ian
10 July 2009 @ 04:09 pm
Popcorn & Candy: Sing Among Those Stars; that was from yesterday, and I'm almost embarrassed to even send people to it, after the brouhaha over my boneheaded gaffe of accidentally sending people to the 2005 Made In Hong Kong Film Festival schedule. Oops.


And then from today, a rather less error-prone review of the truly amazing new movie, The Hurt Locker.
 
 
ian
07 July 2009 @ 07:49 pm
IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING NOTE:
Prior to the Jackson 5ive cartoon, we'll be showing a short film by Susan Etheridge, currently untitled, depicting how alcohol, uneven pavement, pyromaniacal boys, and illegal fireworks bearing the name HELLRAISER are a certain recipe for disaster and near death experiences. It's sort of a public service message. With fire. The director and many of the actors will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A.
 
 
Current Mood: excited
 
 
 
ian
Wow. The Hurt Locker is sort of staggeringly good. Not only far and away the best film about either the Iraq or the Gulf War, but quite probably the best American film about war made in the past 20 years. I'm still a little breathless. Full review at the end of the week. Get ye to a theater and spend money on this flick.
 
 
Current Mood: impressed
 
 
ian
06 July 2009 @ 08:42 am
**I generally don't go hogwild with the invite list for these and just keep it to folks who have attended in the past or expressed specific interest in attending at some point. That said, if you're local and on my friends list and want to come (or want to be added to the evite list), just let me know. And I'll probably keep posting these here, too.**

We at Dorchester Rooftop Movies have had a sad couple of weeks. We'd like to observe a moment of silence for Farrah of the feathery hair. Give a spirited HEY-O! to the dearly departed Mr. McMahon. A heartily shouted lament that Billy Mays will never be here for another indispensable product. But we're all still reeling from the shock of the fallen King of Pop. And so, we at the Rooftop Movies' Office of Programming, Pretension, and Arbitrary Decision-Making feel we would be remiss if we didn't use our unique platform to make some kind of larger tribute. As such, we must first apologize for yet another delay of the hotly anticipated screening of James Cameron's ode to toothy flying sea-dwellers (Piranha 2: The Spawning). That will, again, have to wait for another week.

Instead, we'll be showing Moonwalker, Jackson's 1988 companion film to the Bad album. The movie consists of a number of loosely related short films, and as such, we can't help but feel it is likely the structural basis for Robert Altman's Short Cuts, and we trust that Altman will not be stepping forward to dispute this claim. It's also a rarity, having long since gone out of print on both VHS and DVD. So when the hasty re-issue hits stores in a few weeks, you may sneer down your nose at everyone else on your block and tell them that you just attended a screening weeks ago, so no thank you very much.

In keeping with the usual tradition, the feature will be preceded by a cartoon; which in this case should hopefully be an episode of the Jackson 5ive animated series from the early 70s.

As usual, bring any beverages or snacks you'd like to enjoy, and keep an eye on the weather in case it's going to get chilly after dark.

Single white sequined glove optional.

EDIT: Should have mentioned, that's this Wednesday.
 
 
Current Mood: busy
Current Music: Jackson Five - "I Want You Back"
 
 
ian
03 July 2009 @ 03:50 pm
A review of the touring production of the Broadway musical version of The Color Purple, which is at the Kennedy Center for the next month.
 
 
 
ian


(incidentally, the movie being remixed here is Downfall, which is also well worth checking out)
 
 
Current Mood: lolz
 
 
ian
01 July 2009 @ 07:14 pm
I consider myself to be a pretty reasonable guy. It's one of the things, I think, that has served me well in working at the theatre, in a position where tensions sometimes run high. In situations where some people might let their own aggravation further heighten said tension, my calm demeanor tends to bring boils to simmers. There are exceptions. To paraphrase Cool Hand Luke, some people you just can't reach. I've been threatened with physical violence before. That sad fucker was playing a game of chicken with me, and I won. This weekend, however, was the coup de grace. I was accused of racism.

I still won, though. This is what unreasonable people never realize, is the more unreasonable you are, the less likely you are to get what you want. You may think that getting your money back means something other than it does. Me giving you your money back is me getting you out of my theatre, which is exactly what I want.

