Dark Crystal for Three Nights in the LES!!

This weekend there will be Three nights of this classic from the early 80's at the Sunshine Cinema in the LES. So come down to see this Fantasy Film Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. This film is a not just dark by name. It is Dark and has some scenes that might just surprise someone who is used to Henson's Muppet's. The world of The Dark Crystal is brought to us through the eyes of Concept Artist Brian Froud who helped Henson and Oz on Labyrinth four years latter. Starting tonight the Sunshine Cinema is showing this amazing film on the big screen. The Cinema has come together with the Museum of Moving Image to celebrate Henson and his film legacy. This means Fun Trivia and Giveaways for all three nights!!

Museum of the Moving Image
EXHIBITION
Jim Henson's Fantastic World
July 16–March 4
36-01 35 Avenue
Astoria, NY 11106
718 777 6888
Tue-Thu: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Fri: 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sat-Sun: 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Mon: Closed

More Movies of 2011 in Short Review

Drive -- This Action Film is set on the West Coast in L.A. Or is it? Here we have a film where the director has made a Fairy Tale world much like the one around us now. The first half of the film has this hazy feeling that makes much of the action better. Ryan Gosling plays a lone wolf that makes money as a Stunt Driver. He Drives for the movies and also is a mechanic by day, but by night he is a calm no nonsense getaway Driver for hire. He moves in next to a young mother (Carey Mulligan) who is married to a man in Prison. When this man gets out he brings trouble with him. This strange family needs the Drivers help and he helps them because they are his only connection to the real world. Is this Driver a bad guy with a heart of gold, or a good guy in a rough spot? The other bad guys are real mobster types played by Ron Perlman (born right here in Washington Heights, NYC) and Albert Brooks. This is a great part for Brooks. He should be cast in more roles like this one. So why Does this story not end as good as it begin? Well in the end the Fairy Tale seems too much and some of the plot points that could have been easily fixed where just glazed over. Making this a good film that could have been great!

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel -- This documentary on the infamous Roger Corman is so much fun! Just like the man himself. If you don't know Roger Corman is a Film Director and Producer who's career spans many decades. He is the grandfather of gore! The ploitation behind Exploitation!! He put the amp in camp!! In the 60's he did an Edgar Allan Poe Series with Vincent Price that gave the world The House of Usher(1960), and The Pit and the Pendulum(1961). He is the man behind movies like the original "The Little Shop of Horrors" (1960), Death Race 2000 (1975), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Children of the Corn (1983), and the first biker flick ever The Wild Angels (1966). Without him and his New World Pictures, America might not of had a wide distribution of foreign Films. We might not know names like Ingmar Bergman, François Truffaut, Federico Fellini, or Akira Kurosawa without him showing the films at Cinemas and Drive-Ins around the country. There are too many famous Actors, Directors, and Writers that got their start with Roger to put here, but many of them made it into "Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel." This documentary has been a long time coming and now that's its here everyone should see it.

Shame, Directed by Steve McQueen -- This is a stylized and powerful film about a successful business man (Michael Fassbender) who also is a sex addict. Having everything going for him he has an endless amount of sex coming to him, but he still wants more. He seems to have it all together but it is really all falling apart. Then his sister (Carey Mulligan) comes to stay with him. She has issues of her own and this becomes the heart of the story. Can he be unselfish and be there for his sister? Or has his sexual desire and fulfillment taken over his will. Here in New York, where six degree's of separation mean a whole different thing, almost anyone can live on the edge of anything. How close are you?

Movies of 2011 in Short Review

Midnight in Paris -- This funny little film that is written and directed by Woody Allen starts off much like "Manhattan." This time we get Paris with its beautiful buildings and canals, and its streets sparkling with rain. Our protagonist is not Allen but Owen Wilson playing the part of Gil a screenwriter who longs to be a novelist. This dream is criticized by his fiancée who needs to be kept in a certain lifestyle that dreamers can't afford. One night a magical thing happens at midnight and Gil is taken to the 1920's. A time he has always fantasized about. Night after night he meets all the Lost Generations stars Cole Porter, Josephine Baker, and Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Even Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Pablo Picasso. As Gil spends his days with upper class Americans his nights are filled with the who's who of the Jazz Age. Will he decide to stay in the 1920's or go back to the present and make his life in the "here and now" all that he longs for.


