November 2015! To Save and Project, Thanksgiving Turkeys and a Fleet of Suzuki!

Hallo Stockahz! Welcome to the November '15
rundown of repertory film screenings in the 5 boroughs and just beyond. I'm simply verklempt about the end of the baseball season, deeply disappointed that one more Halloween has booed its last, and generally livid about this whole approaching winter 2016 situation in general. What gets me thru these nights spent pondering the pessimism is NYC's incredible film programmers and the respective rep houses they represent. Lots coming up this month, so let's get to it!

Those of you familiar with the site know I like to award a status I lovingly refer to as the Bog Dawg to each month's most unmissable screening or series. Last motnh that much-sought disctinction went to the Film Society and their always fascinating, entertaining and essential New York Film Festival, the 53rd iteration, specifically the Revivals section, which featured beautiful restorations of classics like John Ford's THE LONG VOYAGE HOME, King Hu's A TOUCH OF ZEN, and Luchino Visconti's ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS. It was a fantastic two weeks, and I was the fortunate recipient of the hospitality of the crew at Lincoln Center.

This month's Daily Growl must surely be tossed to MoMA for their 13th annual celebration of film spared the ravages of time and unspooling; To Save and Project, beginning this very day with brand new DCP restorations of E. A. Dupont's VARIETE and the director's cut of Sam Fuller's of DEAD PIGEON ON BEETHOVEN STREET. Other notable screenings in this crucial series include Herk Harvey's CARNIVAL OF SOULS, restored to its original theatrical version; Charles Vidor's COVER GIRL, Rita Hayworth's first burst of Technicolor; Federico Fellini's AMARCORD, returned to its origianl Italian theatrical cut and screening with restored outtakes; Otto Rippert's HOMUNCULUS, a 3+ hour silent sci-fi serial that is touted as the German FANTOMAS; and a Nordic version of Peter Pan, inventively titled PAN, from 1922. The recently and tragically departed Chantal Akerman, a pioneer of female voices in modern cinema, is repped by what many consider her strongest cinematic statement, JEANNE DIELMANN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES.And a series devoyed to THE UNKNOWN ORSON WELLES showcases previously unseen and newly restored examples of his various unfinished projects, films like THE DEEP, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND, and Shakes adaps THE MERCHANT OF VENICE and KING LEAR, as well as a verison of JOURNEY INTO FEAR that has been recut to more closely hew to Welles original intent. It's a nearly month-long celebration of cinema salvaged, and every screenign is damn near essential. Check the full sked here.

Also at MoMA this month is the continuing series Modern Matinees, exploring the museum's film library decade by decade. The Library at Ten focuses on, you guessed it, the collection's first ten years, and offers up gems like John Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON, Fred Niblo's THE MARK OF ZORRO, and John Ford's HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. Showtimes are all 1:30pm on various days during the month. Check the full sked here.

MoMA is located at 11 W53rd street in Manhattan.

Puddle-hopping across the East River we find ourselves at Astoria's magisterial Museum of the Moving Image, which this month hosts what I deem to be a close second to the Save and Project series. Lonely Places: Film Noir and the American Landscape explores the wider terrains those most dreadful shadows may still cover. Unmissable screenings in the series include Jacques Tourneur's OUT OF THE PAST, Robert Aldrich's KISS ME DEADLY, Edmund Goulding's NIGHTMARE ALLEY, and John Stahl's LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, the latter of which inspired last year's GONE GIRL and won it's DP the Oscar for Cinmatography, for the tricky task of filming a dark noir in Technicolor. The series begins on the 13th and runs through December 20th.

Also at MoMI this month legendary screenwriter Dalton Trumbo is fetêd with the inventively titled series Dalton Trumbo, which not only offers a preview screening of the new Bryan Cranston-starring biopic but provides a sampling ofsome of his best work; Joseph H. Lewis' seminal gangster-couple-on-the-run melodrama GUN CRAZY, and the Best Screenplay winner at the 29th Academy Awards, THE BRAVE ONE, credited to one Robert Rich, Trumbo's psuedonym during McCarthy's blacklist. The series screens on the weekend of the 20th.

