Hi, all--
Some wrap-up thoughts. We watched /Un Traductor/ last night. Clif liked
it better than I did, although I didn't hate it. For me it was just a
"meh," even though there were some good things about it. There were a
few too many contrivances or unanswered questions. For example: Why,
exactly, was a translator needed during the nighttime shift when the
children would mostly be asleep? Wouldn't a daytime shift make more
sense? Of course, if he had worked in the day, then he wouldn't have
been separated so much from his family, and that was definitely part of
the plot. Maybe there were other translators for the children. If so, we
never saw them. Or at least I didn't. ;) Anyway, I didn't hate the movie
and watched it until the end, but...
Clif and I watched the trailer for the Bergman doc, and it looks good.
Also read the reviews, which were positive. I wouldn't start the series
with this film. I'd put it near the end. Instead, I would recommend
starting with /Ramen Shop/. While I agree that it doesn't have the
pizzazz as, say, /Kings of Pastry does/, it is a film that is likely to
appeal to our audience and a good way to kick off the series. It's a
gentle film about the power of food and forgiveness while at the same
time exploring a heavy subject. A little too sentimental, but, heck,
many people like that. In fact, Clif and I liked the film so much we
wouldn't mind seeing it again.
I really like the idea of showing /Hale County/ for black history month.
Great idea, Joel.
As I wrote previously, I would be perfectly comfortable going with a
film that you and Alice have already seen and recommend. /3 Faces/ also
sounds intriguing. I am comfortable with either.
Where does this leave us? /Ramen Shop/; /What Price Hollywood/; /Hale
County/, /the Bergman Flick; The Third Wife or 3 Faces; The Waldheim
Waltz; //Wild Strawberries/ if /What Price/ /Hollywood/ doesn't work
out? Abbott has also suggested /Rashomon, /another one to keep in mind.
Maybe /Un Traductor /if the other foreign narratives don't work out? Not
necessarily in that order, except for the first two.
Have I left anything out?
Laurie
On 11/12/2018 3:57 PM, Joel Johnson wrote:
There is no link for “HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING” or for “ON THE SEVENTH DAY.” Both are from The Cinema Guild http://www.cinemaguild.com/ . There are reviews available through Metacritic (via IMDb) or RottenTomatoes.
I don’t have any problem with you and Clif choosing to view either of those two films. I would forewarn you that “LA FAMILIA” starts out pretty rough as it shows how youth are kind of on their own. It takes a while for the father-son relationship to coalesce. There are some other FilmMovement films for which I sent out screener links that are part of what I proposed you might want to see if you haven’t already taken a look at them. The only other one that you might want to look at is “GENESIS 2.0.” Bob Stewart forwarded a link for that to you this mornng.
Joel
*From:* cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> *On Behalf Of *Laurie Graves
*Sent:* Monday, November 12, 2018 1:55 PM
*To:* cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [cinemaexp] Re: MAKING SOME FINAL DECISIONS
Thanks for the update, Joel. We were planning on screening /Un Traductor/ and /Familia/ tonight and tomorrow. Are there other films you would rather have us screen? /Hale County this Morning/? Is there a link for this? I am sorry to be so forgetful, but my focus for the past two months has been on /Library Lost/, and there isn't much room for anything else. The little brain is working at maximum output. ;)
If you and Alice like a film, then I am perfectly comfortable going with your recommendation.
Onward, ho!
Laurie
On 11/12/2018 1:43 PM, Joel Johnson wrote:
Even before the e-mails of the last couple of days, it had
occurred to me that we were definitely running out of time (next
week is Thanksgiving!) and needed to come to some resolution on
what films to include and when to show them. Attached is a
proposal with some options for your consideration. This leaves a
lot of the films on our list out in the cold.
I have compressed our schedule to work around the Women’s Protest
Marches called for 1/19/19 and for the weekend of satellite
screenings of MJFF films for 3/9-10/19.
OPENING THE SERIES ON 1/12-13/19: We have usually tried to have an
upbeat, fun film to start our series. Food-oriented films—usually
docs—have been ideal in this position. Obviously, there seems to
be growing interest in the food-oriented drama “RAMEN SHOP.” I had
leaned toward possibly placing it in the middle of our series as I
was concerned that it might not have the dynamism that would be
ideal as an opener. You may not share that concern and certainly
not all of our opening films would have been described as
“dynamic.” “RAMEN SHOP” might be the consensus choice for a
food-oriented opener. We might also decide to start with something
other than a food-oriented film. We had wanted to show “WHAT PRICE
HOLLYWOOD?” before it screened on TCM on 1/31/19 which gives us
our opening weekend of 1/12-13/19 or our second weekend
1/26-27/19. Another option would be to show the Bergman
documentary “SEARCHING FOR INGMAR BERGMAN” as an opener. This
might be a good way to honor his legacy, provide an overview of
his films, and to demonstrate how his films continue to influence
filmmakers.
