Ritz Film Magazine Feb 2012

Ritzfilm

FEBRUARY 2012 Volume 2 • Issue 1

Interview with Janet McTeer Around the Block: Northern Liberties | 2012 Film Preview Now Showing | Neighborhoods | Oscar Memories | and more!

FEBRUARY 2012

table of contents 5 Letter from the Publisher 6 Ask Ritz Film Magazine 8 Films for 2012: A Preview of What’s Ahead 11 The Oscars Shine from Hollywood to Your Living Room 14 Film Focus:

Interview with Janet McTeer Actress, Albert Nobbs The Artist Speaks Louder

20 Around the Block: Northern Liberties 27 Neighborhood Profiles 30 Arts Calendar 32 Now Showing 42 Crossword Puzzle ABOVE TOP: Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Missi Pyle as Constance in Michel Hazanavicius’s film THE ARTIST. Photo by: The Weinstein Company.

ABOVE BOTTOM: Mia Wasikowska and Glenn Close in ALBERT NOBBS

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A magazine for the Landmark Ritz Theatres Published by R&W Publishing Associates Publisher Lisa H. Rafter 215-765-2646 lisarafter@ritzfilmmag.com Editor Abigail Sutton 609-707-6069 abigail@ritzfilmmag.com Advertising Sales Jamie Berman 610-609-1635 jamie@ritzfilmmag.com Art Director Hedy Sirico hedy@ritzfilmmag.com

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 Associates 315 Poplar Avenue Devon, PA 19333 (215)765-2646 info@ritzfilmmag.com Landmark Ritz Theatres www.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

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letter from the publisher

Dear Ritz lovers, It’s Oscar time! A favorite time of year for all movie lovers. Every year, I’m on a personal mission to see every nominated movie before the big day—no matter what it takes, I see them all! Many of the nominated movies and actors are likely to be showing right now at the Ritz and/or in the past year. It’s indicative of the caliber of movies selected by the Ritz for your movie-viewing pleasure!

Creating this issue was fun. We captured favorite Oscar moments from some of Philadelphia’s favorite personalities including Mike Missanelli, a well-known Philly sports jock and Preston & Steve, guys many Philadelphians wake up to! Also in this issue, Eric Bressler provides his list of Films to watch in 2012—a preview of what’s ahead. And you’ll enjoy an intimate interview with Albert Nobbs’ actress Janet McTeer, a British actress already nominated with a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress and likely to get the same nod from the Academy.

This issue also features our regular movie trivia column from our “movie doctor” Andrew Repasky McElhinney and a review of The Artist by Temple student Astin J. Sullivan. This is the second review in RFM’s new “student review” feature for university students who love reviewing movies! And don’t miss this issue’s Around the Block column featuring Northern Liberties and a Bar Ferdinand restaurant review from RFM’s own sales director, Jamie Berman.

Enjoy all of the contents of RFM’s February issue including the movies scheduled to be featured over the next few months, with many Oscar hopefuls! As always, we welcome your feedback so please contact us and let us know how we’re doing!

Sincerely, Lisa H. Rafter Publisher Ritz Film Magazine 215-765-2646 lisarafter@ritzfilmmag.com

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ask ritz film magazine

By Andrew Repasky McElhinney – “The Movie Doctor”

In 2002, Reilly was a good luck charm for Oscar appearing in the best picture nominated films Chicago, The Hours and Gangs of New York. It is not as rare for actors (especially with studio contract players back in the day) to appear in more than three best picture contenders when there have been ten nominees (1929-1944, 20092011). When there have only been five best picture nominees, Gibson Gowland (1877-1951) shares the distinction with Reilly.

In 1944, Gowland appeared in Going My Way (which won), Gaslight (which didn’t) and as an un-credited servant in Wilson (a nearly forgotten Technicolor biopic about Woodrow Wilson that was a critical hit, but commercial failure for producer Darryl F. Zanuck).

I really enjoyed The Artist at the Ritz Five. It was the first time I saw a black-and-white movie on the big screen. I’ve been watching a lot of silent films right now on my iPod – my favorites are Rudolph Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from 1921 and Douglas

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Silent Movie, 1976

I love the Oscars and I love Oscar trivia even more! In 2002, I remember it was a big deal because John C. Reilly acted in three out of the five best picture nominees. Are there any other actors who have also done this?

—Daniel Martin, Fairmount

Fairbanks in the 1920 Mark of Zorro. But here’s a curve ball – what about other silent films made in the sound era like The Artist?

—Rita Bobtoro, Bella Vista

“Silent” movies made past the early 1930s are a somewhat larger genre than might be suspected.

Of course, most of these movies are not silent but lacking in dialogue. During the silent era pretty much anything other than Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) was intended to have some musical accompaniment. If you liked The Artist, it is natural that you might like Mel Brook’s Silent Movie (1976). The silent movie made during the sound era that sticks out most in my mind is John Parker’s Dementia. It is strange, eerie and for fans of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil (1958). It features original music by esteemed classical music composer, George Antheil (Ballet Mécanique, etc) on the soundtrack as well as cuts by Shorty Rogers and His Giants. Made in 1955 under the title Dementia, the film for years was only shown in a censored, shortened version called Daughter of Horror. This edition, which does not show-off the movie to its best advantage, featured the addition of narration from a floating head—played by a very young Ed McMahon (!). It is Daughter of Horror that is unspooling in the original version of The Blob (1958), when the Blob attacks via the movie

theater screen. That theater in The Blob is of course Phoenixville’s treasure, The Colonial Theater, which hosts Blobfest every summer. One final silent movie of note made during the sound era is 1962’s Gigot. Directed by Gene Kelly, it stars Jackie Gleason, and is an attempt to make a sentimental comedy in the Charles Chaplin idiom.

I hope you will settle a bet with my Ritz-movie going partner—we like to hit the bargain matinees on the weekdays and love reading Ask the Ritz to each other. (Don’t worry we shush-up once the previews begin!) So, for the record, who was the youngest actress to ever receive an Academy Award?

—Eleanor Samson, Center City

The devil is in the details on this one!

Shirley Temple, age five, won a 7-inch tall Oscar called “The Academy Juvenile Award” in 1934. This special statue was given out at the judgement of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences eleven more times until Hayley Mills was its last recipient in 1960 for her performance in Pollyanna. Tatum O’Neal, age ten, won a full-size Oscar for Best Actress for 1974’s Paper Moon. Just for good measure, tell your friend that Jessica Tandy is the oldest winner (thus far) for her work in Driving Miss Daisy (1989). •

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Send questions to info@ritzfilmmag.com Dr. Andrew Repasky McElhinney 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

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Pina Bausch, performing

Films for 2012: A Preview of What’s Ahead

By Eric Bresler – Cinedelphia.com 2012 kicks off with several literary and stage adaptations that are likely to have a presence at the Academy Awards on February 26.

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urrently showing at the Ritz are two critically praised adaptations of stage plays: Roman Polanski’s Carnage, an adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage, and David Cronenberg’s dueling analyst drama A Dangerous Method, adapted from the 2002 stage play The Talking Cure. Also currently in theaters is the critically divided adaptation of the lessthan-favorably received second novel from Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. This post9/11 journey through New York City is certainly a must-see with Stephen Daldry (The Reader, The Hours) at the helm and

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an all-star cast that includes Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, and Sandra Bullock.

Hitting theaters by the time you read this is the short story turned stage production turned film Albert Nobbs, which stars Glenn Close as the titular Englishwoman who disguises herself as a male butler in 19th century Ireland. Close’s performance will likely steer some votes away from Meryl Streep’s impersonation of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady (currently in theaters) come Oscar time.

And an additional upcoming adaptation of note that made a lot of Best of 2011 lists is We Need to Talk About Kevin (TBD) in which a mother (Tilda Swinton)

deals with the aftermath of her son’s high school killing spree; Lynne Ramsay (Ratcatcher, Morvern Callar) directs.

Additional upcoming films that made frequent appearances on year-end lists include Rampart (1/27) the tale of a corrupt cop in late 90s L.A. in which Woody Harrelson reteams with his The Messenger director Oren Moverman; Pina (1/27), Wim Wenders’ 3D tribute to choreographer Pina Bausch; and the overwhelmingly praised Iranian drama A Separation (1/27).

Upcoming American independents include writer/director Madonna’s much talked about romantic drama W.E. (2/3); Ti West (The House of the Devil), indie horror director favorite/Delaware native/ former frequenter of the Ritz Theaters, explores a creepy New England hotel in The Innkeepers (2/3); Jeff Who Lives at Home (3/9) is the latest film from the indie-minded Duplass brothers (Cyrus, The Puffy Chair) starring Jason Segal as the titular slacker and Susan Sarandon as the owner of the titular home; and Philadelphia’s favorite comedy duo graduate from Adult Swim to the big screen with Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie (3/9), which will surely feature celebrities acting against type for the sake of humor that will fly far above the heads of anyone over 30 years of age.

