February 22nd 2015. Last Two Cents on Tonight's Oscar Bash & 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'm actually nervous about tonight, the first that finds me in-person host for an event representative of this site and all its orbital online functionaries. Could be a flop. Could be one for the books. In either event, I'm anticipating the unfold with bated breath!
So one last going over of tonight's exacts regarding this site's first in-person get-together, the 1st Annual Nitrate Stock Oscar Bash! We've concocted a pair of craft cocktails for the occasion, the Red Carpet Ready and the Golden Boy, pics of which may be found at this site's FB page, here! We'll be showing the paparazzi shenanigans for the bulk of the day, but I'll be arriving around 7pm, and I advise you arrive early as well, if only to fill out your ballot as early as possible; late arrivals will be denied a ballot pick in any category that has already presented its award, and after four or five of the catergories are awarded I'll pretty much stop handing out ballots. It'll be pointless at that juncture.
The purchase of a drink and/or menu item grants you a ballot, and you will be thankful for the proviso. The booze and grub at this particluar public house is exceptional on all fronts, and the enjoyment of said thirst-slakers and comestibles grants you the opportunity to win one of three prizes tonight! The Grand Boyo is the complete 007 BluRay box set, all 23 flicks from DR. NO to SKYFALL, plus about a million hours of bonus content, mostly focused on the Bond Girls yeah baby! Second Prize is most likely a BluRay of MY choice for year's best film, Wes Anderson's THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL, or a $25 Amazon gift card so you can spend the dough as you see fit. Third prize will be three-count-'em-THREE free introductory Pilates courses to be conducted by best friend and master instructor Tracey Ryan, of which you may read more about here. And as I've said, Ist and 2nd prizes will do nothing to sculpt them abs come springtime, so perhaps you should gun for third!
In the event of any ties, I will offer tiebreaker trivia questions, Alex Trebeck-style, and we will eliminate claims to the swag in that manner. Anyone falling out of contention for Grand Prize will automatically be placed in contention for 2nd Prize, and so on. It'll get pretty slim beyond 3rd Prize, but mebbe we buy you a shot. It's that sorta homey joint.
So lastly, I hope to see as many of you there as possible! And once more I thank host venue Lunasa Pub & Grill for hosting this event. It should be a doozy, lads and lasses. Here's to a night to remember, and as always Nitrate Stock thanks you for the years of support and positive feedback.
Now, to today's rep sked.
Ongoing and concluding series today include Screwball Romance at IFC Center, the hook-'em-while-they're-wee Film Forum Jr. and hook-'em-fore-they-expire Charles Laughton at Film Forum, and the the twin tribs to groundbreaking DP Gordon Willis and master filmmaker John Carpenter, hosted at Astoria's Moving Image and West Houston's Film Forum, respectively. The latter location is a street in downtown Manhattan, not an coercion to visit Texas. Here be the unwindery;
IFC Center
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) Dir; Frank Capra
Film Forum
GO WEST (1925) Dir; Buster Keaton
THE PRIVATE LIFE OF HENRY VIII (1933) Dir; Alexander Korda
THE SIGN OF THE CROSS (1932) Dir; Cecil B. DeMille
THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1939) Dir; William Dieterle
LES MISERABLES (1935) Dir; Richard Boleslawski
Mid-Manhattan Library
THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS (1947) Dir; Peter Godfrey
Museum of the Moving Image
THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (1985) Dir; Woody Allen
KLUTE (1971) Dir; Alan J. Pakula
THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974) Dir; Alan J. Pakula
BAM Cinématek
John Carpenter: Master of Fear
STARMAN (1984) Dir; John Carpenter
Today's Pick? How can I not make Capra's first winner, and the Academy's first sweeping of the Lil' Gold Guy in what's since become known as the ceremony's Top Five, my choice today? It'd be sacrilege, of which I am a fan only whence applied to organized religion. Walls of Jericho notwithstanding.
Frank Capra's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT screens this Oscar morn at IFC Center as part of the series Screwball Romance. Should you hitchhike to this screening, nah, too easy, I ain't goin' there...
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!