It was the Sunday matinee. The show had just started, but we were about to have an unusually large influx of very late people. We don't start shows at the published time; we start 8 minutes after the published time to allow for people who are running a few minutes late. So if you get there and we've already started, you're pretty significantly behind schedule. That said, we do what we can to get you in as soon as possible, at a point in time and a location in the theatre that will be the least disruptive to the audience and the actors. You don't get to go to the seat you purchased, and you don't get to go in whenever you want. You go where we say, when we say, and that's part of the contract you agree to whenever you purchase a ticket: "Late seating is done at the discretion of management." Consider yourself lucky; there are plenty of theatres that won't even let you in if you're late. The "discretion of the management" is to tell you to turn around and head home. Remember that scene in Spider-Man 2 where Peter Parker shows up late to see Mary Jane's play and the usher won't let him in? That's the reality in plenty of places, and you don't get your money back, and a lot of places won't even try to find you an alternate performance. We're quite accommodating, really.

This past Sunday, we had a total of 15 people show up late. This is not only a huge number (the theatre only holds about 200), it's far more than we really have a contingency to handle. But I got a full dozen of them into the theatre, most into seats, and I would have gotten all 15 in. I would have, had three of them not been unreasonable fuckups.

Immediately after the lights went down, I turned to leave the house. As I was walking out, the door opened, and I was met with six people who had walked through two closed doors directly into the theater. My first thought was that the other House Manager had sent them in for me to late seat but had failed to notify me on my headset. "Did someone send you in here?" I whispered. No one had. I motioned for everyone to head back out the door. I needed to find out if they were all together, and where they were supposed to be sitting, plus I needed to set up late seats for some of them.

Now, a group of people all walking in at once, late and simultaneously, suggests that they all arrived together. So my first question was, "Are you all together?" They weren't. There was a group of three, a pair, and a single. I only had three late seats immediately available, one pair, one single. They weren't together. In order to get a group of three, I was going to need to set up chairs for the trio. I grabbed the pair and the single, took them in, and told the trio I'd be back for them in a minute. I sat down these first three, went to the other side to set up chairs, and came back out to get the trio.

Here's the kicker: if they'd kept their mouths shut, they'd have been in seats and watching the show within 30 seconds after that point. Instead, the moment I came back out, one woman, the youngest of the three, began dressing me down for taking the other people in despite the fact that they'd been the first ones through the door. I tried to explain that I was trying to get seats together for them, that I had three seats to start with, but they weren't together, and that I was simply doing my best to get them the best seating situation possible. I never got very far with any of these statements, because every time I did, she began talking over me. At this point I heard over the headset that we had more latecomers arriving. I again tried to calm them and told them I could take them to seats right now, but she insisted on continuing to yell at me.

I walked away. If she didn't want seats, there were other people now arriving who'd be happy to take them. I told her I'd find her a manager, which I did, and left them to talk to him while I took the others in. Others who, upon walking past this crazy screaming woman, looked at me and said, "I don't want any trouble, I know I'm late, I just want to get in." Ah, blissful reasonableness. They got what they wanted, and they got it quickly. Funny how that works.

I took care of the last of the latecomers, and finally emerged to find the crazy lady still yelling at Andrew. Complaining about my "attitude", about how she'd never been treated in such an appalling manner in a theatre before, and she goes to LOTS of theatres, and she's going to be telling ALL her friends about the poor treatment she received. I've been working customer service for nearly two decades. You think I haven't heard this rant before? This is the last ditch attempt at manipulation that every unhappy customer falls back on. It doesn't work, because we're only too happy to have you never come back, and if your friends are assholes like you, they're welcome to stay away as well. So go right ahead.

I again tried to explain to them exactly what happened. She continued talking over me. It's difficult to have a conversation when only one side is permitted floor time. I don't get into shouting matches though. If someone wants to talk over me, I simply stop talking. They run out of steam pretty quickly without a second side shouting back to fuel their fire. This is what happened to her, and after a last ditch effort at accusing me of lying (she claimed that I only made them retreat back out to the lobby, and not the entire group of six), she slumped angrily on a seat in the lobby.

At this point, the older woman of the group stepped up. She, up to this point, hadn't said a lot, and while it seemed that she was missing my points, she was also not yelling, so I took her to be the more reasonable force. If I could talk to her without the younger woman shouting me down, perhaps I could make her understand. So I began explaining that I was trying to find the best seating arrangement possible to accommodate the simultaneous arrival of six latecomers.

"There were only three of us, and we were there first," she replied.

Yes, but I had all six of you to deal with, and I already had a pair and a single for the others. I could have sat you first, but then you wouldn't have been together.

