Our screening of Planet of the Apes fulfilled a long-wished-for ambition. Hell, it was hard work to lug everything up to the roof (one forgets all the nuances of our bar set-up), and the screen itself was quite a departure from what we envisioned. The night before, we had attempted to transport the former MovieNight screen (which had been retained for several years just on the off-chance that a rooftop screening would occur) up the stairs and through the door to the roof. The geometry of the final few stairs turned out to be absolutely unaccommodating to the 6×8 ft screen, so I decided to lop off a foot or so on the day, and try again. After all, Planet of the Apes has a nice wide-screen aspect ratio, and the top and bottom of the former 1.33:1 (4:3) screen would have been unused in this instance. Still, the part of me which my parents, bless them, brought up to be frugal was seemingly in charge of the trimming, and that part of me anticipated the day when a classic oldie would be shown on the roof, so the trimming was minimal. Actually, insufficient. The new, wider aspect screen still wouldn’t squeeze through the doorway. For a moment I considered pulling it up with a rope from the fire escape but, given the brisk wind, and the precarious position from which I would have had to commence pulling… uh uh.

‘Plan B’ was a white bed sheet stretched between two medium-roller light stands. I feel certain that a similar stretching of cloth between two poles must have prompted the invention of the sail many years ago, but four extremely heavy breeze blocks (ironically named?) looked like being able to maintain the upright stability of the thing. It being a perfect summer night, the evening winds shifted directions by the second, providing an unexpected dimension to the projection… a sudden back-and-forth fluctuation of about one foot in the projector/screen distance caused an aquarium-like-wobbly-zoom effect (surely it wasn’t just me?). You really had to be there. And so many of you were!

Zofi and I had just returned from France on Tuesday, and she made an early exit, having to go to work the next day. Feeling quite satisfied that we had produced a unique NYM for our lovely guests, I laid down on the carpet and dozed off to the seductive verses of Leonard Cohen (and yes, the Richard Lohr photography screen-saver continued to illuminate, Ken Burns effect and all). Just before sleep had a chance to take full possession of me, The Doctor arrived, with his lovely entourage. More martinis were made. Advil was necessary in the morning. Nevermind. I’m sure that those of you who were here will agree: It was pretty darned perfect, and completely magical. Best not to attempt a repeat performance. Well… maybe next summer. In the meantime, we look forward to a new season in September. Suggestions?

Oh yeah… while we were in Paris, we got to meet up with Chelsea and Flavia, two of our favorite [ex?]MovieNight guests who’ve taken up residence in the “City of Lights”. It was great to see you!

More about this film on IMDb

Of course, I don’t mean that… really. Or do I?

Dogtooth was perfect MovieNight material! Although I had downloaded a copy (for pre-screening purposes only) almost a year ago, and had had (had had?) a bunch of people telling me to watch the bloody thing (and bloody it was!), I hadn’t taken the time to watch it, perhaps having been concerned that (from the few bits I’d skimmed through) Zofi might be upset by it (the cat). In the end, it was Sasha who pushed me over the precipice of indecision, and since Zofi was away on a business trip, I thought, “Why not take a chance?” OMFG! Insane. Beautiful. Shocking. Funny. I mean, if the Greeks could come up with this stuff on a regular basis they wouldn’t need a bail out from the EU. (Speaking of witch, don’t get me started on the similarity between Angela Merkel and an angular merkin. Really. Don’t.)

The sheen of the evening was somewhat scuffed up by my sarcastic jab at a long-time MovieNight freeloader. I had been grappling with this conundrum for a few years: Is it OK for people to just come to MovieNight and install themselves on a sofa for the duration without visiting the bar? I mean, after all, this endeavor wasn’t initiated for commercial purposes. It was all about curation, education, fun. I had concluded that you just had to let it go… maybe some people couldn’t afford even an economical night out, and after all, what difference would it make? There was plenty of space. Somehow, this week, I lost it, and I’m sorry to say that I made it clear to the aforementioned ex-patron. A popcorn bucket was slammed down on the bar (not with inappropriate ardor) upon her exit.

The rest of the evening was quite lovely.

More about this film on IMDb

Oh, the twisty-turny mystery which is In My Father’s Den! One problem: although the Kiwi protagonist (played by British actor Matthew Macfadyen) had been “poncing around in England” for many years, and could therefore be [mostly] understood, he was the only one! Who knew that the New Zealand accent could be so unfathomable? Of course we all got through the movie, and enjoyed the lush camera work… I think the general consensus was that, without subtitles (non available), we had managed to take in about seventy percent of the movie’s complexly woven story. I guess this is why In My Father’s Den has never seen a DVD release in this country. Surely it can’t cost that much to put subtitles on a new release…

Still… how about those Cosmos? That’s what I’m talking about.

More about this film on IMDb