Sept revivals: Part 2

Mike here with the rest of the September list. Running behind so I'll have to break this month's list into three parts. Not much to bring up other than that, so here we go:


THE LANDLORD- Wed Sept 19- Fri Sept 21, Mon Sept 24 and Tues Sept 25 at 7:45 and 10- Lee Grant will introduce the 7:45 show on Wednesday, September 19- Film Forum- A film NOT available on DVD, just out of print VHS, from director Hal Ashby. Not the first standout director from the 1970s (the last Golden Era of film, allegedly) that you would think of, but with credits that include Harold and Maude, Coming Home and Being There, he is one who must be noticed. I am very curious to catch this one, never seen it before. Basically, it seems to be a similar story as the 1991 Joe Pesci flop The Super, though this actually appears to be funny. Lee Grant, nominated for Supporting Actress for this flick (and would win 5 years later for Ashby's later film, Shampoo), introduces the 7:45 screening. If we actually did this one, it will require some advanced planning.

As for anything else about The Landlord, I'll have to cut and paste from the Film Forum's website, since they can sell it a lot better than myself:


“You know what NAACP means, don’t you?” Whiter than white, richer than rich, callower than callow (“I’m 29!”) Beau Bridges tells the camera, on the impeccable lawn of his family compound as the black butler delivers him a drink, that he needs a home of his own — except his dream house is a tenement in the way-before-gentrification Park Slope! Think he’ll get the African-American tenants to move out? Think he can even get them to start paying rent? And bring back those hubcaps! First feature by Hal Ashby is both a time capsule of 70s cinema — direct-to-the-camera dialogue, jagged editing, jarring bursts of music on the soundtrack, echoey on-location sound... and those bellbottoms! — as well as an edgy (before the term was coined), rope-dancing-on-the-razor’s-edge dramedy on race in America, with Bridges’ mom, Oscar-nominated Lee Grant, taking a break from nurse-maiding the Spinal Meningitis Ball to get down on pot likker with Pearl Bailey;Diana Sands painfully making a shocking admission to “Sioux Indian” hubbie Lou Gossett; Robert Klein’s turn in blackface; and the ‘N’ word, but not said by whom, and to whom, you might think. With camerawork by the great Gordon Willis (Klute, All the President’s Men, Annie Hall and all three Godfathers); screenplay by black actor/writer Bill Gunn (Ganja and Hess); and, as the good-natured jerk rich boy (“I’m a bastard!”), a could-pass-for-18 Beau Bridges, who surprisingly was 29 at the time. “An outrageous debut that still feels daring, both stylistically and politically.” – Darren Hughes, Senses of Cinema. “A wondrously wise, sad and hilarious comedy. Leaves an almost eerie tonic effect of truth and laughter, with some of the sharpest, funniest dialogue in a long time.”– The New York Times. “There’s something really great about it, and it’s a film that I’d kind of fallen in love with. There’s something unique about the softness of the colors, about the way you can light things well but they’re not overly sharp and vivid. There’s just something more human about them, a more poetic way of capturing reality.” – Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt).


A ROOM WITH A VIEW- Thurs Sept 20 at 6- MOMA- Not the first Merchant-Ivory film ever made. And also not the first Merchant-Ivory film to be Oscar nominated, but if you happen to remember The Europeans (just recently released on DVD, though I'm not sure if it's available in R1) or The Bostonians (Vanessa Redgrave's perf holds up, the rest of the film and Christopher Reeves's perf in particular doesn't), then you're a ghost, a freak that I'm not sure I want to know, or James Ivory. And why James Ivory would look at these pages, I have no idea. But just in case, hi James. Don't hate me about that Bostonians crack just now. I'm not that bad, really. Really.

But A Room With A View is the first Merchant-Ivory picture I consider watchable. Oh hell. I blew with James. Forget it, Mr. Ivory. I just can't get anything right. Find another blog.

A delicate romantic comedy (yes, with some dramatic elements) that found it's art house niche in 1986, just as Platoon was beginning to dominate. 3 Oscars including the Screenplay adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel; nominations also for Picture, Director, Supporting Actress Maggie Smith, and Supporting Actor Denholm Elliott. Also featuring notable early performance by Helena Bonham Carter (this and other projects forged the perception of her only as a corset non-modern actress until Fight Club) and Daniel Day-Lewis (how this foppish dolt became Bill the Butcher is a marvel of acting technique), plus a gossipy witch of a woman played by Judi Dench.


FITZCARRALDO- IFC Film Center- W. 3rd on 6th Ave- Fri Sept 22 at 9:20 and Sat Sept 22 at 2:55, 6:10 and 9:20- If you see only one Werner Herzog film this year, let it be Rescue Dawn. It's his most accessible, with a terrific Christian Bale performance. You really get a sense of being a POW with nowhere to escape. It gets the nature beats down man part (a specialty of Werner's) down
better than Castaway, the only film of that kind that most of you readers are aware of.

But if you only see TWO Werner Herzog films this year, let's try to make it both Rescue Dawn AND Fitzcarraldo, from 1982. Klaus Kinski (taking over after both Mick Jagger and Jason Robards quit) plays the title role, a man obsessed with building an opera house in the Peruvian jungle so that Caruso can sing there. Which means of course having to the deal with the Indians, nature, getting a giant boat over a mountain, you know, THE USUAL. As you can tell, or if you already know Herzog and/or Kinski, little about this film would be considered usual. With Claudia Cardinale (Once Upon A Time In The West, The Leopard, The Pink Panther) as his lover.

The film took about three years to make. Obstacles included recasting, the Indians struggling to push the large boat up a mountain so that Herzog could film Kinski and the Indians struggling to push the large boat up the mountain, a plane crash that killed several crew members and some Indians actually burning down the film's campsite because they didn't want the outsiders here anymore. And of course, the non-mellow relationship between Herzog and frequent star/adversary Kinski. Non-mellow to the point that some of the Indians offered to kill Kinski for Herzog (caught on camera in the documentary, My Best Fiend).