"Just because we all look the same to you doesn’t mean that you can treat us all as one group."

Really. She actually took us there. She took my very first question, "Are you all here together," which is what I would (and have) asked any group of six people all walking in together, late, and made the leap to "You see six African Americans walking in and assume they must be together."

I told her, quite calmly, but firmly, that there was definitely, definitely no need to go there. Then I reiterated the fact that I was not treating them as a group, I was trying to find the fastest and best late seating options for everyone. Apparently the younger one had found more fuel for her fire though, and she stood up and began telling me how it wasn't my place to dictate what her friend could or couldn't say. At this point, Andrew and I were both sick of dealing with them. It was obvious they were not going to relent on their insistence that they'd been treated worse than any human being in the history of theater, and they certainly didn't want to see the show anymore, so we told them we'd get them a refund and get them on their way. Which I did, despite a little pushback from the box office, who managed to piss them off more while giving their usual, "We normally don't do this..." spiel.

The racist bullshit pissed me off, but the thing is, we'd have never gotten to that ugly point if they'd just come with me when I came out to bring them to their seats. If you're late to the theatre, shut the fuck up and do as you're told, and provided they actually do late seating, you'll get to a seat as quickly and efficiently as possible. Act apologetic about your lateness, and we'll probably be even nicer to you. Take out your frustrations over being late on us, as if it's our fault? You can fuck off back home, thank you very much.
 
 
ian
26 June 2009 @ 08:38 pm
I just read that some reporter asked Robert Gibbs at a White House press conference today why the White House had not released a "formal statement" regarding the death of Michael Jackson.

I would like to beat this reporter soundly about the head. And then make him/her eat his/her press credentials.

What an idiotic fucking question.

Do we really want the White House working to craft formal statements on their feelings regarding the deaths of pop stars?
 
 
Current Mood: annoyed
Current Music: devo - "mongoloid"
 
 
ian
26 June 2009 @ 08:38 pm
A review of Under Our Skin, a documentary about Lyme disease.
 
 
 
ian
23 June 2009 @ 12:09 am
I had a really awful day at work. Nothing personally or professionally bad. Just hours of work that I did last week undone by last minute changes that are going to create twice as much work to redo what I already did. It was a one step forward two steps back kind of day.

I used to stew about days like this for days on end. It's part of what made me so unhappy in my previous job. For illumination on this point, just read any given post in this space put up between 2002 and 2005. Chances are good I was bitching about work.

Now, I've developed mechanisms for dealing. I like that. Today, I was aided by getting out the evite for what should (finally) be the season's first rooftop movie, unless a really freak storm manages to rain this one out, too. I am, as we speak, burning a DVD of the movie in question, which I had to (not so legally) download since it is currently out of print. Having technology work for me rather than against me (and since I work in IT, any bad day feels like technology working against me, even if human error is the culprit) is a good thing.

Even more of an aid was getting a ticket to see My Bloody Valentine when they play Richmond at the end of July. Being one of those "cross them off the list" bands, a band I would have been disappointed had I never gotten the opportunity to see them, I'm pretty psyched. I'm ready to be bowled over by the tidal wave of noise they are sure to provide.

After work I had plans to go for a run. And I was all changed and ready to go when I stopped myself. I was still sulking over my day, and while getting my frustrations out on the pavement seemed like a good way to work through it, I decided going out with a clear head might be more productive all around. So I drew the curtains, sat down on the bed, and meditated for 15 minutes, concentrating on that one little syllable for all I was worth. It took a long while before my mind quieted, before all the spikes of activity, the anger at things it does me no good to get angry over, finally dimmed and some stillness entered. I followed that with 6 miles on a nearly perfect early summer evening, and the world seems much more sane than it did six hours ago.
 
 
Current Mood: calm
 
 
ian
19 June 2009 @ 03:28 pm
A review of a really gorgeous documentary about post-apartheid tensions in a seaside South African town, Sea Point Days.
 
 
Current Location: Sbux, Buzzard's Bay, MA
Current Mood: okay
Current Music: A surprisingly pretty bossa-nova cover of VU's "I'll Be Your Mirror"
 
 
ian
18 June 2009 @ 05:31 pm
A couple more SILVERDOCS reviews for today:

One of The Philosopher Kings, a film about custodians working at institutions of higher learning, and the second is of Convention, an immersive, multi-perspective look behind the scenes at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver.
 
