Film Forum Tagged Articles at Cinematical

What are your criteria for the "best" movie theaters in your area? Most convenient? Most economical? Best popcorn? Best programming? Least corporate? "The Best Movie Houses in America" is the headline of an article in Paste Magazine, in which they list seven "top-notch" independently-owned movie theaters.

Their criteria focuses on the selection of films available at the local indie movie house: "We look to it as a calm voice of reason in a sea of neon-appointed megaplexes; as a secure place of refuge where we discover talented indie filmmakers who've been flying under the radar." They include two Manhattan theaters among the seven: Film Forum and the IFC Center, plus one each in Austin (Cinematical favorite The Alamo Drafthouse Downtown/Ritz), Boston (The Coolidge Corner Theatre), Chicago (Facets Cinematheque), Minneapolis (Riverview Theater), and Seattle (The Grand Illusion Cinema).

My criteria for "best" revolves around good programming, superior projection / sound, and comfortable seating, with the option of good, varied food and drinks a big bonus. When I lived in New York, I loved Film Forum for its programming and the Ziegfield Theatre (admittedly not an indie house) for projection / sound. I stayed in Chicago one summer and admired the programming at Facets, the Music Box Theatre, and the Gene Siskel Film Center. My Los Angeles faves were the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian, the New Beverly, the UCLA Film and Television Archive, and the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood (again, not an indie). Now that I live in Texas, the Alamo reigns supreme for me, even though it's 200 miles away.

What are the best movie houses in your area? Is there a great, locally-owned theater (or small chain) that deserves more love?

Cinematical has been passed along these images which are making the rounds and demonstrate how Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather looks following a print restoration before its run at the New York Film Forum beginning tomorrow (the second one has been included after the jump).

Christopher Campbell made the initial mention of the plans for showing that film and Part II over the next few weeks, leading up to their Blu-Ray release on September 23rd (fans of Part III will just have to tough it out). Mind you, these comparsion shots are indicative of only the print, and not necessarily what those discs will look like.

Week after week, I focus on the good and/or bad concerning moviegoing and the movie theatre industry. But as passionate as I am about the subjects of this column, I've never really felt strongly enough to label any one person either a hero or a villain to moviegoers. Perhaps the closest I've come to calling someone a hero was when I finally had my first experience with an Alamo Drafthouse cinema. On the other hand, I've certainly wanted to call a lot of people villains, including whoever was responsible for my worst moviegoing experience in years and whoever came up with the awful idea to produce scented pre-show ads.

So, it was by some sort of coincidence that last week actually brought news of both a remarkably heroic moviegoer and a terribly villainous theatre owner. Of course, you're welcome to disagree with me as I celebrate the former and castigate the latter. The interesting thing about these two individuals is that some of you may see my hero as a villain, and vice versa. In fact the law has deemed the former a criminal, and meanwhile tons of moviegoers in the UK are championing the actions of the latter. No wonder film exhibition is in such dire straits when there's such disagreement about how to improve the moviegoing experience.

As a fresh 35mm print of Charlie Chaplin's quintessential 1947 thriller Monsieur Verdoux begins circulating through revival houses around the country, it seems like a good time to remind people that while the late actor is mainly known as a star of the silent screen, he definitely didn't die with it. Although the greatest slapstick artist of all time initially rejected the development of sound film, mocking it with hilariously exaggerated voices in City Lights, he eventually adopted it after realizing that resistance was futile. However, he refused to simply throw in a few lines of dialogue to accompany his beloved tramp shtick, choosing instead to take his career in a fresh direction. While Chaplin made many sound films over the course of several decades, only two of them really qualify as classic talkies (except for Limelight, which deserves a category of its own). Late flops like A King of New York don't really hold together, but Chaplin's initial forays into the world of sound film display his talent as a composer of distinctive prose.

His first work of this era, The Great Dictator, remains a masterpiece that broadened the potential of his tramp character with a modified Prince and the Pauper tale applied to World War II, and Chaplin doing double duty playing both a Jewish barber and an exaggerated Adolf Hitler (or "Hinkel," rather). Monsieur Verdoux, in which he plays a frustrated man whose losses during the Great Depression lead to a twisted scheme where he marries, murders and robs rich women, represented something else altogether: Chaplin's only brooding melodrama, the occasional laughs are almost incidental.

Imagine if The Dark Knight or Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull initially opened in limited release, and then took a month or so to reach you in "flyover country." But on the same day that they hit those first theaters in New York and L.A., they were also available on your television, via Video on Demand. Would you wait a few weeks to see the blockbusters on the big screen or would you lack the patience and go ahead and download the movies to your cable box? Of course you would choose the VOD route. I probably would, as well.

