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City Arts: ‘Hitchcock’ is Myopic Bio-Pic

Armond White — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 23:00:24 +0000

‘Hitchcock’ shows the maestro without humor

Sacha Gervasi’s Anvil: The Story of Anvil, the 2010 chronicle of the little-known rock band, was a rare excellent documentary; a film distinguished by its good-hearted recognition of what lies beneath artistic motive. Only a little of that beneficence is apparent in Gervasi’s dramatic debut Hitchcock, which takes a fanciful approach to biography. Its problem isn’t simply a lack of documentary veracity but the absence of good intention.

In Hitchcock, Gervasi seems to disbelieve the transformative, or at least extenuating conditions, of art-making. The film’s scandal-based view of Alfred Hitchcock’s personal eccentricities—his egotism, marital self-absorption and professional exploitation—overwhelm any appreciation that its subject is one of the 20th century’s undeniable artists. It was in the fin de siècle wrap-up Histoire(s) du Cinema that Jean-Luc Godard referred to Hitchcock as “the greatest poet of us all.”

Gervasi’s film concerns the making of Hitchcock’s 1960 masterpiece Psycho. Its dramatic and aesthetic shock came as the culmination of a fantastically successful career in England and Hollywood. But Psycho wasn’t just a career move following the popularity of North by Northwest. Psycho altered the culture, as much a revolutionary moment as Battleship Potemkin or Citizen Kane—two movies that rivaled Hitchcock’s extraordinary use of montage and mise-en-scène.

Because no one was prepared for Hitchcock’s gear-shift at the time doesn’t excuse Gervasi’s indifference to the fact. His movie is completely vacant of a sense of period—that unsuspected transition from post-WWII affluence and Western confidence to an era of fearful change, suspicion, brutality and cynical, inbred violence. Arriving on the cusp of social revolution, Hitchcock’s Psycho ushered in new perspectives on cinema and popular art. It was surprisingly coincidental with experimentation of European film artists as well as the investigation of unrefined genres begun by Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and continued with Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom—but outclassing both and later surpassing himself with the pinnacle achievement of The Birds.

This film’s recounting of the great moment is too comfortable with the banality of the maestro’s mundane domestic life with wife Alma Reville, a former colleague and creative partner. And of the Hollywood system, treating Hitchcock as a pampered child among the lunatics in the studio system’s asylum. Hitchcock fantasizes conspiring with Ed Gein, the real-life serial killer upon whom the book Psycho was based. These scenes parody the Hollywood religion of psychoanalysis–a perhaps too subtle joke. Gervasi has not achieved the knd of satire that, say, Joe Dante might have successfully brought to a fond reminisence of Psycho and its discontents. (Recall Dante’s 1993 Matinee) Thankfully, this film is nowhere as hateful—or incompetent—as the recent HBO movieThe Girl, which wallowed in malicious rumor about Hitchcock’s relationship with Tippi Hedren.

As the killer-sympathizing, pun-telling, insecure maestro, Anthony Hopkins gets the Hitchcock voice right but his makeup is physically disastrous. Recalling Frank Langella playing Richard Nixon as Bela Lugosi, Hopkins plays Hitchcock like he did Nixon. Helen Mirren’s Alma is a glorified lady-who-lunches, shops, swims and has an outburst of wifely anger no less hilariously overscaled than Beatrice Straight’s in Network.

Sometimes Gervasi’s sense of humor shows when Hitchcock enters and exits the frame like a Goodyear blimp, recalling the famous rotund silhouette of his Alfred Hitchcock Presents TV icon. And the impersonations of Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and Anthony Perkins by Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel and James D’Arcy are uncannily buoyant and generous. Their suggestion that the making of Psycho was a Hollywood comedy was a fecund idea that got lost. When Hitchcock was interviewed by Dick Cavett in 1972, he often stared him down, mischief hidden by gentlemanly deadpan, mirth underneath. Too bad Gervasi missed that authentic distinctive quality.

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G.O.A.T Toppled: Armond White Takes On Classic Films

Armond White — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 06:05:27 +0000

Citizen Kane or Vertigo, which is more fun?

Now that Sight & Sound’s decadal critics poll has given the #1 spot to Vertigo, toppling Citizen Kane (to #2), it confirms that film culture as we used to know it has toppled as well.

