert Altman. The celluloid higgeldy-piggeldy be thus;
Film Forum
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Let There Be Light: The Films of John Huston
WE WERE STRANGERS (1949) Dir; John Huston
HEAVEN KNOWS MR. ALLISON (1957) Dir; John Huston
THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA (1964) Dir; John Huston
THE MACKINTOSH MAN (1973) Dir; John Huston
MoMA
SECRET HONOR (1983) Dir; Robert Altman
Today's Pick? The Lubitsch tempts but is denied a most gratifying accoutrement, one which may well be provided at one of its future unspoolings at the Forum. Which concludes tomorrow. For those of you who like a little foreshadowing.
On the opposite spectrum the prospective combo of Altman and Nixon, albeit onscreen as as filmmaker and subject, just further disrupts an already holiday season-roughed up digestive system. So nah. And nyeh.
Which leaves but one clear choice, the Film Society's trib to the complete works of John Huston, monickered in honor of his WW2 doc Let There Be Light. Today for a specially discounted tik you may reside at the Walter Reade and wallow in a quartet of the master's works, spanning four of his five decades of output; 1949's WE WERE STRANGERS, 1957's HEAVEN KNOWS, MR. ALLISON, 1964's THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, concluding with 1973's THE MACKINTOSH MAN. It's a hard bargain to pass up, a lineup boasting names like Mitchum, Taylor, Burton and Newman, providing partial overview and insight to one of Tinseltown's greatest talents. What better way to send off one more aged year than to salute a grand ol' man, measks?
For more info on these and all NYC's remaining 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 2014's final 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!
