O'Horten

The O in O’Horten stands for Odd, and odd this movie is. A 67 year old train engineer is forced to retire after 40 years of faithful service. For 40 years his life has run on a schedule of predictability, but now that his job is gone his life has become as strange as his name. While trying to navigate his way through the first few days of his retirement, Odd encounters strange scenes, chance meetings, and bizarre circumstances until he can gain his footing and sort out his new life.

This strange little film is enchanting and weird with images that probably will never leave me. The story doesn’t really go anywhere and has nothing really profound to say, unless it is saying that we are all driving blind. Anyway, I didn’t feel that it was necessary to understand the film, it was only necessary to take the ride. The destination doesn’t matter, the joy is in the journey and all roads come to an end.

In Norwegian with English subtitles.

Rating: First Run     A odd little film, if you dare

A Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

Remember watching Saturday morning cartoons? You would get up early and sit there in your pajamas with the volume turned down low so you wouldn’t get in trouble for waking up mom and dad. They would show these really old Merrie Melodies cartoons where the clock would strike twelve and all the toys would wake up and start dancing around. You would sit there entranced, mesmerized by the fantasy of it and that night as mom and dad tucked you into bed, you would roll over and look at your toys trying to memorize their positions so in the morning you could see if the had moved. Part of you was hoping that they would.

It was with this same childhood innocence that I watched the original Night At The Museum. It was great fun to see all the exhibits come to life. The performances were imaginative and it was very humorous watching Ben Stiller react to the situation and then eventually learn to master it. When I left the theatre I wasn’t thinking, “Boy, I hope they make a sequel.” But when they did, I was open to it. I just wasn’t sure how they were going to pull it off.

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian, takes place several years after the first one. Ben Stiller, as Larry Daley, is no longer a night watchman, he is now running a successful company selling his latest inventions. When he hears that the museum is closing for renovations, he becomes concerned for his museum friends and makes a visit to make sure they are all right. All is not well though, as the exhibits are being crated up for storage in the federal archives in Washington D.C. Some of the exhibits will stay in New York, along with the magical life-giving tablet, which means that the ones that are being moved will no longer have a night life. Larry can’t see that happening, so he gets involved and tries to solve the problem.

I enjoyed this movie. Some new characters were added to the mix that were very funny. But I wasn’t as charmed this time around. I’m not sure if it’s because we are treading on the same ground, or because the script wasn’t as tight. Either way, I liked the first movie much better. 

Of the new characters, Amy Adams was delightful as Amelia Earhart, but completely unlike the Amelia from our history books. Hank Azaria was hysterical as an Egyptian king, but his accent and mannerisms were so over the top that any historical accuracy was completely thrown out the window. His performance was purely for laughs and he delivered plenty of them.

As a family film, I give A Night At The Museum high marks, it’s good, clean, fun. But overall I found it weak when compared with the original. I’d wait until the crowds die down, or if you want to avoid the kids, rent it. Either way, the film is fun and worth seeing.

Rating: Bargain Matinee     Good, clean, whimsical,  fun!

Angels & Demons

When the country falls in love with something and I don’t share that passion, it really makes me question my take on popular culture. For example, I don’t understand the whole Oprah Winfrey cult, and American Idol assaults my sensibilities. I don’t find dream crushing a form of entertainment. Sometimes when I open myself up, I can see the other side and chalk it up to a matter of taste. But other times I become rather perplexed. I try to see what others do, but end up just scratching my head.

When The Da Vinci Code first appeared it created quite a controversy. It has been my experience that these controversies are usually studio generated as a cheap form of advertisement. But when all the dust settles it’s usually much ado about nothing. I went to see The Da Vinci Code and found it rather flat. The premise was interesting, but after all was said and done, it was just a nice little fantasy and I went home with my belief system still intact and with a much better appreciation for the genius of Leonardo Da Vinci.

This time around Angels & Demons promised to be less controversial. The opening box office was really strong so I was hoping for a better film, but I found it to be about as thrilling as a board game. I was expecting so much more, but I was disappointed. The clues just lined up too easily and because there was only one hour in between murders, there was a lot of shuttling back and forth. If the author’s idea of tension is trying to get across town in a city jammed packed with people, well that is nothing new to me. We do it every day in Los Angeles on our freeways. What really made me crazy was when Tom Hanks’ character stopped to wash his face and change his shirt. I was thinking, you don’t have time for that, get moving, time to save a priest. I just didn’t feel the desperation or sense of urgency. Even a smart professor can get rattled. Even the sharpest minds, falter under stress. I was expecting to see more emotional turmoil, more mistakes, every death a failure visible on the face. How was he psychologically able to go on? I was looking for a little more characterization.

