Oct 14th - 16th: Young Lovers, a Damsel in Distress, and the Closing Days of the New York Film Fest. Read On. .
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Has it already been a week, Stockahz? It seems like just yesterday that I was hippin' ya to my Picks 'n predilections concerning the 2nd weekend of October 2016. So much has transpired since then, since we discussed all this cinemtic on NYC's repertory circuit. Things non-cinematic to be sure. Things wierd, even. things downright perplexing, even. Things I never thought I'd ever see in a Presidential election in my life okay I'm not gonna get drawn into it again I promised myself. We've all been through quite enough in the real world the last 7 days and from what I can tell we're all exhausted by it. I can attest to that fact. So let's sink into the sweet, comfortable folds of the reel world for a time and heal a bit, allowing the manufactured dreams of the movies to inform our own personal concoctions. Let us go and make our visit.
Continuing series this week include Modern Matinees: B is for Bogart, Marlen Khutsiev and Breaking Bard: Shakespeare on Film at MoMA, Krzysztof Kieslowski - A Complete Retrospective & the Agnes Varda appeciation at Museum of the Moving Image, Welcome to Metrograph: A to Z and Old & Improved at the Metrograph, the newly-returned Film Forum Jr. at , you guessed it, Film Forum, and, sadly, the final days of the 54th New York Film Festival at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. That last one is always greatly missed. The rundown as follows;
Friday October 14th
Film Forum
ONE-EYED JACKS (1961) Dir; Maroln Brando
MoMA
Modern Matinees: B is for Bogart
THE CAINE MUTINY (1956) Dir; Edward Dmytryk
Metrograph
THE MARRYING KIND (1952) Dir; George Cukor
EPILOGUE (1984) Dir; Marlen Khutsiev
Film Society of Lincoln Center
New York Film Festival - Retrospective
DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS (1949) Dir; Henry Hathaway
New York Film Festival - Revival
PANIQUE (1947) Dir; Julien Duvivier
Museum of the Moving Image
Krzysztof Kieslowski - A Complete Retrospective
BLIND CHANCE (1981) Dir; Krzysztof Kieslowski
Nitehawk Cinema
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1974) Dir; Wes Craven
Today's Pick? I'd put this series off til tomorrow, when it properly closes out, but as I'm headed to this screening later today it seems more appropriate to choose it tonight, as it is my actual Pick.The Henry Hathaway retrospective that accompanied this year's NYFF may not have been a complete one, which would've proved a Herculean task, but it provided more than its share of classics and little-seen gems, a fair overview of the craftsman's career. I'll be cobbling together a post-fest diary and detailing my takes on these films, including tonight's DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS from 1949. It screens as part of the excellent Retrospective section of this year's New York Film Festival. Greatly looking forward to it, and if you haven't yet, be sure to check my nr=ew YouTube channel, Nitrate Stock TV, where I'll be providing a quick intro pre-screening and my thoughts once it's flickered its last. Damn, I hate goodbyes...
Saturday October 15th
Nitehawk Cinema
DIABOLIQUE (1954) Dir; Henri-Georges Clouzot
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1974) Dir; Wes Craven
Film Forum
ONE-EYED JACKS (1961) Dir; Maroln Brando
Film Society of Lincoln Center
New York Film Festival - Retrospective
THE DARK CORNER (1946) Dir; Henry Hathaway
23 PACES TO BAKER STREET (1956) Dir; Henry Hathaway
Museum of the Moving Image
Krzysztof Kieslowski - A Complete Retrospective
NO END (1984) Dir; Krzysztof Kieslowski
MoMA
Breaking Bard: Shakespeare on Film
ROMEO AND JULIET (1968) Dir; Franco Zefirelli
Today's Pick? Don't we just need a little damn romance these days? Especially after the last few days??? So let's return to a gentler, more blissful time, one which epitomized the spirit of Shakespeare's most famous young lovers. NO, I'm not talking about 14th Century Northern Italy, you think you'd make it out of that bloodbath alive?!? No! I'm talking about the Summer of Love, the late 60's, when one Franco Zefirelli seemingly was the first-ever filmmaker to think casting actors NOT in their thirties to play the star-crossed teens might actually sorta kinda maybe be a good idea? He lucked out with the cast, the luminous Olivia Hussey and the solid Leonard Whiting, 15 and 17 respectively, closer in youth to the written characters yet wise beyond their years. Nino Rota contributed one of the most romantic scores in cinema history, and the rest was just that. Zefirelli's ROMEO AND JULIET screens as part of MoMA's terrific series Breaking Bard: Shakespeare on Film. Ah, L'amore.
