April 7th -13th: Blind Swordsman, One-Eared Scorsese, and, Well, You'll Just Have to See What Eastwood's Missing!
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From Russian hackers (no joke!) to being crushed by a falling house. And no, the latter is not mean to to and does not imply that I am in any way affiliated with the Wicked Witch of the East. That's a plausible denial, is all I'm sayin'. OKAY, maybe a whole house didn't fall in on me, but a good chunk of what used to be my ceiling became my floor suddenly. Like, as I was stanfing beneath it. Prompting me not only to stop brewing my morning tea, but to make plans for other residence until such time as the problem was solved. So it is that two-COUNT-"EM -TWO months have now transpired with a delay to the monthly calendar and also, regrettably, a cancelling of the Monthly Overview. So I want to offer the following to everyone who's stuck with me thus far and especially through the ruptures of the last two lunar cycles;
It's very important to me that you know I'm still completely dedicated to this site, and to the meager service I provide to the NYC film fanatic. I'm working pretty much from home with no financial recompense for the effort, and I don't neccessarily require one (not the use of the word neccessarily, I'm good at leaving myself an out!). I do this as a labor of love, but also as my form of film school. I've gotten a great education out of applying myself to this site and to the rep film scene and the peeps who provide it and attend it. It's my aim to provide even MORE info, interviews, opinions, to preserve and enhance the communal experience that is so important to film. When I'm blocked in my efforts it doesn't merely aggravate me on a personal level, it frustrates me because I feel like I'm not doing my job, not providing you with the easy access to info you desire. It's been my joy to watch the rep film scene re-blossom in NYC, I'd like to think I had some small part in aiding that resurgence. And I want to promise you that, while glitches and hiccups are inevitable, I will do my damndest to solve any of these as quickly as is possible, and I will always work my hardest to provide you with the most up-to-date and complete listings as any man can manifest.
In other words, stick with me Stockahz.
Now let's get to biz.
New and ongoing series this week include Modern Matinees: Mr. Cary Grant at MoMA; Universal in the 70's: Part II, The Singularity and Joan Tewkesbury at Metrograph; The Inkblots: Rorschach on Film at BAM Cinématek; the Martin Scorsese Retrospective and Martin Scorsese: Great Restorations at Museum of the Moving Image; and the awesomely titled Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema at the Japan Society! The flickering frivolity be thus;
Friday April 7th
Film Forum
A KIND OF LOVING (1962) Dir; John Schlesinger
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Mr. Cary Grant
HOLIDAY (1938) Dir; George Cukor
Metrograph
Universal in the 70's: Part II
SOMETIMES A GREAT NOTION (1970) Dir; Paul Newman
ALPHAVILLE (1965) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
Japan Society
ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE (1963) Dir; Tozukô Tanaka
Roxy Hotel Cinema
THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN ARM (1955) Dir; Otto Preminger
Today's Pick? I'm slowly catching up with the immensely popular and still unfolding Zatoichi series, one of Japanese cinema's most enduring icons, who still packs 'em in the same way 007 does in the Anglo world. Tozukô Tanaka's ZATOICHI THE FUGITIVE unspools in glorious 35mm tonight as part of the Japan Society's consistently brilliant Monthly Classics series. It's the 4th entry in the series and unseen by these peeps. So I make it my Pick this day over formidable fare like Premingers' ARM and Newman's NOTION. Sometimes, ya just wanna see a sword fly. Y'know?