I didn’t dislike Angels & Demons, I just don’t understand why everyone else likes it so much. My feelings towards it are very luke warm. And according to the Bible, when something is luke warm, you should spit it out. I won’t go that far, it’s not a bad film, there are some elements in it that do work. I respect the acting, and I especially liked Ewan McGregor’s part. But overall, the film just didn’t excite me. Therefore I give it a mild recommendation; not hot, not cold, just luke warm.

Rating: Rent It     I bet the book is better

Terminator Salvation

When you have a favorite film that becomes a franchise, part of you is thrilled because you love the characters so much that you want to see more of them. But a bigger part of you is full of dread that someone will come along and screw it up. Whether it is an actor who refuses to return, a lame script, or a bad directing choice, you hold your breath with anticipation until you know that everything is going to be okay.

After seeing Terminator Salvation I have two things to say. McG didn’t screw things up, and Christian Bale is a worthy successor to the John Connor throne. I found the film spare, gritty, and on point. Many of the things that I loved about the original were present, and like its predecessor, Special Effects played its proper role, enhancing the action and not competing with it. In other words, the Special Effects were not the star of this film, the story was. This key element is why this franchise has been so hard to destroy. It has survived multiple directors, changes in cast, and even a TV show version. And yet, like the Terminator, it’s back, with a vengeance.

In many ways this film is a proper link between what has gone on before and what we can expect from the future. Like John Connor, we are pouring over our notes, trying to recall what we already know  and reconcile it with what we are told will eventually happen. In between is that gray area, the unknown. It is here that we live in the present, and like everyone else, we’re making it up as we go along.

From the moment the movie started, I was engrossed, happily eating my popcorn. The outside world was gone and I had become one of them, a resistor, just trying to survive until tomorrow. When the movie was over, I knew that we had won, we had lived to see another day, But the battle is not over yet. By the looks of the film and the box office receipts, there will be another, so don’t resist any longer. See it! This Terminator is a good one. And then you can start holding your breath for the next one.

Rating: Must See     A worthy addition to the franchise

Earth

We have become jaded when it comes to nature photography. Between National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the like, we have become accustomed to the marvels of nature because it is so easily available to us at home on our television sets. But, that has not always been the case. I remember as a young girl watching these types of films on The Wonderful World Of Disney on Sunday nights. The nature films themselves, started back on the big screen in the early fifties. Walt Disney, applying his genius to the art of nature photography, captured a seldom seen world and captivated the public at the same time. Winning multiple Oscars for his nature films, Walt Disney then re-aired these gems on his television show in the sixties for an entirely new audience. Now that trend is being reversed.

In 2007 the television mini-series, Planet Earth, was presented on television in several countries, and now two years later, Disney Nature has re-release this series in an edited down theatrical version. With the use of every new technological advance in photography, we are taken on a journey across the globe, following the plight of several animal families and through many challenging eco-systems.

I found this film to be very beautiful, peaceful, and relaxing. I went after a hard day at work and found this movie to be the perfect way to unwind. The narrative was less compelling then other nature films I’ve seen, and they kept the violence very sanitary. But, when I discovered that this version had been edited down, it made perfect sense. Perhaps the original version had a little more depth.

Disney Nature promises another film next year focusing on the wonders of the ocean. I, for one, am glad that Disney has made this commitment. I know of no better way to raise up another generation of environmentally sensitive children than through film and environmental education.

Rating: First Run Beautiful and compelling

Little Ashes

I’m a sucker for Biopics, so I was really looking forward to Little Ashes, which tells the story of artist Salvador Dali, writer Federico Garcia Lorca, and filmmaker, Luis Bunuel. These three young men met in college in 1922 in Madrid, Spain. Up until this time, the military and the church ruled Spain and the country was very conservative, but outside influences were creeping in, and the Jazz Age had arrived. This trio of creative, radical, minds worked together to break down conventions, and change the world through their art.

I found this film very uneven. It was beautiful to look at, but some of the camera shots were pretentious. The primary musical theme was very engaging, yet the score was inconsistent and sometimes it over-powered the scene. The performances were good. Robert Pattison had the difficult job of displaying Dali’s eccentric behavior while still keeping the character real. I also found Matthew McNulty, as Federico Garcia Lorca very touching and the most soulful of the trio.

