March 3rd 2014. Post-Oscar crash. And Pick of the Day.
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Another Oscars ceremony in the books, the awards handed out, the gift swag absconded with, the Vanity Fair after-party crashers repelled by champagne cork fire. All in all I gotta say it was a pretty fair affair, and not the usual case of the undeserving lauded for work almost instantly forgotten (I'm looking at you, THE KING'S SPEECH). While a batch of my own personal picks went unrewarded (the nonmed Chiwitel Ejiofor, the un-nommed BLUE JASMINE), most of the actual winners turned in some of the most meretorious work of 2013 (McConaughey, Spike Jonze's Original Screenplay upset). So for a change I'm not livid. I'll channel my anticipatory disgust toward the weather instead. Grrr.
Today's continuing series include Film Forum's massive The Complete Hitchcock and MoMA's Vienna Unveiled: A City in Cinema. Here be the shenanigans;
Film Forum
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
TO CATCH A THIEF (1955) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
REBECCA (1940) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
THE PLEASURE GARDEN (1925) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
BAM Cinematek
MARKETA LAZAROVA (1972) Dir; Frantisek Vlacil
MoMA
OH...ROSALINDA! (1955) Dirs; Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Today's Pick? Hitchcock's THE PLEASURE GARDEN, Tha Mahstah's directorial debut, screening at Film Forum with live piano accompaniment from Steve Sterner. Why? Lemme say this again; Hitchcock's directorial debut. Hello?
Okay if that ain't enough lemme add this; THE PLEASURE GARDEN, long available in inferior public domain versions (just check YouTube) is now a part of The Hitchcock 9, the BFI's expensive and exacting DCP spitshine of Big Al's surviving silent work (THE MOUNTAIN EAGLE is thought gone for good). The new restorations are breathtaking, revelatory, all the adjectives film scholars trot out to sound self-important. In this case them superlatives be true; these films look stunning, provide intriguing evidence of the filmmaker that was to shortly fully bloom, and Film Forum provides generous opportunity to bear witness should you have missed their screenings last summer at BAM's Harvey Theater. The opportunity to watch the genesis of one of the most singularly influential filmmakers of the medium's first century is impossible to take sides against. Try not to sit next to de Palma. He won't shut up, trust me.
The March '14 overview is coming tomorrow, Cinegeeks! Til then for more info on these and all the month's classic film screenings in NYC click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the 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. Who luvz ya?
-Joe Walsh
P. S. Should you be feeling charitable during this harsh weather period please remember to check in with the good folks over at Occupy Sandy. Some of our NY neighbors are still feeling the effects of last year's hurricane. Be a mensch.
