On Streaming in 2023; AF OFF 2023

by Jamie Uhler

With each passing year of the Allan Fish Online Film Festival I feel different points of interest in thought that nevertheless strengthen the memories I had in friendship with him and others in the Wonders in the Dark community. Usually for this festival I make selections to highlight these very beliefs, and this year was no different. As movie-going as ever increasingly moved towards streaming, or, in other word ‘online’, half of the point of this very festival is made more abundantly clear. Not only did I experience a friendship with Allan (and others) online, but how I interacted about movies with Allan was a near-wholly web-based experience. So, I spend a bit of toil thinking about how much he and I interacted via email scouring torrents, me finding seeds to files that he wasn’t willing to download, a process he deemed ‘beyond his computer prowess’, but that I nonetheless procured and sent over an ocean to him on flash drive. But now, in just a few short years, how much of that has been mitigated because our lives have continually moved towards nothing but online viewing, his pieces that opening with movies being either ‘on’ or ‘not on’ DVD becoming a wholly moot point to whether or not they can or cannot be streamed. It left me thinking of several films I watched recently, one, a previously presented piece on Wonders, for the great ‘Fish Obscuro’ series, a series so regularly held to Asian films he prized, a capsule published in September 2010.

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Memorial Day, Irish Jesus of Fairview and Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival on Mondy Morning Diary (May 29)

by Sam Juliano

I am posting the MMD on Sunday (May 28th) which would have been Allan Fish’s 50th birthday here on earth.  The Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival will launch today with an opening post by project founder, Jamie Uhler. Then, in succession the following people will present their own write-ups:  Patricia Perry (May 29th); Joel Bocko (May 30th); Sachin Gandhi (May 31st); Marilyn Ferdinand (June 1st); J.D. Lafrance (June 2nd); Susanne Campbell (June 3rd); Robert Hornak (June 4th); Robert Butler (June 5th); Sam Juliano (June 6th).  Right now, those ten (10) participants constitute the full writing contingent, but should anyone else wich to contribute we can easily just add them near the end.  Many thanks to all who were able to participate this year, and to those who would like to have contributed but couldn’t quite manage to.

My final-stage editor and good friend Bill Kamberger has reached Chapter 44 of the 60 chapters in Irish  Jesus of Fairview, so we are closing in on a publication date.  Please note that I have not sent the manuscript to several other people who worked on the first book with me for two reasons.  First off, Bill isn’t done yet and secondly I am frankly mortified to bother people again, as they certainly have their own lives to attend to.  This doesn’t in any way compromise the great proofreading that was done last time, not remotely, and I remains deeply thanksful for the efforts of those who chimed in.

Jim Clark posted a stupendous essay on Kelly Reichardt’s Showing Up at the site earlier this week.

Read Full Post »

Kelly Reichardt SHOWING UP (2022) “…Something Else…”

                          

  by  James Clark 

Why would a brilliant artist, a sculptor whose touch lifts to the heavens, trudge along as if she were crippled and in pain. Where was the fire, the elevation? However, there were factors to consider. Our  protagonist, Lizzy, would have imagined problems unknown by the easy going, the way of normality, the ways of full-scale science, in its zeal, and elsewhere. Not only that, however, the actions of religion pose a similar snag. Good that all should be civil; but how does it work?

This matter, however, involves something else, not in the lexicon. We’ll have to wait until the end, here, to see what the marvel involves. However, one could note that planet Earth had failed badly.

Not so strangely, Lizzy felt compelled to play along with the others. One of the others, Jo, a young Chinese woman, (being in the state of Oregon) would be as ordinary as our protagonist was unusual. Jo was Lizzy’s  landlord. This was how she spoke to the protagonist one day. “You are lucky, with your cheap price. It may not last much longer…” In an earlier remark, Jo asked that she needed to take her injured pigeon off her back, for a while. (The protagonist would be too savvy to swallow that line. She knew that the pet would be an interment, going into her work for the coming arts festival. Not only that, but Lizzy’s cat had attacked Jo’s pet, creating more confusion at the vet, and by Jo. The black practitioner would be ugly in a “helpful” way. And yet the artist would be able to cope, at a premium.

