March 28th 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.
Today's new and continung series includes Tout Truffaut at Film Forum, An Auteurist History of Film at MoMA, See It Big! Comedies at Museum of the Moving Image, and the sleek Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. Let us go then, you and I;
Film Forum
THE 400 BLOWS (1959) Dir; Francois Truffaut
MoMA
RAVEN'S END (1963) Dir; Bo Widerberg
Museum of the Moving Image
ANNIE HALL (1977) Dir; Woody Allen
New York Historical Society
THE LETTER (1940) Dir; William Wyler
Rubin Museum
A FOREIGN AFFAIR (1948) Dir; Billy Wilder
IFC Center
THE SHINING (1980) Dir; Stanley Kubrick
Nitehawk Cinema
THE APPLE (1980) Dir; Menahem Golen
Today's Pick? I feel like I haven't shown enough love lately for that shrine to all media kinetic, Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image, and their excellent ongoing See It Big! series, currently focusing on screen comedy. So I'll take as my choice today not merely one of the great romatic comedies of all time but one of the most touching and honest works of romantic cinema, period; Woody Allen's ANNIE HALL, so named after his then girfriend and co-star Diane Hall, better known by the assumed surname Keaton. It was the first true proof that something deeper might be mined from the onetime standup comic turned auteur filmmaker, helped greatly by the editing room decision to shift the focus from his own onscreen persona to Keaton's unique, quirky alter ego. The result was a carefully crafted cinematic valentine, evidence entered as proof of her lovability, of why his onscreen Alvy Singer and offscreen Allen Stewart Konisberg fell head over heels for the highly personable actress. It not only won Allen his first batch of Oscars, and his lone Best Picture and Director statuettes, it won and continues to win the hearts of romantic movie watching schnooks worldwide. Some say he never bested this remarkable 93 minutes. Judge for yourself tonight in the venue intended.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in March '14 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. Back tomorrow with a brand new Pick, til then be safe and sound and make sure the next knucklehead is too. Excelsior!
-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 the 2012 hurricane. Be a mensch.
