The Paramount In Austin Announces Their Summer Classics Film Series

One more reason to be super jealous of our friends in Austin, the announcement of the Paramount’s Summer Classic Film Series 2011 would make any classic film lover think they had died and gone to heaven. Celebrating 36 years and going strong, the place to be during the summer is Austin (as usual). And of course, when there’s classic films being announced at a repertory theater, there’s always a few Criterion connections.

Peter Bogdanovich, who recently entered the Criterion collection himself with his magnificent film The Last Picture Show (which will be screening July 27th – 28th, hosted by Sam Beam of Iron & Wine), will be there at the kick off, on May 20th, where he will be discussing Hollywood history which then is followed by a screening of Casablanca and a film of his choosing. That alone is worth your anticipation, because if anyone has great stories about film, it’s Mr. Bogdanovich.

As part of the Texas Film Commission 40th Anniversary, we have Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused playing May 28th and 29th, with a scavenger hunt tied in to the screening as well.

F For Fake, the amazing mockumentary we covered back in Episode 36 (which was released on my birthday last year), is part of a late Orson Welles double feature with Touch of Evil, which will be screening on May 31st, which turns out to my birthday yet again. I wonder if there’s a connection there…

Between June 9th and June 12th, for all of us Chaplin fanatics out there, they will be playing City Lights, The Gold Rush, Modern Times and three of his classic shorts (Dog’s Life, A Day’s Pleasure and Idle Class) with new restored prints. Considering one of those (Modern Times) (which we covered on Episode 65) is already in the collection and The Great Dictator is on its way, this is just a sneak peak at how beautiful the new prints are and what we all are waiting to see on home video.

A young Henry Fonda stars as Young Mr. Lincoln, the fantastic 1939 John Ford film, which is part of the Ford, Fonda and America double feature with The Grapes of Wrath on June 18th and June 19th.

On June 25th and 26th, Charade is part of the Audrey Hepburn: Icon double feature, paired up with Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which is always a great pairing of films.

Hucksters and Princes: Burt Lancaster screens July 2nd and 3rd and showcases the beautiful film The Leopard and Elmer Gantry. A warning for those whose butt falls asleep after a bit in the theater: these two films are quite long but are an amazing experience to see on the big screen.

Can you have a Dystopian Futures screening without Brazil? The Paramount definitely doesn’t think so, and they’re paring the Gilliam classic with the under seen Robert Altman gem Quintet. This is definitely one I’m upset I will be missing. This will be screening on July 10th.

And finally, the last Criterion film that will be screening is one of the newer releases to come out in the collection, which is James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News, a cynical look at the news media, which rightfully was nominated for 7 Oscars. This is part of The Subversive Comedy of Albert Brooks double feature, with a film I wish was in the collection, Modern Romance. This pairing will be screening July 12th to the 13th.

Kaneto Shindo’s Kuroneko, forever rumored in the collection, will be screening with the newly restored print on August 4th – 5th, part of their Scary Cats double feature (with the amazing Cat People, directed by Jacques Tourneur).

Birth of the Slasher has two of the essentials, Michael Powell’s intense thriller Peeping Tom and Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Considering most know about the latter and not the former, make this the time to rectify that.

Theft and Thieves, which screens Augusts 9th – 10th, we have a Criterion double feature with Jean-Pierre Melville’s Bob Le Flambeur and Robert Bresson’s Pickpocket.

Comedy of the Past and the Present, which will screen August 11th – 14th, has another duo of great Criterion films, Jacques Tati’s Playtime and Federico Fellini’s Amarcord, which was my second episode on the Criterion Cast, which was back on Episode 31.

Passion and Love is another wonderful pairing of Criterion films, Milos Forman’s Loves of a Blonde and Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Mamma Roma, which the latter has a newly restored print. Is this a hint at a future Blu-ray release? This pairing will be screening August 16th – 17th.

A Forgotten Master: Masahiro Shinoda (August 18th – 19th) is a double feature I agree with 100%. One I just mentioned was added on Hulu Plus last week, which is Double Suicide (with a newly restored print) and one about to be released on May 17th, Pale Flower. Very jealous of this double feature and it’s for a good cause, because $2 of every ticket sold will go to the Japan Red Cross relief fund.

Leaders of the New Wave: Godard and Truffaut has one film within the collection, Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie (covered back in Episode 44) and a film I’m surprised isn’t in the collection yet, which is Truffaut’s The Soft Skin, which does have a newly restored print. This duo screens August 20th – 21st.

That’s the end of the Criterion connection but this is only a tip of the iceberg of the amazing films they’re screening during this series. We have plenty of films that deserve a place within the collection (such as Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar and Rowdy Herrington’s Road House… well, maybe not that one) and the right amount of classics, such as Gone With the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia, which are essential to watch on the big screen.