February 17th - 23rd: Bogie Speaks Capote, Beatty Gambles to Cohen, and Capra Hordes Oscar. Read On!
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It's been asked of me quite frequemtly these last few weeks if this site will be hosting another Oscar party, as the prior two were met with much success. Much food and drink and good conversation was had, many great gifts were handed out to the pool winners, and Ben Affleck was roundly booed by all in attendance. All in all, a satisfying evening for a film fan. It's with heavy heart that I must confirm that Nitrate Stock will be taking a hiatus this year from another celebration of all things lil' gold guy, but in its stead I would implore you, if you're not otherwise committed, to spend the bucks you might've at the bash on a few pet, probably shared causes in the hope that our love for the genre can translate to love for the good fight. In that spirit I nominate the following charitable institutions; Doctors Without Borders, the International Rescue Committee, the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Planned Parenthood, and in a specifically non-political nod, my lifelong fave, St. Jude's Hospital. Our love of film, not just certain films but our love of an entire art form, any art form, is supposed to translate into love both internal and kinetic for the world we live in. What better way to honor the movies than to show that love to our fellow men and women?
Alright, I'm off the soapbox. New and ongoing series this week inlcude Modern Matinees: Hollywood and the Great Depression, 1933 at MoMA; Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller at BAM Cinématek; Oscar: Our Favorite Best Picture Winners at Metrograph; Darker: Celebrating Leonard Cohen at Anthology Film Archives; Film Comment Selects: Raoul Coutard at the Film Society of Lincoln Center; and, of course, Film Forum Jr. at, who'da thunk, Film Forum. The oculus obsession be thus;
Friday February 17th
Film Forum
BEAT THE DEVIL (1953) Dir; John Huston
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Hollywood and the Great Depression, 1933
THE BOWERY (1933) Dir; Raoul Walsh
BAM Cinématek
Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) Dir; Roman Polanski
IFC Center
HOUSE (1977) Dir; Nobuhiko Obayashi
Today's Pick? The completely unbeknowst to me resto and recon of John Huston's magnificent exercise in batfuck camp BEAT THE DEVIL, screening at Film Forum today and for a week. Ostensibly a opportunity to reunite the talents behind KEY LARGO, Huston and Bogart, in an attempt to capture lightning in a bottle for a second time. Instead it turned into another working vacation for Huston, who apparently took such a shine to the equally party-agreeable Truman Capote that he let he brillaint scribe dole out the script on a daily basis. Sony Pictures partneed with Scorsese's Film foundatio to bring us this incredible achievement, which also features the talents of Gina Lollobrigida, Jennifer Jones, Peter Lorre and Robert Morley. One more film I never thought I'd get the chance to see has emerged from cheap-cut, public domain hell. I couldn't be more appreciative of this age of archivism, rediscovery, restoration, with multiple heroes from around the globe. This is gonna be a special one.
Saturday February 18th
Film Forum
BEAT THE DEVIL (1953) Dir; John Huston
Mid-Manhattan Library
THE SEARCHERS (1956) Dir; John Ford
Metrograph
Oscar: Our Favorite Best Picture Winners
CASABLANCA (1942) Dir; Michael Curtiz
Anthology Film Archives
Darker: Celebrating Leonard Cohen
McCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) Dir; Robert Altman
L'ATALANTE (1934) Dir; Jean Vigo
BAM Cinématek
Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) Dir; George Romero
IFC Center
HOUSE (1977) Dir; Nobuhiko Obayashi
Today's Pick? Take my advice and pony up the separate admissions to two special screenings at Anthology Film Archives: Jean Vigo's lone feature, the dreamlike, intoxicating L'ATALANTE, and one of the few Robert Altman films I can stand, what might be his masterpiece, McCABE & MRS. MILLER, unspooling in 35mm as part of their series Darker: Celebrating Leonard Cohen. The first is considered one of the most influential French films ever made, the second, perhaps the finest work from its director, from DP Vilmos Zsigmond, from start Beatty and Christie. Both are poetic, egeliac. Both perfect for a still, somber Saturday in February.
Sunday February 19th
Film Forum
THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES (1965) Dir; Ken Annakin
BEAT THE DEVIL (1953) Dir; John Huston
Film Society of Lincoln Center
Film Comment Selects: Raoul Coutard
HAIL MAFIA! (1965) Dir; Raoul Lévy
THE DARK ROOM OF DAMOCLES (1962) Dir; Fons Rademakers
Metrograph
Oscar: Our Favorite Best Picture Winners
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934) Dir; Frank Capra
Anthology Film Archives
Darker: Celebrating Leonard Cohen
McCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) Dir; Robert Altman
L'ATALANTE (1934) Dir; Jean Vigo
BAM Cinématek
Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller
THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS (1991) Dir; Wes Craven
Today's Pick? What better way to prep for Oscars '17 than to experience one of its all-timers, the first film to sweep the so-called Big Five, Director, Script, Actor, Actress and Picture, a feat achieved only thrice in the Academy's history? Frank Capra's IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, what most consider the template for the American screwball comedy, unspools in glorious 35mm as part of Metrograph's timely and essential series Oscar: Our Favorite Best Picture Winners! If you have trouble getting there I suggest hitching a ride.
Other notable Picks this week include Stanley Kramer's GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER, unspooling this Monday as part of BAM's terrific underway series Jordan Peele: The Art of the Social Thriller; a one-nighter of Kubrick's A CLOCKWORK ORANGE at the newly-minted Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn this Tuesday; the immortal Mae West-Cary Grant vehicle SHE DONE HIM WRONG , this Wednesday as part of MoMA's essential series Modern Matinees: Hollywood and the Great Depression, 1933; and Fellini's masterpece LA STRADA, this Thursday as part of Metrograph's nod to the annual gold-giving-gratuitousness Oscar: Our Favorite Best Picture Winners!
Once again, there you have it, my picks and pontifications regarding your next 7 days' worth of rep filmgoing! We'll check in again a week from now, in the early days of a whole new spin 'round the sun, 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. Xenophobia has sadly always been present in our country, mostly dormant, but at times very awoken and tangible. Sadly, the latter is the present case, and the subject of Syrian 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 DoctorsWithoutBorders. 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 it is just that: something.