May revivals: second half

Hey all. Mike here with what to see for the rest of May. No time to waste so here we go (don't mind the conflicts, things will sort themselves out):

THE WAGES OF FEAR- Sat May 23 and Sun May 24 at 11am- IFC Film Center- From the director of Diabolique. 4 desperate macho men will get the reward of a ticket out of the hellhole, piss-poor little South American village they're all stuck in. That is, if they're willing to drive trucks filled with nitroglycerin over mountain sides and through jungles, in order to put out a fire at an oil refinery. They also battle each other, with macho posturing just as threatening as the elements. Starring Yves Montand.

Perennially in imdb's annoying top 250. Winner of the Grand Prize at Cannes. Diabolique is director's Henri-Georges Clouzet's best known film, but this is considered his best. I've never seen it, but I've seen the American remake from 1977, Sorcerer, which is underrated (released the same weekend that Star Wars went into wide release, thus forgotten). Would love to catch this, even if I'd need a coffee IV to help me. 11AM and not noon? Cruel, but I'm willing to deal with it with this flick.

PAPILLON- Sat May 23 at 5:45 (Papillon)- the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- Part of the Steve McQueen retrospective. I like that this McQueen retrospective is happening, it's long overdue. But for me personally, the timing stinks. I've see most of the films don't fit time-wise for me. I don't think I can get people to come see The Towering Inferno on the Sunday afternoon before Memorial Day (if by some miracle I can let me know ASAP), I caught The Great Escape and The Thomas Crown Affair fairly recently so it's too soon, I'm not willing to put my name on catching An Enemy of the People (Yes, McQueen did Ibsen in 1977. Consider this a noble failure.), and not one film here can be seen for 2 for the price of 1. And when I do find that The Magnificent Seven is doable on Saturday afternoon, I find out that it will be shown later that night on PBS' Channel 13. DOH!

Therefore, Papillon is the only film I can catch. A studio print. McQueen's last hit film. Years before The Shawshank Redemption, here was a prison survival film, with escape attempts here. Unlike Shawshank, this did not have universal critical appeal; just look up Ebert's review, though I don't know if he's since revised it. Unlike Shawshank, this actually drew an audience in theaters. Unlike Shawshank, this has since been ignored and is not considered a classic. I'm not saying Papillon is better, but I'm saying this should stop being ignored, and May 23rd is a good time to start.

Based on a true story, though its historical accuracy has been considered dubious. McQueen plays a man wrongly convicted and sentenced to a brutal penal colony. Along with the less macho more 'delicate' man played by Dustin Hoffman, years of abuse, survival and escape attempts are depicted. With McQueen never giving up. Good leads with great chemistry, despite McQueen supposedly annoyed by the existence of Hoffman. Strong film from director Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton, Planet of the Apes) and screenwriters Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo Semple Jr. Oscar nominated only for Jerry Goldsmith's score. Not as happy as The Sting or American Graffiti, nor did it strike as dark a chord as The Exorcist. But still, give it a shot. Not sure if we're getting the 2 hr 12 minute version, or the 2 hr 30 minute version originally released in theaters. We'll see.


DR. STRANGELOVE- Sat May 23, Sun May 24 and Tues May 26- Thurs May 28 at 3:20, 5:30, 7:40 and 9:50- Film Forum- A new 35 mm restored print playing for a one week run. If you ever bother to put your eyes on this list more than two or three times a year then you know what this film is, and you don't need me to describe this to you. Several of you have seen this in theaters with me before. Some of you have even seen it twice with me before. One of the few dark satires to get it exactly right. Considered one of the best anti-war films ever made. But for those who hate that term (seriously, are you that dumb to refuse to put this into historical context), then consider this an anti-rigidity and anti-stupidity film instead, OK? An excellent mixture of farce and action. And accurate enough in terms of military capability and military speak, that the Air Force demanded answers and questioned Stanley Kubrick.

If you've never seen it with an audience, make time for it. On as many AFI Top 100 lists that it could qualify for. One of the prime examples of Oscar screwing up, when it comes to not giving a film Best Picture. Strangelove is usually Exhibit A, while something like Goodfellas and Raging Bull would be considered Exhibits B and C, respectively. One of my top 5 favorite films ever, and my second favorite Kubrick film, after 2001. And as good a cast as this has, 3 top performances from Peter Sellers . . . , the range this man had is stunning. I dare any of you to find the seams where his performances don't work.

A note that I copy and paste from the Forum's website about the actual restored print that will be shown:

This 35mm print is from a new 4K digitally-created negative (the original neg was destroyed over 40 years ago), made by New York-based restoration specialists Cineric using the best surviving film elements — the result is the sharpest Strangelove you’ve ever seen.

THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE- Tues May 26 at 6:30- the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- One night only screening of another film from 1973. This one, little seen, rarely shown on cable, and only coming out on DVD for the first time this week, through the Criterion Collection. Which means you can't see it through Blockbuster, only through Netflix. Very similar to The Departed, but without the histrionics or the fake sense of justice. A little slow for that time period I suppose, but in the era of The Sopranos, I guess we can embrace a moody, character-driven crime drama.

Set and shot in and around the South Boston area, depicting what it was at the time, based on the novel by George V. Higgins. Essentially mob-controlled, with police and assigned FBI getting payoffs, while politicians and journalists look the other way. Robert Mitchum plays a low level criminal who's best days are behind him (and everyone knows it, even him?), and who's looking at a third jail sentence that might as well be a life sentence. Trying to avoid prison and feed his family, he decides to try to snitch and make a big score at the same time. Referring to the people around as his Friends is like calling a big guy Tiny, if you remember the second sentence in this paragraph.

Peter Boyle and Richard Jordan lead the cast of character actors that fill out this flick. Never seen all of it, but have liked the parts I have seen. Wouldn't mind catching this at all.



That's all for now. Also included here are a few pics of the post film Q and A with Jonathan Demme at IFC Film Center last week for Swimming To Cambodia. The film was as wonderful as I remembered it, the Q and A was nice, and Demme has the energy and enthusiasm of a man half his age. Not really a cinematic piece, so there was little technical stuff that could actually be brought up. More of a relaxed celebration of Spaulding Gray himself. Later all.

May revivals: first half

Hey, all. Mike here with a list of what to catch for about half of May. I had a much larger list in mind, most of which at the Forum's Con film festival. GET IT, GET IT! CON! NO, NOT KHAN! CON! Like in CANNES FILM FESTIVAL, but because these are prison films it's CON Film Festival! HA! . . . . HA . . . . ha . . . . . ow, this hurts . . .

Anyway, finally I had to narrow it down to what I'm pretty sure I can catch so stuff like White Heat and Angels with Dirty Faces on Mother's day, and Birdman of Alcatraz in a few weeks? Well, have fun, but I doubt I'll make it, so I'll skip writing about it here. In the meantime, here we go:

EASY RIDER- Thurs May 7 at 7:50 and 9:50- Film Forum- A new 35mm restored print. I brought it up last time, so I won't go much more into it. Last day at the Forum.

SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA- Tues May 12 at 8 with a post film Q & A with director Jonathan Demme- IFC Film Center- Spaulding Gray's concert film gets a rare screening. You have less then two days from your probable reading of this, go to ifccenter.com to get your tix, because you WON'T be able to get them on Tuesday the 12th. The film's director Jonathan Demme (Silence of the Lambs, Rachel Getting Married), does a post film Q and A afterwards.

Grey tells the story of how he was cast in a small role in The Killing Fields, the research and history he learned in preparing, his experiences while shooting, plus a few New York stories, usually involving his long suffering then-girlfriend, Renee. Released in April 1987, it (aided by some appearances on David Letterman's show) became a surprise art-house hit. Director Jonathan Demme seemed to simply place a few cameras around the stage, aimed for key close-ups while relying on a master shot for the most part, editing in a few shots from The Killing Fields, and expanding the lens a bit to show the maps of Vietnam and Cambodia when those slides come up.

Now this might not have been the case. Demme will surely explain how this was shot and edited in the Q and A. But Demme got what Steven Soderburgh didn't get in Gray's third concert film, Gray's Anatomy. That you don't have to do cinematic tricks to damage, er, enhance the story. Sometimes, it's about THE WORDS, STUPID (And I mean that with love, Steven). When you have a masterful storyteller like Gray, running at peak performance, you don't fuck it up. You can see, whether on Tuesday the 12th or on Netflix, how in 85 quick minutes, Gray and Demme had a film that deserved to stand along with other popular films that year, like The Untouchables, Moonstruck, Au Revoir Les Enfants, and Full Metal Jacket.