Since I never took Art History in school, I asked my friend Lance to go with me. As a professional artist and teacher, I was relying on him to fill in the details. I felt a little better about myself when he admitted he had never heard of Luis Bunuel either. I have some vague memory of hearing something about slicing eyeballs in film class, but the memory is very weak and that was a long time ago. The film itself doesn’t do enough to fill in the gaps.

Lance and I were both under-whelmed by Little Ashes. The things we found the most interesting, they touched on and left, whereas other less crucial areas were covered in depth. We both noticed that there were very few examples of Dali’s art and we thought that was rather odd. Part of the fun of Biopics is surveying the subject’s works. Whether it is music, art, literature, sports, or public service, you want to be reminded why these people were considered to be so successful. I do want to learn more about Dali though, and that is always a good sign. When a Biopic whets your appetite, you want to go on and expand your knowledge. Maybe I should take Art History.

Rating: Bargain Matinee Interesting, but underwhelming

Star Trek

After moving to Los Angeles, my mother came to visit me and we decided to be tourists and visit Hollywood Boulevard. We went to the Hollywood Entertainment Museum where they have the entire bridge of the Starship Enterprise preserved in the basement. In the same room they had a Star Trek video quiz, and after guessing on the first question, I proceeded to get the following answers right. When done, I turned to my mom and wailed, “It’s official mom, I’m a nerd.”

I loved Star Trek growing up. My father introduced me to Science Fiction short stories when I was young, so I was fascinated with how Science Fiction writers made social commentaries by disguising their point under the thin veil of Science Fiction. On the surface, Star Trek was just futuristic action with fun characters and interesting plot lines. But underneath, America was being asked to examine their views on race relations, sex, patriotism, consumerism and many other deep topics. Star Trek was fun, but it made you think as well. It deserves its place as a television classic.

I wasn’t too worried about the latest incarnation of Star Trek. I figured that if Star Trek could survive Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, Enterprise and all the other variations, that there was little J.J. Abrams could do to kill it off. I was just hoping for something fun and entertaining. I wasn’t disappointed.

I loved Star Trek! The casting was great, the script was good, the special effects were awesome, and it was also funny. For me the mark of a good action-adventure film is the relationship between its characters, and the humor that prevails. The original series had lots of humor, so I was thrilled that it was present here. There were a few little things that made me raise an eyebrow, but I’ll save those to discuss with my fellow fans. After seeing the final product, I am very pleased, and I hope that J.J. Abrams does another. Since the entire cast is fairly young that possibility is totally in the stars. All I have to say to J.J. Abrams is well done, and do another please. As far as the cast, I say, live long and prosper.

Rating: Must See   Even if you are not a fan, you’ll enjoy this film

Lorine Ross Wilson: My Favorite Movie Going Partner

This morning I received news that my mother, Lorine Wilson has passed away. I will miss her very much, she was always my favorite movie going partner. My mother loved movies just like me, and she never criticized my passion. On the contrary, whenever I had time off to visit, it was always a given, “What movie are we going to see today?” 

As a girl growing up, I have so many fond memories of my mother that revolve around the movies. My earliest are at the drive-in. Back in the sixties, my father would come home from work and we would load up the car and head for the drive-in. There were two in our area at the time. My mom would make snacks, and we would pull our Volkswagen bug into the theatre parking lot and wait for the sky to get dark. Our Siberian Husky would have his leash tied to the speaker pole, and my brother and I would be allowed to play at the playground located under the movie screen. This was a great set-up for a family. The parents got a little alone time, while the kids could be safely observed in the distance. When darkness came and the previews started, we would head back to the car for homemade brownies and popcorn. My mom had a little silver ice bucket that she would bring along and we all got to have some Pepsi with our snacks. It was always a wonderful family night out.

Years later, my brother and I attended our last drive-in movie. They were releasing a new film called The Great Outdoors, and as a promotion gimmick they invited people to come to the drive-in theatre and cook out before the show. My brother and I barbecued hotdogs, brought our own popcorn, and my brother even brought along the silver ice bucket, which is one of his treasured possessions. As we waited for it to get dark, we recalled all the great times we had at the drive-in as a family.

In the early seventies, when my parents divorced, I remember one particular summer when my mom had very little money. We used to always go on a family trip, but this year things would be different. Since the small, downtown movie theaters were being threatened by the advent of the new multiplexes showing up in malls all over, many neighborhood theaters had to get creative. In San Jose, the Jose Theatre used to show Triple Features. For fifty cents you would get three movies plus a serial. My mom would drop us off and we would spend the entire day at the movies. They were never first run movies, they were usually horror films, westerns, or sci-fi. The serials were relics left over from the fifties, but we didn’t care, it was six hours out of the heat and in the air-conditioning. Sometimes, my mom would even let us take a friend along. It was a very memorable summer.

