August 21st 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.
Returning and ongoing series this day include the Ozu trinb at IFC Center, the still-chugging-along Indie 80's at BAM Cinématek, Scorsese Screens at MoMA, See it Big: 70mm! at Museum of the Moving Image, the American International Pictures program at Anthology Film Archives, and the leg-stretching martini smooth of the Rubin Museum's Cabaret Cinema. The emulsified enchantment be thus;
IFC Center
TOKYO TWILIGHT (1957) Dir; Yasujiro Ozu
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (1990) Dir; Steve Barron
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
BAM Cinématek
THE EVIL DEAD (1981) Dir; Sam Raimi
WILD STYLE (1983) Dir; Charles Ahearn
MoMA
THE EARRINGS OF MADAME DE... (1953) Dir; Max Ophuls
EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959) Dir; Georges Franju
Museum of the Moving Image
WEST SIDE STORY (1960) Dirs; Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins
Anthology Film Archives
American International Pictures
X: THE MAN WITH THE X-RAY EYES (1963) Dir; Roger Corman
Director/producer Roger Corman will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
THE GENERAL (1927) Dir; Buster Keaton
Rubin Museum
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957) Dir; Billy Wilder
Nitehawk Cinema
SHAOLIN AND WU TANG (1983) Dir; Gordon Liu
Today's Pick? A most kinetic sked on the rep film scene this day, where even the least favorable choices include a classic from Ozu, Raimi's original EVIL DEAD, and Wilder's courtroom classic. The shortlist today must include Ophuls' EARRINGS and Franju's EYES, and the shorter list includes Wise and Robbins' STORY in 70mm and the Ray milland camp classic X, with director Roger Corman in person. However, knowing I have one or two more in-person screenings with Rog to consider, I head west into the borough of Manhattan, to that most venerable hall dedicated to film, food and booze, because tonight they're serving up a doozy of a Hong Kong martial arts flick, one of the most seminal in the genre's history, directed by one of its greatest stars-turned-filmmaker. It made its way all the way from those Pacific shores to the most decidedly un-tropical Staten Island, where it served as the cohesive material for one of the greatest Hip-Hop acts of all time, forever cementing the bond between the Shaw Brothers and sick beats yo! For this an innumerable other reasons, not the least of which is the fact that it's appropriately a midnight screening, I choose the way of the foot, fist, and root beer and tater tots. Your skills are no match for this combo.
Gordon Liu's SHAOLIN AND WU TANG unspools in gloriously grindhouse-battered 35mm tonight at Williamsburg's own Nitehawk Cinema. Beards optional. Whooshing sound effects as you stroke them mandatory.
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!
