July '17! Quick Overview, Plus; Chilled Martinis, Hot Nuns, and Film's Most Famous Sneeze! I Don't Have a Nun Thing! Read On!
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Welcome to July, Stockahz! Seemed for a spell, as it does every February, that this month might not rear its page-turn, but now it's here, replete with all the series and retrospectives dreamed up during those lumbering winter months by the best programmers this side of huzzah! I'm trying a new format this time out, combining my monthly overview, in the form of a short shout, with the weekly rundown of my Picks. Which means I gotta get my Big Dawg outta the way first and quick. So let's get jogging.
Tough choice this month! So much fantastic programming, so many must-see series! In the end it came down to three terrific unruly mutts: the Quad Cinema's upcoming Mario Bava retrospective, offering up gems like BLACK SUNDAY, PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES, and a RARE screening of what might be the man's masterpiece, his adap of the Italian super-thief cartoon DANGER: DIABOLIK, kicking off July 14th and running til the 25th; MoMA's quizzical but intruiging Future Imperfect: The Uncanny in Science Fiction, boasting over 40 examples of thinking-person's SciFi from around the world, works like Hiroshi Teshigahara's THE FACE OF ANOTHER, Alexander MacKendrick's THE MAN IN THE WHITE SUIT, George Franju's EYES WITHOUT A FACE, and George A. Romero's THE CRAZIES, running from July 17th thru August 21st; and the winner of this month's Daily Growl? Film Forum's just-begun "Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's, which pretty much goes without sayin' but what the hell I'll mention a few titles: Friedkin's FRENCH CONNECTION, Pakula's KLUTE, Gordon Parks' SHAFT, Sargent's THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE, Scorsese's MEAN STREETS and TAXI DRIVER, Lumet's SERPICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON and NETWORK, Woody's INTERIORS and MANHATTAN. The great bulk of these films will be screening in 35mm. It was a glorious, pivotal decade for the industry and the city, one that continues to inspire new voices in cinmes, so let's roll up our sleeves and get filthy with this town and this medium at its dirtiest! Runs til July 27th. What's a mook?
New and continuing series this week include the aforementioned golden pooch "Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's at Film Forum; Welcome to Metrograph: A to Z at Metrograph; Modern Matinees: The Impeccable Deborah Kerr at MoMA; Cool Movies at the Quad Cinema; Southern Gothic and Edgar Wright Presents Heist Society at BAM Cinématek; and the venerable Cabaret Cinema - Soundtrack at the Rubin Museum. The shenanigans be thus;
Friday July 7th
IFC Center
HOOK (1991) Dir; Steven Spielberg
THE SHINING ENOUGH ALREADY (1980) Dir; Stanely Kubrick
Film Forum
"Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's
THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK (1971) Dir; Jerry Schatzburg
SERPICO (1973) Dir; Mah Boy Sid
Metrograph
THE THING (1982) Dir; John Carpenter
ANGEL (1937) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
MoMA
Modern Matinees: The Impeccable Deborah Kerr
BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) Dirs; Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) Dir; J.G. Blystone
Quad Cinema
DR. ZHIVAGO (1965) Dir; David Lean
McCABE & MRS. MILLER (1971) Dir; Robert Aldrich
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) Dir; Peter Hunt
BAM Cinématek
HUSH, HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964) Dir; Robert Aldrich
Edgar Wright Presents Heist Society
CHARLEY VARRICK (1973) Dir; Don Siegel
Anthology Film Archives
THE BLOOD OF A POET (1930) Dir; Jean Cocteau
ORPHEUS (1950) Dir; Jean Cocteau
Vesuvio Playground, Manhattan
CINEMA PARADISO (1990) Dir; Giuseppe Tornatore
Rubin Museum
APOCALYPSE NOW (1979) Dir; Francis Ford Coppola
Today's ick? I'm gonna manufacture a double-bill today, both set in the snowy climes of ice mountain intrigue - Michael Powell and Emeric Presburgr's masterpiece BLACK NARCISSUS, concerning the efforts to establish a convent in the Himalayas, as part of their Modern Matinees: The Impeccable Deborah Kerr series, and grabbing a burger and reading a book before the evening's screening of Peter Hunt's ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE, the lone 007 film to feature George Lazenby, who was denied a repeat engagement but managed to make an indelible impression regardless. The latter screens at the Quad Cinema as part of thier Cool Movies series.