Citizen Kane held sway as the “Greatest Film Of All Time” for so long that a lot of people began to believe it (and some resent it). Orson Welles’ 1941 feature film debut had often crowned polls by the American Film Institute and others including the British Film Institute’s Sight & Sound critics poll (the world’s oldest, first established in 1952) which just announced the aberrant new results.

Kane was never my favorite, yet it was a beautiful, dynamic choice. It had been a convenient winner due to historical pedigree. Generations of film-lovers (typified by Francois Truffaut’s homage to Citizen Kane in Day for Night) agreed that Kane was “the movie that made more filmmakers want to make movies.”

But Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 romantic tragedy, has inspired few filmmakers to make movies. (Try finding its visual lushness and aural extravagance among Indies!) And it’s doubtful if Vertigo roused many film critics (camp-followers of said impoverished Indies and Hollywood blockbusters) to write more insightfully about cinema than did their dismissive 1958 predecessors. Most critics remain absolutely hostile to the sumptuous influence Vertigo had on Brian DePalma’s postmodern Obsession, Body Double, Black Dahlia, Femme Fatale.

So Vertigo doesn’t herald a revolution in cinematic appreciation; rather, it represents warped consensus. Its choice merely replaces Kane to show a new era’s unoriginal taste and obsessive interest in pathology and soullessness that’s been building in certain film cliques at least since the film‘s 1996 reissue. The herd mentality rules. (A Battleship Potemkin victory might convince me that a critical renaissance was afoot.)

If the past four political years has taught us anything, it’s that polls don’t assure excellence; they merely reflect spin. Vertigo congratulates today’s pollsters’ hindsight. Sight & Sound’s editor Nick James analyzed: “The new cinephilia seems to be not so much about films that strive to be great art, such as Citizen Kane, and that use cinema‘s entire arsenal of effects to make a grand statement, but more about works that have personal meaning to the critic. Vertigo is the ultimate [millennial] critics’ film because it is a dreamlike film about people who are not sure who they are but who are busy reconstructing themselves and each other to fit a kind of cinema ideal of the ideal soul mate. In that sense it‘s a makeover film full of spellbinding moments of awful poignancy that show how foolish, tender and cruel we can be when we‘re in love.”

James inadvertently nails cinephilia’s deterioration–from idealizing cinema that spoke to and edified the general public to solipsistic criticism that coddles a nihilistic, class-based coterie. (Critics unsure of who they are?Vertigo greater than the culturally prescient Psycho? Or the numinous The Birds?)

Perhaps Vertigo’s victory frees us from traditional authoritarianism (we should learn to develop our own taste, ignoring fashion) but it ushers in another tyranny. It is the triumph of “smartness” whereas the very nature of Kane’s prodigious exercise of cinema’s potential was actually a celebration–like the 1952Singin’ in the Rain (which also fell off Sight & Sound’s top ten list).http://cityarts.info/2012/07/12/singin%E2%80%99-reigns/ Recognizing the art of cinema as popular pleasure is frowned upon in fashionable criticism. A movie that impacts the culture like Kane always did provides a foundation for wider experience; a film that doesn’t, doesn’t.

For years, it’s been quietly accepted that Welles’ follow-up film The Magnificent Ambersons was richer, more complex than Kane (and Ambersons’ profundity makes Vertigo seem piddling). Yet Ambersons, which moves viewers utterly, never captured the top spot during film culture’s genuinely populist phase, unified toward social stability. Vertigo appeals to a fragmented culture that boasts of self-absorption (rather than Ambersons’ self-examination). Vertigo is a 21st century favorite–and perfectly titled for that.

Armond White’s Sight & Sound poll list will be published by BFI on August 15.

Bryant Park Film Fest’s First Day a Delight

NYPress — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 20:52:25 +0000

Great movies and atmosphere deliver a huge, friendly picnic

Bryant Park was bustling once again, as a mass picnic of many-a-film-fan pitched its blankets on the park’s large lawn for the first Monday of the summer-long Bryant Park Film Festival.

The Nefarious Shower Scene - photo courtesy of Bryant Park

“I’ve come out every year for the past four years,” said one girl and her friends waiting on line to get in, making it a point to see “one of the original horror films.”

As mentioned in the Ultimate Guide to the Bryant Park Film Festival, the year’s first showing was Alfred Hitchcock’s meticulous, semi-experimental horror, Psycho. We’re sure you’ve heard of it, and we’re sure you’re scared of it.