In world cinema, Miss Bala (TBD), a Cannes favorite from Mexico concerning an aspiring beauty pageant winner trapped in a world of organized crime, has a good chance of nabbing the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars, as do the aforementioned A Separation and the Lebanese comedy/ drama Where Do We Go Now? (TBD), which concerns a group of women who

stealthily try to relieve religious tensions in their small village. France’s The Conquest (2/24) looks at French president Nicolas Sarkozy’s rise to power, Albania’s The Forgiveness of Blood (3/9) finds cultural and political parallels within the family unit, and legendary documentarian Frederick Wiseman (1968’s Philly-set High School) examines the world-renowned Parisian club Crazy Horse (3/30). Also of note is Japan’s The Secret World of Arrietty (2/17), an animated adaptation of British author Mary Norton’s 1952 novel “The Borrowers” from Hayao Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli (Ponyo, Spirited Away).

Looking further ahead, 2012 will see some sure-to-be high profile projects from major directors. Johnny Depp reteams with director Tim Burton for an adaptation of Dark Shadows (5/11); the beloved Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) delivers his first live-action feature since 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited with the 1960s New Englandset Moonrise Kingdom (5/25); Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner) returns to the sci-fi genre that made him a name with Prometheus (6/8), which stars the highly in-demand Michael Fassbender (Shame, Jane Eyre); pot growers take on the Mexican cartel in Oliver Stone’s Savages (9/28); Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, 8 Mile) oversees the surf movie Of Men and Mavericks (10/26); David O. Russell (The Fighter) directs Jenkintown’s own Bradley Cooper in The Silver Linings Playbook (11/21); Gravity (11/21), Alfonso Cuarón’s first feature since 2006’s Children of Men, stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney; Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) directs an all-star cast that includes High Jackman and Russell Crowe in a new

This year will see some high profile projects from major directors like Tim Burton, Wes Anderson and Ridley Scott, among others. ritzfilmmag.com February 2012 9

version of Les Misérables (12/7); Kathryn Bigelow’s follow up to the Oscar-winning The Hurt Locker is an as-yet-untitled film on Osama Bin Laden (12/19); Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) adapts the hit novel Life of Pi (12/21); comedy maestro Judd Apatow delivers a spin-off/ sequel to 2007’s Knocked Up with This is 40 (12/21); Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge!) adapts The Great Gatsby (12/25) with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role; Quentin Tarantino directs the likes of Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and the aforementioned DiCaprio in his reinvention of the spaghetti western, Django Unchained (12/25).

Mainstream cinema in 2012 is fit to burst with sequels, reboots, and remakes: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2/17), 21 Jump Street (3/16), Wrath of the Titans (3/30), American Reunion (4/6), Scary Movie 5 (4/20), The Avengers (5/4), Men in Black III (5/15), Madagascar 3 (6/8), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (6/29), The Amazing

Spider-Man (7/3), Ice Age: Continental Drift (7/13), The Dark Knight Rises (7/20), Step Up 4 (7/27), Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (8/3), Total Recall (8/3), The Bourne Legacy (8/3), The Expendables 2 (8/17), Resident Evil: Retribution (9/14), Dredd (9/21), Taken 2 (10/5), Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D (10/5), Halloween 3D (10/26), Red Dawn (11/2), Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (11/16), and Peter Jackson’s highlyanticipated The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12/14).

And finally, hot on the heels of the recent theatrical re-release of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast come 3D reissues of Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (2/10), Titanic (4/6), and Finding Nemo (9/14).

Lots to look forward to in 2012 regardless of your cinematic tastes. See you at the movies!

NOTE: Dates are subject to change. •

Susan Sarandon at the SAG Awards, 2009

Upcoming American independents include writer/director Madonna’s much talked about romantic drama W.E. and Ti West (The House of the Devil), indie horror director favorite/Delaware native/ former frequenter of the Ritz Theaters, explores a creepy New England hotel in The Innkeepers.

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The Oscars Shine from Hollywood to Your Living Room

By Abigail Sutton There’s something special about Oscar night. Sure, the theater world has the Tony’s, music fans have the Grammy’s and TV lovers enjoy the Emmy’s, but the Oscar’s are truly a grand occasion.

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he awards ceremony, televised in more than 100 countries annually, is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in the world. The Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence in the film industry. A lot has changed since May 1929, when the first award ceremony took place and the cost of a guest ticket was $5.

Everyone has his or her favorite Oscar memory. I’ll never forget an ecstatic Roberto Benigni winning the Best Actor award in ’99 for his role in the Italian film Life is Beautiful. Benigni actually stood on the back of a theater chair to

applaud himself and the audience, before running up onstage (and stepping on the backs of chairs to get there in lieu of simply walking down the aisle). He was happiness and excitement personified. As a fan of the movie, I remember enjoying seeing him in this animated way.

Benigni’s loveable character in the film is somewhat of a comedian, striving to create a “game” out of his and his son’s imprisonment at a WWII concentration camp to ensure the safety of his childeven risking his own life in the process.

Another notable moment was the everfashionable Gwyneth Paltrow in her pink silk Ralph Lauren gown early in her career at the 1999 Awards, where she won for Best Actress for Shakespeare

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in Love. She was a sophisticated and modern princess. Paltrow gave a heartfelt and gracious acceptance speech; this was just the start of her fulfilling career. Even her dress has been credited with bringing pink back into fashion.

We polled popular Philadelphians on their favorite Academy Award moments over the years. Many are classics, others are lesser known, but all of them are memorable and worth checking out.

Victor Fiorillo

A&E Editor Philadelphia magazine [My favorite Oscar memory is] Jack Palance winning Best Supporting Actor in ‘92. City Slickers was just an awful movie, but when Palance accepted his award by saying of Oscar host and co-star Billy Crystal, “I crap bigger than him” and then following it up with a set of one-armed pushups – all this at age 73, mind you – I gained a whole new respect for the man. Plus, I grew up watching Palance host “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” on TV. Also, Peter Sellers was one of the greatest comic actors of all time, and the Academy recognized him in 1964 with a nomination for his work in Dr. Strangelove, in which he brilliantly played three roles, and again in 1979 for Being There. But the fact that he never scored a win is a colossal injustice and perhaps indicates that Sellers’ brand of mad genius was just too lofty for Hollywood types to get.

Kevin Gatto

Salon Owner Verde, Collingswood For the last few years my friends and I have a big Oscar fashion party.

We have champagne cocktails and watch the red carpet interviews (my favorite part of the

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night). We enjoy critiquing the hairstyle and fashion choices. My all time favorite Oscar moment was the power of watching Tom Hanks win for Philadelphia in 1993. As a young gay man coming out at the time, seeing Hanks give a voice to our community and portray it so powerfully as to win an Oscar was incredibly uplifting for me.

Finally, E.T. without a doubt is my favorite Oscar-winning film. It was my favorite movie as a child and in some ways still is. It shows the enormity of the human spirit and is full of adventure.

The Morning Show with Preston & Steve on WMMR 93.3 FM, Radio Show DJs

Steve Morrison Is it trendy to say the George C. Scott Oscar refusal from 1970? In 1973, legendary actor Marlon Brando won the Best Actor Oscar for his work in The Godfather, but he turned down the award. Marlon boycotted the ceremony and sent American Indian rights activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. [“Marlon Brando has asked me to tell you...that he must, very regretfully… cannot accept this very generous award,” she told the stunned audience. “The reasons lie in the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie re-runs, and also in the recent events at Wounded Knee.”]

And who could forget the 1974 streaker incident? [A naked man named Robert Opal streaked briefly into view, flashing a peace sign, as NBC cameras cut away to avoid a full frontal assault. In a inspired bit of clever ad-libbing, David Niven — on stage to present an award — deadpanned, “The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping...and showing his shortcomings.”]

In 1972, Charlie Chaplin returned to the Academy Awards after a self-imposed exile of more than 20 years after he was accused of being anti-American. [The veteran actor

and comedian accepted an honorary award for his contribution to the industry and was the recipient of the longest standing ovation of all time, 12 minutes.]

Preston Elliot I loved Will Ferrell, John C Riley and Jack Black singing together.

[A funny song about Oscar night being the saddest day for a comedian, as they don’t get any credit or glory.]

Nick McIlwain Jack Palanche’s one-armed push-up was unforgettable [see Victor Fiorillo’s mention on page 12].

I loved when Trey Parker and Matt Stone from South Park were nominated for Best Song and Robin Williams performed their song. [The song was nominated in ‘99. This created controversy, because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word fuck, which the FCC prohibits.

Comedian Robin Williams performed the song with a chorus who gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment, and did not actually sing it). A very clever and contemporary strategy for the Academy.]

Mike MiSSanelli Philadelphia Sports Jock 97.5 FM The Fanatic My favorite Oscar moments would be, one, the night Billy Crystal came on stage as Hannibal Lecter, shackled and wearing that ominous mask in a year where Silence of the Lambs would wind up winning the

Oscar for best picture (I’m thinking he had inside information), but two, the old video of the ‘74 Academy of the Awards where distinguished English actor David Niven became flummoxed at the sight behind him of a streaker.

