May 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.
A lean day on the rep circuit, as May 2014 winds down (already???) and a new slate of classic films screened large awaits the NYC cinephile. June is a mere four days from now, and there's much to look forward to, but for now let's appreciate what we still have on our plates.
New and continuing series today are relegated solely to MoMA, and their Auteurist History of Film and spinoff Auteurist History of Film Reprise, Part Two programs. The monkeyshines look thus;
Film Forum
ACCIDENT (1967) Dir; Joseph Losey
MoMA
MERCHANT OF THE FOUR SEASONS (1971) Dir; Rainer Werner Fassbinder
THIS SPORTING LIFE (1963) Dir; Lindsay Anderson
FEMALE TROUBLE (1974) Dir; John Waters
LORD OF THE FLIES (1963) Dir; Peter Brook
Today's Pick? It seems only fitting, as the weather breaks balmy and we shed not merely clothing but all of Winter's inhibitions, to choose a work that explores, perhaps even partially embraces, our inner savage, our prized paganism. Peter Brook's verité adap of William Golding's high school reading list perennial, 1963's LORD OF THE FLIES, has lost none of its remarkable power, be it the ability to mount a slowly escalating sense of dread and terror, or provide a treatise on exactly how thin the veneer is between worlds civilized and barbaric. It screens tonight as part of the museum's second-chance series An Auteurist History of Film Reprise, Part Two, a program deemed invaluable to the likes of myself, who find the prospect of attending the regular series' 1:30pm showtime a bitter, yet often necessary, proposal indeed. Tonight we can casually make our way into midtown post-dinner and relax to the frivolous spectacle of feral teens murdering each other. What says Summer more than that, I ask?
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in May '14 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. For the monthly overview and other audio tomfoolery check out the podcast, and follow me on SoundCloud! For reviews of contemporary cinema and my streaming habits (keep it clean!) check out my Letterboxd 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 WAIT I HAVEN'T PASSSED THE CONCH YET!!! BACK OFF!!!
-Joe Walsh
P. S. Even though we're coming into the summer months and therefore not often as mindful of the displaced, some of our fellow NY'ers are yet to be made whole since Hurricane Sandy hit nearly two years ago. Check in with the good folks at Occupy Sandy to see if you can't still volunteer/donate to our neighbors in need. Be a mensch.