A series designed to highlight the new exhibit Walkers: Hollywood Afterlives in Art and Artifact also kicks off later this month witb a screening of Stanley Kubrick's nightmare comic masterpiece DR. STRANGELOVE. And MoMI closes the month out with a pair of early silents from master comic W. C. Fields, IT'S THE OLD ARMY GAME and SO'S YOUR OLD MAN, in a nod to the museum's connection to the original Paramount Pictures studios.

Museum of the Moving Image is located at 36-01 35th avenue in Astoria, Queens.

Pole-vaulting back onto terra coolah we venture to that most cherished temple to all things cinematic, West Houston Street's Film Forum, and they have quite the slate lined up this month. Beginning today Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS is granted a week-long stay on their screens, in another nod to the upcoming Trumbo release. Following is Nicholas Ray's JOHNNY GUITAR, in what promises to be a stunning new 4K DCP resto. Running concurrenty with Ray's brillaint subversion of the western genre is MOANA WITH SOUND, a 1980 reworkingby Monica Flaherty of her dad Robert's 1926 doc. John Huston's criminally underrated boxing drama FAT CITY follows in a new 4K spitshine, boasting what is surely the great Stacy Keach's finest two hours. Peter Yates' THE HOT ROCK and Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW both screen as part of the NY Comedy Festival, intro'd by Janeane Garofalo and Larry Wilmore respectively. And finally the hook-'em-while-they're-young series Film Forum Jr. boasts such screenings as William Dieterle's THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, Richard Fleischer's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, Laurel and Hardy in WAY OUT WEST, and Daniel Petrie's A RAISIN IN THE SUN. Showtimes are Sunday mornings at 11am.

Film Forum is located at 209 W. Houston St. in Manhattan.

Slowly approaching the heartwarming entrance to the netherworld we lovingly refer to as Anthology Film Archives, we find a great deal to be excited about on their calendar this month. Sound and Fury: The Films of Cy Endfield, continues AFA's somewhat recent dedication to filmmakers who found their careers disrupted or completey dismantled by McCarthyism, and promises to shine the Kliegs on a talent somewhat overlooked. Early career gems like THE UNDERWORLD STORY and TRY AND GET ME! are joined by larger successes such as the Michael Caine-presenting ZULU and The Harryhausen-Dynamated MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. The series runs from the 20th through December 8th.

Also at AFA this month, a programmer from beyond the grave makes his presence known. Where else but Anthology Film Archives? Jack Smith Selects (From the Grave) features an eclectic slate from the late avant-garde filmmaker based on a letter listing his fave flicks. Among the titles to be enjoyed include Berger, Whelan & Powell's THIEF OF BAGDAD, Luchino Visconti's THE LEOPARD, Roy William Neill's FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, and Luis Buñuel's EL. And the Essential Cinema series this month offers Ozu's I WAS BORN, BUT... and THERE WAS A FATHER, Roberto Rossellini's THE FLOWERS OF ST. FRANCIS, and Jean Renoir's masterpiece THE RULES OF THE GAME.

Anthology Film Archives is located at 32 Second Avenue in Manhattan.

Ziplining uptown to Lincoln Center's Film Society, the cats who put the pro in programmers have scheduled a career retrospective to an incredibly innovative Japanese b-flick director from the 50's & 60's. Action and Anarchy: The Films of Seijun Suzuki offers a 21-film salute to the man who pretty much birthed Quentin Tarantino. Among the titles to be enjoyed include works long available via the Criterion Collection such as FIGHTING ELEGY, STORY OF A PROSTITUTE, BRANDED TO KILL, and perhaps his best-known and most influential film, TOKYO DRIFTER. Other, lesser-known works, at least to these eyes, include inky noirs like 1959's PASSPORT TO DARKNESS, 1957's EIGHT HOURS OF FEAR, 1964's THE CALL OF BLOOD , and 1960's THE SLEEPING BEAST WITHIN. The series runs from the 6th to the 17th.

