November 2016! Total Verhoeven, 3D Auteurs, and the 14th Annual To Save and Project!

Greetings and salutations, Stockahz! Welcome to another moth's Overview from Yours Truly! Here's hoping October treated you splediferously and set a high bar in terms of filmgoing reward, because November only promises more and better treasure to be had on NYC's rep film circuit! Hard to believe there's only two months left in the calendar year entitled 2016. We began in fashion horrific, mourning the back-to-back loss of David Bowie and Alan Rickman. We still have this mammoth monolitihc mishegoss of a General Election mere days from now, a hellish hump to climb indeed. However, once the dust has settled, and hopefully our Democracy has prevailed and remains intact, we can turn our sights back to the healing merits of cinema, that excursion and short-term stay into the collective dark with our fellow man and woman. If ever there existed a more wondrous, communal healing process, I haven't yet experienced it. Maybe baseball, but that's it. As I said, there's a great deal to look forward to, so let's get to it!

Those of you who follow this site, y'know, the cool kids, you know I like to confer what I call Big Dawg status on that screening or series I deem well-nigh unmissable over the course of each lunar cycle. Last month that highly-esteemed esteem went to Lincoln Center's Film Society and their essential, unmissable annual gala, the New York Film Festival, this year unveiling it's 54th slate! I got to catch some exceptional revivals and restos, films like Kenji Mizoguchi's UGETSU, restored to its original ghostly splendor in a new 4K spitshine; Gillo Pontecorvo's sadly still-timely THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS; and several gems and quirks from studio era-craftsman Henry Hathaway, including SPAWN OF THE NORTH, FOURTEEN HOURS, and the man's masterpiece KISS OF DEATH. It was 2 weeks of utter cinematic bliss, the company of my fellow Cinegeek, the intro's and Q&A's with guest speakers and filmmakers, the pristine 35mm prints and new digitized iterations. It's a blast while it lasts, and the hangover's pretty bad once it's done. The good news, then, is that MoMa routinely follows this extravaganza with a seismic series of its own.

Ths month's Daily Growl, as it does every year around this time, goes to MoMA and their 14th annual To Save and Project program, their celebraton of cinema spared time's ravage. Every year MoMA hosts a month-long slate of newly-discovered films, reconstructions of films thought incomplete, and restorations of films otherwise in disrepair, accompanied by the men and women responsible for the discoveries and restorations, and even the filmmakers themselves when circumstances, and a defiance of the grave, allows. The series has just begun but those few films that have already screened, like Lewis Milestone's THE FRONT PAGE and Tom Buckingham's COCK OF THE AIR, have scheduled encore dates. Upcoming gems include what promises to be a stunning resto of King Hu's wuxia classic LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN; Robert Aldrich's brutal existential treatise EMPEROR OF THE NORTH; John Ford's early talkie THE BRAT; F. W. Murnau's THE DARK ROAD, the Weimar auteur's earliest surviving film; Aaejay Kardar's DAY SHALL DAWN, a Pakistani contribution to 50's World Cinema; Anthony Mann's stylish, devilish 40's noir HE WALKED BY NIGHT, featuring the ace shadow photography of John Alton; a twill bill from G. W. Pabst, 1930's WESTFRONT 1918 and 1931's COMRADESHIP; and closing out the series, Felix E. Feist's DELUGE, a legendary production long on the Lost Films list that beat Irwin Allen and Roland Emmerich to the disater epic by decades! The cherry of the whole enchilada, to mix metaphors, is this Saturday's screening of a brand new restoration and reconstruction of George A. Romero's seminal work of indie and horror filmmaking, 1968's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Spruced up, corrected to its proper aspect ratio for the first time in decades,intro'd by its maker, the great Georgie A., all these factors would be cause enough to cheer and cool one's heels on the stand-by ticket line in hopes of snaggin' a seat. The real draw? This is the first time the complete version has been seen since it was initially released. Taken from a set of reels that have been OH so securely stashed away at Romero's Pittsburgh ofices for almost 50 years, aided by the efforts of Martin Scorese's Film Foundation and the George Lucas Family Foundation, we will now see the full director's cut of one of the most famous films in the history of the medium. Several different types of chills to be had over this news. To Save and Project runs til the 23rd.