Sunday October 16th
Film Forum
IT'S A GIFT (1934) Dir; Norman Z. MacLeod
ONE-EYED JACKS (1961) Dir; Maroln Brando
Nitehawk Cinema
DIABOLIQUE (1954) Dir; Henri-Georges Clouzot
MoMA
Breaking Bard: Shakespeare on Film
MACBETH (1971) Dir; Roman Polanski
IT WAS THE MONTH OF MAY (1970) Dir; Marlen Khutsiev
JULY RAIN (1967) Dir; Marlen Khutsiev
Museum of the Moving Image
CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 (1962) Dir; Agnes Varda
Krzysztof Kieslowski - A Complete Retrospective
PERSONNEL (1975) Dir; Krzysztof Kieslowski
A SHORT WORKING DAY (1981) Dir; Krzysztof Kieslowski
Metrograph
THE INSIDE STORY (1948) Dir; Allan Dwan
Mid-Manhattan Library
THANK YOUR LUCKY STARS (1943) Dir; David Butler
Syndicated
THE SENTINEL (1977) Dir; Michael Winner
Today's Pick? The Miracle of Astoria, our beloved Museum of the Moving Image, has an unbeatable three-fer today, beginning with a screening of CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 as part of their Agnes Varda series, followed by two films in theor ongoing tribute Krzysztof Kieslowski - A Complete Retrospective: 1975's PERSONNEL and 1981's A SHORT WORKING DAY. They don't unspool as part of a traditional triple-bill but ticket price can be applied to a full museum admission, which means you get 3 films and access to the entire facility. And you will spend this day better how, exactly?
Other notable screenings this week include Richard Brooks' adap of Tennessee Williams' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, screening Monday evening at IFC Center as part of their Queer/Art/Film series; William Friedkin's essential horror masterpiece THE EXORCIST, unspooling its digital 1's & 0's this Tuesday at the newly bemonickered Cinépolis; an extremely rare 35mm screening of one of Patrick McGoohan's pre-SECRET AGENT film roles, Basil Dearden's Jazz-age OTHELLO adap ALL NIGHT LONG, unspooling at MoMA this Wednesday as part of the series Breaking Bard: Shakespeare on Film; and Sam Raimi's frightful debut, 1981's EVIL DEAD, screening this Thursday at one of our newest and best rep venues, Syndicated in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
So there ya have it, my advice for your weekend's best time expenditure, and some here's and there's regarding the ensuing days, til we check in again a week from now for the purposes of once more rummaging through the reels and making the tough yet wonderful choices regarding our chosen love. Til then be sure to follow me on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, and be SURE to catch my new YouTube channel, Nitrate Stock TV, where I'll be checking in at screenings all over the city and giving my 2 cents on the film, the venue, the audience, any damn thing that comes to my mind. Which, as some of ya know, can be quite entertaining. Til next time Stockahz, remember: be safe, be sound, and make sure the next guy and gal are too. Excelsior!
- Joe Walsh
P. S. As you know I like to beat the drum for what I consider worthwhile causes. Lately the strain of xenophobia which, sadly has always been present in our countyr, mostly dormant, but at times very awoken and tangible. Sadly, the latter is the present case, and the subject of Syrain refugees has become a veritable powderkeg. To those of you who believe we can aid these people, our fellow human beings who are desperate for our help, I suggest the heroic efforts of the good men and women at www.DoctorsWithoutBorders.org. They're providing boots-on-the-ground relief, everything from surgery and medicine to clean water. It's a small something to be sure in this maelstrom of madness, but is is just that: something.
