Ritz Film Magazine August 2012

Ritzfilm Volume 2 • Issue 5

AROUND THE BLOCK: WATERFRONT | BeAsTs oF THe souTHeRN WIlD ReVIeW INTeRVIeW WITH THe DIReCToRs oF RuBY sPARKs

BooK ReVIeW: THe GuTTeNBeRG BIBle

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

table of contents 5 Letter from the Publisher

6 Ask Ritz Film Magazine

8 Film Focus: Interview with Ruby Sparks Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Feris

Student Review: Beasts of the Southern Wild

14 Around the Block: Delaware River Waterfront

20 Book Review

22 Arts Calendar

24 The Impact of Fine Art

38 Crossword Puzzle

ritzfilmmag.com AuGusT/sePTemBeR 2012 3

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2012

ABOVE TOP: Anthony Hopkins in 360. Photo courtesy of Magnolia PicturesABOVE BOTTOM: From left to right: Josh Radnor as Jesse and Elizabeth Olsen as Zibby in Josh Radnor’s LIBERAL ARTS. Photo by Jacob Hutchings. An IFC Films release.COVER: From left to right: Susan Sarandon, Richard Gere on the set of ARBITRAGE, Courtesy of Lionsgate

360 ......................................................... 30

2 DAYS IN NEW YORK .......................... 31

AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY.................... 34

ARbItRAgE ............................................ 33

bEAStS OF tHE SOUtHERN WILD ...... 34

bELOVED ............................................... 36

CELEStE AND JESSE FOREVER .......... 35

CHICKEN WItH PLUMS ....................... 31

COMPLIANCE ........................................ 36

HELLO I MUSt bE gOINg ..................... 32

LIbERAL ARtS ....................................... 32

LIttLE WHItE LIES ................................ 37

RObOt & FRANK ................................... 35

30 Now Showing

4 AuGusT/sePTemBeR 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

A magazine for the Landmark Ritz TheatresPublished by R&W Publishing Associates

PublisherLisa H. Rafter215-765-2646

[email protected]

executive editor & Advertising salesJamie Berman610-609-1635

[email protected]

editorAbigail Sutton609-707-6069

[email protected]

Art DirectorHedy Sirico

[email protected]

Ritz Film Magazine is published 8x’s per year by R&W Publishing Associates. Distributed at Ritz

Theatre locations and designated locations throughout Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. For

more information regarding editorial content, advertising or distribution,

please contact us at:

R&W Publishing Associates315 Poplar AvenueDevon, PA 19333

[email protected]

landmark Ritz Theatreswww.landmarktheatres.com

215-925-7900

RITz THeATRe PHIlADelPHIA loCATIoNs:

Ritz Five: 214 Walnut Street

Ritz at the Bourse: 400 Ranstead Street

Ritz East: 124 South Second Street


letter from the publisher

Dear Ritz lovers!

This issue marks both the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall. And as always, we’ve included lots of material in this issue to fill up your calendar, both with movies to see and events to attend in the city!

I’ve always thought of Fall as the best season for movies. Maybe because I read an article once stating Fall is the season for “girl movies”. Who knows! But for sure, the films opening in the next month have Oscar-winning actors and some of the

industry’s most talented directors, writers and producers.

Stars like Anthony Hopkins and Rachel Weisz (360) and Susan Sarandon and Richard Gere (Arbitrage) will bring their mastery in the craft of acting to the Ritz Screens with both movies opening in August. And, there’s a plethora of romantic movies featur-ing odd couples, mixed couples, happy couples, disillusioned couples…and a French couple in the romantic musical drama Beloved, starring Catherine Deneuve!

This issue also includes a fun and whimsical interview with the directors of Ruby Sparks, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Feris (another couple!). The directors, who also directed the Academy-award winning Little Miss Sunshine, sat down with RFM and talked about their decision to make Ruby Sparks and the magic and beauty of Zoe Kazan’s script. Regarding waiting to see how people reacted to the movie, Dayton responds, “It’s like sending a child off to college!”

The Around the Block section features the Delaware River Waterfront. RFM’s Jamie Berman writes about the waterfront area scanning its history from the very beginning all the way to the current status and future plans. From all accounts, looks like a revi-talization is underway so start planning to celebrate Philadelphia as a waterfront city!

Also inside is a book review by Gary Kramer of Hollywood “everyman of sorts” Steve Guttenberg’s memoir, The Guttenberg Bible. As Kramer writes, the memoir “is not a tell-all. It’s more of a tell-some. Some of the stories here…are interesting. Some…are not. But that’s what you get with Guttenberg. It’s cream cheese on a Ritz cracker.” And don’t miss the student review column. In this issue, Zachary Shevich reviews Beasts of the Southern Wild, “the dynamic and wildly original new film” from debut director Benh Zeitlin.

Enjoy this eclectic selection of movies and award-winning actors…and see you at the Ritz!

Sincerely,

Lisa H. Rafter


ask ritz film magazine

With a 3-D version of The Great

Gatsby in the making, I’ve seen writ-

ers mention that the story has often

been filmed. If this is so, why is the

only version I remember the 1974

picture with Robert Redford and

Mia Farrow?—Doris Anthony, University City

Like Gatsby himself, there is a bit of mystery in the film history of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 American classic. The 1926 silent version, with Warner Baxter as Gatsby and featuring William Powell in a sup-porting role, is officially considered lost with only a minute-long trailer known to exist. A somewhat stiff but beautifully-mounted 1949 version cast Alan Ladd as Gatsby and Shelley Winters as the tragic Myrtle but it remains entangled in copyright problems that have so far kept if from the home market. The serviceable 1974 Redford/Farrow version used David Lean’s production designer John Box and was directed by Brit Jack Clayton (Room at the Top) It was also bolstered by a script care of Francis Ford Coppola. Other versions include a BBC produc-tion from 2000, entitled G, with Mia Sorvino as Daisy, and a loose re-telling from 2002 set in the world of hip-hop and featuring

Blair Underwood. Director Baz Luhrmann, known for the dazzling opulence of Moulin Rouge brings Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan to screens in 3-D as Gatsby and Daisy for Christmas of 2012.

