Lance Around Orlando

An Afternoon with Barry Levinson

Liberty Heights
In 1982 the Academy Award for best picture went to Chariots of Fire. For me, an even better film was Warren Beatty’s epic, Reds, for which he won best director. Fonda and Hepburn were fabulous in On Golden Pond and both got a well deserved Oscar.

But my favorite film that year was a little slice of life from an unknown writer/director named Barry Levinson. The film was entitled Diner.

It’s been 30 years and I’ve always wondered–the movie was so personal, so true to life, but it was too well constructed to be entirely factually accurate. So I ask Barry, “What about that movie was true and accurate, actually happened, and what was made up? More specifically, did you ever know someone who gave a quiz to his fiance about the Baltimore Colts in order to allow her to marry him?”

“That was my cousin Eddie,” says Barry. “He’s the one who wanted to be Hitler for Halloween in the movie you just saw, Liberty Heights.”

The audience laughs, claps and cheers.

“Did she pass the quiz?,” I shout out. “Yea, she did. But later, after he saw Diner, he told me he now realizes that it was stupid to give her that quiz. I thought that seeing the movie made him realize how silly it was. But he said, ‘a few months later, she had forgotten everything she had memorized about the Baltimore Colts for the quiz’.”

Barry Has Everyone's Attention

Barry continues for almost an hour.  He said that while other filmmakers focus on the larger stuff, he prefers to focus on the minutiae. It’s the small, personal interactions he finds most compelling. Like the scene in Diner where one character wants his friend’s roast beef sandwich. But he’s incapable of outright asking for it. So he asks his friend if he doesn’t want it. This leads to several minutes of dialogue where the friend who has the sandwich tries to get the other friend to just ask for the sandwich. Finally, as they continue to argue, a third friend reaches over and just takes the sandwich.

Barry was told by another filmmaker that he needed to cut the part about the roast beef and just get to the point of the scene. “But the roast beef is the point,” he retorts. In other words, nine years before Seinfeld made it fashionable, Barry was already perfecting the art of creating theatre from “nothing.”

Barry goes on to say that his inspiration for a lot of his writing came from the movie, Marty. He says he doesn’t remember anything about that movie, except the scene when the two friends continually repeat to one another, “What do you want to do tonight?” “I don’t know, what do you want to do?” “I don’t know.” Those are the moments Barry finds most real and most telling about a character. And his movies are filled with them.

As for tonight’s movie, Liberty Heights, NumberOneSon and I agree it’s a hidden gem–and quite hilarious. When someone asked Barry why he thought this movie was not as well known as his other films about life in Baltimore in the 50s, he said he thought it was just the unfortunate reality of getting caught in the middle of a studio head change. His film was practically finished, a new studio chief came in and, naturally, the new guy wanted to tout his own projects and not the projects of the guy he just replaced.

The story revolves around several teenage Jewish friends growing up in a predominately Jewish suburb of Baltimore. One parent runs an illegal numbers racket. One of the characters becomes friends with a newly segregated black girl. Another falls in love with a girl at a costume party, only to discover her boyfriend might have something to say about that.

The movie deals with the themes of anti-Semitism, racial divide, morality and religion. But these weighty themes are mere backdrops for the thing Barry considers the most important–the everyday, routine interactions we have with those around us; those moments of “nothing” that make up the better part of our daily interactions. Liberty Heights is filled with them.

There’s the character who will not leave the car when Sinatra is playing on the radio. It’s disrespectful. There’s the Jewish character who decides to dress as Hitler for Halloween and his parents who absolutely won’t allow him to leave the house. There are family meals, the annual purchase of the latest model Cadillac, and, of course, lots of focus on girls.

Each scene provides fresh dialogue, great characters and an immersion back into the world of 1954. They’re still doing bomb drills at school. The local swimming hole does not allow Jews, Dogs or Blacks–in that order. And there’s a lengthy conversation about how the order was established and whether or not it’s best to be at the front or back of that list.

Barry tells about the time he and some friends went to a James Brown concert in Washington. They got there late and were excited to find that there were still seats. It was only after they hurried into the theatre and sat down that they realized they were the only white people in the entire theatre. Part of that made it into the movie.

