Film Geek

1 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:12,074 Watch Online Movies and Series for FREE www.osdb.link/lm 2 00:00:36,327 --> 00:00:38,579 This is a story about a boy, 3 00:00:38,580 --> 00:00:40,748 his dad, and the movies. 4 00:00:40,749 --> 00:00:43,208 This is the story of my cinema-fueled youth 5 00:00:43,209 --> 00:00:44,689 in New York City. 6 00:00:45,670 --> 00:00:47,421 My name is Richard Shepard. 7 00:00:47,422 --> 00:00:50,591 I grew up in the 1970s and early '80s. 8 00:00:50,592 --> 00:00:52,760 Back then, the city streets were dirty and tough. 9 00:00:52,761 --> 00:00:54,428 The subway's dangerous. 10 00:00:54,429 --> 00:00:57,681 It was a time of crime and grime and psycho killers 11 00:00:57,682 --> 00:00:59,183 and Reggie Jackson. 12 00:00:59,184 --> 00:01:02,102 And the birth of punk and the birth of hip hop. 13 00:01:02,103 --> 00:01:04,271 It was a golden time. 14 00:01:04,272 --> 00:01:05,689 New York was my home, 15 00:01:05,690 --> 00:01:07,524 and even though the city could be an intimidating 16 00:01:07,525 --> 00:01:09,777 and steaming cesspool of anger and edge, 17 00:01:09,778 --> 00:01:12,696 it was all I knew and I felt like I owned it. 18 00:01:12,697 --> 00:01:15,115 And movies were a large part of that ownership. 19 00:01:15,116 --> 00:01:17,034 Maybe the biggest part. 20 00:01:17,035 --> 00:01:19,119 I was surrounded by film. 21 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:20,871 I surrendered to it. 22 00:01:20,872 --> 00:01:23,457 I went to the movies, made Super 8 movies, 23 00:01:23,458 --> 00:01:27,294 collected movie posters and soundtracks, read movie books, 24 00:01:27,295 --> 00:01:30,297 became obsessed by movie reviews and movie advertisements 25 00:01:30,298 --> 00:01:32,132 and movie trailers. 26 00:01:32,133 --> 00:01:34,718 I loved movie theaters and the smell of popcorn 27 00:01:34,719 --> 00:01:36,553 and the smell of mildew and Lysol 28 00:01:36,554 --> 00:01:39,139 because many of those theaters were old and fading 29 00:01:39,140 --> 00:01:42,726 and full of weird New Yorkers getting lost in the dark. 30 00:01:42,727 --> 00:01:44,311 I escaped into the movies. 31 00:01:44,312 --> 00:01:46,396 They became a lifeline to me, 32 00:01:46,397 --> 00:01:50,400 a punk rock cinematic mosh pit out of the ordinary. 33 00:01:50,401 --> 00:01:52,986 The egomaniacal film director floating down 34 00:01:52,987 --> 00:01:55,823 from the sky in "The Stuntman." 35 00:01:55,824 --> 00:01:58,659 The Playboy bunnies escaping the rowdy soldiers 36 00:01:58,660 --> 00:02:00,244 in "Apocalypse Now." 37 00:02:00,245 --> 00:02:01,829 The sexy girl rollerskating 38 00:02:01,830 --> 00:02:03,831 through the giant loft in "Diva." 39 00:02:03,832 --> 00:02:06,333 The baby that was really a doll, 40 00:02:06,334 --> 00:02:09,586 that was really a bomb in "Marathon Man." 41 00:02:09,587 --> 00:02:11,004 I remember it all. 42 00:02:11,005 --> 00:02:12,339 It's strange. 43 00:02:12,340 --> 00:02:14,508 So many memories of my youth have started to fade, 44 00:02:14,509 --> 00:02:16,426 but when it comes to the films I saw back then, 45 00:02:16,427 --> 00:02:18,679 my memory is agile, fresh. 46 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:20,514 And it's not just the famous movies, 47 00:02:20,515 --> 00:02:22,432 it's all the films I went to then. 48 00:02:22,433 --> 00:02:24,852 The horror films, the foreign films, 49 00:02:24,853 --> 00:02:27,730 the second-rate dramas, and exploitation pictures. 50 00:02:28,690 --> 00:02:30,357 How is that? 51 00:02:30,358 --> 00:02:33,444 Why do the films stick when so much else fades? 52 00:02:35,530 --> 00:02:39,366 This was before streaming, before cable, before Blu-Ray. 53 00:02:39,367 --> 00:02:41,702 There was regular commercial TV, of course. 54 00:02:41,703 --> 00:02:44,371 And VHS and Betamax if you were fancy, 55 00:02:44,372 --> 00:02:46,039 but if you really wanted to see a movie, 56 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,126 you went to the theater, you went at an appointed hour, 57 00:02:49,127 --> 00:02:51,962 you went with people who meant something to you. 58 00:02:51,963 --> 00:02:53,297 You sat in the dark 59 00:02:53,298 --> 00:02:54,965 and let the stories take you where they might. 60 00:02:54,966 --> 00:02:57,718 And because of that, each outing to a movie was an event, 61 00:02:57,719 --> 00:02:59,303 something you remembered. 62 00:02:59,304 --> 00:03:03,640 Even the shitty movies, even "Cujo," even "Death Wish II," 63 00:03:03,641 --> 00:03:06,476 even "Friday the 13th Part III," in 3D, 64 00:03:06,477 --> 00:03:09,563 which I saw at the Loew's Orpheum on East 86th Street, 65 00:03:09,564 --> 00:03:11,732 and when one of the characters stretched her arms 66 00:03:11,733 --> 00:03:13,483 straight to the 3D camera, 67 00:03:13,484 --> 00:03:15,485 offering another character a joint, 68 00:03:15,486 --> 00:03:18,739 my entire audience reached out their hands to get a toke. 69 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:21,408 This is a story of the movies in my youth, 70 00:03:21,409 --> 00:03:23,035 the years before I went off to college, 71 00:03:23,036 --> 00:03:24,578 of the films I saw 72 00:03:24,579 --> 00:03:27,247 and the experiences I had watching them. 73 00:03:27,248 --> 00:03:30,417 It's also a story of a movie-crazed New York City, 74 00:03:30,418 --> 00:03:32,586 and it's also a story about my father, 75 00:03:32,587 --> 00:03:34,922 a loving, but often mysterious man 76 00:03:34,923 --> 00:03:36,590 who had no discernible job, 77 00:03:36,591 --> 00:03:38,842 went by three or four different names, 78 00:03:38,843 --> 00:03:40,260 had an incredible connection 79 00:03:40,261 --> 00:03:42,846 and fascination with the city's underbelly 80 00:03:42,847 --> 00:03:47,518 and whose love of movies helped foster my own cinematic DNA. 81 00:03:52,190 --> 00:03:54,775 Like the story structure of many of the movies my dad 82 00:03:54,776 --> 00:03:56,944 and I saw when I was a kid, 83 00:03:56,945 --> 00:03:59,446 let me start at the ending. 84 00:03:59,447 --> 00:04:02,282 Not the ending ending, but close enough. 85 00:04:02,283 --> 00:04:05,118 Obviously, the scene takes place at a movie theater, 86 00:04:05,119 --> 00:04:08,288 the Cinema Studios 1 on the Upper West Side. 87 00:04:08,289 --> 00:04:10,290 It's my senior year in high school 88 00:04:10,291 --> 00:04:13,210 and the film playing there is "Winter Kills," 89 00:04:13,211 --> 00:04:15,963 starring Jeff Bridges and John Huston. 90 00:04:15,964 --> 00:04:17,798 My father and I hadn't heard much about it 91 00:04:17,799 --> 00:04:19,549 other than it was star studded. 92 00:04:19,550 --> 00:04:20,968 It was supposed to be good, 93 00:04:20,969 --> 00:04:23,804 and it was a conspiracy movie, which sounded fun. 94 00:04:23,805 --> 00:04:24,722 A conspiracy. 95 00:04:24,723 --> 00:04:26,139 A conspiracy? 96 00:04:26,140 --> 00:04:27,474 By this point in high school, 97 00:04:27,475 --> 00:04:29,810 I rarely went to the movies with my parents. 98 00:04:29,811 --> 00:04:31,311 I had friends and girlfriends 99 00:04:31,312 --> 00:04:34,398 and it just wasn't something we did that often anymore. 100 00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:36,483 But my dad was excited about this film 101 00:04:36,484 --> 00:04:38,402 and even though I probably would've preferred to see it 102 00:04:38,403 --> 00:04:40,905 with my buddies, I went with him instead. 103 00:04:42,073 --> 00:04:43,907 I could tell that it meant something to him 104 00:04:43,908 --> 00:04:46,827 to have this experience with me back at the movies 105 00:04:46,828 --> 00:04:49,747 where we had spent so much time together as I grew up. 106 00:04:50,999 --> 00:04:53,333 Little did we know what was in store for us. 107 00:04:53,334 --> 00:04:56,336 "Winter Kills" was truly a bonkers film. 108 00:04:56,337 --> 00:04:58,255 Funny, surreal, and deep. 109 00:04:58,256 --> 00:05:00,424 It blew my 17-year-old movie-addled brain 110 00:05:00,425 --> 00:05:02,926 splat against the back wall of the theater. 111 00:05:02,927 --> 00:05:05,429 It was a brilliant take on the Kennedy assassination. 112 00:05:05,430 --> 00:05:07,931 It was also an uncommonly compelling love story 113 00:05:07,932 --> 00:05:10,600 and the darkest family saga you could fucking imagine. 114 00:05:10,601 --> 00:05:12,853 In the finale, John Huston desperately clings 115 00:05:12,854 --> 00:05:14,104 onto a giant American flag 116 00:05:14,105 --> 00:05:16,189 50 floors above a Manhattan street. 117 00:05:16,190 --> 00:05:17,524 I mean, what's not to love? 118 00:05:17,525 --> 00:05:19,026 And love it, I did. 119 00:05:19,027 --> 00:05:20,527 I was hooked on the film. 120 00:05:20,528 --> 00:05:23,947 I love the twisty complex story, the way it looked. 121 00:05:23,948 --> 00:05:26,867 The beauty of Belinda Bauer as a mysterious woman 122 00:05:26,868 --> 00:05:30,454 who may or may not be fucking with Jeff Bridges' heart. 123 00:05:30,455 --> 00:05:32,873 Mostly I love the surreal touches, 124 00:05:32,874 --> 00:05:35,876 how every time a smiling lady on a bicycle rode by, 125 00:05:35,877 --> 00:05:38,197 something very bad happened. 