Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
I was just pulled in by the magic of the big screen experience. As a kid, seeing The Poseidon Adventure at the theater just pulled me in and got me hooked on the excitement of going to the movies. The cinema felt like it was a neighborhood portal to take you to other places, and it was something I knew I always wanted to be involved with. Working for General Cinema for years only increased my interest and helped with opening my own theater.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
My first movie theater trips as a child still hold an impact. A couple movie premieres that I was able to attend (Clerks, Jackie Brown) and my first trips to the Toronto International Film Festival still seem magical. Also, after first opening The Screening Room and selling out a screening of It’s a Wonderful Life (when it was showing on TV at the exact same time) reinforced my belief that there is still a need/desire for the theatrical experience.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
Born and raised in Buffalo, almost took a position in California a couple times, but something about the city and people kept me here.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
In terms of cinema, the fact that I really cannot think of much is a testament to how far Buffalo has come. From Dipson to the North Park to Hamburg Palace, there are some great theater options beyond the chains. There are numerous film festivals and emerging film series that really offer a lot for movie-going in Buffalo. In addition there is a thriving movie-making scene of indie and major productions that seems to be happening nonstop. Hopefully the Market Arcade cinema will finally re-open and provide a good mix of programming in the downtown area.
What are your essential film books?
Frank Capra: The Name Above the Title by Frank Capra
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind
All I Need to Know About Filmmaking I Learned from The Toxic Avenger by Lloyd Kaufman and James Gunn
Hitchcock/Truffaut by Francois Truffaut
TOP TEN FILMS
I have a huge list of “greatest movies,” but 10 of the movies that are favorites and I could watch over and over are here in alphabetical order:
After Hours [1985], directed by Martin Scorsese
Casablanca [1942], directed by Michael Curtiz
A Clockwork Orange [1971], directed by Stanley Kubrick
Dead of Night [1974], directed by Bob Clark
The Godfather [1972], directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Jaws [1975], directed by Steven Spielberg
Psycho [1960], directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Pulp Fiction [1994], directed by Quentin Tarantino
The Third Man [1949], directed by Carol Reed
Touch of Evil [1958], directed by Orson Welles
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are The Poseidon Adventure, General Cinema University 8, Clerks, TIFF, It’s a Wonderful Life, North Park Theatre, Hamburg Palace, Market Arcade.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
You know … I think it all starts with Disney’s Hercules. It’s my earliest movie memory. I was very young—so it’s a bit hazy—but we were all at the drive-in and I was small and able to crawl myself up towards the back window of our van. The scene was filled with bright animated clouds and I wanted to get as close as possible. Face and hand on glass, I was in it.
… but it was really the family trips to Disney World and Universal Studios later on that would truly set the spark. Back in the peak when Universal Studios still had the Jaws ride and King Kong and everything smelled vaguely of gasoline. When you could hear the pops and mechanics and you were always slightly in danger of losing something. All of that excited me.
And then there’s The Great Movie Ride—which is the most important, because it offered me my first glimpse into the world of classic cinema and the Golden Age of Hollywood. There was a special air to the place, filled with heavy nostalgia. Waiting in line, I knew nothing of the faces on the wall or the props in the cases. I had never heard the sweep of Hollywood strings or seen any Bogart movies, but it all burned into my mind. I became fascinated with this stuff and Robert Osborne’s voice and presence made it an adventure.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
Watching a movie, at its core, can really be sort of a lonely experience. If you’re by yourself, that is. I mean, it’s just you and your television and maybe your dog. But that’s okay—because if a movie’s good, it becomes something more. That said, some of the films I cherish most are the ones I’ve shared with others. Every year I get together with family and friends to watch Bad Ronald and it’s always a blast. We do the same thing for Picnic around Labor Day and it’s one of my favorite traditions. Those are the memories that I’ll look back on down the line … not when I was sitting alone watching Ozu.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I shot a man in Ireland and had to flee the country.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
Any sort of silent cinema retrospective would be super welcome. Can you imagine watching Safety Last! with an audience—especially with people seeing it for the first time? My god, that would be a dream.
What are your essential film books?
My Lunches with Orson: Conversations between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles by Peter Biskind: In a way, I’ve always felt that Orson Welles was his own best character—a brilliant, difficult mountain of grace who told better yarns than just about anyone. The conversations published here, no matter their dubious origin, make for a fun read. He’s never less than captivating, even when the stories are less than factual—but hey, that’s showmanship.