Saturday April 8th
Nitehawk Cinema
THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T (1953) Dir; Roy Rowland
Film Forum
A KIND OF LOVING (1962) Dir; John Schlesinger
BAM Cinématek
The Inkblots: Rorschach on Film
THE DARK MIRROR (1946) Dir; Robert Siodmak
SPELLBOUND (1945) Dir; Alfred Hitchcock
Mid-Manhattan Library
STIR CRAZY (1980) Dir; Sidney Poitier
Roxy Hotel Cinema
GYPSY (1962) Dir; Mervyn LeRoy
Museum of the Moving Image
AKIRA KUROSAWA'S DREAMS (1990) Dir; Akira Kurosawa
Japan Society
Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures & Fantasies in Japanese Cinema
BLUE CHRISTMAS (1978) Dir; Kihachi Okamoto
Metrograph
NASHVILLE (1975) Dir; Robert Altman
ALPHAVILLE (1965) Dir; Jean-Luc Godard
Universal in the 70's: Part II
SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE (1972) Dir; George Roy Hill
Today's Pick? I'm staying over in Japan today due to yet another film unwitnessed by mine own eyes, and by one of my favorite filmmakers all-time. My study of Akira Kurosawa is nearly lifelong, and some of you may know I program a for-me series every year I like to call Summer with Kurosawa, where I revisit the man's great works and try to sneak in a title yet to be seen. It's a bit early for that fave fest to kick off, but I do need to acquaint myself with the post-RAN output of this Maestro. DREAMS was his follow-up to that monumental masterwork, not as fawned over by critics as the previous piece but championed by enough of his admirers to beckon a glance. Which I would gladly give based on his name alone. It unspools today in 35mm at the Museum of the Moving Image, as part of their wonderful, ongoing Martin Scorsese Retrospective, and also features the Rat-tat-tat Raconteur as the Peerless Earless, one Vince Van Gogh himself, an idol to both Mr. K and Mr. S. Starry, indeed.
Sunday April 9th
Film Forum
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS (1956) Dir; Cecil B. DeMille
A KIND OF LOVING (1962) Dir; John Schlesinger
Nitehawk Cinema
THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T (1953) Dir; Roy Rowland
Museum of the Moving Image
Martin Scorsese: Great Restorations
THE COLOR OF POMEGRANATES (1969) Dir; Sergei Parajanov
THE RED SHOES (1948) Dirs; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
Roxy Hotel Cinema
ALL THAT JAZZ (1979) Dir; Bob Fosse
CABARET (1973) Dir; Bob Fosse
Mid-Manhattan Library
ONE MINUTE TO ZERO (1952) Dir; Tay Garnett
Metrograph
Universal in the 70's: Part II
THE BEGUILED (1971) Dir; Don Siegel
Metrograph
THIEVES LIKE US (1974) Dir; Robert Altman
THE TERMINATOR (1984) Dir; James Cameron
Today's Pick? I don't know enough yet about the Roxy Cinema, so until I explore for myself I feel some trepidation regarding its recommendability, even though that twin-bill is TEMPTING, to say the least. Instead, I'm going to advocate for a tried and true venue, one just getting past the yaer mark, a year of solid programming, excelent prints, and Cinegeekery rewarded handsomely. It's not a trad trip-bill, so you'll have to fork over a separate admission for each screning, but nevertheless I'm urging you spend an entire day at Metrograph, as thre-count-'em-three series unfurl! Universal in the 70's: Part II brings us Don Siegel's cryptic, unnerving Southern goth THE BEGUILED; the Joan Tewkesbury mini-trib offers Robert Altman's Depression-era crime flick THIEVES LIKE US; and the night's capped off by the first true Jim Cameron flick, 1984's THE TERMINATOR, screening as part of their ongoing series The Singularity! You can kill the meager twixt time at their snack bar or book store, but I URGE you to end the evening at their Commisary, where I enjoyed one of the great Steak Frites dinners of my life. If you ever wished you could live in a movie theater, today;s your chance to test that notion. Give it a go!
Other notable screenings this week include Spielberg's THE COLOR PURPLE, this Monday the 10th part of the Queer/Art/Film series at IFC Center; Gustav Machaty's steamy (for 1929) EROTIKON, Tuesday the 11th, part of MoMA's upcoming Ecstasy and Irony: Czech Cinema, 1927-43; the testosteroned troika of Michael Cimino's THE DEER HUNTER and Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER and MEAN STREETS, all in 35mm, all unspooling at the Walter Reade Theater this Wednesday the 12th, as part of the Film Society's trib to Robert DeNiro, appropriately entitled No Bullshit!; and a very timely screening of John Carpenter's last great one, 1988's THEY LIVE, this Thursday the 13th at the Nitehawk Cinema.
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.