126 00:05:42,717 --> 00:05:45,052 The movie was thrilling and hysterical 127 00:05:45,053 --> 00:05:46,720 and a real cinematic high 128 00:05:46,721 --> 00:05:49,389 because the director danced on a razor blade of tones 129 00:05:49,390 --> 00:05:51,308 and wildly pulled it off. 130 00:05:51,309 --> 00:05:54,144 I quickly needed to know everything about this filmmaker. 131 00:05:54,145 --> 00:05:56,313 I found out his name was William Richert. 132 00:05:56,314 --> 00:05:59,066 I learned that he rented a house in Malibu on the same block 133 00:05:59,067 --> 00:06:01,568 as Jeff Bridges so he could get to know him as a neighbor, 134 00:06:01,569 --> 00:06:03,320 and then he sprung his script on him. 135 00:06:03,321 --> 00:06:05,572 He told John Huston Elizabeth Taylor was attached 136 00:06:05,573 --> 00:06:07,741 before she was and told Elizabeth Taylor 137 00:06:07,742 --> 00:06:09,659 that John Huston was attached before he was, 138 00:06:09,660 --> 00:06:12,245 and he somehow got both of them to be in the movie. 139 00:06:12,246 --> 00:06:14,498 It had taken Richert years to get this movie made. 140 00:06:14,499 --> 00:06:16,583 When "Winter Kills" was finally released, 141 00:06:16,584 --> 00:06:17,918 the film was dumped. 142 00:06:17,919 --> 00:06:20,587 And soon after, the producer got murdered by the mob. 143 00:06:20,588 --> 00:06:23,174 Richert was now bankrolling a re-release himself. 144 00:06:24,592 --> 00:06:26,676 The story of the life of the movie was almost as intriguing 145 00:06:26,677 --> 00:06:30,097 as the movie, and the movie was fucking intriguing. 146 00:06:30,098 --> 00:06:32,265 I was jacked up by "Winter Kills." 147 00:06:32,266 --> 00:06:34,935 Walking home with my father that cold Saturday in January, 148 00:06:34,936 --> 00:06:36,353 I couldn't stop talking about it. 149 00:06:36,354 --> 00:06:40,607 I was full of questions and critiques and insights. 150 00:06:40,608 --> 00:06:43,026 I wanted to talk about the batshit crazy script, 151 00:06:43,027 --> 00:06:46,863 the indelible score, whether Belinda Bauer would marry me. 152 00:06:46,864 --> 00:06:49,367 I was in a film fanatic frenzy. 153 00:06:51,619 --> 00:06:55,372 My father lit up a cigar and smiled at me on the street. 154 00:06:55,373 --> 00:06:58,250 He was smiling because he finally understood me. 155 00:06:58,251 --> 00:06:59,793 He finally understood 156 00:06:59,794 --> 00:07:02,212 why I was failing nearly all my classes, 157 00:07:02,213 --> 00:07:05,215 why I was constantly cutting school to go to the movies, 158 00:07:05,216 --> 00:07:07,384 why my college admissions counselor worried 159 00:07:07,385 --> 00:07:09,469 I wouldn't get into any school. 160 00:07:09,470 --> 00:07:11,638 He finally understood why I could just 161 00:07:11,639 --> 00:07:13,974 as easily go nuts over horrible films 162 00:07:13,975 --> 00:07:17,060 like "Forced Vengeance" or "Faces of Death," 163 00:07:17,061 --> 00:07:20,397 as I could over great ones like "Winter Kills." 164 00:07:20,398 --> 00:07:22,732 I wasn't just a movie lover like he was. 165 00:07:22,733 --> 00:07:25,068 I was a true movie geek. 166 00:07:25,069 --> 00:07:27,320 Good, bad or indifferent, 167 00:07:27,321 --> 00:07:30,991 if it was projected against a screen, I devoured it. 168 00:07:30,992 --> 00:07:33,076 My father understood that his passion 169 00:07:33,077 --> 00:07:37,247 for great movies transferred to me, had been altered, 170 00:07:37,248 --> 00:07:40,167 genetically mutated, so that I connected deeply 171 00:07:40,168 --> 00:07:44,337 to all movies, everything to do with movies. 172 00:07:44,338 --> 00:07:46,590 I had become the Frankenstein monster 173 00:07:46,591 --> 00:07:51,751 to my father's Dr. Frankenstein. 174 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:54,431 How did it happen? 175 00:07:54,432 --> 00:07:58,060 In what lab was this movie monster created? 176 00:08:11,199 --> 00:08:13,783 "King Kong" was the first film I remember seeing. 177 00:08:13,784 --> 00:08:16,036 I was five or six and I was captivated, 178 00:08:16,037 --> 00:08:19,623 lost completely in that exotic black-and-white world. 179 00:08:19,624 --> 00:08:21,875 The whole thing, the tattered map, 180 00:08:21,876 --> 00:08:26,129 the strange island, the giant ape, the dinosaurs, 181 00:08:26,130 --> 00:08:29,133 this woman's scared by the beast, but also taken with him. 182 00:08:30,718 --> 00:08:32,719 "Why did they ship this ape from the island?" 183 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:34,387 I asked my father. 184 00:08:34,388 --> 00:08:36,056 "Why did they torture him? 185 00:08:36,057 --> 00:08:38,059 Why did they kill him?" 186 00:08:42,396 --> 00:08:44,731 I saw it at a theater that I only went to once, 187 00:08:44,732 --> 00:08:46,733 somewhere on the east side of Manhattan. 188 00:08:46,734 --> 00:08:48,151 I remember they served hamburgers 189 00:08:48,152 --> 00:08:50,570 and soda when you watched the film. 190 00:08:50,571 --> 00:08:52,739 I remember loving being there with my dad 191 00:08:52,740 --> 00:08:55,492 and I remember my father and I went for hot chocolate 192 00:08:55,493 --> 00:08:58,578 at Rumpelmayer's on Central Park South after the film. 193 00:08:58,579 --> 00:09:00,623 And I remember it as a perfect day. 194 00:09:03,501 --> 00:09:06,753 The 1933 "King Kong" captured my imagination in a way 195 00:09:06,754 --> 00:09:08,505 that it still does to this day. 196 00:09:08,506 --> 00:09:10,423 I watched the film religiously as a child 197 00:09:10,424 --> 00:09:12,008 whenever it was on TV. 198 00:09:12,009 --> 00:09:14,594 I even wrote an article about it when I was nine, 199 00:09:14,595 --> 00:09:16,596 about seeing the movie so many times. 200 00:09:16,597 --> 00:09:18,682 I tried to get it published in a magazine. 201 00:09:18,683 --> 00:09:20,850 I can only imagine the editor's face seeing 202 00:09:20,851 --> 00:09:24,354 this handwritten screed of a young little film nerd. 203 00:09:24,355 --> 00:09:26,273 What could he have thought reading it? 204 00:09:26,274 --> 00:09:27,941 What did I say? 205 00:09:27,942 --> 00:09:31,112 That article is missing, but my memories of the film remain. 206 00:09:32,780 --> 00:09:34,614 New York City was where Kong was taken 207 00:09:34,615 --> 00:09:37,867 and it was where I lived and it made a huge impression. 208 00:09:37,868 --> 00:09:39,703 I thought for sure that what happened in 209 00:09:39,704 --> 00:09:41,955 that movie happened in real life. 210 00:09:41,956 --> 00:09:45,709 Later in 1976, they remade "King Kong" with Jeff Bridges 211 00:09:45,710 --> 00:09:47,210 and Jessica Lange. 212 00:09:47,211 --> 00:09:50,380 The World Trade Center replaced the Empire State Building. 213 00:09:50,381 --> 00:09:52,549 I was 11 and saw it with my dad again. 214 00:09:52,550 --> 00:09:54,718 I thought I was good, but I was adamant that it wasn't 215 00:09:54,719 --> 00:09:56,469 as good as the original, 216 00:09:56,470 --> 00:09:58,973 adamant as only an 11-year-old could be. 217 00:10:01,309 --> 00:10:03,476 My father truly loved movies. 218 00:10:03,477 --> 00:10:05,562 And I loved my dad, so it's not strange 219 00:10:05,563 --> 00:10:06,980 that I followed his heart 220 00:10:06,981 --> 00:10:09,316 towards the flickering images in the darkness. 221 00:10:09,317 --> 00:10:11,484 He was a man of big ego and style. 222 00:10:11,485 --> 00:10:12,902 My dad was a loving man, 223 00:10:12,903 --> 00:10:16,656 but mysterious too with various names and various jobs, 224 00:10:16,657 --> 00:10:18,325 many of them illegal. 225 00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:21,578 He was a small time loan shark, a gambler, 226 00:10:21,579 --> 00:10:24,998 an antiques trader who was always looking for an edge. 227 00:10:24,999 --> 00:10:27,584 Stained envelopes with money were slipped under our door 228 00:10:27,585 --> 00:10:28,835 when I was growing up. 229 00:10:28,836 --> 00:10:31,338 Phone calls from strange men asking for Jack, 230 00:10:31,339 --> 00:10:34,925 even though my dad's name was Bob, were regular occurrences. 231 00:10:36,177 --> 00:10:39,346 My dad scrambled by, survived, provided. 232 00:10:39,347 --> 00:10:42,349 My parents and I lived a nice middle class life 233 00:10:42,350 --> 00:10:44,768 though I never knew what really went into it. 234 00:10:44,769 --> 00:10:46,603 I grew up in a rent- controlled apartment. 235 00:10:46,604 --> 00:10:48,772 My mom and dad rarely ate out, 236 00:10:48,773 --> 00:10:50,357 but we would go away for the summers 237 00:10:50,358 --> 00:10:52,525 and I never wanted for anything. 238 00:10:52,526 --> 00:10:54,027 It was a life of privilege, 239 00:10:54,028 --> 00:10:56,863 even if that privilege I now know was flimsy, 240 00:10:56,864 --> 00:10:58,866 built on dreams and cons. 241 00:11:03,621 --> 00:11:06,039 My father collected antique toys and old books, 242 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:10,043 mostly on art or boxing or the history of the movies, 243 00:11:10,044 --> 00:11:11,878 but most of all my dad was an artist, 244 00:11:11,879 --> 00:11:13,797 a sculptor, a collagist. 