syn: A documentary exploring the importance of revival cinema and 35mm exhibition - seen through the lens of the patrons of the New Beverly Cinema - a unique and independent revival cinema in Los Angeles.
people in the doc whom i've seen at the new bev:
edgar wright
john landis
rian johnson
mark romanek
richard kelly
joe dante
joe carnahan
[omitted section]
the doc maker:
gave me a ticket friday night for victor fleming's bombshell, for example. julia marchese
owner of the building:
qt
there in the front row every night or almost every night:
clu gulager
so, basically, i'm going to imagine all these people are my irl friends and we're hanging out and also they can read my thoughts, they understand me, and it's like an emotional sauna etc:
mmmmhmmmm
release date:
mystery
kickstarter:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1101489177/out-of-print-a-documentary-about-the-new-beverly-c
imdb:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2393917/
Quentin Tarantino on becoming the owner and now program director of The New Beverly on The Treatment (http://www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/the-treatment)
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FJbuH9UN.jpg&hash=78e84975300cfdec2b0650e4da78e84e01f4e9f2)
the director julia marchese was fired from the new bev in the "subtle" way of lowering her work hours. it's definitely a kind of firing that happens and people are familiar with here. she wrote about the experience in a post on her blog. i think it's most interesting she was paranoid about cameras qt installed, she seemed worried about cameras being on her during normal work routines. i wouldn't like it either, i'd think it was a stinky change, but it's interesting to mention it as a sign of terrible times. i'd link her post but it's public airing of personal betrayal, and there could be a moral rally for her to have her job restored, she'd deserve it, i totally agree, but there's nothing to say from the outside. something hit her that won't hit everyone. she doesn't mention what i've seen -- that the theater is functioning normally and that a guy who used to show esoteric genre stuff is now a manager. the tone of the theater is absolutely normal
anyway her counter-point was to release this for free:
http://vimeo.com/101117027
Thanks for the update. Its a shitty thing to happen, but I can't take sides. You gotta do what's best for business sometimes and I'm sure the other guy is more fit for the job. Sucks to see her out on her ass, though. Now she's gonna have to do a kickstarter for life. You'd think she'd at least milk the Out Of Print doc for all it's worth after the years of money and effort she put into it, but I guess it's nothing she see's worth supporting anymore. The place could become a parking lot for all she cares.
Anyway, I've been wanting to see this doc for AGES and there was no release date in site, so now I get to finally answer the question, is it any good?
Oh, and I had a good joke that all the surveillance QT installed were floorcams.
she's really stupid to be putting this out for free, I would've gladly paid $8! I loved it and found it to have a really refreshing take on this format change that so many docs seem to be taking on recently. It's about the very unique role that theaters play in our lives as a cultural space, and it actually tugged on my heartstrings a little, making me think about all the fun times I've had at my own revival cinema and how sad I'd be to see that go. There are also some very salient points made in advocating the preservation of film that made me feel a little less hopeless about the idea that "35mm is vanishing from the face of the earth." It's really cool to know that places like the new beverly exist and are still thriving today. Watching this made me want to go to a theater and see ANYTHING, on ANY FORMAT, just because of how hard it hammered home that cinema is meant to be a communal experience.
all I can think of now is that I'm SO catching that Double feature of Nightmare on Elm Street and They Live next month!
I've just watched it, loved it, it almost moved me to tears several times, and I just learn that they fired Julia Marchese? Maybe she can love her job that much and be bad at it, I don't know. I doubt it. It's a fucking shame.
I think she was just 'under qualified' and her enthusiasm didn't go very far in making business run any smoother, so they replaced her and she couldn't handle that idea after all the dedication and hard work she put into this place ( as shown in the documentary ). It's pretty much the worst way things could go for her, now that she's not trying to make ANY money off of this. Just a bleh situation, but I think this doc will get recognized and hopefully she'll get some more work in filmmaking. She certainly has the knack for it. I liked that part when Patton Oswalt talked about showing up on another weekend and Sherman Torgan ( original owner ) said "You've been coming here long enough, you should be writing scripts by now." I'd like to think it's the same case for her and she'll go on to have an illustrious career, who knows?