Another thing that happened after my parent’s divorce is that we started a new tradition. I remember our first Christmas without Dad. We got up early, had breakfast, opened presents, and then sat around and stared at each other. Nothing was the same without Dad being there. I don’t remember whose idea it was, but we decided to go see a movie. The Poseidon Adventure was opening Christmas Day. This was a new trend in cinema, studios started saving big blockbuster movies for the holidays and releasing them on Christmas Day. I’m not sure exactly when this started, but for my family, The Poseidon Adventure was our first. After that, it became a tradition. My mom would make turkey sandwiches from our leftovers and we would sneak them into the theatre. Along with our popcorn and Pepsi, we would nibble on our sandwiches watching the movie, happy as clams.

In High School and college, whenever I had time off, my mom and I would grab a paper and check to see what was on at the dollar show. It was now the late seventies and early eighties, and there were still a few small theaters struggling to hang on by offering one dollar admissions. Most of these theaters split their venue in half, and then started showing double features. These movies were what I call Second Run movies. They usually were films that had already been around for at least a month and were being pushed out of the multiplexes to make way for new movies.  You could see two movies for a dollar and the concessions were often cheaper. These theaters were found in small shopping centers, or in the downtown area. My mom and I knew them all. She was the one who started me off as a movie theatre bargain hunter.

One of my all time favorite movie memories is when my mom got a whole book of movie passes. My mom was a Special Ed teacher for over 25 years, and one year, a student’s parent, who worked for Century Theaters, gave my mom an entire book of movie passes that were expiring on December 31st. During that break from school we went to two or three movies every day until those movie passes were gone. My mom was a trooper and we were not going to let a single pass go to waste. We had a wonderful time and went to every movie that was playing. 

In college, I got a job working for a small independent movie theatre that showed classic movies. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but occasionally my mom would come and work with me. That year we had my birthday at the Vitaphone Theatre in Saratoga, California. They played The Greatest Show On Earth, with Jimmy Stewart, and Houdini, with Tony Curtis. My mom helped me make party favors filled with movie candy, and everyone that came for my birthday got free popcorn. It was so much fun sharing my love with movies, with those that I love. I’ve always wanted to do that again.  

Another thing that my mom and I used to do together was celebrate the Academy Awards. The Academy Awards used to arrive around the time of my birthday, and after I had moved to LA, my mom would come and visit me for an entire week. We would run around and try to see as many of the nominees beforehand, and then when the big night came, we would park ourselves in front of the TV with all our favorite foods, and see how well we did on our predictions. One year when she was visiting, we went to see Ragtime at a theater in West LA. It was the only theatre where it was showing. Charleton Heston came in and was looking for a seat, so I gave him mine and took a different seat in the back. My mom and I thought it was cool sitting in a theatre with Charleton Heston. A few minutes later, another celebrity walked in. We were thrilled. Watching the awards without mom, I always feel a loss.

My mom loved me so much that she had no problem sharing my passion for film. She had no problem staying up all night, making me a formal dress, so that I could go to an Academy Award party. She gamely would sit with me through a double feature, sometimes even three films in one day. She even helped me when I became the membership secretary for a local film club. My mother was the greatest, and her support was absolute.

The last film I remember taking my mother to was Night At The Museum with Ben Stiller. We took her out of the Nursing Home, put her in a wheelchair and rolled her on in. She was a little overwhelmed by the special effects, but she really enjoyed her popcorn. Soon, I knew, that these outings would no longer be possible and it made me very sad. I knew that her movie going days were coming to an end. I believe my brother took her out one or two more times, but for me, that was my last.

My mom spent 13 months in Africa once, and when she came home, her flight landed in Los Angeles. The first thing I did after picking her up was to take her to see Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I was so enthusiastic about this exciting new film that I couldn’t wait to share it with her. While most people would think this was absurd, my mother got it. She understood me, and loved me unconditionally. She was the best movie going partner ever, and I’m going to miss her very much. I love you mom, rest in peace.