Roger Ebert: Not a book, but I used to spend a lot of time on his website. I can’t say that I agreed with him all of the time, but he was a wonderful writer. Passionate and insightful, his very best work rose up to the art of the movies he loved.
TOP TEN FILMS
This is an impossible list to make, but here are ten that I like right now. (In alphabetical order.)
After Hours [1985], directed by Martin Scorsese
I’m a big fan of all-in-one-night plots and this is absolutely one of the best. It’s at least the wisest—dark and funny and honest about lonely people trying to find company at the end of the day.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [2007], directed by Andrew Dominik
I’ve carried this movie with me for so long, it’s easy to forget why I even like it in the first place. It’s a big, depressing teddy bear. An old friend. Why would I bother breaking it down?
Brief Encounter [1945], directed by David Lean
My favorite unconventional noir. For me, noir exists in the interior—the decisions characters make and the consequences that result. Here the choice to begin an affair carries the same weight as taking a life—to the point where the emotion of it all bleeds into the film itself. It takes what could be just straight melodrama and abstracts it in such a way that an incoming train can be as foreboding as the hit men from The Killers.
F for Fake [1975], directed by Orson Welles
The film that made me fall in love with Orson Welles. This slot could have easily gone to Touch of Evil or Chimes at Midnight, but I think on a deeper level this one matters most to me. How Welles dances between illusion and reality and the general prankster nature of the piece … it’s all very inspiring.
Miller’s Crossing [1990], directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
For my money, the ultimate Coen Brothers movie. The script is aces and it’s all delivered by one of their best casts—including personal favorite Coen regular Jon Polito. For such a messy and violent film it ultimately becomes a story of friendship—and that’s actually kind of sweet. Also: name a movie made in the past thirty years that has more hats than this one …
Modern Times [1936], directed by Charles Chaplin
I love silent comedy. It’s one of my favorite genres. While I tend to lean towards the Harold Lloyd side of things these days, it all began with Chaplin. You could make a good argument that City Lights is his masterpiece, but Modern Times is perfect. From the frenzied Metropolis-esque factory sequence to the episodic structure and brilliant finale, it just keeps on giving.
Phantom of the Paradise [1974], directed by Brian De Palma
My favorite schlock horror musical. Like many of De Palma’s films, this one is deliciously sleazy and really just a hell of a fun ride. But make no mistake, there is something beneath the spectacle. And, of course, the Paul Williams soundtrack is sublime.
The Third Man [1949], directed by Carol Reed
Oh man, this one is so atmospheric. With broken-down postwar Vienna providing the backdrop, it almost has a spooky, haunted quality. That alone would make it one of the most memorable noirs, but it hits on all other levels. Joseph Cotten and whoever plays Harry Lime are exceptional.
Three Colors: White [1994], directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
Of course the Colors trilogy is fantastic as a whole, but this is the one I usually come back to. I suppose I’m just taken with the idea of a man shipping himself home in a suitcase.
Topsy-Turvy [1999], directed by Mike Leigh
Leigh is such a master with his ensembles—each character and performance so well-observed to minute detail. They always feel like real people … flawed, foolish, loving, hopeful. This is true of all his works—but this one has Timothy Spall singing Gilbert & Sullivan, so it wins.
Honorable Mention
Breakdown [1955], directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Yes, this is technically television—but I consider it to be a really fine short. It’s a fascinating work in that Hitchcock seemingly finds every possible angle to show a man’s face.
The Man Who Planted Trees [1987], directed by Frederick Black
The most lovely animated short. So peaceful and knowing that it would appear to come from nature itself.
Phantom Thread [2017], directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
It’s a bit fresh, so I can’t say for sure. But the more I think about it, the stronger it gets. It’s a very a musical movie in score and form and I can’t help but get locked into its groove. The world needs more Vicky Krieps …
The Room [2003], directed by Tommy Wiseau / Troll 2 [1990], directed by Claudio Fragasso
Seriously. Most of my friendships, or at least the ones that matter, have been punctuated by watching these terrible movies at least once. That should count for something.
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Hercules, The Great Movie Ride, Bad Ronald, Picnic, and Safety Last!.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
I have always loved watching movies but really got hooked when I discovered independent film. I grew up in Cincinnati, OH and for a period in the 70s we had a little independent theater called The Movies. My siblings had all left home so my parents took me along with them to see independent films and I just couldn’t get enough of them!
