July 19th 2014. Pick of the Day.
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I'm gettin' just a little bit irritated over how fast this damn summer is blazing past us. It's July 19th already. July. 19th. Seems like just yesterday I was kicking it at the Mizoguchi retrospective at Moving Image back in May, or catching the new 4K DCP of Friedkin's SORCERER in June, basking in the sun's smoochery after the horrible medieval winter we'd cannibalized our way through. So this whole July 19th thing has my spider-sense all a-tinglin', and prompts me to put my readers, as well as my own damn self, on notice; the season's slipping past pretty quickly, lads and lasses, take advantage of every opportunity to indulge in Summer '14! If that means subwaying it uptown to spend time indoors with some quality AC and a classic Fritz Lang flick, then that counts too.
Continuing series today include Original Gangsters at IFC Center, Femmes Noirs at Film Forum, part one of the Luis Buñuel retrospective at BAM Cinématek, Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57 at MoMA, and the Elmore Leonard trib at Anthology Film Archives. The metaphysical conflict looks thus;
IFC Center
THE ROARING TWENTIES (1939) Dir; Raoul Walsh
ROBOCOP (1987) Dir; Paul Verhoeven
BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985) Dir; Robert Zemeckis
Film Forum
A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (1964) Dir; Richard Lester
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946) Dir; Tay Garnett
MILDRED PIERCE (1945) Dir; Michael Curtiz
Mid-Manhattan Library
ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974) Dir; Martin Scorsese
BAM Cinématek
TRISTANA (1970) Dir; Luis Buñuel
VIRIDIANA (1961) Dir; Luis Buñuel
MoMA
THE WHISTLER (1944) Dir; William Castle
THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER (1945) Dir; Lew Landers
THE BIG HEAT (1953) Dir; Fritz Lang
Anthology Film Archives
THE TALL T (1957) Dir; Budd Boetticher
Nitehawk Cinema
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) Dir; Monte Hellman
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) Dir; Wes Craven
Today's Pick? Let's go for the first 3-fer in as long as I can remember! MoMA's terrific, massive series, dedicated to the crime cinema that helped make the once-Poverty Row Columbia Pictures one of the Big 6 of the studio era, is just a week old into its near month-long stint at Mrs. Rockefeller's indulgence! Today you can kick back in the museum's cush screening space and catch a doozy of a trip-bill: William Castle's THE WHISTLER and Lew Landers' THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER, both featuring Richard Dix in the B-film adaps of the popuar anthologly radio program, topped off by what is arguably Fritz Lang's last masterpiece, 1953's crime exposé procedural THE BIG HEAT. I havent seen the WHISTLER films yet, which makes me all the more eager to attend, but I have seen Lang's crime potboiler on several occasions, and can attest to the fact that Lee Marvin is the world's most ill-tempered barista. And Gloria Grahame knows exactly how to complain about the horrible service.
William Castle's THE WHISTLER, Lew Landers' THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER, and Fritz Lang's THE BIG HEAT screen back-to-back-to-back today as part of Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57 at MoMA. Just avoid the coffee altogether. Trust me.
For more info on these and all NYC's classic film screenings in July '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 check yer heaters at the door, mugs, before I hand yaz a fresh one!
-Joe Walsh
P. S. Even though we've fully entered 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.
