September '17! The Mini-Overview, Plus: Summer Love, Vicky's Shoes, and Rusty James' Black & White Phase. The Stock Shenanigans Be Thus;
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Hallo, Stockahz! I'z back to give you a look at the monthly mishegoss on NYC's rep film circuit. We'll begin with a quick overview of what the month promises in the upcoming weeks. The options have expanded, and September '17 offers upcoming series like Metrograph's UCLA Festival of Film Preservation from the 15th to the 20th, MoMA's celebration of auteur John Cassavetes as part of their Modern Matinees series, and The Whole World Sings: International Musicals at the newly reminted Quad Cinema. My runner-up this month is the retro of grizzteur Sam Fuller, one of the most magnificent bastards who ever yelled ACTION!, unfolding at that temple of temples Museum of the Moving Image. This month's Big Dawg, however, must go to Film Forum, and their exceptional upcoming Warner Brothers: Tough Guys, Tough Dames...Tough Pictures, which offers ample evidence of why the studio came to prominence in the depression-era 30's with tales of harsh social reality, anti-heroes and -heroines, and rat-a-tat-tat both verbal and leaden. Double features include leadoff two-fer from Mervyn Le Roy, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG and LITTLE CAESAR; Howard Hawks' THE BIG SLEEP and TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT; Jimmy Cagney in THE LADY KILLER and THE PUBLIC ENEMY; Humphrey Bogart in KEY LARGO and THE MALTESE FALCON; and Bette Davis in THE LETTER and A STOLEN LIFE. The grand festivities run from September 22nd through October 5th. Unmissable.
New and ongoing series this week include Modern Matinees: Directed by John Cassavetes and 3-D Funhouse: Recent Restorations from the 3-D Film Archive at MoMA; Welcome to Metrograph: A to Z at that new beautiful venue Metrograph; Paris Stripped Bare at that even newer beautiful rep venue the Quad Cinema; See it Big: Spielberg Summer! at the Museum of the Moving Image; Jane Campion's Own Stories at the Film Society of Lincoln Center; the eternally elegant Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum; and the hook-'em-while-they're-in-Pre-K Film Forum Jr. at, well, the Film Forum. The shuttering shenanigans be thus;
Friday September 8th
IFC Center
THE GOONIES (1985) Dir; Richard Donner
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Directed by John Cassavetes
HUSBANDS (1970 Dir; John Cassavetes
Metrograph
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) Dir; Charles Burnett
TAXI ZUM KLO (1980) Dir; Frank Ripploh
Quad Cinema
LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1973) Dir; Bernardo Bertolucci
EXPOSED (1983) Dir; James Toback
Tudor Park, Queens
GREASE (1978) Dir; Randall Kleiser
Museum of the Moving Image
JAWS (1975) Dir; Steven Spielberg
Anthology Film Archives
BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1926) Dir; Sergei Eisenstein
Rubin Museum
THE EXORCIST (1973) Dir; William Friedkin
Today's Pick? Mostly repeat fare on the scene this day, so let's just go with the lone outdoor classic screening. Randall Kleiser's GREASE at sunset, in Tudor Park, Queens. Summer love, indeed.
Saturday September 9th
IFC Center
THE GOONIES (1985) Dir; Richard Donner
Nitehawk Cinema
THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) Dir; Daniel Heller
Anthology Film Archives
THE FUNKADELIC 70'S MOVIE MARATHON (Various dates) Dir; Various
Quad Cinema
FRANTIC (1988) Dir; Roman Polanski
THE TENANT (1976) Dir; Roman Polanski
LA BALANCE (1982) Dir; Bob Swaim
QUIET DAYS IN CLICHY (1970) Dir; Jens Jorgen Thorsen
Metrograph
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) Dir; Joseph Sargent
TAXI ZUM KLO (1980) Dir; Frank Ripploh
MoMA
3-D Funhouse: Recent Restorations from the 3-D Film Archive.