If you’ve never seen Liberty Heights, be sure to rent it. There’s no glamorous shots of huge vistas or eye popping cinematography, so you can enjoy it on your home TV.

More importantly, if you ever get a chance to meet Barry Levinson or see him live, don’t miss it. You will love him just as you’ll love his films.

Oh, and if you don’t know about Barry’s other films, you also might want to check out Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam, The Natural, Wag the Dog, Bugsy, Avalon, Sleepers…and many more!

NumberOneSon adds:
I wasn’t expecting much from this movie because I wasn’t crazy about Diner (sorry Dad!) but LibertyHeights is very funny and charming. I love a good autobiographical slice-of-life story. This one’s about the warm-and-fuzzy side of desegregation – people from different worlds tentatively connecting with one another.

The movie was projected on film, unless I’m mistaken, and it looked great. Although, sorry to be a snob, but a little bit of the picture was off-screen. Also, the right side of the picture was a little out of focus. I expect better from one of my favorite theaters! But in any case the print was pristine. (One time we saw 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Enzian and the print was so beat-up that I’d rather have watched the movie at home on DVD.)

Cloris Enjoys Popcorn While Watching The Last Picture Show at the Enzian

“It was kind of a porn picture, if you think about it,” says Cloris Leachman, referring to The Last Picture Show which NumberOneSon and I just watched with her and a room full of FFF faithful. This was the movie where she won the Oscar (which goes along with her eight Emmys–the most of any actor.)

The audience howls with laughter. The interviewer points out that people didn’t take their clothes off in the 1950s, when the movie takes place.

“Oh yes they did, I was there!” proclaims Cloris.

Now the audience is clapping, cheering and rolling in the aisle.

And this was just the opening salvo. Cloris goes on to talk about working with Mel Brooks, Mary Tyler Moore, being on Dancing with the Stars and answering questions from the audience. At one point she flashes both her middle fingers at the audience, at another point she talks about getting the part on Dancing with the Stars by insisting that everyone curse.

Of course, Cloris was sitting right in front of me while we were watching the movie. (Seriously, does this stuff only happen to LanceAround?) Before the lights dimmed, I asked her if I could take her picture for my blog. She said yes, then began to eat from the popcorn container in front of her. After her presentation, I showed the picture to the guy who claims to be her son-in-law. (When asked about that, Cloris called him a liar.) I told him that it was a great shot of her eating popcorn. “She loves to do that kind of thing,” her (would be?) son-in-law responded.

An audience member asks, “Do you have any advice for young actors?”

“Don’t get pregnant!” comes the immediate response; forget that the person asking the question is male.

Another audience member goes to ask a question. “Stand Up,” Cloris insists. Twice. The member begins her question. “Say your name,” Cloris interrupts. “Annie,” replies the questioner. “Annie what?” retorts Cloris. The questioner gives a long, three part name. “That’s by marriage, no, I guess divorce,” explains the woman. ”What?!,” says Cloris. “I told you it was just ’Annie’,” replies the woman.

I so love listening to the stories Cloris is telling, so I have to get involved. I don’t have a good question to ask, so I make up a pretty benign one–just so I can interact with her.

“I’m Lance,” I begin. “Larry?” she asks. “No, Lance.” “Like this?” she asks as she slashes her hands through the air like she is striking with a sword. “Yes,” I respond enthusiastically, “Lance, as in the sword. I’m from LanceAroundOrlando.com.”

I continue, “Can you tell us about a moment in your career that you are proudest of or that is very memorable.”

I thought it was a pretty simple question but the audience grows very quiet. Cloris ponders for a few minutes. It takes a moment for something to come to mind. She then recounts two moments on the stage where she recalls having an instance where she captured the audience.

One moment was when she was doing a play and her character’s husband had a heart attack. She couldn’t get through the throng of people around him, so she grabbed someone’s hair, put some strands around her arm, and again, then grabbed all of her hair and just pulled.

