Keeping Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo: Mondo Mondays on the Beach Needs Support
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| Local Long Beach film lovers doing their version of a tailgate party prior to Mondo Mondays on the Beach |
This is going out to all you lovers of classic movies. Our own Long Beach Cinematheque is trying to raise a little money to keep one of its programs alive: MONDO MONDAYS ON THE BEACH. This is my take on why we need to keep a venture like this afloat.
There is something special about the movie-going experience. The images on the screen are just that--mere images--yet we are willing to accept that whatever we are looking at is as solid as the chairs we are sitting on. Much like the way a dream feels real, we allow the stream of images to draw us into its world of shadow and light.
We are fond of saying the movies can take us to distant places--a nightclub in Casablanca, the Emerald City, or some galaxy far, far away. Real or imagined, the world on the screen is imbued with a solidity we are quick to accept. Thanks to the art of cinema, this building and that doorway, which leads to this room, create a reality that is hard to deny. And yet, like the famous pronouncement--"This is not a pipe"--in René Magritte's painting, The Treachery of Images, we must ultimately confront these images and ask, how "real" is it?
Take New York City, one of the most popular locations in the history of cinema. Can we truly say, based on all the movies we've seen, we know the real New York? Two quintessential New York directors, Woody Allen and Martin Scorcese, are light years apart in their depictions of the great city. Is one more authentic than the other? Is either one any closer to portraying the "real" New York City?
The truth is that the physical setting is not a definitive representation of whatever reality the filmmaker is trying to create. That reality, the one the filmmaker wants you to experience, can actually be found in the story. And the story is about the struggle.
No matter where the action takes place, it is the struggle the hero must endure that captures our imagination--his need to achieve, to obtain, to be, and the obstacles he must overcome to reach his goal. That is the reality we are connecting with and that is what draws us into the film.
Ever since the first caveman returned from the hunt with tales of "the one that got away," storytelling has been a vital part of the human experience. We've grown more complex over time and so has the story, but the fundamental elements have not changed. In this technologically advanced age of digitized imagery and 3D, where it's no big deal to pull up a movie on your computer screen or smartphone, it is important to appreciate the value of the communal experience of watching a movie on the big screen. As the member of an audience, when we feel, vicariously, the ups and downs of the hero we are also sharing that experience with all those who are with us in the dark.
Michael Ballard loves to talk about film. He grew up watching old movies at home and while studying filmmaking at USC and Columbia College, as well as video production at LBCC. Now he would like to share his passion with others. He believes a knowledge of films past can only enhance one's viewing of the movies of today. Contact info: classicexaminer@aol.com
Tonight's screening, though not Hitchcock, is still worthy of your warm Long Beach evening time--some make some spaghetti and head out to the essential pasta Western: Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo (1966), or as we call it, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Sergio Leone's classic western screens tonight begins at 8 p.m. at the Cherry Ave. Beach on the Bluff. Here are the details and the rest of the summer's Mondo Mondays can be found here.And guys, show us some Hitchcock love next summer!
Monday, July 25 2011 – 8:00PM
Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef, and Eli Wallach star in Sergio Leone’s classic 1966′s Western THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY – screening Monday, July 25 for free on the beach!
Just try thinking of this cinematic masterpiece without whistling that legendary theme by Ennio Morricone… One of the finest American films of all time (currently standing at #4 on the user-votedIMDB.com List of the Best Films of All Time, behind only The Shawshank Redemption and the Godfather films!), this epic Civil War adventure redefined the “spaghetti western” by elevating the genre to the level of an art form – stunning cinematography, clever writing, groundbreaking editing, and yes, that classic score lend themselves to a massively entertaining journey that leads to one of the greatest showdowns of all time, over a grave that may or may not contain $200,000 in gold.
RSVP to this event on Facebook, and please help us spread the word by sharing this event with your friends!
Remember – our Mondo Monday series at Alfredo’s Beach Club is FREE! Just bring your chairs and blankets, get comfy, and enjoy the show!
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