There are dozens upon dozens upon dozens upon dozens of new movies coming out this fall (here are 35 that we're particularly excited for) and oodles of awards season-worthy performances within them. But we've whittled that all down to these nine (9!) stars who we're pretty dang confident will break out and who you'll be hearing much more about for many years to come. So, you might as well get to know them now.
1. The Losers' Club (Chosen Jacobs, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff) From It Photo: Getty Images / Warner Bros. Pictures
Age: 14 (except Lillis, who is 15) Where You've Seen Them: Lieberher co-starred with Bill Murray in the feel-good dramedy St. Vincent; Oleff played Young Peter Quill in both volumes of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise; and, of course, Wolfhard plays Mike Wheeler on Netflix's hit series Stranger Things.
Breakout Moment: Bill Skarsgård is getting plenty of attention...
1. The Losers' Club (Chosen Jacobs, Finn Wolfhard, Jack Dylan Grazer, Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff) From It Photo: Getty Images / Warner Bros. Pictures
Age: 14 (except Lillis, who is 15) Where You've Seen Them: Lieberher co-starred with Bill Murray in the feel-good dramedy St. Vincent; Oleff played Young Peter Quill in both volumes of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise; and, of course, Wolfhard plays Mike Wheeler on Netflix's hit series Stranger Things.
Breakout Moment: Bill Skarsgård is getting plenty of attention...
- 9/27/2017
- Entertainment Tonight
If you have been living and routinely interacting with other human beings over the last month, you’ve probably heard one or two words involving this year’s Academy Awards and the heated controversy over the startling lack of both films and people of color among the nominees. Personally, I think that the real focus of concern ought to be less on the back end-- awards handed out for films which were financed and/or studio-approved, scheduled for production and filmed perhaps as much as two or three years ago-- and more on addressing the lack of cultural and intellectual and experiential diversity among those who have the power to make the decisions as to what films get made in the first place. This is no sure-fire way to ensure that there will be a richer and more consistent representation of diverse creative voices when it comes time for Hollywood...
- 2/6/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – In a year where shoots with perpetual photo fashionistas like Cindy Crawford and Sarah Jessica Parker still failed to crack the Top Ten list of biggest celebrity photo-ops, you know 2014 was a very good year for HollywoodChicago.com and myself, Joe Arce, as Senior Staff Photographer.
Narrowing down the 182 celebrity subjects that posed for my lens last year to a mere ten favorite portraits is not an easy task. Nonetheless, here are my Top Ten picks for biggest celebrity shoots of 2014. I based this on a combination of star power wattage of the subjects, the artistic results and the degree of difficulty in landing the quarry – for those iPhone carrying budding celebrity stalkers who may wish to play along at home.
10. Anjelica Huston
Backstage at the Chicago Humanities Festival, November 14th, 2014
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Not only an Oscar winner, but the daughter...
Narrowing down the 182 celebrity subjects that posed for my lens last year to a mere ten favorite portraits is not an easy task. Nonetheless, here are my Top Ten picks for biggest celebrity shoots of 2014. I based this on a combination of star power wattage of the subjects, the artistic results and the degree of difficulty in landing the quarry – for those iPhone carrying budding celebrity stalkers who may wish to play along at home.
10. Anjelica Huston
Backstage at the Chicago Humanities Festival, November 14th, 2014
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Not only an Oscar winner, but the daughter...
- 1/20/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Apparently flying high on its very first pair of Golden Globe wins, thanks to original series Transparent, emerging television force Amazon has announced that it has hired on a sizable name to helm yet another new series: Woody Allen. The new project will mark the writer and director’s first journey to small-screen creation – though, in his early years, Allen did write for shows like Stanley and Candid Camera – and although the news that Allen is set to work in a new medium is interesting, it comes with a caveat. Namely, that Woody Allen has no idea what the hell his new show is going to be about. The Untitled Woody Allen Project (Or Whatever The Good Goddamn We Feel Like Calling It) has already earned itself a full series order from Amazon, but neither Allen nor his new network have any clue whatsoever what the series will be about. Sounds...
- 1/14/2015
- by Kate Erbland
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Dec. 16, 2014; Digital Release Date: Dec. 2, 2014
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $34.99
Studio: Sony
Emma Stone and Colin Firth in Magic in the Moonlight
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Emma Stone (Easy A) star in the 2014 romantic comedy Magic in the Moonlight is the 44th feature film—44th!!!—written and directed by Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine).
Acclaimed magician Stanley Crawford (Firth), has dazzled audiences across Europe with feats of supernatural amazement, but when it comes to explaining the inexplicable, Stanley is a dedicated skeptic. Enter Sophie Baker (Stone), psychic, soothsayer, and stunning seductress. As Stanley and Sophie embark on misadventures up and down the French Riviera, will they discover proof of a world beyond the laws of physics or have they fallen under the sway of a more earthly chemistry?
Also featuring Marcia Gay Harden (A Cat in Paris), Hamish Linklater (Lola Versus), and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom...
Price: DVD $30.99, Blu-ray $34.99
Studio: Sony
Emma Stone and Colin Firth in Magic in the Moonlight
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Emma Stone (Easy A) star in the 2014 romantic comedy Magic in the Moonlight is the 44th feature film—44th!!!—written and directed by Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine).
Acclaimed magician Stanley Crawford (Firth), has dazzled audiences across Europe with feats of supernatural amazement, but when it comes to explaining the inexplicable, Stanley is a dedicated skeptic. Enter Sophie Baker (Stone), psychic, soothsayer, and stunning seductress. As Stanley and Sophie embark on misadventures up and down the French Riviera, will they discover proof of a world beyond the laws of physics or have they fallen under the sway of a more earthly chemistry?
Also featuring Marcia Gay Harden (A Cat in Paris), Hamish Linklater (Lola Versus), and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom...
- 9/30/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
A flimsy trifle, but a diverting one. Colin Firth is absolutely hilarious, and the re-creation of the 1920s French Riviera is gorgeous. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast, love the era
I’m “biast” (con): I’m hot and cold on Woody Allen lately
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Woody Allen’s (Midnight in Paris) latest film is never more than the flimsiest of trifles, but what a diverting trifle it is. Colin Firth’s (Before I Go to Sleep) Stanley is a stage magician and debunker of spiritualists who is called to the French Riviera by an old friend (Simon McBurney: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) in the hopes that he can poke holes in the act of vibration-receiving, spirit-contacting Sophie (Emma Stone: The Amazing Spider-Man 2), who, astonishingly, appears to be the real deal. It is the 1920s, the last hurrah of spiritualism and seances,...
I’m “biast” (con): I’m hot and cold on Woody Allen lately
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
Woody Allen’s (Midnight in Paris) latest film is never more than the flimsiest of trifles, but what a diverting trifle it is. Colin Firth’s (Before I Go to Sleep) Stanley is a stage magician and debunker of spiritualists who is called to the French Riviera by an old friend (Simon McBurney: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) in the hopes that he can poke holes in the act of vibration-receiving, spirit-contacting Sophie (Emma Stone: The Amazing Spider-Man 2), who, astonishingly, appears to be the real deal. It is the 1920s, the last hurrah of spiritualism and seances,...
- 9/17/2014
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Woody Allen’s latest offering is rather a perplexing beast. Packed to bursting point with talent, played out against an exquisite French Riviera backdrop and benefitting from a witty story, it ought to be fabulous. But it isn’t. Instead Magic In The Moonlight – the story of a skeptical magician and an artful clairvoyant – is something of a conjuring act itself. From an amiable muddle of misdirection, Agatha Christie adaptation aesthetic, lopsided performances and grand affectations, the veteran director still somehow extracts a dazzling ending which warrants applause.
World renowned conjuror Wei Ling Soo is better known to his very few friends as Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) – an opinionated Englishman with a tangible disdain for the weak, gullible and “mentally defective”. Flattered by the extravagant compliments of lifelong friend and fellow illusionist Howard (Simon McBurney) – and abandoning plans to holiday with his pragmatic fiancée Olivia – Stanley agrees to a trip...
World renowned conjuror Wei Ling Soo is better known to his very few friends as Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) – an opinionated Englishman with a tangible disdain for the weak, gullible and “mentally defective”. Flattered by the extravagant compliments of lifelong friend and fellow illusionist Howard (Simon McBurney) – and abandoning plans to holiday with his pragmatic fiancée Olivia – Stanley agrees to a trip...
- 9/15/2014
- by Emily Breen
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In Woody Allen's 44th outing, professional myth-debunker Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth) heads to the Cote D'Azur of the 1920s to investigate American clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) who has inveigled her way into the chateau of Pittsburgh's wealthy Catledge family to conduct séances for the wealthy and gullible widow (Jacki Weaver) that will bring her closer to the spirit of her late husband. However, while aiming to lift the lid on the philanderer, he finds himself falling for her.
- 9/5/2014
- Sky Movies
Passionately pursuing your dreams and not letting anyone stand in your way as you set out to achieve your goals is a powerful message present in several aspects of Woody Allen’s latest independent romantic comedy, ‘Magic in the Moonlight.’ The main character in the film, Stanley Crawford, is an admired illusionist who isn’t afraid to let go of his fame as he sets out to prove that people in his field aren’t genuinely gifted. Actress Erica Leerhsen, who plays a supporting role in the movie, is also effortlessly and powerfully fulfilling her dream career with her third film collaboration with the Academy Award-winning writer-director. ‘Magic in the Moonlight,’ which is [ Read More ]
The post Erica Leerhsen Talks Magic in the Moonlight and Horror Films appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Erica Leerhsen Talks Magic in the Moonlight and Horror Films appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 9/3/2014
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Before he became known to millions as Jerry Seinfeld’s hilariously insecure best friend, George Costanza, Jason Alexander was a Broadway baby, playing Joe in the Kaufman-Hart classic, Merrily We Roll Along in 1981, and performing opposite Chita Rivera and Liza Minnelli in the 1984 musical, The Rink. His big break came in 1986 playing showbiz hopeful Stanley in the Pulitzer Prize finalist, Broadway Bound, Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical classic about his fractured family life growing up in the Bronx. Last year, when Alexander went down to La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts in southeast Los Angeles County to
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- 8/15/2014
- by Jordan Riefe
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It seems every new Woody Allen film brings out in force the writer/director’s detractors, who kvetch that it’s “not one of his best” and that it’s “just another Woody Allen movie.” The first statement is certainly undeniable since he’s made so many masterpieces and the second observation is more or less true but so what? Magic In The Moonlight is currently sitting on a measly 52% over at Rotten Tomatoes with the 78-year old Allen being attacked for making the kind of movie he’s most known for — and most liked for — so long as he does it well. And with Magic In The Moonlight, Woody Allen has done it very well indeed. It’s not on the level of his great films – it’s not Annie Hall, Manhattan, or Blue Jasmine, but Magic In The MOONLIGHTis a kind of movie you rarely see in late...