The second moment was when she was in a play as the wife of a man who was Henry Fonda’s son. She began the play by walking across the stage, grabbing an ice bucket, and walking back. Her character was very depressed. After many rehearsals, she realized it was not working. It was boring to just criss-cross the stage. So, on opening night, as she walked back across the stage with the ice bucket in her hands, she used her feet to straighten the cushions on the sofa. “It’s what women do!,” she proclaimed. And she recalls how she could feel every women in the audience responding to her.

Amazingly, despite all her successes, all her big roles and all her awards, her most memorable situations were two, brief and personal moments where she could simply feel that she had touched the audience in front of her. Two moments that probably never brought her acclaim or won her an award. Just simple interactions between her and the people who came to see her perform.

The audience breaks into applause.

One thing was clear: She had our audience eating out of her hands. She is the consummate performer; very entertaining and energetic. It was a wonderful evening with Cloris Leachman.

NumberOneSon Adds:
 So it turns out Cloris Leachman is hilarious in person and The Last Picture Show is fantastic.

Fantastic and gorgeous – most of the movies at the FFF are visually bland, but not this one. That’s the trouble with the classic films that are shown at the festival every year – they show up the new movies. The Last Picture Show’s shadowy, stark black and white photography sucks you right into the movie’s dilapidated 50′s world. I’ve heard someone say that “people think that when you talk loudly people pay more attention to you – but actually when you speak softly people lean in to hear what you have to say.” And I think shadowy movies make you lean in and pay closer attention.

I’m sad that actual film is dying and being replaced with digital, because another reason this movie made me go “wow! Pretty!” is that it was one of the only films at the FFF that was shot and – unless I’m mistaken – projected on film. (I should’ve asked to be sure.)

Anyway, The Last Picture Show: totally great. I connected with it a lot more than last year’s classic film  – Amarcord.

….Yes, I know. I’m sorry. Amarcord is a classic and I should like it. Look into my puppy dog eyes and forgive me! Amarcord’s characters were caricatures though. I connected with the people of The Last Picture Show much more than the people of that other meandering semi-autobiographical sex-filled movie.

Speaking of sex, The Last Picture Show was shot in the early 70s but it’s set in the 50s and it’s shot in black and white so it’s kind of a shock the first time (of many) someone peels off their clothes. During the Q & A the moderator told Cloris Leachman that people were shocked by the movie because they thought that in the 50′s, no one took off their…wait…did dad tell this story already?…Darn. Would’ve been the perfect way to end the article too.

LanceAround Adds:
NumberOneSon and I take a few minutes to jot down some notes before we leave the theatre to head home. As we exit the Enzian, we notice a huge crowd gathered around the outdoor Eden Bar. We go to investigate and guess what we see?

Of course, Cloris is at the bar mixing drinks and guzzling alcohol directly from the bottles behind the bar. The crowd is laughing at her antics and she appears to be having the time of her life.

You go, Cloris, you go!

An Ordinary Family

An Ordinary Family
I wanted to like this film.

It had a very compelling, contemporary story. A gay man brings his lover to a family vacation, unbeknownst to his brother who is a minister complete with wife and children. What ensues are the typical scenes you’d expect from this formula–brother confronting brother, the talk about how dad would feel if he were alive, mother playing the peacemaker.

I found the film to be somewhat shallow and the story arc to be disjointed and chaotic. During the Q & A afterwards, I discovered why. Every scene and all the dialogue in the movie was done extemporaneously. While the story arc was mapped out, each scene was created unscripted.

Perhaps this approach led to moments of wonderful spontaneity. For me, however, it mostly led to moments that felt cliche-ish and to an overall story that lacked the kind of depth one can find in a movie that is crafted more carefully.

At the end of the film, in a moment of FFF creativity, one of the lead actors was able to do a Q & A using Skype from his bedroom in New York. I asked him about the advantages and disadvantages of doing a non-scripted movie.

He liked how each scene could be “fresh and spontaneous. You have to listen to what the other person is saying,” he continued. ”You have to figure out where your voice in the conversation will come.”

As for the downside he replied, “Disadvantages are that you don’t know where it’s going. We had one couple that was supposed to play a larger role. However, they got got marginalized as the week wore on.”

