"Now Listen to Me... "
Just some thoughts on current happenings:
Classic film screenings from around the world this May include:
In London, United Kingdom The Prince Charles Cinema will present Blade Runner [The Final Cut] (1982, a 4K presentation) Monday, May 11, In a Lonely Place (1950, a 35mm print) Wednesday, May 13, Heat (1995, a 35mm print) Wednesday, May 13, Wake in Fright (1971, a New 4K Restoration) Friday, May 15, Vertigo (1958, a 4K Restoration) Sunday, May 17, The Red Shoes (1948, a 35mm print) Wednesday, May 27, and California Split (1974) on Saturday, May 30.
* Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.
Click on the film’s respective image for more information. To see May’s complete programming, click on The Prince Charles Cinema banner above.
In Buenos Aires, Argentina The Avex Ensemble (an 11-piece musical ensemble featuring synthesisers, strings, brass, bass and percussion) will present Blade Runner (1982, The 2007 “Final Cut” which also happens to be the best “Cut”) with live musical accompaniment featuring Vangelis’ mesmerising score on Monday, May 11.
Click on the image for more information.
In Auckland, New Zealand, Academy Cinemas is presenting Faces (1960) on Tuesday, May 12.
To obtain more information on any of this programme, click on the poster image. To see May’s complete schedule, click on the Academy banner above.
Dog Day Afternoon
In Bergen, Norway The Cinemateket i Bergen will present Dog Day Afternoon (1975) on Wednesday, May 13 and Friday, May 22.
For more information on this film’s showing, click on the movie image above. For further information on the other films presented at The Cinemateket, click on the banner image above.
In Hollywood (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The Vista Theater will present Having a Wild Weekend (1965, a 35mm print) on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, both dates at 10 am only.
To discover more about the screening of Having a Wild Weekend or the other films playing this month at the Vista Theater, click on either of the above images.
In Detroit, Michigan The Redford Theatre will present Amadeus (1984) on Saturday, May 16 at 2 pm only.
Click on the top image for more information. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Redford Theatre banner above.
In Los Angeles, California The Beverly Cinema will present Frankenstein (1931, a 35mm print) on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 both dates at 2 pm only.
Click on the poster image for more information on this presentation. To see the rest of April’s schedule, click on The Beverly Cinema banner above.
In Sydney, Australia The Ritz Theatre will present Blue Velvet (1986, a 35mm print) on Friday, May 22.
Click on the film image for more information on this screening. For other films playing at The Ritz Theatre, click on the banner above.
When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
In Los Feliz (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The American Cinematheque The Los Feliz 3 Theatre will present When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960, a 35mm print, as part of their ‘Mikio Naruse: An American Cinematheque Retrospective’) on Saturday, May 23 at 1 pm only.
For more information on this programme, click on the film image above. To see the entire month of May’s programming including other films showing at The Los Feliz 3 Theatre in Los Feliz, the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood (also part of greater Los Angeles), and Aero Theatre in Santa Monica (also part of greater Los Angeles), click on the American Cinematheque banner.
In Como (part of greater Perth) Western Australia, The Revival House will present JFK (1991, a 35mm print, a 35th Anniversary presentation) on Sunday, May 24 at 3:50 pm only.
Click on the poster image for more information on this screening. To see the other films showing this month, click on the theatre banner above.
In theatres across the U.S. Flashback Cinema is presenting Grease (1978) on Sunday, May 24, Monday, May 25 and Wednesday, May 27.
Click on the poster image for more information on this screening. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Flashback Cinema banner above.
In theatres across the U.S., Fathom Entertainment is presenting Legally Blonde (2001, a 25th Anniversary presentation) on Sunday, May 24 and Wednesday, May 27.
Click on the poster image for more information on this screening. To see more scheduling, click on The Fathom Events banner above.
Little Caesar
In San Francisco, California, The Roxie Theatre will present Little Caesar (1931, as part of their Wild, Weird, Wicked: Films From Before the Code series) on Tuesday, May 26.
For more information on this showing, click on the movie image above. For more information on the other films being presented at The Roxie, click on the theatre picture.
Sabrina
In Valencia, Spain, Culturarts Generalitat IVAC – La Filmoteca at the Edificio Rialto will present Sabrina (1954, as part of their BILLY WILDER series) on Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28.
Click on the film’s image for more information on this screening. To discover more of May’s programming including other films playing in Valencia, Spain at the Edificio Rialto, Castelló, Spain at the Raval Theatre and the Paranimf of the Universitat Jaume I, and in Alicante Spain at the Arniches Theatre, click on the banner image above.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
In Culpeper Virginia, The Library of Congress at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Packard Campus Theater is presenting The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948, a 35mm print) on Thursday, May 28.
