July 28th 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.
Well, here we come to the finality of yet another July, which may instill dread in those who count how many summers they have left (RUMBLEFISH fans!), but only bolsters the spirits of those, like me, who collect their paychecks as part of the service industry. To us, July can't die fast enough. And August ain't no Grand Bargain either (Wonks!), but at least it contains the few remaining outdoor screenings NYC can comfortably offer, my annual walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, and my annual birthday, which happens every year. In case it was a question dangling out there. Farewell month named for Julius Caesar. Hello month named for Augustus Caesar. Let's do this, shall we?
Continuing series this month include Les Durs at Film Forum, Modern Matinees: Summer With Judy Holliday & Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey, both at MoMA, and the wonderful Booze N' Books at my current fave, BillyBurg's Nitehawk Cinema. The unspooling ululation be thus;
Film Forum
LA BETE HUMAINE (1938) Dir; Jean Renoir
LE MAGNIFIQUE (1973) Dir; Phillipe De Broca
MELODIE EN SOUS-SOL (1963) Dir; Henri Verneuil
LE DEUXIEME SOUFFLE (1966) Dir; Jean-Pierre Melville
THAT MAN FROM RIO (1964) Dir; Phillipe De Broca
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Summer With Judy Holliday
A THOUSAND CLOWNS (1965) Dir; Fred Coe
Seriously Funny: The Films of Leo McCarey
RUGGLES OF RED GAP (1935) Dir; Leo McCarey
THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S (1945) Dir; Leo McCarey
Nitehawk Cinema
THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP (1982) Dir; George Roy Hill
Stuyvesant Square Park
THE BIRDS (1963) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Brooklyn Bridge Park
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1935) Dir; Frank Capra
Today's Pick? Tough field! Were Film Forum to offer a discounted tik $ for multiple viewings of their excellent French Tough Guy series it'd be the hands-down winner. As it is it stands an even chance with the rest of the sked. Jason Robards' stellar turn in the film adap of Herb Gardner's A THOUSAND CLOWNS is a giant celluloid magnet, as are the outdoor screenings this eve; Capra's NIGHT and Big Al's THE BOIDZ! But I have a sentimental choice this eve. And it regards someone this world lost almost exactly 2 years ago.
Robin Williams was one of those special talents who not only found difficulty employing his particular gifts early in his career, but in finding opportunities beyond what became his particluar box once he achieved success. He conquered the world in terms of fame & money, but he very rarely got the chance to explore his vast gifts once his persona was cemented with general audiences. He was part Danny Kaye, part Jerry Lewis. Both traits made him a perfect fit for family-oriented fare through the 90's and naughts. But he was made of more serious stuff as well, and was rarely afforded the opportunity to prove it. Later attempts at said status seemed more like stunt casting, roles as serial killers in Romanek's ONE HOUR PHOTO & Nolan's remake of INSOMNIA, both perhaps well-essayed perfs but coming at a point irrelevant. When he took his own life 2 years ago, sadly, tragically, I wrote an appreciation of the man that included the perhaps untimely caveat that he'd made few good films, that he'd been given few chances to really show what he could do. I said that not only with no disrespect in my heart, but with much love for a talent I felt mishandled, perhaps wasted by a Hollywood system that pidgeon-holes particular talents and refuses to allow them growth. I advised his fans to watch, immediately, Paul Mazursky's masterpiece MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON, one of the few times Williams was offered the opportunity to portray a fully 3-dimensional human being type person. I thought it was his best perf in 1984, I still think it now. His 2nd best perf, equally full of warmth, depth, conflict, charm, and genuine empathy, came 2 years prior to Mazursky's gem. It screens tonight at the Nitehawk Cinema. And if you're a Cinegeek with no prior obligations this eve, shame on you if you miss this.
George Roy Hill's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP unspools in glorious 35mm at that fabulous den of Root Beer sin and Tater Tot decadence, B-Burg's Nitehawk Cinema, as part of their exceptional Booze N' Books series. Attend the screening, trust me. And take off the gloves.
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!