My late father was a hi-fi enthusiast and after he

passed we found a vast collection of movies on laser-

disc among his belongings. We’ve kept the discs in

our basements for years and I forgot about them until

I read about Steven Soderbergh’s Kafka (1991) being

on only laserdisc and not on dvd in your column last

month. Set the record straight, when was this format

on the market and do people still have any use for

laserdiscs?—Neil Boorieman, Tacony

The laserdisc was the invention of MCA and debuted in the home video market way back in 1978, with Jaws being the first “Disco-Vision” title available. The 12” platters resemble an LP-sized

by Andrew Repasky mcelhinney – “the Movie Doctor”

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compact disc and held an analog signal that is read by the player machine’s laser. Because of the data, the discs could only play one hour before needing to be flipped like a record, though some of the later high-end machines flipped the disc for you. Laserdisc were preferred for many cine-philes in the 1990s, being the first format to offer letterboxed film images preserving correct aspect ratios as well as offering alternate audio tracks (i.e. commentary) and the type of documentary “making of” special features you might now expect from a deluxe DVD release. The home video label Criterion originally began as a laserdisc-only company, and quite a few of their laserdisc editions are still unavailable on DVD (like Terry Gilliam’s The Fisher King and Orson Welles’ Othello) The format was a bit more successful on the West Coast and much more successful in Japan and across Asia but died out in the late 1990s as DVDs conquered all mar-kets. The final U.S. laserdisc released was Martin Scorsese’s Bringing Out the Dead in 2000. Pioneer continued manufacturing machines until 2009, and today certain rare titles (such as Disney’s Song of the South 1946), or the two theatrical Dark Shadows films of the 1970s) still trade hands for a pretty penny on E-Bay.

I remember as a child that local TV horror

movie host Dr. Shock would often present

the 1950s drive-in classics I Was a Teenage

Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein

on Saturday afternoons. I also seem to

remember a similar film about a young girl

turning into a vampire but I can’t find any

sign of I Was a Teenage Dracula. Any idea

what the title of this black and white thriller

might be?—Kyle Ironside, Center City

The film you’re thinking of must be 1957’s Blood of Dracula. Producer Herman

Cohen and director Herbert L. Strock were responsible for one of the early hits of American International Pictures when they released I Was a Teenage Werewolf with a hirsute Michael Landon in June of 1957. Quick to capitalize on a hit, the pair had a double feature ready by November of the same year, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein and Blood of Dracula. In the latter, Sandra Harrison plays a teenager troubled by her father’s remarriage who ends up being hyp-notized by a social worker, which results in her transformation into a murderous vam-pire. The film has some dreamy moments but its generic title has kept it from being remembered as part of the teenage monster trilogy. Today, it is the only one of the three features that has been released on DVD, paired with How To Make A Monster, an odd meta wrap-up of the series. In that 1958 movie, a film studio’s make-up man

is a feature film & theater director, author, educator and the programmer of Andrew’s Video Vault at the Rotunda (featuring free cult movie screenings on 2nd thursday of each month). Visit: ARMcinema25.com

DR. ANDReW RePAsKY mcelHINNeY

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We sat down with Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton at the Four Seasons Philadelphia to talk about the making and motivation behind directing their latest film: Ruby Sparks.

Ruby Sparks is about a young novelist, Calvin, who is struggling with writer’s block after expe-

riencing success early on in his career. Inspired to create a character that would fill his own romantic interest, Calvin fantastically creates Ruby, his inked muse and wonder girl. When she shows up LIVE in his living room, he is sent into a creative flurry, and realizes he is in control of her every move.

Valerie and Jonathan made their feature film directorial debut with Little Miss Sunshine in 2006. After the film received

four Academy Award nominations and two Academy Award winnings, it was only a matter of time before this question started happening, “Well, what are you going to do next?”

For Faris and Dayton the, “what’s next”, was a big decision to make, as Little Miss Sunshine took five years to produce. They knew it had to be a project they were really ready to invest their time in. Dayton commented, “Deciding to make a movie is like getting a tattoo, because it’s going to be with you for the rest of your life!”

Since Little Miss Sunshine was such an enormous success, attractive offers were waived in front of this critically acclaimed couple on a regular basis. The Dayton/Faris desk was courted

Interview with Ruby Sparks Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Ferisby Jamie Berman

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by big commercial comedies and other mainstream deals, but they were never compelled to take an offer. That was un-til Zoe Kazan’s script appeared and Ruby Sparks began to show her face.

RFM: What was it that grabbed you in the script and had you jump back into the feature film directorial pool?

Faris: The issues the script was raising were really interesting to us and it was something we could sink our teeth into and spend two years exploring and not get bored. We felt that it was also some-thing people could relate to or maybe get something from…

Dayton: When you go to a movie, ideally you want to have an experience in the theater and then you want that experi-ence to resonate for a little bit after you leave the theater. Sometimes I’ll see a movie and it was good for two hours, but it’s left me by the time I get to my car. Hopefully this is a movie that people can see with somebody they care about and have a discussion about or feel invigorat-ed by. That’s what I want from a movie.

Faris: Even though it is a fantastic story, almost a fable, it is grounded in very real aspects of relationships. We all want the person we are with to do what we want and sometimes they don’t do that exactly.

Dayton chimes in: Except in our case

We all laugh.

Faris: We all get tempted to control things and have them be perfect. Ultimately when you are able to do that- control things, is it really what you want? That question, that issue, is interesting to us.

Dayton: We all try on a daily basis to control things, so it was really fun to show people what that might look like….

Faris: We tried to show you: Here is what happens when you control dif-ferent aspects of a relationship. Here is what happens when you lose control of

different aspects of a relationship. Here’s the imbalance that is created from trying to control the situation. Once that imbal-ance is created, are you ever really able to get it back again?

I think the film had to go to a darker place to illustrate the pain that’s created from trying to control things and illustrate that ultimately it doesn’t work.

Faris and Dayton explain that part of the magic of this script was that Zoe knew how to develop the characters in a way that made it easy to buy into them.

Faris: We decided once Ruby gets to this house, she’s real, she’s absolutely real. Then Calvin has to figure out she’s real, then you have to get the brother (Harry) on board.

Dayton: One of the things I love about the script is: Zoe wasn’t afraid to address where your mind goes in this situation. So, Harry, Calvin’s brother, addresses some of the more obvious things people would want, like bigger breasts or oral sex, and if we hadn’t gone there, people would have been less likely to buy into it.

RFM: There’s a fine line between ex-plorative and exploitive, so was it tricky casting Harry?

Dayton: Harry needed to be funny, but he also needed to be credible. He needed to be somebody who you trusted. We looked at a couple of comedians for the role, but they just didn’t have the gravitas.

Faris: She makes it look really simple. She could have created this as an over the top fantasy, but we love how simple she made it. She moved quickly through many phases of a relationship. Ruby is clingy, and then she’s over the top happy,


then she’s just herself and on the couch watching a marathon. Everybody knows what’s happening in these phases, but Zoe did it in a very economical way, with spending a small amount of time in each sequence, which made it really fun for us.”

RFM: What is it like directing as a couple? And also working with a couple, as Zoe and Paul are a couple in real life?

Faris: I never thought about them as a couple, so much of the focus was really on the work. On the set, they are so focused on the work, they never argued about anything personal on set. When you’re doing a film, your personal life goes away. Usually issues arise on the drive home from being on set, because it’s been after a long day and the fatigue drives up any lingering or hidden issues. The benefit is that the trust Zoe and Paul have was an asset to the movie, they trusted each other’s abilities.

Dayton: We were lucky they were both such good actors. After working with Zoe for 9 months and seeing what a good writer she was, she could have been a bad performer, but she wasn’t. She blew away our cinematographer.

