Just some thoughts on this month’s happenings:

Classic film screenings from around the world this December include:

In Hollywood (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The Vista Theater will present It’s a Gift (1934, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 1 at 10 am only, and Shampoo (1975, a 35mm print) on Saturday, December 28 and Sunday, December 29 both showtimes at 10 am only.

Click on the either of the movie posters or the marquee image above for more information and for all of the films playing during the month of December.

In Los Feliz (part of greater Los Angeles) California, The American Cinematheque Los Feliz 3 Theatre will present Repulsion (1965, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 1, and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947, a 35mm print, with an Introduction by filmmaker Haroula Rose) on Sunday, December 8.

* Note: The above showtimes are matinees only.

For more information specifically on each of these programmes, click on the corresponding above image. To see the entire month of December’s programming including other films showing at the 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 London, United Kingdom The Prince Charles Cinema will present The Good, The Bad and The Ugly aka Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 1, Citizen Kane (1941, a 35mm print) Sunday, December 1, Goodfellas (1990, a 35mm print) Monday, December 2, Heat [Director's Definitive Edition] (1995, a 4K presentation) Tuesday, December 3, Blade Runner [Final Cut] (1982, a 4K presentation) Wednesday, December 4 and Monday, December 30, The Holy Mountain (1973) Wednesday, December 4, The Shop Around the Corner (1940) Wednesday, December 11 and Tuesday, December 17, and 8 1/2 (1963, a 35mm print) on Thursday, December 26 and Saturday, December 28.

* Note: Some of the above showtimes are matinees only.

Click on the film’s respective image for more information. To see December’s complete programming, click on The Prince Charles Cinema banner above.

In San Francisco, California, The Roxie Theatre will present a double bill of Bay of Angels aka La baie des anges (1963, part of Midcentury Productions’ THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT ’24- Part Two) and Back to the Wall aka Le Dos au mur (1958, part of Midcentury Productions’ THE FRENCH HAD A NAME FOR IT ’24- Part Two) Sunday, December 1, and Kiss Me Deadly (1955) on Saturday, December 7 at 3:40 pm only.

For more information on each film’s showing, click on the respective movie image above. For more information on the other films being presented at The Roxie, click on the theatre picture above.

In Vancouver, British Columbia, The Cinematheque continues with their ‘Jean-Luc Goddard’ series until December 15, 2024. Featured this month are: Every Man for Himself aka Slow Motion aka Sauve qui peut (la vie) (1980, a 35mm print) Monday, December 2, Saturday, December 7 and Friday, December 13, and Weekend (1967) on Monday, December 2, Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 15.

‘Ozu 121’ is a series honouring the cinema of Yasujiro Ozu from December 12, 2024 – January 6, 2025 The programme reads:

“One of the great artists of the 20th century in any medium and any country.”
British Film Institute

In 2023, retrospectives marking the 120th anniversary of Japanese director Ozu Yasujiro’s birth—and the 60th anniversary of his death—were held at film institutes across the globe. The Cinematheque, with the exception of commemorative screenings of An Autumn Afternoon (1962), his exquisite farewell film, didn’t partake in the milestone celebration—though the pangs of ensuing regret foretold the inevitability of an Ozu series here soon.

The delay, in a roundabout way, paid off. Earlier this year, Hasumi Shiguéhiko’s 1983 monograph Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, routinely praised as one of the seminal Japanese texts on cinema, was at long last published in English, reframing a scholarship on Ozu in the West that has, in large part, been dominated by Anglo critics and a whiff of Orientalism. (Yoshida Kiju’s Ozu’s Anti-Cinema being a notable exception.) Reigning Japanese auteur Hamaguchi Ryusuke (Drive My Car) has enthused that the book is a veritable Ozuesque work unto itself, and should be greeted with greater urgency than the digital remastering of the director’s oeuvre. It’s not hyperbole: the departure in Hasumi’s line of thought from the default reading of Ozu as a minimalist—as an artist of austerity, stillness, and subtraction—is as radical as it is, upon reflection, obvious. Ozu, he argues, is “dogged by rhetoric framed in negative,” by discourse preoccupied with what the director doesn’t do (camera movement or conventional spatial continuity, for instance). What Hasumi wants to liberate is an Ozu of abundance, whose formal and thematic (and thoroughly modernist) designs yield a cinema overflowing with variation, motion, and incongruity. It is excess, not absence, that defines Ozu.

