“The Beasts” Opens at Film Forum on July 28 (Seth Shire)

July 27, 2023. Opening at Film Forum on Friday, July 28 “The Beasts” is the winner of nine Goyas (Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars) including the award for Best Picture. The story, a work of fiction inspired by an actual incident, is patiently paced, with a sustained sense of tension running just beneath the surface as the film carefully and methodically introduces and sets up its atmosphere, location, characters, motivations and desires. At 138 minutes the pace is leisurely but never dull. The story kept me continuously off balance, moving in directions that were unexpected. I was intrigued, wondering how the situations presented would be resolved.

“Playing in the FM Band: The Steve Post Story” (Wendy Moscow)

March 8, 2022.  I loved Steve Post. From the moment I started listening to this cranky, curmudgeonly comedic genius, whose spot-on political analysis and neurotic self-deprecation I resonated with intensely, I knew I had found a refuge – a secret place where I wasn’t a weird, misfit tween, but part of a different kind of “in group.” It was the late 1960s, the radio station was WBAI-FM, and the free-form radio format was in its infancy, generally acknowledged to have been pioneered by Bob Fass. Fass was another late-night host at the station and a huge influence on Post. Unscripted, and with the freedom to play eclectic musical selections, talk until one’s “take” on a subject was exhausted, and integrate a panoply of guests (sometimes from the fringes), free-form radio was perfect for the anarchic brilliance of Steve Post. His first show on the station, which covered the weekend overnight slot, was called “The Outside.” Of course.

Some of the many electrifying folks who tumbled through the studio in those days (in person or on the phone) were activist Abbie Hoffman, actor John Lithgow (who was doing radio drama at WBAI way before he became famous), Marshall Efron (the amazing comic improviser), the very funny character actor Marilyn Sokol, and Paul Krassner (voluble commentator on everything happening in the world, and publisher of “The Realist” magazine).

“Jay Myself” (Seth Shire)

Jay Maisel in his universe in “Jay Myself.”

August 2, 2019.  The new documentary, “Jay Myself,” really captured my imagination.  It falls within, what appears to me, to be an emerging genre in documentary filmmaking, specifically documentaries about still photographers.

Filmmaker Stephen Wilkes takes us through the world of his mentor, Jay Maisel, for whom Wilkes first went to work, as an intern, in 1979.  Maisel is a well known photographer, as well as a collector and teacher.  As a photographer Maisel has had 17 one man shows, 19 group shows, published 13 books and his work has appeared in over 50 publications.  “Jay Myself” includes a generous amount of examples of Maisel’s photographs – everything from street photography, to a “Sports Illustrated Swim Suit Issue.”  As a collector, Maisel has been just as prolific, perhaps even more so.

“Walking on Water” at Film Forum (Wendy Moscow)

May 16, 2019.  “Walking on Water” is both the title of a new documentary about the controversial artist Christo, and the concept behind his 2016 project, the second without his working and life-partner, Jeanne-Claude, called “The Floating Piers.” Told in excruciating (but enlightening) detail, director Andrey Paounov follows the creative process of Christo and his team from before the beginning of construction to the (purposeful) end of the art project’s sixteen day existence.

The film, an unflinching portrait of an eccentric and cantankerous visionary, 81 years old at the time the film was made, gives us an extraordinarily intimate look at one of the most well-known artists of our day. Almost from the moment the film begins, we are introduced to someone who is difficult, demanding, and resistant to practical suggestions from his long-suffering operations director Vladimir Yavachev. But there are moments of joy, too. He enthusiastically explains his ideas to a somewhat receptive though bemused elementary school class, when, tellingly, the smart board fails and he ends up drawing on a piece of paper taped to the smart board – a technology with which he is clearly more comfortable. There are other amusing technical glitches – a Skype session that almost doesn’t work and a mic failure in a theater; all superseded, eventually, by the hard work of building a massive project in non-virtual reality.

“Unforgiven,” 25th Anniversary Presentation, at Film Forum August 4-10

Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven.”

August 3, 2017.  Director and actor Clint Eastwood’s 1992 quadruple Oscar winning movie (including Best Director and Best Picture), “Unforgiven,” will have a run at Film Forum, in a stunning 4K restoration, from August 4 – 10.  “Unforgiven is a dark, violent western that explodes the mythology and violent glamour of the old west. It is a story which movies in directions that are unpredictable and which defy expectations of the western genre.

“Unforgiven” is a fascinating meditation on the nature of violence, specifically the ideal of a “shoot ‘em up” versus the reality of actually killing someone.  The difference between the “good guys” and “bad guys” in this film all depends on whose side you’re on.  In this regard, “Unforgiven” is reminiscent of the Italian westerns, called “Spaghetti Westerns,” in which protagonists were not necessarily the “good guys,” a genre in which Eastwood made his bones as an actor. This influence is particularly felt in the film’s final credit, “For Sergio and Don” – Sergio Leone and Don Siegel.  Leone directed Eastwood in his Italian westerns – “A Fist Full of Dollars” (1964), “For a Few Dollars More” (1965) and “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” (1966).  Siegel directed some of Eastwood’s movies state side, including the iconic “Dirty Harry” (1971), in which Eastwood plays a police inspector who lives by his own code.