- 8/7/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
By Frank Calvillo
The final month of the summer has swiftly arrived and as tradtition dictates, this means it's time for major studios to unleash those titles that didn't either didn't quite make the grade for the earlier months, or the ones they hope will be sleeper hits that will bring in loads of cash because there's little else for audiences to watch. Apart from the heavily anticipated Sin City sequel, not only is there very little I can think of that I want to see, there's very little I can actually recall being released. It's almost a fitting end to a lackluster summer for blockbusters. On the flip side, while the studios are winding down, the indies show no signs of letting up with many standout features making their way to audiences this month.
Magic in the Moonlight (opens Aug. 8 in Austin)
Capitalizing on his love of period pieces,...
The final month of the summer has swiftly arrived and as tradtition dictates, this means it's time for major studios to unleash those titles that didn't either didn't quite make the grade for the earlier months, or the ones they hope will be sleeper hits that will bring in loads of cash because there's little else for audiences to watch. Apart from the heavily anticipated Sin City sequel, not only is there very little I can think of that I want to see, there's very little I can actually recall being released. It's almost a fitting end to a lackluster summer for blockbusters. On the flip side, while the studios are winding down, the indies show no signs of letting up with many standout features making their way to audiences this month.
Magic in the Moonlight (opens Aug. 8 in Austin)
Capitalizing on his love of period pieces,...
- 8/5/2014
- by Contributors
- Slackerwood
Heartwarming, poignant -- and hilarious. Odyssey Theatre Ensemble presents a revival of Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical dramatic comedy, Broadway Bound, directed by Jason Alexander Seinfeld, who created the role of 'Stanley' in the original Broadway production. The 8-week run at the Odyssey Theatre is set to open tomorrow night, August 2. BroadwayWorld has a first look at Alexander working with the cast, plus production photos, below...
- 8/2/2014
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
A clip from director Woody Allen's latest comedy Magic in the Moonlight has been unveiled.
Colin Firth stars in Magic in the Moonlight as Stanley, a stage magician hired to investigate a spiritualist (Emma Stone) for possibly swindling a wealthy family.
This new clip centres on Stanley and the spiritual medium debating who has more to lose if either is proved incorrect in their quest.
Allen returned to France for Magic in the Moonlight, having previously filmed Everyone Says I Love You and the Oscar-winning Midnight in Paris in the European country.
His ensemble cast for Magic in the Moonlight includes Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver and Hamish Linklater.
Allen's latest film is now playing on limited release in the Us and opens on September 19 in the UK. Watch a trailer below:...
Colin Firth stars in Magic in the Moonlight as Stanley, a stage magician hired to investigate a spiritualist (Emma Stone) for possibly swindling a wealthy family.
This new clip centres on Stanley and the spiritual medium debating who has more to lose if either is proved incorrect in their quest.
Allen returned to France for Magic in the Moonlight, having previously filmed Everyone Says I Love You and the Oscar-winning Midnight in Paris in the European country.
His ensemble cast for Magic in the Moonlight includes Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver and Hamish Linklater.
Allen's latest film is now playing on limited release in the Us and opens on September 19 in the UK. Watch a trailer below:...
- 7/28/2014
- Digital Spy
A Woody Allen comedy about a master magician trying to expose a psychic medium as a fake.
Set in the 1920s on the opulent Riviera in the south of France, Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about a master magician (Colin Firth) trying to expose a psychic medium (Emma Stone) as a fake.
Chinese conjuror Wei Ling Soo is the most celebrated magician of his age, but few know that he is the stage persona of Stanley Crawford (Firth), a grouchy and arrogant Englishman with a sky-high opinion of himself and an aversion to phony spiritualists’ claims that they can perform real magic.
Set in the 1920s on the opulent Riviera in the south of France, Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight is a romantic comedy about a master magician (Colin Firth) trying to expose a psychic medium (Emma Stone) as a fake.
Chinese conjuror Wei Ling Soo is the most celebrated magician of his age, but few know that he is the stage persona of Stanley Crawford (Firth), a grouchy and arrogant Englishman with a sky-high opinion of himself and an aversion to phony spiritualists’ claims that they can perform real magic.
- 7/27/2014
- by admin
- Pure Movies
Chicago – After last year’s powerful “Blue Jasmine,” writer/director Woody Allen’s trajectory seemed destined toward another film masterpiece, but “Magic in the Moonlight” isn’t it. Colin Firth and Emma Stone are an unlikely pairing in this seen-it-before-Woody film trifle.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Again Allen goes back to the 1920s, an era he has explored before in “Bullets Over Broadway” and to a lesser degree “Midnight in Paris.” The elements of magicians and illusions have also been covered in “Shadows and Fog” and the underrated “Stardust Memories.” Thematically, it feels like Woody Allen has done this film before, even in the relationship between Colin Firth and Emma Stone, which generates zero chemistry. In his quest to make at least one film a year, the 78-year-old auteur has made this one a placeholder, albeit a funnier, more beautifully filmed and at times more interesting placeholder – better than most of the films out there.
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Again Allen goes back to the 1920s, an era he has explored before in “Bullets Over Broadway” and to a lesser degree “Midnight in Paris.” The elements of magicians and illusions have also been covered in “Shadows and Fog” and the underrated “Stardust Memories.” Thematically, it feels like Woody Allen has done this film before, even in the relationship between Colin Firth and Emma Stone, which generates zero chemistry. In his quest to make at least one film a year, the 78-year-old auteur has made this one a placeholder, albeit a funnier, more beautifully filmed and at times more interesting placeholder – better than most of the films out there.
- 7/25/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The year’s inevitable Woody Allen film, Magic in the Moonlight, has a clever premise, an agreeable cast, delectable ‘20s period recreations of faux “Oriental” magic shows and Côte d’Azur garden parties, and an ever-slackening pulse. It starts off with a flourish and winds up limp, like a rabbit pulled out of a hat that turns out to be dead.Having gotten away with his last, more difficult trick — remaking A Streetcar Named Desire, except with zero sympathy for the protagonist — Allen probably thought that this one would be a cinch to put over. His hero, played by Colin Firth, is a British magician named Stanley who performs in a bald cap and Fu Manchu mustache as “Wei Ling Soo” — and is instantly recognizable from his crisp, misanthropic attack as Professor Henry Higgins. His Colonel Pickering is a magician named Burkan (Simon McBurney) who invites him to the South...
- 7/25/2014
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
For his latest romp around the European countryside, Woody Allen whisks moviegoers away to 1920s southern France for a frothy romantic comedy starring Emma Stone as Sophie, a cheery American with supposedly incredible psychic powers, and Colin Firth as Stanley, the arrogant English stage magician who sets out to debunk her credibility. Photos 'Magic in the Moonlight': Emma Stone, Colin Firth and Anna Wintour Hit the New York Premiere The Sony Pictures Classics specialty box-office title hits 17 theaters in select cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Washington, D.C., on Friday. Read what top critics
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- 7/25/2014
- by Jenna Robbins
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Since time immemorial Woody Allen has been entranced by the art of illusions. A proponent of magic tricks as a child, Allen’s affinity for legerdemain has manifested itself throughout his filmography — most notable in his surreal homage to Federico Fellini, Stardust Memories. Now with Magic in the Moonlight the nebbish New Yorker has pulled off yet another impressive act of prestidigitation: making a jubilant and delightful trifle that — much like many of his other 44 films — ponders the rhyme and reason of our existence, however futile or fruitful that may be. To Stanley (Colin Firth) our existence is meaningless. In order to remain comfortable in that unrepentantly bleak worldview, he’s made a career out of exposing pseudo spiritualists — opportunistic swindlers who dupe people into believing they possess divine powers bestowed to them by some omniscient deity. The Englishman’s latest assignment is to debunk the mythical Sophie (Emma Stone), a young American woman who has convinced...
- 7/25/2014
- by Sam Fragoso
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Magic in the Moonlight
Written and directed by Woody Allen
USA, 2014
Woody Allen’s newest film, Magic in the Moonlight, has yet another appealing ensemble, this one featuring Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, and a handful of other beloved character actors. A 1928 period piece, the film follows Stanley (Firth), a famous magician, as he tries to expose Sophie (Stone), a mystic of increasing notoriety and a possible swindler. Set in the south of France, the film takes place between two houses: the house of Grace (Jacki Weaver), who wants Sophie to stay and help her connect with her late husband, and the house of Stanley’s aunt Vanessa (Eileen Atkins), which Stanley frequently visits to get away from magic and process his thoughts.
Magic in the Moonlight is a very beautiful film in terms of its aesthetic, with its 1920s attire combined with a secluded scenic area of France,...
Written and directed by Woody Allen
USA, 2014
Woody Allen’s newest film, Magic in the Moonlight, has yet another appealing ensemble, this one featuring Emma Stone, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, and a handful of other beloved character actors. A 1928 period piece, the film follows Stanley (Firth), a famous magician, as he tries to expose Sophie (Stone), a mystic of increasing notoriety and a possible swindler. Set in the south of France, the film takes place between two houses: the house of Grace (Jacki Weaver), who wants Sophie to stay and help her connect with her late husband, and the house of Stanley’s aunt Vanessa (Eileen Atkins), which Stanley frequently visits to get away from magic and process his thoughts.
Magic in the Moonlight is a very beautiful film in terms of its aesthetic, with its 1920s attire combined with a secluded scenic area of France,...
- 7/25/2014
- by Samantha Ladwig
- SoundOnSight
After making a detour in San Francisco to help Cate Blanchett strike gold at last year’s Oscars, Woody Allen kicks off another leg of his European tour with Magic in the Moonlight. Borrowing the magical realist conceit along with the backdrop of Midnight in Paris, and cherry-picking just a hint of the class commentary from Blue Jasmine, Magic in the Moonlight is less a culmination of Allen’s recent output than it is a jazzy riff on the same stories and ideas that have occupied him for the better part of a decade. While the film makes clear that Allen has played these same beats for pretty much all they’re worth by now, the fresh-faced cast and comforting familiarity of Magic in the Moonlight liven up its well-rehearsed routine.