Also at MoMA this month the ongoing Modern Matinees series goes the full wonk, with the Election season apropos The Body Politic. Titles upcoming include Sidney Lumet's FAIL-SAFE, Theo J. Flicker's THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST, Alan J. Pakula's ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, Curtis Bernhardt's KISSES FOR MY PRESIDENT, and John Frankenheimer's THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE. And the museum's exceptional trib to an otherwise unsung Japanese auteur, Tomu Uchida: A Retrospective, continues with titles like 1957's THE ELEVENTH HOUR, 1964's A FUGITIVE FROM THE PAST, and 1955's TWILIGHT SALOON. I've thus far only gotten to view one film in this series, 1960's KILLING IN YOSHIWARA, a superb slow-boil melodrama about an otherwise seemngly humble man's downfall once his lusts take the reigns of his life. Predating other similar efforts like Pabst's THE BLUE ANGEL and Lang's SCARLET STREET, the film displays Uchida's mastery of narrative through subtle direction of his players and use of color and camera movement. Enthralling stuff, I hope to catch more before it ends on the 7th. MoMA is located at 11 W 53rd st. in Manhattan.

Just a 20m walk NW of this incredible venue we find ourselves at baby stroller hell, or as I like to call it, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, who play host to what I felt was a close-runner up for the Mammoth Mutt o' the Month tchotchke. Total Verhoeven offers the complete CV of Holland's most famous filmmaker, from his early Dutch-made offerings like 1973's TURKISH DELIGHT, 1975's KATIE TIPPEL and 1977's SOLDIER OF ORANGE , all featuring his breakout discovery Rutger Hauer, to his crossover efforts SPETTERS and THE 4TH MAN, to his Hollywood blockbusters ROBOCOP, TOTAL RECALL and BASIC INSTINCT. Later cult efforts like SHOWGIRLS and STARSHIP TROOPERS may not have connected with larger audiences but helped solidify his burgeoning, devoted cult. A return to his native land's film industry produced the 2006 masterpiece BLACK BOOK, a refreshing return to his earlier Verhoeveness! From his first films to his latest, the Isabele Hippert-starring ELLE, every one of his flicks is there for the witnesing at the newly-renovated Walter Reade theater, and the man himself will be there to discuss his career, his themes and his future projects. Check the Film Society's site for the complete and routinely updated list of guest speakers accompanying this series, which runs from Wednesday the 9th til the 23rd.

Also at the Film Society is a holdover from their recently-wrapped Film Festiva, the new 4K resto of Robert Bresson's final film: 1983's LARGENT, opening on the 11th for an exclusive run. The Film Society of Lincoln Center is located at the Walter Reade Theater, 165 W 65th st., and the Elinor Bunin Monroe Film Center, at 144 W 65th st., on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

And speaking of Bresson we parasail via parapluie over the East River to Brooklyn's BAM Cinématek, who offer the series Bresson on Cinema, a fairly comprehensive retropective of the French auteur's output as well as a selection of films that inspired him. Amongst the latter are such unassailable classics as A MAN ESACPED, DIARY OF A COUNRY PRIEST, MOUCHETTE, and what is perhaps regarded as his masterpece, 1959's PICKPOCKET. The former brings us masterpieces of the genre like Vittorio de Sica's BICYCLE THIEVES, Chaplin's THE GOLD RUSH and CITY LIGHTS, Sergei Eisenstein's much-studied BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, and David Lean's BRIEF ENCOUNTER. Later this month the Cinématek brings us the second chaoter in ther trib to Arthur Freed's legendary song and dance unit, That's Entertainment: MGM Musicals Part II. Lesser-screened efforts like Vincente Minelli's BELLS ARE RINGING, Don Weis' THE AFFAIRS OF DOBIE GILLIS & I LOVE MELVIN, screen alongside the ever-prevalent big guns; AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, KISS ME KATE, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, GIGI, THE BAND WAGON and, of course, that film that has become shorthand for the genre; Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen's SINGIN IN THE RAIN. For the most part these gems screen in the original 35mm, which is reason enough to drag yerself off yer couch and get hoofin' to Kings County. The series begins on the 18th and runs til December 8th. BAM Cinématek is located at the Peter Jay Sharp building, 30 Lafayette Avenue, in Brooklyn.