Faris: Paul and Zoe met working in LA together and their relationship seems to be based on a mutual professional respect. It’s hard working together, but I think it’s harder working apart. If you love your work and love your partner, it keeps your relationship really vital.

RFM: Is that how it is for the two of you?

Dayton: The luxury of having Valerie know about everything I have going on in work is incredible, I never have to catch her up on anything.

Faris: Yes, and if we have something we’re dealing with personally, something involving our home life, it’s nice to have each other on set to deal with it together. I know for some people it doesn’t work, for us it works.

This husband and wife duo may be new-comers on the feature film director scene, but they are pioneers in the music video directing world. They got their start from directing music videos, commercials, documentaries and other entertainment projects.

Faris: Music videos were our training camp.

Dayton: When we first came out of film school there were no music video experts, so it was an area we could jump right into, to experiment.

After directing Little Miss Sunshine, they were bit by the film bug, especially after experiencing the feedback from a live audience in a theater.

RFM: So, what is life like now waiting to see the response you get from this film?

Dayton: It’s like sending a child off to college.

Faris: We hope that people love it and hope it finds an audience, I’m proud of it. I feel a little more zenlike vs. what it was like after sending out Little Miss Sunshine. I just really hope it finds an au-dience, we think it’s more than deserving of a loyal one. •

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“The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right,”

begins Hushpuppy, our 6-year-old narrator, as she explores nature, wear-ing a dirty old tank top, her under-wear and big, white rain boots. “If one piece busts… the entire universe will get busted.”

So begins Beasts of the Southern Wild, the dynamic and wildly original new film from debut director Benh Zeitlin, in which the filmmaker transports us to the semi-fictional post-Katrina-

stricken Delta-community called The Bathtub. Here, Hushpuppy lives deep in the woods with her father Wink, in two separate homes, each one barely held up by stilts.

Normally an independent film that chooses to highlight such forms of extreme poverty would seek to exploit that condition, Beasts instead exhibits a group of Cajun residents having a much better time than the rest of us. Every night is a party (they “have more holidays in The Bathtub”), there’s no crying at funerals (but PLENTY of alcohol), and group meals devolve into “Beast it!” chants when Hushpuppy struggles to crack open a shellfish.

The residents of the Bathtub live south of the infamous levees, and barely above sea lev-el. Most families have boats, as if traveling through a decrepit Venice. And as the storm that threatens to drown their town rolls in, many residents of The Bathtub choose to flee the way that New Orleans citizens did before Hurricane Katrina. But Hushpuppy’s father Wink knows no place else, like many others on the island, and seems fully intent on riding out the storm, for better or worse.

What writer/director Benh Zeitlin is able to do with seeming ease despite this being his first film, is introduce his audience to an eclectic cast of characters with little to no explanation. We’re thrust into a completely unfamiliar situation that doesn’t ever get disorienting. Beasts of the Southern Wild takes place in a universe filmgoers have never seen before, and one that is both grounded in harsh truths and able to explore whimsi-cal fictions, ones full of mythical beasts like the auroch.

At the center of it all is Quvenzhané Wallis as Hushpuppy, the plucky, hard-nosed, and almost gender-neutral heroine (“You’re gonna’ be the king of the Bathtub”). Bursting onto the scene with all the spunk but none of the annoying lyrics that the

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Beasts of the Southern Wildby zachary shevich—Junior, Drexel University

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slightly older Willow “Whip My Hair” Smith had, Wallis comes alive on screen, and is intensely watchable despite her inexperience.

As Hushpuppy navigates the Bathtub, lighting the stove with a blowtorch and making a meal out of dog food if she has to, both the audience and Hushpuppy re-alize that her father’s health is declining, prompting her to search for the mother she hasn’t seen since she was a baby.

Watching Wallis and the other non-actors (including Dwight Henry, who plays Wink) come completely alive with energy on-screen is a pure pleasure from an unexpected source. The film is so full of life that viewers should struggle to not get immediately attached to Hushpuppy, on the type of journey a young kid could only dream of accomplishing.

“In a million years, when kids go to school, they gonna’ know, once there was a Hushpuppy and she lived with her daddy in the Bathtub.” Beasts of the Southern Wild is a vibrant and beautiful

debut from Zeitlin (who also had a hand in writing the film’s wonderful, sweeping score), and one that should prompt further attention to a lot of newly discovered talent. This will easily be remembered as one of the best movies of 2012. •

zACHARY sHeVICH is a junior at Drexel University where he is majoring in Screenwriting & Playwriting. He created the radio/tv program Pretentious Film Majors that discusses and reviews films.

RFm FIlm FoCus: sTuDeNT moVIe ReVIeWs!Ritz Film Magazine welcomes Philadelphia area university students to submit movie reviews. We want to encourage young people to write and to give voice to what is being produced for the big screen. So if you are a university student who enjoys movies and writing, email [email protected].


around the blockA spotlight on Philadelphia’s unique neighborhoods

Philadelphia’s Delaware River Waterfront: It’s Time to Celebrate!by Jamie Berman

Philadelphia is a land of rivers, ports, history and the 7th largest metropolitan economy in the

United States. Founded in 1682 by William Penn and his vision to create the land as “Greene Countrie Towne,” this area was destined for something extraordinary with two rivers gracing its edge. Penn envisioned his inhabit-ants enjoying plentiful land, verdant scenery, and harmonious living. This would be a place where commerce could thrive, but not be compromised by dense population. He named the town Philadelphia after the Greek words:

DELAWARE RIVeR WATERFRONT The Delaware River has played a huge role in the shaping of our city’s economy. It’s been called the ‘lifeblood” of Philadelphia providing access to jobs, goods, recreation and nature. The waterfront area has served as a front door to our city and as a result has taken quite a beating. The Delaware River Waterfront Corporation is dedicated to transforming Philadelphia’s waterfront, and given its history, that gives us something to celebrate!

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Brotherly Love, which is also indica-tive of how he formed his relationships with the Lenape, before purchasing the land. He was a proponent of peace, free worship and friendship. Penn’s brotherly nature provided a setting for success-ful cohabitation. Unfortunately, Penn’s vision wasn’t quite fulfilled. Shortly after establishing the land, the locals crowded the river, divided up their real estate and created a much more densely populated community. Philadelphia went from being a small town to an emerg-ing city. As this maritime city came into its own, it quickly became a harbor of commerce and trade for the economically demanding. This new city was high on everybody’s radar with reliable passage-ways and ports for transporting goods and people. This lead to generations of emigration and commerce pumping through its orifices. By the 1750’s, the city of brotherly love became the largest city and busiest port in British America. Shortly after becoming the nation’s busi-est port, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, making Philadelphia a landmarked meeting place. As the 19th century unfolded, so did a booming industrially driven Philadelphia. An enormous influx of people came to

work in the region eager to capitalize on the likes of the iron, textile and railroad industries. At this point, Philadelphia’s cultural DNA was largely defined as one of industry and production and the population increased by 40-50%. Cheaper labor markets began to impact Philadelphia’s waterfront industry in the 20th century and by mid-twentieth cen-tury a drawn out decline embarked. This was largely caused by railroads pushing business westward and the construction of I-95 creating new obstacles.

