Summer Film Series
After vote-tampering, the lack of a runoff vote, and a delay in announcing the final list, the Alabama Theater finally gave us the titles that will be shown during the film series. There are some surprises here. Guess the theater couldn't get rights to some of the other titles. And they dropped the film count from 12 to 10. Anyway, the films:
The Godfather
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Lawrence of Arabia
Apollo 13
Dr. Zhivago
Mary Poppins
The Ten Commandments
Vertigo
Gone with the Wind
Rear Window
Labels: Alabama Theater, summer film series
posted by Diane @ 2:30 PM
45 comments
45 Comments:
"Vote-tampering," what is this, a presidential election? ;)
Not as bad a list as it might've been; I hope you can make it to some of them...I'll even admit to appreciating Gone with the Wind as dated melodrama. (Though it has been many years since I saw it.)
I've actually seen Gone with the Wind there before. It plays there every year and is a tradition. It will probably draw the biggest crowd this year.
Summer promises to be hectic because of work (much like now, but what else is new?), but I'm planning to make many of these films a priority.
I am absolutely thrilled that Vertigo made it. Also happy about Rear Window, which finished in 83rd place during the voting. That one was a surprise, for sure.
Mary Friggin Poppins? I mean -- Mary Friggin Poppins??
Judging from your Film Journal, I'd say that you are more blessed than most by the invention of the DVD.
I am unable to fathom a place where people view and discuss great cinema together. This does not exist in Alabama, a state where Movie Gallery only carries New Releases.
And what is wrong with Mary Poppins? I'm looking forward to that one.
-Jeremiah
Apparently, somebody took his medicine without a spoonful of sugar.
Stef, we must get to the root of this inexplicable hatred you have towards Mary Poppins. What did she ever do to you? Step in time, my friend!
You know, I seem to recall some talk at other blogs lamenting the lack of film communities/group viewing/group discussion in general--including the big cities (right, Doug?). I've joked before that I just need to start my own film club.
Indie film is what Sidewalk really gets behind, and that's great, but I wish we had more screenings of older films here. This is why some of us look forward to this summer film series so much. Jeremiah, I'm curious--do the Sidewalk people you know turn out for this series?
Really, this is a not a bad list. I very rarely get to attend a classic movie* with anybody who is seriously into film, so that will be a large part of the fun. I'm looking forward to that.
*Please understand that Apollo 13 is excluded here.
The music is awful, the parents are screwed up, the kids are brats, people are floating around on some kind of mysterious heliumish laughter, there are very dirty men jumping around on rooftops, and Mary Poppins is a flying, snobby, prissy little witch who is in dire need of some kind of sexual relief, if you know what I'm getting at. Need I say more?
But I hope you have a good time, nevertheless.
I've never seen a Sidewalk person at the summer movie series. Erik, Catherine and the rest who work for Sidewalk don't go I know and I haven’t seen the filmmakers I’m on friendly terms with.
The people who are a part of the Sidewalk community really annoy me most of the time. I really hate the word 'indie' because it has that pretentiousness behind it that the film or music is better because it's independent. Casablanca and The Beatles weren't independent and they turned out fine. All the filmmakers in Alabama get their influence from the greats such as Speilberg and Zach Braff.
Actual conversation at Sidewalk after party for filmmakers (paraphrased as closely as possible, Me also includes Keener):
Guy: Yeah man I just really love movies. I want to make movies, live movies, going to film school blah blah blah.
Me: Ahh cool so do you have a film in the festival?
Guy: No, I haven't made anything, I'm waiting till I get a good camera, I had a friend who made one, I was there for that.
Me: What directors do you like
Guy: Uhh let's see.....I love Speilberg
Me: Which have you seen
Guy: I really love his recent films Catch Me If You Can is a really really good film and The Terminal was pretty good...
Me: you like Jaws?
Guy: No never seen that one, oh and I love Scorsese too. The Aviator is probably my favorite film. Gangs of New York, they're all good.
Me: Do you like Taxi Driver
Guy: No haven't seen that one
Me: Goodfellas…...Raging Bull?
Guy: No I've heard they're good but I haven't got to watch them yet.
The conversation continued as he tried discussing Peter Jackson and the grandeur of the King Kong remake while we tried to explain who Werner Herzog was. We gave him a DVD of our movie which we were passing out for free. The next night at the awards ceremony he averted his eyes quickly and avoided us. I guess he just doesn't see the beauty in elderly women chasing dogs and yelling at them to return taxes.
I know this rant just comes off as making me pretentious, but if you were to sit through a Scramble screening you would understand everything oh so clearly. By far the worst films ever made and they are all so delusional about their future success.
For the rest of you readers you can watch my movies at
www.myspace.com/reiningnails You’ll most likely see them as some of the worst films ever conceived but maybe a couple of you will enjoy. At least we have fun. I think we are the only stress-free scramble team.