Looking to the future with as much anxiety as Midnight in Paris looked to the past with nostalgia, Magic in the Moonlight...
Looking to the future with as much anxiety as Midnight in Paris looked to the past with nostalgia, Magic in the Moonlight...
- 7/24/2014
- by Sam Woolf
- We Got This Covered
"Magic In The Moonlight" is one of those Woody Allen films. You know the kind I mean. At this point, with Allen currently directing his 45th feature film, his pace has become as much a part of his daily life as breathing or dodging uncomfortable questions about his personal proclivities. He writes and directs one feature film after another, and some of them are good and some of them are terrible and occasionally one of them is so great it's ridiculous. Often, what we get are serviceable premises dressed up with recognizable actors who are just happy to get their turn to work with Allen, and the films end up feeling thin, like first drafts of something that might work. In "Magic In The Moonlight," Colin Firth plays Stanley, a stage magician who, in the grand tradition of Houdini, hates anyone who deals in spiritualism, and when his old friend...
- 7/22/2014
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
In my opinion a new Woody Allen movie every year is a bit of a treat. Yes, they can disappoint such as Whatever Works, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and To Rome with Love, but they can also be true knock outs such as Vicki Cristina Barcelona and Midnight in Paris, along with the stunning performance from Cate Blanchett in last year's Blue Jasmine, and that's only looking at the last six Allen films. He's directed nearly 50 over his illustrious career and I'd say his latest, Magic in the Moonlight, falls somewhere in the middle. Set in France in the 1920s, the film is complete with all the acerbic wit, pessimism for life and otherwise charm the better Allen films often exude. Magic in the Moonlight's first two-thirds are delightful as we're first introduced to Colin Firth in the role of Stanley Crawford, a pompous and arrogant...
- 7/21/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Hocus Pocus: Allen’s Latest a Re-hash of All-Too-Familiar Themes
Returning once more to the world of psychics and magicians to inform his breezy comedic styling, Woody Allen’s latest, Magic in the Moonlight, plays like the slight reconnoitering of a slew of other past titles from his filmography. While this is often a critique lobbed at Allen’s perennial offerings, his latest is a surprisingly uncharismatic and uninvolving recapitulation of the kinds of schemes he used in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Scoop (2006), and a few others. If those are your favored Allen titles, then perhaps this one will be a pleasing trifle. However, whereas generally Allen applies a zany, broad streak to these scenarios, here we’re pared down to a quietly developing (and unlikely) romance between its two leads.
Wei Ling Soo, a famed Chinese conjurer in 1920’s Berlin, is actually the stage persona of a...
Returning once more to the world of psychics and magicians to inform his breezy comedic styling, Woody Allen’s latest, Magic in the Moonlight, plays like the slight reconnoitering of a slew of other past titles from his filmography. While this is often a critique lobbed at Allen’s perennial offerings, his latest is a surprisingly uncharismatic and uninvolving recapitulation of the kinds of schemes he used in The Curse of the Jade Scorpion (2001), Scoop (2006), and a few others. If those are your favored Allen titles, then perhaps this one will be a pleasing trifle. However, whereas generally Allen applies a zany, broad streak to these scenarios, here we’re pared down to a quietly developing (and unlikely) romance between its two leads.
Wei Ling Soo, a famed Chinese conjurer in 1920’s Berlin, is actually the stage persona of a...
- 7/21/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Title: Magic In The Moonlight Director: Woody Allen Starring: Colin Firth, Emma Stone, Simon McBurney, Jacki Weaver, Hamish Linklater, Erica Leerhsen, Marcia Gay Harden, Eileen Atkins. Woody Allen enchants again. This time he takes us to the French Riviera in the late twenties, where witticism, magnificent dresses (designed by his longtime collaborator Sonia Grande), alluring revivals of tracks of the period (performed by Woody’s jazz-band companion Conal Fowkes), build up an amusing and profound romantic comedy. Colin Firth plays the most celebrated magician of his age, British Stanley Crawford, who performs under the disguise of Chinese conjuror Wei Ling Soo. The Englishman has a sky-high opinion of himself and is [ Read More ]
The post Magic In The Moonlight Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Magic In The Moonlight Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/20/2014
- by Chiara Spagnoli Gabardi
- ShockYa
The marketing push for Woody Allen’s latest, a period romantic comedy titled Magic in the Moonlight, has been atypically slight in recent weeks, but Sony Pictures Classics is finally kicking its campaign into high gear with the release of dozens of images from the film, in addition to a large synopsis. Allen and company have no real reason to worry about his film’s box office chances, however – with his reputation and a cast including Emma Stone and Colin Firth, Magic in the Moonlight should cast quite a spell in theaters when it opens later this month.
A new set of images from the film, highlighting its stellar cast and period setting, have landed online, and you can check those out below. In addition to Stone and Firth, Magic in the Moonlight features Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Antonia Clarke and Jeremy Shamos.
A new set of images from the film, highlighting its stellar cast and period setting, have landed online, and you can check those out below. In addition to Stone and Firth, Magic in the Moonlight features Hamish Linklater, Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Erica Leerhsen, Eileen Atkins, Simon McBurney, Antonia Clarke and Jeremy Shamos.
- 7/10/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
After heading back to America for Blue Jasmine, Woody Allen is now continuing his European phase with the romantic comedy drama Magic In The Moonlight. We saw the first trailer a month or so ago, and now here's a slew of new stills, showcasing stars Colin Firth and Emma Stone.Firth stars as stage magician Stanley (check out the Chung Ling Soo garb!) dispatched to the south of France to help his family with an intriguing puzzle. A young woman named Sophie (Stone), who claims to be a psychic, is bewitching, bewildering and bothersome in equal measure. Firth is convinced he can help, but then he meets her and discovers that she might not be as fake as some suspect.Allen is back exploring themes of duplicity, charm and romance, all couched in the beautiful French countryside. Alongside Firth and Stone, he’s recruited Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Eileen Atkins,...
- 7/8/2014
- EmpireOnline
Putting feelings about Woody Allen as a person aside, we have to admit that the man works hard and makes movies pretty consistently. No sooner does he have one film in the can than he turns around and starts making the next one; what’s more, many of those films are pretty exceptional works of art and entertainment.
Allen’s already at work on his next next film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. But the next outing from the director that the public will see will be Magic in the Moonlight, starring Stone and Allen-newcomer Colin Firth. Today, we have a new batch of images from the film to whet your appetite, and you can check them out below.
Firth plays Stanley, an English magician and illusionist, trying to debunk a famed spiritualist (Stone), but soon finds himself falling in love with her. Unlike the far more serious-minded Blue Jasmine,...
Allen’s already at work on his next next film, which stars Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone. But the next outing from the director that the public will see will be Magic in the Moonlight, starring Stone and Allen-newcomer Colin Firth. Today, we have a new batch of images from the film to whet your appetite, and you can check them out below.
Firth plays Stanley, an English magician and illusionist, trying to debunk a famed spiritualist (Stone), but soon finds himself falling in love with her. Unlike the far more serious-minded Blue Jasmine,...
- 7/7/2014
- by Lauren Humphries-Brooks
- We Got This Covered
Woody Allen must have found inspiration in his own 2011 film, Midnight in Paris, since his latest comedy is once again set at the height of the Roaring Twenties. Unlike Midnight, this summer’s Magic in the Moonlight doesn’t require an old car to transport it’s cast back in time each night since it’s firmly set in the past.
Set in the fabulous French Riviera, Stanley (Colin Firth) is a British magician who is sent to the South of France to unmask spiritualist Sophie (Emma Stone), who might be exploiting a wealthy family.
The film co-stars Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Simon McBurney, and Hamish Linklater. Magic in the Moonlight doesn’t open in theatres until August 1, but you can check out more than a dozen newly-released stills from the film below. Check out Emma Stone and Colin Firth in their fashionable 1920’s attire now:...
Set in the fabulous French Riviera, Stanley (Colin Firth) is a British magician who is sent to the South of France to unmask spiritualist Sophie (Emma Stone), who might be exploiting a wealthy family.
The film co-stars Marcia Gay Harden, Jacki Weaver, Simon McBurney, and Hamish Linklater. Magic in the Moonlight doesn’t open in theatres until August 1, but you can check out more than a dozen newly-released stills from the film below. Check out Emma Stone and Colin Firth in their fashionable 1920’s attire now:...
- 7/7/2014
- by Rachel West
- Cineplex
Woody Allen's Magic in the Moonlight begins hitting theaters on July 25 and so far I've only heard from one person that's seen it, but the response was positive over the upcoming romantic comedy starring Emma Stone and Colin Firth. The story follows an Englishman (Firth) brought in to help expose a psychic medium (Stone) as a fake. Personal and professional complications ensue. Jacki Weaver, Hamish Linklater, Eileen Atkins, Marcia Gay Harden, Erica Leerhsen and Simon McBurney co-star. The film is set in the south of France in the 1920s against a backdrop of wealthy mansions, the Cote d'Azur, jazz joints and fashionable spots for the wealthy of the Jazz Age, which makes me want to see it even more as I absolutely love that area. Today I have for you 18 new pictures (though a couple I think you may have seen before) and a new poster for the film along with the following,...
- 7/7/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
It's a veritable battle of wits and wiles in the first trailer for Woody Allen's upcoming film, Magic in the Moonlight. Set in the 1920s, the movie stars Colin Firth as Stanley, a magician who sets out to debunk the work of a spirit medium named Sophie (played by Emma Stone ) who might be swindling a wealthy family.
'Magic in the Moonlight' and More Movies to Look Forward to This Summer
The tête-à-tête between the two is as charming as you'd imagine — Sophie confounds Stanley by recalling...
'Magic in the Moonlight' and More Movies to Look Forward to This Summer
The tête-à-tête between the two is as charming as you'd imagine — Sophie confounds Stanley by recalling...
- 5/22/2014
- Rollingstone.com
Emma Stone and Colin Firth are two stars that will never wear out their welcome.
The first trailer for Woody Allen's next movie, "Magic in the Moonlight," shows these two are a great onscreen match of the wits (and perhaps more) in spite of a rather ridiculously large age gap.
Emma Stone stars as a charming spiritualist named Sophie who's weaseled her way into the good graces of a rich family of socialites, and Firth stars as a levelheaded fellow who's brought in to debunk her. Naturally, it's not that simple - Sophie's "a visionary and a vision," as one of her fancy client (Hamish Linklater) enthuses, and the things she tells Stanley (Firth) are a bit uncanny. She's also darn charming and clever, so whatever it is that she and her mom (played by Marcia Gay Harden) are plotting has piqued Stanley's curiosity in more ways than one.
