January 7th 2015. 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.
Rare is the occasion presented that allows a feting of a friend and fellow film fanatic via the still glorious boob tube. Very rare. Scant. Okay, singular. At least when it comes to everyone's fave game show, by which I am of course referring to none other than ABC's JEOPARDY. So it is with no minute measure of glee that I send a cyber backslap to a good comrade, and I will phrase him thusly; who is Alan Hait? Yer champ in my book sir.
Now to the spools: Ongoing series pertinent to this site today include Orson Welles at Film Forum, and the Joan Bennett trib at MoMA. The filmic foofaraw be thus;
Film Forum
CITIZEN KANE (1941) Dir; Orson Welles
MoMA
WEDDING PRESENT (1936) Dir; Richard Wallace
Today's Pick? I've bided my time this past week, shining the Kliegs on lesser, if even slightly, fare, safe in the knowledge that time remained to exalt what may perhaps be the finest, most influential motion picture ever produced. Sight & Sound poll be damned. There are detractors of this film to be sure, and they have only grown, perhaps exponentially, decade by decade; honest dissent in certain cases, kneejerk backlash in others. It has been labelled "cold", "distant", "gimmicky", even "eggheaded". Yes, I've actually, personally been privy to that heady, latter pronouncement. And fair play. All art is subjective. If you think it sucks, it sucks. Follow your bliss.
The argument that has been made by some persnickety voices in the minority, however, that the film is not amongst the most infuential or innovative of all time, is, simply put, ludicrous. Even a half-assed film scholar like moi can make the case that, among the few films that serve as demarcation points to divide the form's eras, works like the Lumiere's WORKERS LEAVING A FACTORY, Porter's THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, D. W. Griffith's THE BIRTH OF A NATION, Lang's METROPOLIS and Murnau's SUNRISE, the first cinematic effort undertaken by wunderkind and enfant terrible Orson Welles was an absolute game-changer, perhaps the biggest in film history. It not only utilized and perfected just about every cinematic technique that had come before it, it introduced new ones, and also found itself infused with a myriad of the stage and radio shenanigans learned by its wizened maker, a then-mere 25 years old. It was and remains one of the staggering achievements of the genre, its textbook status dust-resistant. The first time I ever saw it on the big screen was a don't-blink 24 years ago, as it celebrated its 50th anniversary, in a venue that had just settled into its third and as of now last home. It was beyond glorious when I saw it then. I can't imagine what it's going to look like tonight. Back on the exact same screen.
Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE unspools its digital 1's and 0's as part of the month-long trib to the auteur, for the penultimate day of its weeklong screening, at Film Forum. AND, as a last minute bonus, tonight's 7:30pm screening will be accompanied by a Q&A with none other than that master filmmaker, that ambassador of the 70's New Hollywood, that scourge of the sanitariums, one William Friedkin. As I worship the red carpet the man trods, this is easily an early contender for Rep Screening of the Year. Stay tuned. And grab yer tix now.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in January '15 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 2015's new Podcast and first missive, til then safe, sound, make sure the next knucklehead is too! EXCELSIOR AND HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!
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!
