January 5th 2013. Pick Of The Day.

The Nitehawk Cinema gets the day in classic film rolling at the unGODly hour of 11:30 AM, as their Country Brunchin' series presents the film adaptation of the controversial 70's musical THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS. A lost classic methinks not, but a chance to catch the recently departed film great Charles Durning in one of his showcase roles that netted him an Oscar nom for supporting actor! Plus I hear the brunch is slammin'. Not my Pick though.

The Nitehawk also provides a pair of classic screenings friendly to the noontime and midnight timeslots respectively. Joe Dante's exceptional Xmas horror/action flick GREMLINS has lost not an ounce of its charm, and may perhaps be the pinnacle of the great B-Movie auteur's career, though some say the underperforming sequel was even better. It unspools for the kiddies at noon. Franc Roddam's Who LP adap QUADROPHENIA, a response to the excesses wrought by Ken Russell on the group's TOMMY, recreates the Mod milieu of Brighton in the 60's, as well as referencing the Angry Young Man film movement that dominated Brit box offices in that same era. Screens at midnight. Also not my Pick.

Pier Paolo Pasolini screens his last this day as MOMA's great retrospective draws finally to a close. Of course my lazy distracted ass missed every one of these screenings so I'm reduced to watching THE DECAMERON on Netflix streaming. I blame the Mayan Xmas. I had some fun poking at the grim quasi-Neorealist but he is important to the cinematic timeline, and I am again thankful that MOMA exists and programs serious retros like this one. Today the final film in the director's Trilogy of Life series, THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, is accompanied by a panel discussion which includes Simon Abrams and Richard Pena. Should be a goof. Again, not Today's Pick.

Also screening tonight at Mrs. Rockefeller's indulgence is Masahiro Shinoda's DOUBLE SUICIDE, a take on the centuries old play that mixes its original bunraku roots, Japanese puppet theater, with human actors playing out the story in naturalistic settings. Visually arresting, but I'm passing yet again.

Finally the Landmark Sunshine delivers the meeting of Universal Horror cycle and Borscht Belt masterpiece YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. What more needs be said about one of the biggest smiles ever committed to celluloid? This tempts, as do all the other geat offerings this day, but I must award my Pick to simply one of the most important of the pioneers of cinema in perhaps his most memorable film. Maybe that'll get a smile out of the Great Stoneface.

Joseph Frank Keaton was a born vaudevillian. His father shared a travelling act with Harry Houdini, who may have accorded his partner's son his famous nickname whence observing a spill the boy took at an early age unharmed. Soon the spills were onstage, greater and seemingly more dangerous, as son joined dad in a comedic act based on child abuse. No joke. The act invovled father literally hoisting son and tossing him into props, at scenery and even into the orchestra pit. When charges of criminal behavior came the young Keaton would simply undress and show no signs of bruising. He had simply learned to land acrobatically every time he was hurled. Or he was great at applying stage makeup. The books don't say.

One day, the story goes, he was enjoying the act so much he laughed on stage. After admonition from his stage vet father he never broke a smile during a perf ever again. This all DOES seem like child abuse the more you read it, no?

Whatever the truth that lack of whimsical countenance became his trademark, and remains his secondary nickname to this day.

In his early twenties he gravitated to the burgeoning film industry, as all vaudevillians had for quite some time. First teaming with Fatty Arbuckle as second unit man and gag concocter, he was given the chance to star in his own feature, THE SAPHEAD. Its success led to his very own independent unit and a string of moneymakers such as THE NAVIGATOR, SHERLOCK JR. and SEVEN CHANCES, all of which propelled him to the top eschelon of box office earners of the 20's. Then came his most ambitious film and what many regard as not only his masterpiece but one of the greatest films of all time. Sadly that sentiment was absent at the time of its release, so THE GENERAL would have to wait decades for the appreciation it so now obviously deserves. An expensive flop, Keaton knew he needed a surefire hit, and once again risked his neck to film stunts no one else would dare, inluding perhaps the single most iconic sequence the genius filmmaker would ever be associated with, the collapsing of an actual house's facade that narrowly misses his seeminlgy unsuspecting hero by inches. A quick and charming tale of a son's return to the family river transport business after his New England education has fancified him, and his ensuing and life endangering efforts to win back the trust of his dad and the love of his sweetheart, this film also sadly underperformed, and the one time titan of silent comedy would never again enjoy the independence that produced his finest work. I personally choose this flick as the great man's masterpiece, however, or at least my fave of his glorious CV. He career would falter and never recover, and he died virtually forgotten, but we fete this fucking brilliant sonofabitch like few others in the world of film. How richly deserved.

Buster Keaton's STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. screens today at 2pm at the Film Society's Film Center Ampitheater. Come show The Great Stoneface some love, Stockahz.

The drill as usual; follow me on Twitter @NitrateStock! Like me REALLY REALLY LIKE ME at Facebook.com/NitrateStock! Find any joy ya can during January's occupation of 2013! I got the Knicks vs. Orlando! Excelsior, Suckahz!

-Joe Walsh