 
Current Location: Cape Cod
Current Mood: vacationing
Current Music: R.E.M. - "Oddfellows Local 151"
 
 
ian
17 June 2009 @ 07:45 pm
Think a movie about music remixing has nothing in it for you? Copyright and intellectual property laws affect each of us (particularly if you're afflicted with a terminal disease that could have been cured if collaboration and information sharing was encouraged). Everyone needs to watch this movie. Find out how you can watch it, even if you can't make it to the festival, in the review. Also, it's a super fun watch.

RiP: A Remix Manifesto @ SILVERDOCS
 
 
Current Music: Girl Talk - "Here's the Thing"
 
 
ian
16 June 2009 @ 07:26 pm
Get ready for a deluge of links to documentary coverage in this space: it's SILVERDOCS week in DC, and I'm going to be in Silver Spring every night until I have to go up to Cape Cod to see my brother's graduation. Expect a half dozen reviews by week's end.

Two for today, including some coverage of the opening night hoopla:

SILVERDOCS Opens with More Than a Game

Afghan Star @ SILVERDOCS
 
 
Current Mood: tired
 
 
 
ian
10 June 2009 @ 08:46 pm
I'm trying to not allow brief Facebook updates tell the story of my life, so a little more detail on what's going on with me just lately.

Working chronologically backwards:


  • The first Assateague trip of the summer happens this weekend for [info]id_is_stupid's birthday. I'm really looking forward to getting nice and sweaty on a run and then jumping directly into the ocean afterwards. And lots of sitting around on the beach, reading, napping, and ponies.
  • Tomorrow night Angel and I are going to Wolf Trap to see Elvis Costello with my Dad and Bev. 50% chance of thunderstorms at the moment, so hopefully we'll come out on the shiny side of that coin.
  • Pretty much anything that goes on outdoors this week is beholden to the whims of these violent thunderstorms we've been getting. So long as the heavens don't open up again, the first rooftop movie of the year should be going forward tonight. May the Schwartz be with us.
  • On Saturday, I finally replaced my bike with a shiny new Novara Buzz at a substantial discount via [info]ansaphone4's REI connections. Now she's trying to get me to take care of those same connections and some sweet offseason deals to get myself a new snowboard. Which I'm considering, since every instructor I ran into at Jackson Hole this year told me I need to get myself off the too-small beginner board I'm currently riding. I'm enjoying the new bike, and with the rain yesterday, I'm finding the addition of fenders, which none of my previous bikes have had, to be a nice perk.
  • The REI trip to get the bike happened as Angel and I were on our way back from a brief jaunt out to Skyline Drive on Friday/Saturday. We headed for the mountains after work on Friday, arrived at our campsite at dusk, and got our tent pitched just before darkness fell completely. After a long day, and a long week, I had the best night's sleep I've had on the ground in a long time. The next day we got up, ate a brunch of chili mac out of a bag with water boiled over the little camp stove, and headed down the road to do the White Oak Canyon hike, which took us on a five mile round trip to some nice water falls. We sat on the rocks sunning like snakes at the bottom. Not to be confused with the real snake that Angel nearly stepped on while on the path on the way. I didn’t see it, as it slithered away too quickly and I was back taking a picture of something or other. I did, however, see (and photograph) a rather large salamander along the way.
  • I may have decided to make this my last season at the theatre. If I can determine a viable plan for replacing the income with freelance writing gigs. I'm talking to some other folks who make consistent cash freelancing to get some guidance.
  • My check for the Falmouth Road Race was cashed last week, which means I'm confirmed for my tenth (!) running of the August classic. I find it hard to believe this'll be the tenth year I've done this. In other running related news, I decided not to enroll in the NYC marathon this year, as I was considering. I wanted to do some more running during the month of May as a stress test for my back, and didn't get that done. Provided the rest of this summer's training goes well, I'll continue running through the fall, and more importantly continue weekly yoga, from which I'm already feeling benefits, and possibly give the National Marathon a go early next spring. Though I think running a marathon at home might be boring, so maybe I'll look into early spring options in other cities. Because yes, I'm just crazy enough to want to do that to myself again.
 
 
Current Mood: content
 
 
ian
10 June 2009 @ 07:56 pm
I contributed to this story on the happy news that Screen on the Green is back!
 
 
Current Mood: giddy
Current Music: elvis costello - "new lace sleeves"