But to quote Roger Ebert, 'It may be overlong and meandering, but I wouldn't ever have missed seeing it." I hope you feel the same. The not missing part, I mean. I can't do anything about the rest . . .


THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)- Sat Sept 22 at 3:30- MOMA- One of the better film noirs. Robert Mitchum's best performance as a corrupt preacher willing to kill, as he marries widow Shelley Winters to force her kids to tell him where their late father hid money from a robbery. Any comparisons to Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks, where evil creeps into little America is understandable. It's easy to think of film villains like Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and Gollum, or get caught up in a newer one, like Capitán Vidal from Pan's Labyrinth. It's sometimes easy to forget the older villains. I find Mitchum's preacher more insidious than his later turn in the original Cape Fear.

When I saw Do The Right Thing when it first played in theaters, I admired the Radio Raheem monologue about Love and Hate on his hands. Didn't realize it was stolen from Mitchum's character here. The moral: keep watch good films. And also, if we keep giving Spike Lee less credit, the world will be a happier place to live in. Somewhat kidding about that last part.

Initial reaction from 1955 audiences made this film a huge bust. It prompted first-time director/ acting legend Charles Laughton never to direct again. A cult classic today and maybe even more than that. Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 1992. if you haven't seen it, let's do it.


THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME and KING KONG (1932)- Mon Sept 24 at 7:15 (Game) and 8:30 (Kong)- MOMA W. 53rd and 5th- A double feature of 2 RKO adventure films from director Ernest B. Schoedsack that also shared some of the same sets and co-stars Robert Armstrong and Fay Wray. First, Game, co-directed with Irving Pichel; an adaptation of Richard Connell's short story, where a rich man lets a ship crash onto a deserted island, so that he could hunt and kill the passengers. A story that has been remade over and over again (I'm sure Connell imagined Ice-T being hunted by Rutger Hauer and F. Murrary Abraham; don't you?!?!?). But see how it was done first.

Since Dangerous Game is only 63 minutes long, I figure we can go see that, and stay for King Kong, co directed with Merian C. Cooper. I know a couple of you saw it with me last Thanksgiving weekend, and that the rest of you know of the classic film. But if you see it on the big screen, you would be amazed how well it holds up. Seeing it in a theater as opposed to TV, made it enough of a difference to me have it go from an OK old movie, to a Top 100 film for me. On both AFI Top 100 lists. Go for it.

This double feature will also be re-screened at MOMA on Sat, Oct 13 starting at 3:15


That's all for now. Will bring up the rest of the month next week. Later all.

Sept revivals: first half

Mike here with a short list of films to catch in the first half of Sept. I'd have put up the list a little sooner, but the combo of my enjoying the U.S. Open and there being a only a number of films in a concentrated number of days, hasn't caused me to rush. This also doesn't pay, but anyway . . .

I did receive an interesting number of reactions from the second half August list. Here was one email reaction about Rope:

"God I love Rope. A. and I were saying that it's definitely one of our fave Hitchcock movies."

Unfortunately, they weren't able to make it that weekend. I caught Rear Window with someone who had already seen Rope with me in January 06, so there was no need to stay.

The same person sent me this email response to Klute:

"[A]nd I can't help but feel that it probably isn't justified", re: the vast reservoir of loathing for Jane Fonda. Really, Mike? Well, let me 'splain it to you. The woman was [is] a traitor to her country. She volunteered be used as a propaganda spokeswoman for the North Vietnamese, traveled to that country in wartime, shot at U.S. warplanes using enemy anti-aircraft guns (smiling and laughing like a hyena, btw), and permitted herself to be photographed doing so. She should have been prosecuted and sent to prison. She wasn't b/c she was Henry Fonda's daughter. The only way to demonstrate my disdain for her is to turn my back on anything she says or does and not contribute a penny of my money to her residuals. So I couldn't care less whether acting-wise she is the second coming of Eleanor Druse; Jane Fonda is simply beyond the pale."

Ok then.

At least those two looked at this and reacted. Better than this phone exchange I had with someone else back in July:

Him: So, what's playing at AMMI?

Me: Did you look at the list?

Him: Is there anything there this Sunday?

Me: Look at the list and I'll let you know ASAP.

Him: Why don't do you just tell me?

Me: Did you even bother to look?

Him: You write so much, I print it out so I have something to read on set.

Me: You don't do that anymore. If you did it since the blog started, do you know how many pages you'd have to print?

Him: So you won't tell me what's playing at AMMI?

Me: Oh c'mon!

Him: Well, Karyn won't be doing The Fantasticks for much longer.

Me: Again with Karyn, Bart?!?!?

Oops, did his name slip? MY BAD! On with the list. Here we go:

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER- Fri Sept 7 at 8:30 and Sat Sept 8 at 5:30 and 8:30- The Ziegfeld- 141 W. 54th St.- One more weekend to catch the disco classic that made Travolta a movie star. The film's new 35mm print should be fine on the big screen, and the cleaned up sound should play great.And for those of you who know me, it's 5 dollar admission for up to 4 people, thanks to a printout from Clearview Cinemas website. Then again, if you get contact from their website, you get it also. 5 dollars as opposed to 9.