SECOND WEEKEND 1/26-27/19: Obviously, if we do decide to go with
the food-oriented narrative or the Bergman doc, that would leave
“WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?” as our second weekend film. If we chose
“WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?” as the opener, then we would have a number
of options for this slot.
THIRD WEEKEND 2/2-3/19: February is Black History month. Our
screening of “LIFE AND NOTHING MORE” didn’t work out very well,
but “HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING” has very strong
reviews and seems to address many of the same issues as “LIFE AND
NOTHING MORE.” It would have the advantage of being shorter and
allowing more opportunity for a post-film discussion. Another very
highly regarded film from The Cinema Guild is the Latino immigrant
film “ON THE SEVENTH DAY.” Another option for this slot would be
“RAFIKI” which is the Kenyan lesbian film from FilmMovement.
FOURTH WEEKEND 2/16-17/19: This one has a number of options with
films that we have had on our list for many of which we have had
screeners. We have not had screeners for “THE THIRD WIFE”—though
Alice and I did see it in Toronto and were quite impressed—and “3
FACES” from Iranian director Jafar Panahi which has good critical
support
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8269552/criticreviews?ref_=tt_ov_rt
and https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/3_faces I didn’t initially
include “ICEMAN” for this slot because I thought the title might
be something of a downer for the middle of winter and that it
might be perceived better at the end of the series when there may
be more light at the end of the winter tunnel. If we decide to
include “GENESIS 2.0” in our final time-slot and want to include
“ICEMAN” we would need to consider it for this slot.
FIFTH WEEKEND 3/2-3/19: This is the weekend before MJFF and last
year probably helped boost the attendance for MJFF satellite
screenings at RRSQ. “THE WALDHEIM WALTZ” is probably the most
attractive of the films that I discussed with Barbara Merson of
MJFF. I don’t think it was initially one that was going to be
offered to us. I specifically asked about it and was told that we
“could negotiate on that one.” Anyway, “THE INTERPRETER” is
another film that has fairly favorable reviews
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interpreter My wife and
maybe some others were intrigued by the noirish thriller “BUDAPEST
NOIR.” The IMDb webpage has a handful of reviews. The biggest
problem noted in one was that it seemed quite similar to other
noir-type films. This seems to me to be the type of criticism that
might come from a film critic yet wouldn’t be a big problem for an
average filmgoer—or to borrow from Garrison Keillor—an
above-average filmgoer as we know all of our CINEMA EXPLORATION
filmgoers are. I think we are likely to be fairly well satisfied
by which ever option we choose from the films already part of the
MJFF. The one that I think might not be quite as attractive is the
documentary “INSIDE THE MOSSAD.” I was concerned that this is the
would be perceived kind of documentary that will make you a better
person for having seen it, but probably won’t be much fun (the
bad-tasting medicine-type documentary).
SIXTH AND FINAL WEEKEND 3/16-17/19: I was proposing three films
that could be seen earlier depending on our choices, but would
make fairly good closing films. If for some reason we could not
schedule “WHAT PRICE HOLLYWOOD?” at a workable price, we could
consider the runner-up classic “WILD STRAWBERRIES” for this slot
as well. “GENESIS 2.0” was the only one that we pretty much agreed
had issues for which our audience might have negative reactions
(i.e., bored, pervasive sense of dread, comprehending the issues)
and, therefore, could affect the overall series and so it would be
best shown only as the final film. I’m a little leery about
showing films for which I know there could be negative audience
reactions even though we have shown films in the past and even may
be including other films this year for which audiences may have
been or may be challenged. Clearly there are ethical issues that
probably will need to be addressed about the artistic and genetic
use of what is recovered from long-dead mammoths. “GENESIS 2.0”
definitely tries to shed light on these issues, but is there a
distinction between some of our other films and this one in how
the knowledge gained empowers our audience to understand and take
action after seeing it?
So I’d like to hear from folks about their recommendations for
which films to show during each of our six weekends. I’d like to
hear from everyone by Wednesday evening.
By my count, everyone except for my wife Alice and I is
unavailable to meet this Thursday. It, therefore, makes no sense
to have any meeting at RRSq this week. Assuming we can come up
with some consensus on a plan for each weekend we may not need to
meet again. Once we have some consensus, I will contact Barbara at
MJFF (about any MJFF selection) and then Ken about booking all of
our choices. Hopefully, we can wrap this up before Turkey Day.
Thank you for your input.
Joel
--
Laurie Graves
hinterlandspress.com
hinterlands.me
