June 24th 2016. Pick of the Day.
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Five days past the solstice and so far a seemingly perfect summer '16 seems underway. Temps have been somewhat mild for this time of year, the luminous shades from the red end of the spectrum greeting us majestically at twilight, and those magnificent vendor hot dogs have positively cratered at the low price of $35 apiece. $80 for two. A NYC summer is uponst us once more, and again we are gifted weather to be fleet of foot within, to catch two, three, even FOUR screenings in a day for those truly troubled amongst us (who you lookin' at?!?)! So let's set today's agenda, shallen't we?
Ongoing series this day include Classic IFC Center & Stephen King on Film, both at IFC Center, and Modern Matinees: Fifteen by Otto Preminger at MoMA. To the sked!
IFC Center
DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN (1985) Dir; Susan Seidelman
MISERY (1990) Dir; Rob Reiner
NAUSICCA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND (1984) Dir; Hayao Miyazaki
Film Forum
THE KING OF COMEDY (1982) Dir; Martin Scorsese
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Fifteen by Otto Preminger
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) Dir; Otto Preminger
WNYC Transmitter Park
SUBWAY (1985) Dir; Luc Besson
Rubin Museum
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) Dir; Frank Capra
Today's Pick? Seidleman's zeitgeist-marker SUSAN is always a welcome return contestant on the rep circuit, but that 11am start time just makes me think zzzzzzzz. Preminger's ARM carries much weight still, and features career-bests from Sinatra, Novak and character ace Darren McGavin. Screens in our plush movie seat-land fairly often though. There's something truly enticing, in a super-villain sorta way, about recommending Luc Besson's New French New Wave gem SUBWAY, a pop art comment on the last days of the cold war, if olny because it screens at a place entitled Transmitter Park. You draw that connection. As it were. No, there's a lotta good stuff today, but the real gem comes at midnight tonight. The initial work from a man who would come to be synonymous with the resurgence of animation as a vital adult entertainment worldwide. Hell, with animation, period.
Hayao Miyazaki was a young survivor of his country's participation in WW2. In its aftermath he developed an inclination toward graphic arts, specifically the Japanese art of Manga, or comic books. This led him into the animated film industry, specifically in the role of an In-Betweener, an artist employed to generate frames meant to imply seamless cohesion between the more expensively produced frames. Eventually his stature within the biz grew, and he not only served as chief animator to his mentor Yasuo Otsuka on the film HOLS: PRINCE OF THE SUN, he was able to contibute story ideas as well. His success grew continually and exponentially until he finally wrote and directed his first feature, one of the most bizarre and breathtaking animation epics I guarantee you'll ever witness. It features not-at-all veiled comments on the ecology and feminism. It employs ink-n-paint styles that seem equally influenced by Walt Disney and Heavy Metal as much as its own Japanese roots. And it can provide as maximum a dose of empathy with a bizarre image as the best of David Lynch. And I ain't lyin' about none of the above. So if that's your cuppa tea, no pun intended, I suggest you hop on board with one of the genuinely iconic female warriors from the painted cell era. And no, that's NO, that's not what I meant Hey can't we clear these clowns out once and for all??? It's been FOUR YEARS!!!
Hayao Miyazaki's NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND screens twice today at IFC Center, first at a mythical hour known as 10:45am (right, and pixies dance on my head. Or something.), but I'm specifically picking the midnight show, because that's the way I believe you need to witness it whether for the first time or the 500th. At the cult hour. I walked into a screening of this film 3 years ago with little-to-no foreknowledge of what was to come. What resulted was one of the great filmgoing experiences of my life. Can't recommend it enough.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in June '16 click on the interactive calendar on the upper right hand side of the page. 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 soon with new Picks 'n Perks, til then safe, sound, make sure the next knucklehead is too!
P. S. Summer seems to have finally graced our fair metropolis, but milder weather aside some of our fellow NY'ers have still yet to be made whole in the wake of the 2012 storm. Should you be feeling charitable please visit the folks at OccupySandy.net, follow their hammer-in-hand efforts to restore people's lives, and donate/volunteer if you have the inclination and availability. Be a collective mensch, Stockahz!
