August 13th 2015. Pick of the Doomsday.
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Oh August, how bittersweet your kiss, in the form of sun and wind and Clamfests, tastes upon mine own. For as wonderful it remains to bask within your warmth, your mirth, and especially the sheer scarcity of populace on my city's streets (hallelloo!), you also remain Summer's tease, the month that promises that this romance with a city bereft of coats and boots and snow and all things Germanic come to think of it, that this Sharks and Jets wonderland might last just a little longer than usual, if not forever. Alas, you lie. Your role on the calendar is thus; you divert and delight and outright decieve us, but in the service of wising us up. For Winter is the great giver of wisdom, the reminder that no life is balanced without hardship and mettle-testing and conditions cruel. And August, I'm calling you out; you are nothing if not Winter's Judas Goat.
Having said that, lemme hasten to add that some Judas Goat's are pretty entertaining, y'know? They sling frisbees, they concoct new cool marinades for BBQ's, they know where the best remaining fireworks are to be had. Mostly though, they know where the last cool outdoor movie screenings are. So let's get to it.
Continuing series this day include Richard Lester: The Running Jumping Pop Cinema Iconoclast at the Film Society, Scorsese Screens at MoMA, Indie 80's at BAM Cinématek, One-Film Wonders at Anthology Film Archives, and The Deuce at the Nitehawk Cinema. The magnificent moviola magic be thus;
Film Forum
THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING STARS (1982) Dirs; Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Richard Lester: The Running Jumping Pop Cinema Iconoclast
PETULIA (1968) Dir; Richard Lester
METROPOLITAN (1990) Dir; Whit Stillman
MoMA
49TH PARALLEL (1941) Dirs; michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
THE UPTURNED GLASS (1947) Dir; Lawrence Huntington
BAM Cinématek
MY BROTHER'S WEDDING (1983) Dir; Charles Burnett
Anthology Film Archives
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955) Dir; Charles Laughton
COLD TURKEY (1971) Dir; Norman Lear
Brooklyn Bridge Park
DR. STRANGELOVE, OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964) Dir; Stanley Kubrick
Nitehawk Cinema
NIGHT OF THE JUGGLER (1980) Dir; Robert Butler
Today's Pick? Well, I could hem and haw, and even hee-haw if I chose, but let's just get straight to the point. The redcoats are coming. You're gonna have to answer to the Coca-Cola corporation. I'm not sayin' we wouldn't get our hair mussed, I'm just sayin' ten to twenty million dead TOPS! A fella could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all that stuff. And finally, gentlemen you can't fight in here, this is the WAR room! What remains perhaps the blackest farce to ever come from a major Hollywood studio unspools under what promises to be a perfect summer nighttime sky, and in some ways I can't think of a more nightmarish scenario in which to witness this self-defined nightmare comedy; an idyllic evening in a major metropolis, which is still, sadly, threatened by the spectre of nuclear war. The contrast, conflict and even the contradicton still remains, even though we are separated by decades of irony from the initial release date; how hard can we laugh at the comedy of errors and, simultaneously, how frightned are we still at the prospect of global annihilation? For this reason, and also because I want to see what nifty artisinal snacks have been concocted for the screening, along with their clever hipster names (Big Board Brittle? Kona Kong Koffee?), will be on hand. Just make sure to protect your natural fluids.
Stanley Kubrick's DR. STRANGLEOVE unspools tonight at sunset in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Well, now, Dimitri...
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!