Click on the poster image for more information on this film’s screening. To see the rest of May’s schedule, click on the Packard Campus image above.
MARILYN 100
In New York City, New York, Film Forum is presenting
MARILYN 100 from
Friday, May 29 – Thursday, June 11
The programme reads:
A 13-film series celebrating legendary screen siren Marilyn Monroe’s 100th year.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson in Los Angeles on June 1, 1926, Monroe worked as a model and photographer's subject before signing with 20th Century Fox at age 20, going on to become one of Hollywood's most recognizable and bankable stars in under a decade. This series charts the full arc of her brief but indelible career: the fizzy comic perfection of GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, and MONKEY BUSINESS; gritty noir thrillers NIAGARA, CLASH BY NIGHT, and THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (her first major role, under John Huston — who would also direct her last); and Billy Wilder masterworks THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH (featuring the iconic subway grate dress scene that became one of pop culture’s most immortal images) and SOME LIKE IT HOT; and her final completed film, THE MISFITS. Marilyn died in 1962 at just 36, leaving behind a remarkable filmography that defined Hollywood stardom.
Presented with support from The Robert Jolin Osborne Fund for American Classic Cinema of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s and The Ada Katz Fund for Literature in Film
Programmed by Bruce Goldstein
* Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.
Click on the retrospective image for more information and on the Film Forum banner for other motion pictures playing this month.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
In Lyon, France the Institut Lumiere is presenting Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920, with Piano accompaniment by Didier Martel, as part of its FILM CONCERTS AND SILENT FILMS series) on Sunday, May 31 at 2:30 pm only.
Click on the film image above for more information on this screening. Click on the Institut logo for all of the films showing this month.
These are the reviewed films showing on Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. for the remainder of this month:
First up is Satyajit Ray’s 1955 masterpiece Pather Panchali, his first in the “Apu” trilogy, previously reviewed here. This is cinematic art at its finest and will air Sunday, May 10 at 11:30 pm PDT.
Barbara Stanwyck stars as a devoted wife trying to save her husband (played by Barry Sullivan) but equally determined to match wits against killer Ralph Meeker in order to do so, in the previously recommended (here) noir, 1953's Jeopardy. This life or death struggle will commence Tuesday, May 12 at 10:15 am PDT.
Ralph Meeker, Barbara Stanwyck
"And then I saw her - coming out of the sun. And I knew why Whit didn't care about that 40 grand."
Out of the Past, is one of film noir's finest and most highly recommended here. She will arrive Tuesday, May 12 at 3:15 pm PDT.
A Top Ten Western is Sam Peckinpah's elegiac Ride the High Country (1962), coming in at number 4 on the list here and will ride into TCM territory Wednesday, May 13 at 1:30 pm PDT.
Randolph Scott as Gil Westrum (on the left) and Joel McCrea as Steve Judd
Next up is Baby Face (1933), the Pre-Code sensation starring Barbara Stanwyck, reviewed here, and making her spirited appearance on Friday, May 15 at 3:30 pm PDT.
Barbara Stanwyck
Make way for the rapturous Stanley Donen directed musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954), reviewed here, Thursday, May 21 at 1:45 pm PDT.
TCM will show The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), an incisive look into how each of three returning servicemen adapt to civilian life at home, after World War II. Previously, I highly praised The Best Years of Our Lives for its exceptional musical score composed by Hugo Friedhofer in the first part of a series entitled Top Ten: Motion Picture Music Treasures. This emotionally powerful tour de force will commence on TCM Sunday, May 24 at 5:30 pm PDT.
Dana Andrews, holding the Mayo... Virginia Mayo that is
Viewers who dare to have their imaginations stretched considerably should be rewarded Where Eagles Dare (1968), previously reviewed here and appearing on TCM’s radar Monday, May 25 at 12:15 pm PDT.
(From left) Derren Nesbitt, Ingrid Pitt, Mary Ure
Both tension and fear are at their zenith in Cape Fear (1962) with Robert Mitchum once again playing southern bred evil incarnate as he did in 1955’s The Night of the Hunter. Viewers prepared to be terrified can visit Cape Fear, previously reviewed here, on Friday, May 29 at 5 pm PDT.
(From above) Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck
If you haven’t already seen the hyperbolic The Boys from Brazil (1978), previously reviewed here, be prepared for one wild and wacky premise. Still, the production design, a few supporting performances, and music team up to make this an enjoyable, albeit camp, watch as long as viewers don’t take the happenings too seriously. The Boys… arrive Friday, May 29 at 7 pm PDT.
