In New York, You Have to be Camera-Ready, Even When You're Homeless (Midtwon Manhattan)

Living the dream? On first impression I was upset, thinking a bunch of tourists were being ironic by filming this homeless guy and then I saw the massive camera and realized this wasn’t a casual endeavor but a major investment and they must be making a film. The so-called homeless dude must have been an actor or maybe even the director, because he was discussing the filming with the crew in a relaxed, collegial way. And, as I walked away, I was still upset.

Did the Motion Picture Begin Where Macy's Now Stands--or Not?

I walked passed this plaque the other day. In fact, I've probably walked passed it many times over the years, but this time I noticed it.  Naturally, I thought "Wow! Really?" To think that the motion picture--one of the most influential forms of art and propaganda, that touches literally billions of people, that not only entertains but educates, that not only spreads truth but also lies, that has generated billions of dollars and driven people to suicide--in other words, something that does just about everything--started right here, right at this spot, at a place that once bore the charming and now ancient-sounding name of Koster and Bial's Music Hall?

And then I Googled it. I'm not saying Googling is the be-all and end-all when it comes to fact checking; after all, the internet if full of fake news. And yet I found what I read here on a site called untapped cities under the headline "Lost and Incorrect Historical Plaques in NYC" persuasive:

"It may have been Edison’s first, but not where the motion picture began. The showing in 1896 was just the first showing of Edison Kinetoscope films on screen to a paying audience, not the first screening of a projection film which happened in Paris 1895, by the Lumiere Brothers. In fact, Edison only allowed this 1896 screening to happen after there were “wide-spread projections of the Kinestoscope films by unauthorized showmen,” reports Raymond Fielding in A Technological History of Motion Pictures and Television."

So apparently even plaques, which seem inherently honest in their fixity and stolid plainness can be as slippery as a Sean Spicer press conference. 

 

Moonlight Memories (Lincoln Center)

 

I was lucky enough to attend the opening of Moonlight last October at the New York Film Festival. I remember reading the description of the film and thinking, "A movie about being black and gay? Sounds interesting." And of course I was happy we bought the tickets because it turned out to be amazing.

I never posted the photos because I took them with my phone, which does a lousy job in low light. But in honor of Moonlight's Oscar win, I thought I could celebrate by sharing them.

Congrats Barry Jenkins, Mahershala Ali, and the rest of the creators, cast and crew!

Carol (Midtown, Manhattan)

Todd Haynes, director, and Christine Vachon, in a q&a about their film Carol at the Paris Theater. Then afterward, they went outside and snapped a photo of the marquee, right. I love how even totally amazing and accomplished filmmakers don't take the wonder of their accomplishments (as evidenced by the beautifully understated, class Paris marquee) for granted.