What is your favorite movie related memory?
Watching Thelma & Louise in a theater in Northampton, MA with an all-woman audience.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I moved here to do my MFA at UB and then ended up staying to do a PhD in American Studies.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
I’d like to see more cross-cultural and cross-community conversations, cultural collaborations, and activism. This city is so stubbornly segregated! I’d love to see more of us getting outside our comfort zones and really talking to and working with one another to make this city more just a place for all who live here.
What are your essential film books?
Uh-oh—this is a hard one! For Film Studies these are the ones that come right to mind:
Not Hollywood: Independent Film at the Twilight of the American Dream by Sherry B. Ortner
Film Art: An Introduction by David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson
Film History: An Introduction by Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell
The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo
The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film by Michael Ondaatje
Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film by Erik Barnouw
Introduction to Documentary by Bill Nichols
TOP TEN FILMS
Choosing just ten was really hard! These are the first eleven that came to mind but this list is missing lots of my favorite filmmakers! (In alphabetical order.)
Brazil [1985], directed by Terry Gilliam
Frozen River [2008], directed by Courtney Hunt
The Gleaners & I [2000], directed by Agnès Varda
Granito [2011], directed by Pamela Yates
Man with a Movie Camera [1929], directed by Dziga Vertov
Moonlight [2016], directed by Barry Jenkins
Orlando [1993], directed by Sally Potter
Pariah [2011], directed by Dee Rees
Silverlake Life: The View from Here [1993], directed by Peter Friedman & Tom Joslin
Smoke Signals [1998], directed by Chris Eyre
Tongues Untied [1989], directed by Marlon Riggs
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Thelma & Louise.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
Connection. Doing something together with my family that did not involve debates … though of course those would follow. A common experience between humans with which to provide a seed for discussion.
Storytelling. Discovering humanity.
Escape. Sitting in the dark and going on an adventure.
Popcorn. My mom used to make this giant batch of popcorn in a pan and fill up a paper shopping bag full of it. We’d then sneak it into the theatre.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
Throwing up a little in the bathroom after watching Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky. I had no idea … that you could make films like that. And then affect someone in such a visceral way. Until then.
But also … Labyrinth.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I moved here due to an illness—my family was here.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
I’d like to see the Buffalo International Film Festival reaches its goal of becoming a top tier festival. I’d like to see a film stage built that could house larger budget films and television shows. I’d like the AMC rebuild to be awesome.
I’d like to see more local underrepresented writers and directors. For example, I walked onto a set yesterday of a few kids I know and there were 15 bodies making a film, none were women and all were white. Its endemic. This is a small scale example of a large scale issue. We only started talking about change 2 years ago, it will take thousands for parity.
What are your essential film books?
I don’t really read film books. My storytelling school was devouring plays and watching films.
I’m of the Quentin Tarantino mindset … consume, figure out what you like, discover your voice, make your work.
As far as the production/sales side … no story is the same and everyone is making a buck telling you how you should do it. Just like we’re all snowflakes, all of our paths to success in film is unique.
TOP TEN FILMS
This question would be easier if you said top ten per genre … because I had to leave so many off …
True Romance [1993], directed by Tony Scott
Badlands [1973], directed by Terrence Malick
Postcards from the Edge [1990], directed by Mike Nichols
What We Do in the Shadows [2014], directed by Jemaine Clement & Taika Waititi
V for Vendetta [2006], directed by James McTeigue
Wild at Heart [1990], directed by David Lynch
Betty Blue [1986], directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix
Sophie’s Choice [1982], directed by Alan J. Pakula
The Hurt Locker [2009], directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Wonder Woman [2017], directed by Patty Jenkins
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Requiem for a Dream, Labyrinth, Marshall premiere as part of the 2017 Buffalo International Film Festival (photo courtesy of North Park Theatre), and Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre (soon to be AMC Theatres).
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
My mother raised me alone and didn’t drive, so I was a child of television. When we lived in Dunkirk we would walk to the Regent to see movies. I watched everything the Sunday Afternoon Movie showed: Tarzan films, Don Knotts comedies, Ray Harryhausen films. Then Channel 29 came along with Sci-Fi Theater and Channel 2 had a 4pm weekday movie, which showed a lot of gangster films.
