Yes that’s me on MSNBC. I have lots more to say on this subject, but of course you knew that already…
Comments after the break. Continue reading “Movie Theaters are NOT going away!”
Category: Film
The Incredible Edens Theater
A number of years ago, I wrote a piece about Movie Theaters I’ve Known and Loved. It included the story of how I had one of my most formative movie experiences in a modernist masterpiece of a theater that was on the Edens Expressway in Northbrook Illinois. Yesterday, I stumbled across a YouTube video about the theater and its demise that had been made for local TV in the ’90s. For those of you who are fellow movie theater geeks and others who are interested in architecture, you might find this as fascinating as I did. Little did I know that the theater featured that largest hyperbolic paraboloid in the world. If you want to know what that means, you’ll have to watch the video (which by the way is separated into five short parts.) Enjoy!
Comments after the break… Continue reading “The Incredible Edens Theater”
All Eyes on Wisconsin
For the next month or perhaps longer, the state of Wisconsin will be one of the most scrutinized parts of the country. It’s an important swing state that could determine the outcome of the election, while simultaneously being one of the worst hotspots for the coronavirus. In the meantime, the good folks at University of Wisconsin in Madison are helping to keep their community sane by having an online film festival.
The Wisconsin Film Festival was meant to be part of the “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” national tour last spring, and of course was cancelled along with the rest due to the pandemic. The festival has now morphed into a series of screenings available virtually, only for the UW community. Not only are they showing my film, but they are also showing “Gimme Shelter,” which was originally released by Don Rugoff through his company Cinema 5. In conjunction with those screenings, I was interviewed for their Cinematalk Podcast. It’s a pretty in depth interview and was a lot of fun to do. You can listen to it below. Thanks to the University of Wisconsin Cinematheque for their interest.
Comments after the break… Continue reading “All Eyes on Wisconsin”
Evangeline Peterson – Rest in Peace
I’ve just been made aware of the passing of Evangeline Peterson. Some of you may know Evangeline as the wife of Don Rugoff, the subject of my film “Searching for Mr. Rugoff.” It is no exaggeration to say that Evangeline was (is) the star of the film. She added parts of the story that no one else would have known, and her intelligence and radiance jump off the screen.
When I first thought about making a film about Don Rugoff, I had no idea how his family would feel about it or if they would be willing to cooperate. I first reached out to Don’s son Ed and, over an extended lunch, we discussed the project. It seemed as if he was willing. He also mentioned that his mother, Evangeline, was still alive and living in Medford, Oregon. I remembered Evangeline from brief encounters at the Cinema 5 offices when I worked there in the ’70s. She was a beautiful and classy woman; one wondered what she saw in Rugoff, who was not the least bit attractive and a not-very-nice person. Ed promised that he would approach his mother about doing an interview for the film. Continue reading “Evangeline Peterson – Rest in Peace”
Galway Q&A
Among the many film festivals that my film “Searching for Mr. Rugoff” was scheduled to play at, most were cancelled. However, some, like Cleveland and Galway in Ireland went on in a virtual form. For you indie film wonks out there, in both cases screenings were geofenced to the immediate area of the festival and tickets limited to the capacity of the theater it would have played in physically. Below is the virtual Q&A that I did with Galway Film Fleadh Programme Director, William Fitzgerald.
Comments after the break… Continue reading “Galway Q&A”
#DigitalPerspectives Panel
Further to the back and forth with Wendy Lidell via our Indiewire articles, Wendy & I had a sort of “debate” as part of the #DigitalPerspectives series sponsored and hosted by Together Films. You can watch a replay of it HERE.
How Virtual Cinema Could Help Arthouses Secure Their Future in 7 Easy Steps
I wrote the following article, which ran in Indiewire on July 1st. Here it is in its entirety, with a couple of added points at the end…
As a believer and crusader for the theatrical experience, the closure of movie theaters all over the world was a punch in the gut. There was an immediate consensus among pundits of all stripes that this was the end of theatrical moviegoing. People would just get used to the idea that they could see what they want at home, so why would they ever go out to see a movie again?
Yet in the art films world, a remarkable thing happened: Several independent distributors created something called “virtual cinema.” Pioneered by Kino Lorber, Magnolia, Oscilloscope, and others, they made their stranded films available, online, in partnership with the independent theaters where the films were scheduled to play. Theaters used their patron lists to market the films; in return, they took a percentage of the gross as if they had presented the films in their physical theaters. Continue reading “How Virtual Cinema Could Help Arthouses Secure Their Future in 7 Easy Steps”
In Memory of Milena Jelinek
We lost our beloved Columbia Film colleague Milena Jelinek to the coronavirus. Click below to read the lovely tribute to this wonderful woman in the New York Times.
Cleveland Speaks
Among the festivals that my film, “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” was supposed to play in before the coronavirus hit, was the Cleveland International Film Festival or CIFF as it is known. I was looking forward to attending, since I hadn’t been to the festival since I was there with “Cutter’s Way,” which was many moons ago. I also have good feelings about Cleveland in general, since I was there to witness the Cubs win the world series.Comments after the break… Continue reading “Cleveland Speaks”
The Rugoff Legacy Lives On
Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter just posted his post-Oscars podcast with Neon’s Tom Quinn as a guest. At one point, Tom acknowledges his debt to Don Rugoff’s Oscar campaign for “Z” and they talk about my film. You can hear the excerpt here…
I would also encourage you to listen to the entire episode, which you can do here.
Comments after the break.
Continue reading “The Rugoff Legacy Lives On”