“Ozu 121” invites you to experience Ozu anew. Our last major Ozu retrospective occurred in 2013, occasioned by his 110th anniversary and featuring 35mm distribution prints, some worse for wear. This 2024 series, which likewise commences on December 12 (Ozu’s birth and death date), takes its curatorial cues from Hasumi’s newly translated book and a string of high-profile restorations—both of which focus on the auteur’s postwar period. In addition to pantheonic works like Late Spring (1949) and Tokyo Story (1953), this collection of ten Ozu pictures includes his ravishing colour debut Equinox Flower (1958), his charming suburban satire Good Morning (1959), a 35mm presentation of his penultimate film The End of Summer (1961), and alleged outliers undergoing reappraisal, such as the savage melodrama A Hen in the Wind (1948), which productively problematize the uniformity of an Ozu style.

“If there was something like a sacred treasure of the cinema, then for me that would have to be the work of Ozu Yasujiro.” Wim Wenders

“Sooner or later, everyone who loves movies comes to Ozu … When you see his films, you feel in the arms of a serenely confident and caring master.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

“Ozu is one of the greatest masters of world film … He is unrivalled in his capacity to show us our ordinary bliss and everyday tragedy.” David Thomson, The Guardian

“It’s no longer controversial to assert that Ozu Yasujiro is one of the greatest filmmakers ever … possibly the greatest of those who’ve focused on family life.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Click on the respective image for more information on individual screenings.

For all of the films scheduled this month at The Cinematheque, click on the theatre banner above.

In New York City, New York, Film Forum is presenting:

The Wages of Fear (1953, a 4k DCP Restoration) until Thursday, December 5.

‘Clara Bow Mondays’ is continuing with 5 of the legendary actress’ films this month: Mantrap (1926, a 35mm print, with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner) Monday, December 2, The Plastic Age (1925, a 35mm print, with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner) Monday, December 9, Kid Boots (1926, a Restored DCP presentation, with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner) Monday, December 16, Dancing Mothers (1926, a Restored DCP presentation, with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner, Introduced by David Stenn, author of Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild) Monday, December 23, and Hoopla (1933, a Restored 35mm print) on Monday, December 30.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964, a New 60th Anniversary 4K Restoration) will be shown from Friday, December 6 – Thursday, December 12.

‘Brando 100’ will run from Friday, December 13 – Thursday, December 26. The programme reads:

A TWO-WEEK FESTIVAL COMMEMORATING HIS CENTENNIAL YEAR

Including ON THE WATERFRONT, THE GODFATHER,
APOCALYPSE NOW, THE WILD ONE, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE,
BURN!, ONE-EYED JACKS, GUYS AND DOLLS, and many more

# Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.

For more information on any of the aforementioned presentations, click on the appropriate image above. For a complete calendar of all the films playing this month, click on the Film Forum banner.

In Melbourne, Australia The Astor Theatre is presenting a double bill of Easy Rider (1969, a 4K digital presentation) and The Last Picture Show (1971) on Tuesday, December 3.

Click on the respective poster image for more information on each film’s screening. To see the rest of December’s schedule, click on The Astor Theatre banner above.

In Valencia, Spain, Culturarts Generalitat IVAC – La Filmoteca at the Edificio Rialto will be presenting The Grapes of Wrath (1940, as part of their COOPERATIVENESS IN CINEMA series) Friday, December 6, Meek’s Cutoff (2010, as part of their CONTEMPORARY WESTERN series) Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7, and Late Spring aka Banshun (1949, as part of their REFINE THE FORM, CAPTURE LIFE - INTEGRAL YASUJIRO OZ series) on Friday, December 20 and Sunday, December 29.

Click on the respective film’s image for more information on each screening. To discover more of December’s programming including other films playing in Valencia, Spain at the Edificio Rialto, Castelló, Spain at the Paranimf of the Universitat Jaume I and at the Raval Theatre, as well as Alicante Spain at the Arniches Theatre, click on the banner image above.

In Los Angeles, California The Beverly Cinema will present On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969, a Vibrant I.B. Technicolor 35mm Print) Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7, a double bill of Mr. Soft Touch (1949, a 35mm print) and Cash on Demand (1961, a 35mm print) Wednesday, December 11 and Thursday, December 12, and The Shining (1980, a 35mm print) on Friday, December 13, Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15.