I have an uncle who’s been in distribution all his life and I visited him in Washington D.C. and New York City during summers. He would take me to double features every night.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
It’s hard to choose just one. My uncle took me to my first midnight movies: The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Slaughterhouse Five, and George Romero’s Martin (during its original run) among them.
I remember Slaughterhouse Five being a particularly interesting experience because the theater had a small screen and foldout chairs without risers and I had no idea what the movie was—going in or even halfway through it. I was around 12 and there was a sense with all three of these films that I was seeing something taboo. I love that sense of adventure, which is something my film festival partner Chris Sciol and I bring to our event.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I’ve lived in New York State my entire life, more than half of it in Western New York. I grew up in Fredonia and moved to New York City to attend the School of Visual Arts where I studied filmmaking. I lived there for 21 years, during which I made three feature films and managed several movie theaters—including the Angelika Film Center and the Paris—and several video stores—including Kim’s Video and Two Boots Video. My first role as a film programmer was at Two Boots Den of Cin, a screening room in the basement of a video store/pizzeria.
My wife and I moved to Buffalo in 2003 to buy an affordable house and start a family. During our time here I’ve made several films, worked as a manager for Dipson Theatres, had 14 books published, and founded two different film festivals: Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival and now Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
More bodies in seats for our festival, less artistic discrimination, and more down time between area festivals. Buffalo has a nice mixture of sports enthusiasts and arts supporters and the support for festivals is finally catching up to the interest in other arts.
Ten years ago the Jewish Film Festival was the only festival I remember in the area. Now there are more than I count and most of them are crowded into the fall, which is bad for everyone. This year one festival moved from April to September, another moved from August to September, a five-in-one festival launched in September, and now another is starting in November on the weekend Buffalo Dreams starts.
It’s great diversity for cinema lovers and good for filmmakers, but frustrating for all of us trying to distinguish ourselves. People only have so many brain cells to keep track of which festival is when and where and what films are screening at them with only so much time to devote to seeing specialized fare. Most of the festivals have distinct identities and missions, but making the differences clear to the audience is a challenge.
We run in early November every year, and place an emphasis on genre films—action, horror, sci-fi—but show family films, docs, and foreign films as well.
What are your essential film books?
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls by Peter Biskind
When the Shooting Stops… the Cutting Begins: A Film Editor’s Story by Ralph Rosenblum and Robert Karen Ph.D.
The Jaws Log by Carl Gottlieb
The Devil’s Candy: The Anatomy of a Hollywood Fiasco by Julie Salamon
Cult Films by Will Dodson
Incredibly Strange Films by V. Vale and Jim Morton
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field
Adventures in the Screen Trade: A Personal View of Hollywood and Screenwriting by William Goldman
The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock by Donald Spoto
You’ll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again by Julia Phillips
TOP TEN FILMS
I’m a big fan of 70s films of all genres and have a wide range of tastes, which is reflected in the Buffalo Dreams programming. My Top Ten therefore changes every day of the week. But today (in alphabetical order) they are:
Billy Jack [1971], directed by Tom Laughlin
Goodfellas [1990], directed by Martin Scorsese
The Graduate [1967], directed by Mike Nichols
It’s a Wonderful Life [1946], directed by Frank Capra
Kiss Me Deadly [1955], directed by Robert Aldrich
Little Murders [1971], directed by Alan Arkin
The Maltese Falcon [1941], directed by John Huston
Planet of the Apes [1968], directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Taxi Driver [1976], directed by Martin Scorsese
Three Days of the Condor [1975], directed by Sydney Pollack
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Tarzan the Ape Man, Don Knotts, Ray Harryhausen, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Slaughterhouse Five, Martin, Two Boots Video (photo from Wall Street Journal), Lynne with Ryan Bellgardt and Josh McKamie (the filmmakers of Army of Frankensteins), and the Angelika.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in movies. My earliest memories all revolve around watching films with my family; classics with my mom and Grandma Ruberto (she always watched them in the dark) and old monster, B-movies and disaster films with dad. When they were on late he would let me sneak out of bed—my mother always caught us. Dad taught me you could enjoy any movie, even the bad ones, and that has shaped me as a film lover.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
Our family—the nephews, dad etc.—had a long-standing tradition of going to the midnight showing on opening night for movies including all The Lord of the Rings films. We were dorks, but there is something oddly life-affirming about leaving a movie theater energized at 3 a.m.
