CINEMA RETRO CONTRIBUTOR MIKE THOMAS TAKES US INSIDE SOME EXCITING FILM-RELATED SCREENINGS AND SEMINARS SPONSORED BY A.M.P.A.S.
SHOWTIME AT THE ACADEMY
by Mike Thomas
When Gregory Peck was President of the Academy of Motion
Pictures Arts & Sciences he inaugurated a policy of public outreach
programs, apolicy that that continues to this day. The once-private
organization became a beacon of film education; awarding grants and
fellowships, and holding screenings for the public.
In the last week alone, the Academy has presented three
public programs that are equal to the best of their kind anywhere in the world.
On Friday, April 25th, the Academy saluted the 40th anniversary of “2001: A
Space Odyssey,†in glorious 70mm with stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood in
attendance, introduced by one of the film’s greatest admirers, a wonderfully
witty Tom Hanks.
On Monday night, April 28th as part of its ongoing “Great to
be Nominated†series, Quentin Tarantino and a dozen or so colleagues from
“Pulp Fiction,†discussed the making of the film and the world-wide phenomenon
it became following a screening of the film.
And on Thursday, May 1, TCM personality Robert Osborne reminisced
about his long-time friend, Bette Davis, on a 100th birthday tribute to the
immortal giant of the silver screen, highlighted by a surprise visit from
Warner Bros. colleague, the equally legendary Olivia De Havilland.
Now, taken individually, any one of these three events would
be the year’s highlight for any number of the world-wide motion picture
institutions, the fact that the Academy has three such events in a single week
conclusively demonstrates again, if any reminder is needed, that it is the
premiere film organization in the world, and its public programming is worthy
of an Oscar itself. And the $5 admission price to see the finest
available prints on one of the greatest screening rooms in the world, is a
tremendous bargain that cannot be matched anywhere.
The “2001†screening was a reminder of the staggering
achievement of Stanley Kubrick. After blowing up the world in his earlier film,
1964’s “Dr. Strangelove,†the usually cynical Kubrick, spent the next three
years giving us his most optimistic film: a meditation on the past, present and
future of the human race. The Academy pulled out all the stops for this event,
the evening’s program notes were a beautifully designed replica of the original
theatrical program book’s cover. A special video provided by NASA, shot aboard
the orbiting space station, featured the actual astronauts paying tribute to
the film. Tom Hanks provided a warm reminiscence of his initial encounter with
the film in 1968 and the panel discussion with the two stars, special effects
wizard Douglas Trumbull who pioneered many revolutionary SFX for the film, and
other members of the cast and crew provided fascinating insights into the
making of one of the most films groundbreaking studio films ever made.
“Pulp Fiction,†was an equally important film, the movie
that launched a thousand imitators and Monday’s screening proved that the
original is still the undisputed champion, accept no substitutes. The dialogue
still crackles and pops, the movie’s blazing energy still invigorates and the
scrambled time/space chronology still has the feel of someone punch-drunk in
love about the endless possibilities of filmmaking. With surprise guest
Tarantino holding court with the film’s producers, editor, casting directors,
art directors, sound designers and a couple of the actors - including the Gimp
unmasked! - it was lively lovefest for a little $8 million movie that could. “I
was just hoping it grossed the $30 million that “Mo’ Money†did,†confessed
Tarantino.
Admitting he was curious about how the film would play at
the Academy, Tarantino was pleased with the results. “Being here is kind of
like being at a museum, you know, and a screening at the Academy is kind of
like getting the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval but the audience is here
tonight laughed in all the right places, so I was pleased at that.â€
Tarantino was a delight; after all the success and acclaim,
he is still so boyishly enthusiastic and animated, there remains a kind of
wonderful purity about him, his love of the medium could not help but inspire
affection between director and cast & crew and in equal measure, between
filmmaker and audience.
And then a few nights later, on May 1st, one of the most
iconic actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood was feted. Bette Davis was born
100 years ago and her status as one of the greatest actresses in movie history
has never been in doubt. Hosted by Robert Osborne, the genial TV personality
and long-time Davis
friend, it was as warm and loving a tribute as could be wished for. Colleagues
and family members flew in from the East Coast and Europe
to pay tribute to Ms. Davis, but no one captured her essence better than the
eternally lovely Olivia deHavilland, who said, “I never met Bette Davis. I
encountered her.â€
Bette Davis was a force of nature, the expertly chosen film
clips proved that without a doubt. She was something equally rare, a great
actor who was also a movie star. Today, it seems, there are great actors like
Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro but if you take them out of the great character
roles they inhabit and have them play an average person, they really can’t fill
the role with their own persona because they are masters of a chameleon-like
craft. Watching Davis
at the Academy, one was struck at how she could disappear into a part and yet
at the same time bring her own outsized personality to a role when it needed
it. The Academy tribute to her was everything such an event needed to be - warm
but not saccharine, informative but lively and fun, and ultimately, revealing
the person behind the legend, the essence of the woman whose body of work
remains unsurpassed.
Now, I’m lucky. I live a block away from the Academy, so I’m
a five minute walk away from the greatest movie theatre in the world. But even
if I lived a thousand miles away, I would ride my beat-up old bicycle with a
flat tire through pouring rain to attend these events. The Academy remains the
St. Peter’s of cinema, holy ground for those of us whose lives have been
transformed and enriched by the movies. And with events like the past week’s,
it is comforting to know that the keys to the kingdom are in excellent hands
and the guardians of the faith remain strong resolute.
So let us salute Bruce Davis, Ric Robertson, Randy
Haberkamp, Ellen Harrington, and all those Academy members and employees
whose dedication to excellence insures that the Motion Picture
Academy continues to
remain the gold standard by which all other such organizations are measured.
Somewhere, Gregory Peck is smiling.
For information on Academy events in L.A. and New York, visit www.oscars.org
For Cinema Retro's exclusive interview with A.M.P.A.S. historian Robert Osborne,
click here