January 11th 2014. 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 rainy, balmy January day include IFC's The Way He Was: Early Redford, Nitehawk Cinema's Coen Brothers Before Fargo, the Film Society's trib to No-Budget auteur Edgar G. Ulmer, and MoMA's The Aesthetics of Shadow, Part One: Japan. The whole enchilada platter be thus;
IFC Center
THE GREAT GATSBY (1974) Dir; Jack Clayton
2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) Dir; Stanley Kubrick
SUGAR HILL (1974) Dir; Paul Maslansky
Nitehawk Cinema
RAISING ARIZONA (1987) Dirs; Joel and Ethan Coen
Film Society of Lincoln Center
RUTHLESS (1948) Dir; Edgar G. Ulmer
MURDER IS MY BEAT (1955) Dir; Edgar G. Ulmer
MoMA
DOCKS OF NEW YORK (1928) Dir; Joseph Von Sternberg
FIRST STEPS ASHORE (1932) Dir; Yasujiro Shimazu
LIGHT OF COMPASSION 91926) Dir; Henry Kotani
Landmark Sunshine Cinema
ERASERHEAD (1978) Dir; David Lynch
Today's Pick? I'm gonna go with MoMA's three-fer today (provided you're a member, and for $85 bucks why aren't ya?), screening as part of their limited run The Aesthetics of Shadow, Part One; Japan; Joseph Von Sternberg's DOCKS OF NEW YORK, Yasujiro Shimazu's FIRST STEPS ASHORE, and Henry Koatni's LIGHT OF COMPASSION, largely because I've only ever seen clips of Joey VS's seminal proto-noir and I've never even heard of the Japanese films until this series came to be. Ah, the joy of discovery!
Focusing on the modernization of post-WWI Japanese film industry, MoMA's series examines how cinematic influences from outside thier own culture, most prominently German Weimar Expressionism and Hollywood Swashbucklers, informed a new school of filmmakers at home. The incomparable silent film stalwart Ben Model again provides ace piano accompaniment to the proceedings, and both DOCKS and STEPS will be intro'd by author Daisuke Miyao, whose book of the same name forms the basis of this series. This, my fellow Cinegeek, is the perfect way to kill a rainy January 11th. Mebbe I see ya there.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in January '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. And be sure to follow me for further shenanigans on Facebook and Twitter! Back tomorrow with a brand new Pick, til then don't buy any bodega umbrellas and advise the other tykes to do likewise!
-Joe Walsh