Lemon Tree

I grew up in a small town in Northern California called Newark. Newark was significant geographically for two reasons. One, its natural salt beds, and two, it was the place with the shortest distance across the San Francisco Bay. During the California Gold Rush era when San Francisco grew in leaps and bounds, many Swiss, German, and Portugese farmers moved to Newark to raise beef, milk, and hay, with a emphasis on dairy products. San Francisco was growing so quickly, that these small family farms were invaluable to the booming city, and their produce was easily ferried across the bay for consumption. Later when the first bridge was built, Newark became a transportation hub where cargo from San Francisco’s shipping industry could be trucked all over the west.

During war time, Newark once again became very valuable as a distribution site. In addition, its small farms continued to feed the heavily rationed area. But, when the war was over and prosperity returned, the family farms started to get squeezed out. My family moved to Newark in the early sixties. Farms were being bought out to make room for new housing developments. Although I was very young, I got there just in time to see one of the last cattle round-ups, and I have some very vivid memories of watching sheep shearing, hog butchering, and the plucking of chickens. One by one these small family farms were being taxed out of existence. City government was just too strong for the independent farmer. 

Today when I saw Lemon Tree, it reminded me of one family farm I used to visit. It was run by an older couple and they were desperately trying to hold on to their home while a city grew up around them. Lemon Tree takes place in Israel on the green line border between Israel and the West Bank. On one side, the new Israeli Minister Of Defense has just moved into his new home, and on the other side is an Palestinian widow, living alone, trying to hold on to her family’s lemon grove that the Army had ordered to be cut down for security reasons. In this legal drama, based on a true incident, Salma Hidane, hauntingly played by Hiam Abbass, takes her case all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court, creating a media frenzy and a political hot button issue.

I thought this film was wonderful. The political aspect of the movie was put in the background, while the human side of things was placed in the forefront. I loved how the widow and the Minister’s wife were able to communicate without ever speaking. The subtext in this film is as rich as the soil beneath the lemon trees. I highly recommend this film.

In multiple languages with English subtitles

Rating: First Run    A beautiful story that needed to be told

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

When I was a little girl I used to walk to the corner store with my brother so he could buy baseball cards and comic books. He usually gave me the bubblegum that came with the cards, but when it came to the comic books, I wasn’t that interested. Sometimes I’d buy an Archie, or maybe a Casper The Friendly Ghost, but mostly I just went with him for the company.

I always knew just enough about the Super Heroes to keep my cred up with the boys, but I never got into it enough to blow all my allowance on the latest issues. I just kept my mouth shut, my ears open and picked up things as I went along. Years later when all these Super Hero movies started coming out, I knew just enough to get along, but not so much that if a rule was broken, or a mythology was contradicted, that it drove me nuts. I was just looking for a good entertaining story.

When Superman came out with Christopher Reeves, I was so taken with the romance aspect of the film that I immediately went out and bought pink underwear. When Tim Burton’s Batman arrived, I enjoyed the twisted re-imagining that broke away from my nostalgic television favorite. And, when The Dark Knight emerged, nearly two decades later, I enjoyed the more serious and less campy approach. I even enjoyed the first Spiderman, which I found to be a lot of fun. I never listened to what the Fanboys said, I judged each film by its own merits and tried to decide if it was entertaining, or not.

When the first X-Men movie was released, I really liked it. There was plenty of action, good characters, and lots of humor. I have a really morbid sense of humor so I like it when characters are glib, sarcastic, or display gallows's humor. As long as the line is true to the character, I like it. Tag lines that are self-conscious are less appreciated, I like my humor authentic. So, because X-Men did such a good job of balancing all these elements, I really liked the film and have seen all the sequels. Naturally, I was looking forward to Wolverine.

After seeing X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I have to say it is my least favorite of the series. The primary reason is its lack of humor. I also felt it took too long to get in to it. Not reading all those comic books I was confused by the boney claws, instead of the familiar steel ones, and I had no idea that Wolverine was immortal. Now I have to go back and either do some homework, or see all the other films again. I love Hugh Jackman, and if they just ran a slide show displaying pictures of him in various states of undress, I’d probably buy a ticket, but there was just too much ground to cover trying to explain his beginnings. Now that that’s out of the way, maybe the next film can be a little leaner, meaner, and hopefully a little more funny. As long as Hugh Jackman’s in it, I’m there.

Rating: Second Run  Let the lines die down, no rush

Great Idea For An Event Or Fundraiser

I was scrolling through my web site looking for comments, and trying to figure out why my fonts are inconsistent, when I discovered a note from D. I’ve only been blogging for 3 months now and all this stuff is new to me and I’m still trying to figure it out. Anyway, D. works for a company called Open Air Productions and they specialize in outdoor movie events. I visited her site and then her BLOG, and found it all very exciting.