Most memorable to me, so far as actual awards are concerned, when in ‘82 Gandhi, a truly epic film won the Oscar for Best Picture, while both English director Richard Attenborough and Ben Kingsley, sort of an unknown at the time who brilliantly portrayed Gandhi in perhaps the best acting job of all time, won Oscars for best director and actor respectively. Honorable mention for me would go to Martin Scorsese winning the Oscar for best director for The Departed. While The Departed was a terrific film, I think Scorsese won the Oscar that year as sort of a give back for the brilliance he had previously delivered in cinema.

Whether you agree with this year’s nominations or not, the night will truly be a memorable one and takes place on February 26th. Billy Crystal will host after Eddie Murphy backed out and producer Brett Ratner resigned after using a gay slur when discussing the rehearsal; people are already talking about the show’s drama everywhere. Whether you’re vying for The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, War Horse or The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, it will be an emotional night of entertainment. Grab popcorn and some good friends; it’s worth a watch just for the drama and suspense of the night alone. The nominations will be announced at the end of January. • ritzfilmmag.com February 2012 13

Glenn Close and Janet McTeer in ALBERT NOBBS

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Interview with Janet McTeer Actress, Albert Nobbs

By Piers Marchant

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Janet McTeer in ALBERT NOBBS

anet McTeer is nothing if not versatile. The veteran British actress has been on a variety of highly regarded BBC-TV series, including “Portrait of a Marriage,” and “The Governor,” won both a Laurence Olivier Theatre award and a Tony for her work on a production of Ibsen’s “A Doll’s House,” and garnered acclaim for her film work with directors such as Terry Gilliam (Tideland) and Kenneth Branagh (As You Like It). She’s also managed to fit seamlessly as the resourceful Mrs. Dashwood in a well-received BBC production of Jane Austen’s “Sense & Sensibility,” practically a rite of passage for any serious British actress. But in Rodrigo Garcia’s new film Albert Nobbs, she tackles a particularly challenging role: Hubert Page, a working-class woman who has to pretend to be a man in order to secure work in 19th century Ireland. Alongside Glenn Close, whose titular main protagonist is in much the same boat, McTeer has to play a woman pretending to be a man to the outside world, who comes home to a loving wife, played by Bronagh Gallagher, where she finally gets to be herself. Here, the veteran actress talks about the sexual politics of 19th century Ireland, hiding her hands, and the particular challenges of playing drag-in-drag.

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I know this is a question every actor gets asked for every part they perform, but given the particular circumstances I have to ask what specifically attracted you to this role?

The idea of playing somebody who was such a far stretch from myself, in a different century, as somebody who lives her life as a man — and Irish — is so very far away from me. That’s the kind of challenge actors love. Also, I thought the story itself was non-judgmental and wonderful and I really went for that. And I knew it was a passion project for Glenn [Close] and I thought that was wonderful. I thought it was kind of a no-brainer, and she herself is so fantastic. So it was a winning combination of all those things.

How does one approach playing a character of the opposite gender?

I sort of did the whole thing from the insideout and the outside-in, inasmuch as her choice of maleness, as it were, was partly to do with natural things -- being tall -- and partly to do with her personal choice. She found great freedom in being a man, and I think she has a great sense of humor. So to have that sense of humor with it all was important in the kind of man she would become. That was a character choice: I thought she was somebody who would take it by the balls, as it were, and dare anybody to find her out. And I thought that would be a lot like the working men she worked with, so she’d be wearing heavy boots like a working man and sort of overly top heavy from her work. I also kind of hid my hands a lot. The combination of all of those things like the heavy boots and the way that I walk would ground me, and we worked with hair and make-up and all those prosthetics, so it was a coming together of the inside and the outside.

Were you cautious at all of playing Hubert differently in public versus when we see Hubert at home with his wife?

I think in essence he wasn’t very different, just a little more intimate. But I made the decision that who Hubert had become to the outside

world was actually somebody who was incredibly comfortable, so in private he’s not that different. Perhaps a little more relaxed.

I felt Hubert was still being Hubert, and that, given the choice, Hubert would still be Hubert, do you know what I mean?

There was definitely a sense of peace with the character.

Again, you always have to think about the function of that character or the function of the role, and I think that Hubert’s function was to be everything Albert was not: At peace with himself and the world. Not judging himself or anyone else, with a very happy relationship. And Hubert was happy to be what Hubert is. That was not hiding at all, and that was something important for Albert to see.

As far as Hubert’s relationship to Albert, does she truly love Albert as a friend or, or does she really just feel pity for her?

I think it’s partly pity and partly empathy, a real understanding of Albert’s position in terms of being an abused woman in a certain society. I think Hubert definitely likes Albert; I don’t think that she loves him, that she’s known him long enough. But I think it’s really nice to have someone that understands you in a way that most people don’t.

And holds your secrets to heart.

Yes. And you know, however well you get on with people, if they know your secrets and they know you privately, it’s a very nice thing.

I have a ticklish question here, having to do with the sexual politics of the characters. In this film, it seems as if the characters are essentially choosing their sexuality. This sort of flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that you’re born not made, sexually speaking.

Not necessarily at the time! I remember years ago, I played Vita in “Portrait of a Marriage.”

She was a real character in a happy marriage with two children. Then she had an affair with a woman. And for the rest of her life she had affairs with women and her husband had affairs with men. And they absolutely adored

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Glenn Close and Mia Wasikowska in ALBERT NOBBS

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each other until the day they died. But when she got together with her first girlfriend, she said to that girlfriend, it never occurred to her that every other woman didn’t feel like that. She thought everyone got married because that’s what you do, and you were lucky if you married a nice man. But it never occurred to her that women weren’t attracted to other women. I think Hubert probably got married at a young age the way everyone did, and never really questioned it. I think questioning your sexuality and knowing what it is, particularly as a woman in the 19th century, it would have been something she never asked much about.

And I think it wasn’t until she probably met Kathleen that she realized she loved another woman. It wasn’t like nowadays, when you’re aware of sexuality from a very young age, any teenager knows the difference between gay and straight. And I’m not convinced that a working class woman in Ireland would know. Queen

Victoria didn’t believe those things existed, and that was in 1912.

Inasmuch as Hubert, as you described earlier, was at peace with herself, I guess she was at peace with that decision as well.

Oh she was deeply happy, living as a man with a wife whom she loves madly. She clearly found herself in a way that Albert hasn’t. Again, nobody’s being defined by their sexuality. We’re not saying that this is a story about two lesbian women -- and truthfully, I’m not sure if anybody had any idea about Albert’s sexuality. If she really fell in love with somebody, it might be a man, whereas Hubert would never fall in love with a man.

There’s an irresistible contrast between someone such as Hubert and, say, Mrs. Dashwood. In Jane Austen’s time, I’m imagining it would be even further beyond the reaches of the imagination that there would be such an alternative for women.

I wouldn’t have thought a lot of people

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would have a label for these kinds of things. I’m sure some girls ended up having a nice time together and not necessarily think it’s a weird thing, because people wouldn’t really talk about that. I mean, in those days, you’d fully accept your husband going home and having several mistresses. The mores of that time changed. And I’m sure in high society, in posh society, there was a lot more awareness of sexual frivolity. But I don’t think it’s so in working class London. You know, life was too hard. In Victorian society, there’s well-documented socialite lesbians and the various men we’ve heard of many times who had their own clubs and friendships, but not many would be working class fellows because they just couldn’t get away with it.

So many Jane Austen heroines feel trapped, and their only way to push forward is through marrying without love, though many of them go on to break that particular code. It was curious to think if they realized what Hubert did was an option, how many of them might have been pursuing it?

I suspect not many, because I think it would take a very brave person to break out of the norm in that way. I think most people probably lived in marriages without love. Probably a huge amount of people had deeply unsatisfying sexual relationships. The point was procreation and children --but it may have been true for some people and not true for others. Wouldn’t it be interesting to really find out?

Finally, can we talk about that extraordinary scene of when Albert and Hubert put on dresses and go to the beach in-drag-indrag? I’m not sure if the scene was meant to be funny exactly, but it certainly seemed comedic.

Yes, I really wanted that to be funny.

It’s already serious enough, so to have fun with that, almost makes it even

more poignant. The idea of going out dressed up as women, I just thought this should be ludicrous: I should look like I haven’t worn a dress in a long time and the whole thing of keeping some of my padding on so I was bigger, and keeping on my boots, and hiking up my dress … women dressed in drag as men who are dressed as women -- that’s so fabulously funny. The first time we came out of the house, I did that shot, and the crew just died with laughter.

Was it physically difficult to represent that concept in that scene? It’s almost like Peter Seller’s famous Frenchman doing a German accent, one on top of another.

Luckily we shot it later in the movie. So that scene was about keeping the same movement and the same walk and the same hands hanging down so it didn’t quite fit, keeping some of the padding on so my shoulders look better. I was moving like a man in a dress. It felt funny and it looked funny.

You referenced the ending of the film before as suggesting it represented a certain kind of hope. Does it also suggest a kind of progress?

I would hope so. I think what’s lovely about that end scene is it’s empowering.