245 00:11:13,798 --> 00:11:15,382 He lived an artist's life 246 00:11:15,383 --> 00:11:17,467 though he never sold any of his work. 247 00:11:17,468 --> 00:11:20,136 He was a true individual, a true New Yorker, 248 00:11:20,137 --> 00:11:23,890 who slept till noon most days, ate onions like apples, 249 00:11:23,891 --> 00:11:27,394 read voraciously, under tipped famously, 250 00:11:27,395 --> 00:11:30,814 could be rough and rude, but warm and charming too. 251 00:11:30,815 --> 00:11:32,232 He told me that when he was a boy, 252 00:11:32,233 --> 00:11:34,484 the movies were an escape from his tough father. 253 00:11:34,485 --> 00:11:36,236 He'd sneak off with his cousin, Leonard, 254 00:11:36,237 --> 00:11:37,570 to the Museum of Modern Art 255 00:11:37,571 --> 00:11:39,739 and watch old films that screened there. 256 00:11:39,740 --> 00:11:41,825 My dad would tell me about those films, 257 00:11:41,826 --> 00:11:43,743 describe his favorites. 258 00:11:43,744 --> 00:11:45,245 Later as an adult, 259 00:11:45,246 --> 00:11:47,914 I put my dad in a few of my small indie films. 260 00:11:47,915 --> 00:11:50,750 He wasn't an actor, but he was a natural. 261 00:11:50,751 --> 00:11:52,085 He was so happy seeing 262 00:11:52,086 --> 00:11:55,171 how the process of a movie actually went, 263 00:11:55,172 --> 00:11:57,633 how the art form he loved was crafted. 264 00:11:58,759 --> 00:12:00,677 I had him play a bartender in both films, 265 00:12:00,678 --> 00:12:02,345 even though my dad rarely drank 266 00:12:02,346 --> 00:12:04,347 and he didn't really frequent bars. 267 00:12:04,348 --> 00:12:06,516 It just seemed right for him. 268 00:12:06,517 --> 00:12:08,268 Bars were full of characters 269 00:12:08,269 --> 00:12:10,271 and my father certainly was one. 270 00:12:11,188 --> 00:12:13,440 When he died of cancer at age 73, 271 00:12:13,441 --> 00:12:16,109 I dedicated the film I was directing, the black comedy, 272 00:12:16,110 --> 00:12:18,778 "The Matador," with Pierce Brosnan, to him. 273 00:12:18,779 --> 00:12:22,867 The end card said, "For my dad, who loved movies." 274 00:12:25,119 --> 00:12:26,703 The second movie that I remember seeing was 275 00:12:26,704 --> 00:12:29,122 at a school friend's birthday party. 276 00:12:29,123 --> 00:12:31,291 It was in a private screening room in a midtown 277 00:12:31,292 --> 00:12:33,293 Manhattan office building. 278 00:12:33,294 --> 00:12:34,461 The film was "Willy Wonka," 279 00:12:34,462 --> 00:12:36,629 and it filled my 6-year-old heart with joy. 280 00:12:36,630 --> 00:12:39,466 The colors, the songs, the kids in it, 281 00:12:39,467 --> 00:12:41,218 the candy, the winning ticket. 282 00:12:43,012 --> 00:12:44,387 Little surprises around every corner, 283 00:12:44,388 --> 00:12:46,222 but nothing dangerous. 284 00:12:46,223 --> 00:12:48,475 I remember being delighted by Willy. 285 00:12:48,476 --> 00:12:52,228 He was kind and then mean and then kind again. 286 00:12:52,229 --> 00:12:53,980 That was important to me. 287 00:12:53,981 --> 00:12:56,900 Did I yet know that it was an actor playing that part, 288 00:12:56,901 --> 00:12:58,985 that Willy Wonka wasn't a real man, 289 00:12:58,986 --> 00:13:00,987 that it was in fact Gene Wilder, 290 00:13:00,988 --> 00:13:03,656 a person I would go on to adore in "The Producers" 291 00:13:03,657 --> 00:13:05,325 and "Blazing Saddles," 292 00:13:05,326 --> 00:13:08,244 and "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," 293 00:13:08,245 --> 00:13:11,581 a movie that made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe? 294 00:13:11,582 --> 00:13:14,334 Gene Wilder was such a brilliant performer. 295 00:13:14,335 --> 00:13:16,212 He had the warmest eyes. 296 00:13:18,047 --> 00:13:19,672 It seemed like my parents 297 00:13:19,673 --> 00:13:21,424 and I would go to the movies all the time. 298 00:13:21,425 --> 00:13:24,844 It was just what we did as a family. 299 00:13:24,845 --> 00:13:27,514 Cartoons, musicals. 300 00:13:27,515 --> 00:13:30,350 One of my favorites was "The Adventures of Robin Hood," 301 00:13:30,351 --> 00:13:32,519 that I first saw at a revival theater 302 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,271 on the Upper West side near where I lived. 303 00:13:35,272 --> 00:13:36,606 My mother had always joked 304 00:13:36,607 --> 00:13:40,527 that my father purposely cultivated an Errol Flynn vibe. 305 00:13:40,528 --> 00:13:43,530 I didn't know what that meant until they took me to see it. 306 00:13:43,531 --> 00:13:46,449 Watching Errol Flynn in that film was like looking at my dad 307 00:13:46,450 --> 00:13:47,867 up on the screen, 308 00:13:47,868 --> 00:13:51,371 only he was sword fighting and saving Maid Marian 309 00:13:51,372 --> 00:13:54,207 and hanging with his friends in Sherwood Forest. 310 00:13:54,208 --> 00:13:55,959 I fell in love with the movie, 311 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,795 with the idea of my father as the hero. 312 00:13:58,796 --> 00:14:00,380 Later, it was on TV, 313 00:14:00,381 --> 00:14:03,049 and while we only had a black- and-white Zenith television, 314 00:14:03,050 --> 00:14:04,551 in my mind, I always saw the film 315 00:14:04,552 --> 00:14:07,971 and the beautiful color I watched it in originally. 316 00:14:07,972 --> 00:14:11,224 The Sheriff of Nottingham was played by Basil Rathbone, 317 00:14:11,225 --> 00:14:14,227 such a great name, who had played Sherlock Holmes 318 00:14:14,228 --> 00:14:16,729 and I'd see those films on TV too. 319 00:14:16,730 --> 00:14:18,398 "The Hound of the Baskervilles," 320 00:14:18,399 --> 00:14:19,816 "Terror by Night." 321 00:14:19,817 --> 00:14:23,069 I borrowed a pipe of my father's and a hat from my mother 322 00:14:23,070 --> 00:14:25,405 and played Sherlock Holmes in my bedroom mirror. 323 00:14:25,406 --> 00:14:27,323 I did a lot of shows in that mirror. 324 00:14:27,324 --> 00:14:31,077 My first plays, my first stories, my first movies, 325 00:14:31,078 --> 00:14:33,998 playing all the parts using wigs and disguises. 326 00:14:35,416 --> 00:14:38,418 I'd watch Abbott and Costello movies on Sunday morning TV. 327 00:14:38,419 --> 00:14:40,670 I'd watch the Marx Brothers and "The Thief of Baghdad," 328 00:14:40,671 --> 00:14:43,172 and "Gunga Din," and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," 329 00:14:43,173 --> 00:14:45,425 and "The Wizard of Oz." 330 00:14:45,426 --> 00:14:47,260 I still remember being six or seven 331 00:14:47,261 --> 00:14:49,679 and going upstairs to my friend Amy Seplin's apartment 332 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,182 on the 11th floor to rewatch "The Wizard of Oz" with her 333 00:14:53,183 --> 00:14:55,351 and getting so scared by the flying monkeys 334 00:14:55,352 --> 00:14:58,188 and the Wicked Witch that I ran back to my parents. 335 00:14:59,607 --> 00:15:01,357 My mother was waiting for me on the fifth floor 336 00:15:01,358 --> 00:15:03,026 with the front door opened. 337 00:15:03,027 --> 00:15:04,861 My mom knew that the only way I could watch 338 00:15:04,862 --> 00:15:08,449 those scary scenes was with her protectively by my side. 339 00:15:10,284 --> 00:15:14,537 My mother, Arpy, that's A-R-P-Y, it's Armenian, 340 00:15:14,538 --> 00:15:15,872 I'm half-Armenian, 341 00:15:15,873 --> 00:15:18,374 went to the Fashion Institute of Technology, 342 00:15:18,375 --> 00:15:21,628 and worked for a small design house before I was born. 343 00:15:21,629 --> 00:15:24,464 She quit that job to raise me though she still did 344 00:15:24,465 --> 00:15:27,467 the most beautiful fashion sketches when I was growing up. 345 00:15:27,468 --> 00:15:29,719 Clearly her heart was still in that world, 346 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,640 even if her dream had been deferred. 347 00:15:33,307 --> 00:15:35,725 "Vogue" magazine and "Women's Wear Daily" used 348 00:15:35,726 --> 00:15:37,310 to be delivered to our apartment, 349 00:15:37,311 --> 00:15:39,812 and my mother was always stylish and beautiful, 350 00:15:39,813 --> 00:15:42,982 and I still remember the various silk scarves she'd wear. 351 00:15:42,983 --> 00:15:46,819 She was bright and kind and adored me and my father. 352 00:15:46,820 --> 00:15:47,987 My mom's friend, Hannah, 353 00:15:47,988 --> 00:15:49,572 said that my mom would've died a virgin 354 00:15:49,573 --> 00:15:51,324 if she hadn't met my dad. 355 00:15:51,325 --> 00:15:54,577 I'm not sure about that, but she loved him enormously 356 00:15:54,578 --> 00:15:55,828 and put up with 357 00:15:55,829 --> 00:15:58,414 and even embraced his various eccentricities. 358 00:15:58,415 --> 00:15:59,582 He opened a world for her 359 00:15:59,583 --> 00:16:01,918 that she clearly wanted to explore. 360 00:16:01,919 --> 00:16:04,170 Wake up at 4AM so we could drive two hours 361 00:16:04,171 --> 00:16:06,339 and be the first people at some strange flea market 362 00:16:06,340 --> 00:16:08,675 my father wanted to go to in New Jersey. 363 00:16:08,676 --> 00:16:09,842 No problem. 364 00:16:09,843 --> 00:16:11,427 Wait in the car when my father broke 365 00:16:11,428 --> 00:16:13,346 into some abandoned building in the Bronx to look 366 00:16:13,347 --> 00:16:16,015 for twisted scrap metal for his sculptures. 367 00:16:16,016 --> 00:16:17,850 Yep, we did that too. 368 00:16:17,851 --> 00:16:19,352 If my mother had a problem with any of it, 369 00:16:19,353 --> 00:16:20,770 I certainly didn't know. 370 00:16:20,771 --> 00:16:22,939 This was the life they made for each other. 371 00:16:22,940 --> 00:16:25,191 She was the one who took me to ice skating lessons 372 00:16:25,192 --> 00:16:26,943 and birthday parties in school. 