My favorite movie theater memory was being so engrossed in James Cameron’s Aliens that when they said “Can’t be, that’s inside the room,” I looked up at the movie theater’s ceiling for the aliens in unison with Sigourney Weaver doing the same in the movie. It was freaky.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I was born and raised in South Buffalo. I never realized it was weird that we lived there but weren’t Irish until I grew up.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
Just five years ago I would have begged for more movie options that aren’t first-run Hollywood films (classic, independent, specialty, retro movie nights, etc.). That’s happening now, but we need more support for events like these screenings and for local bands, plays, etc. A thriving arts scene makes Buffalo a better place to live.
What are your essential film books?
Our Movie Heritage by Tom McGreevey and Joanne L. Yeck. A very good book about film history and preservation.
The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes. A comprehensive history of this great studio disguised as a coffee table book.
Hitchcock/Truffaut by Francois Truffaut. (Simon & Schuster). So much of what is commonly known about Alfred Hitchcock today first came to light in the 50 hours of interview between the master and French director/film critic Francois Truffaut.
TOP TEN FILMS
Here are 10 movies I watch every time they’re on TV—and I own a copy, too. (In alphabetical order.)
Mysterious Island [1961], directed by Cy Endfield
Giant bees, creatures by Ray Harryhausen, Captain Nemo and music by Bernard Hermann—it has everything.
Near Dark [1987], directed by Kathryn Bigelow
This atmospheric and bloody vampire western has my favorite final line in any movie.
Picnic [1955], directed by Joshua Logan
I get pulled into 1950s Kansas every time where I can hang out with Kim Novak and William Holden.
Pride & Prejudice [2005], directed by Joe Wright
I hope I don’t have to give up my Colin Firth fan club card for admitting this is my favorite adaptation of the novel.
Random Harvest [1942], directed by Mervyn LeRoy
I wish every time I saw this it was the first time so I could be still shocked at the big reveal.
Remember the Night [1940], directed by Mitchell Leisen
Sentimental and old-fashioned, it’s my favorite Christmas movie.
Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope [1977], directed by George Lucas
Empire Strikes Back is the best and Rogue One the bravest, but this is the true original.
Tarantula [1955], directed by Jack Arnold
My favorite giant creature movie.
Thor: The Dark World [2013], directed by Alan Taylor
It’s just a lot of fun—with a special nod to Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
You’ve Got Mail [1988], directed by Nora Ephron
I don’t care if it’s already outdated, it’s wonderful. There’s not a character or actor wasted. We miss you Nora.
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Lord of the Rings and Aliens.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
My father was a home movie-maker. My first film for my collection was at age 6 when I received a Laurel & Hardy comedy short to run with our regular home movies. The fever never went away.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
Saturday matinees at our local theaters. Grew up on 1960’s movies as well comedy and cartoon festivals there.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I moved here in 1991 for several reasons and when the Syracuse Cinephile Society retired their 35-year run of holding the festival, I purchased the equipment and moved it to the Buffalo-Niagara area.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
Parking spaces and shorter red lights!
What are your essential film books?
Books written by William K. Everson, Autobiographies, Filmography reference books, books by film-makers such as Frank Capra, etc.
TOP TEN FILMS
It’s very difficult to narrow down a list of ten, but the below are among my favorites with many worthy choices for that ten spot.
Casablanca [1942], directed by Michael Curtiz
The General [1927], directed by Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
Patton [1970], directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
King Kong [1933], directed by Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack
The Quiet Man [1952], directed by John Ford
Way Out West [1937], directed by James W. Horne
Rio Bravo [1959], directed by Howard Hawks
Orfeu Negro [Black Orpheus] [1959], directed by Marcel Camus
It’s a Wonderful Life [1946], directed by Frank Capra
Images from left to right, top to bottom are Laurel and Hardy, William K. Everton and Marilyn Monroe, and Frank Capra.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
As compared to reality? No contest. Or so it seemed at the time, anyway.
As a kid I was fascinated by monster movies. There was always the unspoken promise that, if you could just sit through all the tedious plot and bad acting, you would be rewarded with the sight of something you could never otherwise have imagined. At least for a few seconds before the hero disposed of it.
This was before VHS or cable TV, so the only way to see them was every Friday night at 11:30 on WKBW’S Fright Night program, which showed all the classic Universal monster movies. It was also a treat any time the local theaters—the Bailey or the Genesee—brought in any Hammer movie, or at least one with Vincent Price.
