June 5th 2015. 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.
New and continuing series today include Deneuve X 8 at IFC Center, The Apu Trilogy and the trib to legendary Mexican DP Gabriel Figueroa at Film Forum, Black & White 'Scope: International Cinema at BAM Cinématek, Glorious Technicolor: From George Eastman House and Beyond and A Road 300 Years Long: Cinema and the Great Migration at MoMA, This is Celluloid: 35mm! at Anthology Film Archives, and the eternally swank Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The flickering foofaraw be thus;
IFC Center
MISSISSIPPI MERMAID (1969) Dir; François Truffaut
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
EL TOPO (1970) Dir; Alejandro Jodorowsky
Film Forum
PATHER PANCHALI (1955) Dir; Satyajit Ray
APARAJITO (1956) Dir; Satyajit Ray
ENAMORADA (1946) Dir; Emilio Fernández
Bam Cinématek
Black & White 'Scope: International Cinema
SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER (1960) Dir; François Truffaut
JULES AND JIM (1961) Dir; François Truffaut
MoMA
Glorious Technicolor: From George Eastman House and Beyond
THE GARDEN OF ALLAH (1936) Dir; Richard Boleslawski
THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939) Dir; Victor Fleming
A Road 300 Years Long: Cinema and the Great Migration
THE NEGRO SOLDIER (1944) Dir; Stuart Heisler
LAUGHTER IN HELL (1933) Edward L. Cahn
Anthology Film Archives
THE LAST WAGON (1956) Dir; Delmer Daves
SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON (1949) Dir; John Ford
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) Dir; Frank Capra
Rubin Museum of Art
DUMBO (1941) Dir; Walt Disney
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964) Dir; Richard Lester
Nitehawk Cinema
SCANNERS (1981) Dir; David Cronenberg
Today's Pick? A tough, tough field to select from today. I've made both the Deneuve and Apu series my Pick recently, so I feel relatively comfortable skimming beyond them today. I also chose the Rubin's Cabaret Cinema just last week, so the red pen stroke is easily made. All items entice today, from familiar fare such as Ford's YELLOW RIBBON, Disney's DUMBO and Lester's NIGHT, to lesser known works like Fernández's ENAMORADA and Heisler's LAUGHTER. However, a series begins tonight dedicated to one of the largest crushes I maintain to this day, one not directed toward a particlaur actress or, indeed, any one individual. This crush of mine, ongoing, focuses on a film process, the first to successfully bring color to the movies in a manner cost effective. It demanded not one, not two, but three whole strips of film, dedicated to the colors red, yellow and blue, to produce its eventual magic. It required cameras the size of refigerators. It was overseen on set and in post by its creators, Herbert and Natalie Kalmus, moreso by the former than the latter. But mostly what it did was represent the spectrum, but in a way not remotely realistic. The resulting films, especially those helmed by dedicated directors and brilliant cinematographers, remain amongst the most visually glorious works of the cinema. In a short time other color film processes, such as Eastmancolor and Fuji's innovative plant-dye technique, would compete and become the Kalmus' peers, and by the late 70's the original dye-transfer process would be rendered completely obsolete. Today it's mostly utilized for restoration work, or for the odd film looking to recreate the antiquated yet lush feel the process boasted of at its peak. For two months, though, we can slide back into some comfortable theater seats and recapture the magic. Robin Hood's green tights, Dorothy's ruby slippers, and Carmen Miranda's...uh...Carmen Miranda. Just three of the many exhibits on hand serving as proof positive that it all looked better in Technicolor.
Richard boleslawski's THE GARDEN OF ALLAH and Victor Fleming's THE WIZARD OF OZ unspool in 35mm as kickoff to the wonderful two-month series Glorious Technicolor: From George Eastman House and Beyond. Follow the yeah I'm not gonna say it.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in June '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. The warm cuddle of the sun's friendlier disposition seems finally to have arrived, 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!