I WANT TO LIVE!- Fri May 15 at 7:25- Part of the Forum's Con film festival. From director Robert Wise, Susan Hayward won the Best Actress Oscar for the only performance she's truly remembered for. She's a woman of, let's say, ill repute, who may have been set up for a murder she didn't commit. This gets her the Death Penalty. Now the overall film will probably be liked more by those who support Dead Man Walking. It goes on the idea that she's completely innocent of murder, though the actual facts of the case aren't clear. How it got this far then is an argument for someplace else, and a criticism that can be aimed more to Wise and the screenwriters than to me.

But Wise shot and edited this black and white film like a noir, and let us know exactly how it feels to set up the gas chamber, and give the audience a clear idea of what will feel like in there. Combined with Hayward's heart-breaking performance, this was gut wrenching stuff for 1958. Now? Judge for yourself.

Nominations also for Wise for Director, the Screenplay, Editing, Cinematography and Sound.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS and O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?- Sun May 17 at 5:20 (Sullivan's), 7:05 (O Brother), 9:10 (Sullivan's) and Mon May 18 at 1 (Sullivan's), 2:45 (Brother) and 4:50 (Sullivan's)- Part of the Forum's Con film festival. An interesting double feature. First, Sullivan's Travels, from writer-director Preston Sturges. Playing in the Forum for the second time this year. Consider Sturges to be the Sandy Koufax of film directors. A few years where he was one of the very best, then gone. Sullivan's is considered (arguably) the best in his career. Joel McCrea plays the director of simple entertaining films, who dreams of making an Important Film, "O Brother Where Art Thou". He goes out on the road, posing as a hobo, to learn about the common man, and gets a rude awakening. He also gets Veronica Lake, nice if you can get it. A classic in the comedy genre, though it works more than as just a comedy.

Next, O Brother Where Art Thou, from the Coen Brothers. Gee, where did they get this idea I wonder? Actually, I don't have too. A very generalized version of The Odyssey that's inspired by parts of Sullivan's Travels. George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson are escaped cons during the Depression-era South in this comic-adventure with bluegrass music. They're looking for bank money while pursued by the law. More of a road movie then an actual prison flick. Fargo might be the best and the most praised, and The Big Lebowski may have the most reverent cult. But this was the Coen brothers' most popular film, before No Country For Old Men. Holly Hunter, John Goodman and Charles Durning are among the supporting cast. Oscar nominations for the Screenplay and the Cinematography. An interesting double feature.

COOL HAND LUKE and THE DEFIANT ONES- Wed May 20 at 7:10 (Luke) and 9:30 (Defiant)- Film Forum- Part of the Forum's Con film festival. A double feature I really want to catch. First, Cool Hand Luke. The classic prison film that turned Paul Newman from American big time leading man to American Icon. Paul plays the title role, the anti hero who goes against authority. But some of that authority, are those in charge of the chain gang/ prison he's in. He may be right in going against the authority that applies "justice" with contempt and stupidity, and he may even inspire the fellow prisoners into cheering him. But they don't or won't help Luke, and he has to bear the punishments or the "bad hands" on his own.

This film is best known for the line "What we have here is a failure to communicate.", but it caught the cultural zeitgeist more for it's depiction of a man who refuses to conform. In 1967, that was big stuff. Also noted on the first episode of Cheers for being one of the sweatiest films ever made. Lots of men, working, fighting, running, all under the heat. Tons of character actors throughout. Among them, George Kennedy in his Oscar winning role, Strother Martin as the sadistic Captain, Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, Wayne Rogers, Ralph Waite, Anthony Zerbe, Joe Don Baker and James Gannon. Oscar nominations for Newman for Actor, Screenplay Adaptation and Score.

Next, The Defiant Ones. Dated, and maybe a little preachy for today. but still good. Important film during the civil rights movement. I don't get to post many Sidney Poitier films, so to catch a 2 for 1 with this, is good enough for me. I couldn't get anyone interested a couple of years ago with In The Heat of the Night, I drew the preachy line with Guess Who's Coming To Dinner, and most of the others just don't get a screening around here. Come to think of it, Tony Curtis films have been more available to me over the past 7-8 years then any of Poitier's. Well, I should say, Spartacus and Sweet Smell of Success have been available, plus The Boston Strangler as well. Nothing else, and that's not a bad thing to me. Though some of you would argue Boeing-Boeing deserves a second chance, but anyway . . .

Curtis and Poitier plays convicts chained together, who gets an unexpected chance to escape. They hate both each other and the color of the other's skin, but they must work together to stay out of the chain gang. Oscars for the Cinematography and for the Screenplay (one of the writers was blacklisted; Nedrick Young's credit wasn't restored until after his death and I think his widow ended up with his Oscar). Nominations for Picture, Director Stanley Kramer, Curtis and Poitier for Actor. Theodore Bickel for Supporting Actor, Cara Williams for Supporting Actress, and Editing. Curtis was the one who insisted that Poitier receive equal billing. When they lost the Oscar to David Niven, Curtis apparently to this day complained that Niven won "his" Oscar. Whatever.

I don't want to do just one or the other, I want to catch both.


LOVE WITH THE PROPER STRANGER- Thurs May 21 at 9:15- the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- Part of the Steve McQueen retrospective, called Yesterday's Loner: Steven McQueen. A studio print. Director Robert Mulligan's attempt to do a screwball-style comedy, but with some serious social stuff floating around. Good Italian Catholic girl discovers she's pregnant and seeks an abortion. The one night stand guy tries to help, and also tries to help show her he loves her. Or is he just trying to do the right thing without knowing the girl at all?

Imagine Knocked Up, except with more serious elements, and with a cast and director who are actually capable of handling dramatic situations. Now throw in the idea that all this abortion stuff (bad phrasing, sorry), occurs about 10 years before Roe vs. Wade. Now throw in some screwball/romance elements, and you get the idea of how this film stuck out from among the rest during Christmas of 1963. McQueen is the one night stand guy, and he's playing against type. Stiffly on occasion, but effectively. Natalie Wood is the "good" girl, who's more struggling and emotional, who could be easily dismissed as bitchy. In other words' human. Has a nice feel for New York as well, she works in Macy's, after all. Nominations for Wood for Best Actress, the Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction and for Edith Head's Costume Design. Worth catching.



That's all for now. Next time, among the options, a few more McQueen films,and the return of Dr. Strangelove. Later all.

Revivals: the next few weeks.

Mike here, with posting number 100! Wow, didn't think I'd stick with it this long. I'm back with a revival list of what to see over the next two plus weeks. Instead of the usual longish list, I've narrowed it down to what I truly want to catch. And I think catching 3 out of these 4 films is entirely doable. And if we can get to all four? Well, let me list them first. Here we go:

LEON MORIN, PRIEST- Thurs Apr 23 at 7:45 and 10- Film Forum- A new 35mm print. A reminder to catch Melville's WW 2 drama. Go back to what I posted last time, such as it was, because I'm not writing any further. Moving on.

CATCH-22- Mon April 27 and Thurs April 30 at 8- MOMA- Part of the Mike Nichols retrospective. This is what director Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry cashed their "golden ticket" on, after the mega-success of The Graduate: a big screen studio adaptation of Joseph Heller's classic book.

Beset with production problems (problems with the script, artistic differences that forced recasting, the film going over-budget due to the cost of building a realistic base with mostly working flying bombers) and inevitable comparisons with the book, you might think this was doomed to failure. Despite changes from stage to screen, Heller gave the film thumbs up. And it did find approval from the New York Times type of critics (intellectual types?). But among war films, it was neither as funny nor as successful in capturing the cultural zeitgeist as MASH, nor as embraceable as Patton, and even failed as far as most audiences were concerned in comparison to the Clint Eastwood WW2 action comedy Kelly's Heroes. It wasn't even as popular at that time as The Out-Of-Towners starring Jack Lemmon, who desperately wanted to star in Catch-22 (just not Nichols and Henry's vision of it). That Catch-22 didn't try to be any of these things was apparently irrelevant. It wasn't a financial disaster like say Ishtar, but it was a financial flop and has been mostly dismissed. Maybe the Watchmen of its day, perhaps.