But aside from pairing with HBO to bring us many classics, from noirs as bleak as Maltese Falcon to fantasies as joyful as Wizard of Oz, the park offers a feeling of leisurely frivolity and a spot to see a flick on a big screen, but not in the confines of a movie theater.

“I like being outside, and although sometimes it’s hard to hear, it’s much more exciting than being in a theater,” said Rian, who was with a group of fellow girlfriends.

The park filled up quick with moviegoers, but that’s just part of the movie-going. At 5 o’clock, when the lawn officially “opens”, if a lawn could open, attendees race from the gates determined to find a prime viewing spot, and spread outward, quickly flurrying the lawn with blankets and bags, almost as if it’s choreographed. Scattered on the blankets are groups of friends, romancing couples, and the straggling solo-artist, all ready to enjoy the grass just as much as the film.

One pair of friends, actually, didn’t even know what movie was playing, but was just out on the grass to grab a seat and catch some fresh air.

But if you prefer a chair to the ground (I wouldn’t be surprised), while BP’s grass is filled to its last blade with cinephiles, the surrounding horseshoe of shops and eateries also plays host to the casual viewer; the less-zealous, hungrier one.

One couple, though, had a definitive reason why they were there.

Bryant Park Film Fest's Lawn - photo courtesy of Flickr Commons

“She’s leaving for France in a little while,” one fellow said, pointing at his girlfriend, “and we’re trying to spend some time together.”

“You have to get here early,” his girlfriend echoed, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing: “so you’ve got a few hours to just chill before the movie starts.”

Psycho made for an eerie walk home, and a reignited apprehension toward people named Norman, but a great experience and getaway in the center of the city.

Besides, how often is the front row the best row at the movies?

Next week’s filming: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

–Nick Gallinelli

Your Ultimate Guide to The Bryant Park Film Festival

NYPress — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 19:46:53 +0000

HBO and NY team up to give us some classics in the sunset

The screen is already up for this year’s Bryant Park Film Festival, and we’re very excited to indulge our nostalgia and catch some classics this year.

Bryant Park - photo courtesy of Flickr Commons

As part of a tradition since the early 90s, HBO, starting May 18, is set to deliver quality oldies on The Great Lawn every summer Monday at 5 PM. The festival, a staple of Midtown, draws huge crowds all summer long, providing films for the most casual watcher and also for the most discerning cinephile. The festival runs for ten weeks throughout the summer, and there are plenty of great films to catch –evidently, HBO knows its movie stuff.

It’d be great to have the time, but given that it might be tough to open up your schedule every Monday, we at New York Press have compiled a list of the best Bryant Park Film Festival movies to make time for this summer:

Psycho- May 18 – Alfred Hitchcock, 1960

Arguably Hitchcock’s most influential and scariest film, the seminal fright-fest has had viewers scared to shower for over 50 years (or is it just me?). Norman Bates, the movie’s villain has become a cultural icon –Patrick Bateman in American Psycho isn’t just coincidence– and Hitchcock’s incessantly-studied shower scene is simply awesome. Bring a friend for the walk home after this one.

Wizard of Oz – July 2 – Judy Garland, Toto, 1939

If only because it’s summer, and you might dance into the sunset like Dorothy, you should definitely get around to the park during the festival’s third week. Flying monkeys can be somewhat scary, but the music and imagination, as you’ve probably witnessed before, is perfect to see during the summer.

On the Waterfront – July 9 – Marlon Brando, 1954

This starts off a bit slow, maybe too slow, but picks up to become one of the best crime dramas in cinema. Brando is great, plain and simple. In the year of its release, Elia Kazan and his crew won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. Bear through the beginning and the muffled dialogue, and you won’t be disappointed.

Raiders of the Lost Ark – August 20 – Harrison Ford, George Lucas – 1981

My personal favorite. Whenever I flip the channels and this is on TNT (it happens very often) I never flip again until it’s done. Non-stop action and a bunch of super-loud punches and whip cracks always make for greatness.

According to Bryant Park’s site, there are no chairs, tables, or dogs allowed. The lawn opens up at 4 PM, so bring your blanket and enjoy a fun night every Monday this summer.