In the last 50 years, the manufactur-ing industry has disappeared from the Delaware River waterfront. The commu-nity has expressed disappointment in the now dismal appearance of the landscape with abandoned factories, brown barren land and underutilized docksides.

The businesses along the waterfront today are indicative of Philadelphia’s 21st Century economy. Largely focused in the service industry, you’ll find restaurants, hotels, museums and some retail stores populating the streets. One of the chal-lenges the area now faces is transform-ing the aesthetics and culture that have been suppressed from years of industry production.

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The Independence Seaport Museum documents the history of maritime activ-ity in this area. If you’d like to experience a more illustrative taste of Philadelphia’s port history, you may want to give the Seaport a spin.

So, what is being done to impact the state of affairs along the Delaware?

We met with Jodie Milkman, VP Marketing, Programming & Laurie Heinerichs, Director of Marketing, PR & Sales for the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation and they shared with us the tremendous plan they’ve been designing, developing and managing to redefine the area’s purpose and take it back to Penn’s original vision of a “green city.” The inspiration and foundation of this plan is based on preserving and enhancing the area’s distinctive qualities. The plan is a long one, spanning 35 years to complete, but the opportunity for the future is exciting. The schemes are to propagate parks, trails, wetlands & connector sites

(connecting neighborhoods to the water). The idea is to create a sustainable urban economy, where residents want to live and tourists want to visit.

So what’s happening there today?

Today the waterfront attracts visitors mostly for their fireworks shows, free concerts and festivals. It’s mainly a sum-mertime destination. The proposed con-nector sites would connect the city to the water every ½ mile on the six-mile stretch of land being revitalized. One connec-tor site has been completed: Race Street Pier. Here is what Fork restaurant owner, Ellen Yin, had to say about this new ad-dition which opened May 12, 2012.

“Race Street Pier has been a tremendous catalyst for development on the water-front as well as for neighborhoods such as Old City that connect the waterfront. It has already attracted new residential development as well as becoming the headquarters for the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival.”

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One of the other goals of the plan is to have year round activities that stimulate the community and drive people to the water. An example of this happening is The Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe moving their home to the Race Street Pier area. Here is a taste of their mission: “For Live Arts to be able to provide its audiences with the best possible experience, including offering a year-round bar/restaurant and other social gathering places for continuing conversation about art and the creative process.”

What are other businesses saying about the master plan? And what are other businesses doing to drive traffic to the area?

Benjamin Premack, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Hyatt at Penn’s Landing: “I think that DRWC does a

tremendous job with marketing what the waterfront currently has to offer. The continued expansion of both events and venues along with waterfront that make it a more pronounced area year round is extremely important. When people think Philadelphia, they do not think that we are a waterfront city, so any additional opportunity to expand the area so that there are additional reasons for the city to

By the 1750’s, the city of brotherly love became the largest city and busiest port in British America.


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promote the waterfront location would be very important.”

Benjamin shared with us how they draw people into Hyatt’s Keating’s River Grill year round: “Keating’s River Grill has a great Happy Hour, Mon-Fri from 5-7pm with ½ price appetizers and great drink specials. The restaurant also offers various specials with big events that are held along the waterfront, along with our seasonal drink menus and nightly dinner specials.”

Jessica Santiago, Local Marketing Specialist for IKEA, shared with us what has people visit their store year round. IKEA has enhanced their offerings of textiles and patterns to accommodate the seasonal shopper. Jessica explains that people love dressing their homes for the

seasons and IKEA enjoys giving the con-sumer a playground of items with which to do so. One of the things they are also doing is allowing shoppers to ship items directly to their homes. They can come to IKEA for a fun dining experience, pick out their back to school furnishings (or new seasonal selections for their primary residence) and then have somebody else do the heavy lifting. Sounds like an excel-lent plan for a retail therapy afternoon!

Let’s celebrate this area! Plans are underway to transform the landscape. We’ve got local businesses on board. Let’s stop criticizing the area’s progress and instead contribute to what is possible for its future! Email us your ideas and we’ll enter you to win tickets to the Old City Seaport Festival in October. [email protected] •

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WHAT TO DO AND WHERE TO EAT ON THE WATERFRONTFood & FunCavanaugh’s Riverdeck417 North Columbus Blvd(215) 629-7400

Chart House555 South Columbus Blvd (215) 625-8383

Dave & Buster’s325 North Columbus Blvd(215) 413-1951

Hibachi325 North Columbus Blvd (215) 592-7100

IKEA: Bistro & Swedish Food Market2206 South Christopher Columbus Blvd(215) 551-4532

Independence Seaport Museum211 South Christopher Columbus Blvd(215) 413-8655

Keating’s River Grill201 South Columbus Blvd (215) 521-6509

La Veranda30 North Columbus Blvd (215) 351-1898

Morgan’s Pier221 North Columbus Blvd (215) 279-7134

Moshulu401 South Columbus Blvd (215) 923-2500

Perk’s Café201 South Columbus Blvd(215) 928-1234

Spirit of Philadelphia401 South Columbus Blvd (866) 455-3866

Sugarhouse Casino1001 North Delaware Ave (877) 477-3715

Yards Brewery901 North Delaware Ave (215) 634-2600

events7th Annual Philly Doowop FestivalGreat Plaza (b/w Walnut & Chestnut)September 9

FeastivalPhiladelphia’s Top Chef’s come together to benefit The Philly Fringe121 N Columbus Blvd September 12

Old City Seaport Festival211 South Christopher Columbus BlvdOctober 6-7

Philadelphia Cup Regatta211 South Christopher Columbus September 29

Philadelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly Fringe 16th Annual FestivalSeptember 7-22

Events at Race Street PierRace Street & Columbus Blvd

Feel Great Fitness Featuring a variety of fitness disciplines from YOGA to Tai Chi to CardioEvery Saturday morning

Closing Night filmFAT KID RULES THE WORLDAugust 25

Fireworks August 24, 25, 31September 1, 7, 8, 21 & 22


The Guttenberg Bible: A Memoir by Steve Guttenberg

Guttenberg gained atten-tion as part of a remark-able ensemble in Barry

Levinson’s Diner. He has made some of the most successful fran-chise films in Hollywood: Police Academy, Cocoon, Short Circuit and Three Men and a Baby. Now he has written his memoir about this period in his life. At last the world can read about his experi-ences making Can’t Stop the Music with Valerie Perrine, Bruce Jenner, and The Village People, and films like The Chicken Chronicles and Amazon Women on the Moon.