Captain Yossarian is trying to get out of flying more bombing missions during the later half of World War 2. But his superiors just keep raising the number of missions he has to fly before he can be discharged. Figuring he'll never live to see the end of the war, he tries to get out through insanity. But he can't because of Catch-22: basically, if one realizes it's crazy to fly suicide missions and you ask to get out of them, that means you're sane, therefore, you will fly any and all suicide missions. That doesn't stop Yossarian from trying to get out via feigning insanity. He finds Catch-22 doesn't officially exist, but the more people invoke it, the more power it has on all aspects of his life, therefore it exists. Or in simpler terms, Yossarian fights the power, but the power seems stronger than him, and us.

Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Then throw in following a similar non-linear structure as the book, of going back and forth in time, and oh boy. We're ok with that now, with films like Pulp Fiction, Memento and Watchmen, and shows like Lost and Heroes. But back then, apparently not. Tackling what makes a hero, what makes one truly sane, while attacking corrupt power, the idea that everyone dies, among other ideas: oh joy. Throw in the idea that our young Americans in the WW 2 setting should worry more about their own superiors then the enemy, not cool (but we're ok with that today in 24). Now throw into the mix that the audience should think of the still-raging Vietnam War while watching this, no wonder most audiences rejected this.

Strong cast, and I mean strong. Alan Arkin as Yossarian; some fans of the book felt a younger actor should have been cast, but Arkin works the struggle to maintain sanity in an insane environment well. Anthony Perkins as the chaplin. Jon Voight as Milo Mindbender, who will have the Americans make a profit on this war no matter what. Martin Balsam and Buck Henry himself as the COs. Bob Newhart as Major Major. Orson Welles as the insane general. Orson tried to direct this himself, but no go. Plus Martin Sheen, Art Garfunkle, Jack Gilford, Richard Benjamin, Paula Prentiss, Charles Grodin, Norman Fell, Austin Pendleton and Bob Balaban.

Catch-22 is something you might think of afterwards either as an unknown success, or as a noble failure. I can't help you decide which; I can only recommend you to try to catch it yourself.

Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN- Thurs April 30 at 9:30 for 7.50- Chelsea Clearview Cinema- A cheap screening of this art house hit from 2002. From director Alfonso Curaon. Sort of a career reboot for himself, after the English language films A Little Princess and Great Expectations drew no audiences, and before he directed the third Harry Potter film and Children of Men. Co-written with his brother Carols, this is kind of like Summer of 1942, where two young men experience a life and sexual awakening with an older woman. Combined with aspects of the road film, but less fairy tale-like than Summer of 1942. Those who don't follow Spanish-speaking cinema may not know Maribel Verdu except for Pan's Labyrinth, but this combined with Amores Perros served as a good introduction for us to Gael Garcia Bernal. Also, a good introduction for us to Diego Luna, in one of his earliest adult roles, years before Milk. Both Cuaron brothers received an Oscar nomination for their Screenplay.Unless I watch Catch-22 that night instead, I'd be glad to watch this at a cheap price.

EASY RIDER- Fri May 1, Sat May 2, Wed May 6 and Thurs May 7 at 5:40, 7:50 and 9:50- Film Forum- A new 35mm restored print of the Dennis Hopper- Peter Fonda classic. Oscar nominations to the screenplay for Hopper, Fonda & Terry Southern, and to Jack Nicholson for Supporting Actor. In fact, this film took Jack out of Roger Corman films and guest appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, and put him on the A list forever. Now as for anything else about Easy Rider, I'll keep myself from screwing up now. Instead, thanks to imdb, I'll quote from a recent film article from Britain's Total Film magazine and website. Written last month by Chris Hicks, he listed Easy Rider as one of the most influential films ever made. I've cut and pasted the highlights. It may not be the best, but it's simple and that's all I'm asking right now:

Influential, how? The movie brats come of age.

Hippies, LSD, motorbikes: Easy Rider is a cultural landmark. The defining movie of the ’60s. Connecting with the long-haired kids (and earning millions for its trouble), Hopper and Fonda's crotch rocket-fetishing classic ushered in New Hollywood by breathing hip life into the square studio system.“You guys are finished,” Hopper ranted at Oscar-winner George Cukor. “We are in now... It’s our time.”

Money shot: Fonda and Hopper dropping acid in a New Orleans cemetery.

The other part about Easy Rider I will cut and paste is from the Forum's website about the restoration:

According to Grover Crisp (Senior Vice President, Film Restoration) Sony Pictures initially restored Easy Rider in 1999 through a complicated mixture of photochemical techniques and old digital technologies; however, there were many other issues that couldn’t be fully addressed at the time. For this new restoration, Sony began with a 4K scan of the best surviving 35mm film elements; following an extensive digital restoration, with the repair of all torn frames and scratches and the removal of all dirt from the image, a brand new 35mm negative was created, from which new 35mm prints have been struck.

This particular list, I want to catch as much as possible. Let me know ASAP. Later all.

P.S.: Here's a link to the film article from Chris Hicks that I mentioned before. Some films I never heard of, some I've never seen, and more then a few I've posted on lists in the past, as well as future postings, like Dr. Strangelove and Rashomon. Here it is:

http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-67-most-influential-films-ever-made

More April revivals

Mike here with more April revivals. Can't list the entire month due to time constraints, but I'll post a few right now. Here we go:

LEON MORIN, PRIEST- Fri Apr 17- Thurs Apr 23 at 7:45 and 10- Film Forum- A new 35mm print. I've written in the past how new I am to the works of French director Jean-Pierre Melville. But after my introduction to Army of Shadows, I've tried to go see more on the big screen whenever I could. So far, it's resulted in my enjoying Le Doulos and Le Cercle Rouge. Now, here's another one. I know nothing about, but it's Melville, so I'm going. Don't know when, which is why I list 7 days and late afternoon and evening times. For the rest, I'll have to cut and paste from the Forum's website:

(1961) “Religion is the opiate of the people,” begins the confession of Communist widow Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima, mon amour), provocative just to get some fun in the drab little village where she‘s been relocated during the Occupation. But when her confessor dryly replies “Pas exactement,” she begins a seemingly inexorable turn towards God — or is towards her handsome confessor, Père Jean-Paul Belmondo (in “an erotically charged performance” – BFI)? Fed up with being “an auteur maudit known only to a handful of crazy film buffs,” Jewish atheist Jean-Pierre Melville accepted an offer of real stars and an actual budget to adapt Beatrix Beck’s autobiographical novel, a book he already considered “the most accurate picture I have read of life under the Occupation,” then had to talk an initially reluctant Belmondo — hot from his star-making role in Breathless (in which Melville cameoed) — into taking the title role. Melville created a kind of fresco of the Occupation — play-it-safe baptisms of Communist and Jewish children; awakenings in the night by the sounds of shooting; parades of Alpine-hatted Italian Bersaglieri and marching band Nazis; arguments with pro-Petain and anti-Semitic co-workers; a Jewish colleague getting a shave, name change, and a ticket out; platonic same-sex crushes in a man-less world — but its center is Riva’s confusing, fascinating, tantalizing encounter with God and his servant Belmondo (successfully intellectual, sincere, and ultimately enigmatic in a definitely change-of-pace role), their mutual underplaying making even theological discussions subtly throbbing with emotional undertones. Shot by the great Henri Decaë (The 400 Blows, Elevator to the Gallows, Bob Le Flambeur). b&w; Approx. 115 minutes

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF- Sat April 18 at 2 and Sun April 19 at 5:30- MOMA- Part of the Mike Nichols retrospective. Among the best of the stage-to-screen transfers ever. I've been waiting a long time for this to play in a revival house. Hell of a first film for director Nichols. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (heavier and made up to look far older and tired in a successful attempt to de-glamorize) are George and Martha; bitter middle-aged alcoholics, who in order to keep any semblance of interest in their marriage, tear into each other and the young couple (George Segal, Sandy Dennis) who come to their little party. As the film goes on, the head games get more cruel and vindictive.

Not necessarily a happy film, but with Albee's words, a joy to behold. No matter the attempts to open up the film, the house still feels like a steel cage. Now the attempts to open the film, in particular the diner, doesn't hold as well, but everything else does. Some modern audiences might consider the acting as over the top at times, but I would disagree. I have a weakness/high tolerance to some excess, but it fits the piece.

