So last Monday I posted how Tribeca was over and I should be back to posting more regularly. Then Monday and Tuesday, the world of my personal life sort of came crashing down around me, and I haven’t particularly been feeling like blogging much. There’s been a lot I’ve wanted to write about, too, but I just haven’t been able to actually sit and do it. For example, we’re right in the middle of a phenomenal Harold Lloyd series at Film Forum. We’ve already missed the brilliant Speedy, one of my all-time favorite silent films for numerous reasons, none less than the horse-drown trolley-car chase scene that goes right through Washington Square Park and the arch. Starting this Friday they feature the silent version of Welcome Danger, which apparently hasn’t been seen in 3/4 of a century. Hopefully I can get myself together enough to get to its one-week engagement.
Also starting on Friday and running through the end of the month is (seemingly, at least) the most comprehensive retrospective of the work of the great Michael Powell. The Film Society of Lincoln Center’s web page for the program is as much history lesson as schedule information. There are so many not-to-miss selections in this program, it’s ridiculous to even attempt to list them all, but I have to give a plug for one of my all-time favorite films (frequently mentioned on this site), The Red Shoes. I have actually never seen the film projected nor on a big screen, and even though I’ve already missed two of the screenings, thankfully there’s another one at the end of the month at which I will surely be in attendance.
Oh, and as importantly, tonight at 9 PM on IFC is the premiere of Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession about the late, great, Los Angeles-based, premium cable movie channel. I didn’t live in LA until after the demise of Z Channel, but all the people I knew who lived out there raved about it, and nearly two decades after it departed, it still has a cult following. I’ve heard great things about this doc, and even more fantastic is IFC’s schedule for this weekend when the channel will have an IFZ Channel Weekend this Saturday and Sunday (5/14-15) airing the kinds of films one used to find on Z Channel: The 400 Blows, White Nights, Wild Strawberries, Salvador, and more.
So that’s about all I can muster right now. I will try to come back with more this week, including talk about the festival and new movies (of which I’ve seen — ugh — none; there goes that New Year’s resolution unattainable goal.
Until next time, maybe tomorrow … just maybe ….
Out of Focus 