Page 75 – Establishing Shot

Pygmalion (1938) and the Art of Cinematic Comedy

Posted on May 10, 2021 by Jesse Pasternack

Poster for Pygmalion (1938) — Poster for *Pygmalion* (1938)

You might expect Pygmalion, the adaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s classic play, to not make great use of the formal potential of cinema. Its theatrical roots, as well as Shaw’s role in writing the screenplay, might lead you to think that the filmmakers would create a filmed version of the play that would be so faithful as to be uninteresting. But the filmmakers subvert average expectations with great style and wit. In this case, that style and wit are distinctively cinematic.

The filmmakers, led by directors Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard, shatter those expectations with their opening tracking shot. The camera’s movement as it takes in the energy of London expertly introduces you to this story’s bustling world and lets you know that it will be a true cinematic experience, as opposed to a filmed play on a single set. (more…)

Physical Media Isn’t Dead, It Just Smells Funny: Blu-ray Reviews for April 2021

Posted on May 3, 2021 by Aja Essex

Full transparency: all Blu-rays reviewed were provided by Kino Lorber and Criterion.

On this month’s episode, I’m very happy to have my first guest with fellow Cicada Cinema co-founder and by far the most encyclopedic cinephile I’ve ever had the pleasure of calling my friend, Nile Arena! I decided I need some help talking about the mountain of movies Kino Lorber and Criterion sent over to me this month and he was more than happy to help. We get into a couple of hidden gems with the 1984 coming-of-age comedy written by a post-Fast Times at Ridgemont High Cameron Crowe, The Wild Life, and a nasty piece of British noir called Cast a Dark Shadow that comes as double feature with a similar film, Wanted for Murder. We finally wrap it up with a personal favorite of both of ours, Mel Brooks’s directorial debut, The Producers. I also fly solo for a bit and get into what I love about Kino’s most recent release of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and try and triangulate my thoughts about Olivier Assayas’s Maggie Cheung vehicle Irma Vep.

The format shifts once again, but the movies continue to be great. Give it a listen and hear for yourself. (more…)

Monthly Movie Round-Up: April

Posted on April 29, 2021 by Establishing Shot

Every month, A Place for Film brings you a selection of films from our group of regular bloggers. Even though these films aren’t currently being screened at the IU Cinema, this series reflects the varied programming that can be found at the Cinema and demonstrates the eclectic tastes of the bloggers. Each contributor has picked one film that they saw this month that they couldn’t wait to share with others. Keep reading to find out what discoveries these cinephiles have made, as well as some of the old friends they’ve revisited. (more…)

A Portrait of the Artist at Work: Unknown Chaplin

Posted on April 26, 2021 by Jack Miller

The Immigrant (1917), perhaps the finest of Chaplin's Mutual comedies — *The Immigrant* (1917), perhaps the finest of Chaplin’s Mutual comedies

Though it’s perhaps difficult for us to fully conceive today, Charles Chaplin (1889-1977) likely remains the most widely recognized great artist in the history of movies. Chaplin’s startling degree of success in his own time, combined with the important fact that he worked in the “universal” language of silent cinema, made him a truly international figure of sorts — one who transcended the barriers of spoken language as well as national boundaries. As Jonathan Rosenbaum has noted, the only other artistic figure even remotely comparable to him in this regard is the jazz giant Louis Armstrong. But this iconographic image of Chaplin as early global movie star (for many, his very face is synonymous with silent film) and as beloved comic performer obscures another important aspect of his legacy: the fact that he directed and edited most of his own pictures. (more…)

Remembering Monte Hellman

Posted on April 22, 2021 by Jack Miller

Monte Hellman with dog — A brilliant original: Monte Hellman (1929-2021)

At the risk of sounding too negative, I’d say that the majority of filmmakers, even some very good ones, are ultimately conventional in that they rely on established forms of film language to communicate with us. Throughout the history of cinema, it has only been a much smaller group of artists who have sought to construct alternative visions and wholly new ways of looking at the world. Among this small group of ferociously idiosyncratic film artists, which would include such figures as Stan Brakhage, Robert Bresson, and Alexander Dovzhenko, one would have to add the recently deceased Monte Hellman (1929-2021), a brilliantly original narrative filmmaker who was one of the greatest figures in American cinema during the last half of the twentieth century. (more…)

A Volunteer Ambassador’s Journey to IU Cinema

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Establishing Shot

Left to right: Founding Director Jon Vickers, filmmaker John Boorman, Lead House Manager Elizabeth Roell, volunteer ushers Austin Faulds, Jesse Pasternack, and Kathie Durkel, and Technical Coordinator Seth Mutchler during Boorman's 2016 visit to IU Cinema — Left to right: Founding Director Jon Vickers, filmmaker John Boorman, Lead House Manager Elizabeth Roell, volunteer ushers Austin Faulds, Jesse Pasternack, and Kathie Durkel, and Technical Coordinator Seth Mutchler during Boorman’s 2016 visit to IU Cinema

IU Cinema celebrates IU Day 2021 by highlighting the transformative experiences of its patrons over the years, including the Volunteer Ambassadors who have helped make IU Cinema one of the best university cinemas in the country. Below is volunteer Kathie Durkel’s essay on the enriching encounters she has had since discovering the Cinema in 2015.

Going to a movie, catching a flick, or attending the cinema, films have long been a part of my life. When I was growing up in northern Indiana, my small town had the Art Theater, location of my first date. The film was 1960’s Toby Tyler or 10 Weeks with a Circus as I recall, several years out of first run. Who needs romance when you have Mr. Stubbs the Chimp? My dad didn’t care for movies so my mom would tag me to go along with her to the big spectacles she liked, although I do seem to remember A Star is Born in there somewhere. One childhood film that made a great impression on me was The Incredible Shrinking Man (“Help me!”). My younger brother needed a pal for The Sound of Music, so I gladly took him. I traveled to Gary or maybe to Chicago to see Lawrence of Arabia in Panavision 70 on a screen stretched so wide I sat in the balcony to take it all in without having to whip my head from side to side. Next to the clothes dryer, my mother had a stack of semi-salacious movie magazines that she got passed on from her hairdresser, I think. I’d sneak them out to see what that Elizabeth Taylor was up to. I remember seeing a list at St. Bridget’s Church, behind a door in the corner, of films condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency. I don’t know where I would have gone to see those films even if I wanted to, but the list did kind of make me curious. (more…)