–Nick Gallinelli

Armond White: Little Sheba Comes Back

Armond White — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:26:02 +0000

Darling Companion’s Fetching Marriages

The bucolic look of Lawrence Kasdan’s Darling Companion is an indication of its fine sensibility. Kasdan evokes the natural, wooded landscape of Alfred Hitchcock’s idiosyncratic comedy The Trouble with Harry. The colors here are not autumnal nor quite as vibrant yet Kasdan affects a similar tone of respite. His three harried couples (Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, Richard Jensen and Diane Wiest, Mark Duplass and Ayelet Zurer) explore the communication tensions of love relationships–respectively from habitual complacency and mature passion to first attraction. It is a lightly charming, minor film.

One would like to praise Kasdan for making an awesome comeback but the gentle insights and genial tone of Darling Companion merely pick up where Kasdan left off with the immensely appealing (though slight) mystery, Mumford–the best film of its kind since John Cromwell’s Small Town Story. Kasdan is not a master of provincial etiquette and amiable social conflicts, he’s just one of the few contemporary filmmakers interested in such niceties. With nothing profound to say about marriage or parent-child relationships, Kasdan (who co-write the script with his wife Meg Kasdan) at least says it calmly and without the self-congratulation of a lewd, immature, Judd Apatow wallow.

Darling Companion is conceived around the man’s-best-friend conceit of middle-aged Beth (Keaton) adopting a dog to take up the void caused by husband Joseph’s (Kline) involvement with his medical practice. At a retreat in the woods, the three couples search for the runaway dog becomes a exploration of their own intimacies, dependencies and misconnections. The conceit is thoughtful, if not quite sophisticated. It never rises to the remarkable level of the affecting man/pet metaphor in We Think the World of You where Alan Bates memorably acted out prudent gay desires of the pre-Stonewall era. Instead, this is Kasdan’s typical middle-class circle game as in The Big Chill. But occasionally Kasdan tips into profundity with Zurer’s claims of clairvoyant intuition or the sense of faithfulness embodied in the searchers all wearing red dog whistles the way early Christians carried fish signs. (Kasdan’s cutest metaphor has the bickering Keaton and Kline getting lost in the woods and encountering a pair of rams.)

To read the full article at CityArts click here.

City Week: July 22 – July 29

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:55:25 +0000

A Selective Listing of Recommended Cultural & Community Events

Compiled by Alice Robb and Reid Spagna

Thursday, July 22

New View of Matisse—The MoMA’s new exhibit gives a fresh perspective on the world-renowned painter. Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917 displays a variety of paintings, sculptures and drawings that demonstrate the Frenchman’s growth as an artist. The exhibit also features X-ray images of his painting “Bathers by a River,” revealing how the piece developed over 18 years of work. MoMA, 11 W. 53rd St., 212-708-9400; 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., $12-$20.

Friday, July 23

Organ Concert—Bach Sommerfest 2010 presents an organ concert, Preludes on Lutheran Chorales, and an accompanying lecture by Professor Mark Bighley on the history of the Lutheran Chorale. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 3 W. 65th St., 212-877-6815; 5:30 p.m. lecture, 7 p.m. concert, $10 suggested donation.

Muppets and Popcorn—Hudson River Park’s River Flicks for Kids presents The Great Muppet Caper. Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear travel to London to report on a string of high-profile jewelry thefts, including that of the coveted Baseball Diamond. Free popcorn is served. Hudson River Park’s Pier 46, Charles and West streets, 212-627-2121; dusk (around 8:30 p.m.), Free.

Carol Channing—Legendary Broadway star Carol Channing chats with cabaret entertainer Richard Skipper about her new gospel CD, as well as her colorful career. Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway, 212-595-6859; 6 p.m., Free.

Saturday, July 24

Identity Crisis—The Midtown International Theatre Festival presents Asian Belle by Michelle Glick, directed by Christine Renee Miller. The daughter of a Vietnamese war bride spends her youth aspiring to be a Southern belle. The Dorothy Streslin Theatre, 312 W. 36th St., 1st Fl., 212-279-4200; 5 p.m., $18.

Sunday, July 25

Hitchcock on the Silver Screen—Symphony Space gives this summer a thrilling twist with Hi-Def Hitch, the first-ever showing of Hitchcock films in high definition. The line-up includes classics such as Vertigo, Rear Window and The Birds, and runs throughout July and August. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, 212-864-5400; $8-$12.

