MORRICONE HITS MANHATTAN! Perhaps you've noticed my many recent mentions of Ennio Morricone. My reasons are simple: Morricone, one of the great movie composers, will be honored in New York City in February before he receives an honorary Oscar on February 25 "for his magnificent and multifaceted contributions to the art of film music."

The Morricone events will take place at three venues at the very least. One, at Radio City Music Hall, is a concert conducted by Morricone; the others, at the Museum of Modern Art and Film Forum, are basically screenings featuring many outstanding movies including one, White Dog, that is very rarely seen because sometimes the world just isn't fair.

I imagine there will be some coverage of Morricone music on WNYC too.


RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL

On Saturday, February 3, at 8:00 pm, Morricone conducts a concert of his own music.


MUSEUM OF MODERN ART

The Museum offers a mini-series of Morricone movies from February 1-7. One good thing about seeing the movies at this venue is that the screen is relatively large. Selected highlights:

Th Feb 1 6:00 pm The Mission
Introduced by Morricone!

Th Feb 1 8:30 pm The Battle of Algiers

Sa Feb 3 4:30 pm Once Upon a Time in the West

Su Feb 4 2:00 pm Once Upon a Time in America
We Feb 7 6:15 pm Once Upon a Time in America

FILM FORUM

This Morricone tribute, which lasts from February 2-22, includes stylish Italian movies plus the full Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone "Man With No Name Trilogy" and White Dog, an acclaimed, rarely shown, Samuel Fuller movie that has, unjustly, never been released on video in the United States. Selected highlights:

Fr Feb 2 Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion
Sat Feb 3 Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Su Feb 4 Once Upon a Time in the West

We Feb 7 A Fistful of Dollars/Navajo Joe
I don't know from Navajo Joe, but Fistful is the first of the "Man With No Name Trilogy."

Fr Feb 9 The Battle of Algiers
Sa Feb 10 The Battle of Algiers

Su Feb 11 Burn!

Th Feb 15 For a Few Dollars More
This is the second of the "Man With No Name Trilogy."

Fr Feb 16 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Sa Feb 17 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
This is the third of the "Man With No Name Trilogy."

Tu Feb 20 White Dog/Luna
See White Dog first; beware of Luna.

We Feb 21 Duck, You Sucker

Th Feb 22 Once Upon a Time in America

Here's a climactic sequence from Once Upon a Time in the West. Don't click on it if you're concerned about spoilers.



Source (8:31)


Photo of Morricone conducting: Courtesy MoMA
Photo from Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion: Courtesy Film Forum