December 6th 2012. Pick Of The Day.
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Roman Polanski maneuvers a young TESS. Shame shame shame.
The Czechs fabricate the world of our greatest fabulist as Jules Verne visits MOMA.
Lee Marvin's Kid Shelleen shoots and scores the gold at Anthology Film Archives.
Max Von Sydow spends Three Days in one evening at BAM.
All worthy in one regard or the other. None my Pick. Which follows henceforth...
Sidney Lumet, my hero, was a product of the Yiddish theater of the lower east side. Mingled with this traditional theater was the upstart Group Theater, which became the Actors Studio, the force behind naturalism in American stage and screen acting, writing, and directing. Home now to one intolerable James Lipton, it was in its heyday run by Lee Strasberg, who historically found no joy in tutoring his students until he came upon the one fledgling actor he would rave about and foist upon any who would cast him. That kid's name was Al Pacino. And there isn't even a plaque...or a statue to him...somebody put a bullet in-
Oh wait, I got caught up in that scene. Not only did Al not catch a bullet he did indeed get his statue, a little gold one, but not for a role for which said statue was deserved. No, most argue he earned it for one of his earliest roles, which happens to be screening this evening. Which brings us back to Sid.
Sidney Lumet and Al Pacino were kindred spirits, lovers from past centuries, who only met twice but tore the sheets to shreds both times. Okay, I get how gay this sounds. But fuck it, no pun intended. When Sidney Met Al remains twin defining statements of not merely the Actor's Group's legacy but the culmination in total of European cinema's influence on the New Hollywood. If both films seem wholly American it's because they're fully about the immigrant experience, however cleverly masked. Their first collaboration and first masterpiece was SERPICO. Their second screens today.
DOG DAY AFTERNOON unspools at Anthology Film Archives today at 6:45pm. It is a landmark of modern cinema. Routinely voted amongst the greatest NYC films of all time. Most importantly still lamented as the last pairing of star and director. Many have and still try to duplicate the combustible chemistry twixt the two. Tell me who's suceeded.
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