373 00:16:26,944 --> 00:16:28,528 She was the one waiting for me 374 00:16:28,529 --> 00:16:30,947 when I came home terrified from watching "Wizard of Oz." 375 00:16:30,948 --> 00:16:33,783 He was the one who, most cinematically, 376 00:16:33,784 --> 00:16:37,203 while giving my mother driving lessons one Sunday afternoon, 377 00:16:37,204 --> 00:16:39,872 saw a purse snatching in progress, 378 00:16:39,873 --> 00:16:42,626 yelled at my mom to step on the gas. 379 00:16:47,715 --> 00:16:50,217 And chased the muggers two blocks. 380 00:16:54,471 --> 00:16:57,890 Until my dad, this Upper West Side Popeye Doyle wannabe, 381 00:16:57,891 --> 00:17:02,062 stopped them by using his black eyeglass case as a mock gun. 382 00:17:04,565 --> 00:17:06,232 Hold it! 383 00:17:06,233 --> 00:17:07,818 This happened. 384 00:17:09,069 --> 00:17:11,404 I was in the backseat of the car when it did. 385 00:17:11,405 --> 00:17:13,573 Terrified and thrilled at the same time 386 00:17:13,574 --> 00:17:15,408 as the muggers dropped the purse, 387 00:17:15,409 --> 00:17:18,411 somehow believing that my dad's eyeglass case was a weapon 388 00:17:18,412 --> 00:17:20,496 and that all undercover police cars are supposed 389 00:17:20,497 --> 00:17:23,666 to have a terrified 10-year-old kid in the backseat. 390 00:17:23,667 --> 00:17:25,918 It should be noted that my mother kept her calm 391 00:17:25,919 --> 00:17:27,920 behind the wheel the whole chase, 392 00:17:27,921 --> 00:17:30,590 like Roy Scheider's character in "The French Connection." 393 00:17:30,591 --> 00:17:33,260 She was a partner you wanted to have. 394 00:17:37,973 --> 00:17:39,057 There are three significant 395 00:17:39,058 --> 00:17:40,141 moments at the movies 396 00:17:40,142 --> 00:17:41,225 that scared the shit 397 00:17:41,226 --> 00:17:42,351 out of me in my youth. 398 00:17:42,352 --> 00:17:45,104 The first one happened when I was around seven. 399 00:17:45,105 --> 00:17:46,272 My parents and I were staying 400 00:17:46,273 --> 00:17:48,357 at the Mohonk Mountain House Hotel, 401 00:17:48,358 --> 00:17:51,110 which would remind me of the hotel in "The Shining," 402 00:17:51,111 --> 00:17:52,361 and they were showing a movie 403 00:17:52,362 --> 00:17:54,947 in their grand ballroom one night and we all went. 404 00:17:54,948 --> 00:17:59,368 It was the 1964 film, "Wait Until Dark," with Audrey Hepburn 405 00:17:59,369 --> 00:18:02,955 as a blind woman being terrorized by criminals. 406 00:18:02,956 --> 00:18:06,459 I remember nothing about that movie except for one moment 407 00:18:06,460 --> 00:18:09,463 where Audrey Hepburn comes into her dark apartment. 408 00:18:13,717 --> 00:18:16,302 The fear I felt, the scream I gave, 409 00:18:16,303 --> 00:18:19,305 the feeling in the pit of my stomach, the tears. 410 00:18:19,306 --> 00:18:21,140 To say that I was scared shitless would be 411 00:18:21,141 --> 00:18:22,475 an understatement. 412 00:18:22,476 --> 00:18:25,478 I was scarred, permanently altered. 413 00:18:25,479 --> 00:18:27,146 Yet it did not deter me. 414 00:18:27,147 --> 00:18:29,565 If my parents wanted to show me a movie, any movie, 415 00:18:29,566 --> 00:18:30,817 I would go. 416 00:18:30,818 --> 00:18:32,819 No complaints. 417 00:18:32,820 --> 00:18:34,821 My father had many movie books 418 00:18:34,822 --> 00:18:36,322 and we'd sit in the living room, 419 00:18:36,323 --> 00:18:39,659 the smell of his sweat and cigar smoke filling my lungs, 420 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:40,993 and flip through them, 421 00:18:40,994 --> 00:18:43,996 going deep after an old film we'd have seen. 422 00:18:43,997 --> 00:18:47,166 He'd show me pictures of other movies with the same actors, 423 00:18:47,167 --> 00:18:50,753 explain the plots of films made by the same director. 424 00:18:50,754 --> 00:18:52,421 I became obsessed by Fritz Lang 425 00:18:52,422 --> 00:18:55,007 before I saw a frame of "Metropolis." 426 00:18:55,008 --> 00:18:57,426 I knew almost every Hitchcock cameo 427 00:18:57,427 --> 00:19:00,263 and could name almost every single one of his films. 428 00:19:00,264 --> 00:19:01,931 I might've been the only little kid who knew 429 00:19:01,932 --> 00:19:04,851 who Edward Everett Horton was and my obsession 430 00:19:04,852 --> 00:19:07,436 with that wonderful 1930 supporting performer 431 00:19:07,437 --> 00:19:10,773 started a lifelong love of character actors. 432 00:19:10,774 --> 00:19:12,692 My father curated everything. 433 00:19:12,693 --> 00:19:13,860 It was through him that I learned 434 00:19:13,861 --> 00:19:16,529 to find pleasure in old black-and-white movies, 435 00:19:16,530 --> 00:19:19,198 in Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck, 436 00:19:19,199 --> 00:19:20,700 and Sydney Greenstreet, 437 00:19:20,701 --> 00:19:24,620 in films that were famous and films that were lost in time. 438 00:19:24,621 --> 00:19:26,372 And I was the perfect student, 439 00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:28,291 asking question after question, 440 00:19:28,292 --> 00:19:30,209 hanging on my father's every word, 441 00:19:30,210 --> 00:19:32,962 his every piece of film lore, 442 00:19:32,963 --> 00:19:35,715 and it wasn't only older movies that I was seeing. 443 00:19:35,716 --> 00:19:39,302 As I grew up, my parents started taking me to new releases. 444 00:19:39,303 --> 00:19:42,722 "Murder on the Orient Express, "Paper Moon." 445 00:19:42,723 --> 00:19:43,890 Crazy! 446 00:19:43,891 --> 00:19:45,558 "The Sting." 447 00:19:45,559 --> 00:19:47,227 "Young Frankenstein." 448 00:19:48,729 --> 00:19:50,229 Let me out, let me out of here. 449 00:19:50,230 --> 00:19:51,647 Get me the hell out of here. 450 00:19:51,648 --> 00:19:53,316 But only after my father took me 451 00:19:53,317 --> 00:19:57,403 to see the 1935 James Whale film, "Bride of Frankenstein," 452 00:19:57,404 --> 00:19:59,822 downtown at the Theatre 80 St. Marks. 453 00:19:59,823 --> 00:20:03,242 He wanted me ready to get all the jokes in Mel Brooks' film. 454 00:20:03,243 --> 00:20:04,660 The Theatre 80 was soon 455 00:20:04,661 --> 00:20:06,662 to become my favorite revival theater in the city. 456 00:20:06,663 --> 00:20:09,415 It was a small cinema where the projector was actually 457 00:20:09,416 --> 00:20:10,917 behind the screen 458 00:20:10,918 --> 00:20:13,295 and the Art Deco concession bar was a thing of beauty. 459 00:20:14,755 --> 00:20:16,839 For years, I would always get an extra sense of excitement 460 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,925 if I knew we were going to see a movie there. 461 00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:22,511 It was downtown, slightly scary and foreign to me, 462 00:20:22,512 --> 00:20:25,098 as if we were transported to another Manhattan. 463 00:20:28,268 --> 00:20:31,103 At nine, I remember going with my mom and dad 464 00:20:31,104 --> 00:20:35,107 to the ornate and majestic Ziegfeld Theatre in Midtown 465 00:20:35,108 --> 00:20:37,443 to see the "Towering Inferno." 466 00:20:37,444 --> 00:20:40,363 Two studios had competing fire in big building movies 467 00:20:40,364 --> 00:20:41,864 based on two different books, 468 00:20:41,865 --> 00:20:43,616 and they decided to combine the projects 469 00:20:43,617 --> 00:20:45,952 into one mega all-star multi studio. 470 00:20:45,953 --> 00:20:47,620 Paul Newman and OJ Simpson 471 00:20:47,621 --> 00:20:50,289 and Fred Astaire in the same movie movie. 472 00:20:50,290 --> 00:20:53,542 I was too young to notice the cardboard acting. 473 00:20:53,543 --> 00:20:54,961 Too young to know that Paul Newman 474 00:20:54,962 --> 00:20:56,796 and Steve McQueen fought over billing, 475 00:20:56,797 --> 00:20:59,548 and contractually had to have an equal number of lines. 476 00:20:59,549 --> 00:21:01,133 I just thought it was thrilling. 477 00:21:01,134 --> 00:21:03,719 I was so taken with it that I actually read one of the books 478 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,055 that was based on and at that point in my life, 479 00:21:06,056 --> 00:21:08,096 I barely read anything. 480 00:21:08,976 --> 00:21:11,727 It was the beginning of my seeking books or articles 481 00:21:11,728 --> 00:21:14,230 or albums or posters of the movies I saw. 482 00:21:14,231 --> 00:21:17,149 If I loved it, I wanted more. 483 00:21:17,150 --> 00:21:19,819 "Earthquake" was another all-star disaster movie, 484 00:21:19,820 --> 00:21:22,321 and it was advertised as being in Sensurround, 485 00:21:22,322 --> 00:21:24,323 which was supposed to make you feel like you were really 486 00:21:24,324 --> 00:21:25,574 in an earthquake. 487 00:21:25,575 --> 00:21:28,411 That was enough for me to drag my father to it. 488 00:21:28,412 --> 00:21:30,329 I remember getting to the movie theater early 489 00:21:30,330 --> 00:21:31,747 and checking under the seats. 490 00:21:31,748 --> 00:21:33,582 I was sure that each chair was wired 491 00:21:33,583 --> 00:21:36,168 to shake like a 7.0 big one. 492 00:21:36,169 --> 00:21:38,129 Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. 493 00:21:38,130 --> 00:21:39,380 Sensurround was just 494 00:21:39,381 --> 00:21:41,674 low frequency noises on the soundtrack. 495 00:21:41,675 --> 00:21:44,260 Still, the movie exceeded my expectations. 