September 5th 2015. Picks 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 this day include the tribs to filmmakers Yasujiro Ozu and WimWenders at IFC Center, Ingrid Bergman: A Centennial Celebration and Scorsese Screens at MoMA, Gloria Grahame: Blonde Ambition at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, See It Big: New York On Film! at Museum of the Moving Image, and Robert Ryan: An Actor's Actor at Anthology Film Archives. The moviola madcappery be thus;
IFC Center
TOKYO STORY (1953) Dir; Yasujiro Ozu
WimWenders: Portraits Along the Road
THE AMERICAN FRIEND (1977) Dir; WimWenders
KINGS OF THE ROAD (1975) Dir; WimWenders
MAD MAX (1979) Dir; George Miller
DARKMAN (1990) Dir; Sam Raimi
Film Forum
RIFIFI (1955) Dir; Jules Dassin
ARMY OF SHADOWS (1969) Dir; Jean-Pierre Melville
MoMA
Ingrid Bergman: A Centennial Celebration
NOTORIOUS (1946) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
UNDER CAPRICORN (1949) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
CASABLANCA (1942) Dir; Michael Curtiz
LAURA (1944) Dir; Otto Preminger
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) Dir; Stanley Kubrick
T-MEN (1947) Dir; Anthony Mann
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Gloria Grahame: Blonde Ambition
A WOMAN'S SECRET (1949) Dir; Nicholas Ray
HUMAN DESIRE (1954) Dir; Fritz Lang
THE BIG HEAT (1953) Dir; Fritz Lang
MACAO (1952) Dir; Joseph von Sternberg
Museum of the Moving Image
TAXI DRIVER (1976) Dir; Martin Scorsese
THE KING OF COMEDY (1983) Dir; Martin Scorsese
Anthology Film Archives
THE NAKED SPUR (1953) Dir; Anthony Mann
ABOUT MRS. LESLIE (1954) Dir; Daniel Mann
BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) Dir; John Sturges
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
CLUE (1985) Dir; Jonathan Lynn
Today's Pick? A fave, a golden girl, a femme fatale, an actress who effortlessly strode between worlds both respectable and other with amazing grace. She could go to great sacrifice in an effort to save a broken man. She could plot against him with equal ease. In every instance however she brought a dignity, even a broken one, an elegance however tainted it may be. The key to this lady's CV was and is sin, and which side of the line she chose to reside. Her career may have been relegated in its day to the monochrome studio era, but her legacy has traveled quite well beyond it, with not an ounce of its impact eroded. Kate Hepburn may be credited with more class, Stanwyck more grit, Bette Davis more venom. But I ask you if any of those three great ladies could play redemption quite as well as Gloria Grahame. Perhaps that's due to her truly seeking it from the cameras, and and the fact she received it both then and now.
Gloria Grahame: Blonde Ambition, the spectacular and comprehensive trib to this most special lady unspooling at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, presents four of her best in glorious 35mm ths day; Nicholas Ray's A WOMAN'S SECRET, Joseph von Sternberg's MACAO, and two from master expressionist Fritz Lang - 1953's THE BIG HEAT and 1954's HUMAN DESIRE. All four can be had for a specially discounted holiday price, making it a very much desired quadrupile-bill this day. A whole Saturday spent with Oscar-winning screen siren Gloria Grahame? The very definition of a holiday weekend, indeed.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in September '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 begun its annual wane, 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!