13 Oscar nominations. Oscars for Taylor for Actress, Dennis for Supporting, Art Direction Costume and Cinematography for a black and white film. Nominations include for Picture, Burton for Actor, Segal for Supporting Actor, Nichols for Director, Editing, and Alex North's very good score. I hope the overture and closing music are played here. Also nominated was Ernest Lehman for his screenplay, despite the fact that the actors hated his version so much, they and Nichols went behind his back and replaced all but 2 lines back to Albee's original.

For me, best film of 1966. Excuse me if I'm not agreeing with the Academy with their choice of A Man For All Seasons. I want to go. let me repeat. I. Want. To. Go.

WORKING GIRL and/or WIT- Sat April 25 at 2 (Girl) and 5 (Wit)- MOMA- Part of the Mike Nichols retro . A pair of "chick" flicks. I put that in quotes because both, if you don't pay attention, fit the label. But the stories and the storytelling rises above the typical cliches.

First, Working Girl. I mean, yeah, the same story was told about a year earlier in the Michael J. Fox film, The Secret of My Success, but this has better dialogue, is more savvier politically, has better direction, a stronger cast, and had Fox pushing it as Oscar bait. Important in terms of inspirational women flicks without having the lead portrayed as either saint, know-it-all, or impervious to pain and heartache.

Melanie Griffith plays a woman either only looked at for sex by men, or as less intelligent based on her unprofessional hair and clothes (this late 80s NOO-YAWK look should get big laughs in the theater at some point.). She goes for a change after being cheated on by slime ball Alec Baldwin, and having her ideas stolen by wolf-in-sheep's-clothing boss Sigourney Weaver. Now not every woman who makes this change ends up with better prospects and Harrison Ford (in a great change of pace, especially in the 80s) for a boyfriend. But it struck enough of a social chord to go from a sleeper to one of the major hits of 1988.

That Griffin was and the crew was able to get through this film is a minor miracle. At the start of shooting, Griffin was still an active alcoholic, according to Julie Salmon's The Devil's Candy, and was almost fired by Nichols. When she gave up drinking, I don't if what she had was the DTs, but she was in jittery shape. Of course her first scene in that state was when she nervously tries to deal with Ford's character the first day they meet in the office building. Yes, I know it wasn't their first scene, shut up. She would also bloat up as well. Cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, looking for Griffin shot here, for the-then upcoming Bonfire of the Vanities, felt long lenses were used to keep Griffin's bloat from too obvious. So in a way, Melanie, like her character, always had problems and dickheads to deal with. Now her career wouldn't last too much longer, thanks to mostly bad career choices, including the aforementioned Bonfire, and mostly bad plastic surgery. But she, and we, will always have her performance in Working Girl.

Oscar nominations for Picture, Griffin for Actress, Weaver and Joan Cusack for Supporting Actress, and Nichols for Director. The omission for Screenplay is something you might consider a surprise, but I wouldn't have nominated over the scripts for Big, Fish Called Wanda, Bull Durham, Running On Empty or the winner, Rain Man. When Weaver lost to Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist, it was and is considered one of Oscar's biggest upsets. I'm indifferent, it's not like I bet on it. An Oscar for Carly Simon's song "Let The River Run".

Also, a cast that includes Olympia Dukakis, Oliver Platt, Philip Bosco, Nora Dunn, Rikki Lake, David Duchovny, and Kevin Spacey, who had to learn his part on the car ride over when the previous actor quit without notice. A note if you go and if you haven't seen this for a while, the film starts with a tremendous helicopter shot of the Twin Towers, so know that so you're not taken by surprise.

Next, Wit. An adaptation of Margaret Edson's award winning play that first aired on HBO in 2001. Emma Thompson (who adapted the play with Nichols) plays an English professor, forced to deal mostly alone with terminal ovarian cancer, and the lack of care and respect from most of her health care providers. This film has been/probably still is used, to show students of whatever health care career they're studying, NOT to behave. Though based on a number of imdb posts, that may not be working. In some cases, Thompson's death scene is a great time to start texting! Boy does it suck to get sick in this country . . . Heartbreaking film with a strong performance from Thompson.

If I had the time, I would post one of my favorites, The Graduate. But I can't go out of my way to make special time for this, so I won't. Go to the MOMA website for details.

Will try to post the first few days in May along with the remainder of the month. Let me know about what's up here now. Later all.

April revivals: first half

Mike here with what to catch revival-wise for the first half of April. A short list, so before that: I was glad to catch Night and the City at the Forum. At times, a little too stylish and slick, with a wasted Gene Tierney. But with enough humanity to give resonance to people's downfall. But what really got me excited was catching Costa-Gavras' Z. Exciting and well paced, when suspense thrillers and political corruption/cover-up films are brought up, Z belongs among the very top. While I think Arnold White's comment in the New York Press about this film being too politically grey and intolerable for the Clooneys "and their ilk" to be a little much (I'm not defending Syriana, but I will defend the qualities of Good Night and Good Luck), every decade or so, there will be revival screenings and renewed attention to Z. You have one more day to catch it at the Forum as of this writing, but it should be out there somewhere on DVD, though not the kind you'll find at your typical Blockbuster. As for the list, here we go:


BRUTE FORCE- Thurs Apr 2 at 7:20- Film Forum- Part of the Jules Dassin retrospective from 1947. I probably wouldn't have gone for this film-noir at first, but it seemed interesting, and interesting enough to be in the Criterion Collection. I know, so was Armageddon, shut up. Also, it's only playing for one screening only, making me further curious. Similar to Escape From Alcatraz, a convict wants out of a tough prison. Unlike Alcatraz, the warden is a weakling. It's the guards that run the prison, as well as some of the more powerful prisoners. Hume Cronyn plays the main guard who takes pleasure in beating prisoners to Wagner: I have to think Francis Ford and/or John Millius might have been somewhat influenced for Apocalypse Now. Burt Lancaster is the convict who has enough. But his plan leads to a rather brutal, bloody (for 1947) ending. One screening only, so let me know.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT- Fri Apr 3 and Sat Apr 4 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- A cheap(er) screening of the Richard Lester classic that defined Beatlemania, influenced MTV until it became a place for reality shows, made most musicals that told their stories in stodgy ways to become Dead Musicals Walking, and briefly made the Beatles the seeming heir to the Marx Bros in comedy. Ok, Paul is stiffer then a tree in Yellowstone here, but John, Ringo, and especially George, make up for that. And oh yeah, there are few decent songs. All My Loving, And I Love Her, Can't Buy Me Love, the title song, and others. C'mon folks, this film is fun.

NEVER ON SUNDAY and TOPKAPI- Sun Apr 5 at 5:10 (Sunday), 7 (Topkapi) and 9:15 (Sunday)- Film Forum- Part of the Jules Dassin retro. Both films played separately in last year's United Artists retro at the Forum, now they play together. First, Never On Sunday. Dassin cast himself as an American scholar who falls in love with a free spirited hooker, played by his future wife, Melina Mercouri. There's more, including a partial Pygmallion subplot, but since I haven't seen the film, I'll try to neither play spoiler (despite being an almost 50 year old flick), nor inaccurate screw-up. Nominations for Mercouri for Actress, Costume Design and Dassin for Director and Screenplay, an Oscar for Song. Not bad in the year of West Side Story, The Apartment and Psycho.

Next, Topkapi, from the recently deceased Jules Dassin. Raffi may his best film, and probably the best heist film ever made. Sorry that I'm not posting it now. I've seen it twice on the big screen already, but it plays on Fri April 3 and Sat April 4 at the Forum if you want. But Topkapi, this comedy/thriller deserves some love. Mercouri stars in another film directed by her now husband Dassin. She pulls in a group of jewel thieves, including Maximillian Schell and Robert Morely, for a heist. A small timer (and possible idiot), played by Peter Ustinov spies on them. The complications rise, the police apply more pressure, and this little idiot actually thinks he's controlling the situation. Featuring a heist scene that De Palma would expertly copy (I mean do a homage to) in the first Mission: Impossible film. In fact this film inspired the original series. Great location shooting, and an Oscar for Ustinov for Supporting Actor.

Let me know if there's interest. Needs to be ASAP, since all of these films are between the 2nd and the 5th. For the second half, among the options, is a Mike Nichols retrospective at MOMA, and more Melville at the Forum. Later all.

