The HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Celebrates Its 23rd Year

NEW YORK, May 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

2015 HBO/BRYANT PARK FILM FESTIVAL

June 22-GHOSTBUSTERS (Sony) "Who ya gonna call" to rid your place of pesky spooks, specters and goblins?  Bill Murray, Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd may be the best paranormal exterminators in town.  Can the guys save the Big Apple (and the world) from a giant marshmallow man and even scarier demons bent on destruction?  Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts and Sigourney Weaver (who has a haunted fridge) offer comedic support.  Reportedly John Belushi, John Candy and Eddie Murphy were almost members of the GB team. (1984) 105 Min. (PG)

June 29-THE KILLERS (Universal) Even though it bears little resemblance to the story he wrote, Ernest Hemingway is said to have approved of the Hollywood treatment given his work.  It is a tough, tight and terrific film noir, which features the stunning movie debut of a young acrobat-turned-actor, Burt Lancaster.  He's the ill-fated "Swede," a former boxer, now gas pump jockey, with a checkered past about to catch up with him.  Sultry Ava Gardner is the double-crossing dame who delivers the sucker punch leading to a permanent knockout. (1946) 97 Min. (NR)

July 6-THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE (Fox) We've all heard terrible cruise ship stories, but the tale of this hellish "adventure" is hard to top.  While crossing the Atlantic, a luxury liner is capsized by a rogue wave.  With the entire world turned upside down, the survivors must fight for their lives.  The all-star disaster epic stars Gene Hackman, Leslie Nielsen and a rotund Shelley Winters, as a former championship swimmer (!).  She received a Golden Globe for skills in and out of the water.  Oscar for Best Song and a special award for Visual Effects. (1972) 117 Min. (PG)

July 13-I'M NO ANGEL (Universal) The glorious (and notorious) Mae West, queen of innuendo, often ran afoul of the censors and even did brief jail time.  Her movie career began in 1932 and in this, her third bawdy comedy, Mae plays Tira, a lion tamer in a tacky carnival.  Risk-taking Tira is not afraid to stick her platinum blonde head into the animal's mouth for a few extra bucks.  She becomes the toast of the town and falls for society swell Cary Grant.  That's when the act really heats up.  When she's good, she's VERY good. (1933) 87 Min. (NR)

July 20-BADLANDS (Warner Bros.) Wow!  Director Terrence Malick made a remarkable debut with this crime drama starring the superb duo of Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek.  Based on the actual Starkweather/Fugate murder spree across several states in the 1950's, it tells of an aimless youth and his underage, baton-twirling sweetheart who kill without good cause or remorse.  Gorgeous cinematography, haunting use of music and Spacek's naïve sounding voice-over all blend masterfully, leaving the viewer chilled to the bone. (1973) 94 Min. (PG)

July 27-FOOTLOOSE (Paramount) A city teenager (Kevin Bacon) moves to a small Midwestern town where rock music and dancing are banned.  You can bet your Capezio dance shoes that before "The End" the town council and the local preacher will come to their senses and local kids will get their prom.  Two songs ("Footloose" and "Let's Hear It For The Boy") were nominated for Oscars, but lost to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You."   The score was Grammy-nominated, but lost to Prince's "Purple Rain." (1984) 107 Min. (R)

Aug. 3-MARATHON MAN (Paramount) "Psycho" made moviegoers shower-phobic, while this harrowing thriller caused many to cancel dental appointments.  Columbia grad student/dedicated runner Dustin Hoffman gets mixed up with international intrigue, secret agents, stolen diamonds and runaway Nazis.  Sometimes complicated, always disturbing.  Laurence Olivier won a Golden Globe (and rated an Oscar nomination) for his chilling portrayal of a sadistic doctor (formerly of Auschwitz) with a penchant for oral surgery. (1976) 125 Min. (R)

Aug. 10-DESK SET (Fox) Screen legends Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy do office politics and middle-aged romance better than just about anyone.  He's an efficiency expert who wants to update her TV research department by installing a room-sized computer.  She vows to fight any attempt to replace her brain with a mechanical one.  Based on a Broadway comedy, this was the eighth of nine screen pairings of the dynamic duo.  Where else could you hear Hepburn sing Cole Porter's "Night and Day," as Tracy plays bongo drums? (1957) 103 Min. (NR)

Aug. 17-CHINATOWN (Paramount) Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston have never been better than in this neo-noir set in 1930's L.A. during the so-called "water wars."  Jerry Goldsmith's music is downright brilliant and the screenplay by Robert Towne was deservedly Oscar-honored.  Roman Polanski directs (this was his last film in the U.S.) with great style.  He also plays the nasty villain who gives Jack's private eye a nose job.  Ouch!  Placed second behind "Vertigo" on the AFI's 10 Best Mystery Films list. (1974) 130 Min. (R)

Aug. 24-BACK TO THE FUTURE (Universal) A 1985 teen (Michael J. Fox) time travels back to 1955 where he finds himself caught up in the courtship of his then teenaged parents-to-be.  Christopher Lloyd has great fun as the mad scientist who makes the impossible possible.  Fox, a very busy boy, filmed his hit TV show "Family Ties" during the day and "BTTF" at night.  President Ronald Regan was a fan, quoting the sci-fi comedy in his 1986 State of the Union Address.  Huey Lewis was Oscar nominated for his song "The Power Of Love." (1985) 116 Min. (PG)

Classic animation provided courtesy of Warner Bros.

For more information, call the HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival hotline at (212) 512-5700. For film series information, visit the festival's website at hbo.com/hbobryantparkfilmfestival (Live June 8th).

SOURCE HBO

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