Nov. revivals: first half.

Hey. Mike here with what to catch for the first half of November. Sorry I'm late with this, but that couldn't be helped. I'll list what's good to catch, and I'll write as brief as possible. Here we go:

ROSEMARY'S BABY- Tues Nov 4 and Wed Nov 5 at 7 and 9:35- Film Forum- A 40th anniversary screening, with a new 35mm print. It opened on Halloween at the Forum, but these are doable dates. I've brought it up before, and I bring it up again. No new details, but according to someone who was highlighted as a "member of the week" on the Forum's web page, if you get too scared by this film, just look at Ruth Gordon, and it becomes a comedy automatically. I agree.

NOSFERATU THE VAMPIRE- Tues Nov 4 (and hopefully longer) at 7:55 and 10:10- IFC Film Center- A new 35mm print of the shorter American release, as opposed to the director's cut. Herzog and Kinski, in this adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. Definitely runs through Tuesday. I think it runs through Thursday, and hopefully at least a week longer than that, but the website hasn't been updated, so I can't provide any new info.

HELL FIGHTERS with INFLATION- Wed Nov 5 at 8:15- MOMA- Easier to copy this from MOMA's website:

1957. Great Britain. Directed by Cy Endfield. With its dog-eat-dog politics and breakneck chase sequences, Hell Drivers stands alongside Raoul Walsh's They Drive By Night, Jules Dassin's Thieves' Highway, and Henri-Georges Clouzot's Wages of Fear as a gripping allegory of postwar capitalist exploitation and betrayal. The film's swaggering cast features the brooding, cocksure Welshman Stanley Baker and a then-unknown Sean Connery, along with Patrick McGoohan (The Prisoner, Secret Agent), William Hartnell (Dr. Who), and Herbert Lom (The Pink Panther sequels, The Ladykillers). Preserved by the bfi, London. 92 min. Inflation. 1942. USA. Directed by Cy Endfield. With Edward Arnold. This witty wartime propaganda short—a parable of greed & was commissioned by the Office of War Information but was then rejected by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for its "anti-capitalist" message. 15 min.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN- Thurs Nov 6 at 7 and 9:30 for 7.50- Chelsea Clearview Cinema- The Mel Brooks comedy classic gets screened again, and at a convenient price. Many great scenes, but my favorite is easily Gene Hackman as the blind man/ the Host from Hell!. Skip the stage version and catch this. 2 Oscar nominations, for Sound, and for Gene Wilder and Brooks' Screenplay. Would you believe the script lost to Godfather Part 2? You do? Well never mind then. I hope those who introduce and occasionally speak during the film like MST3K, will not step on too many lines.

DINER- Fri Nov 7 at 1:30- MOMA- Another of the young male bonding/growing up type of film. Both Barry Levinson's first film as writer/director, as well Levinson's first film set in his native Baltimore. The sleeper hit of the summer of 1982. An Oscar nomination for the screenplay, and a major boost to the careers of Steve Guttenberg, Kevin Bacon, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke, Tim Daly, Paul Reiser and Ellen Barkin.

THE WILD CHILD- Fri Nov 7, Sat Nov 8 and Tues Nov 11- Thurs Nov 14 at 6:15, 8 and 9:45- Film Forum- A new 35mm print of Francois Truffaut's 1970 film. Shot in black and white, and in a style more akin to silent films, to try to match its 1798 setting. A nature versus nuture story, as Truffaut cast himself as a doctor, trying to both examine, study and raise a boy born in the wilderness, and also to "civilize" him. A performance from Truffaut that made Hitchcock ask him for "that actor who played the doctor's autograph", and made Spielberg cast Truffaut in Close Encounters. Yeah, I got that from the Forum's website. What a tool I am.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON- Fri Nov 7 and Sat Nov 8 at Midnight- IFC Film Center- Part of a retrospective of horror films from the 1980s. A sleeper hit from the summer of 1981. Funny and freaky. An Oscar for Makeup, highlighted by one of the great film transformation scenes ever.

WILD STYLE- Fri Nov 14, Mon Nov 17, Tues Nov 18 and Thurs Nov 20 at 10- Film Forum- A new 35mm print of a film screened only at 10pm at night. Was popular in 1983 and in its various re-releases in 84 and 85. Well, let me re-phrase, it was popular in places like Brooklyn and the Bronx. Outside, the rest of the country preferred films like Breakin and Beat Street. A quasi-musical/documentary, it followed various graffiti people (I'm not calling them artists), DJs and rappers, with concert performances of people like Grandmaster Flash and Fab Five Freddy.

Consider this a lesson in Hip Hop history, pre-MTV Raps. The film's director Charlie Ahearn will be at the Friday Nov 15 screening, with "surprise guests". If by surprise guests they mean surprise live musical performances, then you're guess is as good as mine.

VIDEODROME- Fri Nov 14 at Midnight- IFC Film Center- Part of a retrospective of horror films from the 1980s. One of the few studio films from director David Cronenberg. James Woods stars as a sleazy cable tv programmer, who gets hooked to Videodrome, an S and M, snuff-ish film show, that tends to distort things, physically and mentally, for the viewer. If you don't know this, I won't spoil it much more, except this is NOT for the physically or emotionally squeamish. Cronenberg's statement on overdosing on the varying visual media, and trashy TV (sounds timely, doesn't it?). Featuring a quite sensuous Debbie Harry.

Let me know if there's interest. Later all.