A woman goes up to another woman and says, “we can’t let that happen again.”

And they do something good with it. I found it to be very hopeful. •

Piers Marchant is a film critic and writer based in Philadelphia, where he lives with his wife, daughter and cat. Read more of his reviews, interviews and general cinematic musings on his film blog, Sweet Smell of Success http://piersmarchant.tumblr.com

ritzfilmmag.com February 2012 17

STUDENT REVIEW Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Missi Pyle as Constance in Michel Hazanavicius’s film THE ARTIST. Photo by: The Weinstein Company.

film focus

The Artist Speaks Louder

By Astin J. Sullivan—Temple University Film Senior and Blogger, www.astinjsullivan.weebly.com Disclaimer to the reader: This review contains some spoilers…

M

ichel Hazanavicius’s The Artist beautifully tells the following stories: silent film superstar George Valentin’s (Jean Dujardin) fall from grace, new “talkie” actress Peppy Miller’s (Berenice Bejo) rise to stardom, and the unwavering, fanatical love between the two.

The Artist is set in the late 20s-early 30s, reminiscent of the production styles popular in that time period (like the cast listing at the introduction). Hazanavicius’s choice to capture this “film inside a film” influenced the acting styles and performances. Remember, the audience is relying on orchestra music here, so Dujardin’s and Bejo’s exaggeration of emotion is absolutely necessary (especially since we are graciously not bombarded with inter-titles). The refreshing part is we are not beat-over-the-head with their actions. Not that silent acting was never as commutative as sound acting, in this case, however, their over-acting doesn’t come across as cartoony as older silent films. Dujardin portrays an excellent downward spiral, Bejo makes a convincing lovesick “I-love-you-but-I-gotta-dome” flapper-girl actress with a fearless go-with-the-flow attitude, both familiar characters

The Artist reminds us that there is more than one way to tell a romance story, and anyone with an open mind should watch.

18 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Everything from the art direction, music composition, to the actors’ performances make The Artist a film anyone could appreciate.

in silent dramas, but they are relatable and identifiable today.

Personally, when entering the theater, I was looking forward to the film giving voice to a man that acts mute on screen.

It is bad enough that we’re led to believe silent film artists are mute in real life since we never hear them speak. The Artist however, convinces us that actions indeed do speak louder than words; that they do believe that art is to be enjoyed in silence. Thus, leaving us to believe our speculations about silent film stars living as mutes aren’t too far from the truth.

Valentin’s whole world is one large silent film. Sound only visits the film twice: at the end when he wraps up his first tap-dancing film, and, more cleverly, in a nightmare in which everything – from the barking dog to the drinking glass – makes a sound but his speech.

But there lies the problem, the gift and the curse, the best aspects of storytelling in this film lie in the aesthetics. Like a silent film, the themes in The Artist flip-flop from dark to light. It works for a while, when you’re watching Valentin deteriorate from number one to less-thanzero and Miller climb her way to being America’s sweetheart (one goes from light to dark, the other vice versa). As you approach the end of the film, the storyline becomes too familiar. Valentin finds

the creepy dark stalker-ish secret about Miller, Miller still wants to become the ultimate Hollywood lead couple, someone (I won’t say) tries to kill themselves and then everyone starts tap-dancing like the whole thing didn’t even happen.

Then the questions start. ‘Really? That simple? Another cheesy happy ending?’

Or, more specifically, ‘Do they even belong together?’ ‘Was the suicide even necessary?’ ‘Can you really be happy with someone that stalked you?’ The story almost seems real until that point.

With characterization, one must go all the way. Two emotionally unstable persons can’t just forget all their trouble and continue tap-dancing unless there’s an epilogue we didn’t see. The story leads to darkness, and then abruptly turns light.

But then let’s remind ourselves it’s a dramatic romance fantasy (i.e. it’s not real, it’s art!). In addition, a black and white movie that ends in darkness would have been more cliché, like most early silent films. Or at least it will to film students like Mike and I after sitting through countless tragedies and evaluating what makes the film, “real.”

Mike: “I, myself, cannot STAND silent films. I cannot watch them…this one was good, I enjoyed it. But, it’s hard for me to sympathize with a character if I can’t hear them.”

Continued on page 26

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 abigail@ritzfilmmag.com.

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around the block A spotlight on Philadelphia’s unique neighborhoods

Northern Liberties has been growing in popularity over the last decade, with an ever-changing demographic of students, professionals, artists and business people renting out its redeveloped community. Situated to the North of Old City and to the South of Kensington, there’s no shortage of art galleries, retail therapy, and unique restaurants to discover. You will have no trouble finding entertainment with the 80,000 square foot Piazza, which houses concerts and festivals throughout the year.

Mosaics by Joe Brennan

Northern Liberties

“A Story” of Our Meal at Bar Ferdinand Restaurant Review

Communal table at Bar Ferdinand

At Bar Ferdinand, roses hang over the bar

By Jamie Berman

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If you are exploring ways to tap into some sultry, romanticism this Valentines Day, I strongly recommend gracing the tables of Bar Ferdinand for Spanish Tapas. Mike “The Gunn,” owner of Tommy Gunns BBQ, and I decided to give this restaurant a Valentine’s Day test drive and here’s a little story of our experience.

We decided to let ourselves be drawn to the dimly lit cascading rose bar for our fromantic dinner, as we wanted the food to romance us and not each other. This is a famous focal point of the restaurant, as it houses dozens of multi-colored roses and creates a whimsical drapery atop a warm, bar landscape.

The bartender, Kema Fortunato, proved to be a wealth of never-ending knowledge. My first question to Kema, and an undoubtedly obvious one: Why the hanging roses over the bar? He cleverly grabbed a children’s storybook from behind the scagliola inspired bar top and presented it to us. It was “The Story of Ferdinand.” He said, “obviously, this bar was named after this book…”, The Gunn and I just looked at each other. Then Kema explained, “The Story of Ferdinand is about a bull who would rather smell the roses than fight with bulls….hence the roses AND hence the bulls covering the restaurant.”

Restaurant owner Owen Kamihira came by soon after and shared with us that

crisp apple and gentle hints of honey, which hung around my mouth just long enough to say, “welcome to your evening.” Instead of spending a lot of time deciding what to order, we decided to have Kema and Owen declare some of their favorite dishes and send us on a foodie blind-speed-dating excursion.

Beware of speedy entrances and exits from our incoming food-dates, as these delicacies didn’t last long in front of us.

Shortly after our food orders were taken care of, a perfect compliment to the Priorat Blanco arrived, The Manchego Frito: fried Manchego, frozen apple foam with walnut membrillo purée. This was a delightful combination of textures and temperatures with a satisfying balance of

Why the hanging roses over the bar? He cleverly grabbed a children’s storybook from behind the scagliola inspired bar top and presented it to us.

It was “The Story of Ferdinand.” He said, “obviously, this bar was named after this book…” the design and actual construction of the entire restaurant was his brainchild. His two sons and former brother-in-law, artist Joe Brennan, created the larger-thanlife mosaics in the dining rooms. His late father, renowned painter Ben Kamihira, is the genius behind the painted wall art.

I could feel this restaurant’s pulse and I was enchanted with Owen’s storytelling.

Then I thought, I’m on sensory overload and I haven’t even had my first glass of wine. Enter stage left: Kema, with suggestions for our first libation. I requested a white wine to start.

He suggested Priorat Blanco, which is a white harvested in Northern Spain’s Priorat region. This particular varietal blend was: 50% Macabeu, 30% Garnatxa Blanca, 15% Pedro Ximenes, 5% Muscat. After my first sip, I discerned

nutty and sweet. And it didn’t stop there, dancing its way onto the place setting next, Datiles con Tocino: a date, bacon, honey almond and cream cheese empanada. We each took a bite of this little puffed pastry and immediately started coddling it. Yes, that’s strange and people were looking, but I’m telling you, it was an involuntary reaction to their comfy, goodness. Kema gave us a splash of Albariño Pazo Serantellos to try with this dish, it had slight hints of orange, mixed with honeysuckle, and it paired very well with the bacon/date flavors of the cream cheese empanada.

Arriving on Albarino’s heels was the Pollo En Sidra: a cider-braised chicken thigh with white lima beans and guindilla peppers. This chicken was tender, flavorful, and completely fought over until it

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around the block I could feel this restaurant’s pulse and I was enchanted with Owen’s storytelling. Then I thought, I’m on sensory overload and I haven’t even had my first glass of wine. was gone, or maybe just until the next course came out to distract us, which it did. Enter: Seasonal Vegetables, a la pancha Romesco, these veggies were grilled to perfection and satisfying enough to be served on their own.

After the vegetables were devoured, The Gunn and I took a deep breath and decided to switch to a red wine; we were served the Rioja Crianza from the Labastida town of Spain, a Tempranillo varietal. This red was oaky, earthy and had notes of cherry making an impression in our slightly over used palette. It set the perfect stage for the Carne a la Parilla, which was about to join us. This is Bar Ferdinand’s grilled skirt steak, it features a lightly fried organic egg and a heavy dose of truffle! I could probably end the story right there, because you are most likely making a reservation online or hitting the grocery store to fill your now hungry bellies, but alas I will finish this date off properly, with dessert.

