April 14th - 20th: Berkeley's Bananas, Choice Czech Achievements, and WWI, Here's Hoping it's Not a Trilogy.
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There was a moment, and not too far in the rear view mirror, when the NYC rep film circut seemed a prospect lost, a scene abandoned, after years of indifferent programming and venues blowing off the prospect entirely, even as Midnight Movie fodder. When the advent of the Home Theater System morphed as DVD's emerged, and sound systems went 5.1, and the prospect of a home film library with state of the art picture and sound (plus the novelty of supplemental materials) cost-effectively acquired, when all those factors coincided, I theorize, attendance on the rep circuit dipped. Programmers weren't as in demand, the scene pretty much devolved to the stalwarts, the Film Forum and MoMA and the Walter Reade Theater, and it didn't help that Astoria's Moving Image was undergoing a years-long renovation. I started this site in 2012, primarily because I didn't see anything else like it on the interwebs, and being that friend that everyone pestered regarding the classic film doings in our fair Metropolis, especially when summer rolled about and outdoor screenings loomed, it just seemed easier to start the page and tell everyone to just go to there.
But the last 5 years have born witness to a resurgence, even a rennaissance, as concerns our classic film scene. Film Forum shook things up a little, especially when they programmed their Spaghetti Western series during that initial summer. Then Moving Image reopened in 2011, and by the time I was up and running they had their repertory schedule on a steady course. My beloved Nitehawk Cinema also opened its doors in 2011, giving burgeoning programmers a voice, and they've been exploring avenues of film's past from Times Square Grindhouse glory to the works of Antonioni and Tarkovsky and Bergman. It seemed something was afoot. Theaters started to cobble together serious rep film calendars again, and the audience was there, seeking, as I beieve they always will, the communal experience.
In the last year-plus the rep circuit's thrived, and seen the emergence of the LES's magnificent Metrograph, Bushwick's Syndicated, and the arrival (at last!) of the Alamo Drafthouse NYC! It's an absolute feeding frenzy now, over a scene one thought dying, and it's only getting harder and harder for me to keep up. Which pleases me greatly.
So it's with great joy that I welcome the newest player to the game, the renovated and rethought Quad Cinema on 13th street in Manhattan, the city's first multiplex that initially opened in 1974. It's ben refit with state of the art projection equipment, sound systems, screens and seats, taken over by the Cohen Realty group and run by its offshoot boutique cinema restoration arm Cohen Media. Christopher Wells, once of the great IFC Center, has come aboard to oversee thier repertory sked, so I am assured that we're in good hands! They've hit the ground running, with several series beginning simultaneously, and guest speakers like Petey Bogz and Greta Gerwig! I look forward to spending a great deal of time at this new gem.
New and continuing series this week include Modern Matinees: Mr. Cary Grant and Ecstasy and Irony: Czech Cinema, 1927-43 at MoMA; No Bulls**t: Starring Robert De Niro at the Film Society of Lincoln Center; Quadrophilia, Lina Wertmüller: Female Trouble, Four Play and First Encounters (I told ya!) at the Quad Cinema; Universal in the 70's: Part II and Too Much and Not the Mood at the Metrograph. Let's get to it:
Friday April 14th
MoMA
Modern Matinees: Mr. Cary Grant
IN NAME ONLY (1939) Dir; John Cromwell
Ecstasy and Irony: Czech Cinema, 1927-43
FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY (1931) Dir; Gustav Machaty
ECSTASY (1932) Dir; Gustav Machaty
Film Society of Lincoln Center
No Bulls**t: Starring Robert De Niro
RAGING BULL (1980) Dir; Martin Scorsese
MIDNIGHT RUN (1988) Dir; Martin Brest
ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA (1984) Dir; Sergio Leone
Quad Cinema
THE GANG'S ALL HERE (1943) Dir; Busby Berkely
Lina Wertmüller: Female Trouble
SWEPT AWAY (1974) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
SEVEN BEAUTIES (1975) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
Syndicated
THE DARK CRYSTAL (1982) Dir; Jim Henson
Nitehawk Cinema
AMERICAN POP (1982) Dir; Ralph Bakshi
IFC Center
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) Dir; Monte Hellman
Roxy Hotel Cinema
WILD AT HEART (1990) Dir; David Lynch
Today's Pick? Cary Grant's on the table, as is the great pairing of De Niro and Grodin in the last good Martin Brest film. James Taylor and Dennis Wilson go for pink slips against Warren Oates, and one of the all-time screen couples, Sailor and Lulu, set out to define their individuality and persoanl freedom. But really, do any of them stand a chance against a film choreographed/directed by Busb Berkely, trusting Carmen miranda with pages of dialogue and boasting of a finale that sees the great hot-coal throated Eugene Palette singing? A'nah. Berk's THE GANG'S ALL HERE screens as part of the inaugural slate at the freshly scrubbed Quad Cinema! Here's to the first of many times I get to choose this venue as the day's best!