“Ford to City: Drop Dead” New York in the 70s – at Film Forum (through 7/27/17)

July 19, 2017.  “Ford to City: Drop Dead,” New York in the 70s is a movie series playing at Film Forum now through July 27. The 70s, considered to be the last golden age of American cinema, is filled with some of my favorite movies, many of which were shot in New York. The titles in this series include “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “The Taking of Pelham 123,” and many others.

On the one hand, this is a series tailor made for me. On the other hand, since I already own many of these movies on DVD, why should I pay to see them in a movie theatre? Still, as a practical matter, how often do I actually watch the movies that I have on DVD? I think it’s an existential issue. In other words, having lots of movies on DVD means that I have the possibility of watching them, even if the reality is that I rarely watch them. This is the dilemma presented to the movie aficionado in the digital age, in which almost everything is available at his, or her, fingertips. Had home video and all its variations – VHS, laser disc, DVD, Blu-Ray, streaming – not been invented, then Film Forum’s series would be a “no brainer” for me. Of course I would go. So, saying I wont see a particular film when it plays in a theatre because I have it on a DVD that I almost never watch, means running the risk of not seeing the film at all!

Film Forum, Jr.

Film Forum, Jr. presented four restored Laurel and Hardy shorts on November 27, 2016.

November 30, 2016.  This past Sunday, with the holiday weekend allowing me a break from my normal Sunday college teaching obligations, I finally made my way to Film Forum, Jr. Film Forum, Jr. is a film series for kids and their families which plays every Sunday at 11:00 am at Film Forum. The idea is to introduce a new generation to films, not necessarily what might be termed “kids” films, but great movies that kids would like. The program has a reduced admission price of eight-dollars per ticket.

The idea behind Film Forum, Jr. is a very important one to me, as a teacher. While I use movies extensively in my college sociology classes, I also use films in my work as a substitute teacher in the public schools. I show movies to students as young as Pre-K and as old as fifth grade – my preferred teaching range. I find that kids can use their intuitive intelligence to understand and appreciate so called “grown-up” films.

“A Thousand Cuts”at Film Forum

Fred Astaire in “Me and the Ghost Upstairs” sequence which was cut from the movie “Second Chorus” (1940).

November 30, 2016.  On Sunday, November 27 Film Forum presented a program called “A Thousand Cuts,” based on the book “A Thousand Cuts: the bizarre underground world of collectors and dealers who saved the movies,” by authors Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph. The program consisted of rare film clips saved from oblivion by film collectors who found their footage in attics, closets, the trash and other out of the way places. When I use the term “film collectors” I am not simply referring to people who collect movies on DVD. “Film collectors” are a sub-culture whose members collect actual film.

The personalities featured in the featured clips included Alfred Hitchcock, Lena Horne, Ann Miller, the Marx Brothers, Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, Al Jolson, Greta Garbo and others. The program was put together by co-author and collector Jeff Joseph, who presented the clips, spoke about them and took questions from the audience.

Don’t Blink – Robert Frank (at Film Forum)

Robert Frank, still taking pictures at 91. Photo by Lisa Rinzler. Courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

July 10, 2016.  In this day and age in which people are constantly documenting themselves and putting their pictures, writings and videos out for the world to see, it is interesting to take a look back at the work of photographer Robert Frank. Frank is known for documenting the lives of ordinary Americans through his stills and filmmaking. The new documentary, “Don’t Blink – Robert Frank” opens at Film Forum on Wednesday, July 13.

The last time Film Forum showed a documentary about Frank was in 2009. The film was called “An American Journey,” by French filmmaker Philippe Seclier. The premise for that documentary is that Seclier retraced parts of the cross country car trip that Frank took across America, in the mid-1950s, during which Frank photographed people representing all levels of American society. The trip resulted in Frank’s iconic book of photographs “The Americans” (1959). My criticism of “An American Journey” was that it was missing a very obvious and crucial element – namely, Frank himself.

“Blood Simple” (1984) at Film Forum

Frances McDormand in “Blood Simple,” at Film Forum, July 1 – 14.

June 27, 2016.  From July 1 – 14 Film Forum will present a 4K restoration of the Coen Brothers’ tremendous 1984 debut film, “Blood Simple.” (“4K” is a high definition video format that is the current standard for film restoration. Simply put, it’s a really great copy of the movie, just as good, if not better, than when the film was released on actual film).

Often, when I attend Coen Brothers’ movies (brother Joel directs, brother Ethan produces, both write the screenplays), I feel as if there is a joke that everyone in the audience is in on…except for me. Fellow audience members seem to laugh at things which I just don’t get, or, if I do get them, I don’t find them to be funny. Maybe I’m just not “hip” enough (or maybe my fellow audience members are just acting “hip” since they are at a Coen Brothers’ movie and feel the need to act like a “hip, indy” type of audience). That having been said, maybe there is hope for me after all, because I really like “Blood Simple.” In fact, I will go so far as to say that “Blood Simple” is the Coen Brothers’ best film (“Big Lebowski” fans may start sending me their “hate” emails now).