-Jeremiah
- The music is awful...
This is totally subjective.
- the parents are screwed up...
Which Mary aims to set right, man!
- the kids are brats...
Really? I remember them as being very cute. Maybe they act out, but hey, you just gave them the perfect excuse when you said the parents were awful. Besides, I love a kid who loves animals. If that idiot father had only just let Michael feed the birds instead of making him squirrel away every last farthing....
- people are floating around on some kind of mysterious heliumish laughter...
You got a problem with that?
- there are very dirty men jumping around on rooftops...
Again, you got a problem with that? Where would you like them? Better on the roof that lounging inside on your nice furniture. Besides, the guys can dance!
- and Mary Poppins is a flying, snobby, prissy little witch who is in dire need of some kind of sexual relief, if you know what I'm getting at.
Ha ha, I could say something here, but remember our conversation from a few weeks ago when you told me you would refrain from making a comment about my Beethoven remark? Heh. Same rule applies here--I'll take the high road.
Ah, Stef, we are close to old times here. :)
So-called pretentiousness of this sort is welcome here. Vent away!
Not too long ago, I asked a friend over to watch a movie and was promptly told, "I'll come over, but I'm not watching any of your weirdo films."
Um, OK.
Wow, that was fun. This place is like our old Novogate board. Oh how I long for the good old days.
I gotta go get my eldest into a good looking summer dress, or I would comment... We are going to a concert tonight, cuz she thinks she's going to learn the violin at four years old! (She's been listening to way too much Arcade Fire) Thank God for Suzuki!
Four years old seems like the perfect age to start the violin, no?
If I had my life to do over, I would take up an instrument. Somebody in my apartment building plays what sounds like the viola, and whoever it is is very good. I put my ear to the wall to listen when I hear him or her practicing.
We all want something else, right? We're on our way out the front door right now, she is cute as ever in a summer dress and sandals, and she says to me, "But I wish I had wings to wear to the concert." :)
I always wanted to do yodeling.
Jeremiah, your description of the indie scene sound like much of what happens at parties here in Los Angeles. At some point, you just gotta watch the Herzog, refuse to own or lend out anything else, and make the kinds of movies you want to make. Eventually, those with similar interests will notice.
Part of the problem here in L.A. is how spread out it is; it's basically a collection of communities with congested freeways in between. Although there are smaller festivals and lots of indie/art films that technically screen here, that mght mean one or two theaters out of several hundred, and one-to-two hour commutes to see them...so a lot of people just stay home and wait for the DVD, which does zilch for community.
I would totally encourage you Birminghamans to try and foster some kind of screening community. Maybe all you would have to do is set up a website to announce a film and coffee get together at a public place an dlet people sign-up? Something like this but for art films? Maybe you could host discussion events that would coincide with the Summer Film Series? Maybe post/distribute flyers at the theater and get some local film prof to speak for 20 minutes about Hitchcock or something. It can be done!
Aha.
Alabama is spread as well. You may have to drive 2 hours to get to a different part of L.A. (yuck) but the community in Alabama is spread out as well. Currently, I'm in Mobile which is 3 hours South and other parts of the year I'm in Tuscaloosa which is about an hour away.
I know Rojo will let you have a film series there but it's just a DVD/TV set up. Kyle tried to do one and showed stuff like L'Atalante but few showed up.
I went to see a play last night (at a community center rather than a theatre as such) and it was cancelled due to technical problems. I chatted with friends who had shown up, then went home and watched some old Kenneth Anger movies about (among other things) loneliness. These odd films had probably been made with an audience of more than one guy in mind, but movie viewing is no longer an inherantly communial activity. In one night I'd lost one communial activity and undercut the communial nature of another.
Cinephilia today is different than it was in the '60s when everything was based on rented 16mm prints and cafe/classroom screenings. It was still largely communal then, but home video and specialized cable channels have definitely turned it into a more solitary pursuit these days...thanks to the intenet, that doesn't have to be wholly true, but I do think we need to make efforts to keep it a public dialogue.
Well, this has developed into a nice conversation, so my thanks to everyone who has posted here.
I've toyed with the idea of hosting some sort of synchronized viewing/discussion here at my blog. John and I have done this twice, and it's been quite fun (the discussion, not always the film, i.e. Naked). My job is still insane, and I know everyone is busy, so it's often hard to pull off this sort of thing, not to mention getting several people all interested enough to want to watch the same film at the same time. We did this at A&F a few times, with mixed results (and I was guilty of not always participating then). All this to say, it's an idea I toy with but am hesitant to commit to for several reasons. Still, you never know just who might be interested in exploring a film or a director at the same time as you.