Gregory Peck
Rarely does an atmosphere of such overpowering dread subsume a cinematic story so completely as it does 1943's The Seventh Victim. A young woman (portrayed as a fetching innocent by Kim Hunter) goes searching for her missing sister (enigmatically played by Jean Brooks) in New York City's Greenwich Village and stumbles upon a satanic cult of devil worshipers, putting both of their lives at risk. Mark Robson, who directed a number of these Val Lewton produced gems, is himself at the peak of his considerable creative powers. This devilishly striking combination of horror and film noir was a previous TCM recommendation here and will occur Sunday, May 31 at 10:30 am PDT.
Jean Brooks
My last TCM film to see this month is Mike Hodges’ 1971 Neo-noir triumph Get Carter which is reviewed as a Blu-ray recommendation here. Viewers can get Carter Sunday, May 31 at 3 pm PDT.
Michael Caine
TCM's current monthly schedule can be seen by clicking on any of the above TCM related images. To confirm the correct Pacific Daylight (West Coast) showtime information, subtract 3 hours from the Eastern Daylight (East Coast) showtime listed on TCM’s schedule.
The Soundtrack recommendation of the month is Carmine Coppola's memorable score to the third chapter in The Godfather saga, 1990's The Godfather Part III.
Reviving the measured, enveloping and deeply probative storytelling witnessed in both The Godfather and even more so in The Godfather Part II, was going to be a daunting task considering how high the creative bar was set. Sadly, a number of factors conspired to undermine The Godfather Part III’s artistic disposition. The film’s focus is on the slow deterioration of Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone, vis-à-vis the mounting threats to his person, family, and criminal enterprise. One of the most noticeably disengaging elements, therefore, is Pacino’s characterisation: it’s as if he’s playing a different person this time out. Gone is the brooding quietude, the reserved, contemplative, and to some extent authoritative, Michael Corleone. His speech and even looks are different, all of which detract from what we thought we knew about this all important heir to his father’s empire. During a series of scenes in Sicily where Michael tries to recapture the positive feelings between himself and former wife Kay (played by Diane Keaton) Pacino’s nonchalant character seems particularly out of character. Then there’s the lifeless portrayal of Michael’s daughter Mary by Sofia Coppola: “… a graduate from the Copacabana school of dramatic art” as critic Addison De Witt might have proclaimed. In one crucial “romantic” scene that takes place in a kitchen, her flat line readings are a flat out embarrassment. John Savage’s role as Tom Hagen’s son Andrew, on the other hand, looks like it was cut as drastically as Madeleine Lebeau’s Yvonne in Casablanca, i.e. to the point of “what’s the point”? The Immobiliare scheme’s development and subsequent demise is so choppy and badly articulated, it’s practically incomprehensible not to mention oddly inconsequential when all is said and done. Finally, there’s the by now tired conclusion of killing off all of Michael’s enemies at once, only this time, presented in an unconvincingly mannered manner. On the plus side, there are some striking set pieces, noteworthy supporting characterisations and conflicts between them, Michael’s heart-wrenching confession regarding his brother, and stellar production and post production contributions. In conclusion, there’s much to admire this time out. That same intimate look and feel of the surroundings is there. Director and co-writer Francis Ford Coppola and Co. still maintain that signature intoxicating rhythm to captivate our attention. It’s in comparison with the first two films where Part III suffers and since this film relies on what came before, it’s an unfavourable comparison that is regrettably inevitable.
The musical accompaniment is superb as it was in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. Composer Nino Rota passed away in 1979, well before the making of The Godfather Part III, however, his colleague Carmine Coppola (Francis’ father) has taken the reigns with assurance and creative aplomb resulting in this masterful musical accompaniment.
La-La Land Records, Paramount Pictures and Sony Classical are presenting this remastered and expanded Limited Edition (only 3,000 units produced) 3-CD release of composer Carmine Coppola’s original motion picture score to 1990’s The Godfather Part III aka The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. * Click on the image for more information and ordering.
* The Godfather Part III was retitled The Godfather Coda The Death of Michael Corleone after its director and co-writer Francis Ford Coppola re-assembled the film in 2020.
This month's Happy Birthday shout-out goes to Clint Eastwood, who turns 96 on May 31st.
Aside from the iconic characters this formidable talent has given us, such as "The Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns and Dirty Harry in Don Siegel's proficient cop thriller of the same title, Clint has appeared in some lesser (but worthy of being better) known films, i.e. The Beguiled (for director Siegel and the star's favourite of those made with his mentor), Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (written and directed by Michael Cimino) and White Hunter Black Heart (directed by its star). His list of artistic accomplishments behind the camera include The Outlaw Josey Wales, Bronco Billy, Unforgiven, The Bridges of Madison County, Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima, Gran Torino, Sully, and The Mule.
Get Carter (1971)…
… previously mentioned as a TCM movie to see this month and reviewed here, is May’s [4K UHD + Blu-ray] (Warner Archive Region Free) recommendation as well. It is now available from Amazon.com by clicking on the image below.
A.G.