The first trailer for Woody Allen's next movie, "Magic in the Moonlight," shows these two are a great onscreen match of the wits (and perhaps more) in spite of a rather ridiculously large age gap.
Emma Stone stars as a charming spiritualist named Sophie who's weaseled her way into the good graces of a rich family of socialites, and Firth stars as a levelheaded fellow who's brought in to debunk her. Naturally, it's not that simple - Sophie's "a visionary and a vision," as one of her fancy client (Hamish Linklater) enthuses, and the things she tells Stanley (Firth) are a bit uncanny. She's also darn charming and clever, so whatever it is that she and her mom (played by Marcia Gay Harden) are plotting has piqued Stanley's curiosity in more ways than one.
- 5/21/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
'Flat near Euston' – also known as a Georgian house on Regent's Park
• What do The X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary, Boris Johnson's father Stanley and the Right Hon the Lord Mandelson of Foy have in common? Not a shared affection for the music of Little Mix (though who, truly, would be surprised) – no, we refer to the opposition of all three to the HS2 high-speed rail project. Johnson and O'Leary both live close to the proposed route of the new line in north London and attended a public meeting opposing it, the Evening Standard reported, while Mandelson, who "owns a flat near Euston", had made his views plain in a letter. Why so coy, Peter? We'd hardly describe the very grand late Georgian house on the edge of Regent's Park, bought by the noble lord for a modest £7.6m in 2011, in such prosaic terms. As Mandelson confessed to the...
• What do The X Factor presenter Dermot O'Leary, Boris Johnson's father Stanley and the Right Hon the Lord Mandelson of Foy have in common? Not a shared affection for the music of Little Mix (though who, truly, would be surprised) – no, we refer to the opposition of all three to the HS2 high-speed rail project. Johnson and O'Leary both live close to the proposed route of the new line in north London and attended a public meeting opposing it, the Evening Standard reported, while Mandelson, who "owns a flat near Euston", had made his views plain in a letter. Why so coy, Peter? We'd hardly describe the very grand late Georgian house on the edge of Regent's Park, bought by the noble lord for a modest £7.6m in 2011, in such prosaic terms. As Mandelson confessed to the...
- 1/30/2014
- by Esther Addley
- The Guardian - Film News
Finally, we’re approaching the most magical season of the year: Oscar time. And better yet, we’re in the middle of one of the best film years of the past decade. Most of 2013′s buzziest movies are undisputed triumphs (12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Nebraska, etc.) and I’m torqued for a February telecast of hotly contested categories and a swarm of deserving Best Picture nominees.
But just because we have a batch of Oscar-ready movies doesn’t mean we shouldn’t voice complaints about them. So often with Oscar bait, it feels like legitimate criticism goes forgotten and communal approval takes over. Before Oscar campaigns kick into overdrive this year, we’re voicing our ten biggest complaints about ten of the year’s most critically beloved (and Oscar-readiest) movies. Keep in mind these are only gripes about the movies released so far. We’ll be similarly critical of August: Osage County,...
But just because we have a batch of Oscar-ready movies doesn’t mean we shouldn’t voice complaints about them. So often with Oscar bait, it feels like legitimate criticism goes forgotten and communal approval takes over. Before Oscar campaigns kick into overdrive this year, we’re voicing our ten biggest complaints about ten of the year’s most critically beloved (and Oscar-readiest) movies. Keep in mind these are only gripes about the movies released so far. We’ll be similarly critical of August: Osage County,...
- 12/9/2013
- by Louis Virtel
- The Backlot
★★★★★ The best Woody Allen films of the past decade have invariably been minor frivolities. As wonderful as his 2011 effort Midnight in Paris was, it is undeniably frothy and lightweight when held up against some of his masterpieces. His new endeavour, Blue Jasmine (2013), sees Allen channelling Tennessee Williams to bring real intellectual and creative heft back to his work. Recalling the pessimism of Deconstructing Harry (1997) and the tragic fatality of Crimes & Misdemeanors (1989), Allen's latest has an urgency and vitality that many Woody detractors thought had been lost somewhere in the hinterland of the early nineties.
Blue Jasmine is uncompromisingly raw, using Cate Blanchett's titular heroine as an angry, unstable personification of the post-recession blues of the fallen rich. The film sees bitter socialite Jasmine moving in with her poorer sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco after her financier husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) is jailed for fraud. Desperate but in denial,...
Blue Jasmine is uncompromisingly raw, using Cate Blanchett's titular heroine as an angry, unstable personification of the post-recession blues of the fallen rich. The film sees bitter socialite Jasmine moving in with her poorer sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco after her financier husband Hal (Alec Baldwin) is jailed for fraud. Desperate but in denial,...
- 9/26/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Cate Blanchett film marks the director's return to making movies in the States. But it's the stars who catch the eye
Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine is being welcomed as a return to late-period form for the writer-director. Well, it's a return to something, that's for sure. It's a return to America, where he's only made one movie in the last eight years – Whatever Works, which didn't – during his peregrinations across England and Europe. But it's not a full return to New York (except in flashbacks), which always makes me wonder if he isn't wanted for questioning over some heinous crime back in his beloved Gotham. Instead, most of Blue Jasmine was shot in San Francisco, a city for which Allen has little or no instinctive feel. It's also a return to A Streetcar Named Desire, whose broad plot outlines have been rather nakedly appropriated here by Allen, whether as...
Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine is being welcomed as a return to late-period form for the writer-director. Well, it's a return to something, that's for sure. It's a return to America, where he's only made one movie in the last eight years – Whatever Works, which didn't – during his peregrinations across England and Europe. But it's not a full return to New York (except in flashbacks), which always makes me wonder if he isn't wanted for questioning over some heinous crime back in his beloved Gotham. Instead, most of Blue Jasmine was shot in San Francisco, a city for which Allen has little or no instinctive feel. It's also a return to A Streetcar Named Desire, whose broad plot outlines have been rather nakedly appropriated here by Allen, whether as...
- 9/23/2013
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
It's been more than a decade since the 1990s ended, yet the Internet can't seem to go a day without a reminder of the neon slap bracelets that may have been banned from your school.
Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.
Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)
1. Scrunchies
2. "The Wild Thornberries"
3. Dawson and Joey
4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"
5. Mr. Feeny
7. MTV playing music videos
8. Snick
9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"
10. Levar Burton
11. "Daria"
12. "Arthur"
13. "The Powerpuff Girls"
14. "Smart Guy"
15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings
16. "The X-Files"
17. Rosie O'Donnell
18. Bill Nye
19. "Dawson's Creek"
20. The Mighty Ducks"
21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"
22. Cornholio
23. Rachel Green
24. Tim Allen
25. "All That"
26. "Beverly Hills 90210"
27. "Step by Step"
28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"
29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"
30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
Yes, we get it. Times are tough and there's comfort in reflection, but enough is enough.
Below, a final goodbye to the 90s to end the nostalgia once and for all. (We're not kidding. There are 1990 items below.)
1. Scrunchies
2. "The Wild Thornberries"
3. Dawson and Joey
4. "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys"
5. Mr. Feeny
7. MTV playing music videos
8. Snick
9. The premiere of "Freaks and Geeks"
10. Levar Burton
11. "Daria"
12. "Arthur"
13. "The Powerpuff Girls"
14. "Smart Guy"
15. Comedy Central globe logo with buildings
16. "The X-Files"
17. Rosie O'Donnell
18. Bill Nye
19. "Dawson's Creek"
20. The Mighty Ducks"
21. "Are You Afraid of the Dark"
22. Cornholio
23. Rachel Green
24. Tim Allen
25. "All That"
26. "Beverly Hills 90210"
27. "Step by Step"
28. "The Ren & Stimpy Show"
29. "The Famous Jett Jackson"
30. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
- 7/29/2013
- by The Huffington Post
- Huffington Post
‘Blue Jasmine’ review: Woody Allen is pissed (photo: Cate Blanchett in ‘Blue Jasmine’) Years ago, the venerable and prolific writer-director and comedian Woody Allen was quick to remind people that he was not one of the Upper East Side elite he had often mocked in his stand-up work and light comedic novels. Eventually, these characters also came to populate his movies following his slapstick-and-shtick period (What’s Up Tiger Lily?, Take the Money and Run, Bananas). Even as Allen played one of these "types," as in Annie Hall, he made sure to note that his surrogate, Alvy, was not really one of them either, but instead rose from his apocryphal tenement beneath the Coney Island boardwalk and past their condo boards, on the strength of his wit and moxie — not an imaginary birth right or slick manipulation of derivatives. In Blue Jasmine, with the help of several perfectly pitched performances,...
- 7/26/2013
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
Having arrived from Glasgow the night before, and fresh from an early morning cast and crew screening of his latest movie, John McKay was set for a day of interviews when we met him in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket.
The film in question, Not Another Happy Ending, was due to close the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival the following night with a star-studded closing gala at the city’s Festival Theatre.
Shot primarily in Glasgow, McKay’s film tells the story of a writer struggling to complete her second novel. Literally haunted by her impatient heroine, Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan) is desperate to escape the two-book contract with her publisher, as she is still smarting from his decision to change the title of her debut behind her back.
Conceived almost five years ago by David Solomons, the original script was passed on to John McKay by the agent they shared. Alongside...
The film in question, Not Another Happy Ending, was due to close the 67th Edinburgh International Film Festival the following night with a star-studded closing gala at the city’s Festival Theatre.
Shot primarily in Glasgow, McKay’s film tells the story of a writer struggling to complete her second novel. Literally haunted by her impatient heroine, Jane Lockhart (Karen Gillan) is desperate to escape the two-book contract with her publisher, as she is still smarting from his decision to change the title of her debut behind her back.
Conceived almost five years ago by David Solomons, the original script was passed on to John McKay by the agent they shared. Alongside...
- 7/5/2013
- by Steven Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
2012 is proving to be a year of epic proportions in the entertainment industry. The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises killed it at the box office, and Diablo III broke several records even before it was released. And guess what? These numbers are not falling any time soon, since there are a few things like the Wii U, The Hobbit and Call of Duty just around the corner. But despite all this, I cannot help feel sorry for the smaller projects out there. One of these includes The Stanley Parable, a short videogame released last year that received little to no media attention. A shame really, since in a couple of decades, I guarantee that it will be regarded as one of the most pioneering games of all time.
Back in the summer of 2011, I traveled back to Denmark for summer holidays. One of my best friends, who also studies in England,...
