January 8th 2016. 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.
New and continuing series this day include the twin Charlotte Rampling and Christopher Lee tribs at IFC Center, the Modern Matinees series A Pioneer Cowboy and Fashionably Late, and the ever-splendid and eternally swank Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The '16 cinematic shenanigans start thusly;
IFC Center
GEORGY GIRL (1966) Dir; Silvio Narizzano
HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) Dir; Terence Fisher
ALIEN (1979) Dir; Ridley Scott
Film Forum
CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1964) Dir; Orson Welles
MoMA
Modern Matinees: A Pioneer Cowboy
THE SCOURGE OF THE DESERT (1915) Dir; William S. Hart
SELFISH YATES (1918) Dir; William S. Hart
Modern Matinees: Fashionably Late
THE PUBLIC ENEMY (1931) Dir; William A. Wellman
Japan Society
GATE OF HELL (1953) Dir; Teinosuke Kinugasa
Rubin Museum
SUNSET BOULEVARD (1950) Dir; Billy Wilder
Todays' Pick? Kinugasa's GATE OF HELL, the film that re-introduced samurai cinema to postwar Japan, tempts mightily, and I've also yet to visit the fantastic Japan Society. So that'd be the major contender on a day that also promises Wilder's masterpiece and Cagney's first steps toward his movie gangster's routine last steps in Warners tremendously influential cycle of the 30's. Lee's DRACULA, which I consider the cinema's definitive, is the flip side of the coin I must toss today, matched on its opposite side by another mighty figure from literature. Seeing as the latter will be introduced by Orson Welles' daughter, the man who directed said film, I must put Sir Christopher on hold for one more midnight. Traditionally, he's well-accustomed to awating the next opening.
Orson Welles' CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT, his cobbling together of the Falstaff passages from various Shakespeare plays, plants the supporting comic relief front and center as star of his own life finally, and is regarded by some as Welles' last masterpiece. Screening in a brand-spankin' new DCP spitshine at Film Forum, the famed hedonist's pomp and piggery, as well as his profound pontifications, promise to have never looked better. Tonight's 7:30pm screening will be accompanied by the late filmmaker's daughter, Beatrice, who appears in the film, and who will graciously provide an intro and Q&A regarding the film. To paraphrase the Bard himself, this flick's the thing.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in January '16 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. Winter's icy grip seems to have finally taken hold of our fair city, and 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!
