Thanks for letting us know. We’ll miss you, but we do understand.—Joel
From: cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf
Of Laurie Graves
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2019 4:07 PM
To: cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cinemaexp] Re: Meeting Tomorrow October 3rd @ 10:00 am at Railroad
Square Cinema
Hi, all--Clif and I won't be able to come to the meeting. Too much work to do.
Coming down the homestretch on my novel. We will continue to do homework, and
share our reactions with the group.
Laurie Graves
from my phone
On Oct 2, 2019 2:11 PM, Joel Johnson <joel_johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:joel_johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > wrote:
I hope everyone (except the McCanns) can make it. If you are not able to be
there it would be helpful to know beforehand so we don’t delaying getting
started.
I have shortened the original printed list consistent with the decisions that
we made at last week’s meeting and attached it to this e-mail.
I don’t know if all of you are aware of this, but the New York Times published
its Fall movie schedule of New York opening in early September. It’s a useful
tool to figure out what films have distribution and might be available for our
film series. It also has the expected opening dates for many of the big fall
movies that we have already been seeing trailers for in our local cinemas and
are expecting to be players in the unfolding “award season.” The films cited on
this will include some of the films already on our list as well as a number of
others that we have not yet considered. Here is a link to that article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/movies/fall-movies.html ;
Some topics for discussion:
We have several films on our list that are on streaming services. Since IMDb
seems to now be a subsidiary of Amazon, we readily get info on accessing a
number of films either on Prime Video or on DVD/Blu-Ray through Amazon. Unless
the DVD/Blu-Ray is a super bargain price, that is probably of less concern to
us than accessing it through streaming which may just be the subscription fee
or the subscription fee + surcharge for that film. The surcharge fee seems to
vary quite a bit and it is not always clear why. These often seem to be go from
a low of $1.99 to about $5.99 with a few considerably higher. Since some are
much less than the price of a movie ticket, should we avoid booking these
films? Where do we draw the line or is it just enough to have a surcharge for
the specific film?
Similarly, we may want to eliminate “HALA” from our list. It is among a handful
of films that will be offered through the new Apple TV+ service. The plan for
“HALA” is that it will be released into select theaters beginning in November
and then be available on their streaming service in December. The subscription
fee for Apple TV+ is just $5.00. They are also bundling AppleTV+ with purchases
of new Apple products like iPhones. Alice and I really liked the film after
seeing it in Toronto, but having this film that doesn’t really need to be seen
on the big screen so readily available for streaming would seem to be a losing
proposition.
I have made contact with Barbara Merson at MJFF. I have confirmed that the
dates for MJFF are 3/28/19-4/5/19 which is later than usual. Our series will be
over when MJFF starts so we do not have to be concerned about scheduling around
the weekend of the MJFF satellite screenings at RRSQ. We are both early in our
process. Though I suspect that we may have several of the same films
potentially under consideration, we discussed just two over our e-mails. One
was “ADVOCATE” that is already on our list and “THOSE WHO REMAINED” which is
not. “THOSE WHO REMAINED” is the Hungarian submission into the Best
International Feature Film Oscar competition. Ken usually doesn’t like for us
to try to book potential Oscar films, but this is, like “1945” and “BUDAPEST
NOIR,” set in Hungary during more or less the same time period. Here is a link
to the Menemsha website: https://www.menemshafilms.com/ Go to the link for ;
“Our Films” and it will lead you to an array which includes “THOSE WHO
REMAINED.” You may also note that the film “FIG TREE” that is currently on our
list is there as well as several other possibilities.
I want to thank Clif and Laurie for their work in going through the list and
providing their reactions. There are several films on our list that are from
the distributor FilmMovement. I have requested screeners for “ADVOCATE”
(mentioned in discussion with MJFF) and “COMPLICITY” for which they expressed
interest and for “SONG WITHOUT A NAME,” “TWIN FLOWER,” and “A WHITE, WHITE DAY”
for which they didn’t express interest as well as a few other
selections—including some from this year’s TIFF—as well as an older comedy from
Scottish director Bill Forsyth called “GREGORY’S GIRL” (1980). I had also
intended to include “ULYSSES AND MONA” on my screener request, but didn’t.
