Weekend Update, September 9th-11th. Hawksian Women, Silent Clowns, and the 1st Musical Shot on Location in NYC! Read On!
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Whassap Stockahz?!? Glad to see you on the other side of this sweltering season, what Omar Sharif would no doubt refer to as the sun's anvil. Summer '16 has passed, even though its talons still claw at the coming calendar. Fall '16 approacheth, and with it much rep film mirth. In the spirit of the season's change I'm offering up a new format regarding this site and its content. Over the course of the past 4 yaers I've adopted few but various formats, most consistently, or inconsistently a 4-5 day per week post. This proved to be a very rewarding and successful approach, yet the rude interferences of the outside world and its attendant responsibilities have proven a unusurpable hindrance to put it mildly. So beginning now, I'm trying out a new format. Hear me out.
Each week I'll post a weekend overview, with an addendum that forecasts the following week and my Picks appropo. I'll make sure to maintain separate posts on the Facebook page and the site's Twitter feed, but the site itself, it's gettin' an efficiency upgrade. So those of you who feel so inclined, please toss me yer feedback as regards this new development. As always, your convenience is my priority. Let's get to it.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH
IFC Center
FELLINI'S SATYRICON (1969) Dir; Federico Fellini
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) Dir; Philip Kaufman
Film Forum
HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940) Dir; Howard Hawks
NOTORIOUS (1946) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
MoMA
Modern Matinees: B is for Bogart
MARKED WOMAN (1937) Dir; Lloyd Bacon
BAM Cinématek
That's Entertainmant: MGM Musicals Part One
CABIN IN THE SKY (1943) Dir; Vincente Minnelli
HALLELUJAH (1929) Dir; King Vidor
Film Society of Lincoln Center
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) Dir; Charles Burnett
Syndicated
HEATHERS (1989) Dir; Michael Lehmann
Nitehawk Cinema
THX-1138 (1971) Dir; George Lucas
Today's Pick? Howard Hawks' HIS GIRL FRIDAY, because it's HAWKS, because it might be, ultimately, my fave work from the master. Mostly though, because Roz Russell doesn't merely essay the apex of the Hawksian Woman, she seemingly beckons the term single-handedly. Oh yeah, you also get to catch Hitch's NOTORIOUS as a bonus.
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10TH
IFC Center
FELLINI'S SATYRICON (1969) Dir; Federico Fellini
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) Dir; Philip Kaufman
Nitehawk Cinema
POINT BLANK (1967) Dir; John Boorman
THX-1138 (1971) Dir; George Lucas
Film Forum
HOUSE OF WAX in 3D (1953) André de Toth
DIAL M FOR MURDER in 3D (1954) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
BAM Cinématek
That's Entertainmant: MGM Musicals Part One
CABIN IN THE SKY (1943) Dir; Vincente Minnelli
Syndicated
HEATHERS (1989) Dir; Michael Lehmann
Film Society of Lincoln Center
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) Dir; Charles Burnett
Mid-Manhattan Library
A PATCH OF BLUE (1965) Dir; Guy Green
Library for the Performing Arts
A GENTLEMAN OF PARIS (1927) Dir; Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast
Museum of the Moving Image
THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) Dir; James Bridges
Today's Pick? The Silent Clowns Film Series, and their presentation of Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast's A GENTLEMAN OF PARIS, a sort of sequel to the Chaplin-directed but not starred-in A WOMAN OF PARIS. There are few experiences as wondrous as catching a film in the LPA's glorious theater to the mellifluous tinklings of Grand Piano maestro Ben Model. Admission is free but seating is limited, and these events only grow more popular by the month. Arrive early to claim your seat.
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11TH
Film Forum
THE RED BALLOON (1956) Dir; Albert Lamorisse
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945) Dir; John Stahl
LAURA (1944) Dir; Otto Preminger
IFC Center
FELLINI'S SATYRICON (1969) Dir; Federico Fellini
Nitehawk Cinema
POINT BLANK (1967) Dir; John Boorman
BAM Cinématek
That's Entertainmant: MGM Musicals Part One
ON THE TOWN (1949) Dirs; Stanley Donen & Gene Kelly
Metrograph
SANDRA (1965) Dir; Luchino Visconti
Mid-Manhattan Library
THE MERRY WIDOW (1952) Dir; Curtis Bernhardt
What better way to mark the passage of our nation's worst moment, the attacks on the Twin Towers now 15 years old, than to celebrate both the U.S. Navy and our remarkable urban social experiment, the crossroads of the world, the greatest city on the global map: Manhattan. Stanley Donen &Gene Kelly's ON THE TOWN screens for a couple of days at BAM Cinématek as part of the series That's Entertainmant: MGM Musicals Part One.
Other notable screenings this upcoming week include the Jacques Demy two-fer of THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT and THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, two of the finest post-modern musicals, Monday 9/12 at Film Forum; the is-it-film-or-BluRay? screening of Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Tuesday 9/13 at the newly re-christened Cinépolis; Michael Curtiz's exceptional Warner Brothers gangster film ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES, Wednesday 9/14 at MoMA; and Richard Brooks' groundbreaking modern noir procedural, 1965's IN COLD BLOOD, Thursday 9/15 at the Nitehawk Cinema.
For more info on these and all NYC's rep film screenings in August '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!