496 00:21:44,261 --> 00:21:45,678 I had never been to Los Angeles, 497 00:21:45,679 --> 00:21:47,847 but I loved seeing it destroyed. 498 00:21:47,848 --> 00:21:49,348 At the end of the film, my father told me 499 00:21:49,349 --> 00:21:51,350 that the drunk at the bar in the movie, 500 00:21:51,351 --> 00:21:53,769 who was so wasted that he wasn't phased by the earthquake, 501 00:21:53,770 --> 00:21:57,273 was a cameo by an actor named Walter Matthau. 502 00:21:57,274 --> 00:21:58,524 I didn't know who that was, 503 00:21:58,525 --> 00:22:00,027 but I was about to find out. 504 00:22:01,862 --> 00:22:04,447 Going to "The Bad News Bears" with my childhood friend, 505 00:22:04,448 --> 00:22:06,115 Mark Gregory Peters, 506 00:22:06,116 --> 00:22:07,950 was the first movie I can remember seeing 507 00:22:07,951 --> 00:22:09,618 without my parents. 508 00:22:09,619 --> 00:22:11,370 I had just turned 11. 509 00:22:11,371 --> 00:22:14,290 And as Mark and I headed to the Paramount Movie Theatre, 510 00:22:14,291 --> 00:22:16,876 I held onto my ticket money tightly. 511 00:22:16,877 --> 00:22:19,628 This was New York City in 1976. 512 00:22:19,629 --> 00:22:21,130 The streets were dangerous 513 00:22:21,131 --> 00:22:23,049 and we all weren't Charles Bronson. 514 00:22:23,050 --> 00:22:25,468 People got mugged on a regular basis. 515 00:22:25,469 --> 00:22:27,137 I did at least. 516 00:22:28,305 --> 00:22:32,391 "The Bad News Bears" seemed like it was made just for us. 517 00:22:32,392 --> 00:22:35,061 It made us laugh and was outrageous and rude, 518 00:22:35,062 --> 00:22:37,773 and we were so happy we didn't see it with our parents. 519 00:22:38,815 --> 00:22:40,066 The swearing. 520 00:22:40,067 --> 00:22:41,400 Hey, Yankees! 521 00:22:41,401 --> 00:22:43,069 You can take your apology out of your trophy 522 00:22:43,070 --> 00:22:45,237 and shove it straight up your ass! 523 00:22:45,238 --> 00:22:47,490 The sheer off coloredness of it. 524 00:22:47,491 --> 00:22:48,408 Timmy Lopez. 525 00:22:48,409 --> 00:22:49,909 - Lupus. - Lupus. 526 00:22:49,910 --> 00:22:52,995 'Cause that booger-eating spaz makes me wanna puke. 527 00:22:52,996 --> 00:22:55,081 Can you imagine a studio movie made today 528 00:22:55,082 --> 00:22:56,415 where a character is named Lupus? 529 00:22:56,416 --> 00:22:58,000 Hey, my uniform's too small. 530 00:22:58,001 --> 00:22:59,335 Ah, shut up. 531 00:22:59,336 --> 00:23:00,836 I love Walter Matthau in it. 532 00:23:00,837 --> 00:23:03,089 His grumpiness with just a hint of sweetness. 533 00:23:03,090 --> 00:23:04,466 I thought he was so funny. 534 00:23:05,342 --> 00:23:06,592 Still here. 535 00:23:06,593 --> 00:23:08,511 Soon after I would see Matthau on TV 536 00:23:08,512 --> 00:23:11,180 in the movie, "The Taking of Pelham 123." 537 00:23:11,181 --> 00:23:13,182 They showed that film constantly. 538 00:23:13,183 --> 00:23:14,683 It felt like it was on every Saturday, 539 00:23:14,684 --> 00:23:17,103 and that was okay with me because I loved it. 540 00:23:17,104 --> 00:23:18,437 I still do. 541 00:23:18,438 --> 00:23:20,356 It was such a tense New York City thriller, 542 00:23:20,357 --> 00:23:21,941 gritty and grimy. 543 00:23:21,942 --> 00:23:23,359 If you wanna know what living 544 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:26,445 in the city in the mid-'70s was like, this movie is it. 545 00:23:26,446 --> 00:23:27,780 Hey! 546 00:23:27,781 --> 00:23:30,783 Now you listen to me, you dumb son of a bitch. 547 00:23:30,784 --> 00:23:33,285 Each part of the plot works like clockwork 548 00:23:33,286 --> 00:23:35,371 with a funny and wise Matthau 549 00:23:35,372 --> 00:23:37,873 and a perfectly menacing Robert Shaw, 550 00:23:37,874 --> 00:23:39,792 who I remembered from "The Sting," 551 00:23:39,793 --> 00:23:43,462 and David Shire's intense music and the ending. 552 00:23:43,463 --> 00:23:45,965 I still think it might be the best movie ending ever. 553 00:23:45,966 --> 00:23:48,968 A train and its passengers has been hijacked for ransom. 554 00:23:48,969 --> 00:23:50,719 One of the criminals has a terrible cold, 555 00:23:50,720 --> 00:23:52,388 and every time he sneezes over the radio 556 00:23:52,389 --> 00:23:54,390 to the transit cop played by Matthau, 557 00:23:54,391 --> 00:23:55,308 Matthau says. 558 00:23:55,308 --> 00:23:56,308 Gesundheit. 559 00:23:56,977 --> 00:23:57,811 Gesundheit. 560 00:23:57,812 --> 00:23:59,311 At the end, 561 00:23:59,312 --> 00:24:00,646 after almost all the criminals are caught or dead, 562 00:24:00,647 --> 00:24:02,731 Matthau and another cop, Jerry Stiller, 563 00:24:02,732 --> 00:24:05,317 are looking for disgruntled ex-subway employees 564 00:24:05,318 --> 00:24:08,154 who they suspect might be the last missing criminal. 565 00:24:08,155 --> 00:24:10,322 They come to Martin Balsam's shitty apartment. 566 00:24:10,323 --> 00:24:12,324 He's got a share of the ransom money on the bed 567 00:24:12,325 --> 00:24:14,410 and thinks he's gotten away with the crime. 568 00:24:14,411 --> 00:24:15,995 There's a knock at the door. 569 00:24:15,996 --> 00:24:17,913 He nervously hides the money in the stove 570 00:24:17,914 --> 00:24:19,415 and lets the cops in. 571 00:24:19,416 --> 00:24:20,749 Things are tense. 572 00:24:20,750 --> 00:24:23,086 Where were you, say, afternoon, Mr. Longman? 573 00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:25,171 Right here. 574 00:24:25,172 --> 00:24:26,714 But they eventually leave. 575 00:24:26,715 --> 00:24:27,840 As the door is closing, 576 00:24:27,841 --> 00:24:29,008 a relieved Balsam suddenly sneezes. 577 00:24:29,009 --> 00:24:30,510 Gesundheit. 578 00:24:38,101 --> 00:24:41,020 Very few movie endings are that satisfying. 579 00:24:41,021 --> 00:24:43,272 Maybe the original "Planet of the Apes," 580 00:24:43,273 --> 00:24:47,693 maybe "The Third Man," maybe "The Godfather." 581 00:24:47,694 --> 00:24:48,737 Maybe. 582 00:24:50,530 --> 00:24:52,948 It was about this time that I started noticing 583 00:24:52,949 --> 00:24:56,118 that my father wasn't quite like everyone else's. 584 00:24:56,119 --> 00:24:59,538 He didn't seem to care much about rules or decorum 585 00:24:59,539 --> 00:25:01,373 or even laws. 586 00:25:01,374 --> 00:25:03,375 One day, my mother couldn't get a reservation 587 00:25:03,376 --> 00:25:05,961 for their friends and us to a popular restaurant, 588 00:25:05,962 --> 00:25:07,296 so my father called 589 00:25:07,297 --> 00:25:09,215 and pretended to be Henry Kissinger's assistant, 590 00:25:09,216 --> 00:25:11,050 calling from the White House 591 00:25:11,051 --> 00:25:13,219 and said that Dr. Kissinger's important guests 592 00:25:13,220 --> 00:25:16,138 from overseas needed to get a table, 593 00:25:16,139 --> 00:25:18,891 and like Peter Sellers's in "Dr. Strangelove." 594 00:25:18,892 --> 00:25:20,476 Mr. President. 595 00:25:20,477 --> 00:25:22,311 My father then spoke in a thick German accent 596 00:25:22,312 --> 00:25:25,315 at the best table in the place for the rest of the evening. 597 00:25:26,233 --> 00:25:27,566 Another day, he came home 598 00:25:27,567 --> 00:25:31,570 with a giant 1940s Coca-Cola advertising sign 599 00:25:31,571 --> 00:25:33,405 that he collected in the middle of the night 600 00:25:33,406 --> 00:25:35,824 from the side of an old building. 601 00:25:35,825 --> 00:25:37,243 The fact that the building was 602 00:25:37,244 --> 00:25:40,247 a working New Jersey diner was never discussed. 603 00:25:41,414 --> 00:25:43,165 Many of the old movies my father 604 00:25:43,166 --> 00:25:44,416 and I watched together were 605 00:25:44,417 --> 00:25:47,086 about lovable rogues and rascals. 606 00:25:47,087 --> 00:25:51,423 It all seemed so normal to me, almost familiar, 607 00:25:51,424 --> 00:25:54,093 but weren't parents supposed to be different? 608 00:25:54,094 --> 00:25:57,680 Weren't they supposed to follow rules, decorum, and laws? 609 00:25:57,681 --> 00:25:59,932 My dad didn't carry a gun like Bogart, 610 00:25:59,933 --> 00:26:02,935 but I wouldn't have been surprised if he had. 611 00:26:02,936 --> 00:26:05,688 Was I embarrassed by any of this? 612 00:26:05,689 --> 00:26:08,274 Honestly, no. 613 00:26:08,275 --> 00:26:10,192 That would change, but at this point in my life, 614 00:26:10,193 --> 00:26:12,945 I was too in love with my father to care. 615 00:26:12,946 --> 00:26:14,697 He was different, sure, 616 00:26:14,698 --> 00:26:17,367 but in my eyes, he could do no wrong. 617 00:26:19,619 --> 00:26:22,288 Mark Gregory's parents, Adrienne and Tony Peters, 618 00:26:22,289 --> 00:26:25,374 had a small vacation cottage in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania, 619 00:26:25,375 --> 00:26:26,709 and during the summers, 620 00:26:26,710 --> 00:26:28,377 I would sometimes go up there with them. 621 00:26:28,378 --> 00:26:30,045 One of my favorite parts of going was 622 00:26:30,046 --> 00:26:31,380 that there was a drive-in nearby 623 00:26:31,381 --> 00:26:33,299 that showed exploitation pictures, 624 00:26:33,300 --> 00:26:35,968 and we could see the screen from his dad's convertible 625 00:26:35,969 --> 00:26:38,804 when we would go into town to get ice cream. 626 00:26:38,805 --> 00:26:42,057 It seemed like we'd always pass at the perfect moment, 627 00:26:42,058 --> 00:26:46,563 a woman's prison battle, a brutal decapitation. 