March 20th 2015. Pick of the Day.
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HELLO SPRING 2015! Goddam, how we've missed you! We gotta talk, let's get some grass growing, some flower buds forming, some extra sunlight and heat for the basking, come on come on, there's much work to do, we-
Wait, what? We're getting snow? And it's 31 degrees? And the ground's still too hard to dig out those German bearer bonds I buried back in the fall under the statue of-
Eh. Heh. Got a little excited 'bout the thaw for a second there. Well, another day or two, it is March, y'know what they say, in like a giant transparent freeze-inducing ice lion, out like a look just let this end already please? Huh? Can you hear me, ice lion?
New and continuing series this day include the Ginger Rogers mani/pedi at MoMA, Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, The Killer Must Kill Again!: Giallo Fever, Part Two at Anthology Film Archives, and Required Viewing: MAD MEN's Movie Influences at Museum of the Moving Image. The TGIF tomfoolery be thus;
Film Forum
THE TALES OF HOFFMAN (1951) Dirs; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
CHINA IS NEAR (1967) Dir; Marco Bellochio
MoMA
I'LL BE SEEING YOU (1944) Dir; Mitchell Liesen
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
THE THIN MAN (1936) Dir; W. S. van Dyke
Anthology Film Archives
The Killer Must Kill Again!: Giallo Fever, Part Two
TENEBRAE (1982) Dir; Dario Argento
BAY OF BLOOD (1971) Dir; Mario Bava
Museum of the Moving Image
Required Viewing: MAD MEN's Movie Influences
THE APARTMENT (1960) Dir; Billy Wilder
Nitehawk Cinema
GREMLINS 2: THE NEW BATCH (1989) Dir; Joe Dante
Today's Pick? HOFFMANN has been chosen, and Bellochio's CHINA, a wry political farce from the FISTS IN THE POCKET autuer, allows me a week to make it my choice. An opportunity to focus on more time-sensitive screenings which I happily take.
I'd love to go with Dante's NEW BATCH, a sequel that some, myself included, deem superior to the classic original GREMLINS. I just made the Nitehawk's screening of LEPRECHAUN my Pick a mere three days ago, and as you know I like to feel I'm spreading the love out to all the venues. No matter how comforting them tater tots would be in tonight's snowstorm. Strength.
The Argento/Bava double-bill at AFA tempts mightily, and would've probably been my Pick were it actually a double-bill. I'd love it if they'd start making this a thing, this theater desperately needs more love from the rep crowd. It might help make the guy who brings his own mattress a little more selective about his appearances.
So the remaning choice cuts are from the studio era, and I wish a borough-hop were doable because it would present a wonderful opportunity to examine romatic cinema of the 30's, 40's and 60's, offering an examination of its change over the course of three decades.
Hold on! I just re-checked the skeds, and the MoMI screening takes place two hours later than I believed. So back to the original plan, a three-film, two-borough rep adventure, beginning with Rogers and Cotten, continuing with Loy and Powell, and finalizing with MacClaine and Lemmon! Romance as murder mystery and as postwar societal farce serve as the latter entries, while romance as sheer melodrama gets the ball rolling. In any event, I can think of no better way for a Cinegeek to kill one of the last ugly days of winter '15, and as consolation for braving the bitterly cold snow, you get to wrap yourself in the warmth of cinematic swoon. Take that, Cold Meiser!
Mitchell Liesen's I'LL BE SEEING YOU, W. S. van Dyke's THE THIN MAN, and Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT screen at MoMA, the New York Historical Society, and Astoria's Moving Image, respectively, and if you hustle yer hindquarters in a timely fashion you may arrive in time to catch all three back-to-back. What better way to celebrate the fact that we got one last day before the subway fare hike, measks?
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 mercifully feeling the loosening of winter's embrace, but 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!
