{"id":405,"date":"2009-01-14T20:48:08","date_gmt":"2009-01-15T02:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=405"},"modified":"2014-09-06T14:58:21","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T20:58:21","slug":"article-du-c-u-ebertfest-x-pt2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/?p=405","title":{"rendered":"Article du C-U: Ebertfest X, pt.2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe Big Ten\u201d<\/strong>
\nRoger Ebert\u2019s Film Festival reaches the end of a decade \u2013 but without its founder and host<\/p>\n

by Anthony Zoubek<\/em><\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

I HAVE ATTENDED ALL BUT ONE<\/strong> Ebertfest <\/strong>since the program\u2019s inception. In its first year, I was a spectator. Most years after, I reported from the festival for various publications and have been privy to a variety of memorable moments:<\/p>\n

\u2022 The collective gasp of a thousand or so spectators at a screening of PATTON <\/strong>(1970) as a large-scale George C. Scott<\/strong> \u201cstepped into\u201d the Virginia Theatre<\/strong>\u2019s stage and in front of an American flag projected from a 70mm print so crisp, we could see the netting on the back of his fake eyebrows;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Donald O\u2019Connor<\/strong>\u2019s appearance at a festival-closing screening of SINGIN\u2019 IN THE RAIN<\/strong> (1952), bittersweet in retrospect as it came mere days before the Danville <\/strong>native\u2019s death;<\/p>\n

\u2022 The moment when one audience member, during a question-and-answer session with festival guests following a screening of the original Japanese SHALL WE DANCE?<\/strong> (1996), was so moved by the film\u2019s poetry that he decided to ask his then-girlfriend for her hand in marriage;<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2022 The following year, when they both came back and showed off their wedding rings;<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u2022 The last public screening of Fritz Lang<\/strong>\u2019s METROPOLIS <\/strong>(1927) to feature the live musical accompaniment of the lauded Alloy Orchestra<\/strong>;<\/p>\n

\u2022 The evening during which Roger Ebert<\/strong> screened Neil LaBute<\/strong>\u2019s sophomore effort, YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS <\/strong>(1998), and veteran director Bob Rafelson<\/strong>\u2019s BLOOD AND WINE <\/strong>(1997). LaBute and Rafelson participated in after-screening discussions with Ebert and the audience. Rafelson recounted his feature film debut, the Monkees<\/strong>\u2019 vehicle HEAD <\/strong>(1968), which he co-wrote with Jack Nicholson<\/strong>. (\u201cWe picked that title because we wanted to use the line in ads for later movies \u2013 \u2018From the producers who gave you\u2026\u2019\u201d) LaBute was confronted by a member of the audience who took offense to NEIGHBORS<\/strong>\u2019 use of profanity. \u201cI know you probably felt the need to use the word to make your characters more potent,\u201d the person said, \u201cbut I felt, after a while, that the word became overused.\u201d LaBute\u2019s dramatic pause caused many festival attendees to sit up in their seats, waiting for an answer. Without missing a beat, LaBute looked up to the person\u2019s section of the balcony, exclaiming like one of the film\u2019s characters, \u201cYou wanna come down and say that to my f**king face?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 The screening of \u201cGolden Age of Silent Comedy<\/strong>,\u201d a compilation of short films featuring Harold Lloyd, the Little Rascals, Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin<\/strong>, and Felix the Cat<\/strong>, presented as a free family matinee by the Silent Movie Theatre Company<\/strong>. Charlie Lustman<\/strong>, a songwriter who took over the Silent Movie Theatre <\/strong>in 1999, hosted the matinee and opened it with a live vaudevillian performance. Visitors to Lustman\u2019s theater are treated to homemade cookies by Lustman\u2019s mother who, with Lustman\u2019s father, originally opened the Silent Movie Theatre 66 years ago at the height of the sound era, when no one thought silent movie exhibition stood a chance. Children in the Ebertfest audience were also treated to homemade cookies by Lustman\u2019s mother;<\/p>\n

\u2022 The reunion of every living member of rock band The Strawberry Alarm Clock <\/strong>and their live performance following a screening of BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS <\/strong>(1970), the cult classic penned by Ebert in which they and their music appeared, and;<\/p>\n

\u2022 The number of people who filled the Virginia Theatre to its rafters during the festival\u2019s screening of Alex Proyas<\/strong>\u2019 DARK CITY <\/strong>(1998). The film \u2013 one of New Line Cinema<\/strong>\u2019s biggest flops \u2013 broke the venue\u2019s single-screening attendance record set in 1977 by STAR WARS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Film fans still had new spur-of-the-moments to look forward to in 2008, but this year\u2019s festival was negated of the opportunity for audiences to watch films with America\u2019s preeminent film critic and learning the \u201cstories behind the films\u201d directly from his lips. Hours before the official kickoff of Ebertfest this year,\u00a0The<\/strong> Associated Press <\/strong>reported that Ebert, 65, was continuing in his recovery from a hip injury on top of a series of cancer-related surgeries over the past few years that left him unable to speak.<\/p>\n

Still, Ebert intended to attend. Last year, he used the festival as a forum for his first public appearance following the surgery that took his speaking abilities; a special recliner was installed in the back of the Virginia for the ailing critic to comfortably watch films. This year, the same chair appeared empty. The flickering light constantly bounced from the screen onto the recliner\u2019s leather \u2013 a quiet reminder that, despite the quality of the movies selected, an integral part of the festival\u2019s charm was sorely missed.<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Return to “The Big Ten” pt.1<\/a><\/p>\n

Continue to “The Big Ten” pt.3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

~~~~~<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

“The Big Ten” pt.2 \u00a9 2009 Anthony Zoubek. Used with permission.<\/p>\n

CUBlog edit \u00a9 2009 Jason Pankoke<\/p>\n

DARK CITY photograph \u00a9 2008 New Line Home Entertainment<\/a>,
\nMETROPOLIS photograph courtesy Kino on Video<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to the fore, MacDuff\u2026<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Visit the Article Index<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Return to Home Page<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anthony Zoubek finally explains it all for the C-U Blogfidential readership. In this second entry, he recalls key moments in \u201cEbertfest\u201d history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,137,13,30],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-area-festivals","category-article-du-c-u","category-public-events","category-roger-ebert","tag-roger-eberts-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.micro-film-magazine.com\/cublog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}