The Guttenberg Bible describes the actor’s early career and it is peppered with anec-dotes, movie stars, Oscar ceremonies, and some truly bizarre situations, such as being auctioned off to a rich Dallas woman with a threatening brother. The first third of the book shows Guttenberg as crafty and clueless. He managed to fake his way on to the Paramount lot, where he establishes a secret office. He keeps it going by promising to deliver signed photos of Faye Dunaway and John Wayne to operators. He describes learning the lingo—using words like “pronto”—and not knowing what a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card is. No one gets his name right, and he sweats profusely. If all this doesn’t get on readers’ nerves, it is somewhat charming.

Guttenberg is modest, and this may be what makes him likable. He writes about meeting everyone from Colonel Sanders and Richard Widmark to Laurence Olivier,

by Gary m. Kramer

Steve Guttenberg is an unexpected celebrity—an everyman of sorts, he is a vanilla movie star with no real discernible qualities. Blandly handsome, he has more of an affable persona and amusing qualities than sharp comic timing.

BooK ReVIeW


and Gregory Peck with a sense of wonder. Later, when he meets director Francis Ford Coppola and producers Robert Evans and Dino De Laurentiis, he is also suitably impressed. Guttenberg may gush about working with everyone from David Spade and Sharon Stone in their pre-fame years, but he also marvels at the power Tom Selleck and Ted Danson had over fans at the height of their fame. His insider’s view of this rarified company will satisfy readers not annoyed by Guttenberg’s penchant to refer to practically everyone he writes about as “talented.”

The actor/author is at his best when he is candid. A passage on the difficulties of making the criminally underseen The Bedroom Window is The Guttenberg Bible’s best. He describes his tense meeting with director Curtis Hanson, the film’s crew being replaced by Italians, and that doing a love/nude scene with Isabelle Huppert, “is a ball. And don’t let anyone tell you different.” The book could have used more stories like this one. His discus-sion about dying on the set of The Boys from Brazil is another fine moment.

Guttenberg does well describing his experi-ences being on the set of Diner with Kevin Bacon, Tim Daly, Daniel Stern, Mickey Rourke and Paul Reiser. He shows the camaraderie that developed among these up and coming stars, and how that translated on to the screen. It makes fans want to see the film again.

Many of the recollections here are nice pieces about working with the talented actors he met on the set of Saturday Night Live, or Cocoon. Guttenberg peppers his stories with conversations with his parents, which are meant to be funny, but are rather lame. It is tempting to skip passages about his father’s reading up on the actor’s career and focus on the observations and insights Guttenberg has about working with agents and managers, such as the opportunities given to a “hot” actor over a “the best” one.

The Guttenberg Bible is enjoyable when

it goes behind the scenes at the Oscars, and the Oscar party, where Guttenberg makes a faux pas by calling Mr. Lazar “Swifty.” As penance, he recounts the nifty story of how Lazar got his nickname.

But this memoir is lousy when Guttenberg tries to use Joseph Campbell’s archetypal myth to justify the antagonism between his character, Capt. Mahoney and his nemesis Sgt. Harris in Police Academy. Really? Really!

There are other errors in The Guttenberg Bible that are less egregious. The author claims Richard Widmark won the Academy Award for Kiss of Death, (He didn’t). He cites Allan Carr as a producer of Saturday Night Fever. (He wasn’t). This may just be sloppiness on Guttenberg’s or even the copyedi-tor’s part, but these are easily known or checked facts.

And while readers may want more dish about women, parties, and expensive toys like Guttenberg’s prized Ferrari, The Guttenberg Bible is not a tell-all. It’s more of a tell-some. Some of the stories here, about meeting Allan Carr, are interesting. Some—like the one about his “stalker”—are not. But that’s what you get with Guttenberg. It’s cream cheese on a Ritz cracker. •

gARy M. KRAMER is the author of Independent Queer Cinema: Reviews and Interviews and co-editor of the forthcoming Directory of World Cinema: Argentina.

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arts calendarThere’s so much to do in Philadelphia that planning your weekend can be a bit daunting. Here we include some below-the-radar events from organizations and art centers we hold dear. We have also included some carefully selected options brought to you by our loyal advertisers, which will leave you with a diversified menu to fill your plate. See you around Philly!

MuSIC

Adventuredrum40th Street Summer SeriesAugust 25

Millie Bai (violin) and Joy Bai (piano) / Handel, Beethoven, Massenet, Dvorak, Faure, BruchRock Hall Auditorium: Temple UniversitySeptember 8

The Fallen TroubadoursTin AngelSeptember 8

RAAMP It up 2012!African America Museum Live Music & Gallery StrollingAugust 22 – September 26

DANCE

‘Danco on ‘Danco Choreographic Showcase ConcertThe Painted BrideSeptember 15

Koresh Artists Showcase2020 Chestnut StreetSeptember 22 & 23, 2012

Shifting Energy: by guest choreographer Chip KloseWayne Ballet Black Box TheaterSeptember 22

THEATER

Angels in America Parts One & TwoThe Wilma TheaterSeptember 12 – October 21

Barefoot In the ParkBucks County PlayhouseThrough September 2

Lost in YonkersThe Stagecrafters TheaterSeptember 14 – September 30

DeathtrapHedgerow TheatreAugust 23 to September 23

Art

Derek Au ExhibitionThe Clay StudioAugust 17 – September 30

Gala Celebrating the Reopening of the Rodin MuseumSeptember 15

Hiro Sakaguchi: Two Zero One TwoSeraphin GallerySeptember 14 - October 21, 2012

Prom: Photographs by Mary Ellen MarkPhiladelphia Museum of ArtThrough October 28

RIFA: Sky & Water PaintingsNational Museum of American Jewish HistoryAugust 27 – December 30

Rittenhouse Square Fine Art ShowSeptember 14-16

OTHER

Center City District Restaurant Week September 30 - October 5October 7- October 12

Transforming the Power of Travel w/ Andrew McCarthyThe Free LibraryOctober 3

The Blue ShowAdult Improv ComedyFinal FridaysSpecial EXTRA show added Friday, August 24th @ 10PM!


The Impact of Fine Art

The upper class began to sup-port the arts with their desire to obtain portrait paintings. Soon

artists and art collectors alike flocked to Philadelphia to engage in the recre-ation of this expressive craft. In 1805 a collector offered the city an array of artistic pieces, ranging from paintings to engravings, and other miscellaneous works, which would later result in the erection of a top cultural destination for audiences all over the map. This destina-tion, which was created on behalf of the city to accept these offerings, was named: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine

Arts. The PAFA is the nation’s oldest art school and museum in the United States.

Philadelphia enjoys many firsts in the Arts and Culture genre, as well as a healthy heaping of mosts. Our city has more public art than any other U.S. city, and also distinctively, more murals than anywhere else in the nation. We are home to the oldest theater in continuous use, in the English-speaking world. We have the nation’s first private, nonprofit organization dedicated to integrating public art and urban planning. The list continues.

by Jamie Berman

Even before the American Revolution, Philadelphia began to take root as a place to encourage artistic expression.