CRUISING- Fri Sept 7 at 9:40, Sat Sept 8 at 2, 7 and 9:40, Mon Sept 10 at 2 and 7:15, Tues Sept 11 at 7 and Thurs Sept 13 at 2, 4:30, 7 and 9:30- Regal E-Walk Stadium 13- 247 W. 42nd St. and 8th Ave.- A brief release of this restored 1980 film, with a cleaned up sound, and digitally projected for at least one week. In short, this is the one Al Pacino film that doesn't have any clips shown whenever his career is honored. From director William Friedkin, Pacino plays an NYPD cop who goes undercover in the world of gay S and M clubs, to find a serial killer who stalks his prey there. And Pacino's character begins to like this world. Don't know how accurate this sub-culture is depicted, but it is a snippet of the past and how gays are viewed and depicted one year before the first AIDS cases were diagnosed in New York. One of Friedkin's police advisors on The French Connection worked on this film, so the police side is probably accurate. If anything, Cruising focuses more on the police reaction to the gay communtiy.

Cruising was heavily protested when it was shot in New York, to the point where gay activist groups tried to have the filming removed from NYC altogether. Then 40 minutes had to be cut in order to get the R rating. The film came out in March 1980, where the protests never let up. The film was trashed by critics, and flopped at the box office. If it lasted more than a month, I'd be stunned. Pacino, upset that Friedkin changed the film from what is in the script to the final product, and stunned by the intense anger of the protestors who never saw the film (but might have read the book), would never speak about the film afterwards. Distributed by United Artists. Wow, with Cruising released early in 1980, and Heaven's Gate released near the end of that year, no wonder Transamerica got out of the movie business.

Found some quotes about the film from IMDB. Don't know the sources, otherwise I'd quote them:

"“The film doesn’t turn away from the sexuality,” says Friedkin, who notes that the Cannes screening will be followed by a theatrical re-release, complete with a new Dolby Digital sound mix, in select U.S. cities this fall. “That means it will still disturb a lot of people on both sides of the issue.”

He does wish, though, that the studio (Warner Bros.) had been able to find some of the 40 minutes of deleted scenes that he was forced to remove from Cruising 26 years ago at the behest of the MPAA, all of which are now feared missing or destroyed.

Skin tones looked a little pale in the night and club sequences, but colors really popped for the most part, in particular, the yellow NYC cabs. Sound, in particular, the separation between the various songs and ambient noises, was excellent."

Now the film's reputation has been getting some rehabilitation, thanks in part to the standing ovation the new print received this year at Cannes (Tarantino was among those applauding). Personally, I have no idea if this film is any good. I've never seen more than a minute of it years ago on cable. As well as the original trailer which is quite effective actually. It could be good, could be crap, or just passable. It will probably look and sound good, but after that, who knows? Any of you adventureous?

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI- Wed Sept 12 at 7:30- MOMA- Chances are, Lawrence of Arabia is your favorite of David Lean's films. Unless you're a romantic type, then Dr. Zhivago is your favorite. While Lawrence is in my personal top 5, if you tell me Bridge on the River Kwai is your favorite Lean, I can certainly understand it.

A World War 2 drama very loosely based on some true events. A split story of 2 men in a Japanese POW camp. One, an English colonel, the very obsessive model of an English gentleman, who helps the Japanese build a bridge as a symbol of the English spirit. The other, a cynical American who escaped from the camp, and after a brief respite, is forced on a mission to blow up the bridge. William Holden was already an international film star by the time he played the lead American, and Alec Guinness became one as well as the arrogant, deluded, damaged Colonel Nicholson.

9 Academy Award nominations, 8 Oscars, including Picture, Guinness for Actor, Lean for Director and for Screenplay. The film was adapted by Carl Forman and Michael Wilson, both blacklisted writers who received no screen credit. The Oscar went to the man who wrote the original book, Pierre Boulle, despite the fact he only wrote and spoke in French. Forman and Wilson received posthumous Oscars in 1984, and actual credit on the film itself years later. Made it to both AFI Top 100 lists, and in my personal top 100. A film buff's must see.

MEAN STREETS and/or A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH (STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN)- Fri Sept 14 at 6 (Mean) and 8:30 (Stairway)- MOMA- A possible double feature, that can be seen either together for one admission or separately. Personally, I think it's enough of an offbeat double feature to want to catch it, though time constraints may tell me otherwise. A Scorsese picture, followed by a film directed by one of Scorsese's inspirations, Michael Powell.

I brought up the Scorsese-Kietel-De Niro collaboration back in the first half of August, so you'll either see it or you won't at this point. But A Matter of Life and Death (also known as Stairway To Heaven), is something you might not be familiar with. A British film released in the U.S. in 1947, stars David Niven as a RAF pilot who miraculously survives a plane crash. He falls in love with Kim Stanley, an American working with the RAF, who he thought would be the last voice he would ever hear. But the only reason he's still alive, is because an angel in Heaven forgot to collect him. The love affair is cut short when an angel finally comes around to get him. But Niven's character demands an appeal, and has to defend his life in Heavenly court.

Director/Writers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger split the film with a unique color scheme. Earth is depicted in the brightest Technicolor they could use in 1945/46. While all the scenes in Heaven are in stark black and white. I'm guessing the feelings stirred up by this idea, inspired part of Tony Kushner's vision of heaven and angels in Angels in America. And I'm guessing the idea of proving your life's worth in Heaven inspired part of Albert Brooks's Defending Your Life. Throw in Niven being his very proper British self, and you have a good film here. Mix it in Mean Streets, and you have a good double feature. Catch it seperately, and it's still pretty good.

UNFORGIVEN and LORD OF THE FLIES (1963)- Sat Sept 15 at 2 (Unforgiven) and 5 (Flies)- MOMA- A unique double feature. First, Unforgiven. The last Western large numbers of Americans cared about, and in some ways, put the final nail in the genre's coffin. Don't know if the remake of 3:10 To Yuma can change that. And sorry, Tombstone and HBO's Deadwood doesn't cut it for me.

Anyway, if you don't know Clint Eastwood's classic revisionist Western from 1992, then you're not the kind of person who looks at this site. And if you're not into seeing this film, then either you've just seen this recently, you own it at home, you're the kind of person who needs a lot of "action" in your films, or you have your head up your ass with regards to this genre. I can't help you with these issues, I can only push to see it.

