April 19th 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 continuing series include American Hustlers at IFC Center, Old School Kung Fu Fest 2014 at Anthology Film Archives, Vienna Unveiled at MoMA, Anthony Mann: Mean Streets and Open Spaces at Museum of the Moving Image, and Back with a Vengeance at BAM Cinematek. NYC's rep roundup appears as thus;
IFC Center
TROUBLE IN PARADISE (1932) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
BODY HEAT (1981) Dir; Lawrence Kasdan
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981) Dir; Steven Spielberg
Anthology Film Archives
THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (1978) Dir; Lau Kar-leung
CHALLENGE OF THE MASTERS (1976) Dir; Lau Kar-leung
HEROES OF THE EAST (1978) Dir; Lau Kar-leung
KUNG FU FEST: SUPER SPECIAL SECRET SCREENING (?) DIR; ?
MASTER OF THE FLYING GUILLOTINE (1976) Dir; Jimmy Wang Yu
Film Forum
GODZILLA (1954) Dir; Ishiro Honda
MoMA
JEWEL ROBBERY (1932) Dir; William Dieterle
RAY OF SUNSHINE (1933) Dir; Paul Fejös
WEIN RETOUR (1977) Dirs; Ruth Beckermann and Josef Aichholzer
Museum of the Moving Image
T-MEN (1947) Dir; Anthony Mann
RAW DEAL (1948) Dir; Anthony Mann
BAM Cinematek
9 TO 5 (1980) Dir; Colin Higgins
Nitehawk Cinema
DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989) Dir; Gus van Sant
Today's Pick? I stave off the desire to choose the original Kaiju man, Honda's GODZILLA, knowing I've got 5 more days left to spotlight it. I'm also passing up Anthology Film Archive's Old School Kung Fu Fest 2014, and not just because they made a disaster of last night's ostensible screening of Sammo Hung's PEDICAB DRIVER, no knock on the Subway Cinema guys for that flub btw. I'm advised by the well in-the-know that William Dieterle's JEWEL ROBBERY is a rare gem to behold, and I fully intend to avail myself of its charms someday. This afternoon and early evening, however, belong to genre specialist Anthony Mann, née Anton Bundesmann, the man who gloriously aided in the blackening of film noir and the disturbing of demons primordial in our mythical American west. Today the insanely low admission price of $12 gains you entrance to Astoria's Museum of the Moving Image for both films scheduled in the Anthony Mann: Mean Streets and Open Spaces series; 1947's T-MEN and 1948's RAW DEAL, a pair of moral tarpits that served as initial collaboration between the director and legendary noir DP John Alton. The former is a precursor to the crime exposé flicks of the 50's, while the latter concerns a prison escapee who needs to settle one last score before his flight to freedom. Both films star B-movie stalwart Dennis O'Keefe, he of BREWSTER'S MILLIONS and THE LEOPARD MAN fame. In other words he was a familiar leading man among the more popular B-flicks, but his work with Mann was impressive enough to tantalize the prospect of further collaborations. Bereft that, we'll appreciate greatly the ones we have.
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 safe, sound, 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.