SEPTEMBER STORM (1960) Dir; Byron Haskin
Roxy Hotel Cinema
THE RED SHOES (1948) Dirs; Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
FLASHDANCE (1984) Dir; Adrian Lyne
Film Society of Lincoln Center
SWEETIE (1989) Dir; Jane Campion
Today's Pick? Hard to go against my fave NYC film ever, Sargent's PELHAM, as well as the glorious Pandora's Puma sneakerbox that AFA's 70's Funkadelic marathon promises to be. But I wanna shine some light on the work the programmers have been doing at the Roxy Hotel Cinema, and single out their screening of one of my all-timers; Powell & Pressburger's 1948 masterpiece THE RED SHOES. The world needs some Technicolor and passion right now. Look no further.
Sunday September 10th
IFC Center
THE GOONIES (1985) Dir; Richard Donner
Film Forum
THREE KEATON CLASSICS (1921-2) Dir; Buster Keaton
Nitehawk Cinema
THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) Dir; Daniel Heller
Metrograph
THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT (1975) Dir; Michael Cimino
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) Dir; Joseph Sargent
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) Dir; Charles Burnett
TAXI ZUM KLO (1980) Dir; Frank Ripploh
RUMBLEFISH (1983) Dir; Francis Ford Coppola
Quad Cinema
LA BALANCE (1982) Dir; Bob Swaim
QUIET DAYS IN CLICHY (1970) Dir; Jens Jorgen Thorsen
LAST TANGO IN PARIS (1973) Dir; Bernardo Bertolucci
THE TENANT (1976) Dir; Roman Polanski
Film Society of Lincoln Center
AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE (1990) Dir; Jane Campion
Anthology Film Archives
OCTOBER (1925) Dir; Sergei Eisenstein
IVAN THE TERRIBLE PARTS ONE & TWO (1942-46) Dir; Sergei Eisenstein
Museum of the Moving Image
JAWS (1975) Dir; Steven Spielberg
MoMA
3-D Funhouse: Recent Restorations from the 3-D Film Archive.
GOG (1954) Dir; Herbert L. Strock
United Palace of Cultural Arts
CITY LIGHTS (1931) Dir; Charlie Chaplin
Jackie Robinson Park, Manhattan
MAHOGANY (1975) Dir; Berry Gordy
Today's Pick? Summer has long claimed one continuous refrain, from all who love or even like the season, especially as time wears on; that it sped by so much faster this year than last. And the one before. And the one before that. In that spirit I will take advantage of a rare screening, in 35mm no less, of Francis Ford Coppola's last masterpiece, 1983's monochrome, mercurial RUMBLEFISH, unspooling at Metrograph. If you were ever young but older than your years, no film will ever remind you more of that condition.
Once again, there you have it, my picks and pontifications regarding your next 3 days' worth of rep filmgoing! We'll check in again a week from now, in the early days of a whole new spin 'round the sun, for the purposes of once more rummaging through the reels and making the tough yet wonderful choices regarding our chosen love. Til then be sure to follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and be SURE to catch my new YouTube channel, Nitrate Stock TV, where I'll be checking in at screenings all over the city and giving my 2 cents on the film, the venue, the audience, any damn thing that comes to my mind. Which, as some of ya know, can be quite entertaining. Til next time Stockahz, remember: be safe, be sound, and make sure the next guy and gal are too. Excelsior!
- Joe Walsh
P. S. As you know I like to beat the drum for what I consider worthwhile causes. Xenophobia has sadly always been present in our country, mostly dormant, but at times very awoken and tangible. Sadly, the latter is the present case, and the subject of Syrian refugees has become a veritable powderkeg. To those of you who believe we can aid these people, our fellow human beings who are desperate for our help, I suggest the heroic efforts of the good men and women at DoctorsWithoutBorders, the outreach and safe haven offered by the International Rescue Committee, and the decades-old and ongoing good works from the folks at UNICEF. Collectively they're proving that the greatest investment we can make as a human race is in each other, and that helping to save someone else in troubled circumstances is indeed nothing more than saving ourselves. It's a small something to be sure in this maelstrom of madness, but it is just that: something.