Read Full Post »

Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival on Monday Morning Diary (May 22)

by Sam Juliano

We are nearly ready to go with the Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival.  Short of some late confirmations (which are fully acceptable and welcome) we have ten (10) writers set to participate in the project that will commence on Sunday, May 28th, six days from now.  The schedule was posted last week and sent out on a group e mail and also announced on last week’s MMD.

Though no dates on any matters could be deemed as positively firm, I do now have a commitment for the final date of the last-stage editing for Irish Jesus of Fairview.  June 30th should wrap things up and then over the days to follow I will work with someone to quickly change the manuscript into the PDF Amazon needs to publish.  Hence, the novel will be publishing in early July.  Many thanks for the encouragement, enthusiasm and great interest in this labor of love.  Shortly I will be turning my full attention to the third book, Roses for Saoirse, which I have started.

Jim Clark’s latest essay on Kelly Reichardt’s new film will soon be published.  We are so thrilled to have this news, sent on today!

Read Full Post »

It Ain’t Over, Washington D.C. school trip, Irish Jesus of Fairview and Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival on Monday Morning Diary (May 15)

by Sam Juliano

The annual Washington D.C. school trip ended late Friday night, but once again it provided many of us, especially the 42 children who attended, a most memorable experience. We took the Capitol Tour, witnessed the Twilight Tattoo, took pictures outside the White House, visited a few Smithsonian museums, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and treked to eleven outside memorials, Ford’s Theatre and opened the trip by stopping first in Philadelphia, where we saw the Liberty Bell and the Continental Congress building.  My own legs and feet are mighty sore.  On the middle day of the trip (Thursday) we logged in over nine miles.

Progress on the editing of Irish Jesus of Fairview continues, but a final publication date presently remains inconclusive.  In any case, all is going well.

The Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival will launch on Sunday, May 28th with an opening post by project founder, Jamie Uhler. Then, in succession the following people will present their own write-ups:  Patricia Perry (May 29th); Joel Bocko (May 30th); Sachin Gandhi (May 31st); Marilyn Ferdinand (June 1st); J.D. Lafrance (June 2nd); Susanne Campbell (June 3rd); Robert Hornak (June 4th); Robert Butler (June 5th); Sam Juliano (June 6th).  Right now, those ten (10) participants constitute the full writing contingent, but should anyone else wich to contribute we can easily just add them near the end.  Many thanks to all who were able to participate this year, and to those who would like to have contributed but couldn’t quite manage to.

Lucille, young Sammy, Jeremy and I saw the fabulous documentary, It Ain’t Over, which movingly chronicled the life of Yankee catching legend Yogi Berra at the Teaneck multiplex on Saturday night.  Rating:  4.5 of 5.0.

Read Full Post »

Emily, Return to Seoul and Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival on Monday Morning Diary (May 8)

by Sam Juliano

This coming Wednesday (May 10th) I will be in Washington D.C. on the annual 8th grade school trip.  We return on Friday (May 12th).

Today I will be sending out the group e mail to prospective participants in the Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival.  As soon as I receive the necessary responses I will put together the schedule, which will commence on Allan’s May 28th birthday (Sunday).

Nothing has changed yet on the situation with Irish Jesus of Fairview.  The final-stage editing continues.

Lucille and I watched two recent releases online over the weekend. EMILY is a beautifully lensed, compellingly acted (especially by Emma Makay in the lead) fictional account of the romance of Emily Bronte and a young curate. the captivating, sensory-infused narrative is played out after Charlotte Bronte asks her sister about the inspiration to that resulted in ‘Wuthering Heights,” one of the great classics of English literature (Rating: 4.5 of 5.0) RETURN TO SOUL Ji-Min Park brilliantly plays “Freddie” Benoit, a French adolescent who embarks on a journey to connect with the biological Korean parents (the girl doesn’t speak Korean at that point) who surrendered her. Numerous revelations about the parents come into focus, and few films make better use of silences and facial shadings as this one. The director, Davy Chou, based the film on a real-life situation involving a friend. RETURN’s high quality is a no-brainer for cinephiles, and the film is quietly enveloping (Rating 4.5 of 5.0)

Read Full Post »

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret and Evil Dead Rise on Monday Morning Diary (May 1)

by Sam Juliano

A deluge of rain has defined the last few days in the North Jersey region.

The e mail to site writers about the upcoming Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival will be sent out to past writers in the project later this week.

Editing on Irish Jesus of Fairview continues, with a late June/early July publication of the novel anticipated.

