July 20th 2016. 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.
Continuing series this day includes Le Durs at Film Forum, Cassavetes/Rowlands at the Metrograph, and Modern Matinees: Summer with Judy Holliday & Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey, both at MoMA. The emulsified ebullience be thus;
Film Forum
TWO MEN IN TOWN (1973) Dir; José Giovanni
LA HORSE (1970) Dir; Pierre Granier-Deferre
THE NIGHT CALLER (1975) Dir; Henry Verneuil
STAVISKY (1974) Dir; Alain Resnais
Metrograph
THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1976) Dir; John Cassavetes
TOO LATE BLUES (1961) Dir; John Cassavetes
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Summer with Judy Holliday
PHFFFT! (1954) Dir; Mark Robson
Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945) Dir; Leo McCarey
THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937) Dir; Leo McCarey
Pier One, Riverside Park South
ARTHUR (1981) Dir; Steve Gordon
ARROW Field House, Astoria, Queens
E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) Dir; Steven Spielberg
Greenbelt Recreation Center
REAR WINDOW (1954) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Today's Pick? The outdoor screenings don't move me much today, the closest that comes to flicking the needle is Hitch's masterpiece, but I just chose that last week. And in a venue not Staten Island. Film Forum's series showcasing 3 French tough guys from a bygone era tempts, but I feel greater gold from this program lies just ahead, so I'm gonna pass this week. The real contest is between 2 flicks, one from director Leo McCarey, his screwball classic THE AWFUL TRUTH, screening in a series dedicated to an appreciation of his filmography, and one I impore you to catch. But the winner today is perhaps the finest 2 hours from the man maybe most responsible for the American indie film movement. He wasn't the first to employ cheaper cameras and film stock in the pursuit of his singular vision, not the first to embrace the Italian Neo-Realist principles put forth in the 40's by Rossellini & De Sica. That'd probably be Morris Engel, and his debut feature THE LITTLE FUGITIVE. But he was maybe the first American indie auteur, carving out a career behind the camera that lasted over 2 decades, financed by his more successful onscreen career. He embraced the display of great passions of many stripes, utilizing improv in order to get what he believed to be honesty before his lens. Not every one of his films is good, in my humble opinion, but they are all demanding of your attention if you give a good goddam about cinema. He broke ground and crafted some great films, a couple of masterpieces in my estimation, in the process. He helped to bring legitimacy to a burgeoning film scene, one experimental, unpredictable, in some cases dangerous, and in so doing helped usher in the modern era of filmmaking post WWII. Plus he was one of the coolest sons of bitches who ever lived. I mean, if you could spend a day, wouldn't you give a fortune to be John Cassavetes?
Cassavetes' THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, one of his tightest narratives and most concise character studies, featuring one of the ace perfs from lozenge-deprived Ben Gazzara, screens tonight in glorious 35mm at NYC's newest rep film venue, the Metrograph, as part of their gritty and glorious series Cassavetes/Rowlands. Garish, gawdy, even sleazy at points, it nonetheless remains one his most human pursuits. I wager you'll love this flick ya see what I did there I crack myself up have a cigar.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in July '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's canine dusk-til-dawn's have soundly parked themselves over our fair metropolis like the giant saucers from INDEPENDENCE DAY, but warmer weather notwithstanding 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!
