Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Live Blog Time

I told you it was a big day on the Jere calendar. Did you figure it out? (Don't answer, I can't actually hear you.) It's the unveiling of the Bryant Park NYC summer film festival lineup!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And of course, I will live-blog myself reacting to seeing each title. (It would also be good if I actually went this year. I reeeeally plan on it this year. I think I've missed the last two seasons!) Here we go:

June 17: Tootsie! Woohoo! I saw this in the theater in 1982 at the young age of 6-ish. I've been a fan ever since. D-Hoff is great, but everybody forgets Bill Murray was in this movie. His most underrated role, I think. This is right around the corner, though. Hmmm...would be cool to see the FIRST one of the season, with the bonus of it being a movie I love. I'll get back to you.

June 24: Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Wow! Two solid choices to start out. And I'm sensing less of a hoity-toity and more of a "let's just have some fun" vibe so far. We'll see if it continues. Whoa (not "woah"), I just realized this is the 1956 one. Pretty sure I've only seen the '78 remake with Hollis Hurlbut. So that would be cool to see the original.

July 1: Frenzy. Nice, Hitchcock, and a Hitchcock film I've never seen. Can't go wrong there.

July 8: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. NICE! The real one, not the recent remake. Wow, Bryant Park is 4 for 4 so far. All of these are options! Could it stay this good? Let's find out.... At this rate we might as well pencil in Ghostbusters....

July 15: Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Uh...I don't know this one. An old Bette Davis flick. I'll have to do some research.

July 22: The African Queen. My mom is constantly talking about this movie. I think. Actually I think she got me to see it finally. Would be good to see again. Wait, wasn't the actual boat in Branford or something? Or was that Amistad? Or was Key West involved somehow? My mom needs to answer these questions. And I'm taking her to Sox-Yanks that weekend in Boston, maybe we could make it a multi-city trip and see this movie.

July 29: A Foreign Affair. Okay, can't win 'em all. No problem, no problem. (My profuse apologies to huge fans of this movie. I know nothing about it. Feel free to convince me. Actually, don't, because I've got plans that Monday. Really, really big plans. More on that later. Maybe.)

August 5: Norma Rae. Based on the description, I guess this was the movie that led to Sally Field saying "you like me!" But that doesn't help me much. Let's move on.

August 12: The Women. Okay, let's wrap this thing up, I'm getting bored. Gimme something good to close on! Can't be many more left!

August 19: E.T. Gotta admit, never was a big fan. I saw it in the theater (I remember my mom and sister crying), and I remember all the hubbub when it came out on VHS, something about a 5-year wait which led me to mistakenly believe that ALL movies took 5 years to make it to "Brown's Video." (The first video store we ever went to. Mill Plain Rd., Danbury. No. not Ultimate Video, that was a little farther down by 7-Eleven, before it moved to Brookfield. They were the ones who sold the tin-foil hats. But they were cool. The daughter, Deb, was nice too. Wow, that seems simultaneously like forever ago and five minutes ago.

And I see that's the last one. So, to recap, VERY strong start, then a Youkilis-ish second half. But I might even go for some E.T. action despite what I said, since it's got the finale thing and the familiarity thing goin' for it. And the near-guaranteed warmth that June 17th doesn't give me. Maybe taking all things into consideration, Wonka on July 8th may be the perfect storm. Yeah, I think so. Think of the crowd cheering as each piece-of-shit kid gets killed!

Overall, fine job, Bryant Park. Honestly, it's all about the experience, not the movie itself. If you've never done it, do it this year. But remember these are Monday nights so you may need to take two days off if you live far away.

Next up, at some point, the release of the Providence outdoor movie lineup...

Comments:
Mom here: As Charlie would say, Holy crap! The original oh-so-black-and-white Invasion of the Body Snatchers! Totally terrifying. Equally terrifying yet so unforgettably camp, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte. DO NOT MISS IT!!! African Queen. Are you kidding? You have to see this movie at least once a year, and no I'm not confusing it with Casablanca. So the boat itself was docked at one of your favorite geographic locations, the Old Saybrook Point dock right near the mini-golf. A guy bought it and would take you out on it for a ton of money and bring you past Katharine Hepburn's house a quarter mile away. He bragged about his Hepburn sightings but could not absolutely guarantee you'd see her. (Sort of like going on a whale watch.) Then the guy accidentally blew up the engine and he sustained fairly bad burns. He sold the boat. Several years later, this past February while we were in Key West, we read that it is now restored and ready to take on visitors in Key Largo. When it was in Old Saybrook, it wasn't restored. It wasn't even cleaned up. No wonder the engine blew. Norma Rae is an excellent movie. Sally Field's portrayal of this woman was brilliant. It has an unforgettable moment, unforgettable in the manner of Tom Cruise coming out in his jockey underwear, playing his guitar and singing what-the-hell-was-the-name-of-that-song? in Risky Business. Sally Field's moment was as dead serious as Tom Cruise's was hilarious. And yes, when she won the Oscar for best actress she was so tragic in the way she expressed her gratitude at being taken seriously, what with having been a flying nun. Anyway, good movies overall.
 
You dangled your parenthesis. You naughty boy. - daddybcat
 

Post a Comment

If you're "anonymous," please leave a name, even if it's a fake one, for differentiation purposes.

If you're having trouble commenting, try signing in to whatever account you're using first, then come back here once you're signed in.



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?

My Photo
Name:
Location: Rhode Island, United States