The Other Summer Movies

There has been a lot of strum and drang out in Hollywood about what a lackluster summer this has been at the movies.  Total box office is down, actual admissions are down and the spirits of moviegoers are low.  Despite the success of "Toy Story 3" and "Despicable Me", there have been a lot of supposedly sure-fire hits that have been underperforming not to mention some eviscerating reviews of movies like "Sex & The City 2" and "Knight and Day". 


But hope exists and you can find it in a couple of small, daring independent films that are the best commercial features out this year.  They are two movies about modern family that could not be more different in style and tone but share one thing in common which is a rarity in mainstream movies lately; the ability to tell a coherent story without anything exploding.  These diamonds in the summer of rough are "I am Love" and "The Kids Are All Right".  


"Love" is the work of an Italian director Luca Guadagnino, who has such a sure visual style and old Hollywood touch that the movie feels like something from the 1950's.  However, it's sexual explicitness along with a riveting and nuanced performance by Tilda Swinton cue its modernity.  I don't want to say much to give away the film's surprising storyline other than it's a sweeping portrait of a wealthy Italian family and its unlikely matriarch.  Simply put, if you like your cinema with a capital C this is not to be missed.


"Kids" is the fourth feature of indie auteur Lisa Cholodenko.  Her previous films ("Laurel Canyon", "High Art") were all extremely well-crafted and had their comic touches as well.  But this film is a revelation. In scenes that are equally hilarious and heartbreaking, this movie explores the complexity of modern family life with a real tenderness and compassion.  Annette Benning and Julianne Moore's portrayal a lesbian couple seems so real that Warren Beatty must be feeling a bit nervous.  Benning is particularly wonderful and will surely be taking home some awards later this year. 

When Trains Ruled The Skies

Long before the NYC subway became the modus operandi for local travel, New Yorkers used an extensive system of elevated railways to get around town.  Starting in the 1870's, steam trains ruled the skies of the city, blazing smoky trails up and down 3rd avenue, 6th avenue and 9th avenue downtown.  They pre-dated the subway system by a good three decades and, if Boss Tweed had had his way, might have expanded to take the place of the subway.


This week The Bowery Boys have posted an excellent podcast detailing the reign of the elevated train.  The last elevated tracks in Manhattan on 3rd avenue were torn down in 1955.  If you are feeling nostalgic, you can get a glimpse of them in the Billy Wilder flick "The Lost Weekend", a rare Hollywood film shot on location in the 1940s.


The Bowery Boys are great local historians who truly know their stuff.  And they have some great visuals too.  Below is a picture from their site of the 3rd Avenue El where it hit the Bowery.  You can subscribe to their podcast on iTunes or get it directly from their website.  It's my recommended weekend listening.  Enjoy!

Tombstone On The Sidewalk: A New York Story

Today's TIMES has a great New York story;  a man walking down E. 4th street one night finds a tombstone. It is dated 1910 and has the name Hinda Amchanitzky on it.  The rest of the tombstone is in Hebrew. 

When artist and part-time cook John Lankenau carted this curiosity back to his apartment, he began a quest to find out who Hinda was and what her tombstone was doing on a city street.  After hitting some dead ends, he enlisted an intrepid reporter from the TIMES. With an assist from the Library of Congress, they found out some surprising facts about this mystery woman who died nearly a century ago.  And, against all odds, they were able to reunite Hinda's tombstone with her final resting place.

What Is It About Kittens and The Internet

In case you have never typed "kittens" into YouTube (and you know you have!), there are thousands of cute kitten videos on the site.  In fact, they could start calling it KittenTube.  Or some smart trendy person could create a website that is all about cute kitten videos.  Well, guess what?  There is a site out there just like that and it's draining the nation's productivity by the cute kitten minute.


It's called KittehRoulette, which is catchy but a bit of a misnomer.  It's not ChatRoulette for cats.  I know all you cat owners out there think your cat is a genius but it's not like there are a bunch of fat cats from Russia sitting in front of their owners' MacBook "nexting" some rangy looking kittys from Malaysia.  Basically, this site is a collection of all those YouTube cat videos, one right after another.  Though it uses the spelling popularized by the LOLCats phenomenon, it is somehow not part of that burgeoning cuteness empire.  The Kittehs stand alone....for now.


So if you're having a bad day or just need a break from the tedium of work, you now have an oasis of cuteness.  Meow.

A Trip Along The National Road

I took a lovely drive over the holiday weekend along the National Highway.  You might think I'm referring to I-95, the east coast mega-freeway that stretches from Maine to Florida.  But the National Highway is I-68 from Hancock, MD to Morgantown, WV.  Whaaaa?  How did that become the National Highway? Well, I decided to look into it...