From there it wasn’t much of a stretch out to other kinds of film. It helped that popular cinema seemed to be maturing just at the same time I was (late 1960s/early 70s).
What is your favorite movie related memory?
I went to law school at Boston University. The reason I am not a lawyer today is that I spent more time going to the movies than I did studying. At the time (still pre-VHS), the Boston area had several repertory theaters, places that showed a different double feature every day. We never had anything like that in Buffalo—there were a few attempts, but they never caught on. It was an irresistible way to check out all kinds of films I had read about but had never been able to see, as well as movies I had never heard of but which had been selected by knowledgeable film professionals.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I had the sense to be born here. I left a few times to work in New York and south Florida (a spell with the National Enquirer when they were planning to publish a video magazine), but I’ve always come back.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
More opportunities for communal film viewing. Of course, that would require a regular audience willing to go out to see movies, which is always a problem. I’ve always hoped that boutique operations like the Screening Room would catch on, but people have so many choices available in their living rooms that it’s hard to get them to brush their teeth, put on their shoes and venture out in public.
Sometimes I look at old newspaper ads and fantasize how it must have been to live in a time when there were theaters in every neighborhood and everyone went out to the movies at least a few times a week. Of course, people also smoked in theaters then, the seats weren’t very comfortable, all of the sound came out of one speaker behind the screen and decent projection was a matter of luck. Now we have movie theaters with comfortable recliner seating that provide blinding images and gut-churning sound, all to show you comic book movies.
What are your essential film books?
Reading about movies is like dancing about architecture.
TOP TEN FILMS
I once got polled for a book asking, What 10 movies would you take to a desert island? I thought about it for a week, then told them that if I couldn’t take 20 movies I wasn’t going. And I was much younger then: in the intervening years I have discovered so many more films to add to the list.
To answer your question I spent a few minutes compiling a “first cut” list. It soon got to be impossible. How could I have only one Billy Wilder film and not most of the others? Any given Preston Sturges movie is wonderful, but so much better when you’ve spent a week watching all of them.
For what it’s worth, here’s as far as I got with the list before tossing up my hands in despair:
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Frankenstein, Vincent Price and Linda Hayden from Madhouse, and The Screening Room.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
Although my family didn’t go to the movies a lot when I was a child, my father liked to watch old black and white movies late at night on television. He got me started watching films like The Philadelphia Story and All About Eve. Later, I worked with my high school English / Film teacher as a projectionist at the local Drive-In showing second run films like Annie Hall. He taught an inspiring course on the Auteur Theory in film, focused largely on the films of Jean Renoir and John Ford.
I made my first film in high school with a 3/4″ portapak video camera—it was a creative interpretation of an Emily Dickinson poem.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
In college—in the time just before VCRs—the only way to see films outside of the local movie theater was watching the films programmed on campus. The screenings of both current and older movies were big weekend events, but the films would arrive in heavy 35 millimeter cases earlier in the week.
I had friends who wrote film reviews for the school paper and they would hold secret preview screening parties, privately projecting the films for a handful people. It felt exciting and glamorous to go to a private screening of a hard-to-find cheesy classic film like Giant or All That Heaven Allows.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I’m from Buffalo. I worked in New York as a talent agent for a number of years after college, but returned to Buffalo around 1990 to study documentary filmmaking at UB Media Study, where my mother was the assistant to the chair.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
I’m pretty happy with Buffalo, but I suppose I would like to see movie theaters like the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas that serve food and drinks and have interesting curated series and performances with films (like a memorable foleyed version of The Wizard of Oz).
The North Park has been getting close to that over the past couple of years with its weekend special screenings. I feel that’s something that will really get people out to the theaters again.
What are your essential film books?
