December 11th 2015. Pick of the Day.
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New and continuing series this day include Film School 101: Canon Fodder and the newly traditional Rated Xmas: Holiday Classics Naughty and Nice, both at IFC Center, the superbly sordid Women Crime Writers at Film Forum, Modern Matinees: The Film Library Grows and Antonio Pietrangeli: A Retrospective, both at MoMA, Lynch/Rivette at the Film Society at Lincoln Center, American International Pictures, Part 2: Bikers, Drugs, and Rock & Roll at Anthology Film Archives, Lonely Places: Film Noir and the American Landscape at Museum of the Moving Image, and the eternally swank Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The emulsified ebullience be thus;
IFC Center
THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939) Dir; Jean Renoir
Rated Xmas: Holiday Classics Naughty and Nice
WHITE CHRISTMAS (1954) Dir; Michael Curtiz
DIE HARD (1988) Dir; John McTiernan
GREMLINS (1984) Dir; Joe Dante
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) Dir; Frank Capra
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) Dir; Steven Spielberg
SHOCKER (1989) Dir; Wes Craven
Film Forum
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) Dir; Nicholas Ray
LAURA (1944) Dir; Otto Preminger
MoMA
Modern Matinees: The Film Library Grows
A FOOL THERE WAS (1915) Dir; Frank Powell
Antonio Pietrangeli: A Retrospective
IT HAPPENED IN ROME (1957) Dir; Antonio Pietrangeli
Film Society of Lincoln Center
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
Anthology Film Archives
American International Pictures, Part 2: Bikers, Drugs, and Rock & Roll
THE WILD ANGELS (1966) Dir; Roger Corman
THE DEVIL'S ANGELS (1967) Dir; Daniel Haller
Museum of the Moving Image
Lonely Places: Film Noir and the American Landscape
THE BREAKING POINT (1950) Dir; Michael Curtiz
Rubin Museum of Art
THE FOUNTAINHEAD (1949) Dir; King Vidor
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
DIE HARD (1988) Dir; John McTiernan
Today's Pick? Where the hell do I start? Our collective cinematic cup runneth WAY over today. Let's get the obvious non-starters out of the way, films like Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME, McTiernan's DIE HARD and Lynch's BLUE VELVET, as they screen nearly every month in our movie-mad metropolis. Vidor's adap of YA fascist Ayn Rand's FOUNTAINHEAD interests as a curio piece, but no further. The AIP shenanigans entice, but don't convince. Lubitsch's SHOP is a high-ranker tonight, especially as it's accompanied by guest speakers Ron Simon and Dale Gregory, senior curator at the Paley Center for Media and vice-president of public programming at the Historical Society respectively. I've got weeks to make Capra's magnificent Xmas classic my choice, so it really comes down to a trio of noir classics. Much as it pains me to steer my eyes clear of Preminger's brilliant LAURA and, what might be Bogart's finest perf, Nick Ray's IN A LONLEY PLACE, both screening at Film Forum as part of their fantastic new series focusing on Women Crime Writers, I'm going with the slightly more obscure, lesser screened treat. Noir is all about exploring the shadows, anyway. So let's peek into a dark corner.
Michael Curtiz's THE BREAKING POINT unspools in glorious 35mm at Museum of the Moving Image as part of their slowly winding-down series Lonely Places: Film Noir and the American Landscape. Get there early, as tix tend to sell quickly, and the price of admission also grants you access to the entire museum space, which is one of the true jewels on display for the New York cinephile. Oh Astoria, one day you'll accept me into your gated community!
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in December '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!
