Film fest (and weekend) flotsam: ticket stubs, including symphony; bagel ticket; book I bought at author event at the library
So Friday was part of the film fest, although we didn’t go to any movies. We were supposed to, or at least I had two tickets for The Dog, a documentary about John Wojtowicz, the person who Al Pacino’s character in Dog Day Afternoon is based on. The Dog was showing at 4:15 in the afternoon. I had two tickets because Mark doesn’t “do” documentaries. The original plan was for Toni and me to go right after school and be back in time for Mark & I to go to the symphony, and Toni to go to back to school for a dance. But I would’ve had to leave work by 3:30 – ha, like that was going to happen. And Toni needed time to get ready for the dance. So no Dog. I read a review by a guy who saw it at the NY Film Fest, and hated it, and one from someone who saw it at SXSW and loved it, and watched an interview with the directors – still not sure if I’m happy or sad that I missed it.
I ate the last of the BBQ tofu for supper, and dropped Toni at a friend’s, to go to the dance, and then Mark and I still to time to do a real lightning stop at this art show at the old train station – quick before they turn it into a bike shop. Then off to the symphony. Home in time for Deadwood (that HBO is running in place of the Sopranos) and also managed to watch Johnny Depp and Joseph Arthur with Peter Buck and Mike Mills on Letterman, on my iPhone. They were all on on Thursday, also the night that Letterman announced his retirement. So that was Friday.
On Saturday, I got up and went for a walk to the bagel store. I ran into a neighbor, and we got caught up on what our kids were doing. Then I came back and Mark and I drove to the indoor market – I wanted to buy chickens for Passover so too heavy to carry home on foot. We dropped the chickens & other farmers market purchases off at the car, and walked around the square to get coffee and a bagel and a scone at Collectivo.
I did some work and fooled around with taking no-iPhone selfies.
I went back downtown at 2:30 to go to an author event at the public library that my friend Jenny told me about – the author is a rare book librarian at NYPL, who’s done a book about crafting, inspired by library resources.
Our 2nd film was a set of shorts about The Lumberjack, the oldest movie made in WI. It’s a town movie, docu-dramas that were made by itinerant film companies in the early 1900s; film archives gold. Small film companies would travel to towns and small cities, and contract with the government and/or chamber of commerce to make movies that would show off the wonders of the town. They usually used citizens as volunteer actors. The Lumberjack was made in Wausau in 1914, by the Paragon Feature Film Company. I think this is a YouTube of one of Paragon’s other films, The Blisveldt Romance. The Wisconsin Center from Film and Theater Research got a grant to restore the Lumberjack in 2011. But really the best part of the program was Steve Schaller’s 1983 documentary about his work researching The Lumberjack, When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose – the title of a popular song of the era – you can hear it at Library of Congress. Anyways, in 1983, Schaller was in time to talk to some of the stars of the movie. He dubbed the tinted nitrate onto video, and there are some really sweet scenes of Schaller sitting with elderly ladies seeing themselves and townspeople they remember on film, almost 70 years ago – then, 100 years ago now. And the woman who played the piano for the movies is amazing. In the film, Schaller has a huge jewfro and big square glasses – he came to the screening, with much smaller glasses and balder head.
Then we zipped home, dropped off Toin, so she could go to a benefit concert at school, and headed to Sundance for Club Sandwich. We had wanted to see it at TIFF and couldn’t get in. It was enjoyable, but light. A single mom and 12-year old son vacationing in the off-season at a resort. The mom is starting to come to terms with the fact that her son is hitting puberty, not a little boy anymore. And to underscore the point, another family with a 13-year old girl shows up. One of the reviews I read said, “Commercial prospects for the sweet, exceedingly slender pic appear slight.”