On May 10th I will again be chaperoning the 8th grade trip to Washington D.C., which runs until the evening of Friday, May 12th.  I will provide a repot with some photos, much as I have in the past.

Lucille and I watched two recent films this past week, though Are You There, God? It’s Me Margaret will actually be seen Sunday night.  The other film, Evil Dead Rise, was utter torture to sit through, though the reviews and my three boys liked it.  There can be no accounting for taste.  Ha!

Read Full Post »

Seventh Annual Allan Fish Online Film Festival on Monday Morning Diary (April 24)

by Sam Juliano

Wonders in the Dark will again be hosting an Allan Fish Online Film Festival in late May to coincide with our friend’s birthday.  It is hard to believe this will be the seventh annual enterprise in my co-founder’s honor, and I again thank and acknowledge Jamie Uhler of Chicago who conceived of the project way back in early 2015, just months after Allan’s August 2016 passing.  I am only mentioning it now -in late April –  so that some potential writers could begin to toss around ideas.  I won’t again make reference to it until around May 10th, the day I will be sending out a group e mail to the usual suspects.

This year’s annual Tribeca Film Festival will be held in June, and Lucille and I plan to watch the films online, as we did the last several years.

As editing on Irish Jesus of Fairview continues, I received the latest tweaked art of the cover, back and spine from Andrew Castrucci.

Read Full Post »

Greatest American Films Poll Results and A Thousand and One on Monday Morning Diary (April 17)

by Sam Juliano

Another holiday is behind us and we have passed the middle of April.  Thanks again for the messages about Lucille.  All is going well.  We are just a few weeks away from announced this year’s Allan Fish Tribute Festival, will will launch later in May.  Our longtime friend and reader Mark Sadler reminded me this week that I never posted the results of the Greatest American Films polling – something that floored me, and underlined yet again my encroahing senility.  Therefore, I will post the full Top 255 on this MMD.  The results were certainly wonderful in so many ways.

The entire family watched the new release A Thousand and One this past week at our local Ridgefield Park multiplex.  It was a powerful work, about a foster home abduction set in an utrban jungle circa 1995-2000, and it showcases an electrifying female lead performance.  It is surely the best film I have sene so far in 2023.  5/5.

Here is the polling result:

1.      Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) – 843.5

2.      City Lights (Charlie Chaplin, 1931) – 775

3.      Sunrise (F. W. Murnau, 1927) – 670

4.      Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1942) – 650

5.      The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972) – 610

6.      The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, et al., 1939) – 547.5

7.      Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen, 1952) – 527

8.      Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958) – 526.5

9.      Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950) – 521

10.  The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955) – 474.5

11.  Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock, 1954) – 473

12.  The General (Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman, 1926) – 472

13.  Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) – 435

14.  Bringing Up Baby (Howard Hawks, 1938) – 413

15.  The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) – 411

16.  It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946) – 400.5

17.  The Last Picture Show (Peter Bogdanovich, 1971) – 381

18.  The Godfather, Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) – 380.5

19.  Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) – 373.5

20.  The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) – 358.5

21.  Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990) – 333

22.  Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964) – 331

23.  Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) – 319.5

24.  Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976) – 307

25.  The Gold Rush (Charlie Chaplin, 1925) – 301

Read Full Post »

Easter Sunday and Super Mario Brothers Movie on Monday Morning Diary (April 10)

 

by Sam Juliano

Another holiday has come and gone, spring is in full swing, and at least a few of us are making plans for the summer.  This year’s Tribeca Film Festival will be staged in June, though we are unsure whether we will just stick with the virtual -at home- connection, much as we have been doing the last several years.

Thanking everyone for their kind words for Lucille, who is coming along quite nicely.  Though she won’t be return to her school position until early May, she has been mobile around the house, and just yesterday managed to travel to my sister’s for Easter dinner.

Everything remains status quo with Irish Jesus in Fairview, which is currently projected for publication in early June.  Though I haven’t made any serious progress with Roses for Saoirse, I continue to play around with various ideas.

Another insignificant week on the current movie scene (though this is always a tough time of the year for quality cinema, largely) as I was again pulled along by my sons to see a new release that was rather forgettable.  But they liked it, and that’s what counts.

Super Mario Brothers     ** 1/2    (Thursday night)  Teaneck multiplex

Read Full Post »