At this point, believe it or not, gluttony had not yet been exhausted, but our blind dates were officially over, so we had to actually make decisions on our own regarding dessert.

We chose the Churros con Chocolate and the Honey Lavender Ice Cream. The Lavender ice cream was fragrant and most refreshing, while

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the Churros con Chocolate, which were fried Andalusian doughnuts, continued to feed the overindulgent beast we’d let out of the cage tonight. Apart from an after dinner Moscato and specialty Pernod cocktail Kema whipped up, our dinner was complete. Our desire to do it all over again was not. You just may see The Gunn and I there again this Valentine’s Day for their Pre Fixe extravaganza. If we can get a reservation that is…that’s The End of this fromantic tapas tale, for now. • Advertising Sales Professional, Burger Blogger and Workoutaholic: Jamie Berman...

When she’s not overloading her social calendar, she’s abusing Jane Austen films and making a difference in her community.

Inventor, Restauranteur and Yogi: Michael Usowski... When he’s not creating obstacle courses and catering events, he’s playing fetch with his White German Shepherd, Luna, in the allies of Center City Philadelphia.

around the block

The shops, galleries and dining in NORTHERN LIBERTIES DINING: Standard Tap 2nd & Poplar 215-238-0630 Daily 4PM – 2AM, Kitchen: 4PM – 1AM, Brunch Sat & Sun 11AM – 3PM Philly’s first “gastropub.” Featuring seasonal creations and local produce from Greensgrow. “The Tap” offers only regional produced craft beers, up to 20 draft selections daily. The roofdeck beckons summer…

Modo Mio 161 W Girard (215) 203-8707 Tiny BYO by the same owners of Paesano’s. Decadent and affordable old style and traditional Italian cuisine. Think small and intimate. A prix fixe menu is offered for $35 on Sundays. Cash only – reservations recommended.

North 3rd 801 N 3rd 215-413-3666 Daily: 4PM – 2AM Sat & Sun Brunch: 10AM – 3:30PM Delicious comfort food and more await at

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this cozy neighborhood bar. On Tuesdays after 10PM local filmmakers screen their short films. Eclectic, fun crowd – chatty bartenders.

Koo Zee Doo 614 N 2nd 215-923-8080 M, W, R 5:30 – 10, F, Sat 5:30 – 11, Sun 4-9 A Portuguese BYO run by the husband and wife team of David Gilberg and Carla Goncalves. Portions are mostly family style and excellently executed. The Bife a Portuguesa is amazing, enough for two and a steal at $34!

The Random Tea Room 713 North 4th 267-639-2442 T-Sun 10 – 10 This adorable tea shop has the best chai in the city and a homey “sit and stay awhile” feel. Local artists are featured regularly and the shop contains funky antiques to explore and often jewelry and other small items are for sale. Owner, Rebecca is happy to offer tea suggestions for newbies. Interestingly enough, there’s a massage studio in the back as well with homemade scented oils to enjoy!

Higher Grounds 631 North 3rd 215-922-3745 M – R: 7-9, F 7-7, Sat 8-9, Sun 9-8 HG offers free wireless Internet, 16 loose-leaf teas, late hours, local DJs and musicians and large space for meetings or parties. The coffee comes from Alabama and is shade grown by organically certified farmers.

Honey’s Sit ‘n Eat 800 North 4th 215-925-1150 M-R 7 – 8, F-Sat 7 – 9, Sun 7 – 5 Southern comfort food. Honey’s uses local produce when possible and free range chickens for their eggs. They offer an amazing brunch. Don’t be turned off by the wait for on weekends, the food is great. Better yet, go early and beat the crowds. Don’t forget your dough – this place is cash only.

Darling’s Diner 1033 North 2nd 267-239-5775 Open 24 hours Darling’s touts itself as being the original creator of the Philly Cheesecake and with flavors like Grand Marnier and Banana Foster- we wouldn’t question them! The NoLibs location is pristinely clean and before you can say, “I’ll take another cup of coffee” your hot breakfast is ready. In addition to this NoLibs diner, a second Darling’s Café is located near the Franklin Institute at 2100 Spring Garden.

Abbaye 637 North 3rd St 215-627-6711 Daily 11:30 – 2, Kitchen until 1AM, Sat & Sun Brunch 10-3, Happy Hour Mon- Fri 4-6 Neighborhood bar & restaurant featuring eclectic, seasonally focused, gastropub fare. As for the brews, American and Belgian selections are regularly offered.

Silk City Daily 4 – 2, Brunch Sat & Sun 10 – 4, Happy Hour 5 – 7 215-592-8838 Located in an old diner car from 1952, Silk City is truly a unique Philly restaurant, beer garden, dance club and hangout.

Inside, the diner car it has a vintage feel and out back, in the beer garden it’s as if Tim Burton created a fantasy urbantiki hangout. Owner Mark Bee (who also

owns the bar North 3rd in the same neighborhood) bought the venue and reconceptualized/redesigned the space and opened in 2007. Don’t let the diner motif fool you, the menu carries more weight than a greasy spoon and features honey roasted beet salad and an excellent tuna burger.

SHOPPING/ART: Arcadia 215-667-8099 M, T 12-6:30, W 12-7, R 11- 8, F 12 – 7, Sat 11-7, Sun 12-5 An eco-friendly boutique offering women’s clothing, jewelry and home goods. One of the best stores in the city for a unique gift for the special woman in your life! Arcadia has a second outpost in Rittenhouse at 265 S 20th St. Arcadia boasts a great selection of affordable jewelry and sustainable clothing and accessories.

Art Star 623 N 2nd St 215.238.1557 Gallery & Boutique. Full of handmade items from local and national artists. The shop also features Philadelphia’s largest outdoor craft fair, the Art Star Craft Bazaar, which won Philadelphia Magazine’s Best of Philly Award for Best Shopping Event in 2010.

Millesime 1001-13 N. 2nd 267-455-0374 T-Sat 11-7, Sun 11-5, Mon by Appointment A lifestyle store and showroom featuring collections for the modern home and person. The ever-evolving mix of merchandise includes contemporary furniture, lighting, clothing and fashion accessories from American and international designers. Vintage and antique items are offered as well. You never know what you’ll find. Millesime is the perfect shop to find something ultra chic for the person that has an eye for design.

Masthead Print Studio 340 Brown 215-359-8118 Masthead Print Studio specializes in establishing an environment for local printmakers to create and show their work.

Each show is aimed at giving the artists and attendants a look into the creative process. •

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film focus Continued from page 19

Bringing me to my next point – such a masterful film using old and new conventions – who is the audience? Or rather, what is the fate? Surely The Artist will receive all the numerous awards the film deserves, and I’m sure next semester, my film professors at Temple University will have a field day showing this in class.

My fear for this film, is that after the awards season ends and the art-house theaters are done screening it, that we will never hear of The Artist again.

While I do believe there are persons in the mass majority that will enjoy this film, half of them will immediately turn to another program once they figure out that their speakers do, in fact, work on other channels.

Personally, I do not want this for The Artist. Everything from the art direction, music composition, to the actors’ performances make The Artist a film anyone could appreciate. There is love, there is comedy, there is a chance you will like this film better than most “talkie” romantic comedies from the last couple of years. Yes, it is “different,” very different. We need different. Besides, what better way to tell the story of a silent film star, than silently?’ The Artist reminds us that there is more than one way to tell a romance story, and anyone with an open mind should watch. •

Out Takes In the December/January issue of RFM we incorrectly listed the title of Andrea Nevin’s documentary on Punk rock dads. The correct title is The Other F Word. Learn more at http://www.theotherfwordmovie.com/ Also, In the Melancholia review, the score was mistakenly referred to as an original but is in fact Wagner’s opera “Tristan and Isolde.”

26 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Where Everybody Knows Your Name A Profile of Some of Philly’s Great Neighborhoods

By Abigail Sutton Philadelphia has a certain charm and familiarity you can’t find in other cities.

Where else can you arrive by historic trolley car, view portions of Albert Einstein’s brain, watch a movie along the river, take a horse and buggy ride through colonial times and get a piping hot cheesesteak at 2AM?

G

rowing up, I was always felt lucky and honored that my parents would take me to Philly to see shows, visit museums, and my favorite pastime, eat out at the newly-reviewed greasy spoon or white table clothed BYO from Inquirer critic Craig LaBan. The excitement and action surrounding this city is magnetic and addictive to those with a sense of adventure. After living in the city for a while one starts to appreciate the various people and unique neighborhoods that encompass this living and breathing city. Like chapters in a novel, each street corner has a story and history all its own and when look at collectively form a slice of metropolitan magnificence.

Fishtown A working class neighborhood with Irish Catholic roots, Fishtown’s history like most of Philadelphia, is rich. Dating back to the Lenni Lenape Indian tribe, it was also a popular area, later on, with Swedish farming families, British gentry, British shipbuilders and German fishermen and fish mongers, hence the name. My own great-grandmother’s family owned Bush Brothers; a glass blowing company that I’ve been told was located in Fishtown.

