April 18th 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.
Busy day on the NYC repertory film circuit. New and continuing series include American Hustlers at IFC Center, An Auteurist History of Film, Vienna Unveiled and Marco Bellocchio: A Retrospective at MoMA, Back with a Vengeance at BAM Cinematek, Justice in Film at the New York Historical Society, and the swank Cabaret Cinema at the Rubin Museum. The cinematic shenanigans as follows;
IFC Center
TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
BODY HEAT (1981) Dir; Lawrence Kasdan
RADIERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) Dir; Steven Spielberg
Film Forum
GODZILLA (1954) Dir; Ishiro Honda
MoMA
POINT BLANK (1967) Dir; John Boorman
FISTS IN THE POCKET (1965) Dir; Marco Bellocchio
REUNION IN VIENNA (1933) Dir; Sidney Franklin
THE EYES, THE MOUTH (1982) Dir; Marco Bellocchio
BAM Cinematek
9 TO 5 (1980) Dir; Colin Higgins
Anthology Film Archives
CANTON VIPER (1975) Dir; Hwang Jang-lee
THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978) Dir; Lau Kar-leung
PEDICAB DRIVER (1989) Dir; Sammo Hung
New York Historical Society
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1950) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Rubin Museum
M.A.S.H. (1970) Dir; Robert Altman
Nitehawk Cinema
DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) Dir; Gus van Sant
Today's Pick? Were I of a constitution that made an 11am screening of Lubitsch's TROUBLE IN PARADISE appealing that might snag it today, and Boorman's POINT BLANK, unspooling not much later, always tempts. I have a full week to choose Honda's GODZILLA, and while I've yet to make a trip to the New York Historical Society for one of their guest speaker-accompanied screenings I must pass up STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, a top 5 Hitch, in favor of a film whose elusiveness makes it all the more alluring. I've only caught disconnected chunks of it on YouTube and other, um, sources, so it's with great delight that I attend Anthology Film Archives' Old School Kung Fu Fest 2014 for Sammo Hung's PEDICAB DRIVER, unspooling in glorious 35mm in that grand old haunted house on 2nd avenue at 10:30pm. As I lack the eloquence to communicate the sheer visceral power of POW, WHAP and CHOP, I'll simply say this promises to be an actioner to remember.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in April '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. For the monthly overview listen in to the inaugural podcast! 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 Sammo Hung SMASH!!!
-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.