The National Highway follows the route of the National Road.  This was the first federally funded turnpike in the United States, authorized by President Thomas Jefferson in 1806.  The original path was used by indians and soldiers back in the 1700's  The plan for the "Cumberland Road", it's original name, was to upgrade and extended that road to connect the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, a task that was completed in 1818.  When car travel took over from horses, the National Road became part of US 40 which was the first highway to traverse the entire United States.


Today, sections of I-68 parallel the old National Road, which you can still see winding its way alongside it's newer, faster counterpart through the hills and valleys of scenic Western Maryland.  A ride along the National Road is a beautiful trip with more than 200 years of history behind it.  

A Forest of Construction Cranes At Ground Zero

I was walking past the former site of the World Trade Center recently when I noticed a veritable forest of construction cranes have sprung up there.  Work is moving full-speed ahead on the Memorial, the Museum, One World Trade Center (formerly the Freedom Tower) and Four World Trade Center.  The two new trade center buildings are visible above street level, with 1 WTC rising nearly 20 stories in an impressive framework of steel.  


On the 9/11 Memorial site, the outlines of the former WTC 1 and WTC 2 are now complete and the Memorial itself is scheduled to open on September 11, 2011.  You can read more about the plans for these on the WTC Memorial site.  There is also a temporary visitors center on 20 Vesey Street with models and timelines for the construction, as well as some tribute videos to the victims of the 9/11 attacks.


It's incredible that nearly 10 years after 9/11, this 10 plus acre plot is still a construction site.  But, after years of squabbling and confusion, things are actually moving forward now.  According to current plans, the new World Trade Center complex is scheduled to be complete by 2016.  

Uncle Tom's Cabin Is In Bethesda, MD

When I was growing up in suburban Maryland, there were rumors that the real-life inspiration for the novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was located in the woods just off the Old Georgetown Road exit of I-270.  As it turns out, the rumors are not only true but now there a plans for an Uncle Tom's Cabin interactive museum on the site located in the middle of the burbs of North Bethesda (11420 Old Georgetown Road to be exact).


In 2006, the Montgomery County government purchased the property, officially know as the Josiah Henson Site.  Henson was a slave who lived there for nearly 40 years in the early half of the 19th century before escaping to write his autobiography.  It was this book that inspired abolitionist/author Harriet Beecher Stowe to write her international blockbuster, "Uncle Tom's Cabin".  Stowe's novel was so widely read and influential that many historians list it as one of the causes of the Civil War.


It's remarkable that this little piece of history has survived all the development around it since the suburban explosion of the 1960's.  Currently the site is open for limited visitors to tour the original plantation house and a small wood-cabin kitchen.  The Montgomery Gazette reports that planning is underway for a full museum to open on the site in 2012. 

While You're Waiting For GLEE To Return...Flash Mobs!

While GLEE is on hiatus til September, I've discovered a sort of GLEE-substitute: a recent spate of flash-mob dance-in's to mashups from the show's soundtrack. The most recent one occurred in Paris a few days ago but the best one I've seen was in Seattle.  Those kids on the left coast can really move.  And look out for their flawless jazz hands....must be all that coffee.  Go Seattle!  

Live From London It's The National Theatre

Last night I went to see "London Assurance" at the National Theatre and it didn't involve a trans-Atlantic trek. It was just a short walk to NYU's Skirball Center, where the play was shown on a movie screen in HD.  


The play itself is a bit of a chestnut:  a comedy of manners and errors as the lordly city-set get mixed up with the earthy country-set over the matters of an arranged marriage and an land inheritance.  It was written in the 1841 by Dion Boucicault, an Irish wunderkind who was all of 20 when this work debuted. But it does has some sturdy comical bones which have only been strengthened with a polish by UK playwright Richard Beane and sharp direction by the famed Nicholas Hytner.  It also has a stunning cast of British thespians, including Simon Russell Beale and Fiona Shaw, who hijacks every scene she is in. Having a name like "Lady Gay Spanker" certainly helps. 


NT Live is a program that started this year with a series of live broadcasts from the South Bank home of the National Theatre that are beamed out to audiences in countries around the world.  The tickets to this theatrical feast were just $25 and well worth it.  It's brilliant idea and has been such a success that their second season is already planned  for next fall.  First up is a new adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankstein" directed by Trainspotting/Slumdogging Danny Boyle.  

The Complete NYC Outdoor Summer Movie Guide

A few years ago, an editorial assistant at Random House named Rebecca Shapiro compiled a list of all the outdoor screenings of movies that happen in New York each summer.  The list has become very popular with her friends, not to mention the public at large.  This year, her list even got published in the NY Times. 


You can check out this comprehensive guide here on the City Blog page.  It's really handy to see them all together in one listing.  There are so many these days!  I just went through and marked my calendar with the one's I want to check out:  top of my list are "The Goodbye Girl" in Bryant Park and "Starship Troopers" at McCarren Park.  See you at the free movies!