Summer Film Series
Every year, the Alabama Theater hosts a summer film series, and this year, the folks behind it decided to let people vote on what films they want to see. The process was handled a little strangely—the ballot initially contained a certain number of titles, but later, everyone was given the option of suggesting additional films, and the proposed movies were added to the ballot after many people had already voted. Naturally, this produced a skewed vote, but some of the later entries managed to fare pretty well. Of course, voting like this usually leads to frustration and fears that the final roster will be loaded with cringe-inducing titles (yes, I am wearing my film-snob hat right now). Of course, I'm usually somewhat frustrated with the film list every year, but nobody asked me. Wait, this year, they actually did.
Initial voting is nearing an end, and the next step will be a runoff vote so we can choose 12 titles from the top 20 contenders. Here are the titles that make up the current top 20, along with the number of votes and the percentage of votes they've received (sorry to go all statistical on you):
Star Wars (439) - 4%
The Godfather (407) - 4%
The Ten Commandments (398) - 4%
Lawrence of Arabia (389) - 4%
Ben Hur (384) - 4%
Breakfast at Tiffany's (379) - 4%
Vertigo (374) - 4%
The Man who Shot Liberty Valance (354) - 4%
Gone with the Wind (351) - 3%
Marry Poppins (278) - 3%
Jaws (275) - 3%
Dr. Zhivago (274) - 3%
Forrest Gump (232) - 2%
The Sound of Music (219) - 2%
American Graffiti (197) - 2%
Schindler's List (197) - 2%
Jurassic Park (197) - 2%
North by Northwest (195) - 2%
Potter Movies (177) - 2%
The Maltese Falcon (170) - 2%
I'll just keep quiet about some of these titles. And the ambiguous "Potter Movies" entry is pretty scary. Aren't there, like, 59 of those flicks? Anyway, I especially want to see:
Lawrence of Arabia: I've never seen this at all, but I've been told that it should definitely be seen on the big screen.
Vertigo: I've seen it twice before but never in a theater. My respect for it grows with each viewing, and I've been meaning to watch it again. Also, Bernard Herrmann's score is one of my absolute favorites. (Jeremiah, you get a gold star and my gratitude for nominating this one.)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: This one's currently in my Netflix queue, and I've been meaning to see it for a while.
The Godfather: Yeah, I could go for this. Actually, I may be one of the few who prefers Part I to Part II.
I will leave you with this sad fact. I nominated The Night of the Hunter, which was, admittedly, a very late addition to the ballot. It currenly has 3 votes, while The Parent Trap (either the Lindsay Lohan or the Haley Mills version) has 160.
Labels: Alabama Theater, film festivals, films
posted by Diane @ 10:55 AM
24 comments
24 Comments:
Another sad fact: I wonder if all the people voting for Star Wars know that Lucasfilm insists the original film no longer exists and will only distribute the "special edition" no matter the intentions of the screening?
Lawrence should definitely be seen on 70mm, so I hope it makes the cut, and I definitely concur with your other comments.
Still, even given the tastes of pop culture, the list seems surprisingly banal. Every single one of those films is available on DVD. Are people really clamoring to see Forrest Gump on the big screen???
Point taken, Doug, but you're just used to L.A. ;) Don't you understand why I'm jealous when you mention all of those fabulous screenings you're always attending?
It's very rare that we have special screenings here, meaning films that aren't on DVD. I felt lucky to see William Wyler's These Three a couple of weeks ago. Some of the Wyler experts on the discussion panel said they had never seen it before. But this is the exception and not the rule. The Sidewalk Festival is another example of an exception.
I'm pretty sure the summer series is a way of helping the Alabama make money, and, though I know almost nothing about the technical aspects of stuff like this, they must be screening from the DVDs and not from film. It seems like they'd have to rely on DVDs if they're going to open up the ballot like that. You and I have talked about that kind of thing before--about feeling cheated if it's the DVD that's being projected--but it all comes down to the Alabama's resources, I guess. As a matter of fact, when they screened Sunrise last year, they told us it was from the DVD. I love the film so much and was so thrilled to get to see it on the big screen with the live organ accompaniment that it really didn't matter to me. Not having had a taste of the "real thing" with these classics, I didn't know what I was missing.
Now, if I could just be in charge of my own film series....