628 00:26:48,148 --> 00:26:50,191 A fist flying ninja fight. 629 00:26:51,401 --> 00:26:53,319 Needless to say, we wanted ice cream 630 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:55,904 every night of every weekend we were there. 631 00:26:55,905 --> 00:26:58,907 Soon after the drive-in started showing porno films, 632 00:26:58,908 --> 00:27:00,242 which I guess is something that happened 633 00:27:00,243 --> 00:27:01,994 in the '70s in America. 634 00:27:01,995 --> 00:27:03,829 Anyway, one night as we were going 635 00:27:03,830 --> 00:27:05,998 to get our chocolate chip mint ice cream cones, 636 00:27:05,999 --> 00:27:09,668 we passed the theater and there, on the big outdoor screen, 637 00:27:09,669 --> 00:27:11,587 I saw my first blowjob. 638 00:27:11,588 --> 00:27:15,341 It was only for like five seconds, 120 frames of scratchy, 639 00:27:15,342 --> 00:27:18,344 blurred erection and lips, but it seared into my body 640 00:27:18,345 --> 00:27:21,180 and soul like a dirty cinematic tattoo. 641 00:27:21,181 --> 00:27:24,183 Obviously, Mark's parents were not pleased, 642 00:27:24,184 --> 00:27:26,603 and the ice cream trips ended soon after. 643 00:27:27,771 --> 00:27:30,022 A few years later, I was at summer camp. 644 00:27:30,023 --> 00:27:33,359 It was a baseball archery swimming sort of day camp, 645 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:35,110 bug juice and tether ball, 646 00:27:35,111 --> 00:27:37,112 but my favorite part was whenever it rained, 647 00:27:37,113 --> 00:27:40,449 they would pull out this creaky old 16-millimeter projector, 648 00:27:40,450 --> 00:27:43,285 pack us into this damp, rickety wood building, 649 00:27:43,286 --> 00:27:44,620 and show us a movie, 650 00:27:44,621 --> 00:27:46,705 or at least as much of a movie as was necessary 651 00:27:46,706 --> 00:27:48,540 to weather the rainstorm. 652 00:27:48,541 --> 00:27:50,209 They had a few stock films. 653 00:27:50,210 --> 00:27:52,211 "The Sound of Music" always bored me, 654 00:27:52,212 --> 00:27:54,380 but sometimes if it was gonna be days of rain, 655 00:27:54,381 --> 00:27:57,966 they'd rent a 16-millimeter print of a recent film. 656 00:27:57,967 --> 00:27:59,468 One wet afternoon, 657 00:27:59,469 --> 00:28:01,220 they decided to show us the action movie, "Breakout," 658 00:28:01,221 --> 00:28:03,972 starring Charles Bronson, Robert Duvall, 659 00:28:03,973 --> 00:28:06,225 and Bronson's wife, Jill Ireland, 660 00:28:06,226 --> 00:28:08,727 who I recognized from an episode of "Star Trek," 661 00:28:08,728 --> 00:28:10,979 a show which I was obsessed with. 662 00:28:10,980 --> 00:28:14,149 Here I am as Mr. Spock for Halloween. 663 00:28:14,150 --> 00:28:16,902 The braces are a nice touch. 664 00:28:16,903 --> 00:28:18,487 I wish I could go back in time 665 00:28:18,488 --> 00:28:21,407 and try to understand the mindset of the camp director 666 00:28:21,408 --> 00:28:24,743 who thought that showing a bunch of boys age 8 to 13, 667 00:28:24,744 --> 00:28:27,746 a brutal prison escape movie was a good idea. 668 00:28:27,747 --> 00:28:29,164 Reel after reel, 669 00:28:29,165 --> 00:28:32,084 we saw scenes of excessive violence and tawdry melodrama. 670 00:28:32,085 --> 00:28:34,920 It was fantastic, like some brutally exploitive, 671 00:28:34,921 --> 00:28:37,424 sweaty gift from the movie gods. 672 00:28:40,093 --> 00:28:42,594 Finally, in a sequence where a hooker undresses 673 00:28:42,595 --> 00:28:44,096 and we see her naked rear end, 674 00:28:44,097 --> 00:28:46,014 the camp counselors came to their senses 675 00:28:46,015 --> 00:28:48,977 and the projector was abruptly and rudely turned off. 676 00:28:52,355 --> 00:28:54,106 We sat in darkness. 677 00:28:54,107 --> 00:28:56,608 The only noise being the sound of the rain pouring down 678 00:28:56,609 --> 00:28:58,110 on the roof outside 679 00:28:58,111 --> 00:29:01,029 and the disappointed sighs of every kid in the place. 680 00:29:01,030 --> 00:29:02,865 Was "Breakout" a good movie? 681 00:29:02,866 --> 00:29:05,701 Did it contribute to my cinematic education? 682 00:29:05,702 --> 00:29:09,455 I don't know, but to remember a film 40 plus years on, 683 00:29:09,456 --> 00:29:11,623 to revere it is something. 684 00:29:11,624 --> 00:29:13,293 It has to be something. 685 00:29:18,298 --> 00:29:20,716 Soon after my summer of "Breakout," 686 00:29:20,717 --> 00:29:22,050 I went with my parents 687 00:29:22,051 --> 00:29:24,303 to the Tower East Theatre on 71st Street 688 00:29:24,304 --> 00:29:26,054 and Third Avenue to see a film 689 00:29:26,055 --> 00:29:28,807 on the opposite end of the cinematic spectrum, 690 00:29:28,808 --> 00:29:30,476 one of the greatest movies ever, 691 00:29:30,477 --> 00:29:33,145 Alan Pakula's "All The President's Men," 692 00:29:33,146 --> 00:29:35,564 about the true story of Woodward and Bernstein, 693 00:29:35,565 --> 00:29:37,692 and the Nixon Watergate scandal. 694 00:29:39,736 --> 00:29:43,322 I had never seen a like that with that intensity. 695 00:29:43,323 --> 00:29:46,075 I know I shouldn't be telling you this. 696 00:29:48,495 --> 00:29:50,914 I gave it to Mr. Stans. 697 00:29:54,334 --> 00:29:56,502 I beg your pardon? 698 00:29:56,503 --> 00:29:58,253 I gave it to Stans. 699 00:29:58,254 --> 00:29:59,922 Maurice Stans? 700 00:29:59,923 --> 00:30:01,840 The head of finance for Nixon? 701 00:30:01,841 --> 00:30:03,842 Yes, in Washington. 702 00:30:03,843 --> 00:30:05,511 I didn't understand everything 703 00:30:05,512 --> 00:30:07,262 or maybe barely anything, 704 00:30:07,263 --> 00:30:08,764 but I understood enough. 705 00:30:08,765 --> 00:30:11,099 I got that it was good, that it was deep, 706 00:30:11,100 --> 00:30:13,185 that it was about something. 707 00:30:13,186 --> 00:30:14,603 At dinner at a restaurant after, 708 00:30:14,604 --> 00:30:17,022 I sat and listened to how adults actually talked 709 00:30:17,023 --> 00:30:20,275 about movies. Passionate, intelligent film lovers, 710 00:30:20,276 --> 00:30:23,529 arguing, cajoling, going deep. 711 00:30:23,530 --> 00:30:24,947 Occasionally, I would ask a question, 712 00:30:24,948 --> 00:30:26,865 but mostly I just listened. 713 00:30:26,866 --> 00:30:28,700 Later, I would re-watch the film 714 00:30:28,701 --> 00:30:30,452 and get lost in the details. 715 00:30:30,453 --> 00:30:32,371 The brilliant acting and writing, 716 00:30:32,372 --> 00:30:35,374 the eerie wide shots, the scary conspiracy, 717 00:30:35,375 --> 00:30:36,792 in the bright light of day 718 00:30:36,793 --> 00:30:40,212 and the dark shadows of parking garages full of secrets. 719 00:30:40,213 --> 00:30:42,881 If asked, I usually say that "The Godfather II" is 720 00:30:42,882 --> 00:30:45,050 the greatest American movie ever made, 721 00:30:45,051 --> 00:30:47,553 but "All The President's Men" is right up there. 722 00:30:47,554 --> 00:30:49,055 I knew it even then. 723 00:30:51,558 --> 00:30:53,642 Soon after, I saw "Rocky" 724 00:30:53,643 --> 00:30:55,978 at the Loew's 86th Street movie theater, 725 00:30:55,979 --> 00:30:58,564 which was across the park from where I lived. 726 00:30:58,565 --> 00:31:00,649 What a movie going experience. 727 00:31:00,650 --> 00:31:03,652 Hard to imagine it now where we watch movies on our couch, 728 00:31:03,653 --> 00:31:05,737 but there was an entire packed audience filled 729 00:31:05,738 --> 00:31:08,407 with mostly adults cheering at the screen, 730 00:31:08,408 --> 00:31:10,075 cheering at every punch. 731 00:31:10,076 --> 00:31:11,493 My parents were cheering. 732 00:31:11,494 --> 00:31:12,744 To this day, 733 00:31:12,745 --> 00:31:14,246 I think it's one of the most perfect screenplays 734 00:31:14,247 --> 00:31:15,497 ever filmed. 735 00:31:15,498 --> 00:31:17,499 Written quickly, legend has it, in three days 736 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:18,917 by Sylvester Stallone, 737 00:31:18,918 --> 00:31:20,586 who was struggling mightily at the time, 738 00:31:20,587 --> 00:31:23,171 appearing in porn movies to pay the rent. 739 00:31:23,172 --> 00:31:24,923 One of those X-rated films was released 740 00:31:24,924 --> 00:31:27,759 as "The Italian Stallion" after Rocky became a hit. 741 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,012 I've been hired by Stallion Releasing Company 742 00:31:30,013 --> 00:31:33,432 to supervise the editing of this new X-rated film, 743 00:31:33,433 --> 00:31:35,017 "The Italian Stallion," 744 00:31:35,018 --> 00:31:38,521 with Sylvester Stallone in the starring role as Stud. 745 00:31:39,689 --> 00:31:41,023 Stallone turned down big money 746 00:31:41,024 --> 00:31:42,441 to sell his script for "Rocky," 747 00:31:42,442 --> 00:31:44,276 so he could star in the film himself. 748 00:31:44,277 --> 00:31:46,111 He knew it was his shot. 749 00:31:46,112 --> 00:31:48,530 The movie was made down and dirty in 20 days 750 00:31:48,531 --> 00:31:50,365 by the director John G. Avildsen, 751 00:31:50,366 --> 00:31:52,367 who happened to live in the same building 752 00:31:52,368 --> 00:31:56,121 where I eventually lost my virginity on East 89th Street, 753 00:31:56,122 --> 00:31:59,375 a useless fact stuck in my head for four decades. 