Kraftwork, Johnny Brenda’s and Memphis Taproom have some of the best food in town for the budget conscious and a favorite local diner, New Acropolis serves the cheapest breakfast in town with a smile.

As for attractions and events, Penn Treaty Park is a clean and unique city park with great views of the Ben Franklin Bridge, never crowded like it’s inner-city brethren, Penn Treaty is a riverside oasis located right off of Front Street. The Kensington Sculpture Derby parades through town nearby, literally. An exciting parade/ festival and design competition showcasing Philly’s most creative engineers, builders and designers. The competition features human powered transit and art in Kensington…think science fair meets the mummers.

It’s close to the city but still affordable to purchase a small single family home, as far as city housing prices are concerned.

For its proximity to center city and affordability; it’s popular with young families, young professionals, students and artists.

A few remaining Christmas decorations near 21st and South

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New residential development on Bainbridge near 15th with Center City skyline in the background. Some of the best views of Center City are seen from Graduate Hospital.

Northern Liberties NoLibs unique history is embedded in manufacturing, such as mills, breweries and leather tanneries. The area is now very popular with young professionals, artists and students. The close proximity to Center City and influx of revitalization projects in the area has increased property values exponentially.

Northern Liberties has something to offer everyone from the art-lover, foodie, shopaholic, music fan, new parent, pet owner or hippie.

The ever-popular landmark new development Piazza at Schmidt’s always has something exciting going on and includes many great restaurants like Bar Ferdinand and Sonata, the dining and shopping on 2nd and 3rd Streets is also diverse and includes local favorites like Dmitri’s, Arcadia, The Foodery, North Bowl, and Philly’s first gastropub, Standard Tap. Liberty Lands Park, a 2-acre community park is owned and managed by the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association (NLNA) without operating or maintenance support from the city. The park features many amenities like a community garden, local artwork, an event stage and playground. For years, NoLibs lacked green community space and in 1995 the previous developer of the site donated the space to the NLNA proving to Philly’s cynical contingent that developers are people too.

Yards Brewing Company, new Superfresh supermarket on Girard at 2nd Street and easy

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accessibility to 95 and public transportation to center city and beyond make this area convenient for many. Other fun spots like the Electric Factory and Silk City exist within this hood’s borders as well.

Southwest Center City / Graduate Hospital Whatever you manage to call it, in recent years this area has undergone growth and change. Hundreds of single-family homes and new development multi-units (condos) have been built or refurbished. Even in this economy, construction projects are ever taking place. Can you blame them? When you can walk to Rittenhouse Square in 15 minutes from most locations in this area, who wouldn’t want to live there?

Graduate Hospital is full of beautiful churches and large 3-story row homes.

Now that the South Street Bridge is back in action, connecting to West Philadelphia and I-76 is a breeze. Sidecar is a favorite local hangout with craft beer and a solid brunch that recently expanded to the second floor to serve more local patrons. Along Grays Ferry Avenue is the former Naval Asylum designed by famed architect William Strickland, which has been converted to a large condominium community. The area hosts Philly’s Odunde Festival, a street market and party celebrating African American interests and is always lively and well-attended with a

huge variety of music and food.

Many community service groups proudly call Graduate Hospital home, and one in particular, Mighty Writers is truly unique and fills an interesting niche. Their mission is to help kids, ages 7 to 17 think and write with clarity, to help grow their self-esteem and propel them to live successful lives. They offer a well-attended afterschool program, led mostly by volunteers, in addition to short-term writing workshops and more advanced SAT Prep courses and college essay writing classes for high schoolers.

vibrant small businesses, Passyunk Square is bursting with new restaurants and retail and has a lively community group and food co-op currently in the works, and then there’s all of the action taking place in University City from new developments, university expansion (cheers to Drexel University) to new retail and dining. Phew! Why are you still sitting? Get out there and explore. •

Last but certainly not least Singer Marian Anderson (1897-1993) grew up near 19th & Fitzwater and her residence is now a museum at 762 S Martin.

Gentrification is a hot button issue in many areas of Philadelphia, including Graduate Hospital. For longtime residents, having newbies move to an area, changing the landscape, feel and familiarity of their streets can be challenging to handle, to say the least.

Like life, cities are ever changing. Nothing lasts forever. I’m not saying that all change is positive, but it’s guaranteed. When moving to a new area it’s important to respect the neighborhoods mores and traditions (In South Philly for example, saving parking spots with a traffic cone for example, and NOT taking your neighbors spot by moving the barricade to the sidewalk.) For longtime residents, being open to change and the new insights and perspectives new residents can bring can be refreshing and energizing. The Arden Theatre Company is now featuring a comedic play on this very topic, Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which runs through March 25. It tells the story of a house and its residents that have come and gone over five decades. For an interesting take on gentrification, change and neighborhood evolution, I suggest you check it out and then discuss it with your neighbors.

If only this little ‘zine would allow more space, I’d discuss Pennsport’s loyal residents and friendly streets, Newbold’s affordability and convenient location which offers many

2301 Fairmount Avenue • Philadelphia 215.978.4545 londongrill.com follow us on twitter @londongrill

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arts calendar Andrew’s Video Vault at The Rotunda 2012 FREE Screenings Continuous From 8PM on the Second Thursday of Every Month!

4014 Walnut St., West Philadelphia Samson and Delilah (1949 / 131 minutes) Sodom and Gomorrah: The Last Seven Days (1975 / 99 minutes) Feb. 9 Girlfriends (1978 / 86 minutes) Windows (1980 / 96 minutes) Mar. 8

Painted Bride Art Center 230 Vine St 215-925-9914 Lindsay Browning’s Lincoln Luck Feb. 10-11 8PM Philadelphia dance-choreographer Sheetal Gandhi’s “Bahu Biwi” Feb. 24-25 8PM North Indian Dance Theater from a female perspective Salsa Caliente!

Mar. 2 10PM, Dance lessons at 9PM

Tycho with a full band.

Feb. 3 Sponsored by SPEC Jazz & Grooves.

‘Five Minute Follies’ Presents: The Marriage Equality Cabaret: A Benefit for Freedom to Marry Feb. 4 Marriage Equality Cabaret is now officially a benefit for Freedom To Marry. All door proceeds will go directly to Freedom to Marry to support the struggle for Marriage Equality.

Upper Darby Performing Arts Center 601 Lansdowne Ave., Drexel Hill 610-622-1189 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (UD High School Musical) Feb. 24, Feb. 25 Mar. 2, and Mar. 3, all shows at 7:30pm Our High School presents Broadway’s Most Fun Musical!

Nate, the Great Mar. 9, 7:30pm A brand new Theaterworks USA musical!

Ain Gordon’s “In this Place...”

Mar. 8-10 8PM Award-winning playwright, director and actor

Forever Irish Starring Andy Cooney and the Irish Sopranos Mar 16, 2012 7:30pm Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!

Comedy Sportz Playground at the Adrienne

Keswick Theater

2030 Sansom St 215-564-2431 ComedySportz is Philadelphia’s longestrunning comedy show! Every Saturday night two teams of improvisers vie for points in a hilarious competition similar to TV’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” A referee governs the action and calls the fouls keeping the match fast, smart and funny. Appropriate for all ages.

For times and tix: comedysportzphilly.com.

The Rotunda 4014 Walnut St http://www.therotunda.org/contact From Image to Action: A 3-Part Theatre of the Oppressed Workshop Tuesdays: Jan. 24, Jan. 31 & Feb. 7 • 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Suggested Tuition: $25–$45—no one turned away!

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291 North Keswick Ave., Glenside 215-572-7650 Kathleen Madigan Gone Madigan Jan. 28 8PM The Yardbirds & Vanilla Fudge Feb. 4 8PM Javier Colon – Winner of NBC’s The Voice Feb. 10 8PM An Evening w/ Bruce Hornsby Feb. 11 8PM Jeffrey Osborne, Jessy J Feb. 12 7:30PM George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic Feb. 18 8PM

Lantern Theater Company 923 Ludlow St. 215-829-0395 The Great Divorce Feb 7-12 Romeo & Juliet Mar. 1-Apr. 1 Scholars: In Conversation – Sex, Swords & Surprises in Shakespeare’s Verona Mar. 12, 19, and 26 The Island May 17 - June 10 New Jerusalem, The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza at Talmud Torah Congregation: Amsterdam, July 27, 1656 September 4 - 23

First Person Arts The second Monday at World Café Live, 3025 Market St. The fourth Tuesday of each month at L’Etage, 6th & Bainbridge.

Doors at 7:30PM, slam begins at 8:30PM

Monthly Story Slams Every month’s event has a theme and everyone in the audience is invited to share a personal story from their lives that relates to the theme. If you have a story you want to share, leave us your name at the door. Every potential storyteller’s name goes into a bucket.

Ten names are drawn from the bucket, and each contestant is given five minutes on the mic to tell a story and win the crowd.