Saturday April 15th
Quad Cinema
THE MERCHANT OF FOUR SEASONS (1972) Dir: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
QUADROPHENIA (1979) Dir; Franc Roddam
Lina Wertmüller: Female Trouble
ALL SCREWED UP (1974) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
LOVE & ANARCHY (1973) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
BLUE VELVET (1986) Dir; David Lynch
Metrograph
Universal in the 70's: Part II
DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE (1970) Dir; Frank Perry
JEANNE DIELMAN (1975) Dir; Chantal Akerman
MoMA
Ecstasy and Irony: Czech Cinema, 1927-43
FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY (1931) Dir; Gustav Machaty
SKELETON ON HORSEBACK (1937) Dir; Hugo Haas
KRISTIAN (1929) Dir; Martin Fric
Film Society of Lincoln Center
No Bulls**t: Starring Robert De Niro
HI MOM! (1970) Dir; Brian de Palma
THE DEER HUNTER (1978) Dir; Michael Cimino
Mid-Manhattan Library
BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984) Dir; Martin Brest
Syndicated
LABYRINTH (1987) Dir; Jim Henson
Roxy Hotel Cinema
BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1969) Dir; Russ Meyer
WILD AT HEART (1990) Dir; David Lynch
Anthology Film Archives
ORLANDO (1992) Dir; Sally Potter
Nitehawk Cinema
AMERICAN POP (1982) Dir; Ralph Bakshi
IFC Center
TWO-LANE BLACKTOP (1971) Dir; Monte Hellman
Today's Pick? Cimino's Oscar-winner is assuredly a classic, but I've never been sold on its being a masterpiece, if that makes any sense. And much as I would love to join the De Niro lovefest, I have always fund this film to be slightly, maybe nore than slightly jingoistic, and maybe not the best film for this current climate. So I think some world outreach might be in order, and am choosing the fest at MoMA today, celebrating Czech Cinema, 1927-43. Should you not be a museum member the screenings will cost you $12 a pop, and there are three essentials today: Gustav Machaty's FROM SATURDAY TO SUNDAY, Hugo Haas' SKELETON ON HORSEBACK, and Martin Fric's KRISTIAN. 'Course, if you shelled out the lowly sum of $85 you'd get free reserved admission to these and also free admission to what I understand is a quite lovely museum that happens to be attached to the film center. Maybe I'll go check out this Rothko guy sometime, I hear he digs his colors.
Sunday April 16th
Film Forum
FUNNY FACE (1957) Dir; Stanley Donen
THE BIG PARADE (1925) Dir; King Vidor
Quad Cinema
Lina Wertmüller: Female Trouble
LOVE & ANARCHY (1973) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
BLOOD FEUD (1987) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI (1972) Dir; Lina Wertmüller
THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939) Dir; Alexander Korda
Metrograph
JEANNE DIELMAN (1975) Dir; Chantal Akerman
Universal in the 70's: Part II
PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971) Dir; Clint Eastwood
TELL THEM WILLIE BOY IS HERE (1969) Dir; Abraham Polonsky
Film Society of Lincoln Center
No Bulls**t: Starring Robert De Niro
GOODFELLAS (1990) Dir; Martin Scorsese
THE DEER HUNTER (1978) Dir; Michael Cimino
THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987) Dir; Brian de Palma
MoMA
Ecstasy and Irony: Czech Cinema, 1927-43
BATTALION (1927) Dir; Premysl Praszky
VIRGINITY (1937) Dir; Okatar Vavra
HAPPY JOURNEY (1943) Dir; Okatar Vavra
Roxy Hotel Cinema
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH (1982) Dir; Amy Heckerling
Today's Pick? King Vidor's silent WWI classic THE BIG PARADE, one day only at Film Forum with live piano accompaniment from Steve Sterner. It screens as part of a commemoration of the centennial anniversary of our entry into that conflict, optimistically referred to as the War to End All Wars. It serves as a reminder that such skirmishes are and always have been folly. And it couldn't unspool at a more appropraite moment.
Other notable screenings this week include Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA, screening this Monday the 17th as part of the Film Society's series No Bulls**t: Starring Robert De Niro; Paul Schrader's directorial debut, and what might be his lone masterpiece, 1977's brilliant genre-mashup BLUE COLLAR, screening in 35mm at Metrograph this Tuesday the 18th, as part of the series Universal in the 70's: Part II; Albert Magnoli's PURPLE RAIN, what was regaled as the "Citizen Kane of Rock & Roll films" upon its debut in 1984, what sadly serves as marking of the month when we lost the genius who stars, scheduled for Wednesday the 19th, mere days from the date of his passing, at the Tarrytown Music Hall; and the underseen DIRTY GERTIE FROM HARLEM USA, directed by Spencer Williams, an actor/filmmaker who specialized in the so-called "Race Picture" circuit that co-existed as a boutique industry during those awful decades of segregation in film and beyond, unspooling Thursday the 20th as part of MoMA's essential series Making Faces on Film: A Collaboration with BFI Black Star.
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.