9 Academy Award nominations, including Actor for Eastwood and Original Screenplay. 4 Oscars, including Picture and Director for Eastwood and Supporting Actor for Gene Hackman. Chosen for film preservation in 2004, on both AFI Top 100 lists, and in my personal top 25, possibly even higher.

For the same admission, you can see the original Lord of the Flies. Peter Brook's adaptation of William Golding's book. Shot in black and white, but not necessarily black and white in tone. The idea of a kid doing whatever he wants is not unfamiliar to us. Millions ran to see the light version of this story in Home Alone. Consider this a much more bitter pill to swallow.

Using amateur young actors, Brook successfully tells the story of a group of boys, marooned on an island with no adults. They split into 2 tribes, until baser instincts and survival of the fittest prevail. Ignore the 1990 remake, and ignore the CBS reality show variation (wannabe?) Kid Nation, and go for this. Paired with Unforgiven, a strong double feature.

I back all my choices here. Even if its a risk like Cruising. Let me know. Later all.

Revival update: Ziegfeld edition

Mike here with a revival update. Never mind my pushing films like Rear Window, Bringing Up Baby, and Midnight Cowboy. Apparently the Ziegfeld theater at 141 W. 54th St. is closing out the summer with a couple of revivals. Now in the past, they have done a series of films, usually 3 for a week, over the course of 4-7 weeks. Among the films I know people have caught through the Forum include the Lord of the Rings series, the Indiana Jones series, West Side Story, Superman the Movie, Ben-Hur, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But right now, they're only showing one film a week for two weeks. Here they are:

DIRTY DANCING- Fri Aug 24- Sun Aug 26 at 12noon, 2:30, 5, 7:30 and 10, and Mon Aug 27- Thurs 30 at 2, 4:30, 7 and 9:30.

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER- Sun Sept 2 at 12noon, 2:30, 5, 7:30 and 10, and Tues Sept 4- Thurs Sept 6 at 2, 4:30, 7 and 9:30.

Both films are watchable musicals from my lifetime. Both have been listed on the blog before, so I won't do a lot more again. My preference is the Travolta film, but I wouldn't mind either one. I don't know about my schedule during Dirty Dancing, and I wouldn't skip Midnight Cowboy or Bringing Up Baby over for this, but I list all the screening times anyway. Now the Travolta film does play on Labor Day weekend, but I'll be at the U.S. Open, so I didn't bother listing every day of it.

Also note that sometimes, if there are no Internet tickets sold, and if there's no major or even minor walk up business, the Ziegfeld will close without notice. This is especially true of Tuesdays and Thursdays, so be aware. But any chance to catch good films at the last showcase theater in Manhattan is worth writing up about. Later all.

August revivals: second half

Mike here with a list of films to catch for the rest of August. A long list, so I don't have the time to chit-chat. Here we go:



THE WARRIORS and SUPERFLY- Fri Aug 17 at 1 (Superfly), 2:50 (The Warriors) and 4:35 (Superfly) and Sat Aug 18 at 4:35 (Superfly), 6:25 (The Warriors), 8:10 (Superfly) and 10 (The Warriors)- Film Forum- 209 W. Houston St.- A double feature of 2 fun films. Not great, and not for those who think Grand Theft Auto has destroyed America. But it is fun.

First, The Warriors, from director Walter Hill. An update of Xenophon’s Anabasis (the route duplicated in a passable manner on the late 70s MTA subway maps), finds our title group framed for killing a powerful gang leader. The Warriors spend the night going from the Bronx and through Manhattan, trying to get back to their home turf of Coney Island. With the cops and some bizarre looking gangs nipping at their heels. A few great performances, but a lot of huh? type of perfs as well. Some really good action scenes. On one of my trips to see this, one of our crew described the film as such: "Sometimes the film goes from good to great to crap! Sometimes all in the same scene. Sometimes in the same shot!".

Was the Grand Theft Auto of its day. The commercials had to be taken off the air at a certain time. Some people didn't like the depiction of New York as rotting to the core, with inefficient police. It would have been a bigger hit, if gang violence in New York and Boston, hadn't caused the film to be pulled out of theaters. Reviled by critics then, praised as fun junk now.


BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER SING-A-LONG- Fri Aug 17 and Sat Aug 18 at Midnight- IFC Film Center- W. 3rd St. and 6th Ave.- It's been six months, so it's time to bring up the Buffy Sing along at the IFC Film Center.In Manhattan, you get to see the musical episode of Buffy "Once More With Feeling". You get to sing karaoke style with it, plus there's a cast a la Rocky Horror, performing right along with it. I've seen it with and without the cast. Trust me, see it with the cast. To quote comedian Larry Miller, "It's the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it!". And besides, it's fun. You don't have to know the songs to get into it, unless you're a whiny grump, like someone who went with in Huntington this spring.


CHARLEY VARRICK and PLAY MISTY FOR ME- Sun Aug 19 at 3 (Varrick) and 5:30 (Misty)- Museum of the Moving Image (formerly referred to as AMMI)- 35th Ave. and 36th St.- A double feature of two Universal films from the early 1970s as part of the Uneasy Riders: American Film in the Nixon Years, 1970-1974 retrospective. The first film is one I really want to make a push to see, while the second film would be good to catch as part of one admission.

First, Charley Varrick, from director Don Siegel. This was his follow-up to Dirty Harry. It's probably his best film that's been seen by the fewest people. Walter Matthau in the title role, plays a small time bank robber, who accidentally knocks over a bank that launders Mafia money. Now he has the law and the mob after him, and must use all his smarts to try to get out alive.

