Hi all,
Joel! Spring for that $2.99! You'll be glad you did. The time limitations
are understandable, but is it too much to ask for one of our slots to have
flexibility? Ken might be free to move it around until publishing time? Just
asking.
I think we have a healthy dynamic witthin our group representing a friendly
tension between choosing what is new and what has been proven to be "great". Of
course these can and often do overlap. As the old perfesser I tend toward
finding forgotten greatness. So I keep pitching in titles as they occur to me.
Do we have a theme this year - or any thread to pull on for title ideas?
To be continued. VV A
----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Johnson
To: cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2019 11:06 AM
Subject: [cinemaexp] Re: CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020
"THE TREE OF WOODEN CLOGS" is listed as 186 minutes long by its current
distributor Janus Films and it is available through Amazon's Prime Video for an
extra $2.99 after subscribing. The length is the major disqualification. During
Oscar Season (when our film series runs), Ken really likes to have the full
flexibility of knowing that he can schedule any film as early as 12 noon to
accommodate various contingencies about the length of those popular Oscar
films. We have a two-hour window, but shorter films allow us to both show the
film and, hopefully, have an opportunity to discuss it or have a guest. To stay
within that 12 noon curfew-time, we would have to consider starting "CLOGS" at
8:30 or 8:45. We have occasionally tried to show films that started earlier
than our regular 10:00 am like 9:30 or 9:15 and attendance has been affected. I
suspect that a number in our usual audience would fairly quickly discover that
for less than our price of admission they could see "CLOGS" without needing to
show up so early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. It is an intriguing film
having accumulated a number of awards. There is a trailer accompanying the
film's IMDb webpage. I have never seen the film. I'm tempted to spring for the
$2.99 and see it for myself. My recommendation, Abbott, is that you might want
to discuss this film with Ken. He might be reluctant to schedule "CLOGS" for a
special screening or for a future MIFF because of its availability for
streaming, but maybe not.
"SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE" did show at MIFF in 2006. Is anyone aware of it
showing at MIFF or at some other time-Monday Night Movies???-more recently than
that? I had a sense that it had shown more recently than 13 years ago, but I
may be wrong. It is available on a Criterion DVD or Blu-Ray. It is a very
intriguing film. It isn't straight-forward and the audience needs to do some
work to connect the dots. My wife and I like to joke that we have learned all
we know about the Spanish Civil War from movies. "SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE" is set
in the immediate aftermath of the Spanish Civil War and involves a character
that Franco's forces would be trying to apprehend. The Spanish film industry
continues to tell stories from this period in history since it was not a
subject that could be addressed openly while Franco continued to run Spain. It
is somewhat remarkable that the story was told at all and perhaps not so
surprising that this film tells its story in such a veiled manner since Franco
was still in power when the film came out in 1973. I think we need to consider
its general availability to potential viewers and its history of being shown in
this area in making a decision about it. However unless "SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE"
has had a public showing in this area more recently than its appearance at MIFF
in 2006, I wouldn't consider either of those considerations disqualifying.
I have added both films to the IMDb list should people want to learn more
about them.
Joel
From: cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Laurie Graves
Sent: Monday, September 02, 2019 9:15 AM
To: cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cinemaexp] Re: CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020
Hi, all--
Excellent suggestions, Abbott! It is my understanding that the Square is firm
about our show times, and we cannot interfere with the first movie of the day.
Joel, correct me if I am wrong. If this is the case, then The Tree of the
Wooden Clogs is too long. But The Spirit of the Beehive would be just fine, and
I think it should go to the top of our list. After all, if the Classic-Film
Meister recommends something, then the rest of us should listen. ;)
Laurie
On 9/1/2019 9:14 PM, Nancy Meader wrote:
Hello Joel and all,
Abbott here. I believe the 26th will work for Nancy and me. And I'll
get this out right now because I want to. Assuming we plan on screening a
"classic"/ Golden Oldie as in most years, I suggest Victor Erice's "The Spirit
of the Beehive". Its a film that most will not have seen nor heard of and they
should.. A truly great film. Circa 100 minutes. Another film, one Nancy and I
just screened on dvd is a film we saw maybe 30 years ago - Ermanno Elmi's "The
Tree of the Wooden Clogs". An absolutely stunning accomplishment that even
fewer people will have seen or heard of. The problem with that film is that it
is 177 minutes long. Any chance ever to work out an extended Cinex screening
time with the Square? I realize these films are availible on this and that
format, but few have seen or heard of them, so they are essentially new.
I realize that neither of these is likely to make the cut, but it is my
duty to highly recommend them to you if you've never seen them.. Both are
masterpieces, and there aren't a lot of those around. I'll keep doing this for
your entertainment.
Looking forward to the season. VV Abbott
----- Original Message -----
From: Joel Johnson
To: cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2019 9:34 PM
Subject: [cinemaexp] CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020
Hey folks,
Over the last couple of weeks or so, Alice and I have been researching
films at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and, this past
Thursday, we selected 35 films to see during our 11 days at TIFF. At this time,
each could be a life-changing, mind-expanding experience. For most of them, the
experience will, ultimately, prove far more prosaic. Anyway, we are looking
forward to our 11 days in Toronto. With luck, we may come back with a
suggestion or two or three for CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020. Sometimes-like last
year-the stars may align and we actually are able to schedule it for CINEMA
EXPLORATIONS.
While that doesn't happen a lot, we do need to start making plans for
CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020. Assuming that our personal schedules haven't changed
a lot from last year, I'd like to set Thursday, September 26th at 10:00 am at
Railroad Square Cinema as our first meeting. Let me know if you are able to
make that time. Obviously if that isn't good for a few of you, we'll have to
find an alternative. Please provide alternative times for that week that would
be good for you.
Laurie has offered a suggestion of "THE LOAD" for which she provided a
link to its New York Times Critic's Pick-worthy review. I have added "THE LOAD"
to a list of CINEMA EXPLORATIONS 2020 Possibilities that I have been compiling
through IMDb (Internet Movie Database) website. I think all of these have been
released, are soon to be released, or, in one or two cases, re-released by
distributors. I think it has some very intriguing films on it, but there will
likely be a number of other possibilities that will be considered before we are
done. Here is a link to this list: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls049922829/ If ;
you have difficulty getting to the list through this link, you may want to go
to IMDb page for "THE LOAD" and then find the list through the lists which
include that film. You will, of course, note that there are not many
documentaries on this list. You may find quite a few documentary possibilities
by looking at the Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) website since the
film festival in Camden, Maine does an excellent job programming high-profile
current documentaries. Here is a link to CIFF's feature film program:
https://pointsnorthinstitute.org/ciff/ ;.
I hope everyone has had a good summer. I'm looking forward to seeing all
of you and getting started.
Joel
-- Laurie Graveshinterlandspress.comhinterlands.me
