August 8th 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.
Continuing series this day include the tribs to filmmakers Yasujiro Ozu and Richard Lester, respectively screening at IFC Center and the Walter Reade theater, as well as the hot-stone massage to groundbreaking actor Marlon Brando at Film Forum, Scorsese Screens at MoMA, See It Big: 70mm! at Museum of the Moving Image, Indie 80's at BAM Cinématek, and the grand celebration of the House that Arkoff, nicholson and Corman built, the vastly influential American International Pictures. The reel rabbit hole looks thus;
IFC Center
THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE (1952) Dir; Yasujiro Ozu
SUPERGIRL (1984) Dir; Jeanot Szwarc
THE HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973) Dir; Alejandro Jodorowsky
Nitehawk Cinema
CHEECH & CHONGS NEXT MOVIE (1980) Dir; Tommy Chong
FIVE DEADLY VENOMS (1978) Dir; Chang Cheh
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Richard Lester: The Running Jumping Pop Cinema Iconoclast
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964) Dir; Richard Lester
HELP! (1965) Dir; Richard Lester
HOW I WON THE WAR (1967) Dir; Richard Lester
THE BED-SITTING ROOM (1969) Dir; Richard Lester
THE KNACK...AND HOW TO GET IT (1965) Dir; Richard Lester
METROPOLITAN (1990) Dir; Whit Stillman
Film Forum
THE GODFATHER (1972) Dir; Francis Ford Coppola
THE FRESHMAN (1990) Dir; Andrew Bergman
THE WILD ONE (1953) Dir; Laslo Benedek
MoMA
MEAN STREETS (1973) Dir; Martin Scorsese
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) Dir; Elia Kazan
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1943) Dir; Arthur Lubin
Museum of the Moving Image
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) Dir; Stanely Kubrick
BRAINSTORM (1983) Dir; Douglas Trumbull
BAM Cinématek
BLOOD SIMPLE (1984) Dirs; Joel & Ethan Coen
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
Library for the Performing Arts
ROCKIN' THE ROACH (1926-28) Dirs; Various
Anthology Film Archives
American International Pictures
QUEEN OF BLOOD (1964) Dir; Curtis Harrington
BLACK SABBATH (1963) Dir; Mario Bava
Today's Pick? You tell me, and good luck! I can't remember the last time the field was this crowded, with 24-count-'em-24 selections of varying quality on offer this day. But much as I wanna recommend Chang Cheh's iconic VENOMS, as badly as I wanna endorse the Silent Clowns and their ongoing valentine to pioneering comedy producer Hal Roach, as chomping at the bit I might be to highlight such cult fare as Harrignton's QUEEN and Bava's SABBATH at AFA, or Lynch's fracturing of 80's cinema entitled BLUE VELVET, or any of the efforts on display for the Scorsese or Brando programs, I can think of no better or bigger bang fer yer buck that the trib transpiring up at Lincoln Center today, a series dedicated to a filmmaker considered both groundbreaker and impostor, both autuer filmmaker and hack-for-hire. An ex-pat American who found himself at the crest of the 60's as they were just about to break, who found kindred spirits in The Goon Squad and The Beatles, who made bitng satire about his onetime homeland, surreal romps through decidedly foreign climes, and elegiac views of romance withered. He's admittedly ultimately a middling talent, a Roger Maris of the filmmaking set, but like his baseball cousin he merits if not reevaluation, then at least a closer look at stats forgotten yet still impressive. Today you may do so and partake in a discounted tik deal as well. If in doubt, just ask yourself this simple question; what would Ringo do?
Five by Richard Lester screen today: A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964), HELP! (1965), HOW I WON THE WAR (1967), THE BED-SITTING ROOM (1969), and THE KNACK...AND HOW TO GET IT (1965), all unspooling at the Walter Reade Theater as part of the series The Running Jumping Pop Cinema Iconoclast. Run, jump, whatever you do don't stand still. You may just discover a new fave.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in August '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 warmer, fiercer cuddle of the sun's sunnier disposition has reached its zenith, 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!