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The National Art Education Association claims art is work and vital to the develop-ment of students in society: “There is a desperate need in our society for a revival of the idea of good work: work for personal fulfillment; work for social recognition; work for economic development. Work is one of the noblest expressions of the human spirit, and art is the visible evidence of work carried to the highest possible level.”

In our exploration to find evidence of student work in the Fine Art community, we spoke to the Executive Director, Steve Oliver, of the Rittenhouse Square Fine Arts Show, which is America’s longest running outdoor art show. To our delight, Steve shared with us that students started this show back in 1932, when they were looking for a place to exhibit their work. Since then, it’s become one of the most well respected art shows in the country. Artists

from around the world come to exhibit at this show and the guidelines to get in are very stringent. To honor the history of the show’s beginnings, full time art students are invited to apply to be in the show, and the only fee they must cover is the application. It is very important that students remain a part of this renowned art initiative. It pro-vides unprecedented experience for them to market their talents and network with other worldly artists.

If you want to start developing an eye for art. There are many opportunities to be


educated in the city of Philadelphia. As an example, we spoke to gallery owner Judith Seraphin of Seraphin Gallery and she shared with us that their goal is to educate the novice collector and assist in building their collec-tions. If you’re looking for an excuse to check them out, their opening exhibit is with Hiro Sakaguchi, September 14 – October 21 and then the recent sculptures of David Borgerding, October 26 – December 9th.

We hope you can get a small sense of the pos-sibility and impact of enjoying Fine Art in the community. Share with us the impact Fine Art has had on you: tweet us! @ritzfilmmag •

AmericA-itAly Societyof PhilAdelPhiA

Fall 2012 ITalIaN ClaSSES Native certified teachers.

Private tutoring for AP, CILS exams. 12 WEEK PROGRAM from Sept. 17 to Dec. 14.

$350—Thanksgiving week off alSO in NaRBERTH, Pa

GIRO D’ITalIa: FUll IMMERSION SaTURDaY

Aug. 23: Sicily • Sept. 15: Tuscany Light lunch included

$150—30% off for AIS members

CHIlDREN’S ClaSS$200—10% off 2nd child.

alSO: FREE Classical Music Concerts

(Dec. 5, 2012; March 6, 2013; April 17, 2013 at the Beth Zion Temple)

FREE Italian Movies (The Three Pointed Screen: Sicily in Film)

1420 Walnut Street, Suite 310215-735-3250 • [email protected]

Rittenhouse Square

Fine art show

FALL SHOW

SeptembeR 14-16Friday: 11-7 • Saturday: 11-6 • Sunday: 11-5

18th and Walnut Streetsrittenhousesquareart.org • 877-689-4112


soluTIoN To lAsT Issue’s CRossWoRD Puzzle

47 North 3rd Street Philadelphia, PA 19106 | 215-923-0508 | www.margotcamille.com


is laid-off and gets revenge by putting his hypnotized actors in their monster make-up and instructing them to strangle the bosses!

I’ve been a big fan of the actor Stacy Keach

since the Mike Hammer TV series, but the

one film of his I’d be love to see has the

curious title The Traveling Executioner. Are

you familiar with it?—Robin Klein, South Philadelphia

Keach (most recently seen in on screen in The Bourne Legacy, and on Broadway in Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities) had gained notice for his roles in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968) and the cult drama End of the Road (1970) when he was cast as the lead in 1970’s The Traveling Executioner, a delightfully unusual period piece set in 1918. In it, Keach is a former carny who brings one of the first electric chairs from town to town by horse and wagon. The executioner demonstrates his contraption with a show-man’s bluster but his demeanor changes when he falls in love with a woman he has promised to execute. Co-staring Bud Cort (the year before Harold and Maude) and the sublime Marianna Hill (whose credits include Medium Cool and Elvis’ Paradise, Hawaiian Style) the film reeks of Old Southern Gothic atmosphere and beautifully sustains its premise allow-ing Keach to deliver a true tour de force performance. The literate screenplay was later adapted for the stage as the musical Fields of Ambrosia but it remains the only big-screen credit of writer Garrie Bateson. We’re all in luck because The Traveling Executioner has had its first home release through the DVDr-on-demand Warner Archive series. •

Continued from page 7

ask the Ritz

2301 Fairmount Avenue • Philadelphia215.978.4545 londongrill.com

follow us on twitter @londongrill

TRANSFORMING POWER OF TRAVEL WITH

ANDREW MCCARTHY

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 7:30 pm

THE FREE LIBRARY1901 VINE STREET, PHILADELPHIA

Pick-up the October Issue of RFM which will feature an Interview

with Andrew McCarthy & RFM’s Publisher Lisa Rafter!


now showing

360 Director: Fernando Meirelles | Runtime: R, 91 min | Magnolia | Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz and Ben Foster

A sexy dramatic thriller about interconnected romantic life in the 21st century, 360 starts in Vienna, weaving stories set in Paris, London, Bratislava, Rio, Denver and Phoenix into a single, mesmerizing narrative. A businessman tempted to be unfaithful to his wife sets into motion a series of events which ripple around the globe with dramatic consequences, set against the backdrop of the international banking crisis, the domino-effect of the Arab Spring, the threat of global flu pandemics and Euro-Zone instability.

Visit www.landmarktheatres.com for movie schedules and additional information.

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360 ................................................................302 DAYS IN NEW YORK .................................31AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY...........................34ARbItRAgE ...................................................33bEAStS OF tHE SOUtHERN WILD .............34bELOVED ......................................................36CELEStE AND JESSE FOREVER .................35

CHICKEN WItH PLUMS ..............................31COMPLIANCE ...............................................36 HELLO I MUSt bE gOINg ............................32LIbERAL ARtS ..............................................32LIttLE WHItE LIES .......................................37RObOt & FRANK ..........................................35


CHICKeN WITH Plums Director: Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud | Runtime: PG-13, 91 Minutes, French with English subtitles | Sony Classics | Mathieu Amalric, Edouard Baer, Maria de Medeiros, Golshifteh Farahani, Eric Caravaca, Chiara Mastroianni, Mathis Bour, Enna Balland, Didier Flamand, Serge Avedikian, Rona Hartner

Nasser-Ali, a talented musician, loses the will to live after his wife breaks his beloved violin during an argument. He searches for a replacement, and finding none that sounds quite the same, he vows to die. Eight days later, he does. This is the story of his last week of life, where we see flashbacks and flash forwards of his previous life and his children’s futures. We also see appearances of a nude Sophia Loren as well as the angel of death, Azarel. As we see his life, we realize exactly why he chose to end it and the profundity of this choice.