March revivals: second half

Hey, all. Mike here with what to catch for the second half of March. Let's not waste time. Here we go:

Z- Thurs Mar 19, Sat Mar 21, Wed Mar 25 and Thurs Mar 26 at 7 and 9:30- Film Forum- A new 35mm print. One of the best films of 1969, and considering that year produced Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Army of Shadows, that's saying something. From director Costa Gavras, who has tackled controversial subjects through the filter of a thriller throughout his career, but rarely ignores the chase or the sugar, so that the medicine goes down better. Z has been so good, that the rest of his films, including the well done Missing, pale in comparison.

Here, we have a drama-thriller, shot in the style of a documentary, as the accidental killing of a rising politician, turns out not to be accidental. Oscars for Foreign Language Film and Editing. Nominations for Picture, Director and Screenplay Adaptation. Won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes Unanimously, as well as Best Actor for Jean-Louis Trintignant (The Conformist, 3 Colors: Red). There is more about the film, but I'm afraid I'll have to cut and paste from the Forum's website:

(1969) Police general Pierre Dux (later head of the Comédie Française) lectures sunglassed-indoors cohorts on ideological mildew — “isms” — now “infecting” society; then, as Mikis Theodorakis’ music throbs, Dux’s helmeted and truncheon ed police studiously look elsewhere as a raging, chanting mob fills the city square awaiting the emergence of charismatic deputy Yves Montand from his SRO ban-the-bomb address — but what are those two punks doing careening in on that three-wheeled kamikaze? “Just an accident” exhales legal honcho François Périer as he leaves it to tinted-eye glassed magistrate Jean-Louis Trintignant (Best Actor, Cannes) to wrap things up nicely. But the crowds are painting big white Z’s in the street... Too much of a hot potato for French producers, Greek expat Costa-Gavras’s adaptation of Vassili Vassilikos’s novel of the real-life Lambrakos case was skillfully filmed on a shoestring in Algeria (doubling for Greece), and utilizing a pulsating score pieced together from previous Theodorakis works (with the composer’s blessing: he was under house arrest in Greece) and an incredible cast including Renato Salvatori (Rocco and his Brothers) and Marcel Bozzuffi (soon to be the shot-in-the-back poster boy for The French Connection) as the two punks; and the iconic Irene Papas, the only actual Greek in the cast, who’s told “He’s gone” by New Wave camera legend Raoul Coutard, cameoing in a break from his breakneck documentary-style shooting. All of which, combined with Costa-Gavras’ bullet-quick editing, gave Z an immediacy, authenticity, and excitement, that, along with perfect timing — premiering so soon after the right-wing colonels’ takeover in Greece — made it a worldwide smash and the winner of both the Cannes Jury Prize (awarded unanimously) and the Best Foreign Film Oscar (it was the official entry from Algeria).

THE OTHER- Thurs Mar 19 at 9:10- the Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- Part of the Robert Mulligan retrospective. This was scheduled before his recent death, to show there was more to this underrated director's career than just To Kill A Mockingbird. A 1972 horror/mystery from the novel by Tom Tyron, who adapted it for the screen himself. Sneaks up on an audience.

Lonely twin brothers on a farm play a "Game" their grandmother taught them. What that game is and why there are sudden "accidents" around the boys, I don't dare spoil. You might recognize some of the adult actors, like Star Trek's Diana Muldaur, Little House/ Highway To Heaven's Victor French and a young John Ritter. But the memorable adult actor is famed acting teacher Uta Hagen as the grandmother. Let's just say a definite impression is made by her. Also notable here, just like in some of Mulligan's other work, are strong acting work from child actors will the burden of having to carry most if not all of the picture. Martin and Chris Udvarnoky are the creepy twins. They never acted in another film after this, as opposed to the child actor from this film . . .

THE MAN IN THE MOON- Sat Mar 21 at 4:30 and Tues Mar 24 at 9- Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- Part of the Robert Mulligan retro. "Ordinarily they say that cliché, a 'coming-of-age movie,' and I reject that term. I think it's 'coming to life…when you become aware that sooner or later you're going to have to walk out the front door.”—Robert Mulligan. A quiet story set down South in the summer of 57. A 14 year old girl comes to age, experiencing first love with the new neighbor, a 17 year old boy. Then experiences first jealousy, when her 17 year old sister falls in love with him. Not a hit in its day, but I don't know anyone who hasn't seen that hasn't liked it.

Sam Waterston was the best known actor at the time; years before Law And Order, but he was playing the type of gentle Southern father he would begin to perfect later on in TV's I'll Fly Away. But the film is best known as the launching pad for Reese Witherspoon as the young girl. Not playing a type, but playing a kid, we feel and empathize with every new experience she encounters. Even when she comes off bratty or petulant, we don't hate her for it, and it doesn't feel contrived, it just is. I know grammatically, that last sentence doesn't make the sense kind of sense as opposed to hearing it aloud. In other words, you don't see the seams in Reese's performance. A pleasant surprise from any actor, stunning when you consider a fourteen year old, in her first film (with only a few commercials to her credit at best), pulling off this kind of work. No surprise that she would become a leading actress, even if she did have to slog through films like S.F.W. and Overnight Delivery to get there. Just another notch in the belt of director Mulligan, who pulled out strong work from child actors, going back to at least To Kill A Mockingbird.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD- Wed Mar 25 at 6:15- Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- And speaking of which, the film mentioned in the first sentence of the obituaries of both director Mulligan and Gregory Peck. Their careers were defined, especially Mulligan's, by this gentle story of childhood and race. Usually considered one of the best novel to screen adaptations ever made. Right up there with Twilight. Wow, I hate myself for writing that sentence.

On both AFI Top 100 lists. Oscar nominations for Picture, Mulligan for Director (understandable since it lost both categories to Lawrence of Arabia), Mary Badham for Supporting Actress (forever known as Scout; another example of a quality child performance in a Mulligan film), Cinematography and Score. Oscars for Gregory Peck for Actor ( over Peter O'Toole for Lawrence? Considering he was nominated 4 times before he then, I suppose this was one part career achievement award for Peck), Art Direction, and Screenplay Adaptation for Horton Foote. Most of us are pretty familiar with this on TV, but I'm pretty sure anyone looking at these lists on a regular basis has never seen it on the big screen. Here's a chance to change that.

NIGHT AND THE CITY- Fri Mar 27 at 7:50 and 9:50- Film Forum- The start of the Jules Dassin retrospective. Some of you have seen his best film, Riffi. This film, Night and the City is consider a noir classic. Con man Richard Widmark tries to keep from getting killed by gangster Herbert Lom, with the aid of girlfriend Gene Tierney (Laura) in London. Why are gangsters after him? Because this little man has con schemes that are to big for him to pull off, and he deludes himself into thinking he can get out of any jam. The crappy 1992 remake with De Niro and Jessica Lange has been long forgotten, but this one is still remembered. And as one of my last potential films to catch before my Film Forum membership expires (God knows when I'll be able to get around to its renewal), I want to catch this badly.

VIDEODRONE- Fri Mar 27 at Midnight- IFC Film Center- Part of a David Cronenberg at Midnight retrospective. 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.

Major emphasis on Z. Anything else I can see is a bonus. Let me know. Later all.

March revivals: first half

Mike here with what to catch for the first half of march. I hate that I have to cut and paste more then usual, but for the most part, I'm dealing with films I'm not familiar with. So bear with me, here we go:

LAWYER MAN and BLONDE CRAZY- Tues Mar 3 at 6:50 (Lawyer) and 8:30 (Blonde)- Film Forum- More films from the Depression-era retrospective. Don't know them, but they look interesting. Lawyer Man, only because after seeing William Powell in My Man Godfrey, I'd like to catch him in something else that's not Life With Father, Mister Roberts, or one of the Thin Man films. Those I know. But Blonde Crazy, a pre-Code film starring James Cagney just starting out in this comedy/drama/ caper flick sounds VERY intriguing. And both films are under eighty minutes! For the rest, I'll cut and paste from the Forum's website:

(1932, William Dieterle) Fast-talking William Powell, with ever-loyal secretary Joan Blondell in tow, moves from schlmiely Second Ave. mouthpiece to natty Park Ave. assistant D.A. Approx. 72 min.

“A fast-paced, snappy little melodrama. Its active libido is resolutely Pre-Code.” – William K. Everson

(1931, Roy Del Ruth) Hustling bellboy James Cagney moves from gin procurement to the shakedown racket, aided and abetted by Joan Blondell ("The most alluring chambermaid you've ever seen." - Time Out New York). Approx. 79 min.