The Walter Reade Theater is located at 165 W. 65th St. in Manhattan.

Halo-jumping into Brooklyn the Cinématek at BAM has a great second-chance series devoted to films that failed in their initial release and on a grand scale. Cryptically entitled Turkeys for Thanksgiving, the program brings us big-screen watch and re-watch opportunities for such legendary tankers as Steven Spielberg's 1941, Robert Altman's POPEYE, Joe Mankiewicz's CLEOPATRA, Michael Cimino's HEAVEN'S GATE, David Lynch's DUNE, and Francis Ford Coppola's ONE FROM THE HEART. All these films have found cult love over the respective years to some degree or another, but I must admit my qalb belongs to Elaine May and her woefully underappreciated but slowly gaining in esteem ISHTAR, which kicks off the whole shebang on the 20th. It concludes on the 29th.

BAM Cinématek is located at the Peter Jay Sharp building, 30 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.

Hoverboarding just north the wonderful Nitehawk Cinema in follically festooned BillyBurg is up to its usual standards of excellence and eccentricity. Brunch and midnight screenings include Roman Polanski's CHINATOWN, John Cassavetes' THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, and Alex Cox's REPO MAN for the Bellini-besotted, and Ridley Scott's ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER, and Paul Michael Glaser's THE RUNNING MAN at the Witching Hour. Other notable screenings include James Toback's FINGERS on the 19th. My fave new theater in the 5 boroughs, best root beer and tater tots combo to be had. Need I sell further?

The Nitehawk Cinema is a mere shuffle away from the Bedford ave L train stop, at 136 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn.

Zim-zala-bimming back onto the opposable-thumbed borough of the 5, IFC Center's Film School 101: Canon Fodder resumes its run, with titles like F. W. Murnau's SUNRISE, Sergei Eisensten's BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, and Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY on display, and their midnight movie platter includes Toshiya Fujita's LADY SNOWBLOOD and LADY SNOWBLOOD 2: LOVE SONG OF VENGEANCE.

IFC Center is located at 323 6th avenue in Manhattan.

The Japan Society is tossing a career celebration for the man behind the recently rediscovered cult phenomenon HAUSU. Nobuhiko Obayashi: A Retrospective features not merely the maddeningly macabre feats for the senses HOUSE, but also lesser-known entries into the CV like 1986's BOUND FOR THE FIELDS, THE MOUNTAINS AND THE SEACOAST, 1982's I ARE YUO, YOU AM ME, and 1989's BEIJING WATERMELON.

The Japan Society is located at 333 E. 47th St. in Manhattan.

The Cabaret Cinema series at the Rubin Museum brings us screenings of Ken Russell's ALTERED STATES and John Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON. Tix are no longer free with the purchase of a cocktail, but they're pretty cheap, the drinks are still allowed in the screening lounge, and the legroom is worth the price of admission alone.

The Rubin Museum is located at 150 W. 17th St. in Manhattan.

Hopscotching our way up to the Lincoln Center's Library for the Performing Arts the Silent Clowns focus their excellent talents on 35mm screenings of the best works of Douglas Fairbanks. This month we get DON Q, SON OF ZORRO, the semi-sequel to his THE MARK OF ZORRO (screening at MoMA during the Modern Matinees series). tix are free, but the seats fill quickly, so arrive early and often. Or somethin'. The library is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza.

Symphony Space is hosting a couple of screenings of Disney's FANTASIA. The New York Historical Society offers up Huston's THE MALTESE FALCON, Otto Preminger's ANATOMY OF A MURDER, and Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

And that, my fine-feathered feature-film fanatics, is that. All skeds are subject ta change, mind ya, and they damn well do, so be sure to check this site's interactive calendar for the latest updates. And make sure to follow Nitrate Stock on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Vine, on whatever new damn social media milieu has emerged since I typed the period to this sentence. Til next time be safe and sound Stockahz, and make sure the next knucklehead is too. Excelsior!

-Joe Walsh

Joew@NitrateStock.net