While I’m a big fan of extemporaneous theatre, I also recognize it takes a special talent to really pull it off.  This movie was OK. According to the actor who spoke, it was an important film for the LGBT community. But it’s not the best the FFF had to offer.

Audience Reaction
Some audience members don’t agree with me, however. “I thought it was awesome. I liked the emotion. It was honest and real, very believable. I liked that they had the kids in it,” says Geri from Toronto.

“It was excellent. It was amazing. We’re going to watch it again, now that we know it was ad libbed,” saidTricia.  Marilyn chimed in,
“Such a meaningful story for today. Struggles of a real family.” Tricia added, It was beyond what I was expecting.”

Another woman joins the conversation and together the three of them have a very animated talk about the unscripted nature of this movie. Isn’t this wonderful? Even a film that may not be the best provides moments of discussion and insight.

It’s why we love the FFF!

The Filmmaker's Forum

At 2:00 this afternoon, the FFF sponsored a Filmmaker’s Forum. Denise Cummings was the moderator for a panel that included, Nathan Franowski, Brent Willis, Shasta Grenier, Kieran Turner, Matt Ornstein and Sari Gilman. It’s been a long time since I attended a forum, so I’m eager to see what they have to say.

The panel consists of some feature directors, some shorts directors and some documentarians. It’s a very open forum and a great opportunity for budding filmmakers to pick the brains of the panel.

There are approximately 50 audience members and the FFF has two cameras broadcasting it live to anyone else who wants to see it. I’m pretty sure it will also be on the FFF website later on.

We start with introductions that also include clips from the films they made. Denise begins by pointing out that all these filmmakers made films with a very compelling story. In turn each filmmaker talks about the challenges of bringing their stories to life.

I ask Nathan about his previous film, which was a documentary about a very polarizing political topic, and how making a film like that–one that could have a big impact on how people view you as a person–could have an impact on your career.  Nathan responds that his previous film did cause quite a stir, but it also helped him get more projects.

Kieran spoke about his frustration with submitting films to various festivals who “cashed the check” but didn’t seem to have viewed the film.

Another audience member asked about the budget for the films. Sari actually used “quite a chunk of my divorce settlement” to be able to make her film.

Kieran financed his documentary himself primarily off money he earned during his “day job.”

Brent had an angel who loaned him thousands of dollars worth of filming equipment to make the film. However, he never told the angel that he was going to film in Japan! When he let it slip, the angel was a little surprised.

Nathan talked about the support he received from lots of places in Orlando, including Full Sail University, Valencia College and the DAVE school.

This blog post would become (even more) excessively long if I were to try and capture all the marvelous tidbits you can learn from a forum like this. Instead, I hope it serves to whet your whistle so that, next year or perhaps the year after, you decide to come to a filmmaker’s forum. Everyone is welcome, the education is excellent and it’s free!

Flowers For Jupiter

The animated shorts are normally a highlight of the FFF and this year was no exception. When I got to the theatre, there were already 30 people in the standby line!  I was certain I was not going to get in. But after the theatre was completely packed with people, I was allowed to go in and see if I could find a seat. Fortunately, there was one in the very back corner of the auditorium.

Here are some brief descriptions and reviews of all the animated shorts…

Fresh Guacamole
As usual, PES comes through with a very short, wacky and ultimately pleasing little piece about making guacamole with the usual ingredients you’d find in, say, your average POW camp. I don’t know how they pull it off, but their films are always among the highlights at the festival. Want to have some fun? Google PES on YouTube and watch a few of them.

The Flying House
Can’t pay your mortgage? No problem, just turn your house into an airplane and take off.

(notes on) biology
extremely creative and clever animation technique that every school child can relate to–taken to the extreme.

38-39° C
OK, someone had a lot of fun playing with different animation mediums.Visually compelling but I missed the point of this film entirely.

Another Dress, Another Button
Creative, well paced, well made and very cute. This one’s a gem!

Miss Devine

Miss Devine
Real life story of strict Sunday School teacher. The story is put to animation. It was enjoyable to watch.

Cadaver
Edgar Allan Poe meets Miyazaki? This one was fun.