Cagney demonstrates particular genius for quick witted, fancy-footed, no nonsense characters.”– Bruce Bennett, Stop Smiling“A chipper, hard-boiled, amusing essay in petty thieving.” – TIME (1931)

CUTTER'S WAY- Fri Mar 6 for free (subject to availability) at 8, introduced by director Ivan Passer- MOMA- Also known as Cutter and Bone. A forgotten film from 1981. One of the last of the 70s style character study films made by Unitd Artists, before Heaven's Gate's failure had the company sold to MGM. Kind of similar to Jeff Bridges' later film The Big Lebowski, but not played for laughs. A character study of two friends who are Vietnam vets, back in a day before Magnum P.I. became a megahit, and before the release of First Blood; when a Vietnam vet was usually depicted either as a deranged killer, or a damaged avenger.

Bridges plays the cynical part time gigolo, who tries to care for his junkie depressed wife, but beyond sex and drugs, can't give her any real intimacy. But he's stable next to John Heard's Bone, in one of the better performances you've probably never seen. This one armed, one eyed drunk with a bad leg, can rail against anybody and anyone, but then plays the cripple card when someone has enough of his shit. So this very un-PC character represents at times, the films post-Watergate anger and distrust of authority. The film twists into a modern noir, when Bridges' Cutter sees a young girl murdered, the murder is connected to someone powerful, and Heard's Bone finds a way to let's say, channel his aggression.

United Artists decided to change it's distribution pattern, after the film got good reviews and something of an audience, PULLED it from release, and re-released only in art house theaters. It helped the film make a profit, but over time, it buried the film, making its recent DVD release almost like opening a time capsule. Of the people who look at, or might consider looking at this list, only 1-3 might have even heard of this film, never mind have seen it. For the rest of you, it's time to rediscover it.

The film will be introduced by its director. It is also playing on a Friday, when the screenings are for free. Tickets will be released sometime after 4:30. This may require some planning.

THE FLY (1986)- Fri Mar 6 and Sat Mar 7 at Midnight- IFC Film Center- Part of a midnight screening retrospective of David Cronenberg films. Cronenberg's only big career hit, the surprise hit of the summer of 86, and one of the best films of that year. At that time, despite the praise, saying something like that was considered surprising, daring, or greeted with a "oh, please". History says differently, if you can get by the Oscar winning, and at times disgusting, makeup effects.

But underneath the horror film aesthetic, is a well done tragic love story, where the love suffers terminal problems, when one of them suffers a crippling disease or addiction. This kind of story, as Cronenberg knows well, has universal appeal. Instead of say, AIDS or drug addiction, you have Jeff Goldblum transforming into a man-sized insect. Though his physical deteritation and changing behavior does mimic disease and addiction. With Geena Davis, at her most beautiful, turning in her best performance.

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN- Tues Mar 10- Thurs Mar 12 at 7:40 and 9:50- Film Forum- A new 35mm restoration.Heard of the film, don't know much about it, but it looks interesting. A little over the top and melodramatic, but interesting. An Oscar for its early color Cinematography, nominations for Actress Gene Tierney, and Art Direction. After that, I don't know much else, so once again, I'll cut and paste from the Forum's website:

(1945) Always elegantly coiffed Gene Tierney (in Oscar-nominated role and fresh from her starring role in Preminger’s Laura) and best-selling author Cornel Wilde meet cute — she’s reading his latest book — in a super-luxurious railroad car lounge and, despite her engagement ring, it’s instant attraction. And next thing Wilde knows, he’s on horseback watching as she strews her father’s ashes on a New Mexico mountaintop — as Alfred Newman’s score thunders — and suddenly, he’s the new fiancé of someone with a very possessive passion. Big Mistake? A drowning coldly watched from behind the screen’s most menacing pair of sunglasses, a miscarriage via intentional staircase fall, a death by poison, and a murder trial with a very surprising defendant getting hammered by relentless DA/spurned lover Vincent Price ensue, amid splendiferous settings, all viewed via sumptuous, Oscar-winning photography by Fox Technicolor specialist Leon Shamroy. Screenplay by Jo Swerling (Man’s Castle and other Depression films), with a colorful cast including Jeanne Crain, Ray Collins (Citizen Kane, Perry Mason), and Darryl Hickman. 110 min.

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

Best of 2008

Mike here with the best of 2008. Not timely, but I'm not paid, so screw it. For a while, I wasn't sure I had a top 10 I would be comfortable with. A top 6 maybe, with 4 decent ones. Luckily ,the end of the year rewarded us with high quality. I didn't expect to do a block in the middle of foreign films, but go figure. I did a lot better in terms of catching up with stuff. Which caused films I had hoped would make it, like The Counterfeiters, Man on Wire, and Vicky Christina Barcelona, to just miss out. Oh well, I feel confident about the quality. Here we go:

10) REVOLUTIONARY ROAD- A film one should not see in a depressing mood. American Beauty without most of the humor, but still very good. I saw a blog that had the house where Kate and Leo's characters live as among the top evil houses on film. The empty promises it promotes that helps one confuse career achievement (or a spouse's career achievement) with emotional fulfillment. Couples may come and go, but the house with false promises will continue, on Revolutionary Road and elsewhere.

Should have been acknowledged more by the Academy, but not at the expense of films 9-1 on this list. Kate Winslet should not win over Anne Hathway in Rachel Getting Married, but Kate should have been nominated for this over The Reader. Thanks for nothing Harvey Weinstein (but at least you approved one of my faves of 07, I'm Not There, so there you go.).

Like American Beauty, well written with a strong cast. I like Michael Shannon, but here, even though it's not a major role, a little of his screen time goes a long LONG way. And it doesn't help that despite different eras depicted, Mad Men covers similar territory better. But I find it better than say Slumdog Millionaire, uplifting be damned.

9) GRAN TORINO- My second biggest surprise of Oscar completely ignoring a film. Better than Clint Eastwood's other 2008 directorial release, Changeling. And not just because Clint turns in a better performance here, than Angelina does in her film. I won't argue that Ms. Jolie isn't a more talented actor. I would agree she has more talent and at least possess the skill set to access said talent. But having so much self-awareness that you know what roles you can blend into without distraction is not a gift, it's developed over time. Clint has decades of said experience and knows when to tower and when to blend in this, while Ms. Jolie feels like she gets away from her character to become ANGELINA in the film's second half. Don't give me lip about actors should be able to take risks and therefore grow and become better. This is the wrong forum, again I don't disagree, but Clint fits like a glove in this story; Angelina in Changeling, not as much.

Good to see Clint taking chances. Taking a chance with two first time screenwriters, and not turn their story into some geriatric Death Wish. And while Clint has the reputation of giving little direction to his actors (letting them do what they do which is why they were cast), for him to cast mostly non union actors and non-actors, just to fit the specific nationality (Hmong). That he pulls credible performances out of most of them, bravo. Not everything runs smoothly throughout with their performances, thus the low ranking. But the story engages, as a bigoted old man sees his value sets not in his own flesh and blood, but in the immigrant family he despised but learns to respect and care for. Surprisingly funny at times, when Clint does his best Archie Bunker, most of his line unrepeatable in a list like this. Understandable why some audiences have rejected most Oscar nominees in favor of this.

8) MILK- The best of the 5 Best Picture nominees, the only one I would put on this list. Seeing this on opening night in Chelsea, with a sold out crowd revering the screen was tremendous. Now I know what it feels like to attend Midnight Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Finally, a Gus Van Sant film I truly like with no reservations. The better of the two Van Sant films released in 08 (I admired the attempt with Paranoid Park, as opposed to actually liking or recommending it).

A very good biopic, that instructs the newbies, and feels right to those who know and/or lived the history, while never failing to maintain interest. Doesn't try to tell every decade of Harvey Milk's life. Just the section where he not only comes out of the closet, but moves to San Francisco for a complete change of lifestyle. And while shooting in San Francisco areas lend great authenticity, making the city another character, the editing of news reports and interviews from that era depicting Prop 6 and those who were for it, gives the viewer a sense of time, immediacy and conflict better than any scripted re-enactments. Probably would have made the film 3 hours long.

