A Cinematic Clip Tour Of Dirty Old New York

Over at The EV Grieve, they've posted the fifth in a series of cinematic clip tours of New York from back in its less glamorous period. These were created by cinephile Jonathan Hertzberg, who is obsessed with the dirty old NYC of the late 60s, 1970s and 1980s. His latest 25 minute tour de grit is put together with a number of notable films (TAKING OF PELHAM 123, SUPERMAN, TAXI DRIVER) and some lesser known films, some of which even I couldn't guess (what is Barbra Streisand doing with a bunch of thugs cruising down the East River?!).

Some of the clips are classics, others curiosities, but the real interest is often the background or the location itself. There's one remarkable shot of 1970s Times Square that shows not only the old HoJo's (one of my favorite spots) but also a still-operating Horn & Hardart automat. And there is a great sequence of shots around the 8:00 minute mark of Jessica Lange and King Kong at the old World Trade Center, ending with Kong dead on the wide beach that used to abut the site made from the excavation of the twin towers and later developed into Battery Park City and the World Financial Center.

Make sure you stay 'til the end for an Oscar-like tribute to actors associated with NYC who are no longer with us.
Dirty Old New York aka Fun City, Part V from Jonathan Hertzberg on Vimeo.

Morris Engel's LITTLE FUGITIVE Is Amazing (And At Film Forum)

Over the weekend, I went to Film Forum and saw a film called LITTLE FUGITIVE. Directed by Morris Engel and shot in beautiful 35mm black and white, the feature tells the simple story of a boy who runs away from home to Coney Island circa 1953. But what is truly amazing is Engel's cinematography, some of it shot clandestinely with a handheld 35mm camera that he created specifically for the shoot. There are some stunning images, like the one above of the said fugitive hanging out under the boardwalk. 

Also notable is the performance of the lead, a non-acting Brooklyn kid named Richie Andrusco. (He was actually at the screening before the one I attended to do Q&A and is a man now in his 60s.) Andrusco gives a remarkable spunky performance, along with other non-actors in the film, as he scavenges the beach for bottles, ride ponies (real and fake), and tries his scrappiest to survive in old New York.

LITTLE FUGTIVE is said to have inspired Francois Truffaut's 400 BLOWS (one of my all-time favorites) and, Truffaut claims, the entire French New Wave movement. You can definitely see hints of Antoine Doinel and his troubles, as well as the handheld cinema verite style which became the hallmark of the nouvelle vague. But this picture is lighter, cornier and filled with Americana, like the scene of the fugitive devouring a slice of watermelon. Ultimately, the movie is an utter delight and well worth checking out...today is its final day at Film Forum.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: End of Year Supercut Of Top Movie Trailers For 2012

This is an amazing supercut of movie trailers for films released this year by an editing genius by the name of SleepySkunk. It's a mystery why this person doesn't use their real name but I suspect that maybe he is doing all this work --and this must have been a lot of work--at his day job. Anyway, they have put together a mega remix of some of the best and craziest and most beautiful movie moments from 2012 culled from the film's trailers. It actually makes it look like it wasn't such a bad year for movies after all.

The World Trade Center In Movies

The Bowery Boys recently alerted me to an unusual website which has put together a comprehensive list of films and TV shows in which the World Trade Center was featured during it's 30 year existence.  The creator of the site has also created a pretty through compilation of all movie posters that featured the twin towers, even if they were not in the actual movie.  My film about life in NYC after 9/11 WTC View is not on this list for the simple reason that, intentionally, the towers do not appear in the movie or in the poster/advertisments for the film.

An even more fascinating section of the site includes movies that were altered and scenes that were changed as a result of the 9/11 attack.  The site includes clips, some from DVD extras and some bootlegged.  One notable film missing from this list is the Nicholas Cage movie "Adaptation".  In 2002, I saw a very rough cut of the film in which the screenwriting class Cage's character attends takes place at the World Trade Center.  The film, which was shot in 2001, had footage of the towers and Cage entering the complex, though the interior was a generic looking university classroom.  Of course, this version of the film was never made public and the film went through a number of reshoots and re-edits before it's ultimate release in 2003.   

The MPAA Strikes Again

In recent years, the 40 year old MPAA has been the subject of some controversies over their increasingly bizarro ratings system.  Last week, the romantic comedy "It's Complicated" was stuck with a surprise R rating for, and I quote, "pot smoking with no bad consequences".  Unbelievably, that is a direct quote. Suddenly, the MPAA thinks it's 1934 and they have enacted the arcane rules of the Hays Code in their ratings "system".  Back in the 30's, bad guys could be really really bad, but only if they got their comeuppance.  


There is a wonderfully angry article about this latest ratings travesty in the LA TIMES which gets to the heart of the matter which is that the ratings system makes no sense.  You can blow someone to smithereens and get a PG but if you show a bare breast or, god forbid, a penis you are R.  Any kind of homosexuality used to mean an instant R but the Board has let up on that in some cases.  But this latest ruling re; the pot is absurd.  First of all, marijuana is actually legal in California so why should bad consequences be expected? 


The MPAA needs some serious recalibration of it's system and the way it operates.  Or, in the case of this movie, the way that it doesn't.  

Tweeting From Jail?

Roger Avary, the Oscar winning screenwriter of PULP FICTION, was sentenced to a year in jail back in September for a vehicular manslaughter charge stemming from a January 2008 accident which left a young woman dead. Not exactly the most remorseful inmate, Avary had been making use of his time with some very writerly "tweets" about life in the big house that read like a screenplay-in-proress. From November 20th: "Nightly, every few hours like clockwork, a guard's flashlight beam strikes #34's face, perhaps to ensure lack of proper rest and exhaustion".

However, prisoners in California do not have internet access. Apparently, Avary was on a work release program where he had to report to jail every night and on weekends. Well, that all came to an end over Thanksgiving weekend when a judge ordered him into a higher security, more traditional prison stay. And that ended his Tweeting too.

Whatever Happened To Persis Khambatta

I put the original Star Trek movie on my Netflix after seeing "Close Encounters" earlier this summer at Bryant Park and loving it. I have to say "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" doesn't hold up as well, even in the reedited version available on DVD. It plays like a very long episode of TOS which would have been fine if it was 50 minutes long. Unfortunately, it's 136 minutes long which earned it the fanboy tag "Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture."

Like this year's "Star Trek" reboot, Bones steals the show and his scenes with Kirk and the old gang always crackle. Another standout is the lovely and mysterious beauty of Persis Khambatta, the bald Deltan who has an odd dual role in the film, playing Lt. Ilia and a robotic version of herself in a dangerously short mini-dress.

Joining the crew of the Enterprise was Persis' big break, having been Miss India in the 1960's and a well-known fashion/makeup model, most famously for Revlon. Unfortunately, her career didn't exactly hit warp drive after her role in "Star Trek". Her most notable role was in 1981's "Nighthawks" and a final part in the pilot episode of "Lois & Clark", playing the Indian ambassador....what imaginative casting!

In 1998, she suffered a heart attack and died suddenly. Her age is listed as 47 on Imdb and 49 on Wikipedia. Either way it seems too early....she was such a striking and enigmatic figure. It's a shame she didn't take off and have a more vibrant career. Her Hollywood debut, however, remains memorable. Even if the movie isn't all I remembered it to be.