Flowers for Jupiter
You’ll wonder if the filmmaker was an apprentice of Tim Burton. Unfortunately, good visuals can’t help a nonsensical story.

Summer Bummer
Cute little diddy.

Dr. Breakfast
The audience got a big kick out of this one.

Perhaps Lev's Favorite Topic?

Tales of Mere Existence: “Random Observations About Sex” & “Sick of This”
Lev is always an FFF favorite. His simple pen drawings are mere backdrops for his incisive wit and observational skills. This year was no exception.

Floyd the Android – “Dim Bulb”
Fun, short little animation.

Reddish Brown and Blueish Green
Mixed medium and artistic. Hold on till the end. During the epilogue you find out what it was that made this film such a powerful story.

Bedtime for Timmy
This claymation got lots of laughs from the audience.

It’s Such a Beautiful Day
Not very often, but every now and then, you wonder, “what did the selection committee see in this movie?” For the 20+ minutes of this film (by far the longest of any of the films in this shorts program) I asked myself that question a lot!

Atlantis

Curfew
A wonderful short exploring sibling relationships amidst disappointment and despair. Well written, well acted, excellently paced. Several patrons, including our own SunnyStefani, identified this as their favorite of all these shorts.

Red (The Slide Series)
Cute, very short piece about the power of suggestive advertising. 

Bunny
A refreshingly perceptive take on the concept of bullies. Another excellent film. Ironically, I thought several scenes in this film looked eerily familiar–only to discover it was filmed a short distance from where I grew up.

Deerskin Lake
Quirky story of a support group that goes horribly wrong. Weak production values–from writing to acting to filming–keep this creative concept from coming close to its full potential.

First Match
a muscular, black athlete finally gets a shot at wrestling varsity–just like dad. Perhaps the family will see another champion trophy? Will dad be proud of her? Yes, I said, her!

I Am Not a Moose
Are you an actor or a moose? Probably better to be a moose. Amusing.

Mobius
Next time you check into the front desk of a hotel, you’ll remember this film–and wish you didn’t!

Atlantis
Historically, Atlantis is a mythological, advanced civilization that disappeared into the sea a long time ago. That’s not mentioned in this film What’s in this film is the final flight of the space shuttle Atlantis, because America didn’t need a natural disaster to eliminate one of the most civilizing aspect of our current culture. Like the movie Titanic, this film was a combination of historical accuracy interspersed with a love story.

Doug Joseph

At the end of the program, there was a Q&A with the Curfew and Atlantis filmmakers. Also in the audience was Doug Joseph, who appeared in Atlantis.

31 years ago, Doug finished high school and took a “three month job” with NASA where he worked on the Atlantis space shuttle “flow management group.” He stayed in that “3 month job” until last year. In the movie, tears came to his eyes as he speaks about the end of the shuttle program.

It was that scene that gave me the inspiration to compare the final flight of Atlantis with the mythical story.

And that makes tears come to my eyes.

King's Point

The Olympian
In the late 1800′s Thomas Edison filmed a man who is considered the father of modern bodybuilding. This film is a simple juxtaposition of that film and a modern bodybuilder of today. Short. Fascinating. Well conceived.

Kings Point
If we’re lucky, one day we’ll be old. Ever wonder what life will be like then? This film gives a glimpse of life in a retirement community in Florida. Stark. Realistic. Beautifully filmed. Informative.

Ingrid Pitt: Beyond the Forest
This short features the true story of Ingrid Pitt’s escaped from a Nazi concentration camp. Ingrid went on to become a famous actor. This was her last project. It was made in collaboration with famous shorts animator Bill Plympton. Most impressively, it was animated by a 10 year old.

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom
This film shows heart wrenching, live footage of the March 2011 tsunami in Japan. Then the survivors are interviewed. After which, the filmmaker explores the powerful symbolism of the cherry blossom to the Japanese culture. Many ancient cherry trees survived the tsunami and their “rebirth” is held up as the epitome of the Japanese struggle to survive and overcome this horrendous disaster. NumberOneSon said this was his favorite of the four shorts.

