The rep menu is slimmer, but no less inviting this brisk December day. Or is it May? I'll listen to anyone's best guess. Anybody? Anyone at all? March? October? Is anyone still alive out there???

Ongoing series today include Nonesuch Records on Film at BAM Cinématek, The Tenth Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives, and The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA. The scandalo be così;

It's a weird September lull on the movie scene, for both the first-run and rep circuits. Michaël R. Roskam's THE DROP, released last Friday, is among the more exceptional films I've seen all year, and a new Terry Gilliam, coming this weekend, is always cause for joyous anticipation. Beyond that the pickin's be slim. Thank god the repertory programmers are the busy bees they are, ensuring some semblance of attendance-worthy cinema graces our city's screens. Today's sked may be slim, but it's also golden.

New and continuing series today include The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Nonesuch Records on Film at BAM Cinématek, The Tenth Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives, and the returning CinéSalon at the French Institute/Alliance Français. The fromagerie's wares be ainsi;

NFL. Week 2. And your justifications for self-euthanasia are?

Today's continuing series include Film Forum Jr. at Film Forum (who'da guessed?), 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien at Museum of the Moving Image, The Tenth Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives, Nonesuch Records on Film at BAM Cinématek, 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and the succinct Classics in HD at Symphony Space. The repertory shenanigans be thus;

New and continuing series today include 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, Nonesuch Records on Film at BAM Cinématek, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Also Like Life: The Films of Hou Hsiao-hsien at Museum of the Moving Image, The 10th Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives, and 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. The tomfoolery be thus;

Continuing series today include 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, Nonesuch Records on Film at BAM Cinématek, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, and The 10th Dimension: Edward D. Wood Jr. at Anthology Film Archives. My friends, can your hearts stand the shocking facts?

In the wee small hours of September 11th, 2001, I returned home after catching a screening of Kevin Smith's JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK, stepped out of a cab on the corner of Bleecker Street and La Guardia Place. And, as was my wont, as I'd spent my childhood dreaming of living in Manhattan and had, at that point, been the realizer of said dream for 7 years, paused at the corner, looked down West Broadway at my perfect view of the Twin Towers, and reminded myself that I'd been trying to learn to whistle. So I practiced a few feeble attempts, gazed at the old boys, and took note once more how lucky I was to be in NYC. Since then I've managed to master a very rudimentary version of Whistle While You Work. I never perform it without a specific set of listeners in mind.

New and continuing series today include The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Chelsea Classics at the BowTie Chelsea Cinemas, 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and The 10th Dimension: Edward D. Wood, Jr. at Anthology Film Archives. The shenanigans be thus;

Just re-watched Tim Burton's last great film, perhaps his best film, for the first time in over 10 years; 1994's ED WOOD, in advance of Anthology Film Archives' looming retrospective of the man's infamy. Which left me with two residual emotions: 1. It almost makes me love Oyster Boy all over again, the fact that he used this opportunity to tell his mad scientist tale, in the guise of a fellow misfit director no less, and in so doing granted both Bela Lugosi and Wood a mortality rewrite, as well as a mortal re-evaluation, and 2. I'm actually considering revisiting these beloved works of emulsified madness even though I've borne witness in communal darkness numerous times prior. Wood is just that potentially infectious, something Burton not only learned but communicated most eloquently 20 years ago. Those future events will affect you in the future, though, can your heart stand the shocking details of today's rep film sked?

Today's continuing series includes The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, and 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Shall we?

Tough choices to be made on NYC's rep film circuit today. Two of 'em, to be exact. A last grab for greatness, or at the very least relevance, by one of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, and a canny and caustic tale of a soldier's desertion during WWI. Dear god, it is NFL season, isn't it?

Today's lone ongoing series is The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA. The cinematic artillery exchange be thus;

NFL week one starts today. As does my annual contemplation of my own mortality. Harrumph.

Today's new and continuing series include Film Forum Jr. at Film Forum, 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, Country Brunchin' at the Nitehawk Cinema, Classics in HD at Symphony Space, John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society of Lincoln Center, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, and Simenon Redux: Maigret on Film at Anthology Film Archives. To paraphrase William Blake, here be flyckers;

Continuing series today include 1939 - Hollywood's Golden Year at IFC Center, Country Brunchin' and Nitehawk Nasties at the Nitehawk Cinema, The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, 50 Years of John Waters: How Much Can You Take? at the Film Society, and Simenon Redux: Maigret on Film at Anthology Film Archives. The cinematic wim wam as follows;