754 00:32:00,710 --> 00:32:03,378 With "Rocky," Avildsen and Stallone created something 755 00:32:03,379 --> 00:32:05,505 that was emotional and intricate, 756 00:32:05,506 --> 00:32:07,132 thrilling and uplifting. 757 00:32:07,133 --> 00:32:10,135 The training scenes were great, gritty, and tough, 758 00:32:10,136 --> 00:32:13,055 but I also connected to the smaller quieter moments, 759 00:32:13,056 --> 00:32:16,475 the awkward date with Talia Shire at the ice skating rink, 760 00:32:16,476 --> 00:32:17,726 the sad, desperate moment 761 00:32:17,727 --> 00:32:19,895 where Burgess Meredith's Mickey begs 762 00:32:19,896 --> 00:32:21,980 to be brought back into the fold. 763 00:32:21,981 --> 00:32:23,148 I got all this knowledge. 764 00:32:23,149 --> 00:32:26,318 I got it up here, now I want to give it to you. 765 00:32:26,319 --> 00:32:27,569 I want to give you this knowledge. 766 00:32:27,570 --> 00:32:28,820 I want to take care of you. 767 00:32:28,821 --> 00:32:30,489 I wanna make sure that all this shit 768 00:32:30,490 --> 00:32:32,324 that happened to me doesn't happen to you. 769 00:32:32,325 --> 00:32:34,576 I loved the movie and I love my father 770 00:32:34,577 --> 00:32:36,411 because he loved boxing and boxing films 771 00:32:36,412 --> 00:32:38,246 and it meant everything that he connected 772 00:32:38,247 --> 00:32:39,999 to the film as much as I did. 773 00:32:41,250 --> 00:32:43,001 It was amazing that they ended the film 774 00:32:43,002 --> 00:32:44,670 - with "Rocky" losing the fight. - Rocky! 775 00:32:44,671 --> 00:32:46,505 When the 1980s came, 776 00:32:46,506 --> 00:32:48,757 Rocky couldn't lose a fight again, 777 00:32:48,758 --> 00:32:50,592 but 1976 was a different time. 778 00:32:50,593 --> 00:32:51,511 Rocky! 779 00:32:51,511 --> 00:32:52,428 - Adrian! - Rocky! 780 00:32:52,428 --> 00:32:53,428 I love you! 781 00:32:54,180 --> 00:32:55,348 I love you. 782 00:32:57,100 --> 00:32:59,017 He could lose, but go the distance, 783 00:32:59,018 --> 00:32:59,936 which was a different, 784 00:32:59,937 --> 00:33:01,937 more important kind of winning. 785 00:33:01,938 --> 00:33:04,106 That landed with me. 786 00:33:04,107 --> 00:33:05,273 "Rocky." 787 00:33:05,274 --> 00:33:06,274 When "Rocky" won best picture, 788 00:33:06,275 --> 00:33:07,275 I cheered at the TV. 789 00:33:07,276 --> 00:33:08,527 I was ecstatic. 790 00:33:08,528 --> 00:33:10,779 It was as if I had won the Oscar. 791 00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:12,197 I barely noticed 792 00:33:12,198 --> 00:33:14,951 that "Rocky" had beaten "All The President's Men." 793 00:33:21,624 --> 00:33:25,627 In May of 1977, I saw "Star Wars" for the first time. 794 00:33:25,628 --> 00:33:26,962 Like many kids of that era, 795 00:33:26,963 --> 00:33:28,964 that two hours changed my life. 796 00:33:28,965 --> 00:33:30,298 I remember it perfectly. 797 00:33:30,299 --> 00:33:32,467 I could tell you where I was sitting in the theater, 798 00:33:32,468 --> 00:33:34,553 second to last row because it was packed 799 00:33:34,554 --> 00:33:36,972 and we got there too late for better seats. 800 00:33:36,973 --> 00:33:39,808 Like seeing "Blue Velvet" for the first time a decade later 801 00:33:39,809 --> 00:33:42,060 or "Breaking the Waves" a decade after that, 802 00:33:42,061 --> 00:33:44,229 or "There Will Be Blood" a decade after that. 803 00:33:44,230 --> 00:33:46,064 I left the theater transformed. 804 00:33:46,065 --> 00:33:49,067 My previous cinematic worldview, shredded and left for dead. 805 00:33:49,068 --> 00:33:51,153 No! 806 00:33:51,154 --> 00:33:52,904 I was jacked up and messed up and invigorated 807 00:33:52,905 --> 00:33:56,074 deeply erotically passionately in love with 808 00:33:56,075 --> 00:33:58,076 that movie, with all movies. 809 00:33:58,077 --> 00:33:59,578 My dreams of playing third base 810 00:33:59,579 --> 00:34:01,496 for the New York Mets were put on hold. 811 00:34:01,497 --> 00:34:03,248 My attention shifted. 812 00:34:03,249 --> 00:34:05,918 I would make movies. I would tell stories. 813 00:34:11,924 --> 00:34:14,009 For my sixth grade graduation, I asked my parents 814 00:34:14,010 --> 00:34:16,428 for a Super 8 camera as a present. 815 00:34:16,429 --> 00:34:19,181 This was a game changer, a life changer. 816 00:34:19,182 --> 00:34:20,932 With my Super 8 camera and projector 817 00:34:20,933 --> 00:34:22,517 and a million film ideas up my sleeve, 818 00:34:22,518 --> 00:34:25,604 I was chomping at the bit to start making my own movies. 819 00:34:25,605 --> 00:34:27,022 First, of course, 820 00:34:27,023 --> 00:34:28,857 I obviously needed my own film production company. 821 00:34:28,858 --> 00:34:31,193 Couldn't do it without a film production company. 822 00:34:31,194 --> 00:34:33,945 I named it Guiar Pelicula Motion Picture Company, 823 00:34:33,946 --> 00:34:36,198 which I thought was Spanish for Shepard Movies, 824 00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:37,616 but it wasn't. 825 00:34:37,617 --> 00:34:39,701 Also Shepard Movies Motion Picture Company wasn't 826 00:34:39,702 --> 00:34:42,204 exactly the cleverest of production names. 827 00:34:42,205 --> 00:34:44,456 My Aunt Hannah got me some company T-shirts 828 00:34:44,457 --> 00:34:46,124 as a graduation gift 829 00:34:46,125 --> 00:34:48,210 and Mark Gregory's dad made me a mug 830 00:34:48,211 --> 00:34:51,463 that put my name in the company of some great directors. 831 00:34:51,464 --> 00:34:56,384 I immediately started making little films, action pictures, 832 00:34:56,385 --> 00:35:00,472 mysteries, comedies, using my friends as actors, 833 00:35:00,473 --> 00:35:03,141 my toy chest as a prop department. 834 00:35:03,142 --> 00:35:04,810 I tried animation. 835 00:35:04,811 --> 00:35:06,561 I tried disaster films. 836 00:35:06,562 --> 00:35:09,815 Here you can see New York gets submerged in a flood. 837 00:35:09,816 --> 00:35:12,818 While making "A Test to Fail," a mafia movie, 838 00:35:12,819 --> 00:35:15,821 I had my friend Peter Schwartz strangle the bad guy, 839 00:35:15,822 --> 00:35:18,825 played with great menace by my father, to death. 840 00:35:23,496 --> 00:35:26,081 Later, his body was thrown out the window. 841 00:35:26,082 --> 00:35:28,250 That was actually my favorite stuffed animal 842 00:35:28,251 --> 00:35:30,669 and it accidentally landed on the awning of my building 843 00:35:30,670 --> 00:35:33,088 where we had to bribe our super, Mr. Martinez, 844 00:35:33,089 --> 00:35:34,589 to retrieve it. 845 00:35:34,590 --> 00:35:37,342 For a war film, I made with my friend, Simon Stark, 846 00:35:37,343 --> 00:35:40,095 we took turns operating the camera and acting. 847 00:35:40,096 --> 00:35:43,348 I played a Nazi guard and he played an escaped prisoner. 848 00:35:43,349 --> 00:35:44,933 I'm still not sure what his neighbors 849 00:35:44,934 --> 00:35:46,935 in the Jewish enclave of Scarsdale, New York, 850 00:35:46,936 --> 00:35:48,520 thought of the two of us running 851 00:35:48,521 --> 00:35:50,772 around with fake blood and fake guns. 852 00:35:50,773 --> 00:35:52,357 I do know we were extremely lucky 853 00:35:52,358 --> 00:35:55,277 that the giant exploding swastika fire we set, 854 00:35:55,278 --> 00:35:57,362 with lighter fluid in his backyard 855 00:35:57,363 --> 00:35:58,780 for our incredible finale 856 00:35:58,781 --> 00:36:02,451 where the Nazi dies, didn't burn the entire street down. 857 00:36:05,204 --> 00:36:06,705 The fact was I was hooked. 858 00:36:06,706 --> 00:36:09,207 Christmas couldn't come fast enough 859 00:36:09,208 --> 00:36:12,294 so I could get a film splicer and editing system. 860 00:36:12,295 --> 00:36:13,628 Well, Charles? 861 00:36:13,629 --> 00:36:16,298 My birthday brought a sound Super 8 camera. 862 00:36:16,299 --> 00:36:17,632 Merry Christmas. 863 00:36:17,633 --> 00:36:18,800 It was all I was thinking about. 864 00:36:18,801 --> 00:36:20,302 Rosebud. 865 00:36:20,303 --> 00:36:21,970 Of course, my grades suffered. 866 00:36:21,971 --> 00:36:23,805 There were tutors, panic. 867 00:36:23,806 --> 00:36:25,473 I had to switch schools. 868 00:36:25,474 --> 00:36:26,725 But I was going into Tosche Station 869 00:36:26,726 --> 00:36:28,560 to pick up some power converters. 870 00:36:28,561 --> 00:36:29,895 You can waste time with your friends 871 00:36:29,896 --> 00:36:31,062 when your chores are done. 872 00:36:31,063 --> 00:36:32,480 Now come on, get to it. 873 00:36:32,481 --> 00:36:33,648 My mother worried about me, 874 00:36:33,649 --> 00:36:35,567 but my dad seemed to understand. 875 00:36:35,568 --> 00:36:37,986 If his own father had tried to quash his creative instincts, 876 00:36:37,987 --> 00:36:41,656 my dad made sure to encourage mine, at least up to a point, 877 00:36:41,657 --> 00:36:43,491 and that point was his wallet. 878 00:36:43,492 --> 00:36:46,161 All my movie making ambitions were expensive 879 00:36:46,162 --> 00:36:47,662 and my parents were quickly losing interest 880 00:36:47,663 --> 00:36:50,081 in being my personal film financier, 881 00:36:50,082 --> 00:36:53,084 so I resorted to other methods to get my movies made, 882 00:36:53,085 --> 00:36:54,920 subterfuge and crime. 