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2 DAYs IN NeW yORK Director: Julie Delpy | Runtime: R, 96 Minutes | MPC | Chris Rock, Julie Delpy, Albert Delpy, Alexia Landeau, Alexandre Nahon, Kate Burton, Dylan Baker, Daniel Bruhl, Talen Ruth Riley

Marion (Delpy) has broken up with Jack (Two Days in Paris) and now lives in New York with their child. But when her family decides to come visit her, she’s unaware that the different cultural background held by her new American boyfriend Mingus (Rock), her eccentric father, and her sister Rose who decided to bring her ex-boyfriend along for the trip, added to her upcoming photo exhibition, will make up for an explosive mix.


lIBeRAl ARTs Director: Josh Radnor | Runtime: NR, 97 Minutes | IFC | Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Zac Efron

When thirty-something Jesse is invited back to his alma mater, he falls for a young 19-year-old college student and is faced with the powerful attraction that springs up between them.

Hello I musT Be GoING Director: Todd Louiso | Runtime: R, 95 Minutes | Oscilloscope Pictures | Melanie Lynskey, Blythe Danner, John Rubinstein

Selected as the opening night film for Sundance 2012, HELLO I MUST BE GOING fea-tures acclaimed actress Melanie Lynskey in her breakout role as Amy, a recent divorcée who seeks refuge in the suburban Connecticut home of her parents (Blythe Danner and John Rubinstein). Demoralized and uncertain of her future, Amy begins an affair with a 19-year-old actor (GIRLS’ Christopher Abbott) that jumpstarts her passion for life and helps her discover an independence and sense of purpose that she has missed for years. Coupling Danner’s subtly riveting performance as a frustrated empty nester with Lynskey’s endearing and nuanced depiction of both the comic and tragic avenues of an existential crossroads, HELLO I MUST BE GOING is a modern, unconventional love story infused with sex, humor, and emotional honesty – everything Amy will need to get on in life.

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ARBITRAGe Director: Nicholas Jarecki | Runtime: R, 100 Minutes | Lionsgate | Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling

Arbitage, the feature-directing debut of writer Nicholas Jarecki, is a taut and alluring suspense thriller about love, loyalty, and high finance. When we first meet New York hedge-fund magnate Robert Miller (Richard Gere) on the eve of his 60th birthday, he appears the very portrait of success in American business and family life. But behind the gilded walls of his mansion, Miller is in over his head, desperately trying to complete the sale of his trading empire to a major bank before the depths of his fraud are revealed. Struggling to conceal his duplicity from loyal wife Ellen (Susan Sarandon) and brilliant daughter and heir-apparent Brooke (Brit Marling), Miller’s also balancing an affair with French art-dealer Julie Cote (Laetetia Casta). Just as he’s about to unload his troubled empire, an unexpected bloody error forces him to juggle family, business, and crime with the aid of Jimmy Grant (Nate Parker), a face from Miller’s past. One wrong turn ignites the suspicions of NYPD Detective Michael Bryer (Tim Roth), who will stop at nothing in his pursuits. Running on borrowed time, Miller is forced to confront the limits of even his own moral duplicity. Will he make it out before the bubble bursts?

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now showing

AI WeIWeI: NeVeR soRRYDirector: Alison Klayman | Runtime: R, 91 minutes, partially subtitled | IFC

Ai Weiwei is China’s most famous inter-national artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention. Ai Weiwei: Never

Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and blurs the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait provides a nuanced exploration of contemporary China and one of its most compelling public figures.

BeAsTs oF THe souTHeRN WIlDDirector: Benh Zeitlin | Runtime: PG-13, 93 minutes | Fox Searchlight | Quvenzhané Wallis and Dwight Henry

In a forgotten but defiant bayou commu-nity cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis), a six-year-old girl, exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until

a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstop-pable catastrophes of epic proportions.

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RoBoT & FRANKDirector: Jake Schreier | Runtime: PG-13, 89 minutes | IDP | Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler, Susan Sarandon

In the dramedy Robot & Frank, set in the near future, Frank (Frank Langella), a retired cat burglar, has two grown kids who are concerned he can no longer live alone. They are tempted to place him in a nursing home until Frank’s son chooses a different option: against the old man’s wishes, he buys Frank a walking, talking humanoid robot programmed to improve his physical and mental health. What follows is an often hilarious and somewhat heartbreaking story about finding friends and family in the most unexpected places. Director Jake Schreier’s feature film debut also stars James Marsden, Liv Tyler and Susan Sarandon.

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FOREVER Directors: Lee Toland Krieger | Runtime: R, 91 minutes | Sony Classics | Emma Roberts, Elijah Wood, Rashida Jones, Eric Christian Olsen, Andy Samburg, Ari Graynor, Chris Messina, Janel Parrish

In director Lee Toland Krieger’s comedic drama Celeste and Jesse Forever, Celeste (Rashida Jones) and Jesse (Andy Samberg) met in high school, married young and are growing apart. Now thirty, Celeste is the driven owner of her own media consulting firm, while Jesse is once again unemployed and in no particular rush to do anything with his life. Celeste is convinced that divorcing Jesse is the right thing to do—she is on her way up, he is on his way nowhere, and if they do it now instead of later, they can remain supportive friends. Jesse passively accepts this transition into friendship, even though he is still in love with her. As the reality of their separation sets in, Celeste slowly and painfully realizes she has been cavalier about their relationship. While navigating the turbulent changes in their lives and in their hearts, these two learn that in order to truly love someone, you may have to let them go.


now showing

ComPlIANCe Director: Craig Zobel | Runtime: R, 90 minutes | Magnolia | Ann Dowd, Dreama Walker, Pat Healy, Bill Camp

Based on true events, Compliance tells the chill-ing story of just how far one might go to obey a figure of authority. On a particularly busy day at a suburban fast food joint, high-strung manager Sandra (Ann Dowd) receives a phone call from a police officer saying that an employee, a pretty young blonde named Becky (Dreama Walker) has stolen money from a customer. Convinced she’s only doing what’s right, Sandra commences the investigation, following step-by-step instruc-tions from the caller at the other end of the line,

no matter how invasive they become. As we watch, we ask ourselves two questions: “Why doesn’t she just say no?” and the more troubling, “Am I certain I wouldn’t do the same?” Writer/director Craig Zobel (Great World of Sound) recounts this riveting nightmare in which the line between legality and reason is hauntingly blurred.

BELOVEDDirector: Christophe Honoré | Runtime: NR, 139 minutes, fully subtitled | IFC | Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Paul Schneider, Milos Forman, Louis, Garrel, Michel Delpech, Rasha Bukvic

Catherine Deneuve and her real-life daughter Chiara Mastroianni star in this sexy yet exquisitely romantic musical drama that spans over three decades as it follows a mother

and daughter’s misadventures in love. In the ‘60s, Madeleine (Ludivine Sagnier) leaves Paris to re-join her Czech husband Jaromil (Rasha Bukvic) in Prague, but his infidelities and the arrival of Russian tanks in the city lead her back to France. Thirty years later we follow the romance of Madeleine’s daughter, Véra (Mastroianni), who falls in love with a musician (Paul Schneider) in London who is incapable of devoting himself to her. Meanwhile in Paris, a re-married Madeleine (now played by Deneuve) has rekindled her love affair with Jaromil (Milos Forman). Full of visual delights, this widescreen homage to Jacques Demy’s musicals is a moving exploration of the changing nature of relation-ships, with music by Alex Beaupain.

