Me and Sam

I have always had a special affinity for Samuel Fuller. One of the very first pieces of film programming I ever did was a Fuller series at Barnard College. I don't remember the entire film list, but I know I showed I Shot Jesse James, Baron of Arizona and Pickup on South Street. Perhaps more important, that series attracted a bunch of NY film people who became my friends and teachers.

After I finished my Master's in film at Columbia, I walked away from film for a few years. When my friend and colleague Jace Weaver dragged me back (no Godfather III jokes, please) one of the first films I saw at a press screening was Fuller's The Big Red One. It wasn't a revelation, because I knew well what Fuller could do, but it was a reminder of why I went to the movies in the first damned place.

 Three Faces (and Cigars) of Samuel Fuller

I merely offer this little confessional moment (hey, it's the day after Yom Kippur, I'm not atoning for my love of Fuller but a little confession is good for a lead-in), by way of tipping you off to a screening of The Big Red One at The Museum of Jewish Heritage on October 10, and pointing you towards my piece on the film in Jewish Week. 

 In the same issue I review a new Holocaust-themed documentary, Six Million and One, by Israeli filmmaker David Fisher. This one is a bit of a conundrum; the first half is absolutely riveting, intelligent and unconventional, but the second half is downright catastrophic in its misplaced emphasis. At any rate, you can find my review here.