March 6th 2015. Pick of the Day.
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Okay, here we go. The rep circuit calendar, as well as the rest of our fair metropolis, begins its warm-up proper as the month of March begins to build some steam. All the romantic notions that bounced about the noggins of our beloved programmers are soon to be manifest, and this 31-day stretch offers the first concrete evidence of such. Some venues are relatively quiet for the moment, others are clearing their throats. Some are bellowing quite nicely I thank ye very much. So let's dig into this day's offerings, a welcome mat for the entire weekend, and rub our palms not, for a change, out of their bone-chilled woe, but in anticipation for the months and months of repertory ebullience to come.
New and continuing series this day include the concurrent tribs to glamour-puss Ginger Rogers and bratwurst-puss Wim Wenders at MoMA, Black & White 'Scope: American Cinema at BAM Cinématek, Screenwriters and the Blacklist: Before, During and After - Part Three: Post-Blacklist at Anthology Film Archives, See It Big! High and Wide at Astoria's Moving Image, Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, and the eternally swank Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The movie screen madcappery be thus;
MoMA
KITTY FOYLE (1940) Dir; Sam Wood
THE STATE OF THINGS (1982) Dir; Wim Wenders
KINGS OF THE ROAD (1976) Dir; Wim Wenders
BAM Cinématek
Black & White 'Scope: American Cinema
HUD (1963) Dir; Martin Ritt
Anthology Film Archives
Screenwriters and the Blacklist: Before, During and After - Part Three: Post-Blacklist
THE LAST SUNSET (1961) Dir; Robert Aldrich
CRY OF BATTLE (1963) Dir; Irving Lerner
Museum of the Moving Image
PLAYTIME (1967) Dir; Jacques Tati
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
SPELLBOUND (1945) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Rubin Museum
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (1972) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
SLEEPER (1972) Dir; Woody Allen
Nitehawk Cinema
DEMONS (1985) Dir; Lamberto Bava
Today's Pick? I've done the Rogers and Wenders tribs fairly recently, so I feel like shining the Kliegs elsewhere. Ditto BAM's trib to widescreen monochrome, as luminous it be. Midnight fare tempts, but I deem the winds still too bitter to brave Allen's slapstick at LSC and Bava's splatstick at the Nitehawk. Fassbinder's PETRA, brilliant though it be, would only rub salt into my already salt-covered self. So what to choose? I'm no fan of Hitch's collaboration with Dali, the misstep entitled SPELLBOUND. And the Blacklist bash at AFA has, in my estimation, better fare to come shortly. So my decision's been made. Thank you, process of elimination!
Jacques Tati's PLAYTIME unspools in glorious 35mm at Astoria's crown jewel, the Museum of the Moving Image, as kickoff to their new series See It Big! High and Wide! Somehow, it seems apropriate that one of my fave Frogteurs rings in the first weekend of a month bemonickered March. Ba dum pun intended I'm here all week try the påté.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in March '15 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. 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!
