Film program a tribute to 'Great' Scott

Tuesday December 4, 2012 7:35 PM By ROBERT LEVIN

Photo credit: "Crimson Tide" | "Crimson Tide"

Were Tony Scott still with us, had he not taken his own life in August, the time would still be right for a retrospective of his work.

While the younger Scott was a less influential filmmaker than his brother Ridley, he left a strong imprint on the action and crime genres with megahits such as "Top Gun" and the critically-acclaimed, Quentin Tarantino-scripted "True Romance." And he never really quite got his due.

This Friday and Saturday, 92YTribeca pays tribute to the late director with "The Great Scott," a series featuring three of his films, showing with select companion pieces: avant-garde shorts and the 1946 B noir "So Dark the Night."

Here's the schedule:

Friday
7 p.m.
Feature: "Crimson Tide"; Short: "Night Music"
Set onboard a nuclear sub, the tense "Crimson Tide" features a standoff between its hard-boiled captain played by Gene Hackman and its second-in-command, embodied by Scott's favorite star Denzel Washington. It's a gripping test of wills, a classic morality play and a fine reminder that the director offered more than one-note pizzazz. "Night Music" is a short from experimental master Stan Brakhage.

9:30 p.m.
Feature: "Top Gun"; Short: "Schwechater"
"Top Gun" is Scott's biggest hit and one of the iconic Hollywood movies. It virtually introduced the jingoistic, Michael Bay-style of sleek, muscular filmmaking, turned Tom Cruise into a full-on sensation and produced endless amusement for fans of blatant homoeroticism. 92YTribeca describes "Schwechater" as " a commissioned and subsequently radically subverted television advertisement for beer."

Saturday
6 p.m.
Feature: "So Dark the Night"
This 1946 noir from Joseph H. Lewis is a France-set detective story that 92YTribeca deems "a ghostly whodunit maze" prefiguring many of the themes in Scott's own work.

7:45 p.m.
Feature: "Déjà Vu"; Short: "The Wold Shadow"
A time-warp love story/investigative thriller, "Déjà Vu" is one of Scott's best movies. Starring Washington, it's a compelling mystery and a tender romance, a film about the blurry line between past and present that's centered on intricate emotions. You can continue your Brakhage education with "The Wold Shadow."

If you go: The Great Scott: The Films of Tony Scott is at 92YTribeca Friday and Saturday. $12 for each screening. 200 Hudson St., 212-601-1000

Tags: ENTERTAINMENT , ROBERT LEVIN