Melancholia -- This strange story written and directed by Lars Von Trier, is typical of most of his films. It is dark and disturbing, it builds slowly in many directions and ends with a bang. This is how he brings the general public, who spend their lives in the real world, into his mind fulled with the twist and turns of this awkward genius. In this film Kirsten Dunst is a depressive bride that has everything and still seems to be a discontent. Bring into play that a planet from the far riches of space is coming to swing passed earth and you get a story line that is all Von Trier. Charlotte Gainsbourg plays another stellar part for the director as the sister that worries that this might be the end.




A Dangerous Method -- In most Cronenberg films there is an underlining characteristic of sexual Deviance. So its about time he made a film that comes right out and says "'aren't we all sexual deviants?" How does one make a film about sex and the human condection? Well, just go back into history. like the "Kinsey" film about the life of Alfred Kinsey, Cronenberg has chosen science to portray how we all think about sex. This film goes back to examine Dr.Sigmund Freud's "Talking Cure." Young Psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) uses Freud's (Viggo Mortensen) method on a young Jewish women who has history of sexual abuse, played by Keira Knightley. Knightley seems to shine in any period piece and this is no exception. Fassbender is not in her shadow in this film, but is right there next to her showing intelligence and poise. When this women is sent to the asylum she becomes the heart of the Jung/Freud relationship. This film makes one feel like dusting off some old books to study Freud and the human condection in depth.

Elf Girl By Rev Jen

This holiday season on a sunny day in the L.E.S. one might just see a real elf walking her dog. This would seem strange living in Chicago or Boston, but here in New York everything can and will happen. This place is a mecca for artiest, weirdos, and outsiders. Wrap all these into one and put elf ears on top and you get Rev Jen. Aka Elf Girl the “patron saint of the uncool.” She lives her life in a fun and unexpected way and puts it all into words that paint a wonderfully uncool picture of how to "make it" in lower downtown. Her book starts with a job at Bloomingdale's as a Christmas Elf and continues in such a flirtatious manner that it is hard to put down. She makes writing look easy the way she runs through her jobs as an elf, Slurpee Technician and Curator of the Troll Museum. This is not just a coming of age story for nonconformist. It is almost a how to in being yourself and getting that self out to the masses. She has so many Ideas and takes them as far as they will go. Like Doo-Doo the Hard drinking Teletubby or Rats, the shortest running show on Broadway. As life in the LES gets bigger and more and more upscale its nice to know that there are still the underground artists walking around with elf ears.

To get more on REv Jen check out:
Live Nude Elf: The Sexperiments of Reverend Jen
Reverend Jen's Really Cool Neighborhood/Les Misrahi
The Adventures of Electra Elf: The Complete Series on DVD
Or go to an Anti-slam:
http://www.revjen.com/antislam/index.html
and check out:
http://www.revjen.com/
or vist the Troll Museum!

Book Then Movie: The Rum Diary

This book was not one that was a big success for Hunter S. Thompson. He said in an interview on Public Television that it had "bounced about seven times." The letters of rejection keep on coming and he let it lie. He only came back to his story made up from the chatter of reporters at San Juan Star in 1960, because "it's got a romantic notion." Then it was finally published in 1998. This "story" of a American journalist who takes a freelance job in Puerto Rico in the 1950s is written with the reflections of a much older man. This tone was set by Thompson only being 22 when he went down to Puerto Rico with thoughts of writing for the newspaper only to get denied. He spent his time getting drunk and getting the "real" story from the other American drifters on the island at the time. This book is about the Hunter before...Before the 60's and 70's. Before Loathing, and the Campaign Trail. This is a younger Thompson. One just starting his way with words. The public had to read it after getting to know the Gonzo Journalist. The public will have to do the same for the Movie. The Johnny Deep character from "Fear and Loathing" is Hunter S. Thompson for some people. Those people will have to get to know the other Thompson, the one that came before.

Two Joans on the Beach at the Anthology Film Archives!