A major flop in the U.S. despite very good reviews, but a big hit in Europe. It's never been released on VHS, Universal cares so little about the film the DVD isn't even in Widescreen, and this has only enjoyed the rare screening on AMC and TCM. For fans of caper films and/or modern film noir, here's a treat you probably never heard of. Let's do this one.

“The narrative line is clean and direct, the characterizations economical and functional and the triumph of intelligence gloriously satisfying.” – Andrew Sarris.

Next is Play Misty For Me. Starring Clint Eastwood in his directorial debut. If you know Fatal Attraction, you basically know the story. Do note that this film was the one of, if not the first to tell this kind of story in a thriller format, decades before other studios would do this kind of film ad naesuem.

Eastwood is a DJ who has a brief fling with an obsessed fan (Arrested Development's Jessica Walter), who won't take no for an answer. Filmed in a gentle pace until things become intense, yet completed in a short amount of time (21 days) and under budget- hallmarks of Eastwood's direction. It's only a matter of time when someone in NYC does an Eastwood-as-director retrospective. Everything in this future retro springs from this flick. And as a bonus for going to see Charley Varrick, you get a quality thriller. Good deal for the cinephile I'd say.

Note: I think I mis-spelled cinephile. Luckily, I don't care. Moving on.


PSYCHO- Mon Aug 20 for free at Bryant Park- The Bryant Park film series concludes with another film on both AFI top 100 lists, and in my personal top 35. If you've never seen it, go. And if you've seen it only on TV, go. Granted, it can be hard to hear some dialogue in the park. But the film moves at a completely different speed on the big screen as opposed to TV. The shower scene should work great in the park. And even 50 years from now, Anthony Perkins's performance as Norman Bates will still be amazing, and probably still contemporary.


MARCH OF THE PENGUINS for free- Tues Aug 21 and Wed Aug 22 at 10AM- Midway Stadium 9- 108-22 Queens Blvd, Forest Hills- Playing with Barnyard- Before June 2005, if you told me that one of the best films of that year, would be a documentary following the struggles of penguins to breed and survive, I thought you would make be watch this with eyelid clamps and drops in my eye, like in A Clockwork Orange. Even near unanimous 3 1/2 and 4 star reviews wasn't enough for me to say yes. But then it slowly became a surprise hit, and slowly spread beyond Manhattan. Then I finally saw it, and then I finally enjoyed it.

Not for little kids, but I think those who are out of the second grade and up, can handle this and enjoy it. And, you can catch this for free if you have the time. Also playing with the penguins is the animated film Barnyard. I don't care about this film and am willing to skip it entirely.


KILLER'S KISS and SOMETHING WILD (1961)- Wed Aug 23 at 6:30 (Kiss), 7:50 (Something), and 9:55 (Kiss)- Film Forum- Double feature of 2 black and white NYC noirs. First, Killer's Kiss, the first film that Stanley Kubrick was willing to admit to. He actually made a feature length film at only 67 minutes long. A quickie of a film, where a boxer falls for a gangster's moll, as he tries to protect her from the vicious mobster. Not Kubrick's best, there are a number of fantastic shots that we know in hindsight mean an interesting future for this director. Most of these are in the main finale; a car chase that leads to a fight scene in a darkened mannequin warehouse.

Double featured with Something Wild. No, not the Jonathan Demme film from 1986, but the 1961 film starring Carroll Baker. It had disappeared for over 2 decades. The film, and Baker's performance, made a splash at IFC Film Center back in December. I would have mentioned it on the list, but I was frankly more interested in Walkabout and the Buffy Sing-A-Long that month.

Baker plays a rape victim about to go over the edge, when a man rescues her. But is he really a good guy, or another attacker? Look for early screen appearances from Jean Stapleton, Doris Roberts and Diane Ladd. Score by Aaron Copland.


XANADU- Fri Aug 24 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- E. Houston bet. 1st and 2nd ave.- The current Broadway version is a hit, but this one, the 1980 summer flop, is a fun bad movie. Olivia Newton John is probably at her most beautiful, and this was Gene Kelly's last dancing role, But his reputation couldn't be damaged, especially when he turns in the only credible acting performance. But all the momentum Michael Beck's career had after appearing in the above mentioned The Warriors, grounded to a halt from which he never truly recovered. Mostly the same story with director Robert Greenwald, forced to do mostly TV (The only notable standout- "The Burning Bed"), and documentaries such as "Outfoxed" and "Walmart: The High Cost of Living". It's one of the better bad movies around. Don't expect quality on screen, but expect fun.


REAR WINDOW and ROPE- Sat Aug 25 at 6:15 (Window), 8:20 (Rope) and 9:55 (Window)- Film Forum- A Hitchcock double feature, both starring Jimmy Stewart. I already did the second film listed here last Jan., but I wouldn't mind seeing it again with my favorite of Sir Alfred's films. First, Rear Window. I've talked about it, brought it up when it played at the Ziegfeld and at Symphony Space. I bring it up here now that it's coming to the Forum.

What makes this particularly good is this is a double featured which a good Hitchcock that even at this point, most of you don't seem to know. On Sunday Aug. 12, IMDB had Rope as the answer for their piece of daily trivia: Alfred Hitchcock shot this film in a series of 8-minute continuous takes, the maximum amount of film that a camera could hold. Yes, it feels unnatural at times, but the story is compelling enough enough, you accept the experiment. The story is a variation of the real life Leopold and Loeb murder. Two men murder a classmate/ friend of theirs, just for the moral superiority of it. They then have a dinner party over his hidden body, which his friend, relatives and fiancee attend. Also in attendance is their former professor, played by Stewart.

Like I said, I've already done Rope before, but I'll do it again with Rear Window if you like.


KLUTE and BORN TO WIN- Tues Aug 28 at 7:40 (Klute) and 9:50 (Born)- Film Forum- 2 NYC modern noirs that were both released in 1971. Flower power may have extended to these flicks''s world, but it didn't seem to help the characters involved.