Audience Response
“I cried three times and smiled at the same time,” reported Jessica Gasparolo. 

“I Loved the cherry blossom one–kinda showed the worst of nature and the best of human nature,” Said Harriett.

“I would say that the shorts have been just outstanding this year. We liked a lot of them,” claimed Helen and John Steele. They went on to discuss several of the shorts programs. They agreed with me that Shorts 1 was absolutely fantastic. While I loved The Other Side, they were more fond of High Maintenance.

It’s a testament to the diversity of the FFF that the one they liked the most, was the one that I thought was the least of all the Shorts 1. Don’t get me wrong–I really enjoyed High Maintenance–it’s just that I liked the other six even better.

But isn’t that what the FFF is all about–Different people, different opinions, thoughtful and provocative films for everyone to enjoy, analyze and review.

I love it!

Do You Know if Paul Williams is still Alive?

I have fond childhood memories of sitting with my father and watching classic 70s TV shows, like the comedy/variety show Laugh-In. I remember Paul Williams. A short, charismatic character who always made my dad laugh.

A documentarian considers making a movie about this iconic personality of the 1970’s. Paul is most noted for writing mega song hits such as Evergreen, We’ve Only Just Begun and my personal favorite (sung by none other than Kermit the Frog) The Rainbow Connection. The filmmaker knows that Paul battled alcohol and drug addiction. Then he just disappeared. “He died too young,” the filmmaker laments. 

Problem is, Paul’s not dead yet. So the filmmaker tracks him down and spends over two years filming him for his documentary.

This is touted as one of the better films at this year’s FFF, so I’m surprised to see such a small crowd. Not surprisingly, the crowd appears to be slightly older than usual. Is this because the subject was popular back in the 70s? Does anyone younger than 40 even know who Paul Williams was?, uh, is?

I ask an older gentleman if he would like to be interviewed for the blog. He curtly tells me, “No I don’t.” Normally, I can engage a few people as they enter and exit the theatre. For this show, very few of them even make eye contact with me.

The movie is good.  Just good. Paul Williams makes for a great subject. But on some level the movie does not work. As I watch it, I find myself getting drawn in and drawn…then, the filmmaker puts himself in the movie and…Poof…I’m out of the movie now. Then there’s more about Paul and again I’m drawn in, drawn in and…Poof…the filmmaker gets into the film again.

This is not working. 

I think about Michael Moore. He puts himself into his documentaries all the time. But I don’t have the same experience. Why is this not working?

I never do figure it out. But the film, at least everything about Paul, is so fascinating that I can easily recommend this documentary. And as patrons exit the theatre, I hear a lot of positive comments.

 “That was good,” says one guy. “It was interesting,” says another. Still one more is overheard saying, “I really liked it.”

Scott Abrahams takes a moment to give this review, “Good, I got a little bored here and there. It was a little more about the filmmaker than about him. I would like to have seen more about the songwriting process.” He goes on to tell how he was disappointed that the movie was scheduled for 9pm but the chalkboard outside the theatre said 9:15 so he missed the first seven minutes of the movie.

Another member in the audience was discussing the directorial decisions of Stephen Kessler, the filmmaker, with three others who saw the movie. The conversation gets pretty animated—a sign that the film succeeded in eliciting a response, which is usually a good sign. One woman says, “Because it’s Paul Williams, I want to give it a 4+, but because of the filmmaker, I want to give him a 3.”

I stop one of the audience members on his way out of the theatre. I discover he’s also a documentarian who has a film at this year’s FFF. I ask for more feedback on the movie. “Let me just say, I don’t appear anywhere in my documentary.” He’s reluctant to say more because he doesn’t want to disparage a fellow filmmaker. I ask him what he thinks of Michael Moore. That gives him pause. “With him, it works,” he concludes.  “But for this movie it didn’t work.”

However, he insists on ending the interview on a positive note about a fellow filmmaker, “After seeing this movie, I want to know more about Paul Williams.” “So you liked it?” I inquire in an overly obvious attempt to illicit a negative response I can attribute to him. He pauses, smiles, and tactfully retorts, “I liked Paul.”

And that, in a nutshell, is this movie.