May 20th 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 Classic IFC Center & Stephen King on Film at IFC Center, Robert Downey (The Original) at Film Forum, La Magnani at the Film Society, Universal Pictures: Restorations and Rediscoveries, 1928-37 at MoMA, JG Ballard and the Cinema at Anthology Film Archives, and Cabaret Cinema at the eternally swank Rubin Museum. The repertory rapscallionery be thus;
IFC Center
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) Dir; Robert Aldrich
FIRESTARTER (1983) Dir; Mark L. Lester
ALIEN (1979) Dir; Ridley Scott
ALIENS (1986) Dir; James Cameron
PURPLE RAIN (!984) Dir; Albert Magnoli
Film Forum
PUTNEY SWOPE (1969) Dir; Robert Downey*
*Filmmaker Robert Downey will be in attendace for a discussion/Q&A at the 8:20pm screening.
DESTINY (1922) Dir; Fritz Lang
BAM Cinématek
BLACK GIRL (1966) Dir; Ousmane Sembène
Film Society of Lincoln Center
WOMAN TROUBLE (1948) Dir; Mario Camerini
THE ROSE TATTOO (1955) Dir; Daniel Mann
THE FUGITIVE KIND (1960) Dir; Sidney Lumet
AND THE WILD WOMEN (1959) Dir; Renato Castellani
MoMA
Universal Pictures: Restorations and Rediscoveries, 1928-37
OKAY, AMERICA (1932) Dir; Tay Garnett
BY CANDLELIGHT (1933) Dir; James Whale
Anthology Film Archives
THE CARS THAT ATE PARIS (1974) Dir; Peter Weir
New York Historical Society
Justice in Film
THE 39 STEPS (1935) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Rubin Museum
BLADE RUNNER (1982) Dir; Ridley Scott
Today's Pick? A crowded field this day & eve. The series dedicated to the man who hoisted the NY indie scene to the fore and birthed the current IRON MAN in the process has a week only. The new 4K DCP resto of mah boy Lang's DESTINY, what some consider one of the most influential films from the silent era, screens for a week as well, barring a reprieve based on ticket sales. Ditto Sembène's BLACK GIRL, which screens til Tuesday and affords me further opportunity. Other screenings today, like MoMA's 2-month fête of Universal Pictures in the era when the founder's son was studio chief, or AFA's trib to eccentric author J.G. Ballard and his influence, direct or otherwise, on the cinema, or what promises to be a stellar screening of ridley Scott's flat-out masterpiece, 1982's BLADE RUNNER, all of these tempt mightily. But an exotic import who proved essential to the advent of the Neo-Realist movement, and one might argue whether that wasn't the single most important film movement of the 20th century, she herself is exalted in a comprehensive career overview, one that is more easily complete due to her unfortunate early passage from this realm. She was at once earthy yet seeming royalty, sly yet true of heart, possessed of a sonorous joy yet capable of the most indelible heartbreak the screen's ever seen. And while not a conventional beauty, endowed with a sexuality that could disarm any man. And did. There are few actresses that I have this deep of a crush over, and actually one of the films that screens tonight was my introduction to her bravado &bellow & charm, the very same role that snagged her the Academy's little Golden Boy. Keep it clean. Today we get 4 of her best screened back-to-back, so make sure to bring a little parmesean cheese to sprinkle on yer popped corn today. I won't go as far to suggest you should sneak in a bottle of Chianti as well, but hey, you're an adult. You get as pazzo as ya want.
The resplendent Anna Magnani is repped by four of her best films this day, Mario Camerini's WOMAN TROUBLE, Daniel Mann's THE ROSE TATTOO, Sidney Lumet's THE FUGITIVE KIND, and Renato Castellani's AND THE WILD WOMEN, all unspooling in glorious 35mm at the Walter Reade Theater. The Mann film was her Oscar-bagger, written expressly for the great film star by super-fan Tennessee Williams. You may negotiate a bargain rate should you wish to attend all 4 gems, so be sure to check with the Film Society's website here! To those witnessing these slices of humanity for the first, I say simply the following: ti invidio. Go look it up. #AMOwnsMyHeart
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in May '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!