The only complaints I have, is the slight feeling of a whitewash that seems to make Milk into Saint Harvey (don't know if that's true, but the feeling is too much to shake for this ticket buyer, so if you don't like it, tough.), the idea of hinting that Dan White was repressed and in possibly in the closet (this much of the history I'm confident to say, bullshit. Which is a shame, considering how accurate the depiction of depression in White feels.), and James Franco's only ok performance. That tends to stick out like a sore thumb in the otherwise impeccable cast. Speaking of cast, Sean Penn may not be as tall, or as thin as Harvey Milk, but otherwise, not a false note in his performance. While I personally lean toward Frank Langella's performance in the entertaining Frost/Nixon, if Sean wins Best Actor, it would feel right.

7) TELL NO ONE- I'm a sucker for the kind of suspense film that Hitchcock made. I'm also a sucker for the kind of suspense thriller Hitch might have at least considered making if he was alive today. That's why in 2003 I rated Swimming Pool a little higher then say, Lost In Translation and Mystic River. And this follows the style of one of Alfred's man on the run flicks, while also working as a mystery and as a meditation on loss.

Adapted and directed by Guillaume Canet, a man, mourning on the eight year anniversary of his wife's murder, receives a video of someone looking like his wife at an airport, along with a three word message, Tell No One. That man must find out, and the journey begins. The sense of loss is palpable, so the need to find the truth is great. And it's nice in a film like this where not all the twists and turns are predictable. Vastly under seen in theaters, even for an art house release. You can correct that when it comes out on DVD at the end of March.

6) WALTZ WITH BASHIR- A nominee for Best Foreign Language Film and not to be missed. The best documentary of the year, and the only one on this list. Mostly animated; used to stay away from typical shots of talking heads, and bring the vivid descriptions of war, life at home and the dreams to life. Director Ari Folman talks with other fellow Israeli war veterans about their experiences. Some mutual, and some repressed. There's a depiction here of a group of men raised mostly likely by parents who survived the Holocaust. As soldiers, they fought in the first Lebanon war, rarely winning any battles, and lucky to survive the pounding they took from the Palestinians. Once they made it through into the major cities, these Israelis ended up providing cover fire for Phalangist fighters, who pull out Palestinian old people women and children out of town into camps, where they were massacred. The soldiers didn't know until way too late into all of this. When they told their superiors, they appeared to be ok with it, and didn't have stopped until hundreds had been killed.

No, the full history of the back and forth violence between all the parties are not explored, because it is of no interest to the filmmaker and his fellow veterans who lived through a portion of it. They share the same feeling as Eastwood's Gran Torino character, where war leaves a permanent emotional scar. The filmmaker is interested in bringing out fleshing out their memories, repressed and otherwise. The animation isn't Pixar, but the film making is vibrant. If you don't come away shaken, i don't know what to say about you. Though for me, if I don't feel like you saw something well done when NOT IF you see this, then frankly, I don't know what to say about you either.

5)GAMORRAH- If you know some that says that mob movies are waste and that nothing more can be said in the genre, Gamorrah is the proof that this person is an idiot. Or Mobbed up. This just recently opened in New York, but since it received a one week release in L.A. to qualify for the Oscars, it counts toward this list and not next year. Dark Italian film based on the book that exposed the dealings of the Camorra crime empire, based around Naples. All elements of honor or coolness from previous mob films, comes off as bullshit next to what's depicted here, an area that God seems to have forgotten. Similar to both Traffic and Traffik (Google it people), in its multi-arcs and semi realist style of telling the story. It's almost as though director Matteo Garrone decided: I can have the speed and style of say, City Of God, but you can't have the editing jump cuts. You must let the camera roll and let the story be told that way. Very Visconti or very Kubrick in its overall final state.

We see different aspects of the organization, but never in any exotic locales. The daily dealing rub outs in what is essentially a ghetto. The payments made to people with jailed gang members. It's different business holdings are brought up; from couture (Scarlett Johansson in a Italian dress is featured: now you know who will profit from this exposure), to profiting off dumping toxic waste (tough if you happened to live near there), to their investment in the re-building at Ground Zero, to the everyday practice of killing an average of one person who steps out of line every three days. We meet individuals, like the 12 year old boy, ignoring his mom to become a new recruit. The dapper man who runs the waste management company, without a care about where he dumps. The older man who gives payments, and thinks he's special because he doesn't kill anyone. The two teenagers who literally don't know what to do with a woman (as we see in a scene in a strip club), but whose idolization of Scarface makes them think they can be just like him. Hey kiddies, Al Pacino isn't a mobster, he's paid to play make-believe. The sweaty gangsters you're trying to rip off don't play at all. And don't bother looking for the police. They're only good for taking dead bodies away.

A few professional actors mixed in with mostly non-actors, kind of like with Gran Torino. You should walk away from this film a little sickened by what you experience. Especially since it's been happening, it's going on while you read this, and nothing will happen to change this, probably in our lifetime. But the mastery of the film making should make you feel this is time well spent. Slowly expanding over the next few weeks as of this writing, so do go.

Shocking that this didn't make it to the semis for the Foreign Language Film nomination. Truly disappointing, but even if it did get nominated, I don't think it would beat . . .

4) THE CLASS- The best of the Foreign Language nominees that have received a release. Anyone who intends to become a teacher should be forced to see this. Afterwards, if they still intend to teach, especially somewhere between grades 5-9, make them see the film again. Francois Begaudeau took his experiences as a teacher and wrote a book. He collaborated with director Francois Begaudeau, cast non-actor (see a pattern here?) kids, had them work improvs over the course of a school year, then they shot.

Begaudeau plays a version of himself, struggling to teach multi cultural class. The kids are smart, but are more interested in showing up the teacher and establishing dominance. Combine short attention spans, the lack of experience with verbal subtleties, and an unwillingness to cross the cultural chasm by both students and faculty, makes the job (taking place over the course of a school year with the camera never leaving school grounds) almost impossible to do. Taking place in a country where there seems to be a melting pot, but the pot appears to be only simmering, and no one wants to stir. At times, more gut wrenching then some recent horror films.

3) HAPPY-GO-LUCKY- I'm becoming a big fan of director Mike Leigh. Let actors improvise while only telling one or two of the leads the entire story from beginning to end, then when the improvs go to his satisfaction, Leigh goes off to write the script, then a few months later, shoots the film. With this style, have come a number of Top Ten of a year flicks over the years: Career Girls, Topsy Turvy, Vera Drake. And now, my favorite Mike Leigh film, Happy-Go-Lucky. Imagine if I could truly get into Secrets and Lies and Naked . . .

I grow less inclined to say someone was robbed of an Oscar or a nomination. Whoever has the best personal or studio press agents . . . But Sally Hawkins not getting a Best Actress nomination is shocking to the point of saying "Bullshit." (Who would I drop? Sorry, Melissa Leo . . . ). She plays a single kindergarten teacher who absolutely refuses to be down or nasty. She will be cheerful and chipper to the point that some strangers and the viewer might think she's delusional and insane. Not that she's blissfully unaware of troubles in the world and in other people. She actively tries to help her students and friends. But she will not make the world by being cruel or mean herself, even if one perceives her as a victim at one point.

Leigh lets the viewer decide if she is silly, naive or is in a place in her life we should consider aspiring to. Many smiles and more then a few laughs abound. And Hawkins makes this special creature shine. And her scenes with Eddie Marsan, as her polar opposite driving instructor, are the highlight of the film.

And now for my top 2. The top 3 has been in this order since mid November. But the top 2 both have a good chance of entering my personal top 100:

2) THE DARK KNIGHT- A more politically relevant wasn't made this year. Instead of typical action fare, we got epic film making, something some people said we'd never see again. More a semi realistic crime drama than a typical superhero film. We just happen to have a cape, masks and some makeup here as well. Is a lot close to the dark vein Frank Miller tapped into back in the late 80s. Can easily let me forget Christopher Nolan's last film, the mediocre Twilight Zone episode, The Prestige.

I will stop going further because better writers can and have gone into its themes better. Praise for look and sound, especially on IMAX, cannot stop. And while one can take the time for Heath's Joker, I won't just because I'm in no mood to join the chorus proclaiming him the next James Dean. Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent disintegrating into Two Face deserves the same accolades. And for jock itch like Stephen A. Smith, who said they needed someone like Beyonce instead of Maggie Gyllenhall as the romantic interest, three things in her defense:

First, Beyonce can sing, but she can't act. There were reasons why most of the energy in Dreamgirls disappeared the second both Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy left the screen, And Beyonce is one of them. And you're going to have her act opposite Bale, Ledger, and Eckhart? HA!

