January 30th 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.
New and continuing series brandishing their wares this day include Orson Welles 100 at Film Forum, the Joan Bennett courting at MoMA, the bi-monthly Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, See It Big! Gordon Willis at Museum of the Moving Image, French Classics of the 1930's-40's at Anthology Film Archives, and the weekend series Heating Up January at the Landmark Jersey Loews. Let the best collection of silver halides win;
Film Forum
THE TRIAL (1962) Dir; Orson Welles
MoMA
WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947) Dir; Jean Renoir
I AM SUZANNE! (1932) Dir; Rowland V. Lee
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932) Dir; Mervyn LeRoy
Museum of the Moving Image
ANNIE HALL (1977) Dir; Woody Allen
Anthology Film Archives
French Classics of the 1930's-40's
LE CORBEAU (1943) Dir; Henri-Georges Clouzot
DOUCE (1943) Dir; Claude Autant-Lara
Landmark Jersey Loews
Heating Up January
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958) Dir; Richard Brooks
Today's Pick? I think I've shown a bunch'a love to the Forum's trib to the Beneficent Bellow, the magisterially monickered Orson Welles, and without regret. And I've already recently chosen the Joan Bennett foot massage and the marionette melodrama SUZANNE, both unspooling at MoMA. So I'm left with a set of impossible choices; Brooks' Tennessee Williams adap, scandalous in its day, and still worth a gander if just to scope out a perfect Liz Taylor slinking about in a nightgown; the great DP Willis rendering an in-progress Diane Keaton nothing short of iconic; Mervyn LeRoy's essential encapsulization of the Warner Brothers' social "message" pic of the 30's. The field today is crowded, so thick no choice is an unworthy one. But I've got a major soft spot for a particular director whose work screens this eve, have had since I first veiwed what many consider his masterpiece, and one of the greatest films ever made: 1953's THE WAGES OF FEAR.
As I became enamored of his CV, one I had for years only read about, as access to the films was limited in my Bronx youth, I played them out in my head based on the meager synopses available, and on the only features I'd been privy to; the aforementioned FEAR and 1955's DIABOLIQUE. It wasn't until I finally bought that miraculous modern doohickey once commonly referred to as a "DVD player" that I found myself availed of his extended body of work, as friends, bar patrions, and those two once-mighty institutions, Tower Video and Kim's Video, made accessable these once elusive films. I exulted in L'ASSASSIN HABITE AU 21! I rejoiced over QUAI DES ORFERVES! And I initially puzzled over his first signature production, then embraced the work as first glass cracked by a unique and bold voice. A lot of prestigious peeps made a lotta hay over Michael Haneke's THE WHITE RIBBON just 4 years ago. Henri-Georges Clouzot did it better, and 56 years earlier.
Clouzot's LE CORBEAU, or THE RAVEN, unspools tonight at Anthology Film Archives as part of the inventively-titled series French Classics of the 1930's-40's! What better way to send January '15 packing than with a work of French cinema produced under the Occupation that obsesses over the deterioration of all things not-lizard brain whence so-called civilzed communities are faced with unresolvable scandal?!? Well, you tell me, monseiur!
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 soon with new Picks 'n perks, 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!
