cinemania Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fan Rant: Movie Games
Filed under: Fandom », Fan Rant »
I never expected to get angry in response to something David Bordwell wrote, but his latest blog post infuriated me. As the kind of cinephile who tries his darnedest not to be a pretentious movie jerk, I'm always upset when people expect me to have seen every movie ever made -- or at least every movie presently out in theaters -- and treat me like a fool if I haven't seen this or that supposedly magnificent piece of cinema. Just to clarify, though, I'm not mad at Bordwell. I'm upset with the kind of know-it-all movie geeks who have to show off their cinephilia at every turn.
In the piece, Bordwell attempts to define cinephilia, and I found this part of the post interesting. His qualifications seem to indicate that I am technically a cinephile, despite the fact that I don't see nearly as many films as the people in the documentary Cinemania (those people, he notes, are not cinephiles; they're cinemaniacs). Then he proceeds to lay out conversational scenarios between cinephiles. And it's here that I became annoyed. I'm apparently the guy who has either just seen (random movie title) or has never seen the works of (random filmmaker) or didn't pay enough attention to (random shot) or (random dialogue). I'm slow, I have a bad memory and I do actually take part in other activities besides watching and studying films. So sue me.
The Exhibitionist: Movie Theater Movies
Filed under: Exhibition », Columns »
Each week, The Exhibitionist comments on the latest news, trends and innovations related to the theater industry, or it discusses long-continuing problems with and complaints against cinemas in general, or it simply relates a specific moviegoing experience of yours truly. But rarely does this column get into the subject of actual movies. Well, seeing as there's not much new in the industry this week, and seeing as I'm fortunately not being dragged to see Sex and the City and therefore have no experience to relate about being a sole male in an auditorium packed with women, I figure this is a perfect time to bring up actual movies. Not just any movies, though: I'm presently only interested in discussing movies about, set in or prominently featuring movie theaters.
The earliest movie that I'm familiar with that significantly involves a theater is Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. The silent comedian plays a projectionist who falls asleep on the job then has a dream in which he literally climbs through the movie screen and into a detective film. A similar idea of breaking the boundary between auditorium and screen is used in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo and in John McTiernan's The Last Action Hero, both of which involve a movie character who manages to leave his respective film within the film. But nothing tops Keaton's screen-entering stunt, which utilizes special effects that still astonish more than 80 years later.
The Exhibitionist: Manhattan Matinee Mania
Filed under: Exhibition », Columns », Cinematical Indie »
When I first moved to New York City, I was shocked to find out there are no bargain matinees at movie theaters in Manhattan. For a young man starting college and having neither income nor allowance this was a horrible turn of events. Back in Connecticut, I was working at a multiplex and seeing movies for free. Now, not only did I have to pay for them, I had to always pay full price. And considering full price was even higher than back home, I needed to find work.
Eventually I got a job at an art house theater downtown. Soon, I realized one of the reasons the city might not have discounts in the daytime. People went to the movies in the late morning and the afternoon! A lot of people, in fact. I somewhat remember being told the main reason for the lack of bargain matinees is the higher rents and/or taxes in Manhattan, but I figured the substantial amount of daily moviegoers could have also been a factor. While it seems fine economically to offer a price cut in the suburbs, where fewer people are able to attend those matinee shows, it makes sense economically to charge full price in the city that doesn't sleep, where a good percentage of the population doesn't operate on a 9 to 5 work schedule.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