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lITTle WHITe lIes Director: Guillaume Canet | Runtime: 154 minutes | EuropaCorp Distribution | François Cluzet, Marion Cotillard, Benoît Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, Laurent Lafitte, Valérie Bonneton, Pascale Arbillot

In a Parisian nightclub, party man Ludo (Jean Dujardin) takes off late at night on his scooter, where he’s blindsided by a truck. Lying between life and death in the hospi-tal, Ludo is visited by his band of longtime pals, who decide that the gruesome crash shouldn’t prevent them from embarking on their coveted summer holidays. Prior to the trip, another major problem arises when one of the friends, osteopath Vincent (Benoit Magimel), confesses his attraction to nervous-wreck restaurateur Max (Francois Cluzet); their initial tête-à-tête is one of the film’s comic highlights. Both are married, and Max clearly isn’t game, so when they arrive later with their families at his pristine seaside cottage, tensions are sky-high. The group’s stress level is further goosed by pot-smoking rebel Marie (Marion Cotillard), lovesick actor Eric (Gilles Lellouche) and the even more lovesick Antoine (Laurent Lafitte), all of whom are suffering from failed or failing relationships.

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All About EveThis past July, the world lost veteran actor Celeste Holm, whose poise and aristocratic bearing was almost ... well, celestial in “All About eve.” This all-time classic boasts a star-studded cast, brilliant dialogue and an intriguing plot as old as the theater itself. If you haven’t seen this film at least three times, you should. For those of you who have, grab your pencil and enjoy. either way, to quote the film’s most quotable line, “Fasten your seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

By stuart Papavassiliou

Stuart Papavassiliou is a transplanted Texan who has lived in Philadelphia for the past 28 years. He is an editor of two commercial finance publications who suffers from an addiction to pre-1970s movies. He and his partner live in Fairmount.

Across3. Margo muses, “Eve, Eve, little Miss xxxx…” Then follows with a quote from Julius Caesar, “The xxxx that men do lives after them.”4. Before the “bumpy night” party begins, the playwright notes that the atmosphere is this. (More Shakespeare … according to theatrical superstition, this play title cannot be spoken at the workplace.)5. DeWitt’s profession.6. Directed and wrote the screenplay. Not too shabby since he won Oscars for both.9. In 1985, Holm joined Jane Wyman in this prime time drama. Wyman was a Channing, no relation to Margo.11. Davis’ first film in 1931: She was this kind of sister.12. Bill calls DeWitt this kind of fishwife. 13. This entertainment Mecca is disparaged more than once in “All About Eve.”15. Ritter’s character calls Margo’s bed this. She’s talking about the furs, but it could be a good name for a punk rock band. (3 words)19. Holm’s character … she’s the playwright’s wife. She admits that’s the lowest form of celebrity. What’s her first name?21, Davis married this co-star in Mexico after filming “All About Eve.” Full name, please.25, The actor who plays Addison DeWitt. Another full name, please.26. Massachusetts town where Davis was born. 27. Davis given name. (Bette was from Elizabeth, her middle name.) 28. This actor (last name only please) writes the play in the movie. Perhaps e had an Elizabethan namesake who also wrote plays. It’s Richards in the movie, what was it in real life?31. Max Fabian’s “role” in the movie … he precedes Mostel and Wilder.35. In one of many great retorts, Margo claims she once stared in the heart of one of these.37. This actress (full name) adds an ironic twist in the final scene.40. Kind of weird when you think about it. In Davis’ final film, she was this kind of stepmother. See 11 across for a clue.41. 28 Across married not one, but two of these. The one he didn’t marry moved to Hooterville in the 1960s.42. Where Eve makes her out-of-town debut in Lloyd Richards’ new play. 43. According to the cocktail pianist, this composer’s Liebestraum is heard four times. Who composed this Dream of Love?45. Setting for the opening scene: The Sarah xxxxxxx Society.46. Another music question. This Alfred composed the scintillating music that accompanied the brilliant dialogue. 47. The actress who plays Eve follows this in her next film. In a different sense, she aspires to stardom. What does she follow? (2 words.)48. This famous costume designer designed Davis’ memorable “bumpy night” gown.

49. Margo to Eve: “You can put that award where your xxxxx ought to be.”

DoWN1. See 3 across … it’s not a clue, just a factoid. When she quotes Julius Caesar, she makes reference to this Luzerne County “hot spot.” Certainly not Scranton … but close.2. Both Bette Davis’ Margo and Gloria Swanson’s Norma hit the Silver Screen in 1950 with legendary performances. Both were actresses playing actresses. (Davis on the stage, Swanson in film.) What was Norma’s last name?5. The role Eve “takes” from Margo in Lloyd’s new play.7. He produced “All About Eve.”

Margo chants his name thrice in the first of many dressing room scenes.8. More Alfred trivia. Davis and the actors who portrayed Lloyd Richards and Eve Harrington appeared on this Alfred’s TV Hour. Which Alfred?10. The playwright’s full name. (2 words)11. Thelma Ritter knocks it out of the park with this performance as Margo’s minion, xxxxxx. What’s her first name?14. Celeste Holm’s descendants?15. Sanders was every bit as conniving and controlling with this protégé in the film adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s famous short story. Get the picture?16. Sarah, Eve and Margo’s profession. 17. DeWitt’s first name.18. In this 1949 film, both playwright and director both took to the “Wild Blue Yonder.” Technically, it’s 4 words. Name the film.20. Eve’s real name as it turns out. 22. This critic claims Margo was Davis’ greatest role. 23. More brilliant dialogue. DeWitt notes he didn’t go to 42 Across to “pull the ivy off the walls” of this famous institution.24. This Anne is a bad, bad girl. Last name, please.28. Miss Monroe’s colorful character. (2 words)29. The musical version of this puzzle’s theme.30. The number of living cast members from “All About Eve.”32. Fifteen years after “All About Eve,” Holm joined Walter Pidgeon, Ginger Rogers, Jo Van Fleet and Leslie Ann Warren in this made-for-TV musical. 33. Margo claims this NYC night club is “where the elite meet.” The (two words follow)34. Time for a Ritter quote: “What a story! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin’ at her xxxx xxx.”36. Not Carol, not Tatum, but Margo (fill in the blank)38. Sander’s surprising birthplace. (Country only)39. Famous New York club where the ladies (Davis and Holm) lunch. Spell it out.41. Margo’s pet name for Bill once things get ironed out.44. See 2 Down. Swanson and Holden hung out on this famous boulevard.

Look for the answers in the next edition of Ritz Film Magazine.

Ritz Film Magazine August 2012

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Transcript of Ritz Film Magazine August 2012