First, Klute, the better known of the two from director Alan J. Pakula (All The President's Men, Presumed Innocent). It seems at first to be a simple story of a small town detective (Donald Sutherland), who appears to be out of his depth in New York, as he searches for his missing friend. But the film could be called Bree, a hooker without a heart of gold, who might have been the last person to see the missing man, who might be stalking her. It's through her that we see the seedy (and at times, very dated) world of pimps (the main one well played by the smarmy Roy Scheider), hookers, johns and drug addicts.

The film is pretty good. The mystery is secondary and not very hard to figure out. Nominated for Original Screenplay, though back then it was referred to as Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced- ARE WE KIDDING?!?!?

It did win Jane Fonda an Oscar for Best Actress. I try not to do a lot of hyperbole or over-inflated statements on this list. And I know there will always be a portion of the population that will always hate Fonda with a passion; and I don't have the desire to convince you otherwise, and I can't help but feel that it probably isn't justified. But I am a fan of great acting, and I do believe that Fonda in Klute, turned in the best performance to ever win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Ever. I have a hard time singling out one actor in any other category, but not here. When there was talk of remaking Klute in the early part of this decade, it didn't last too long, in part because there isn't another English speaking actress between 26-34 capable of reaching the emotional depths onscreen like Fonda did. For those who claim to be fans of great acting, you will have to give the devil her due.

Double feature with Born to Win. To refer to George Segal's character in this film as Born To Win, is like calling a fat guy Tiny. Segal's character is a user of people, as well as a drug addict. He runs around NYC trying to get a fix, with getting abused by corrupt cop Robert De Niro. Much like the later-to-be-mentioned Panic At Needle Park, he falls for a girl (Karen Black), but he's still heading straight down. Early performances from Hector Elizondo and Burt Young, plus Paula Prentiss as a fellow addict. Only available in this country on DVD at the 99 cent store. I wouldn't mind seeing this with Klute.


MIDNIGHT COWBOY and THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK- Wed Aug 29 at 1:10 (Cowboy), 3:15 (Panic), 7:30 (Cowboy) and 9:40 (Panic)- Film Forum- 2 films that show the seedy side of NYC circa late 1960s. Flower power didn't seem to extend to these films.

The first one, Midnight Cowboy is the most celebrated and was a hit. The only X rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, as well winning for Director John Schlesinger and Screenwriter Waldo Salt. Depicting the relationship between hayseed male prostitute Jon Voight and sickly slickster Dustin Hoffman. On both AFI Top 100 lists. Chances are, if you're looking at this post, you know the film. But there's also a good chance you haven't seen this film, except for maybe Hoffman's "I'M WALKING HERE!!!" clip. Now would be a good time to change this.

Double featured with a film I'm guessing only one or two of you have seen, and which some of you have probably never heard of. The Panic at Needle Park is a good film, but difficult has all hell to get through. Al Pacino made his leading man debut here, about a year before The Godfather. He plays a loser-type who meets the love of his life in good-girl girlfriend Kitty Winn (won Best Actress for this at Cannes, but was never seen again after the first two Exorcist films). We see them get together, and slowly fall apart through drug addiction.

Pacino shines, and you'll spend time wondering why Winn stopped acting after the mid 1970's after you see her. But the characters' progressive downward spiral made this too tough to draw an audience back in 1971, and except for the occasional screening on Fox Movie Channel and a token DVD release, it still remains under the radar. Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne wrote the screenplay, researching and living with addict couples for months. The film's failure drove them away from pushing their own ideas through film, and having them be more writers for hire when it came to movies. Worth catching.


ALL ABOUT EVE and PI- Wed Aug 29 at 5:45 (Eve) and 8 (Pi)- MOMA- W. 53rd and 5th Ave.- A very different double feature of two New York films at MOMA. First, All About Eve, one of the few films to be on both AFI Top 100 lists, and in my own personal top 35. A life in the theater (soft of) kind of film with terrific performances and some of the bitchiest dialogue known to man. I mean, my God, more acid drips out of say, Bette Davis's and George Sanders's tongue, then from the creatures in Aliens. 14 Oscar nominations, 6 Oscars, including Best Picture, Director Joseph L. Mankiewicz and the Screenplay. I brought this up in December, since only one or two of you I know for sure has seen this. It wasn't possible then, maybe it is now.

But when I did bring this up back then to a certain person who currently plays a King in Once Upon A Mattress, he accused me of being 70. He might still accuse me of that now since I'm bringing this up again. So to counteract this, note that for the same admission, you can also see Darren Aronofsky's feature film debut, that came out of nowhere in the art house circuit back in 1998. An ultra low budget film shot, sometimes illegally, in New York. A genius mathematician, suffering paranoia, feels he's close to unlocking the mysteries of life. Suddenly he finds some of his paranoia to be justified. Offbeat and takes its chances, but succeeds more often then not. And at 84 minutes, it doesn't overstay it's welcome.


BRINGING UP BABY- Thurs Aug 30 at 6- MOMA- A prime example of 1930s screwball comedy at its best. From director Howard Hawks, with Katharine Hepburn as the eccentric heiress type, and Cary Grant as the stuffed shirt type. There's a story here, but it's too light to bother going into it here. The Philadelphia Story might be the best film they ever did together, but this was Hepburn and Grant's best display of on-screen chemistry. Even though a leopard is ready to steal scenes at any given moment. A flop in its day, was placed in the National Film Registry for preservation in 1990, and is one of the films that made it to both AFI top 100 lists.


WAIT UNTIL DARK and CRY TERROR!- Thurs Aug 30 at 7:15 (Dark) and 9:20 (Terror)- Film Forum- If you don't want to see Bringing Up Baby on this night, we can do these two flicks. I brought up Wait Until Dark last month, so I won't go too much into that. Though the last scene between Audrey Hepburn and Alan Arkin makes the whole film worth it.