Walter Murch – In the Blink of an Eye
Eric Rabiger – Directing the Documentary
Michel Chion – Audio Vision
Sheila Curran Bernard – Documentary Storytelling
Bill Nichols – Blurred Boundaries
TOP TEN FILMS
I don’t usually do favorite lists! Here are 10 narratives and 10 docs (in alphabetical order):
Narrative
Amour [2012], directed by Michael Haneke
Days of Heaven [1978], directed by Terrence Malick
Election [1999], directed by Alexander Payne
Gosford Park [2001], directed by Robert Altman
Groundhog Day [1993], directed by Harold Ramis
Local Hero [1983], directed by Bill Forsyth
Magnolia [1999], directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Moonrise Kingdom [2012], directed by Wes Anderson
Run Lola Run [1998], directed by Tom Tykwer
Their Finest [2017], directed by Lone Scherfig
Documentary
The Act of Killing [2012], directed by Joshua Oppenheimer
Capturing the Friedmans [2003], directed by Andrew Jarecki
Exit Through the Gift Shop [2010], directed by Banksy
Happy Mother’s Day [1963], directed by Joyce Chopra & Richard Leacock
The Imposter [2012], directed by Bart Layton
Sink or Swim [1990], directed by Su Friedrich
Streetwise [1984], directed by Martin Bell
The Thin Blue Line [1988], directed by Errol Morris
Tongues Untied [1989], directed by Marlon Riggs
Touching the Void [2003], directed by Kevin Macdonald
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are The Philadelphia Story, All About Eve, Annie Hall, Giant, All That Heaven Allows, The Wizard of Oz and North Park Theatre’s repertory marquee.
Buffalo is full of people helping to cultivate cinema and we want to celebrate those involved. The Cultivators is a new monthly feature in which we highlight individuals who are integral to the presentation, promotion and production of film here in the queen city.
I travelled around a lot as a kid, so moving images were generally a kind of solace, from Super Mario Bros. 3 to Star Wars or Rossellini films. There were naturally junctions where someone’s influence mattered greatly and which led me on paths I wouldn’t have taken otherwise.
I don’t care much for the word “movies.” It’s a fine shorthand, but I don’t find it a useful word to talk about the scope of the art. “The pictures” or “flicks” are both a bit more encompassing actually, though obviously goofy.
What is your favorite movie related memory?
The time I saw Jeanne Liotta’s Observando El Cielo (2007) at the New York Film Festival was one of the most hypnotic experiences I had in a theater. I try to show it with some regularity, I love that film.
The time I screened Anthony McCall’s Line Describing a Cone (1973) in Istanbul was also pretty special. The film is supposed to be projected in a foggy/hazy room, while the audience is invited to walk around the room—there are no chairs. If it was projected without fog, we would literally just see a thin white circle slowly being drawn on a black backdrop. With the fog however, there’s this gorgeous cone formed by the beams of light, and you get this wonderfully instructive and inspiring work on the possibilities of the very machinery of cinema.
So I was really excited to show it in Istanbul, where it had never been shown before as far as I know. I lugged a 16mm projector over to Turkey, found the proper electrical converters for it, and a fog machine. We had a packed audience. We got the fog machine running, but kept it on just a little too long. It became so thick that no one could see each other! The main door opened to the outside world and there were huge pillows of fog coming out every time it opened to this residential neighborhood; I was worried the neighbors were going to call on us or that we would get busted by the Fire Department.
Someone also said, while “touching” the beams of light, that it was like petting a kitten, which is probably one of the cutest things I ever heard.
How did you end up in Buffalo?
I ended up in Buffalo twice: first in 2001 to study at UB and then when I started my current position. I love this gnarly town.
What do you want to see more of in Buffalo?
More resistance and proper recognition of what a Buffalo “renaissance” actually means, who it leaves out, and what we can do about it. There’s a lot of great people fighting to make sure it’s right and I think there’s still time to make it a bit less violent and a bit more equitable than what has happened to other towns that boomed. Putting together the words “boom” and “Buffalo” might seem hilarious to some, but I do believe that any and every city is doomed to have $10 hot dogs with feta cheese on top. But we can still do some things about it.
Other than that, Buffalo should do what it wants. One of my main goals being at Squeaky is to be here for any artists in the region that want to work together. We have gear, we can teach you how to use that gear, you can show what you make with that gear, and perhaps even take it beyond Buffalo. If I can help that’s great. We’re a community center, so I am interested in challenging the idea of curator as gatekeeper and really earning the word community.
What are your essential film books?
Film as a Subversive Art by Amos Vogel is currently the main film guide that I’m trying to watch everything mentioned within. There’s still quite a bit to go.
Hollis Frampton’s collection of writings, most recently released under the title On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters, remains the most foundational.