Back in the summer of 2011, I traveled back to Denmark for summer holidays. One of my best friends, who also studies in England,...
- 9/21/2012
- by Alejandro Jose Aagaard Soto
- Obsessed with Film
On these warm summer days, what better way to escape the heat than with a visit to a movie theater. Sure, you can catch one of the many new films, but instead why not revisit or introduce yourself to a classic. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is running a 70mm series of films beginning Monday in Beverly Hills. It kicks off the inaugural event with the uproarious It’S A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I agree, it’s usually one that we all watch during the holidays but if you’re fortunate enough to see it on the big screen then you need to make a trip to The Academy.
This week I had the chance to speak with the wife of the film’s late director Stanley Kramer over the phone where she nostalgically talked about one of the funniest comedies in film history. Mrs.
This week I had the chance to speak with the wife of the film’s late director Stanley Kramer over the phone where she nostalgically talked about one of the funniest comedies in film history. Mrs.
- 7/6/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Rewind time from NBC: Last night, Oscar-winning actress Penelope Cruz talks with Jay about taking her Oscar with her to the beach, working with Woody Allen and her favorite sex scene she has done. Later, Rick Harrison from .Pawn Stars. talks about how purchasing an official letter signed by Napoleon and eventually finding out it was a fake and his recent engagement. We Are Augustines perform. Jay Leno.S Monologue Thursday, June 14, 2012 Congratulations To The L.A. Kings; They Had Their Big Victory Parade For Winning The Stanley Cup. Or As We Call It Here In L.A.: El Cupo De Stanley. At First I Thought The Fans Were Showering The Kings With Confetti . Turns Out It Was Just...
- 6/16/2012
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
With a spasm of east coast neurosis, Woody Allen gets the event underway – and it isn't long before things get raucous
Woody Allen waits anxiously to introduce To Rome with Love at the Regal theatre in downtown La; there are echoes of the young, nervous standup who performed against his will at the start of his career. But this is the opening night of the Los Angeles film festival, as well as the movie's North American premiere, so within nanoseconds of Allen striding up to the mic the crowd are on their feet.
"I was blessed with a great cast. A cast I'm counting on to make me look good," he stutters, endearingly, before introducing Penélope Cruz, Alison Pill, Greta Gerwig, Simona Caparrini and Alessandra Mastronardi. "If you like the picture, I'm thrilled. If you hate it and think it was a waste of time coming, don't let me know...
Woody Allen waits anxiously to introduce To Rome with Love at the Regal theatre in downtown La; there are echoes of the young, nervous standup who performed against his will at the start of his career. But this is the opening night of the Los Angeles film festival, as well as the movie's North American premiere, so within nanoseconds of Allen striding up to the mic the crowd are on their feet.
"I was blessed with a great cast. A cast I'm counting on to make me look good," he stutters, endearingly, before introducing Penélope Cruz, Alison Pill, Greta Gerwig, Simona Caparrini and Alessandra Mastronardi. "If you like the picture, I'm thrilled. If you hate it and think it was a waste of time coming, don't let me know...
- 6/15/2012
- by Lisa Marks
- The Guardian - Film News
We all know Ira Deutchman, but for the record, Ira has been making, marketing and distributing films since 1975, having worked on over 150 films including some of the most successful independent films of all time. He was one of the founders of Cinecom and later created Fine Line Features—two companies that were created from scratch and in their respective times, helped define the independent film business. Currently Deutchman is Managing Partner of Emerging Pictures, a New York-based digital exhibition company. He is also a Professor of Professional Practice in the Graduate Film Division of the School of the Arts at Columbia University, where he is the head of the Producing Program. He is also active in Art House Convergence and wrote this inspirational blog for them. It inspired my own reminiscence which was quite fun to do. It will go up tomorrow. I hope my readers enjoy this. If it inspires you, I will publish yours here as well.
Posted on October 3, 2011 by Ira Deutchman
I grew up in movie theaters. At a very young age, my mother started bringing me to matinees and later we would pile the family into the car and head to the local drive-in for double features. In my adolescent and teenage years, the fact that my family moved around so much meant that I had few friends. I spent all my spare time in movie theaters. By the time I went to college, movies were my life. I used to pride myself on the fact that I could name the theater where I saw every film I’d ever seen.
On a recent trip to Chicago, I walked around the Loop–the site of many of my most formative movie moments–and was astonished to see how little was left of what was one of the most beautiful movie theater districts anywhere. It made me very sad, but motivated me to write this piece about the movie theaters for which I have the fondest memories. They are in chronological order according to where they fit in my life.
The Park Plaza Theater in the Bronx was most likely my first movie theater experience. It was only a few blocks from where we lived, and this is where my mother first exposed me to movies. I remember the matrons in their white suits and flashlights trying to keep the kids–who were required to sit in a separate section unless they were accompanied by parents–quiet. The first movie I actually remember was a film that terrified me at the time. It had images that stuck with me throughout my life, even though I couldn’t remember what film it was. It was only as an adult that I realized that the movie I had seen was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Loews Paradise, also in the Bronx, was a magnificent place. Even as a kid, going there to see a movie was a special occasion. I remember being on a shopping expedition with my mother to Alexander’s (right across the street from the Paradise) and seeing banners and posters for ”Tom Thumb” with Russ Tamblyn as the little guy. I became obsessed with seeing that film, until my parents finally gave in and brought me to see it–even though it would have been cheaper to wait for it to play in a closer neighborhood theater.
Another memory that sticks with me is when I went to see a Jerry Lewis film at the Paradise–I think it may have been “The Bellboy”–with a neighbor who used to babysit for me. She was a huge Jerry Lewis fan and, throughout the film, she was laughing so hard, she kept hitting me.
In the early ’60s, my family moved to the south side of Chicago. My neighborhood movie theaters were only a short walk from where we lived. Almost every weekend, I went to see whatever was playing at those theaters. There was theHamilton and the Jeffery,both on 71st Street, and theChelton on 79th. Since this was before the ratings system, there were many films coming out that I wanted to see that had been designated as “adults only,” so I was prevented from seeing them without my parents. Fortunately, every Sunday the Chelton had a special kiddie matinee for 25 cents admission. As the kiddie film was ending, if you hid out in the men’s room, you could wait until after they cleared the theater and stay to see the adult film that came afterward. So every Sunday, I dragged my brother Larry to the Chelton and for a quarter (he got in free), we saw such “adult” films as “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,” “Fate is the Hunter,” and “Goldfinger” (which my parents were furious about my having seen once they saw the provocative poster). They had no idea that I was in the process of reading all the James Bond books, which were far racier than the films.
Another neighborhood theater was the Avalon, which was a huge movie palace and as magnificent as the Paradise. When something played at the Avalon, it was well worth walking the slightly extra distance to see it there. The Avalon mostly played big event movies after they completed their downtown roadshow runs, like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “West Side Story.”
One day, I heard that the Avalon was one of a dozen or so theaters in the Chicago area that was going to have a special screening of “Having A Wild Weekend,” and that the Dave Clark Five were going to appear in person at the theater. Apparently, the promoters had timed things so that the group could appear at each of the theaters where the film would be playing that day. The big show at the Avalon was a Saturday morning matinee. I got in line early, and was shaking with excitement when I realized that I would indeed get in. There were more than 2,500 seats and the place was packed. A man came out on stage and announced that the group would be making its appearance before the film, and would be there momentarily. The crowd started to scream. Moments later, the Dave Clark Five marched out on stage, and the place went wild. There was a scuffle near the stage and the next thing we knew, the five of them had left the stage. The lights went off and the movie started. The next morning, it was in the newspaper that one of the group had suffered a broken wrist in the “near-riot” that ensued at the Avalon.
After awhile, I began to get impatient waiting for new movies to make it to the neighborhood theaters. I was also old enough to go to the Loop by myself, either by taking the Illinois Central train or, in good weather, riding my bicycle along Lake Michigan.
The theaters in the Loop started running shows at 9am, sometimes with no one in the audience. Many years later, when I was already in the film business, I was told that the Chicago projectionists union was one of the strongest in the country, and that the projectionists had to be paid for the full day whether there were shows or not. So most of the theaters simply opted to go ahead with the shows. This was great for me, since I could get there early and see films that would have been difficult to get into later in the day.
There were many gorgeous theaters in the Loop, but I had two favorites, The United Artists and the Woods. They were both grand movie palaces and had long histories that were completely lost on me at the time. All I cared about was that they were showing the latest, greatest movies. And they knew how to market them. The theaters tried to outdo each other in terms of the special displays they created for the films that were playing. The entire fronts of the theaters were covered by photos and posters for the films. The marquees screamed out whatever sensational lines they could think of to entice people into the theaters.
Of the many films that I saw at the Woods, one of my fondest memories was seeing “A Hard Days Night” the week it opened. The place was packed with screaming kids. I was way up in the balcony. When the Beatles began singing a song, the entire audience clapped along.
My recollection is that a lot of the films that played at the Woods were horror films or thrillers. I recall seeing a few William Castle films, some of the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations by Roger Corman and, in 1967, “Wait Until Dark,” for which they advertised that all the lights in the theater would be turned off for the last few minutes of the film. I can never remember being so scared in a film.
At the United Artists, I recall stumbling into an early morning showing of ”A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” not knowing anything about the film other than the strange title. I laughed so hard that I went back several more times to see it.
Right down the block from those theaters were the Cinestage and the Michael Todd. These were the more prestigious theaters, where you could see the latest blockbuster roadshow releases–in many cases a completely different (longer) version of the film than would be released in the neighborhoods. At these theaters I saw “2001: A Space Odyssey” (several times) and ”The Sound of Music” (several times), among many more “event” films.
In 1967, we moved again, this time to Highland Park, in Chicago’s north suburbs. My theater of choice was the Edens Theater, which was visible from the Edens Expressway. Unlike all the previous theaters, the Edens was not an old theater. It was a modernist masterpiece and a state-of-the-art facility that frequently had exclusive runs of films for the entire North Shore. Since it was a single-screen theater, hit films would settle in and play for long periods of time. One day I went to see “Bonnie and Clyde” at the Edens; I believe that was the moment I decided I wanted to make movies some day. I’m sure the massive screen and the incredible sound at the Edens added to the experience. I went back and saw “Bonnie and Clyde” at least five times, and since I didn’t have my drivers license yet, each time I saw the film one of my parents had to drive me. One day, as I was settling into my seat in the nearly empty theater, my Dad suddenly sat down next to me. I must have looked shocked as he said to me,” You keep coming to see this film so much, I decided to see what it is you like so much.” Throughout the film, he kept looking at me, wondering what kind of pervert he was bringing up.