Despite this column, I cannot claim to be a purist when it comes to theatrical film exhibition. I subscribe to Netflix and even sometimes watch old movies on the Watch Now streaming player. I now own a video iPod, and while I haven't yet tried watching a feature, I have had no problem watching shorts and television episodes on its small screen and am not totally against eventually downloading a whole movie from iTunes. And although New York's Film Forum is currently showing a ton of United Artists classics, many of which I've never seen at all and a number of which I've never seen on the big screen, I haven't been able to make my way to Manhattan to appreciate the retrospective.

Good news for all you New Yorkers -- one of my favorite films of last year's fest circuit, Chop Shop, is now playing at New York City's Film Forum. The film played Cannes and Toronto last year, and just came off a screening at the Berlinale. Filmmaker Ramin Bahrani, who just won the Independent Spirit's Someone to Watch award, previously made the critically acclaimed Man Push Cart, and his follow-up is every bit as good as that film.

Chop Shop revolves around a young boy named Ale, who lives and works in a chop shop in NYC's tough Iron Triangle district. Added bonus: at the 8PM screenings tonight and tomorrow night, Bahrani will be on hand for a Q&A following the screening. The film will play at Film Forum through March 11.

Daily Green Cine has a nice round-up of reviews of the film; you can also read our review of the film from the Toronto International Film Festival, and our interview with Bahrani.

We're adding a new feature on Cinematical Indie: The (Mostly) Indie Film Calendar. Each week, we'll give you a round-up of what's going on in indie film (and sometimes just cool film news and screenings) in cities near you. If you know of cool stuff happening that's related to film -- a local fest, a series of classic restored films, lectures, workshops, open calls for casting of an indie film -- send your tips to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com and we'll add them to the calendar.

Here are this week's happenings in film from New York to LA and points in between ...

New York City: Film Forum, a hot spot for all things indie, has some interesting things going on. Filmmaker Jennifer Fox will be on hand for the screenings tonight at 8:15PM and Saturday at 1:15PM and 5PM of her film Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman. The film runs through July 17. Also showing: Woody Allen's Manhattan (through 7/19), and Jean Pierre Melville's Le Doulos (limited time only, so get on over there for that one!). Coming soon at Film Forum: Live-In Maid (7/18-7/31) and Metropolis (7/20-7/26).

Los Angeles: This week in Los Angeles, Outfest -- the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival -- is going on. With six galas and 70 features, there's lots to see, including a screening of a restored copy of Bill Sherwood's Parting Glances, outdoor screenings, panel discussions, and parties, parties, parties! Check out the full schedule for the fest on the official Outfest website, then get your butt off your couch and go see some films.

Seattle: One of the things I'll miss most about Seattle is Northwest Film Forum, which not only shows great movies, but does a lot of work to help make them as well. This weekend, Northwest Film Forum is showing the awesome (albeit deeply depressing) Raise the Red Lantern, Walking to Werner (held over through July 15), and L'Iceberg. Monday they're doing a one-night screening of the films of Seattle filmmaker Barbara Ireland, and Tuesday night they'll host the Filmmaker's Saloon, a "panel discussion and socializing event for the local film and dance community." For filmmakers and filmmaker wannabes, upcoming workshops at NWFF include Introduction to Flash and Garage Band for Directors. Check out their website for complete schedule of events.

Also upcoming in Seattle: On July 21 at 2PM (location TBD), The Film School's Speaker Series, by Warren Etheredge, will host Sandra Nettelbeck, whose film Mostly Martha has been remade into the upcoming No Reservations starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin. Nettlebeck will discuss her film the remake, and what's different between the two. July 28, TFS brings Oscar-nommed director Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room) into town to sneak-preview his latest doc, Taxi to the Dark Side, which played at the Tribeca Film Festival. Taxi is about torture practices used by the United States in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, told through the story of an innocent taxi driver who was tortured and killed in 2002. Gibney's a sharp guy and a solid filmmaker -- that one's a must-see for you Seattle film buffs. Tix for both available at Etheredge's website, The Warren Report.


Austin: Austin's a great town for film, and this weekend at the Alamo Drafthouse is no exception. If you just haven't gotten enough of Michael Moore lately after his appearances on CNN and Larry King Live, you can catch his newest doc, SICKO, at the Drafthouse's Lake Creek location this weekend. Tired of hearing the name Harry Potter? Saturday and Sunday at noon, take the kid(s) in your life to a special screening of The Secret of Nimh, the movie that made rats cute years before Ratatouille. Coming up next weekend: A special midnight screening of one of my fave Hitchcock films, Rear Window, Daft Punk's Electroma, and another screening for the kids (or those of us who haven't quite grown up yet, Dark Crystal.