Second, for those who ripped Maggie must have forgotten Katie Holmes' performance in the same role? The complexity of the character (more sensitivity, a little more sadness) has increased. Katie had enough problems with the somewhat more simplified character in Batman Begins, but you complainers' selective amnesia is annoying.

Third, c'mon, she's playing a workaholic lawyer who stays in the office late. If you're looking for an office relationship and you think you can do better, God bless, but keep your ignorance out. Moving on. To number one . . .

1) WALL-E- Saying this is my favorite Pixar is redundant. Ranking it as the best of the dystopian genre (among my faves, Brazil, Children of Men, Blade Runner, and yes, Soylent Green), is also fairly redundant. One of the best films ever made, that sounds about right, though I'd like to possibly reconsider that about four years from now.

The first half hour plus is among the best silent film homages ever, especially with a nod toward Chaplin and action-wise, Keaton. A better use of Hello Dolly songs here then Gene Kelly did when he directed the film version, whose clips are seen in Wall-E! With a never uninteresting pessimism about our future, with just enough room for change via love that's believable. Yes, believable. The idea of two robots falling in love of course strains credibility. But the fact that this love is more believability depicted than in any studio romantic comedy is both a miracle and a damnation for recent films (go ahead, defend Bride Wars and the Sex In The City movie morons.). All praise for the nominated screenplay from Jim Reardon, Pete Docter and the film's director, Andrew Stanton. This film will age quite well. Don't know if we need a Wall-E 2 like Toy Story 2 and the upcoming 3. This is sufficient.

I invite feedback and criticism and questions about why I left some films off in favor of these. Although annoying comments get deleted. It's possible to believe in democracy on the web and not actually practice it. I know most of you haven't seen all of them. If you're the typical person I know, you're lucky to have seen three or four of them. So let me know. Later all.

Feb revivals: second half

Mike here with a quick list for the remainder of the month. Small, but I think I really got eclectic here. So let's get on with it:

INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM- Fri Feb 20 and Sat Feb 21 at Midnight- Landmark Sunshine Cinema- It's been a while since I've seen this prequel to Raiders of the Lost Ark. After I saw the last one, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I came away thinking "This isn't on the level of either Raiders or Last Crusade, but I had fun. It's about on the level of Temple of Doom.". Then again, I had more time to think about Shia Lebouf swinging with monkeys, he and Cate Blanchett requiring CGI to do their fight scene, and that bullshit climax involving the UFO. And I spent many a day having to defend why I had no problem with Indy surviving a nuclear blast in a fridge: "The director blew up a shark. If he can do that, why are you stunned by this?". Then Temple of Doom didn't seem so weak.

Then I started to remember the parts that didn't work. Like the little Chinese boy Short Round, setting Asian stereotypes back to the Mr. Moto era. Or Kate Capshaw's never-ending screeching performance. And why it seems to take a long while to get some action once Indy and gang survive the plane crash. So I would say, it's time for a re-evaluation. Who's up for it, people?

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS- followed by a post-punk afterparty with DJs Dan Selzer (Acute Records) & Aileen Brophy (Corita), sponsored by Viva Radio- Wed Feb 25 at 8:30- Walter Reade at Lincoln Center- A rare screening of this 1982 cult film. A comedy-drama satire, before This Is Spinal Tap, except with more rock respectability. The way this whole thing's been set seems more apropos for a Friday or Saturday night, but it's party

time on a Wednesday night instead.

An all teen girl band (2 sisters and a cousin) gains national exposure while on tour with a metal band and a Brit punk band. The exposure increases when the lead singer, having difficulty getting over her mother's death, changes her look and style to punk mid tour. Those of us familiar with acts ranging from Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and Brittney, know that once you get built up, you have to be taken down. And then there's the little matter as to whether to the band as any talent . . .

This film may not have even been released, or if it had, probably in a few theaters in and out. The cult began with frequent screenings in the 1980s on USA network, which ceased sometime in the early 90s. A token VHS release, unavailable on DVD until last year and the rare TV screening over the past 13 years (before it's late Jan TCM screening, I can't remember when it was last on), have only increased the mystique. As did litigation that has helped keep the soundtrack from being released. The film did not test well, so Paramount had a more upbeat ending shot, that made the screenwriter (Nancy Dowd- Slap Shot) take her name off the credits. Didn't help.

Interesting cast. Christine Lahti, Elizabeth Daily (voice of Rugrats' Tommy Pickles, but a Pamela Anderson with real breasts here), David Clennon (thirtysomething, slimy here as he was there), Ray Winstone (The Departed and Sexy Beast, here as the punk singer) and Brent Spiner among the supporting cast. But the most attention has been paid to 16 year old Diane Lane and 14 year old Laura Dern as members of the band. Lane in particular, has to carry the film as the lead singer who gets the most attention, and pushes people away the longer she's on tour. At times you think she's a nasty piece of work, which works in punk.

After the screening, they'll be some kind of party with 2 DJs providing the entertainment. So if you're interested in a mid week party, let's catch this.

MR. DEEDS GOES TO WASHINGTON and THEODORA GOES WILD- Fri Feb 27 at 7:30 (Mr. Deeds) and 9:40 (Theodora)- Film Forum- Part of the Forum's series of Depression-era films. First, Mr Deeds Goes To Town. Yes, some of are more familiar with the Adam Sandler remake from a few summers ago, but try this one please. Gary Cooper is a Northeastern hick (supposedly), who moves to New York after he inherits a fortune. He becomes a target for people who want to his money, and media snobs who want to expose him as a fraud. Something tells me Sarah Palin would sympathize, but would probably think this comes from Hollywood elitist liberals and not bother with this. Jean Arthur plays the cynical reporter who chases him, only to fall in love. Oscar nominations for Picture, Cooper for Actor, and Screenplay. Capra won the second of his 3 Oscars for Best Director here.

Followed by Theodora In Love, a forgotten screwball comedy. A new 35mm print for Theodora.

The people in a small town hate a scandalous new book, but don't realize it was written by young Theodora from their own town, under a pseudonym. In a brief trip to Manhattan, she falls for a man. She goes back. He finds out where she lives and who she really is, and goes down there to liberate her from the small town gossips and narrow mindedness, whether she likes it or not. Eventually, Thedora gives payback of her own. Melvyn Douglas plays the suitor. But Irene Dunne (Oscar nominated) carries the film as someone who truly grows, who shows both the narrow minded and the "liberated" what emotional freedom and self-happiness truly is.

A forgotten film like I said. For some reason, rarely played over the years on PBS, might have gotten nothing more then a cursory VHS release, apparently NOT available on DVD, and only recently screened occasionally on TCM. It's understandable if you've never heard of it, but now you can change that.

42ND STREET and KING KONG (1933)- Sat Feb 28 at 4:40 (Street), 6:25 (Kong), 8:25 (Street) and 10:10 (Kong)- Film Forum- Part of the Forum's series of Depression-era films. A double feature of the biggest films of 1933. First, 42nd Street. The most enduring of all the Busby Berkeley flicks. The stage show is probably more famous, but let's not ignore the fact that they had some strong material to pull from. And by strong material, I'm not calling this the Hamlet of musicals. But it's a sturdy story executed well. Stage director Warner Baxter tells chorus girl/understudy Ruby Keeler that she has to come back a star, jumping in just before opening night after the leading lady breaks her ankle. With memorable Berkeley numbers set in the show-within-the show, and Ginger Rogers in a supporting role. 2 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Next, the original King Kong, the one where Fay Wray screams her head off. I liked it as a kid, thanks to those endless Kong triple features WOR-TV used to do on Thanksgiving weekend. But I hadn't seen it since 1991, until a few years ago, at a midnight screening at Landmark Sunshine. There, I began to appreciate this film real fast. Moves great, thanks to not being bogged down by back story that the remakes felt were needed. And while I quite like Peter Jackson's version, and I can have some fun with the 1976 version (despite some MASSIVE problems), this is superior if for no better reason then how Kong itself is handled. This is an ape, and no attempt is made to humanize it. It's an ape, and it doesn't have any moral issues about squashing people or flinging them like confetti, and doing this multiple times.

One of the best action films ever made. On both AFI top 100 lists, and on my personal top 100 list as well. Like I've said, I've caught King Kong on the big screen before. But the chance to catch both this AND 42nd Street is too good to pass up. I would want to catch both, not just one.

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