My next three purchases that I’m excited about are:
On the Eve of the Future: Selected Writings on Film by Annette Michelson
After Uniqueness: A History of Film and Video Art in Circulation by Erika Balsom
Fantasia of Color in Early Cinema by Giovanna Fossati, Tom Gunning, Jonathon Rosen, Joshua Yumibe.
TOP TEN FILMS
I find limited value in top tens, finding them to be more political exercises than anything else. Vertigo doesn’t need me talking about it and I don’t need to talk about how Vertigo is great. So perhaps in addition to [my first two slots], a better list might be what films I buy—which aren’t many (maybe 2 or 3 a year)—and which I determine based on if I will watch them at least once a year. Thus, not including Kung Fu:
The Internet [2011-2014]
These are somewhat arbitrary dates, however they correspond with a number of significant state-sanctioned murders, unrest, and protests around the world from Trayvon Martin to the Gezi Protests, the Arab Spring, Brazil, Ferguson, and on and on. This also came along with an absolutely vital discourse that was spread online through memes, gifs, and videos that I think has shaped a lot of our thinking.
Consider that Super 8mm home movies were mostly available to the middle class in the Western world and the ability to make home movies was even more limited in poorer countries. Now we are at this exciting moment where large swaths of the world populace have more access to certain technologies and are able to represent themselves (in very specific contexts and ways) instead of relying on a third party. While there are many arguments and aspects to the ubiquity of video and technology and its implications, this shift of power is tremendously important and powerful.
The films of Yuen Woo-ping
I’m a huge Yuen Woo-ping fan and I’ve been going through his filmography—not only his directorial efforts, but also films on which he was the action choreographer on. In the US, he’s mostly known as the choreographer of films like The Matrix (1999), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and the Kill Bill films.
But he’s also the guy who discovered Jackie Chan with Drunken Master (1978), Donnie Yen with Shaolin Drunkard (1983) and gave folks like Sammo Hung and Michelle Yeoh some of their earliest and best roles. Both Yuen and Jackie Chan were huge fans of Buster Keaton and their work is really the beginning of the kind of physical kung-fu comedy that I watch whenever I just need a break.
Woo-ping’s amazing choreography is not only limited to how the actors move, but also how the camera moves. Consider that the 60s and 70s saw the wide-spread adoption, and sometimes abuse, of the zoom lens. It’s considered goofy and used mostly as a stylistic marker nowadays in Wes Anderson movies, etc, but also something that’s influenced newer iterations of fighting games like Street Fighter. I find it to be a terrific technology to document dance. You can follow a movement without cutting while emphasizing and focusing on smaller movements and moving to larger gestures, which requires precision from the actors on the screen, but also choreography from the cinematographer and the production crew as well. Those zooms, when done well, evoke a dance both in front and off the screen that can be very visceral and pleasurable. I understand why it elicits laughter, but I find it much more elegant than the shaky-cam cutting of The Raid: Redemption, etc. While Woo-ping’s style has moved with the times, it’s terrific too to see elements of his choreography through his body of work—a certain combination of moves from say Magnificent Butcher (1979) popping up in Iron Monkey (1993) and so on.
Woo-ping comes from a family of Kung Fu cinema artists. In his early films, his father, Yuen Siu-Tien, acted as the mythical/historical character Beggar So (who inspired Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s name.) Once Siu-Tien died in 1979, Woo-ping filmed a very charming scene honoring his father in The Miracle Fighters (1982). Remember too that Woo-ping is one of eleven children, six of whom are in the Kung Fu industry, known as the Yuen clan. There’s a fascinating lineage there and once I’m done going through Woo-ping’s films I’ll be watching the work of his siblings too.
My favorite film of Woo-ping’s is probably Dreadnaught (1981). I also watch Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at least three times a year.
The Thing [1982], directed by John Carpenter
Zui hao de shi guang [Three Times] [2005], directed by Hsiao-Hsien Hou
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles [1976], directed by Chantal Akerman
Born in Flames [1983], directed by Lizzie Borden
Yol [1982], directed by Serif Gören & Yilmaz Güney
Sud sanaeha [Blissfully Yours] [2002], directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Kumonosu-jô [Throne of Blood] [1957], directed by Akira Kurosawa
69 [1968], directed by Robert Breer
This one is aspirational. One day I will buy a 16mm print of this.
Film stills from left to right, top to bottom are Super Mario Bros. 3, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rossellini, Observando El Cielo, Line Describing a Cone, and the interior of Squeak Wheel.
Cultivate Cinema Circle 