Oh boy...I don't mean to be too cynical--I'm all for revival theatres doing whatever they can to drum up business--but if they don't show Lawrence in 70mm, I'm not sure it would even be worth seeing! Celluloid simply feels different, not to mention DVD's loss in greyscale and resolution.
I wish the Alabama all the best, but they really should make an effort to screen at least one of those films on film, and Lawrence would certainly get my vote!
Well, Lawrence was included on the original ballot--the list of films that the Alabama itself proposed. That makes me wonder if they have access to this in 70mm.
OK, I asked someone more in the know, and he says they usually do screen from film. So that's promising. The public nominations might prove tricky, but here's hoping the Alabama would at least try to get those titles on film.
Obviously, I didn't know what I was talking about above.
Well, if they screened Sunrise on DVD, I can see why you'd assume that!
Fingers crossed..I just don't think revival theatres do themselves any favors when they screen films on DVD unless it's absolutely necessary. Audiences should know what they're missing out by staying home.
Pointless to say, but...
You know, it makes me want to weep a bit when I look at the Cinemathèque Ontario site and see something terrific playing on almost any given day. What's on tonight? Tarko's Stalker. And Solaris was just this past Monday!
It makes me weep...and I live in Los Angeles!
Not only is their programming tops, but their director, James Quandt, personally initates and organizes retrospectives like the Bresson and Rossellini series' that subsequently tour North America. It's a massively important cultural institution.
(I also prefer The Godfather to its sequel.)
Cheers, Russ. :)
I've been away from your blog too long, Diane. The familiarity of these choice is initially depressing, but on second thought, there's some great stuff here. I'll put in a plug for "Liberty Valance," which is one of the all-time great Westerns.
I think I might like "North By Northwest" more than "Vertigo," which I love, but if it's about seeing the movie on the big screen -- a projected FILM (*not* a DVD; NEVER a DVD), in VistaVision and the Harris/Katz restoration, it's got to be "Vertigo."
Doug: If you're reading, I have the chance tomorrow, if I can negotiate it with my wife, to see "Playtime" in 70mm. I tried to watch the film, letterboxed, on videotape a year ago, and the comedy of it didn't work *at all.* I'm not sure if the big screen will change that, but I remember you blogging about it at filmjourney, and insisting that it needs to be seen on the big screen. So I refuse to make any judgements about it until I see it as it's intended to be seen.
"I've been away from your blog too long, Diane. The familiarity of these choice is initially depressing, but on second thought, there's some great stuff here."
I just realized that this sounds, at first blush, like I'm talking about your blog entries rather than the film-series selections. Sorry! Clearly I meant the latter.
Ha! Now THAT is funny, Christian. Thanks for the comments--it's nice to see you here.
I'll post an updated list once the runoff films are selected. There's been some funny stuff going on lately, including some obvious vote-flooding for some newer film entries, such as Creature from the Black Lagoon. Someone's also fighting awfully hard to get numerous Audrey Hepburn films in the running. Weird. The Alabama says they know this is going on and will consider this when the give us the top 20.
I believe North By Northwest played at the Alabama last year, so surely between those two Hitch titles, Vertigo would have the advantage.
Oh Christian, I hope you get the chance to see it! I do think seeing it in 70mm makes all the difference in perception and therefore sensitivity to the humor.
(BTW, I say this speaking from personal experience--I, too, was nonplussed watching it on DVD a few years ago, but seeing it on the big screen some time later, I was enraptured.)
One more thing, when I saw it in the theater, there was a line that wrapped around the block just to get in--the screening was sold out. The audience was really into it, even cheering as the projectionist enlarged the screen just prior to running the film. So it was one of those perfect theatrical "experiences" for me, too, which I'm sure had an effect.
Update: My planned screening tomorrow afternoon, part of the Environmental Film Festival, won't work out, but the film will contine to play throughout this week.
Sarah says Thursday night's screening would work best around her schedule, so that's what I'm shooting for: 7 p.m. screening, March 29. Wish me luck. It can be daunting getting from Fairfax, VA to Silver Spring, MD on a weeknight, but it's doable, and it's my best and only option. Fingers crossed.
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Hope that works out for you, Christian. Let us know how it goes.
Four stars!
