July 12th 2013. Pick Of The Day.
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Satyajit Ray's TWO DAUGHTERS screens for the last of its three-day booking as part of MoMA's ongoing Auteurist History of Film series. The man who brought the unique voice of Indian cinema to the world stage remains a filmmaker whose CV has thus far eluded these eyes, so I'd like to say this is my Pick today, but alas a different auteur screens this day whose work I need to scratch off my bucket list, and it screens all day long. Sorry Ray, I'm gonna have to catch you next time, which thankfully is fairly often in our film-obsessed burg.
Film Forum grants a second chance to all who missed their exhaustive trib to Yasujiro Ozu last month with a two week mini-fest. Tonight and tomorrow offers the filmmaker's FLOATING WEEDS, a reamke of his earlier A STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS. Second chances are rare in this world my friends. Take it. Just not today.
Anthology Film Archives turns the rep programming reins over to a unique icon of fashion design this month with the series Agnes B. Selects. On display at Casa De Mekas this day are two lesser well known works from master craftsman Akira Kurosawa, 1955's I LIVE IN FEAR and 1970's DODES'KA-DEN. The former examines Japan's postwar, post-nuke paranoia throught the eyes of one elderly patriarch, while the latter serves as a semi-updating of his own THE LOWER DEPTHS, and was AK's first color film. Both tempt, and I think you all KNOW how I feel about Kurosawa, but a different master that I have neglected for far too long gets some love from NY's premier rep house beginning today, so I shine my light thattaway. Forgive, master.
BAM's comprehensive month-long trib to indie film godfather and guy flick icon John Cassavetes continues today with the director's A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE, which he pretty much cooked up as a showcase for the inestimable talents of wife Gena Rowlands and sank himself into a sea of debt to produce and distribute. The resulting film garnered Oscar noms for both its maker and star, and I believe Mrs. Cassavetes enjoyed no two finer hours before the camera. Picked it just last month as part of the Nitehawk's VICE series, so I think I have to spread the love around a little today. JC's still the man, tho.
The Rubin Musuem's excellent Cabaret Cinema series tonight offers Billy Wilder's caustic wallow in top-flight cynicism ACE IN THE HOLE. No one would ever accuse Wilder of rank sentimentalism, but DAMN does he indict the entirety of the human race with this tale of an opportunist reporter exploiting and even exacerbating the tragedy around him for personal gain. Kirk Doulgas plays the reporter. Of course he does. Price of a drink gets you into the screening lounge, and I do love the movie experience this venue provides, but today I'm feeling a little more art-housey, so I'm gonna leave Billy and Kirk up to their no-goodness and catch 'em another time.
Midnight cinematic shenanigans about our movie mad Metropolis include Walter Hill's urban blight action classic THE WARRIORS at Williamsburg's Nitehawk Cinema and Steven Spielberg's serial flick homage RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK at IFC Center. I never get tired of catching these gems screened large, but I'm going esoteric today, because that's what one does in the middle of July in NYC. Don't believe me? Spend ten minutes in Times Square and call me a liar.
Michelangelo Antonioni. I ain't gonna pretend any special insight into his oeuvre. The two films I have seen, BLOW-UP and THE PASSENGER, which I love and sorta dig respectively, seem to share as theme the protagonist's desire and subsequent ability to manipulate reality to his ends only to realize reality has been manipulated long before he got his mitts on it. That's about all I can say about his CV because I've been meaning to scratch his key films, which include LA NOTTE, ECLISSE and RED DESERT, of my bucket list for the longest time. So today I get the opportunity to catch what may be considered his most important, most influential work in the venue intended. It brought his name to cinema's world stage, kickstarted what many consider to be the most important Italian directorial career of the postwar era this side of Roberto Rossellini and Federico Fellini, and it starred mega-honey Monica Vitti. So I ask, what's not to love?
Michelangelo Antonioni's L'AVVENTURA screens for not one but TWO-count-'em-TWO weeks in a brand spankin' new 35mm print at Film Forum. The Italian postwar avant-garde was never more conveniently offered, sez this guy! Abbbondanza!
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Be safe and sound and make sure the next Stockah is too! Back tomorow with the week's final pick. Twitter and Facebook are the best way to follow my Picks from Sunday to Tuesday, so it'd kill ya to do both, Mr. Important? Til then; hydrate, sunscreen, go to the movies. Excelsior.
-Joe Walsh