Cry Terror is the curiosity for me, because I've never heard of this until now. Thriller where James Mason is tricked into making bombs for bad guy Rod Stieger who wants to put them on planes leaving NYC. When Mason finds out, he and his daughter are kidnapped by Stieger, his hot evil girlfriend Angie Dickinson, and dominated loser-type Jack Klugman. Don't know much else about it, but I'm curious.


THE GOONIES- Sat Sept 1 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- The Steven Spielberg produced summer hit of 1985, which still has a cult following, gets the midnight treatment. Yes, I know the date says September and not August. But I will not have the time to put a list up before this date. It runs all 3 nights of the Labor Day weekend, but this is the only doable night for me. I should write more about this flick, but it's late, and it's only the Goonies, that's good enough for me. Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah. . . . Ok, that's a lame reference to Cyndi Lauper's hit theme song. I'm sorry . . .


I push hardest for Charley Varrick/ Play Misty for Me double feature, The Warriors/SuperFly double feature and Klute. Also a hard push for Midnight Cowboy, Bringing Up Baby, and Psycho at Bryant Park. Anything else is a bonus.

Also of note is The French Connection at Film Forum from Aug 31- Sept 6. I did this before, so I'm not in any hurry. If you really want to catch this, let me know, but otherwise, you're on your own. Later, and have a happy two weeks of the U.S. Open, which I hope to overdose on. 3 weeks if you count the free qualifying matches and free practices, starting Tuesday Aug 21. Later all.

Alessandra Ferri at ABT part 2

Editor's Note: This essay was originally suppose to come out no later then the July 4th weekend. But the writer is such a lazy bastard, it finally comes out now. Trust me, if I could afford to hire a new one, I would. Luckily for me, the writer of this piece also took all the photos.



Like I said before, I'm breaking off from the blog's main idea for something I've been involved in for a little bit. It's in the entertainment business anyway. For several weeks, I did background at the Met for the American Ballet Theater (ABT), in productions of Manon and Romeo and Juliet. Actually, I've done this off and on since 1997. Now the feeling I had back then was, you'd have to pay me to sit through ballet. Not modern dance per se, since I liked not only some stuff I saw in college, but also the times I went to see the Alvin Ailey troupe. Well sure enough, I was paid to watch it. I'm not retiring off it, but it keeps me off the streets. While occasionally, I might be cast in another ballet here and there, Romeo is what I usually get to be in and see.

Lots of times, I get to see they're human. Not every dance step among the Corps De Ballet is perfect, but damn it, keep moving or else. Maybe a Mercutio jumps too hard onto a harlot he's supposed to kiss, and they both land on the steps. Maybe the main sword fight between a Romeo and a Tybalt contains just as many misses as hits. And my kingdom for a new horn section for this week's orchestra (and the strings would occasionally have their noticeably off moments). I remember back in 2003, when the new young dancers had to be given the note NOT to undress each other onstage. Gee, some people in the audience could actually look down from up high, and see dancers remove the laces in the back of each other's costumes, and start feeling around back there.

Of course the flip side of being human on this particular stage, is to pull off incredible physical feats. After a while, you get your favorites. And you look forward to seeing them once you know they're doing a particular performance. Gennadi Saveliev is my favorite Tybalt still around, Craig Salstein and Herman Cornejo are my favorite Mercutios, and Marcelo Gomes is my favorite Romeo. Ethan Brown was my favorite Tybalt, but he retired in 2004, and the farewell was so emotional that even the stage managers start to bawl. I'll be honest, I'm not good with names. I had to look up the first 2 names, but I know their faces, so the instant feelings of good will come pretty quick. And a few of the soloists I learned by name, but most I couldn't recognize out of makeup. And most of them have since left or retired.

But the ballerinas were the ones I tended to know by name and sight, except for the Russians. Didn't matter much for me to know who was dancing, it wasn't my job. Just try to fit the costume, don't step on anyone and if possible, be 5'10". It also didn't matter since I knew the quality. And also there are ones you like in general, like the retired Susan Jaffe, Paloma Herrera, Julie Kent, Gillian Murphy and of course, Alessandra Ferri. If anything, because of the high quality, I never felt the need to pick a favorite. Jaffe seemed the most elegant. Herrera the little spark plug flinging her body around. Ferri the better actress with the best death scene as Juliet. Kent pulling in the best aspects of Ferri, Jaffe and Herrera. And Murphy for being a redhead. Yes, there is more, but this will be about as long as a novel so I need to move on. And yes, I'm a jerk for just singling out Murphy just because she's a redhead, moving on.

But it was hard not to know that Ferri's last performance was coming on June 23. The note inside the Met that the June 23rd evening performance is sold out and no more comps are available, had been posted for quite a while. When Ferri performed in Manon the week before, it was hard not for every fifth person to bring it up at least once. A Craig's List ad of someone willing to well compensate the person he buys a ticket from was forwarded to me. I even heard from someone I hadn't heard from in years, asking if I was still around ABT, and could I get him two tickets? Where was your dumb ass in April?

Then on the evening of the 23rd, I made the mistake of coming into the Met from the plaza. With the combination of people trying to get into the swing dance area, people who don't want to pay to get in the swing dance area but will dance around it, people going into the Met to see the ballet, and the people trying to get a ticket, it was the sea of humanity. And the desperate ticket buyers-to be, were easy to break down. The loud ones tended to show they mean business by flashing a 5 or 10. The quieter ones tended to flash Andrew Jackson, some of Andy's look-alike brothers or even a 50.