Escaping via the D train back to the bipedal side of the river we find ourselves at the W 4th st. station, a mere minutes' stroll from that most holy of cinematic cloisters, lower Manhattan's Film Forum. Licing things off this month is the series Demagogues, timed to accompany you-know-what on you-know-when. I'm gonna be real happy when I no longer have to talk about this friggin' election, just for the record. Titles in the series include Gregory la Cava's fever dream of executive overreach GABRIEL OVER THE WHITE HOUSE, Alfred Hitchcock's war prop SABOTEUR, John Frankenheimer's SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and the aforementioned, seemingly ubiquitous THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, Elia Kazan's eerily timely A FACE IN THE CROWD, David Cronenberg's underrated King adap THE DEAD ZONE , and the granddaddy of modern cinema, Orson Welles' CITIZEN KANE. The series runs from the 4th til the 10th.

Following that examination of populist pettiness comes a real fun program. 3D Auteurs offers a selection of renowened filmmkers bearing a signatue flourish and their efforts inboth the early days of the process and its newer iteration. From its nascent era come titles like Raoul Walsh's GUN FURY, Douglas Sirk's TAZA, SON OF COCHISE, Jack Arnold's IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE, Roy Ward Baker's INFERNO, Andre de Toth's THE STRANGER WORE A GUN, amd three others that seem to be ever-present: de Toth's HOUSE OF WAX, Arnold's CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, and Big Al's DIAL M FOR MURDER. That last title can go on hiatus for awhile. I'm not askin', I'm beggin'. Sadly, most other entries in this eries come from the era post 1991, the cutoff date for listings on my site, but there's plenty of awesome fare to be had from the last 10 years of the medium. Be sure to check the Forum's site for the full listings.

Julie Dash's groundbreaking DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST returns to the venue that birthed it some 25 years later for a weeklong run in its restored iteration. Robert Altman's MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER stop by for a week from the 30th to December 6th. One-off screenings include Scorsese's AFTER HOURS on the 6th, Richard Brooks' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF on the 20th, and George Stevens' THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK on the 28th. And of course, the venue's hook-'em-while-they're-young series Film Forum Jr. soldiers forth, with titles like Chaplin's THE GREAT DICTATOR, Jim Henson's LABYRINTH, and a variety of Laurel & Hardy shorts to close out the month. Film Forum is located at 209 W Houston st. between 6th avenue and Varick street.

Macheteing our way over to the very edges of civilized society we find ourselves at No. 7 Ludlow street, just north of Canal. Or as we've lovingly come to refer to it, the Metrograph, NYC's newest rep house.The bookings here come so fast, frequent and voluminous it's been quite the chore to keep up with their listings. but I'll take that problem any day of the week and twice on Sunday. Which, coincidentally, is about as frequent as they appear. Continung series include Welcome to Metrogrpah: A to Z, which this month brings us Dennis Hopper's OUT OF THE BLUE and Capra's MEET JOHN DOE; Food on Film brings Gabriel Axel's BABETTE'S FEAST and Peter Greenaway's THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER; and the Bresson love continues, offering a few selections to fill in the gaps in BAM's fight card, titles like 1943's LES ANGES DU PECHE,1945's LE DAMES DU BOIS DE BOLONGE and 1974's LANCELOT DU LAC. The most special event comes Friday the 11th, as Martin Scorsese intro's a restored DCP of his seminal concert feature THE LAST WALTZ, accompanied by one of the film's stars, The Band's Robbie Robertson. Not to be missed. Metrograph is located at 7 wait I already told ya that!

Subway surfin' back into Brooklyn we find ourselves in bustling bearded Billyburg, at what remains my fave theater in the 5, the awesome Nitehawk Cinema. Upcoming efforts for the lunch and midnite movie crowd include what many consider Robert Altman's masterpiece, 1975's NASHVILLE, John huston's debut THE MALTESE FALCON, and John Hughes' Thanksgiving staple PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES, all for the Bellini-besotted, and Katsuhiro Otomo's groundbreaking anime AKIRA at the Witching Hour. Other notable screenings include Ivan Passer's LAW AND DISORDER as part of the monthly trib to Times Square's glory Grindhouse era, The Deuce. And the tots n' root beer combo? Still unbeatable. The Nitehawk is located a mere hop, skip n' jump from the L train at 136 Metropolitan Avenue, in Brooklyn.