ICA: Institute of Contemporary Art 118 S 36th 215-898-7108 Foreword to Guns for Banta and Domestic Tourism II “Whenever Wednesday,” Feb. 15, 7pm @ International House (3701 Chestnut St.) Free screening in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art, International House and Penn Cinema Studies. !Women Art Revolution “Whenever Wednesday,” March 7, 7pm @ International House (3702 Chestnut Street) $9 general admission; $7 Students/Seniors (Free for Institute of Contemporary Art and International House members) Screening in collaboration with the Institute of Contemporary Art and International House. •

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Mia Wasikowska and Glenn Close in ALBERT NOBBS

now showing

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

ALBERT NOBBS

Director Rodrigo Garcia

Cast Glenn Close, Mia Wasikowska, Aaron Johnson, Janet McTeer, Pauline Collins, Brenda Fricker, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Brendan Gleeson Run time | 113 Minutes Roadside Attractions

32 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Glenn Close stars in this emotional and thoughtprovoking tale of a woman forced to live as a man, Albert Nobbs, in order to work and survive in 19th century Ireland. After thirty years of keeping up the charade, a new love threatens to destroy everything she’s worked so hard to build, and she finds herself trapped in a prison of her own making. Mia Wasikowska (Helen), Aaron Johnson (Joe) and Brendan Gleeson (Dr. Holloran) join a prestigious, international cast that includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Janet McTeer, Brenda Fricker and Pauline Collins.

Rodrigo Garcia directs from a script that Glenn Close, along with Man Booker prize-winning novelist John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, adapted from a short story by Irish author George Moore.

Photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

THE IRON LADY

Director Phyllida Lloyd

Cast Meryl Streep, Jim Broadbent, Harry Lloyd

THE IRON LADY is a surprising and intimate portrait of Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep), the first and only female Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. One of the 20th century’s most famous and influential women, Thatcher came from nowhere to smash through barriers of gender and class to be heard in a male dominated world.

Run time | 105 minutes The Weinstein Company

THE CONQUEST

Director Xavier Durringer

Cast Denis Podalydès, Florence Pernel, Bernard Le Coq, Hippolyte Girardot, Michèle Moretti, Samuel Labarthe Run time | 105 Minutes Music Box Fully Subtitled

May 6, 2007: France’s run-up to the presidential elections. As the French people are getting ready to go to the polls to elect their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy has shut himself away in his home. Even though he knows he has won the battle, he is gloomy and looks despondent in his dressing gown. All day long, he has been trying to get in touch with Cécilia - to no avail.

The most hotly anticipated film at the Cannes Film Festival was The Conquest, the first French film ever made about the nation’s President while in power. The last five years unfurl before our eyes, recounting Sarkozy’s unstoppable ascent, riddled with backstage underhand trickery, fits of anger and confrontations.

THE CONQUEST is the story of a man gaining power and losing his wife.

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Aasha Davis (left) stars as “Bina” and Adepero Oduye (right) stars as “Alike” in Focus Features release, PARIAH, directed by Dee Rees

now showing

PARIAH

Director Dee Rees Cast Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, and Kim Wayans

A world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the contemporary drama PARIAH is the feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees’ award-winning 2007 short film PARIAH. Spike Lee is among the feature’s executive producers. At Sundance, cinematographer Bradford Young was honored with the U.S. Dramatic Competition Excellence in Cinematography Award.

Adepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-yearold African American woman who lives with her Run time | 86 Minutes parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Focus Features Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school.

Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes-boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion.

Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with.

Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.

34 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet in CARNAGE. Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

CARNAGE

CARNAGE is a razor sharp, biting comedy centered on parental differences. After two boys duke it out on

a playground, the parents of the “victim” invite the Director parents of the “bully” over to work out their issues.

Roman Polanski

A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into Cast verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, true colors. None of them will escape the carnage.

Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly, Academy Award®-winning director Roman Polanski Elvis Polanski, Eliot Berger directs Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz in Carnage, the screen adaptaRun time | 80 Minutes tion of the smash comedy play “God of Carnage” by Sony Pictures Classics Yasmina Reza. Shot in real time as the four adults meet to settle the dispute, Carnage pits power couple Nancy and Alan Cowan against the liberal writer and campaigner Penelope Longstreet and her wholesaler husband, Michael. Unpredictable and shocking, the film hilariously exposes the hypocrisy lurking behind their polite façade.

Hailed by the critics and public alike, the play enjoyed sell-out runs in Paris, London and on Broadway after its premiere in 2006 and won a slew of awards at both the Olivier Awards and the Tony® Awards, including Best Play and Best Direction of a Play. As soon as he saw the play, Roman Polanski knew it would make an exciting film. “The tone of the play was hilarious and the pace fast-moving. What particularly attracted me was the real-time action. I’d never made a film without the slightest ellipse and I don’t remember ever seeing one either.”

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William Colby, President Gerald Ford And his cabinet with Colby Family in Oval Office receiving the National Secuirty Medal; 1976

now showing

THE MAN NOBODY KNEW

A son’s riveting look at a father whose life seemed straight out of a spy thriller, The Man Nobody Knew uncovers the secret world of legendary CIA spymaster William Colby,

who rose through the ranks of “The Company” Director and soon was involved in covert operations in Carl Colby Vietnam and other hot spots around the globe.

But after decades of obediently taking on the Cast White House’s toughest and dirtiest assignments, Interviewees include Dale Andrade, and rising to become Director of CIA, Colby Military Strategist, Historian; defied the President. Braving intense controversy, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, former he opened up to Congress some of the agency’s National Security Advisor to darkest, most tightly held secrets and extra-legal President Jimmy Carter; Jonathan operations. Now, his son Carl asks a series of Clarke, Senior Officer, British powerful and relevant questions about the father Intelligence, among others who was a ghost-like presence in the family home—and the intelligence officer who became a Run time | 104 Minutes major force in American history, paving the way FRF for today’s provocative questions about security and secrecy vs. liberty and morality. The film forges a fascinating mix of rare archival footage, never-before-seen photos, and interviews with former National Security Advisers Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former Secretary of Defense and CIA Director James Schlesinger, as well Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Bob Woodward, Seymour Hersh and Tim Weiner.

36 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

ADDICTION INCORPORATED

In 1994, scientist Victor DeNoble became the first whistleblower to reveal the tobacco industry’s efforts to manufacture “a maximally addictive” product. Tasked in the 1980s by a major tobacco company to invent a safer

form of nicotine—one that would decrease the danger of Director heart failure while remaining just as addictive (so smokCharles Evans Jr. ers could live, and smoke, longer)—DeNoble succeeded.

But, in doing so, he inadvertently created something the Cast tobacco companies had been avoiding for years—indisVictor DeNoble, Paul C. putable scientific evidence that nicotine was addictive.

Mele, Walt Bogdanich, Their reaction was swift: his position was terminated, Joseph Bruno, Matthew his lab was closed, and both his research and the “safer L. Myers, William Schultz, cigarette” were buried in the vaults and kept from the and Henry Waxman, among public...until he broke his confidentiality agreement and others became the ultimate whistleblower. If you think you know everything there is to know about cigarettes and Run time | 100 Minutes nicotine, Addiction Incorporated will startle you with its VFI vital, previously undisclosed information. Straight from the mouths of the key players behind the scenes (including Steven C. Parrish, the former Senior VP and General Counsel for External Affairs at Philip Morris, and Jeffrey Wigand, the subject of the Academy Award-nominated film The Insider), this film reveals exactly how the tobacco industry achieved behemoth power through scientific secrecy...and what their next move may be.

Director Valerie Donzelli

Cast Valerie Donzelli, Jeremie Elkaim, Cesar Desseix, Gabriel Elkaim, Brigitte Sy, Elina Lowensohn, Michele Moretti, Philippe Laudenbach, Bastien Bouillon, Beatrice de Stael, Anne Le Ny, Frederic Pierrot, Elisabeth Dion Run time | 100 Minutes Fully Subtitled

Jérémie Elkaïm and Valérie Donzelli

DECLARATION OF WAR

This film is inspired by a true story – the director’s own. It’s the story of young love, of Juliette and Romeo, dragged harshly from their carefree happiness and forced to confront life’s unexpected, brutal chaos.

The illness of their son, Adam, will force them to face a terrible trial, to become adults. But as traumatic as it is, their suffering will allow them to blossom. It will reveal them to themselves - their strength, their courage. “Life is huge and full of danger,” and it is only in battle that our own true heroism can be revealed.

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Rudina (Sindi Lacej) at the Shkodra city market in Josh Marston’s FORGIVNESS OF BLOOD. Photo by Anila Jaho.

