I have long described myself as a "recovering Irish-Catholic", an "Apatheist", and "nun'ya friggin' biz" whence my beliefs have been inquired upon. However...

Time to prep for Santa's big trip. Hope you've all done your damndest to stay on his Nice list. Amongst those who may claim to have done such are the esteemed programmers from the various venues that act as enablers for those of us absolutely stricken with the movie bug, especially the classic variety. Today's culprits include the Film Society's Richard Pena and the Film Forum's Bruce Goldstein. Their respective series, on display today as they duel it out to the last this month, are exhaustive tribs to director George Cukor and movie star exemplar Barbara Stanwyck. The submissions for your perusal;

It's down to a battle of the month's two mighty retrospectives; one screening downtown and one uptown; one dedicated to moxie, muscle and at times downright malevolence on the part of its protagonist, the other to unveiling otherwise unseen feminine quality in its female lead; both examples of near uncanny career longevity in an industry that depends on the new giving the old the unceremonial boot; and finally, one the example of a certain type of masculinity intensifying the sexuality of a legendary actress, one Barbara Stanwyck, while the more estrogenically inclined sensibilities of director George Cukor justly exalts him as one of the great "women's picture" helmers of all time. A conundrum, no doubt, so let's look at today's slim menu in full;

Continuing series today include Film Forum's essential Barbara Stanwyck trib, the Film Society's equally fantastic George Cukor retrospective, IFC Center's The Way He Was: Early Redford, and Museum of the Moving Image's See It Big! Great Cinematographers. The proceedings as follows;

New and continuing series today include the Film Forum's nearing-the-finish-line trib to Barbara Stanwyck, the Film Society's equally awesome retrospective dedicated to studio-era ace George Cukor, IFC Center's The Way He Was: Early Redford, MoMA's ongoing Auteurist History of Film, and the Rubin Museum's Cabaret Cinema. The hooliganism be thus;

Continuing series today include Film Forum's comprehensive trib to Barbara Stanwyck, the Film Society's concurrent celebrations of George Cukor, ace studio-era helmer, and filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's work with muse Liv Ullmann, and MoMA's ongoing Auteurist History of Film. The cinematic mishegoss as follows;

New and continuing series today include Film Forum's career retrospective dedicated to studio-era spitfire Barbara Stanwyck, the Film Society's equally essential trib to the masterful CV of filmmaker George Cukor, and MoMA's ongoing Auteurist History of Film. The retro cinema hijinks look a little somethin' like this;

The good news? Looks like we're comin' out of the 17 degree deep freeze by the weekend. The bad news? IT'S NOT EVEN TECHNICALLY WINTER YET! I BLAME THE MAYANS! THEY SCREWED UP THE WHOLE CALENDAR!

Ahem.

Ongoing series today include Film Forum's trib to Hollywood legend Babz Stanwyck, the Film Society's month-long appreciation of the great studio-era helmer George Cukor, MoMA's celebration of American quirk Our Town: Baltimore, Anthology Film Archives' revisit of Delmer Daves' CV, the French Institute's Max Linder retrospective, and the Nitehawk Cinema's Film Foundation series. The doings be as follows;

The holiday party shenanigans be takin' their toll on yers truly, but let's sally forth with today's listings, shan't we? Ongoing series include Film Forum's Barbara Stanwyck trib, the Film Society's George Cukor retrospective, Moving Image's See It Big!: Great Cinematographers!, and Anthology Film Archives' Delmer Daves double-dip. The whole rep circuit megillah as follows;

New and continuing series this most holy of SantaCon observances include Film Forum's month-long trib to Barbara Stanwyck, the Film Society's equally massive George Cukor retrospective, that same institution's series dedicated to the collaborations of filmmaker Ingmar Bergman and muse Liv Ullmann, and Anthology Film Archives' revisit of the impressive CV of one Delmer Daves. The tomfoolery looks a little somethin' like this;