April 18th 2015. Pick of the Day.
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I'm a person who doesn't like to shy away from admitting when they're beat, but one who also considers it a momentary result. Always and forever. In that spirit, and for those of you keeping count, the podcast has been postponed for yet another month. Just couldn't make all the pieces come together between equipment puzzlement, last-minute rescheduling and the unseen nefarious effects of celo-wrapped shrimp. I fear only one of these three going forward, but it is a mighty fear.
Continuing series today include the suspect midnight doings of Tune In, Turn On at the Nitehawk Cinema, Strictly Sturges at Film Forum, Old School Kung-Fu Fest 2015: Enter the Ninja! at Anthology Film Archives, Art of the Real 2015 at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and The Vertigo Effect at BAM Cinématek. The springtime unspoolery be thus;
Nitehawk Cinema
EXPLORERS (1985) Dir; Joe Dante
FRITZ THE CAT (1973) Dir; Ralph Bakshi
Film Forum
THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) Dir; Preston Sturges
THE LADY EVE (1941) Dir; Preston Sturges
Anthology Film Archives
Old School Kung-Fu Fest 2015: Enter the Ninja!
DUEL TO THE DEATH (1983) Dir; Ching Siu-tung
AMERICAN NINJA (1985) Dir; Sam Firstenberg
FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS (1982) Dir; Chang Cheh
SUPER SECRET SPECIAL SCREENING (?) Dir; ???
NINJA III: THE DOMINATION (1984) Dir; Sam Firstenberg
THE BLOOD OF A POET (1930) Dir; Jean Cocteau
ORPHEUS (1950) Dir; Jean Cocteau
Film Society of Lincoln Center
VAGABOND (1985) Dir; Agnes Varda
LIONS LOVE (1969) Dir; Agnes Varda
MoMA
CITIZEN KANE (1941) Dir; Orson Welles
BAM Cinématek
MISSISSIPPI MERMAID (1969) Dir; François Truffaut
Today's Pick? I'd love to recommend what I truly believe to be Dante's masterwork (yeah, I'm talkin' bout the good Dante), but I gots ta be honest and admit I'll never pry open these lids in time to catch such a special screening. I feel a mite ameliorated by my recent choosing of his equally brilliant GREMLINS. Dante's just the man. Period.
Beyond that we got the third of a five-day ninja assault on Anthology Film Archives, perhaps the only venue on the island prepped for such an attack. Welles' debut masterpiece, recently dethroned by the good folks at the BFI, screens at MoMA, whilst a series entitled in honor of its de-throner merrily dances on its grave at BAM Cinématek. I'd love to direct you all toward the Cocteau tomfoolery at AFA as counterprogramming to all these screenings, but I simply cannot pass up the opportunity to recommend, nay implore you to attend a screening at Lincoln Center, one that finds the pioneering and iconic filmmaker herself in attendance. Sure, Cocteau might have you passing through mirrors, but the woman Jacques Demy was once lucky to call his wife will have you peering into them. And for no short period of time.
Anges Varda's VAGABOND screens today as part of the Film Society's series Art of the Real 2015, along with her earlier classic, 1969's LION'S LOVE. Unlike the latter unspool the filmmaker will be in attendance for a Q&A in the wake of the former screening, what was once a potent kick in the pants to a somewhat slowed world cinema scene of the 80's, and now a touching humanist relic of a time when that sentiment seemed in short supply. Look, when you're looking to the French for unfettered & unabashed sentiment, there's a problem. Usually it means Reagan's in the White House. Any Reagan.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in April '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!