Saturday July 8th
Quad Cinema
THE GOLD RUSH (1925) Dir; Charlie Chaplin
JEREMIAH JOHNSON (1975) Dir; Sydney Pollack
LOST HORIZON (1973) Dir; Charles Jarrott
IFC Center
HOOK (1991) Dir; Steven Spielberg
THE SHINING (1980) Dir; Stanely Kubrick
Film Forum
"Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) Dir; William Friedkin
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) Dir; Joseph Sargent
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1978) Dir; John Badham
Metrograph
THE THING (1982) Dir; John Carpenter
SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG (1971) Dir; Melvin Van Peebles
ANGEL (1937) Dir; Ernst Lubitsch
BAM Cinématek
Edgar Wright Presents Heist Society
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) Dir; Mah Boy Sid Again!
GUN CRAZY (1950) Dir; Joseph H. Lewis
RESERVOIR DOGS (1992) Dir; Quentin Tarantino
MoMA
IT'S GREAT TO BE ALIVE (1933) Dir; Alfred Werker
Anthology Film Archives
THE BLOOD OF A POET (1930) Dir; Jean Cocteau
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) Dir; Jean Cocteau
Today's Pick? Tough, TOUGH choice between some of my faves, including Friedkin's CONNECTION and Carpenter's THING. But I'm going with my favorite NYC movie of all time, Joe Sargent's THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE, unspooling in glorious 35mm at Film Forum as part of the squalor celebré "Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's! Might be the greatest last shot of all time. Catch it and we'll talk. Geshundeit.
Sunday July 9th
IFC Center
HOOK (1991) Dir; Steven Spielberg
Film Forum
"Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's
KLUTE (1971) Dir; Alan J. Pakula
DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975) Dir; Mah Boy Sid's Blowin' UP!
Quad Cinema
MARKETA LAZAROVA (1967) Dir; Frantisek Vlacil
ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) Dir; Peter Hunt
DR. ZHIVAGO (1965) Dir; David Lean
BAM Cinématek
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (1958) Dir; Richard Brooks
A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE (1951) Dir; Elia Kazan
TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) Dir; Charles Burnett
Metrograph
SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG (1971) Dir; Melvin Van Peebles
THE THING (1982) Dir; John Carpenter
SMOOTH TALK (1986) Dir; Joyce Chopra
Mid-Manhattan Library
STATE OF THE UNION (194) Dir; George Cukor
MoMA
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1924) Dir; J.G. Blystone
Anthology Film Archives
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) Dir; Jean Cocteau
ORPHEUS (1950) Dir; Jean Cocteau
today's Pick? Okay, today I'm going with Carpenter's THE THING. 35mm at Metrograph. Part of the ongoing Welcome to Metrograph: A to Z. Watch Clark.
Other notable screenings this upcoming week inlcude Billy Wilder's SABRINA, this Monday at Bryant Park; one of the only English-language films from the great Luis Buñuel, THE YOUNG ONE, screening Tuesday as part of BAM Cinématek's series Southern Gothic; the double whammy of the great Elaine May this Wednesday, her brilliant directorial debut A NEW LEAF coupled with the ghostwritten SUCH GOOD FRIENDS, as part of Film Forum's essential "Ford to City: Drop Dead!": New York in the 70's; and the surely batshit KARATE KILLERS ON WHEELS ( I passed over an outdoor screening of Kubrick's 2001, THAT'S how sure I am!), unspooling in glorious, grimy 35mm this Thursday at Nitehawk as part of their grindhouse gold standard series The Deuce!
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, the outreach and safe haven offered by the International Rescue Committee, and the decades-old and ongoing good works from the folks at UNICEF. Collectively they're proving that the greatest investment we can make as a human race is in each other, and that helping to save someone else in troubled circumstances is indeed nothing more than saving ourselves. It's a small something to be sure in this maelstrom of madness, but it is just that: something.