If you are planning a big event or a new way to fundraise for your favorite charity check out, www.openairprod.com. If you go to www.openairprod.com/blog you find some fun articles, ideas and suggestions.

Thank you D. for visiting my site. It’s nice to know that people actually read it. I hope you have a wonderful, exciting summer.

Melanie

The Solist

I was really looking forward to The Soloist. I was expecting a real dynamic match-up between Robert Downey Jr. and Jaime Foxx. However, I regret to say, I was kind of disappointed. Instead of two of our greatest actors facing off, we had Jaime Foxx doing monologues with his inner demons, and Robert Downing Jr. as the detached observer.

There are other things that bothered me with this movie. I thought that the flashback sequences added very little to the film. The director should have taken the advice of the social worker in the film when he said, “It doesn’t matter what his diagnosis is, the best thing he’s got going for him is a friend.” To me, that is the fault of the film. Too much time was spent trying to explain how Nathaniel winded up on the street. Instead, the focus should have been on the relationship between Nathaniel and the newspaper columnist Steve Lopez. What I wanted to know was why Mr. Lopez so taken with Nathaniel? Why was he driven and compelled to keep interfering in his life? And how has this relationship impacted his life and how he interacts with other people?

I also felt that the director made a wrong turn in another area. The director tried to visualize sound. When Nathaniel goes to a concert rehearsal, we watch his face as he listens and is overcome with rapture. But, instead of allowing us to linger on the emotions in his face, we are treated to a light show, where various colored blobs and shapes, mimic the sounds of the orchestra. What a mistake. One of the most powerful cinematic memories I have is from the movie The Elephant Man. When John Merrick goes to the theatre for the first time, you can see all his emotions by watching his eyes. You didn’t need to see the play. You knew it was beautiful because you could see it on his face. I wish that the director Joe Wright would have trusted his actors a little more and allowed us to watch their faces. I remember one previous Robert Downey Jr. film where the director had a really long shot on the actor, just looking at himself in the mirror. I was mesmerized.

Without going on and nit picking the film to bits, let me just stop and say that this film didn’t work for me. I never bought into the relationship between the two men, it lacked an emotional connection, and at one point I just wanted to yell and say, “Leave the man alone! He was happy under his bridge!” The only scene that really worked for me was when Mr. Lopez was describing the charge he got out of watching Nathaniel’s face at the concert. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed that pleasure.

I’m not saying that this is a bad film, it is better than most. I was just very disappointed. The uneven tone of the film, and for me, the emotional disconnect, did not meet with my expectations. I was really hoping for more.

Rating: Rent It Two great actors in an uneven film

Free Movies! They're Out There

I was enjoying a rare Friday off and trying to decide what movie I was going to go see. While cleaning off my desk I discovered a calendar of events for the month of May sent to me by the UCLA Film Archives. After reviewing the brochure, I noticed a series of films beginning May 1st, set in North Africa. The series was in conjunction with a museum exhibit co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. After scanning the film titles, I saw the magic words, free screening. Free Screening! Six nights of free screenings! I was very excited.

I looked at my watch, 6:00, called a friend to go with me, in vain, and then jumped in my car and took off. In the screening room, at the Hammer Museum in Westwood, I arrived with 10 minutes to spare. I saw 1930’s Morocco and 1936’s The Garden Of Allah, both with Marlene Dietrich. In the first film, it was fun to see a young, tall, lanky and very cocky, Gary Cooper as the Legionnaire who wins Marlene Dietrich’s heart. The next film was a melodramatic, Technicolor Film with Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer. It also starred a very young Basil Rathbone, looking quite handsome in his turban and robes.

There was a good turnout to this event and I even spotted Quentin Tarantino and Peter Bogdanovich in the audience. Some of these films are so rare, that when they are screened, the true aficionados come out in droves. These are not the first stars I’ve seen at UCLA’s screenings, once I sat behind Dustin Hoffman.

The reason I am writing about this event is to illustrate the abundance of opportunities out there. Whether it’s at a library, museum, or cultural center, there are many screenings available, and sometimes they are free. You just have to keep your eyes open, and sign up on a lot of mailing lists.

In the summer I particularly like to go to some of the outdoor screenings. Sitting on the lawn, under the stars, with a mini cooler full of snacks, sharing the experience with like minded people, is a nice evening out. So don’t let the economy get you down. There are plenty of fun things to do with little, or no money, and I’ll do my best to point them out. So, there is no excuse not to get out of the house and see a movie, you can thank me later.