Dallas: If you live in Dallas, you know that the city has really grown in access to arts over the past decade, and there's a lot more going on with film down there than there used to be. The AFI Dallas Film Fest had great support from locals, but it only comes once a year. What to do the rest of the time? Well, for starters, on July 17 at 7:30PM, you can head over to Victory Park for an outdoor screening of everyone's fave friendly-alien flick, E.T. Bring the kids, a picnic dinner, and a box of tissues for that ending ("I'll be riiiiight heeeeere ...") and have a great time. On July 19, pop over to Studio Movie Grill in Addison for Mr. Weird's Grindhouse Volume 1, featuring a big-screen screening of Night of the Living Dead, preceded by an awesome 45 minute compilation of trailers and commercials from 1968 and trailers from zombie movies!

Oklahoma City: Yeah, Oklahoma City (my hometown, where I just relocated with my family) actually has some indie film happenings these days! Booyah! Every Thursday through Sunday, the museum screens independent, foreign and classic films. This weekend at the Oklahoma CIty Museum of Art, they're showing Alice Neel, a documentary about the painter by her grandson, Andrew Neel. Alice Neel painted portraits of such notables as Andy Warhol, Bella Abzug and Allen Ginsburg; her grandson's film explores her life and her work. Also at the Museum this weekend is John Ford's cheery and uplifting Grapes of Wrath. Coming soon: Broken English, Away from Her, Summercamp! and Once. Excellent selections, all. (Now if only we'd get a Landmark Theater here to give us a little more access to indie films ... nudge nudge ).

Want your city covered? Send your film news and links to me at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com ...

There's arguably no better city for a movie lover in America than Manhattan. On a rainy Sunday you can head out to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, which always has incredible screenings going on in addition to their amazing exhibits. You can go to the Ziegfeld, a huge, old fashioned, one-screen jewel that is probably the most beautiful movie theater I've been in. And then there's Film Forum, which shows a mixture of new independents, "lost" treasures, foreign films, and the classics. And all you Bond fanatics who reside outside of the Big Apple might want to sell your home (the money should get you a studio apartment for about three months in New York, if memory serves) and move to NYC because Film Forum is hosting a James Bond Marathon, starting next month.

The film fest runs from April 27 to May 17, and will be showing all of the pre-Dalton Bond flicks (except one, they took the liberty of removing Moonraker). Film Forum is also showing a bunch of non-Bond 60's spy films, such as Our Man Flint and The Ipcess File, and there's some great extras in the mix too: Five vintage Bond trailers will be shown before Live and Let Die and there will be a sing-along (presumably of the Bond themes) following From Russia With Love. Oh, and there's double features and a movie called Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine! With Vincent Price and Frankie Avalon! What are you waiting for? For a lot of younger fans who grew up watching these films on video and DVD, this is one hell of an opportunity, and you've got to support these events when they come to your town. Too many of these great theaters are disappearing.

The debate over Erich von Stroheim's reputation as a filmmaker exists in a state of suspended animation: it's more or less settled, but could conceivably fly open one day if the 9-hour version of his masterpiece, Greed, is ever discovered. The film was a page-for-page rendering of Frank Norris' classic American novel McTeague, about a man of limited intellect who fails at his ambition to be a dentist and winds up chained to a dead man in Death Valley. With a shooting script only ten pages shorter than the novel, it took a grueling year to shoot and ended up provoking an actual fistfight between von Stroheim and Louis B. Mayer. Upon completion, it was screened for a select few at its full length, then Mayer ordered that it be hacked down to two hours and allegedly ordered the remaining seven hours of footage to be destroyed. Unless that information is wrong, and several dusty film cans pop up in a basement somewhere in the year 2036, we're stuck with what we have.

Some movie lovers carry around actual lists of films they haven't yet seen, to remind themselves of what's to come. I don't carry any such list, but if I did, one film on it would be 1927's Children of Divorce. This standard love-triangle weepie was first shot by studio man Frank Lloyd, then shelved by Paramount Pictures for being as bland as its title. Then, a stroke of luck: the studio ordered the film to be half re-shot by its assistant director, none other than 33-year old Josef von Sternberg, who was soon to enter his most creative years. Sternberg is said to have relished the opportunity to experiment, deluging the film with his trademark light-and-shadow-play, tossing out static long-shots in favor of intrusive close-ups, and otherwise taking full advantage of the haunting, teardrop face of 22-year old Clara Bow, who played the film's heroine, Kitty. Sternberg is also said to have supervised a thrilling finale, in which Kitty learns that the plot's romantic knots can only untie with her death.