You could feel the excitement backstage just before showtime. Maybe the slight nerve here and there, that they don't want to be the ones to screw up, but everyone's experienced enough that they know their jobs. And know they are part of something special. Or in the case of someone like Roberto Bolle who played Romeo (his butt check is in the 13th picture from the top), was brought in to play Ferri's last performance because Ferri herself wanted him to perform that night. Pretty much the main roles were who Ferri wanted onstage for her farewell, but Bolle was the one who had to be brought back, and given a 3 performance contract in order to do this particular performance (or at least that's what one of the veteran supers told me). So when one makes the joke backstage of "I wish more people were up for this performance. I wish more people were excited to be here tonight.", you know the person was having some fun and knew otherwise. No, really, I was making a joke. Why don't you believe me?!?!?

Now did I get to see a lot of Ferri's performance this night? A little more than usual. Not in Act 1 though. I figured the crowd would be there at the start, and throw in the dancers trying to change costume, and the dancers and supers getting ready to go on, I didn't need to fight the crowd yet. And I didn't need an obnoxious middle aged male dresser with brown hair and glasses on a power trip on my back. Again.

Now Act 2, there isn't much for Juliet to do. She gets married in the middle of the act. Everything else takes place in the marketplace. The dancing in celebration, 2 sword fights, multiple deaths, etc. The kind of stuff designed to keep the non-fan awake. Act 3 is where get the juiciest dancing/character work occurs for Juliet. You know the story, so I don't have to go into it. But it's this act, when Juliet is being forced to marry another man by her family, as well as her indecision about taking the potion and the agony after she drinks, that is the big scene.

I got into my monk costume for this, and there were more people backstage then usual. Usually, there's crewmen, a stray dancer and other supers dressed like monks, who are waiting for their cue to line up and go onstage. And also there's this one super not on the clock. A blond teenage girl, who watches as much dancing as she can, is always there to see Act 3. I got to know her slightly in the production of Manon the week before. Onstage, her beggar character was a little more aggressive then usually. She goes right to my blind side, and my closed fist slams straight into the top of her skull. WHACK! Boy, did I get scared for her, but luckily she was more stunned than hurt, and very briefly at that. I couldn't apologize more profusely the next time I saw her.

Sorry, I digress. I came down and saw quite a number of my fellow supers, all done for the night or season, watching from the downstage section of backstage. Most of whom wouldn't have been there if some of us didn't get the word from one of the stage managers that we could be down there, as long as we stayed in the wings and didn't get in the way. Very little in terms of other dancers or VIPs; we were backstage left, and most of them were on the right.

We did our monk bit, which required us going up a high flight of stairs while carrying a long candlestick. One wrong step on the stairs in our long robes, and down we'd fall like dominoes. That it never happened in all my time, considering we would have the occasional last second replacement monk go up for the first time in front of an audience, or people who couldn't see because they couldn't wear their glasses onstage, amazes me every time I think of it. Everytime I did that walk, I know I was stepping on my robe at least twice a run. Oh, the potential injuries I could have had . . .

And out they came for the curtain calls, after Ferri had some suitable time getting her final bows. Flowers from different sides. Stage managers yelling at everyone "IF YOU'RE NOT PRESENTING FLOWERS, GET OUT OF THE WAY!". Not only supers, but a few crew people and a few dancers, neither of whom appeared used to being spoken to in that manner, unless it was in rehearsal in the case of the dancers. You had seemingly everyone who ever danced or worked with her come out and give flowers. I recognized Ferrera, who held her emotions in as long as she could, and Jaffe, who returned for this. She got her multiple curtain calls. They eventually opened the curtains all the way, and they were nice enough to remove part of the crypt set. You know, to avoid any unintentional symbolism: "Hey, your career's over, you're now another step closer to DEATH!". At one point, it seemed like some balloons exploded and confetti spread out. The happy shock is what I managed to photograph as well as I could; the first picture on the blog. And the last of the flowers were delivered by Julio Bocca (a close friend and colleague of hers, returning for this special occasion) and Ferri's adorable little girls (They are in the second and third pictures from the top.). The youngest, whenever she got the chance, would take the time to get Ferri's attention to say "You know what? I love you mommy." It happened on at least two occasions. Then the curtain closed, and the company got the time to express their own private love.

And why am I writing about any of this? Because with all of this, I noted one expression and one feeling only throughout that whole experience for Ferri: happiness. This singular feeling stayed with her from the second the curtain was down and never left. Other thoughts or emotions might have briefly crossed across her face, but nothing to change this singular thought. I am happy, I am happy, I am happy . . .

Now, this may sound strange, but I've rarely seen someone so happy. Wait, stay with me. How many times have you been happy, and only felt happy? I mean so happy that other thoughts don't creep into your mind. Self doubt, uncertainty of how long this will last, self loathing, what have you.

Those ideas tend to get in our way because we're only human. But how many of us have felt this kind of unencumbered happiness? Not very often I'm guessing. A birthday, a first kiss, after a successful birth, a moment of success on the athletic field or on stage, the end of a wedding ceremony when you're declared husband and wife. Like I said, not too often.

Now think about how many times you've seen a person this happy? Very rarely I'm willing to bet. And how often do you get to the chance to see one of your fellow humans experience this moment? Almost never I'm willing to bet. I was very luckily to see that up close in Alessandra Ferri on that night. It's enough to make one forget their troubles for a while, which it certainly did for me as we all started leaving the stage and the theater on our own little clouds.

Now according to one of my super/ dance veteran sources, this might not be her farewell. She might choose to do a last performance or two for La Scalla, where she started out. Is it true? Who knows? As far as I'm concerned, Whatever, I'm so used to false retirements from say, Michael Jordan, Sugar Ray Leonard, David Bowie, Gywneth Paltrow and Celine Dion, I could care less. In closing, I'll just paraphrase a line from Steven Hill on Law and Order, changing it for these purposes: "She just retired as number one at 44. Good. Now she can get on with the rest of her life.". Take care, lady. Take care.