A year or so later, my uncle was visiting from out of town, and took me to the Esquire on the north side of Chicago to see a film that he had read was all the rage. The Esquire was a beautiful deco palace, and one of the nicest places to see a film in Chicago. I would go there many times over the years, the last time being for the premiere of “Hoop Dreams” decades later. The film was “Easy Rider,” and it was on a double bill with a foreign language film that I can’t remember. They also showed a short called “De Duva (The Dove),” a great parody of early Bergman (It’s available on YouTube). My education continued.
A couple of years later, we moved again, this time to Paramus, NJ. The most spectacular local theater was the Stanley Warner Route 4. It started as a single-screen 2,000 seat theater, added a second screen in the the mid-70′s and eventually was carved up into little pieces. I practically lived at the theater all through high school. One memorable experience was trying to get in to see “Woodstock” and being turned away because I was too young. It looked to me like they were turning away the entire interested audience.
I also spent a lot of time at the Bergen Mall Cinema, which was the local art house. Here I saw such films as “Women in Love,” Fellini’s “Satyricon,” “Zabriskie Point,” and numerous films that were distributed by Cinema 5, a company that I would end up working for a number of years later. It was eye opening, and contributed to my radicalization in my teenage years. This theater may have been a shoebox in the middle of a suburban mall, but it was responsible for expanding the horizons of the youth of Bergen County. [Interestingly, I can't find any decent pictures of either of these two theaters.]
Then it was off to Chicago again, where I went to college. In Evanston, where the Northwestern campus was located, there were two downtown theaters, the Varsity and theValencia. They were both smaller movie palaces, but by the early ’70s they were in bad shape, mostly showing grindhouse films. That didn’t mean that I didn’t check them out. Given the recreational bent of the times, hanging at those two theaters could be a lot of fun.
However, the real action was in Chicago, and there were theaters showing films for every taste. The Carnegiewas the fancy art house, playing the latest foreign language films that were being written about in the New York Times. It was architecturally undistinguished and shared the same building with Mr. Kelly’s night club and a large parking structure. But the presentation was first class.
Repertory cinema was all over town, most notably at theBiograph and at thePlayboy at Clark and Division, which my college roommate referred to as the “center of the world.” The Biograph, of course, is world famous for being the place where Dillinger was killed after seeing a movie. The seat where Dillinger sat that night was painted gold so that patrons could find it easily. There was something special about seeing a film from the ’20s or ’30s in a setting that was so authentic to that time.
The Playboy was nowhere near as atmospheric, but it’s programming was something else. By day, the theater was an art house, playing the second tier art films that couldn’t get bookings at the Carnegie. But by night the Playboy became Chicago’s best repertory house. They called it the “Playboy All-Night Show,” and it was a different double feature every night, starting at midnight. One night it would be two Marx Brothers films, the next night two Ken Russell films, the next night, two by Antonioni. It was like someone was programming my Netflix queue, only in a movie theater. You can imagine my many bleary-eyed mornings, trying to stay awake through classes after having sat through two amazing films that ended at 4:00 am or later. (Yes, that’s Roger Ebert posing in front of the Playboy.)
After college, I ended up moving to New York City. I got a job with Cinema 5, which owned and operated most of the classiest theaters in Manhattan. It was a dream come true. Every Friday, the office manager would come by everyone’s desk and hand them 4 passes to any of the theaters, with an expiration date of the following week–use it or lose it. No chance of that for me. If anything, 4 passes were hardly enough, and I took to asking around for passes that others weren’t using.
The theaters were well-kept to the point of obsessiveness. I would be asked to run over to a theater to make sure the bathrooms were clean. The presentation was classy and always top-notch.
My absolute favorite of the theaters was the Plaza, which was the most atmospheric. I experienced some of the earliest examples of the coming American Independent movement at the Plaza, including “Hester Street,” “Pumping Iron,” “Harlan County USA” and others. Since the Plaza was right around the corner from the Cinema 5 office, we had our acquisition screenings there, so I spent many a morning drinking my coffee and eating my bagel in the first row of the loge section of the theater, screening some movie that we might be interested in acquiring. After awhile, the theater manager permitted me to park my bicycle in the theater when I rode it to work.
I always loved Cinema 1 and 2 on Third Avenue. It was before they had carved it into a third theater, and before it was allowed to get run down. It was a glittering example of a thoroughly modern movie theater, eschewing curtains for a black fabric strip that would come down from the ceiling before each show to mask the proper screen ratio. I used up a lot of those Cinema 5 passes at these theaters. When I started working there, Robert Altman’s “Nashville” was just beginning a record-setting run at Cinema 2. I had already seen the film once at the Esquire before leaving Chicago, but now I had the chance to see it over and over again, and I did. I probably saw the film 20 times in my first six months working at the company.
Another favorite was the Beekman. It was an art deco jewel, and probably the most beautiful movie theater that I’d ever seen that was built to be a movie theater. Woody Allen also loved the Beekman, and typically insisted that his films open there. I recall seeing “Love and Death” many times at the Beekman.
But I didn’t spend all of my time at the Cinema 5 theaters. I still had a taste for older films and frequented Dan Talbot’s New Yorker, and the Thalia, both of which were in the neighborhood where I lived. This was the golden age of double features, and the New York rep houses were trying to outdo each other in the cleverness of their programming.
In the years since, as my career led me to do business with many of the theaters I grew up with, I never lost my fondness for them. But one-by-one, just about all the theaters I have mentioned disappeared. The Thalia still exists, but the original parabolic floor has been straightened out and there is no longer any fixed seating. Cinema 1 & 2 have spawned a 3rd screen that has wrecked the perfect symmetry of the other two. The Biograph has been renovated and is being used by a theater company. The Esquire was cut up into smaller theaters many years ago, and now sits empty. The Avalon also sits abandoned. The Paradise is still there and has recently been partially restored, but it’s mainly used for events. All the rest are gone.
If you enjoy this subject, you owe it to yourself to check out the Cinema Treasures web site. I found many of the photos used in this piece on that site under a Creative Commons license. Full photo credits below:
Photo Credits:
Park Plaza: NYCago.com
Loews Paradise: Brad Smith, Cinema Treasures
Hamilton: Nick Coston, Cinema Treasures
Jeffery: Senorsock, Cinema Treasure
Avalon: Ira Deutchman
Woods: John P. Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
United Artists: John P. Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
Michael Todd: John P Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
Edens: Didi, Dim Beauty of Chicago
Esquire: Ira Deutchman
Varsity: Ira Deutchman
Carnegie: David Zornig, Cinema Treasures
Biograph: Norman Plant, Cinema Treasures
Playboy: Tim O’Neill, Cinema Treasures
Plaza: William, Cinema Treasures
Cinema 1&2: Dave-Bronx, Cinema Treasures
Beekman: Patrick Crowley, Cinema Treasures
New Yorker: MovieswithDad, Cinema Treasures This entry was posted in Film and tagged Bronx, Chicago, Highland Park, Movie Theaters, New York City, Paramus. Bookmark the permalink. ← Master Class: Independent Film Financing Let River Rest in Peace → 5 Responses to Movie Theaters I’ve Known and Loved Sydney Levine says: October 3, 2011 at 8:57 pm
I love this! I’ll try to do it…just the photos. you write better than I
Jordi Wijnalda says: October 3, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Wow, Ira – this really hit home for me. No, I have not experienced any of this first-hand myself, but it once again reaffirmed for me that a different decade might have been better for me… In some ways, at least. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Juliet Goodfriend says: October 5, 2011 at 10:10 am
Ira, your memory is as awesome as your love of, and history in, films and theaters. Thanks, for the memories..da dah da dah da daah, etc (I can’t even remember the lyrics!).
Juliet
DanZee says: October 5, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Unfortunately theaters bear the scars of the ups and downs of the movie industry. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, you had huge theaters showing films continuously to large masses of coming-and-going people. The television age shifted that to films you couldn’t (yet) see on TV, such as long-running “event” pictures or a constantly changing schedule of foreign and repertory films. During the 1980s, the film studios revved up production again using independent producers (and their money) that shifted theaters to a multiplex design of more screens but smaller “box” theaters. The older theaters were abandoned or cut up, and even today theater owners skimp on building maintenance. Just as the old movie palaces have met the wrecking ball, throughout the 2000′s multiplexes have been plowed over for newer restaurant-themed superplexes. And at some point, even they will be replaced with something different. It’s all a cycle.
Carl Spence says: October 11, 2011 at 3:30 am
The timing of this article is fortuitous as we are re-opening a 85 year old movie palace – the uptown cinemas from October 20th in Seattle. It has the original single screen with the addition of two smaller stadium auditoriums that were added next door in the mid-80s. We are currently restoring the 50s marquee and getting the place ready to open in a short amount of time. Very exciting times in Seattle for movie going!
Posted on October 3, 2011 by Ira Deutchman
I grew up in movie theaters. At a very young age, my mother started bringing me to matinees and later we would pile the family into the car and head to the local drive-in for double features. In my adolescent and teenage years, the fact that my family moved around so much meant that I had few friends. I spent all my spare time in movie theaters. By the time I went to college, movies were my life. I used to pride myself on the fact that I could name the theater where I saw every film I’d ever seen.
On a recent trip to Chicago, I walked around the Loop–the site of many of my most formative movie moments–and was astonished to see how little was left of what was one of the most beautiful movie theater districts anywhere. It made me very sad, but motivated me to write this piece about the movie theaters for which I have the fondest memories. They are in chronological order according to where they fit in my life.
The Park Plaza Theater in the Bronx was most likely my first movie theater experience. It was only a few blocks from where we lived, and this is where my mother first exposed me to movies. I remember the matrons in their white suits and flashlights trying to keep the kids–who were required to sit in a separate section unless they were accompanied by parents–quiet. The first movie I actually remember was a film that terrified me at the time. It had images that stuck with me throughout my life, even though I couldn’t remember what film it was. It was only as an adult that I realized that the movie I had seen was “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.”
Loews Paradise, also in the Bronx, was a magnificent place. Even as a kid, going there to see a movie was a special occasion. I remember being on a shopping expedition with my mother to Alexander’s (right across the street from the Paradise) and seeing banners and posters for ”Tom Thumb” with Russ Tamblyn as the little guy. I became obsessed with seeing that film, until my parents finally gave in and brought me to see it–even though it would have been cheaper to wait for it to play in a closer neighborhood theater.
