Week 1 July 2010

Sorry for the delay on the weekly screening post. The screenings for the long weekend and next week:

Thurs 7/1
Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
New 35-mm restored print, last day of a 3-week run
Ritz Bourse
(1:00 3:20) 5:30 7:40 9:50

Thurs 7/1
Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959)
Classic cross-dressing comedy
Ambler

7:00 PM

Tues 7/6
M. Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953)
Tati comedy series

Bryn Mawr Film Institute

7:00 PM

Wed 7/7
The King and I (Walter Lang, 1956)

Bryn Mawr Film Institute

7:00 PM

Wed 7/7
The Life of Brian (Terry Jones, 1979)

Ambler

7:00 PM

Thurs 7/8
An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)

Ambler

7:00 PM

Thurs 7/9
An American in Paris (Vincente Minnelli, 1951)

County

7:00 PM

Prince Goes First Run

Big news that the Prince has made a decision to show movies on a more regular basis. It's a move that seems a while in the making as they've been a venue for film festivals and have been doing more film programming over the last year or so, including partnership with the Philadelphia Cinema Alliance. Now, they promise a regular first-run schedule, with additional indie and repertory screenings (in their smaller upstairs theater).

UPDATE (6/29): This does not look good.

June 2010 Week 4

Screenings this week:

thru Thurs 6/24

Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)
New 35-mm restored print, continues on for another week
Ritz Bourse
(1:00 3:20) 5:30 7:40 9:50

Tues 6/22

Sixteen Candles (John Hughes, 1984)

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Tues 6/22

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)

County Theater

7:00 PM

Wed 6/23

Sabotage (Alfred Hitchcock, 1936)

British Hitchcock, from a series on the director's political films

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Wed 6/23

Jaws (Stephen Spielberg, 1975)

35th anniversary of the first summer blockbuster

County Theater

7:00 PM

Thurs 6/24

Roman Holiday (William Wyler, 1953)

Ambler Theater

7:00 PM

Sun 6/27
The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
Colonial Theater
2:00 PM

The Evil Dead

Midnight Movie screenings aren't always the first thing that come to mind when one thinks of repertory cinema: they tend to be more crowd-pleasing than arty and of course have limited playtimes too late for the less nocturnal among us. Still, midnight movies can be a good occasion to see an older movie on the big screen. Tomorrow evening (midnight), the Ritz East shows The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981), the horror classic. I've not yet seen word that they're continuing the midnight movies into the summer, so this may be your last chance to catch one for a while.

Cineaste Roundtable on Repertory Film

A recent issue of Cineaste (35, no.2) has a roundtable symposium on the state of repertory cinema today. For those without a copy, there are web-only outtakes available online, including a response from the International House program curator, Robert Cargni-Mitchell. The participants were asked to answer the following questions:

1) Is there a future to repertory programming, given the momentous changes over the last decade in technology and viewing habits? How would you characterize the impact on theatrical exhibition of home video, Internet streaming, downloading, etc.? Are the consequences entirely negative, or are there collateral benefits (i.e., new prints struck for video releases, more informed audiences, etc.)?

2) How would you characterize your programming philosophy, with regard to the variety of films selected, preferred formats (retrospectives, thematic series, national surveys, double features, etc.), your attitude toward audience expectation, or other considerations?

3) Do you find that good quality prints continue to be available? Do you think film prints will continue to be struck and distributed, or is this a dying exhibition format? And if projecting from film is destined to become obsolete, how great a loss do you think this is? Are you open to screening video or digital formats?

4) How have your audiences changed over the years? Are they increasing or decreasing? Have their demographics changed, in terms of age or background? Have they become more or less receptive to challenging and innovative programs?

5) What are some of your formative memories of repertory filmgoing? Do you have stories of particularly unforgettable experiences, inspiring series, or legendary venues?

What surprised me is that in addition to the expected pessimism (competition and cultural changes haven't always been kind to movie theaters) the responses show some optimism and enthusiasm for the future. Worth a read.

June 2010 Week 3

For this week:

thru Thurs 6/17

Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard, 1960)

A new 35-mm restored print has its week-long run

Ritz Bourse

(1:00 3:20) 5:30 7:40 9:50

Tues 6/15
American Graffiti (George Lucas, 1973)
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Tues 6/15
Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 1955)
County Theater
7:00 PM

Wed 6/16
Black Orpheus (Marcel Camus, 1959)
Janus Films series

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Thurs 6/17

Sabrina (Billy Wilder, 1955)
Ambler Theater

7:00 PM

Sat 6/19
Pickpocket (Robert Bresson, 1959)
Janus Films series
Ibrahim Theater @ International House

7:00 PM

Sun 6/20
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969)
The original buddy-film western-comedy
Colonial Theater
2:00 PM

Breathless

All this week the Ritz Bourse is running a 50th-anniversary revival of Breathless (Godard, 1960). I have to say I'm not invested in the anniversary occasion, since the film has been kept in the canonical eye so consistently, it lacks the full sense of rediscovery and retrospection. But whatever: any occasion for a new screening of the film is welcome. The Ritz website promises that this is the first 35mm restoration of the print. Given that previous versions I've seen (granted, some years ago) were grainy, washed out and with ssubtitles hard to read, I'm curious to see how much of this raw quality will be in the restoration.

June 2010 Week 2 Screenings

I will not have time or energy to write up every older film playing in town. Even with the limitations of repertory film in Philadelphia, I am not able to blog about everything we do have, much less attend everything. So I hope to provide some weekly summaries of what's playing. On 35mm or HD projection this week:

Tues 6/8
Daddy Long Legs (Jean Negulesco, 1955)
Classical Hollywood musical
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Wed 6/9
You'll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, 1941)
Classical Hollywood musical
Bryn Mawr Film Institute
7:00 PM

Fri 6/11
Road Games + Patrick (Richard Franklin, 1981/78)
Australian cult double-feature
Ibrahim Theater @ International House
8:00 PM

Sat 6/12
Phantom Carriage (Victor Sjöstrom, 1921)
Silent classic, new 35mm print
Ibrahim Theater @ International House
7:00 PM

Sun 6/13
Funny Girl (William Wyler, 1968)
Streisand musical biopic
Colonial Theater
2:00 PM

Also, Fri 6/11, Breathless (Jean-Luc Godard) begins a week-long run at the Ritz Bourse.

Movie Palace Renovation

The Philadelphia Inquirer's architecture critic, Inga Saffron, gives news that the Uptown Theater in North Philadelphia is receiving a renovation. It's thrilling because so much of the city's movie palace history has been destroyed and the remaining buildings lie in languish. Center City's Boyd Theater remains in limbo.

I started researching the exhibition history of the city from the classical studio period. There were upwards of 250 movie theaters in the city limits during the studios' heyday. Though unfinished, you can see my map of these at my regular blog.

Rea Tajiri Retrospective

Tomorrow evening (Jun 6) at the Prince Theater, Scribe Video Center will be hosting a screening of my colleague Rea Tajiri's work. Tajiri's work straddles documentary, experimental, and narrative - ranging from her personal documentary, History and Memory, about her family's experience in internment during World War II, to her fictional drama Strawbery Fields (excerpts will be shown). Also showing will be a new work, (Bridge) River is Remembering and Little Murders, a "darkly comic musical." Screening begins at 7pm - 10$ with discounts for students and Scribe Center members.

Oklahoma!

Tomorrow night (Wed Jun 2), the Bryn Mawr Film Institute will be showing the musical Oklahoma! (1955) in a special sing-along screening. The festivities start at 7:30.