Click on the respective image for more information. To see the rest of December’s schedule, click on The Beverly Cinema banner above.

In Auckland, New Zealand, Academy Cinemas is presenting The Silent Partner (1978, as part of their CHRISTMAS CRIME series) Saturday, December 7, Tuesday, December 10 and Sunday, December 15, Rocco and his Brothers aka Rocco e i suoi fratelli (1960) Sunday, December 15, and Eye of the Needle (1981) on Thursday, December 19.

* Note: Some of the showtimes are matinees only.

To obtain more information specifically on each of these programmes, click on the corresponding image. To see the entire month of December’s programming, click on the Academy banner above.

In Lyon, France the Institut Lumiere is presenting Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Saturday, December 7, The Lady from Shanghai (1947) Tuesday, December 10, All About Eve (1950) Friday, December 13, Psycho (1960) Sunday, December 15 and Saturday, December 28, and Roman Holiday (1953) on Sunday, December 22 and Tuesday, December 31.

Click on the respective film image for more information on each film’s screening. Click on the Institut logo for all of the films showing this month.

In theatres across the U.S., Fathom Events is presenting White Christmas (1954, a 70th Anniversary Presentation) on Sunday, December 15, Monday, December 16 and Tuesday, December 17.

Click on each film’s poster image for more information. To see this month’s entire schedule, click on The Fathom Events banner above.

In Bergen, Norway The Cinemateket i Bergen will present Fanny and Alexander (1982, a 35mm print) on Monday, December 16.

For more information on this film’s showing, click on the movie image above. For further information on the other films being presented at The Cinemateket, click on the banner image above.

In Como (part of greater Perth) Western Australia, The Revival House will present Meet Me in St. Louis (1944, a 35mm print) on Wednesday, December 18.

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 Oakland, California Noir City Xmas will take place with a screening of Who Killed Santa Claus aka L'assassinat du Père Noël (1941, with Film Noir expert Eddie Muller in attendance) on Wednesday, December 18.

Click on the above image for more information.

In Palo Alto California, The Stanford Theatre will present a double bill of The Shop Around the Corner (1940, a 35mm print) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947, a 35mm print) on Friday, December 20, Saturday, December 21 and Sunday, December 22.

Click on the above image for their entire month’s programme.

In theatres across the U.S. Flashback Cinema is presenting It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) on Sunday, December 22 and Tuesday, December 24.

Click on the poster image for more information. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Flashback Cinema banner above.

In Detroit, Michigan The Redford Theatre will present The Bishop’s Wife (1947, with a special appearance by actress Karolyn Grimes who plays Debbie) on Sunday, December 22 at 1 pm only.

Click on the top image for more information. To see the entire month’s programming, click on The Redford Theatre banner above.

These are the reviewed films showing on Turner Classic Movies in the U.S. this month:

Many readers have taken me to task for my inclusion of Casablanca on a list of “All that Glitters…”: The Overrated. I would simply ask that they read what I wrote about this revered classic before judging me too harshly. There is much to praise about the film contained in my review and the weaknesses I've noticed are, I feel, worthy of consideration. In any event, please indulge in this motion picture's magic and let me know if my observations have merit. The journey begins Sunday, December 1 at 11 am PST.

What better way for film lovers to celebrate cinema's diversity after watching a serious wartime romantic drama like the previous selection, than to partake in the light-hearted, almost make-believe world of a Princess' Roman Holiday? One can indulge in this delightful fairy tale, previously reviewed here, Wednesday, December 4 at 7 pm PST.

Next up is a light-hearted and charming Christmas holiday treat: Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner (1940).

Beneath an inventive situation comedy veneer, however, lies a serious underlying message regarding relationships and how concepts (basically relating to the idea that there must be someone "better" for us out there) often get in the way of a more fulfilling union based on care and concern for one another. The Shop Around the Corner, previously praised here, will open Saturday, December 14 at 1 pm PST.

“Yes, I can be very cruel. I have been taught by masters.”

Olivia de Havilland is The Heiress (1949), previously reviewed here and appearing again on TCM Sunday, December 15 at 5 pm PST.

TCM's current monthly schedule can be confirmed 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.

(To be continued… ) A.G.

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