February 8th 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.
I don't give an infinitesimal good goddam what the Cinemascore, or Metacritic, or Rotten Tomatoes numbers say. I'm sticking with the Wachowskis. Loyalty's gotta still count for somethin'.
Continuing series this day include Screwball Classics at IFC Center, Film Forum Jr. and the Charles Laughton hot stone massagery at Film Forum, Tell It Like It Is: Black Independents in New York, 1968-86 at the Film Society, Carte Blanche - Women Writing the Language of Cinema at MoMA, and John Carpenter: Master of Fear at BAM Cinématek. The wimwammery be thus;
IFC Center
THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) Dir; Preston Sturges
Film Forum
THE CANTERVILLE GHOST (1944) Dir; Jules Dassin
THE BARRETTS OF WIMPOLE STREET (1934) Dir; Sidney Franklin
MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935) Dir; Frank Lloyd
Nitehawk Cinema
TAXI DRIVER (1976) Dir; Martin Scorsese
MANHATTAN (1980) Dir; Woody Allen
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Tell It Like It Is: Black Independents in New York, 1968-86
LOSING GROUND (1982) Dir; Kathleen Collins
GANJA AND HESS (1973) Dir; Bill Gunn
MoMA
Carte Blanche - Women Writing the Language of Cinema
THE WILD PARTY (1929) Dir; Dorothy Arzner
Mid-Manhattan Library
THE LADY EVE (1941) Dir; Preston Sturges
BAM Cinématek
John Carpenter: Master of Fear
THE FOG (1979) Dir; John Carpenter
Today's Pick? I'd be all over the Sturges "double bill" today, the crazily early screening of PALM BEACH which allows time for a midtown jump to a screening of LADY EVE, but the latter screening is AV club material, a DVD projection, welcome, yes, but so inferior to the IFC DCP unfold that they resist each other like equally charged atomic particles. Just chose the MoMA series yesterday, so I feel I must resist a double-dip, even though the Clara Bow starring-adap of the famous Jazz-era poem tempts mightily. I just chose LOSING GROUND, the late Kathleen Collins' key work, so again, the double-dip prevents me from going there today. So, I'm thinkin', it's probably time to exalt one of my heroes, one of my fave filmmakers, one of the chief reasons I became a film addict, a film lover. A man who never shied away from placing his monicker above the title, not merely out of hubris, but mostly out of dedication, of ultimate responsibilty. If the movie didn't work, he was to blame. If it did, which it most gloriously had on so many indelible occasions, credit was ultimately due him. He is our generation's Howard Hawks, his hero, who he emulated while invoking his own signature style into works Hollywood begs to constantly remake with exponetially lower degrees of success. More importantly, and forever, he is our John Carpenter.
John Carpenter's THE FOG, one of the last truly nifty campfire ghost stories ever pulled off, screens tonight at the BAM Cinématek as part of the series Master of Fear. Mock John Houseman at yer peril, I dare ye.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in February '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!
