March 29th 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.
Anyone who even remotely doubts this is the month of March please step outside. I can't remember the last time we had a Severe Wind Advisory that didn't come accompanied by a flying Margaret Hamilton on a bike! In any event, consider the sweping, potent gusts a free source of transport today, aka the wet dream of every Harry Potter fan (broomstick not included). The pickin's be slim this blustery day, but fabulous enough to warrant your braving of the slipstream. The 40mph film-flammery be thus;
Film Forum
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
MoMA
Her Man: A Forgotten Masterwork in Context
CELEBRITY (1928) Dir; Tay Garnett
HER MAN (1930) Dir; Tay Garnett
Today's Pick? I have time still to choose David Lynch's twisted yet ultimately fond view of all things Americana. So I'm gonna go with the Tay Garnett trib at MoMA, a pair of films I've not had the pleasure to watch, one which serves as series' inspiration. Touted by its venue as the most bawdy iteration of the Frankie and Johnnie folktale, and boasting of visual techniques audacious for a film so close to the advent of sound, which saw many a camera revert to a stagnant position to accomodate its new partner the microphone, this is a beaming 4K resto from an original camera negative recently discovered at the Library of Congress. So the seedy sin onscreen will have never looked as crisp and clear! Let's hear it for Pre-CODE, bebeh!
Tay Garnett's HER MAN screens in inauguration of the series that bears its name; Her Man: A Forgotten Masterwork in Context. It is paired with an earlier, silent Garnett vehicle, CELEBRITY, featuring live accompaniment by master pianist Ben model. Members can attend both free of charge today, so you should look into layin' out the low annual fee of $85. Plus, I understand the member card grants you access to a museum that's attached to the screening spaces? Is that a rumor?
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in March '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 loosened on our fair metropolis, but milder weather aside 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!
