Following a few weeks of movies that ranged from tremendously awful to dramatically musical, it felt good to get back to some excellently crafted drama. Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s The Past (Le passé) was an assured next step forward from his 2011 Oscar winning, A Separation. I can’t wait to see what he does next!
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I thought it would be ironic, and funny to show this musical on Holy Thursday, on the eve of the Easter weekend, and I did so without much thought. Well, it was ironic, and it was funny, but I hadn’t realized how interesting the story line was. Seems like, from the point of view of Judas (derived in part from Fulton J. Sheen’s book, The Life of Christ), Mr. Christ was a bit of an arrogant dick. Can I say that without getting struck down by lightening? Ouch!
Jesus Christ Superstar was another great MovieNight sensation. Thanks to all who came out!
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The Room, writen, directed, produced and starring Tommy Wisseau, is certainly the worst movie ever shown at MovieNight, and arguably the worst movie ever made. Not just because the the writing and acting were bad, but because the directing was so bad that it made every actor’s performance terrible. He did manage to produce it though. This is a case where maybe the parents should have taken young Tommy aside, and had a long talk about how different people have different gifts… and perhaps they should have advised him never to show his butt to the camera after attaining a certain age! It was a great MovieNight though, and I learned one thing: in order to have great sex, you need a bed full of roses. I guess one little prick isn’t enough. ; )
We started the evening with a short from YouTube, entitled “Hitler watches The Room”, another of those often hysterical re-subtitled of the same scene from the Downfall, starring the amazing Bruno Ganz. Why hasn’t Downfall been shown at MovieNight? Well… it’s 2 1/2 hours long, and it’s about Hitler. Assuming anyone reads this blog, please let us know if you feel we should correct this shortcoming. It’s a great movie.
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OK… I know. Way too many exclamation points! And there was another one! And… OK… I know.
Not since the first screening of The Cranes are Flying have we had a crowd this big. I mean, every sofa, chair, bar stool, apple box and dog bed was occupied (sorry about the white hairs!). Of course, it was also Circe’s birthday party, and she attracted quite a few guests, but… the appeal of our Killer B’s mini-season is undeniable. You guys love a B, and this time the late, great Russ Meyer filled an hour and a half our screen time with more cleavage than you could shake a stick at (now there’s an expression that needs some looking at… another time, perhaps).
One more B next week… or is it in fact a C or worse? Let’s see how it plays out.
Special thanks to Zoe for entertaining us with her Salt-N-Pepa dance moves. Shoop!
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What a hoot! This week saw the first installment of our mini-season, entitled “Killer B’s”. Although The Eyes of Laura Mars was no doubt meant to be taken seriously when it came out, it is now severely handicapped by the passage of time. Nonetheless, it has evolved into something of a comedy, when viewed through The Eyes of Folks at MovieNight.
Thanks everyone for making it such a fun evening! Next week… part two.
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Sometime in the 70’s, I went on a road trip to NYC from southern Ontario with my great friend and film-maker Andrew Ruhl. We had a twofold mission: to have a (now particularly rare, and perhaps obsolete) Oxberry animation camera repaired at a specialist repair shop in the Bronx, and to scout locations for a new film project he was planning. We made the journey in style in a VW bug, and checked into a sleazy hotel in the then pre-Disneyfied Times Square. Of course, we worked hard scouting locations, but also took time along the way to enjoy New York.
Part of that enjoyment included visiting an Italian film festival which was being screened at Carnegie Hall. Two films made a huge impact. One was Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1900 (Millenovecento) which united an impressive cast of mainstream international actors in an epic depiction of Italy’s descent into fascist rule, as it followed two friends born on the same day at the turn of the last century… one a peasant (Depardue), the other an aristocrat (DeNiro). I will never forget this film, and were it not for its four and a half hour length, I would show it at MovieNight. Maybe one day. (Remember Mysteries of Lisbon, replete with macaroni and cheese intermission? Not many awake after the intermission, including yours truly).
The other film was a wonderfully haunting piece by Michelangelo Antonioni, entitled Il Grido (The Cry). Stark, bleak, and desperate, yet so beautiful and haunting. Antonioni went on to make several English language films, of which The Passenger is the best, in my humble opinion. I’m happy that so many of you came out to see it, and were moved in a way that I was moved at Carnegie Hall so many years ago. Not comparing, just compering.
And, Andrew… I’m sorry I couldn’t bring my prudish self to take you up on your generous offer to avail myself of the ubiquitous offer, “Check it out! Complete satisfaction! Just $10! Check it out!” at your expense. But, I must admit, I’m still happy I didn’t. I love you, my friend.
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