January 13th 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.
So football happened last night. I mean American football, not footie. Also, not NFL, just the first ever College Football Championship. So there's that. And it means how many days closer to Pitches and Catcher exactly?
New and continuing series this day include the Film Forum's trib to Orson Welles, Eccentrics of French Comedy at the French Institute, Beyond Cassavetes: Richard Sarafian at Anthology Film Archives, and Celluloid Dreams at IFC Center. The wigged wimwam be thus;
Film Forum
MAN IN THE SHADOW (1957) Dir; Jack Arnold
BLACK MAGIC (1949) Dir; Gregory Ratoff
French Institute/Alliance Française
LA POISON (1951) Dir; Sacha Guitry
Anthology Film Archives
Beyond Cassavetes: Richard Sarafian
VANISHING POINT (1971) Dir; Richard Sarafian
THE MAN WHO LOVED CAT DANCING (1973) Dir; Richard Sarafian
IFC Center
MANHUNTER (1986) Dir; Michael Mann
Today's Pick? It is no new statement to declare that Michael Mann has made his name cinematically as a master of both style and substance, and no new comment to make that the two have always intermingled to inform the other. What might get occasionally overlooked, however, is the substance part, sometimes held back from critical acclaim by the style it so supports. What separates Mann's unfold from those of his heroes and mentors is not merely his attention to detail, but his elevation of it, from elementary procedural to out & out how-to. His often wordless display of how master craftsmen, both good and bad, ply their intricate trade, forms the narrative backbone of his finer, and most culturally indelible efforts. It is his theme, as surely as Ford's was cost and Hawks' was duty, and it wends its way through his CV, from James Caan's methods in THIEF, to Day-Lewis' survival techniques in LAST OF THE MOHICANS, through to the paired-yet-opposed philosophies of Pacino and De Niro in HEAT, all the way up to the forensic primordial of Bale's Melvin G. Purvis and Depp's Last-Wild-West-Man-Standing, AKA John Dillinger, in PUBLIC ENEMIES. Mann always strove beyond the mere procedural, directly toward the how-to, without actually betraying secret information potentially dangerous. His intent was to examine the process, the craft and crafting, and to force this examination front and center, to make the audience discover the character through vocation, even obssession; perhaps to suggest there exists no diference between the two.
The most horrific example of this exaction and exult might perhaps find no better result than the filmmaker's third feature film, the first to present Thomas Harris' greatest and worst gift to the culture, one Hannibal Lecter. The motives of hero and villain are given equal measure, as well as their outer machinations, which, to bolster the point of the narrative, are slimly different. It may remain its maker's finest two hours. It may be better than THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Yk'now what's completely true? It IS the film to beat this day? So, let's just get to it.
Michael Mann's MANHUNTER unspools tonight at IFC Center as part of their excellent Celluloid Dreams series. Take my advice, don't pass anything but soft paper through the booth. Y'know, like paper currency, or pardon agreements. Or, oh Hell look, you're just gonna haveta dig into this series yerself to start getting any in-jokes. Til then I'm going back to my liver 'n bacon dinner. Harrumph.
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!
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!