Anyway, that would be the next-best thing, since we can't all attend a screening together, obviously. I definitely love how the Internet has allowed film fans to connect.
I'd be interested in a "synchronized viewing/discussion."
Let's give some thought to films/directors, Aaron, and see what we come up with.
I saw a film by Kenneth Anger last night called "Invocation of the Pleasure Dome" that I thought was just marvelous. It played into the notion of film as a painterly, rather than primariliy narrative medium, that Peter Greenaway advocates. I'd be interested in looking into more of those.
OTOH I know very little about the classic Westerns and gangster films. Antonioni is big for me right now. I'm the kind of guilty liberal who'd be up for a survey of female filmmakers, African directors, etc.
But those are just a few notions. I'm up for all kinds of stuff.
Sounds interesting, Aaron. If we're the only two up for this, perhaps we can discuss it via email? (My address is in my profile.)
Of course, anybody else would be welcome to join in.
C'mon, folks! Join the fun! Don't be the last kid on your block to engage in sychronized viewing/discussion. Ask about our low rates... easy terms...
Oh, I understand if people are especially busy right now. Believe me...I understand.
I'm not busy, but I should be. It's amazing how much work I can slack off in order to comment on blogs. Anyway, I keep meaning to get back to L'Avventura (I loved the first half-hour) but by the time I'm ready for a movie it's almost bedtime. Most movies find a way to wake you up every five minutes or so, but not this one. Antonioni expects you to handle the wakefulness thing on your own. I'll have to wait for the weekend before I finish this one. Deferred pleasure.
As for doing a viewing/virtual discussion thing, I'm up for it but don't wanna be the one to declare the topic. I'm also hoping some other folks will join in, but...
I fear Diane will look at her Site Meter, notice how many times a day I've been looking at her blog, and think I'm a tad too obsessive. I'm just bored and hoping someone will join in the movie discussion action!
Dude, who's NOT obsessed with this blog? Perfectly understandable.
ThasswhuI'mtalkin'.
I am obsessed with aaron.
Then you need to join in the movie madness! I've been in a couple locally produced movies. Maybe we could do a discussion about them. Although the movies in question are almost impossible to find, and mostly need to stay that way.
One possibility: Antonioni's L'Eclisse, the only one of his non-trilogy trilogy that I've not seen. Have you already seen it, Aaron? Any others here who might be interested? (I know some of you are Antonioni fans.) I've seen several of his films, and while I admire them, I can't say it's love...not yet, anyway. I keep putting off L'Eclisse, so this would be a good way to get me to watch it.
But it's not all about me, so that's just a thought.
L'Eclisse is the only film of his I have seen, except L'Avventura (which I've started) and Blow Up which I saw in college and therefore doesn't count). L'Eclisse is one of my favorite movies, so I'd be happy to delve into Antonioni, but I have some catching up to do.
Ah, well, OK....
By the way, for anyone who's keeping up with comments under the April Film Journal entry, Christian is back with his thoughts about Atlman's 3 Women.
I'm sorry, I've confused myself; are we talking about discussing L'Eclisse alone or Antonioni's work in general? Like I say, I'll just need a refresher viewing to be up to speed on L'Elisse and I'd love to discuss it. I'd love to watch all his other stuff too, but it'll take a while.
Sorry, I guess I was confused. I was talking about L'Eclisse alone.
Cool! I'll rewatch it this weekend, if I have time. I still have to finish L'Adventurra (how many ways have I spelt that title so far?) and see if I can trump up any useful comparisons and contrasts.
Please don't feel rushed. I won't be able to even get it from Netflix until next week.
I promise not to feel rushed if you promise not to take out a virtual restraining order to keep me from checking your blog a thousand times a day. I do this to all the blogs; I firmly believe that when I lie on my deathbed I'm going to regret not fixating on reponses to my blog comments enough.
A Modest Proposal: Check Blogs Less Often
Sure, I like blogs as much as anyone here. But which is worse: lying on your deathbed and realizing that you didn't seen all of Diane's blog comments, or lying on your deathbed and realizing that you didn't live your life as fully as Diane did, or as Diane told you to in all her blogs? Blogs should enrich and supplement life, not replace it.
Jeremiah's spoofing a message board post I made a few years back (half to myself) suggesting people not center their lives around movies (the way I had been for much of the previous five years). Rest assured that if I weren't chained to the computer all day I'd be out traipsing through the daffodils rather than reading blogs.
OK, Russ told me he's in on the L'Eclisse discussion (hi, Russ!). And my friend Mark may join us if he can find a copy of the film.
If Mark's local to B'ham I wouldn't mind loaning him my copy. Although I want to rewatch it myself before we delve in.
Actually, he's up in New Hampshire, but that's a nice offer.
He can call me while I watch it and describe what's happening.
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