Results tagged “fredastaire”

: Season Two

You may be familiar with James Sanders' book Celluloid Skyline: New York and the Movies, which celebrated New York City's role in movies and is a must for any fan of New York, architecture, or film. But even if you haven't, you get a chance to experience it in beyond the pages: Starting tomorrow, Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall will be the setting for a Celluloid Skyline exhibit. There will be huge "scenic backing" paintings from old films, film footage, artifacts, displays and more that will show NYC's role in production and as a "mythic city" of the movies. Here's a description:

[The exhibit] will also carry visitors into the dream city of the movies, through “immersive” elements that allow visitors to feel as if they are actually inhabiting the various environments of the filmic city – streets, skyscrapers, rooftops, theaters, waterfronts, interiors – allowing viewers to come away with a greater understanding not only of the moviemaking process, but of the urban character, texture and significance of the real city.

Continue reading "Celluloid Skyline at Grand Central Tomrorow"

our Twizzlers!), Gothamist has been Netflixing (when we get around to it) our DVD rentals or buying them on impulse at Best Buy ("Oh, my God, it's the third season of Columbo!"), but video stores like Movie Place on West 105th and Kim's on St. Mark's are great resources for those hard to find foreign films or films that are only available on video. Do you find yourself buying more and/or Netflixing DVDs or are you still visiting your local video place?

Daniel Gregory

Finally, someone sums up the biggest problem with Chicago: Margo Jefferson complains how the editing in Chicago takes away from the essence of Chicago, which is the dancing. Yeah, there's all the blah blah about the movie musical being revised, but there's been no great dancing or great singing yet. When I think movie musical, I admit I think Singin' in the Rain, Wizard of Oz, Funny Face, On the Town. Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire or Cyd Charisse whose legs were so long that Gene Kelly had to tailor choreography for her, to hide the fact she was taller than him in Singin' in the Rain. I think Bill Condon, the screenwriter, did a good job in streamlining the story, but when I see the cast of the movie on Charlie Rose, bragging about how all the cutting between scenes was in the screenplay, I think it sucks, because part of the pleasure of watching a movie musical is seeing them dance, not dance in the dark. And for the millionth time, why not Bebe Neuwirth reprising her stage role as Velma in the film? Right, blah blah star power.