Last Thursday the Anthology Film Archives hosted a kick off party for "Joan's Digest: A Film Quarterly." Things where set up to celebrate everything Joan. The films on screen both have Joan's and both are on the beach. "Which Joan do you Prefer, Crawford or Bennett?" First was Crawford in "Female On The Beach." This 1955 drama about a beach house that has some strange secrets. The nice young man that keeps his boat at the dock, the friendly older couple just down the water. and the bright and smiling real Real Estate agent all seem to be apart of the perfect beach community. They are all a little to interested when Crawford moves in, but who would not want a beautiful neighbor. Joan gets to say some steamy lines and the audience gets to see a lot of Joan's thighs. As the film creeps to the end the whole thing unravels but still is tied up at the end. Next up on the sand is "Woman on the Beach." This Film Noir with Bennett and Robert Ryan is directed by Jean Renoir. The film is set in a small town with troubled people that have troubled relationships. Love and desire blend together with nightmares and lies to send this beach community into real electricity charged situations. Bennett plays another bad girl in the sand. It was a full night of hot and cold running Joan's. The shin-dig for the "Joan Digest" was a night full of fun and film. That night has passed and gone but the Archives is giving people two more chances to decide which Joan is best this Monday and Tuesday. But why chose they both are so great in there own way. Go down and just bask in the glow of two Joan's on the Beach.

Joan's Digest: A Film Quarterly:
http://www.joansdigest.com/

Anthology Film Archives:
http://anthologyfilmarchives.org/
Monday and Tuesday:
7:00 PM
JOAN'S ON THE BEACH: THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH
8:45 PM
JOAN'S ON THE BEACH: FEMALE ON THE BEACH

The Rich Films of Vincente Minnelli at BAM

Anyone who is sick of going to the movies just to watch a DVD projected on to a bigger screen should rush over to BAM in Brooklyn for the last two weeks of their retrospective on one of the master directors in film, Vincente Minnelli. Its hard to control the want to take every night off and go see the sweeping scenes, the crisp close ups, the wonderful almost undecided camera movements of this Director. This is what film is all about. The richness of these movies makes one feel pulled into the screen not pushed away from it like the flat BLU-RAY and CGI films of today. So much has been missed already this fall. BAM has been sprinkling his films over their calender for the last two months and in Oct. has shown New York a full taste of his genius. What is left? Plenty! Lets start with "A Matter of Time" with Ingrid Bergman, Liza Minnelli (Yes she is his daughter), and Charles Boyer. This rarely-shown film was Vincente's last and BAM has brought to us a Swiss Film Archive print with an extra sequence. Shot in Italy this is the story of a once vibrant countess that had many love affairs and was a muse to artists. Minnelli's films have a protagonist that want to bend and shape the world to their liking just to find out that the world is the one doing the shaping of peoples lives. This theme is repeated in most of his work. BAM does touch on his more serious work with "The 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse" and "The Seventh Sin." The "4 Horseman" is about a family that is on both sides of WW2. And "Sin" is about a adulterous doctor’s wife set in China during cholera epidemic. This is a remake of "The Painted Veil" that had Greta Garbo as the wife that wanted change and excitement. Minnelli was brought into this film mid-production and had only to finish a few scenes, but his touches made it the passionate piece of cinema it is. On a lighter note, Vincente was well known for his Comedy and Musicals. Showing soon is one of his best comedy's "The Reluctant Debutante." Made in 1958 this is a story of a father and mother that want to bring their daughter into society, but all she wants is the love of a young drummer. Lets just say he does not fit the bill her parents had written for her. With Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall, and Sandra Dee its not hard to poke fun at the upper crust. Fun is fun and what is more fun then a good musical. Those who do not like these type of film may have never seen Minnelli's efforts in the medium. With most of the retrospective over there are still some of his best musically based films left to see. "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" is a Streisand picture made when she was young and still had a talent for elaborate parts. Like the one in this film about a woman from Brooklyn that goes a little wacky after being hypnotized. Also there is Judy Holliday's last film that is a laugh riot with Dean Martin in the mix, "Bells Are Ringing." One can not forget "Gigi" witch earned Nine Oscars including Best Director for Minnelli and Best Picture for 1958! Last but not least is "Brigadoon." This is one of the best Musicals ever made and has a lovely story played out by Gene Kelly in one of his best performances. Here he slips into the land of Brigadoon and falls in love. Fantasy and reality fight for dominance in this film. The viewer is picked up and set down in the mind of the director that spent his life going back and forth from the fantasy of Hollywood pictures and the reality that we all live in everyday.