January 9th 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.
Damn, this new year's already got my head a-spinnin'! Coupled with the seemingly unnatural velocity that met 2015's pace comes the quizzical shock of 2016's sudden arrival. How's a man to cope with this quantum conundrum, if not an actual scientific quandary then at least and damn sure an emotional one?
Oh hell, I know the answer. Classic films. Something that both freezes me in time and lets me grow beyond my routine boundaries. Ah, NYC rep film circuit, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways;
IFC Center
GEORGY GIRL (1966) Dir; Silvio Narizzano
HORROR OF DRACULA (1958) Dir; Terence Fisher
Nitehawk Cinema
GREASE (1978) Dir; Randall Kleiser
Film Forum
CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT (1966) Dir; Orson Welles
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Fashionably Late
THE JAZZ SINGER (1928) Dir; Alan Crosland
TOM SAWYER (1938) Dir; Norman Taurog
STELLA DALLAS (1925) Dir; Henry King
Mid-Manhattan Library
ROCKY (1976) Dir; John G. Alvidsen
Museum of the Moving Image
JOHNNY GUITAR (1954) Dir; Nicholas Ray
Today's Pick? The field might seem a crowded one, yet it's yield proves paucious in comparison to the big name on the marquee this night. He helped bury Hitler. Not onscreen, in actuality. He proved invaluable in the formation of the memorable and influential Hammer Studios era. He should've gotten a chance to play James Bond, but instead did his best to make clown Roger Moore look as good as possible in the role. He once asked Peter Jackson, on the set of a LORD OF THE RINGS film, if he wanted to know how it looked when a man was killed by a sword, after a couple of seemingly dissatisfying takes. He asked, he reported to a sufficiently-willied Jackson, because he'd killed a man with a sword. During WWII. The period in which he'd helped kill off Adolph. And while the image of Lee skewering the man who criminaly co-opted the Chaplin 'stache is a pleasant one, no evidence exists to corroborate such a melodious fantasy. He died last year, at the too-young age of 93. Some say he lay in rest. Others suggest you check the coffin. Because the mere suggestion that Sir Christopher Lee is gone to the worms remains a ridiculous one. Whatever your feelings regarding his supernatural prowess, the fact remains that he will forever walk amongst us, if at least on the screen. And tonight, you get to watch his greatest entrance, indeed one of the greatest screen entrances of all time, the way intended.
Terence Fisher's HORROR OF DRACULA unspools in a glorious 35mm archival print at IFC Center as part of their midnight tribute to Sir Christopher Lee! Be sure to buy the cool t-shirt swag they offer at the venue, reworking classic Heavy Metal band logos with iconic directors' names! Then wrap them around your necks. Just kiddin'. No I'm not.
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!