Another memory that sticks with me is when I went to see a Jerry Lewis film at the Paradise–I think it may have been “The Bellboy”–with a neighbor who used to babysit for me. She was a huge Jerry Lewis fan and, throughout the film, she was laughing so hard, she kept hitting me.
In the early ’60s, my family moved to the south side of Chicago. My neighborhood movie theaters were only a short walk from where we lived. Almost every weekend, I went to see whatever was playing at those theaters. There was theHamilton and the Jeffery,both on 71st Street, and theChelton on 79th. Since this was before the ratings system, there were many films coming out that I wanted to see that had been designated as “adults only,” so I was prevented from seeing them without my parents. Fortunately, every Sunday the Chelton had a special kiddie matinee for 25 cents admission. As the kiddie film was ending, if you hid out in the men’s room, you could wait until after they cleared the theater and stay to see the adult film that came afterward. So every Sunday, I dragged my brother Larry to the Chelton and for a quarter (he got in free), we saw such “adult” films as “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,” “Fate is the Hunter,” and “Goldfinger” (which my parents were furious about my having seen once they saw the provocative poster). They had no idea that I was in the process of reading all the James Bond books, which were far racier than the films.
Another neighborhood theater was the Avalon, which was a huge movie palace and as magnificent as the Paradise. When something played at the Avalon, it was well worth walking the slightly extra distance to see it there. The Avalon mostly played big event movies after they completed their downtown roadshow runs, like “Lawrence of Arabia” and “West Side Story.”
One day, I heard that the Avalon was one of a dozen or so theaters in the Chicago area that was going to have a special screening of “Having A Wild Weekend,” and that the Dave Clark Five were going to appear in person at the theater. Apparently, the promoters had timed things so that the group could appear at each of the theaters where the film would be playing that day. The big show at the Avalon was a Saturday morning matinee. I got in line early, and was shaking with excitement when I realized that I would indeed get in. There were more than 2,500 seats and the place was packed. A man came out on stage and announced that the group would be making its appearance before the film, and would be there momentarily. The crowd started to scream. Moments later, the Dave Clark Five marched out on stage, and the place went wild. There was a scuffle near the stage and the next thing we knew, the five of them had left the stage. The lights went off and the movie started. The next morning, it was in the newspaper that one of the group had suffered a broken wrist in the “near-riot” that ensued at the Avalon.
After awhile, I began to get impatient waiting for new movies to make it to the neighborhood theaters. I was also old enough to go to the Loop by myself, either by taking the Illinois Central train or, in good weather, riding my bicycle along Lake Michigan.
The theaters in the Loop started running shows at 9am, sometimes with no one in the audience. Many years later, when I was already in the film business, I was told that the Chicago projectionists union was one of the strongest in the country, and that the projectionists had to be paid for the full day whether there were shows or not. So most of the theaters simply opted to go ahead with the shows. This was great for me, since I could get there early and see films that would have been difficult to get into later in the day.
There were many gorgeous theaters in the Loop, but I had two favorites, The United Artists and the Woods. They were both grand movie palaces and had long histories that were completely lost on me at the time. All I cared about was that they were showing the latest, greatest movies. And they knew how to market them. The theaters tried to outdo each other in terms of the special displays they created for the films that were playing. The entire fronts of the theaters were covered by photos and posters for the films. The marquees screamed out whatever sensational lines they could think of to entice people into the theaters.
Of the many films that I saw at the Woods, one of my fondest memories was seeing “A Hard Days Night” the week it opened. The place was packed with screaming kids. I was way up in the balcony. When the Beatles began singing a song, the entire audience clapped along.
My recollection is that a lot of the films that played at the Woods were horror films or thrillers. I recall seeing a few William Castle films, some of the Edgar Allen Poe adaptations by Roger Corman and, in 1967, “Wait Until Dark,” for which they advertised that all the lights in the theater would be turned off for the last few minutes of the film. I can never remember being so scared in a film.
At the United Artists, I recall stumbling into an early morning showing of ”A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” not knowing anything about the film other than the strange title. I laughed so hard that I went back several more times to see it.
Right down the block from those theaters were the Cinestage and the Michael Todd. These were the more prestigious theaters, where you could see the latest blockbuster roadshow releases–in many cases a completely different (longer) version of the film than would be released in the neighborhoods. At these theaters I saw “2001: A Space Odyssey” (several times) and ”The Sound of Music” (several times), among many more “event” films.
In 1967, we moved again, this time to Highland Park, in Chicago’s north suburbs. My theater of choice was the Edens Theater, which was visible from the Edens Expressway. Unlike all the previous theaters, the Edens was not an old theater. It was a modernist masterpiece and a state-of-the-art facility that frequently had exclusive runs of films for the entire North Shore. Since it was a single-screen theater, hit films would settle in and play for long periods of time. One day I went to see “Bonnie and Clyde” at the Edens; I believe that was the moment I decided I wanted to make movies some day. I’m sure the massive screen and the incredible sound at the Edens added to the experience. I went back and saw “Bonnie and Clyde” at least five times, and since I didn’t have my drivers license yet, each time I saw the film one of my parents had to drive me. One day, as I was settling into my seat in the nearly empty theater, my Dad suddenly sat down next to me. I must have looked shocked as he said to me,” You keep coming to see this film so much, I decided to see what it is you like so much.” Throughout the film, he kept looking at me, wondering what kind of pervert he was bringing up.
A year or so later, my uncle was visiting from out of town, and took me to the Esquire on the north side of Chicago to see a film that he had read was all the rage. The Esquire was a beautiful deco palace, and one of the nicest places to see a film in Chicago. I would go there many times over the years, the last time being for the premiere of “Hoop Dreams” decades later. The film was “Easy Rider,” and it was on a double bill with a foreign language film that I can’t remember. They also showed a short called “De Duva (The Dove),” a great parody of early Bergman (It’s available on YouTube). My education continued.
A couple of years later, we moved again, this time to Paramus, NJ. The most spectacular local theater was the Stanley Warner Route 4. It started as a single-screen 2,000 seat theater, added a second screen in the the mid-70′s and eventually was carved up into little pieces. I practically lived at the theater all through high school. One memorable experience was trying to get in to see “Woodstock” and being turned away because I was too young. It looked to me like they were turning away the entire interested audience.
I also spent a lot of time at the Bergen Mall Cinema, which was the local art house. Here I saw such films as “Women in Love,” Fellini’s “Satyricon,” “Zabriskie Point,” and numerous films that were distributed by Cinema 5, a company that I would end up working for a number of years later. It was eye opening, and contributed to my radicalization in my teenage years. This theater may have been a shoebox in the middle of a suburban mall, but it was responsible for expanding the horizons of the youth of Bergen County. [Interestingly, I can't find any decent pictures of either of these two theaters.]
Then it was off to Chicago again, where I went to college. In Evanston, where the Northwestern campus was located, there were two downtown theaters, the Varsity and theValencia. They were both smaller movie palaces, but by the early ’70s they were in bad shape, mostly showing grindhouse films. That didn’t mean that I didn’t check them out. Given the recreational bent of the times, hanging at those two theaters could be a lot of fun.
However, the real action was in Chicago, and there were theaters showing films for every taste. The Carnegiewas the fancy art house, playing the latest foreign language films that were being written about in the New York Times. It was architecturally undistinguished and shared the same building with Mr. Kelly’s night club and a large parking structure. But the presentation was first class.
Repertory cinema was all over town, most notably at theBiograph and at thePlayboy at Clark and Division, which my college roommate referred to as the “center of the world.” The Biograph, of course, is world famous for being the place where Dillinger was killed after seeing a movie. The seat where Dillinger sat that night was painted gold so that patrons could find it easily. There was something special about seeing a film from the ’20s or ’30s in a setting that was so authentic to that time.
The Playboy was nowhere near as atmospheric, but it’s programming was something else. By day, the theater was an art house, playing the second tier art films that couldn’t get bookings at the Carnegie. But by night the Playboy became Chicago’s best repertory house. They called it the “Playboy All-Night Show,” and it was a different double feature every night, starting at midnight. One night it would be two Marx Brothers films, the next night two Ken Russell films, the next night, two by Antonioni. It was like someone was programming my Netflix queue, only in a movie theater. You can imagine my many bleary-eyed mornings, trying to stay awake through classes after having sat through two amazing films that ended at 4:00 am or later. (Yes, that’s Roger Ebert posing in front of the Playboy.)
After college, I ended up moving to New York City. I got a job with Cinema 5, which owned and operated most of the classiest theaters in Manhattan. It was a dream come true. Every Friday, the office manager would come by everyone’s desk and hand them 4 passes to any of the theaters, with an expiration date of the following week–use it or lose it. No chance of that for me. If anything, 4 passes were hardly enough, and I took to asking around for passes that others weren’t using.
The theaters were well-kept to the point of obsessiveness. I would be asked to run over to a theater to make sure the bathrooms were clean. The presentation was classy and always top-notch.
My absolute favorite of the theaters was the Plaza, which was the most atmospheric. I experienced some of the earliest examples of the coming American Independent movement at the Plaza, including “Hester Street,” “Pumping Iron,” “Harlan County USA” and others. Since the Plaza was right around the corner from the Cinema 5 office, we had our acquisition screenings there, so I spent many a morning drinking my coffee and eating my bagel in the first row of the loge section of the theater, screening some movie that we might be interested in acquiring. After awhile, the theater manager permitted me to park my bicycle in the theater when I rode it to work.
I always loved Cinema 1 and 2 on Third Avenue. It was before they had carved it into a third theater, and before it was allowed to get run down. It was a glittering example of a thoroughly modern movie theater, eschewing curtains for a black fabric strip that would come down from the ceiling before each show to mask the proper screen ratio. I used up a lot of those Cinema 5 passes at these theaters. When I started working there, Robert Altman’s “Nashville” was just beginning a record-setting run at Cinema 2. I had already seen the film once at the Esquire before leaving Chicago, but now I had the chance to see it over and over again, and I did. I probably saw the film 20 times in my first six months working at the company.
Another favorite was the Beekman. It was an art deco jewel, and probably the most beautiful movie theater that I’d ever seen that was built to be a movie theater. Woody Allen also loved the Beekman, and typically insisted that his films open there. I recall seeing “Love and Death” many times at the Beekman.
But I didn’t spend all of my time at the Cinema 5 theaters. I still had a taste for older films and frequented Dan Talbot’s New Yorker, and the Thalia, both of which were in the neighborhood where I lived. This was the golden age of double features, and the New York rep houses were trying to outdo each other in the cleverness of their programming.
