I'm doin' my damndest to refrain from kicking these posts off with non-movie related kvetching, such as the Yankees record at this stage of the season, the fact that weather-wise it's been autumn since the end of May, and my firm & concrete denial that BREAKING BAD ended. Season 6 is starting any day now. Don't wake a sleepwalker.

Like I said. I'm doin' my damndest.

New and continuing series today include The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy, A Fuller Life, and An Auteurist History of Film at MoMA, If You Meet Klaus Kinski, Pray For Your Death at Anthology Film Archives, the Film Society's Freaky Fridays at the Howard Gilman Theater, and the 2nd 1/2 of the comprehensive Luis Buñuel trib at BAM. Let us go then, you and I;

Sure, modern Hollywood's adept when it comes to talking Raccoons. Granted, they can make you love a tree more than any hippie thought imaginable. And yes, spaceships have never looked quite as Chris Fossian as this week's latest blockbuster displays them. You gonna let that wimwam come between you and a classic screening today? Especially when you've already seen this new blockbuster three times? In one day?

Okay for you, then! I'm gonna stay true to my rep film roots and eschew a 4th screening of Marvel Studios' latest magnum opus in favor of the classic gems on display. Wait, I meant a 1st screening! I mean any screening oh hell have I blown my cover! Drat! Let's just dive in! ROCKET RACOOOOOOOOONNN!!!!

Ongoing series today include An Auteurist History of Film , The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy, and A Fuller Life at MoMA, If You Meet Klaus Kinski, Pray For Your Death at Anthology Film Archives, and The Deuce at the Nitehawk Cinema. Those about to unspool, we salute you;

Guess what day it is? GUESSGUESSGUESSGUESSGUESS!

Yeah. It's Wednesday. Wait I got that joke wrong. Lemme start again. Oh the Hell with it.

New and continuing series this day include An Auteurist History of Film and The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, If You Meet Klaus Kinski, Pray for Your Death at Anthology Film Archives, and the 2nd 1/2 of BAM Cinématek's comprehensive Luis Buñuel trib. Abandon all Humpday blahs, ye who proceed forth;

Back from my mini-jaunt to the Jersey Shore, a short but much-anticipated opportunity to indulge in one of my fave annual fortitude-testing repasts. I won't go into any garish gastrointestinal detail, I'll simply quote a great man, who knew a little something about blowin' it out, as it were;

What happens at the Clamfest, stays at the Clamfest. - Dean Martin.

Okay, it was Dean Cheswick Martin, founder and emeritus of the Center for Advanced Learning in Mollusk Sciences. But they sorta shared similar wildman philosophies. Ahem.

New and ongoing series today include The Great War: A Cinematic Legacy at MoMA, Classics in HD at Symphony Space, If You Meet Klaus Kinski, Pray For Your Death at Anthology Film Archives, and the 2nd 1/2 of BAM's comprehensive Luis Buñuel trib. Let's go sharkin';

So it's only been two months since yours truly got the hell outta dodge. BOY, are you cats exacting! Well look, begrudge me all ya want, I'm hightailing it out of this bescrabbled burg for a 2-day Clamfest at the Jersey Shore. I will muse heavily upon your non-mini-vacationing envy whilst scarfing down various fried delicacies, of both the food variety and the no-questions-asked iteration. As it benefits me not to abscond without even an inkling of the weekend's doings on NYC's rep film circuit, I will provide you once more with the bulk-buy version of the daily picks, as well as the series overview, which goes a little something like this;

August '14 is finally, most regrettably upon us. Regrettably not for any demerit of its own, but for its rank on the calendar, heralding increasingly colder temps and dead leaf-ridden lawns. So let's blank our memories of these unfortunate perennial happenstances and instead celebrate the little slice of summer that remains, shan't we?

Oh hell, it's the end of the month. Let's just get to it.

Ongoing series today include Femmes Noirs at Film Forum, An Auteurist History of Film and Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57 at MoMA, and the Luis Buñuel retrospective at BAM Cinématek. Once more into the 4-perf breach;

Nitrate Stock 's August '14 calendar/podcast is just about ready to post. Exciting stuff lay on NYC's rep circuit horizon, including tribs to two very influential auteur filmmakers, an observance of one of Hollywood's least proud moments, and, of course, the last of the city's terrific outdoor screenings. Before we get there, though, let's send July off in style, shall we?

Ongoing series today include Femmes Noirs at Film Forum, An Auteurist History of Film and Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57 at MoMA, and the Luis Buñuel retrospective at BAM Cinématek. The palimpsest reads thus;

July 2014. Independence Day, the World Cup and the 45th anniversary of the Eagle's touchdown in the Mare Tranquilitatis. All in all it's been a pleasant passage of 31 days. The month's not over yet though, nor is the rep film circuit's sked. So let's get to it.

Continuing series today include Femme Noirs at Film Forum, Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57 at MoMA, the Luis Buñuel retrospective at BAM Cinématek, and Journalism in Film at the Nitehawk Cinema. A-spooling we shall go;

In the words of every infomercial since the dawn of cathode ray tubes, AND WE'RE BACK! The site was victim of a security update snafu yesterday, and apologies to anybody inconvenienced by the service interruption. The lights are back on, the doors are open again, my smiling mug's once more here to greet ya. No, I don't charge extra for hugs. Autographs, let's haggle.

Ongoing series today include Origianl Gangsters at IFC Center, Femmes Noirs at Film Forum, Lady in the Dark: Crime Films from Columbia Pictures 1932-57at MoMA, Star Presence on Screen at Museum of the Moving Image, and the Elmore Leonard trib at Anthology Film Archives. Let's go to the format of choice!