THAT was a wonderful theater-going experience last night. First, I had no idea that AFI Silver, at which I’ve seen two or three movies over the past few years, has a glorious auditorium for its Theater 1. I guess the other movies I’ve seen there have been in the other auditoriums. I remember seeing “Au Hasard Balthazar” in a stadium-style theater that in no way stood out from other stadium-style theaters in the area. But Ttheater 1 is different; it has a traditional sloped floor – not necessarily better that stadium-style, although it’s refreshing to sit a relatively new theater that *isn’t* stadium-style – with a lovely interior. Curtains pull back to reveal the screen. The only thing missing is a balcony, but that’s no big deal.
Instantly, this theater – this particular auditorium – has become my favorite in the entire DC area, outdoing (by far) the Uptown, which has a gigantic screen but suffers somewhat from older seats and a problem where light from the lobby falls across the sides of its gi-normous screen whenever people enter and exit that theater. Which is often.
Back to the movie. I loved it, but in a way that might not be obvious. Certainly, the 70 mm color saturation was magnificent, even for a film that features a lot of drab imagery (part of the movie’s point), but I what I liked best about the movie was the [i]space[/i] it gave me, as a viewer. Yes, the space in the frame is put to glorious use, but what I’m getting at has more to do with the movie’s leisurely [i]pace[/i]. For once, I felt like I could relax while watching an “important” film. There were times, I admit, where my mind wandered a little; so much of this movie is set in a restaurant/nightclub, and the scenes of flowing champagne had me thinking about what we might serve during our upcoming Easter dinner, at which we’ll be hosting the entire extended family.
Audience members (there were about 35 people in attendance, I’d estimate) would chuckle at something, and I’d realize I’d missed a gag. But that didn’t bother me a bit. I’d refocus and catch the next several comedic moments, amazed that Tati could sustain a film that is set mostly in two or three locations.
The film felt, in a word, generous. Generous with its take on contemporary life — skeptical without being outright condemning. Generous toward its bewildered protagonist. And generous toward viewers like me, who might be a little challenged at times by the tone and pacing. But it all works marvelously in the end. This was a great, great moviegoing experience for me, one I’ll treasure.
Now, then. I’m thinking I really should bone up on Tati. Can anyone recommend a good book about the filmmaker?
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Christian! "Generous" is a great word for the film, and not only in its pacing, but also its mis-en-scene: so many master shots with a variety of things going on at once (the sound design is crucial to directing our attention). Tati really believed in the "democracy of the image," and wanted the humor to be spread throughout the world of a film rather than confined to one character or performer. In fact, by the time he made Playtime, M. Hulot was such a popular character, he could only get financing by agreeing to play him in the movie (a bit like Woody Allen for a while, although Tati is a much greater artist), and he began to almost resent the character. I don't know if you caught it, but there's a lot of humor in the beginning with "false Hulots," people who appear to be dressed as Hulot, but in artful, hialrious ways, reveal themselves to be random extras; Tati was teasing his audience and, at the same time, not having to play the character more than he had to.
I've got the Michel Chion book, and I like it, but there's some good general criticism out there, too. Rosenbaum collaborated on a script with Tati just before Tati died, so his usual critical skills plus his personal connection make his writing particularly illuminating. He wrote the liner notes for Criterion's recent re-issue of Playtime, but I haven't caught up with it yet.
I noticed the ID gags, but wasn't aware of the story behind them.
I also caught sight of the Eiffel Tower in reflection in one of the glass doors, but didn't quite catcht the commentary until later, when the Arc de Triomphe showed up in reflection!
I had no idea so much of this movie was set in that one restaurant/nightclub. The movie eventually moves to a diner of sorts, where pastries are made available, before returning to the restaurant/club.
Of all the gags, my favorite -- and this will no doubt change over time, as I see the movie again and again -- was the doorman, holding that giant brass door fixture ... in the absence of any door! The first time he "opens the door," while its remnants are being swept away just ahead of the arriving partygoers, was hysterical.
I also thought the illuminated "O" in "Drugstore," just over the head of the priest (creating a halo), was cute.
All of this makes me hope for a big-screen viewing someday. I confess I turned it off when I tried to watch the DVD several months back. Christian, I'm glad you were able to go and that you enjoyed it!
I'm convinced Playtime doesn't play on the small screen at all. I've kind of been avoiding the Criterion re-release on account of that. Regardless of how good the DVD looks, it just doesn't match the size and clarity (and group viewing) that the film needs.
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