In the years since, as my career led me to do business with many of the theaters I grew up with, I never lost my fondness for them. But one-by-one, just about all the theaters I have mentioned disappeared. The Thalia still exists, but the original parabolic floor has been straightened out and there is no longer any fixed seating. Cinema 1 & 2 have spawned a 3rd screen that has wrecked the perfect symmetry of the other two. The Biograph has been renovated and is being used by a theater company. The Esquire was cut up into smaller theaters many years ago, and now sits empty. The Avalon also sits abandoned. The Paradise is still there and has recently been partially restored, but it’s mainly used for events. All the rest are gone.
If you enjoy this subject, you owe it to yourself to check out the Cinema Treasures web site. I found many of the photos used in this piece on that site under a Creative Commons license. Full photo credits below:
Photo Credits:
Park Plaza: NYCago.com
Loews Paradise: Brad Smith, Cinema Treasures
Hamilton: Nick Coston, Cinema Treasures
Jeffery: Senorsock, Cinema Treasure
Avalon: Ira Deutchman
Woods: John P. Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
United Artists: John P. Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
Michael Todd: John P Keating Jr, Cinema Treasures
Edens: Didi, Dim Beauty of Chicago
Esquire: Ira Deutchman
Varsity: Ira Deutchman
Carnegie: David Zornig, Cinema Treasures
Biograph: Norman Plant, Cinema Treasures
Playboy: Tim O’Neill, Cinema Treasures
Plaza: William, Cinema Treasures
Cinema 1&2: Dave-Bronx, Cinema Treasures
Beekman: Patrick Crowley, Cinema Treasures
New Yorker: MovieswithDad, Cinema Treasures This entry was posted in Film and tagged Bronx, Chicago, Highland Park, Movie Theaters, New York City, Paramus. Bookmark the permalink. ← Master Class: Independent Film Financing Let River Rest in Peace → 5 Responses to Movie Theaters I’ve Known and Loved Sydney Levine says: October 3, 2011 at 8:57 pm
I love this! I’ll try to do it…just the photos. you write better than I
Jordi Wijnalda says: October 3, 2011 at 10:48 pm
Wow, Ira – this really hit home for me. No, I have not experienced any of this first-hand myself, but it once again reaffirmed for me that a different decade might have been better for me… In some ways, at least. Thanks a lot for sharing this!
Juliet Goodfriend says: October 5, 2011 at 10:10 am
Ira, your memory is as awesome as your love of, and history in, films and theaters. Thanks, for the memories..da dah da dah da daah, etc (I can’t even remember the lyrics!).
Juliet
DanZee says: October 5, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Unfortunately theaters bear the scars of the ups and downs of the movie industry. During the Golden Age of Hollywood, you had huge theaters showing films continuously to large masses of coming-and-going people. The television age shifted that to films you couldn’t (yet) see on TV, such as long-running “event” pictures or a constantly changing schedule of foreign and repertory films. During the 1980s, the film studios revved up production again using independent producers (and their money) that shifted theaters to a multiplex design of more screens but smaller “box” theaters. The older theaters were abandoned or cut up, and even today theater owners skimp on building maintenance. Just as the old movie palaces have met the wrecking ball, throughout the 2000′s multiplexes have been plowed over for newer restaurant-themed superplexes. And at some point, even they will be replaced with something different. It’s all a cycle.
Carl Spence says: October 11, 2011 at 3:30 am
The timing of this article is fortuitous as we are re-opening a 85 year old movie palace – the uptown cinemas from October 20th in Seattle. It has the original single screen with the addition of two smaller stadium auditoriums that were added next door in the mid-80s. We are currently restoring the 50s marquee and getting the place ready to open in a short amount of time. Very exciting times in Seattle for movie going!
- 3/26/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Artist tops off its triumphant run throughout this awards season with a big night at the Oscars. And the winners are... in bold:
Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Directing
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne
Hugo, Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
Actor In A Leading Role
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Actor In A Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Actress In A Leading Role
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help...
Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Directing
The Artist, Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Alexander Payne
Hugo, Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
The Tree of Life, Terrence Malick
Actor In A Leading Role
Demián Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball
Actor In A Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Actress In A Leading Role
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help...
- 2/27/2012
- MUBI
Michael York dashes onto the cinematic scene as the blundering but very enthusiastic D'Artagnan in Richard Lester's hugely enjoyable period comic romp. The late great Roy Kinnear is the long-suffering vassal of aristocratic swordsmen Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay, whilst Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway shine as heroine and villainess, respectively. Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind filmed the following year's sequel back-to-back with this more successful first part, which approach they would revisit shortly for Superman and Superman II. Dumas with wit, energy and integrity.
Notable Quotable: "That man in his time has insulted me, broken my father's sword, had me clubbed to the ground, laid violent hands on the woman I love! He is inconvenient. "
Martin Anderson
Mike Nichols and Buck Henry achieve what seemed impossible, at least on the evidence of an earlier attempt: to transliterate the pitch-dark war humour of Joseph Heller into a cohesive,...
Notable Quotable: "That man in his time has insulted me, broken my father's sword, had me clubbed to the ground, laid violent hands on the woman I love! He is inconvenient. "
Martin Anderson
Mike Nichols and Buck Henry achieve what seemed impossible, at least on the evidence of an earlier attempt: to transliterate the pitch-dark war humour of Joseph Heller into a cohesive,...
- 5/12/2011
- Shadowlocked
With reports out of France that Woody Allen is shooting a cameo for the film "Paris Manhattan," a comedy from first-time director Sophie Lellouche in which part of the plot revolves around a pharmacist (Alice Taglioni) so obsessed with his work she prescribes DVDs of his films to patients, the 75-year-old filmmaker continues a tradition of picking peculiar projects to appear in outside of his own.
In a career that's entering its fifth decade, Allen has starred in just six films he hasn't directed ("Play It Again, Sam," "The Front," "Scenes From a Mall," the 1996 "Sunshine Boys" TV remake, "Antz" and "Picking Up the Pieces") and limited himself to a handful of other uncredited cameos. Though he's scarcely performed in anything in recent years - his last role as an actor was in 2006's "Scoop" - some of his most intriguing roles have come in the films in which he's scarcely seen,...
In a career that's entering its fifth decade, Allen has starred in just six films he hasn't directed ("Play It Again, Sam," "The Front," "Scenes From a Mall," the 1996 "Sunshine Boys" TV remake, "Antz" and "Picking Up the Pieces") and limited himself to a handful of other uncredited cameos. Though he's scarcely performed in anything in recent years - his last role as an actor was in 2006's "Scoop" - some of his most intriguing roles have come in the films in which he's scarcely seen,...
- 4/5/2011
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
Patty and the NYC premiere
this summerEarlier this month I met with Patricia Clarkson to discuss another fine year in one of the most pleasurable of modern character actor filmographies. Hers. I was waiting for the right opportunity to share it with you, and since Cairo Time is out on DVD, Academy voters are busy weighing the various Best Actress options, and today is Patty's 51st birthday, it was high time.
Through an unfortunate scheduling snafu I was less prepared when I met her than I am accustomed to being. I apologized with a wee warning that I'd be winging it. I bring this up because, as many of will remember, I have closely clocked her career. She came in at #2 in my 2005 countdown "Actresses of the Aughts" (yes we should revisit that list now that the decade has wrapped) and because I just want to share the unedited transcript.
this summerEarlier this month I met with Patricia Clarkson to discuss another fine year in one of the most pleasurable of modern character actor filmographies. Hers. I was waiting for the right opportunity to share it with you, and since Cairo Time is out on DVD, Academy voters are busy weighing the various Best Actress options, and today is Patty's 51st birthday, it was high time.
Through an unfortunate scheduling snafu I was less prepared when I met her than I am accustomed to being. I apologized with a wee warning that I'd be winging it. I bring this up because, as many of will remember, I have closely clocked her career. She came in at #2 in my 2005 countdown "Actresses of the Aughts" (yes we should revisit that list now that the decade has wrapped) and because I just want to share the unedited transcript.
- 12/30/2010
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci share more in common than critical accolades and impressive resumes. Both actors enjoyed professional breakthroughs somewhat later in life, after struggling through their 20s and early 30s. Each credits the Steven Bochco series "Murder One" as a major turning point in their careers. And both share similar perspectives on their craft and the business -- not to mention a wicked sense of humor.Clarkson and Tucci have teamed up before in projects Tucci has co-written and directed, beginning with the 2000 film "Joe Gould's Secret." In 2007, the pair played a married couple estranged by tragedy who repeatedly pretend to meet for the first time in "Blind Date," inspired by a film from the late Dutch director Theo van Gogh. This month, the duo will reteam as a far more lighthearted couple in "Easy A," a smart new comedy from director Will Gluck and writer Bert V. Royal.
- 9/9/2010
- backstage.com
So, yes. The good news is that Robert Englund, ever-famous for his portrayal of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street will appear on Chuck as Dr. Stanley Wheelwright, "an evil scientist who can make your waking life a nightmare." Hardy...har...har.
The bad news is these, among other casting moves, will eventually reach a breaking point that trades honest storytelling among our favorite shows for celebrity appearances. We're all for the Geek Casting of Chuck, or even the DC Adaptations of Smallville, but when seen as a whole, won't the actual episodes get completely overshadowed?
Let's review. Announced thus far:
Chuck: Dolph Lundgren, Linda Hamilton, Olivia Munn, Lou Ferrigno, Karolina Kurkova, Bronson Pinchot, Isaiah Mustafa, Stacy Keibler, Nicole Richie, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Armand Assante, Batista, Eric Roberts, Joel David Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Robert Englund.
Smallville: John Schneider, Laura Vandervoort, James Marsters,...
The bad news is these, among other casting moves, will eventually reach a breaking point that trades honest storytelling among our favorite shows for celebrity appearances. We're all for the Geek Casting of Chuck, or even the DC Adaptations of Smallville, but when seen as a whole, won't the actual episodes get completely overshadowed?
Let's review. Announced thus far:
Chuck: Dolph Lundgren, Linda Hamilton, Olivia Munn, Lou Ferrigno, Karolina Kurkova, Bronson Pinchot, Isaiah Mustafa, Stacy Keibler, Nicole Richie, 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin, Armand Assante, Batista, Eric Roberts, Joel David Moore, Timothy Dalton, and Robert Englund.
Smallville: John Schneider, Laura Vandervoort, James Marsters,...
- 9/9/2010
- UGO TV
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