Monday, July 26

History of New York Parks—Each park in Manhattan has its distinct tale as told by Before They Were Parks. This in-depth exhibit reveals the origins of many Manhattan parks, and features over 100 photographs from the New York City Parks Photo Archive. The Arsenal Gallery, 830 5th Ave. (inside Central Park), 212-360-1311; 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Free.

Mercury Mission—The MESSENGER spacecraft, developed under NASA’s Discovery Program, is the first space probe to investigate Mercury in more than 30 years. Sean Solomon, principal investigator of the MESSENGER mission, discusses the importance of understanding Mercury’s high-density composition, geological history and magnetic field. LeFrak Theater, American Museum of Natural History, 1st Fl., Central Park West at West 79th Street, 212-769-5200; 7 p.m., Free.

Tuesday, July 27

A Summer for Swimming—With temperatures hitting triple digits in Manhattan, now is the best time to teach your child how to swim. The City Parks Foundation is teaming up with the American Red Cross to give free Learn-to-Swim classes at local parks. Registration for the program’s second session runs from 9 a.m.-11 a.m. on July 26. John Jay Pool, 77 Cherokee Place, www.nyc.gov/parks; Free.

Paging Dr. Strangelove—The Jewish Association for Services for the Aged will be holding a series of seminars presented by Alan Weisman, former producer of 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning and CBS Evening News. The second of his three seminars, Red Scares in the Sunset, or How To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, will delve into the American media’s portrayal of the Communist threat during the Cold War. JASA, 130 E. 59th St., 212-273-5304; 6 p.m., $15.

Everyday Art—The Midtown Arts Common presents Susan Mastrangelo’s Slice of Life, an exhibit that aims to unearth the artistry of everyday life. The Narthex Gallery at Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Ave., 212-935-2200; 9 a.m.-7 p.m., Free.

Mostly Mozart—The 2010 Mostly Mozart Festival opens with a program including works by Chopin, Handel, Gluck and, of course, Mozart. Louis Langrée leads the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra in its acclaimed interpretation of two of Mozart’s most popular works, the overture to La clemenza di Tito and the “Haffner” Symphony. Festival favorite Emanuel Ax performs Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor; mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe makes her Mostly Mozart debut. Avery Fisher Hall, Columbus Avenue and West 65th Street, 212-875-5316; 8 p.m., $35-$90.

Wednesday, July 28

Street Theater—Marking its 40th anniversary, Lincoln Center Out of Doors calls up its street culture roots with No Snakes in This Grass, a landmark theater/performance piece from the Civil Rights Movement. Written by James Manguson, this retelling of the story of Adam and Eve is directed by Mical Whitaker. Barclays Capital Grove, southern section of Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center Plazas between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues, 212-875-5000; 6:30 p.m., Free.

Lunch and Listen—The MTA Arts for Transit’s Music Under New York program continues its summer concert series, which brings members of New York’s diverse underground music scene to the lively oasis of Broadway and 66th Street. Music lovers are invited to bring lunch, join friends and relax at a performance featuring renowned guitarist Shogo Kubo and unconventional string quartet the Hopkins Entertainment Group. Richard Tucker Park, Broadway and 66th Street, 212-878-7250; 12 p.m., Free.

Thursday, July 29

Manhattan in 1900—Playwright Martin Zuckerman and Turtle Shell Production have taken a famous John Dos Passos novel and adapted it for the stage. Manhattan Transfer chronicles the Big Apple’s evolution during the early 20th century through the intertwined stories of several New Yorkers. The Shell Theater, 300 W. 43rd St., 212-352-3101; 7 p.m., $18.

CALLING ALL HITCHCOCK LOOKALIKES

admin — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:04:10 +0000

If you look like Alfred Hitchcock, the late horror-film director-or just know someone who does-snap a picture for the first annual Alfred Hitchcock Look-a-Like contest. The contest, which ends Sept. 16, will coincide with Hitchcock month. Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps on Broadway, which is holding the contest, will select four finalists who will be invited to the play’s premiere where the audience will vote on the person with the most striking resemblance. Send photos to ALFRED@hhcmarketing.com with the subject line “Look A Like.” Entrants must include their name, phone number, mailing address and preferred email address on the entry.