Waking up on the R train after a root beer n' tots hangover we find oursleves at the Steinway st. stop in Astoria, the Palm Springs of NYC, and a short 10m stroll from that cinephile citadel, Museum of the Moving Image. This month's highlight is a screening of Kihachi Okamoto's samurai film classic SWORD OF DOOM, screening as part of the special event An Afternoon with Tatsuya Nakadai. The legendary actor will discuss the film, as well as his collaborations with co-star Toshiro Mifune, and his work such legendary directors as Hiroshi Teshigahara, Masaki Kobayashi, Mikio Naruse, and, of course, Akira Kurosawa. The event occurs Saturday the 5th. Unmissable.

Also at Moving Image come 3 screenings of Mel Stuart's WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, perhaps the role most associated with the recently departed silver screen legend Gene Wilder. The screenings are accompanied by workshops wherein kids and their families can create multimedia projects inspired by the classic film. The film screens on the afternoons of the 25th, 26th and 27th. Moving Image is locate at 26-01 35th avenue in Queens. Make sure you have a stamped pass from the mayor; as you know, it's a gated community.

Returning to the samurai theme, and our Manhattan terrain, IFC Center's onoing trib to Kurosawa & Mifune brings us the classics THE HIDDEN FORTRESS, THRONE OF BLOOD and SEVEN SAMURAI. Midnight madness includes James Cameron's ALIENS, Steven Spielberg's JAWS, and Hayao Miyazaki's NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND. IFC Center is located at 323 6th avenue in Manhattan.

The Rubin Museum's wonderful, ongoing Cabaret Cinema series offers up Frank Capra's LOST HORIZON and Blake Edwards' THE PARTY. Bushwick's Syndicated brings us John Landis' musical masterpiece THE BLUES BROTHERS and Woody Allen's Oscar-winning HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. Jacques Becker's CASQUE D'OR is part of the CinéClub d'Olivier Barrot at the French Insttute/Alliance Française. Lincoln Center's Library for the Performing Arts screens C.B. DeMille's original 1927 version of CHICAGO, complete with live piano accompanimnet from Ben Model, Saturday the 12th. And the New York Historical Society brings us Stanley Kramer's INHERIT THE WIND on the 18th, intro'd by Associate Justice Sam Alito and Professor Philip C. Bobbitt of Columbia Univeristy, as part of their ongoing Justice in Film series.

So there it is, your rundown of the month in repertory cinema. Schedules are subject to change, and they do, so be sure to check back with this site to keep fully updated. And be sure to like me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, observe me on Instagram, stalk me on Tumblr, and OH YEAH: check in with me via my brand-spankin'-new YouTube channel, NitrateStock TV! Face it, we're just stuck with each other. So until next time, be safe and sound, Stockahz, and make sure the next knucklehead is too. Excelsior!

-Joe Walsh

JoeW@NitrateStock.net

P.S. My charitable push expands, because the forces for ill are making their grandest surge I've yet seen in my lifetime against he forces of the-other-guy/gal-counts-too: please continue to support the boots on the ground and hammer in hand eforts of Occupy Sandy, as they still work to restore families affected by Hurricane Sandy to their safe havens, but let's also support the victims of the Syrian crisis, the refugees who've come under attack by fearmongers worldwide and, most shamefully, here at home. Please either donate to agencies like DoctorsWithoutBorders, RedCross, and/or UnicefUSA, or post these addresses to your feed to involve your friends and followers in a noble cause. What are we if not a compassionate people? JFK once said, amd I'm paraphrasing, that Anerica was great because it was good. Once the latter ceased to be the case, the former would evaporate like so much hot steam. Really, though, at the end of the day, wouldn't it feel great to know you helped improve someone's circumstance. particularly the desperate ones? Here's hoping you pitch in. Cheers, Stockahz.