A Sundance Selects release.

now showing

THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD

Director Joshua Marston

Cast Tristan Halijaj, Refet Abazi, Zana Hasaj, Erjon Mani, Luan Jaha Run time | 109 minutes IFF Fully Subtitled

Winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival, the powerful and richly textured second feature from Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) focuses on an Albanian family caught up in a blood feud. Nik (Tristan Halilaj) is a carefree teenager in a small town with a crush on the school beauty and ambitions to start his own internet café. His world is suddenly up-ended when his father and uncle become entangled in a land dispute that leaves a fellow villager murdered. According to a centuries-old code of law, this entitles the dead man’s family to take the life of a male from Nik’s family as retribution. His uncle in jail and his father in hiding, Nik is the prime target and confined to the home while his younger sister Rudina (Sindi Laçej) is forced to leave school and take over their father’s business. Working with non-professional Albanian actors and a local co-writer, Marston boldly contrasts antiquated traditions with the lives of the young people whose future is put at risk by them.

38 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker in TIM & ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE, a Magnet Release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

TIM AND ERIC’S BILLION DOLLAR MOVIE

Director Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim

Cast Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim

An all new feature film from the twisted minds of cult comedy heroes Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim (“Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job”). Tim and Eric are given a billion dollars to make a movie, but squander every dime… and the sinister Schlaaang Corporation is pissed. Their lives at stake, the guys skip town in search of a way to pay the money back.

When they happen upon a chance to rehabilitate a bankrupt mall full of vagrants, bizarre stores and a man-eating wolf that stalks the food court, they see dollar signs—a billion of them. Featuring cameos from Awesome Show regulars and some of the biggest names in comedy today!

MPC

CRAZY HORSE

Director Frederick Wiseman

Run time | 134 Minutes Zipporah

Inside Paris’s Crazy Horse cabaret – the most famous nude dance show in the world. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman explores one of the most mythic and colorful places dedicated to women, the Crazy Horse – a legendary Parisian cabaret club, founded in 1951 by Alain Bernardin. Over the years it has become the Parisian nightlife ‘must’ for visitors, ranking alongside the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Wiseman’s impeccable eye finds the Crazy Horse a uniquely French showcase, with an emphasis on elegance, perfectionism and a grueling schedule (2 shows a night and 3 on Saturdays, 7 days a week). The film shows us the rehearsals for and the unveiling of the brand new show – Désir – created by the renowned French choreographer Phillippe Decoufle.

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America-Italy Society of Philadelphia

now showing

IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY SUMMER 2012 ITALIAN CLASSES Native teachers; conversation and literature courses 10 WEEK PROGRAM April 2 through June 1, 2012 PARLIAMO ITALIANO April 14 to April 22, 2012 in Siena, Tuscany SUPPORT GROUP AP for High School Students CHILDREN CLASSES OFFICIAL CERTIFICATE IN ITALIAN CILS Also: Free Classical Music Concerts on March 21 and May 2, free Italian Movies, Lectures, and trips to Italy!

1420 Walnut Street, Suite 310 215-735-3250 • info@aisphila.org www.aisphila.org

40 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com

Director Angelina Jolie

Cast Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija, Vanessa Glodjo, Nikola Djuricko, Branko Djuric, Fedja Stukan, Alma Terzic, Jelena Jovanova, Ermin Bravo, Boris Ler, Goran Jevtic, Ermin Sijamija, Milos Timotijevic, Jasna Ornela Beri, Aleksandar Djurica, Dzana Pinjo Run time | 128 Minutes Film District

Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War that tore the Balkan region apart in the 1990s, IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY tells the story of Danijel (Goran Kostic) and Ajla (Zana Marjanovic), two Bosnians from different sides of a brutal ethnic conflict. Danijel, a Bosnian Serb police officer, and Ajla, a Bosnian Muslim artist, are together before the war, but their relationship is changed as violence engulfs the country.

Months later, Danijel is serving under his father, General Nebojsa Vukojevich (Rade Serbedzija), as an officer in the Bosnian Serb Army. He and Ajla come face to face again when she is taken from the apartment she shares with her sister, Lejla (Vanessa Glodjo), and Lejla’s infant child by troops under Danijel’s command.

As the conflict takes hold of their lives, their relationship changes, their motives and connections to one another become ambiguous and their allegiances grow uncertain. Angelina Jolie’s writing and directorial debut IN THE LAND OF BLOOD AND HONEY portrays the incredible emotional, moral and physical toll that the war takes on individuals. •

Solution to last issue’s Crossword Puzzle

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In Memoriam: Looking Back at 2011

It’s all about the people … this month’s puzzle is centered on the people in the arts who passed on in 2011 with a few honorable mentions to some who passed in 2010. They brought us to the edges of our seat, to the brink of tears, to near hysteria and everywhere in between.

By Stuart Papavassiliou

Across 3. In ’78 she was ‘an unmarried woman.’ In ’78, she returned as a recently widowed opera singer dealing with her son’s heroin addiction.

5. This British film director gave us The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and The Poseidon Adventure.

Looking for his last name here.

8. First name, please. He was in The Misfits along with Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter and Eli Wallach.

12. Subject of the documentary _______: Portrait of a Serial Composer. Some may not care for serial composition, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Fill in the blanks.

13. Nothing to do with films, we lost this jazz pianist on Valentine’s Day 2011. He collaborated often with “The Velvet Fog,” who did make movies including Pardon My Rhythm … but that’s another story.

15. In 1970, this Erich reminded us that “Love means never having to say you’re sorry…”

17. This sultry-voiced beauty sang the title song in Stormy Weather.

18. He produced scores of films in his long career including War and Peace in ’56 and Hannibal Rising in 2007. What’s this producer’s first name?

19. Oh for Pete’s sake…this one was a director and gave us Breaking Away, Eyewitness and The Suspect.

20. This Sidney wasn’t in movies, but chances are we’ve heard many a film through his audio equipment.

21. Last name of British film composer, arranger and conductor known for many a Bond …

James Bond movie.

23. This comedian made it ‘perfectly clear’ he could impersonate politicians.

24. He was Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone and Jim Coates in Old Yeller.

26. Like number 29 across, this actor also appeared in Tom Jones as Sophie Western. What’s this actor’s first name?

29. This actor comes from a distinguished British acting lineage. She was profoundly moving as the final interview in Kinsey, kicky in Georgy Girl and a bit silly as Baby Jane Hudson all grown up in the TV remake of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

30. In Greek mythology, she’s one of the original Titans. In our times, this musical titan gave us Poetry Man. 32. He played Sam Marlowe in The Trouble With Harry, which also introduced us to Shirley MacLaine. In spite of an inspired Bernard Herrmann score, he opens the show with a rendition of “Flaggin’ the Train to Tuscaloosa…” Years later and on TV, it was Joan Collins, not Harry, who gave him trouble…

33. This actor was Adam Cartwright on Bonanza.

34. This very French actress was Susan Sarandon’s rival for John Beck’s affections in The Other Side of Midnight. She’s so French that France is a part of her name. What’s her last name?

35. This lady (looking for her first name) was a TV writer (Pugh Davis) and the funny lady behind the Queen of Comedy.

DOWN 1. Don’t call this guy Pete … he’ll book you. He was also the Grandfather in The Princess Bride.

2. This marvelous Motown singer was the founder and lead singer of the The Marvelettes.

Whoopi Goldberg belts out her Please Mr. Postman in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. First name please.

4. From 1957 to 1963, she was the perfect mom. In 1980, it was by contrast a very funny moment when she offered her translating skills in Airplane.

6. This rock n’ roll lyricist’s hit has been recorded over 400 times. It could be said this hit served as the inspiration for a 1986 film hit directed by Rob Reiner. What’s the lyricist’s last name?

7. The full albeit abbreviated name of a Hollywood Great … she was a Giant who earned her Place in the Sun. 9. This actor’s film debut role was Peter Holstrom in film version of The Farmer’s Daughter.

(Think Loretta Young, not Inger Stevens.) But mostly, we remember this actor from a TV series set in number 28 down’s home town.

10. This is a film that proves one thing: If you give some people enough Rope, they can be very bad hosts indeed. Full name of the co-murdering actor we lost in 2011.

11. Last name of the director of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, A Shot in the Dark and The Pink Panther.

He was born William Blake Crump in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

14. This actor was the male lead in a 1950’s TV sit com. If you put combine 25 down and 2 down, you get the name of the TV show. What was this actor’s first name? OK, if you need help … he was on M*A*S*H* too.

16. This French Director gave us films in all four seasons, Love in the Afternoon and My Night at Maud’s.

22. Another full name please: This one of the amiable TV dad in Happy Days.

25. This bloke known for his prominent cheekbones portrayed Father Laurence in the 1996 version of Romeo + Juliet and Father Brennan in the 2006 version of The Omen. And don’t call him Peter…

27. Speaking of Pete, this actor played Pete in Peter Yates’ For Pete’s Sake.

28. This actor was born in Dodge City, but is most remembered for being an Easy Rider.

29. He played June Allyson’s philandering but somehow noble husband in The Opposite Sex, a musical version of The Women that also featured Endora and Gladys Kravitz, Mortitia Addams and Alexis Carrington in supporting roles. He was also The Naked Gun … first name only … and don’t call him Shirley.

31. This art director and production designer was admired by the likes of Hitchcock (North by Northwest) and Richard Brooks (In Cold Blood) among others. His first name is Robert. His last name is _____?

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

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.

42 February 2012 ritzfilmmag.com