Perhaps there is general agreement that a “cancer movie” doesn’t provide much
incentive for people to get up and get going to the movie theater on a winter
morning. However, we may have the opportunity to see the other films (to some
degree or other) in making a decision about them. I had received an e-mail from
FilmMovement about “SONG WITHOUT A NAME” over the summer and thought it might
provide a window into the experience of being separated from one’s child which
is a topical concern even though the story is set in Peru. I saw “DEVIL’S
PLAYGROUND” about 30 years ago. I thought it was a really interesting film
about repressed desires at an Australian school in the 1950’s. The film was
directed by Fred Schepisi who along with Bruce Beresford, Gillian Armstrong,
and a couple of other Australian directors were becoming well-known—at least by
connoisseurs of independent film back in the 1980’s. Schepisi will turn 80 at
the end of the year and hasn’t made any films since 2013. He did, of course,
make “Empire Falls” in and around Waterville. I don’t know if we could
capitalize on that connection or not to perhaps set up a Skype or Facetime
post-film Q and A, but I thought we might want to explore that. I certainly can
appreciate that the “VARDA” film is different from what we usually show and
films about filmmaking may not have the appeal for a general audience. I did
think that the audience for “FACES PLACES” really appreciated it and liked her.
I don’t have a recollection of that audience being smaller than our typical
crowd, but I couldn’t find any records on attendance though I suspect we may
have gotten a report. “FACES PLACES” would have shown during the 2018 film
series.
That is probably enough for now. We will have quite a bit to talk about
tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing everyone.
Joel
From: cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cinemaexp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> > On
Behalf Of Laurie Graves
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2019 4:40 PM
To: cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cinemaexp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [cinemaexp] Clif & Laurie's list
Clif & Laurie’s Interested and Disinterested List
We went through one through fifteen on the IMDB list—many thanks, Joel, for
providing this list—and we sorted the movies into two categories: Those we were
interested in and those we were disinterested in.
First our interested list as this is the shorter one.
At War: We are both keen on this subject of a company closing the effect on the
workers. An added interest is seeing how this plays out in another country.
Socrates: Great reviews, gripping story of a scrappy orphan trying to make it
on his own. What’s not to like?
Advocate: A doc that tackles a compelling subject: An Israeli lawyer defending
Palestinians who have been accused of being terrorists. According to reviews,
the rotoscope is used to obscure faces of clients.
Complicity: Good reviews by a few critics. A food film that also deals with the
terror of being undocumented. This is probably one that should be screened
first as there isn’t much written about it.
The Load: Really, really interested in this film that deals with the moral
consequences of just doing your job. Great reviews by many critics.
Our Disinterested List
The Other Story: Just not interested in this subject. Sorry.
What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire: Sounds like it could be Hale County
2.0.
Song without a Name: Not enough critical commentary provided to make a good
decision.
The Ground Beneath My Feet: As a former social worker, Clif is very leery about
using mental illness as a plot device.
Enigma: Again, not enough critical commentary on this movie.
Devil’s Playground: Not exactly a classic but too old to be contemporary.
Twin Flower: Only two reviews. One good, one bad, and the good one sounds like
a splat.
A White, White Day: Sounds like a tired story and better suited for television,
say a Netflix series.
Ulysses & Mona: Laurie just can’t take movies where one of the characters has
cancer. Too much of it in her own family.
Varda by Agnes: We actually are interested in this one, but we don’t think this
movie will draw enough of an audience to make it worth showing. Faces/Places
had a very small turnout.
We are eager to learn about everyone’s praises and pans.
--
Laurie Graves
hinterlandspress.com
hinterlands.me
