April 21st 2015. Pick of the Day.
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I honestly don't know which is the more embarrassing leak; the fact that Ben Affleck coerced PBS into covering up the fact that he is descended from slave-owners, which has nothing to do ultimately with his trod upon this earth, or the fact that he thinks he can plausibly threaten any iteration of Superman. Of which he is wholly, laughably, guilty. Thoughts? Prayers?
Continuing series today include Strictly Sturges at Film Forum and the Agnes Varda retro screening as part of Art of the Real 2015 at the Film Society. The tomfoolery be thus;
Film Forum
MAD WEDNESDAY (1948) Dir; Preston Sturges
NEVER SAY DIE (1939) Dir; Elliot Nugent
MoMA
CITIZEN KANE (1941) Dir; Orson Welles
Film Society of Lincoln Center
VAGABOND (1985) Dir; Agnes Varda
MUR MURS (1981) Dir; AgnesVarda
Today's Pick? I haven't shone nearly enough Klieg on the Sturges series, a comprehensive trib that sees its end, minor reprieve notwithstanding, this Thursday. So having previously championed two of the auteur's best and most well-known works last weekend, let's sharpen our focus on tw lesser known screeds, one that required his skills as scribe-only, and one that finds itself reconstructed in a version closer to its maker's original intent. It's easy breezing to delight in a master's best work, quite another thing to take in their latent periods and their muddled efforts. Today you have the opportunity to examine the latter, and it should prove compelling, if not downright transcending.
Elliot Nugent's NEVER SAY DIE, boasting a script by the great Preston Sturges, screens alongside the writer/director's late-career collaboration with silent screen legend Harold Lloyd, a mishegoss once known by the title THE SIN OF HAROLD DIDDLEBOCK, now recut and retitled MAD WEDNESDAY, in order to hew more closely to its helmer's original vision. Both are offered as a two-fer by Film Forum, as part of their slowly unwinding series Strictly Sturges. I can just see the fan-cut crossover trailer twixt Affleck 'n Lloyd; "Tell me, do you hang from clock towers?"
Well, amidst what is surely to be the din of internet mockery to come, I want that.
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!