883 00:36:54,921 --> 00:36:56,421 When one day, 884 00:36:56,422 --> 00:36:58,340 a roll of my Super 8 film got developed incorrectly, 885 00:36:58,341 --> 00:37:01,259 they gave me a free roll of film to make up for it. 886 00:37:01,260 --> 00:37:02,594 Using this knowledge 887 00:37:02,595 --> 00:37:04,679 and blaming the lack of receipt on my parents, 888 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:06,097 I went from camera store 889 00:37:06,098 --> 00:37:08,099 to camera store throughout the city lying about 890 00:37:08,100 --> 00:37:10,352 how they up fucked my movie when they developed it, 891 00:37:10,353 --> 00:37:13,188 and getting free rolls of film in return. 892 00:37:13,189 --> 00:37:15,023 Later in high school, I got the kids in my class 893 00:37:15,024 --> 00:37:16,441 to bake cookies and brownies 894 00:37:16,442 --> 00:37:18,109 and I would do bake sales on Lexington Avenue 895 00:37:18,110 --> 00:37:19,778 to raise money for my movies. 896 00:37:19,779 --> 00:37:21,863 I was a hustler even then, 897 00:37:21,864 --> 00:37:24,866 and that's because I was a scab-filled street junkie. 898 00:37:24,867 --> 00:37:28,370 I was addicted to movies, to watching them, to making them. 899 00:37:28,371 --> 00:37:30,121 I constantly needed a fix. 900 00:37:30,122 --> 00:37:32,958 I subscribed to "American Film" magazine, 901 00:37:32,959 --> 00:37:35,293 read every issue cover to cover. 902 00:37:35,294 --> 00:37:37,462 I bought every book I could get my hands on. 903 00:37:37,463 --> 00:37:41,549 "The Making of 2001," "Halliwell's Film Guide," 904 00:37:41,550 --> 00:37:43,134 and "The Movie Brats," 905 00:37:43,135 --> 00:37:46,054 which discussed how many of my directorial heroes had gone 906 00:37:46,055 --> 00:37:47,806 to film school. 907 00:37:47,807 --> 00:37:49,975 I made a mental note. 908 00:37:49,976 --> 00:37:51,977 Filmmaking ignited something in me. 909 00:37:51,978 --> 00:37:53,979 It engulfed me and held me in its sway now 910 00:37:53,980 --> 00:37:55,647 for more than 40 years. 911 00:37:55,648 --> 00:37:57,148 Why? 912 00:37:57,149 --> 00:38:00,151 Who was this 13-year-old boy that had to make films? 913 00:38:00,152 --> 00:38:03,238 It brought me joy, I know that, instantaneous joy, 914 00:38:03,239 --> 00:38:05,407 but lots of things at that age brought me joy. 915 00:38:05,408 --> 00:38:06,741 It was more than that. 916 00:38:06,742 --> 00:38:08,410 I think there was this sense of satisfaction 917 00:38:08,411 --> 00:38:11,663 with my filmmaking, of completion, of success. 918 00:38:11,664 --> 00:38:13,498 With every bad grade and worse report card, 919 00:38:13,499 --> 00:38:15,834 I still had this thing that made me feel important 920 00:38:15,835 --> 00:38:17,335 and worth something. 921 00:38:17,336 --> 00:38:19,170 I had success instead of failure 922 00:38:19,171 --> 00:38:20,965 and I fucking breathed it in. 923 00:38:22,341 --> 00:38:25,343 ♪ My anxiety ♪ 924 00:38:25,344 --> 00:38:28,847 ♪ It's always the same ♪ 925 00:38:28,848 --> 00:38:31,016 At a certain point, as I got older, 926 00:38:31,017 --> 00:38:33,351 my father basically stopped taking me to movies 927 00:38:33,352 --> 00:38:35,186 he didn't wanna watch himself. 928 00:38:35,187 --> 00:38:38,106 If I wanted to see, "Love At First Bite" 929 00:38:38,107 --> 00:38:41,609 with "Bad News Bears in Japan," or "Meteor." 930 00:38:41,610 --> 00:38:43,695 That meteor's five miles wide 931 00:38:43,696 --> 00:38:45,530 and it's definitely gonna hit us! 932 00:38:45,531 --> 00:38:47,949 I could go with my friends or with my mom, 933 00:38:47,950 --> 00:38:51,036 but my dad was done slumming it with me. 934 00:38:51,037 --> 00:38:55,540 This was a blow, a wake up call to a new reality. 935 00:38:55,541 --> 00:38:59,044 Going to the movies with my parents, both my parents, 936 00:38:59,045 --> 00:39:00,545 was what I was used to. 937 00:39:00,546 --> 00:39:01,796 No matter what the film, 938 00:39:01,797 --> 00:39:03,548 we went as a family. 939 00:39:03,549 --> 00:39:05,383 That my father would just walk away from 940 00:39:05,384 --> 00:39:07,302 that was staggering. 941 00:39:07,303 --> 00:39:10,555 He was my movie teacher, my hero. 942 00:39:10,556 --> 00:39:12,266 How could he do this to me? 943 00:39:13,225 --> 00:39:16,227 The fact was he no longer saw me as a little kid. 944 00:39:16,228 --> 00:39:18,396 He no longer felt that he needed to coddle me, 945 00:39:18,397 --> 00:39:20,648 especially when it came to the movies. 946 00:39:20,649 --> 00:39:23,401 From now on, if I wanted to go to films with my dad, 947 00:39:23,402 --> 00:39:25,236 it had to be tagging along to the movies 948 00:39:25,237 --> 00:39:28,824 that he wanted to see, movies made for adults. 949 00:39:33,579 --> 00:39:35,747 That's how I ended up going with my father 950 00:39:35,748 --> 00:39:39,417 to see a certain movie that would change my life forever. 951 00:39:39,418 --> 00:39:42,420 It was a Saturday afternoon in the spring of 1980. 952 00:39:42,421 --> 00:39:43,755 We went to the New Yorker Theatre 953 00:39:43,756 --> 00:39:45,590 on 89th Street and Broadway, 954 00:39:45,591 --> 00:39:48,009 which was only a few blocks from my home. 955 00:39:48,010 --> 00:39:51,179 The New Yorker was a great Upper West Side institution. 956 00:39:51,180 --> 00:39:52,514 I loved it there. 957 00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:53,932 Never more so than 958 00:39:53,933 --> 00:39:56,434 when I saw the film my dad took me to that day. 959 00:39:56,435 --> 00:40:00,105 Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." 960 00:40:00,106 --> 00:40:01,773 "Apocalypse Now" was the first movie 961 00:40:01,774 --> 00:40:04,359 that made me truly understand what a director did. 962 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:06,444 The images and sequences that Coppola 963 00:40:06,445 --> 00:40:09,531 and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro created together are 964 00:40:09,532 --> 00:40:12,952 embedded in cinema history and in my history. 965 00:40:14,203 --> 00:40:17,790 I love the use of color, the music, and sound design. 966 00:40:19,291 --> 00:40:22,710 The helicopter dissolving into a fan. 967 00:40:22,711 --> 00:40:25,630 I loved Han Solo playing a small supporting part 968 00:40:25,631 --> 00:40:27,382 in awkward glasses. 969 00:40:27,383 --> 00:40:29,467 I love Francis Ford Coppola's cameo. 970 00:40:29,468 --> 00:40:30,885 Don't look at the camera. 971 00:40:30,886 --> 00:40:32,637 Just go by like you're fighting, like you're fighting! 972 00:40:32,638 --> 00:40:34,055 Don't look at the camera! 973 00:40:34,056 --> 00:40:35,807 It's for television, just go through! 974 00:40:35,808 --> 00:40:37,809 I love Martin Sheen's voice, 975 00:40:37,810 --> 00:40:40,478 the beautiful way his narration was recorded. 976 00:40:40,479 --> 00:40:43,023 How many people had I already killed? 977 00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:46,694 There were those six that I knew about for sure. 978 00:40:48,237 --> 00:40:50,837 Close enough to blow their last breath in my face. 979 00:40:52,658 --> 00:40:55,493 With "Apocalypse Now" I finally understood 980 00:40:55,494 --> 00:40:58,830 for the first time that one person working 981 00:40:58,831 --> 00:41:02,834 with many people had driven all these things to the screen, 982 00:41:02,835 --> 00:41:05,086 had dreamt it and made it happen, 983 00:41:05,087 --> 00:41:07,756 had directed the movie to existence. 984 00:41:09,008 --> 00:41:11,092 I was so obsessed about the film that I went 985 00:41:11,093 --> 00:41:13,303 to Jerry Ohlinger's Movie Materials shop 986 00:41:13,304 --> 00:41:14,512 on West Third Street 987 00:41:14,513 --> 00:41:18,600 {\an8}and bought the film's poster with the great art by Bob Peak. 988 00:41:18,601 --> 00:41:21,019 {\an8}It hung on my wall for years. 989 00:41:21,020 --> 00:41:23,188 I bought notes, Eleanor Coppola's book 990 00:41:23,189 --> 00:41:24,772 about the making of her husband's film, 991 00:41:24,773 --> 00:41:27,358 and I read it religiously, trying to soak it in, 992 00:41:27,359 --> 00:41:28,526 trying to learn what it would be like 993 00:41:28,527 --> 00:41:30,445 to make something so brilliant. 994 00:41:30,446 --> 00:41:32,280 "The teeth in my soul have cavities," 995 00:41:32,281 --> 00:41:34,282 she quotes Francis Coppola saying. 996 00:41:34,283 --> 00:41:36,618 I still remember circling that one. 997 00:41:36,619 --> 00:41:39,537 I bought the record, a double album with dialogue and music 998 00:41:39,538 --> 00:41:41,456 and narration from the film. 999 00:41:41,457 --> 00:41:44,375 I attached many extension cords to my portable record player 1000 00:41:44,376 --> 00:41:47,128 and brought it out to the backyard of our vacation rental 1001 00:41:47,129 --> 00:41:49,047 and listened all summer long. 1002 00:41:49,048 --> 00:41:51,466 I memorized the entirety of Michael Herr's narration 1003 00:41:51,467 --> 00:41:52,384 for the film. 1004 00:41:52,385 --> 00:41:55,136 Saigon. Shit. 1005 00:41:55,137 --> 00:41:56,888 I'm still only in Saigon. 1006 00:41:56,889 --> 00:41:58,473 "Every time I think I'm gonna wake up 1007 00:41:58,474 --> 00:41:59,725 back in the jungle." 1008 00:42:00,476 --> 00:42:02,477 Are you an assassin? 1009 00:42:02,478 --> 00:42:03,896 I'm a soldier. 1010 00:42:06,273 --> 00:42:07,483 You are neither. 1011 00:42:10,152 --> 00:42:11,987 You're an errand boy 1012 00:42:12,988 --> 00:42:17,243 sent by grocery clerks to collect a bill. 1013 00:42:18,244 --> 00:42:21,996 "Apocalypse Now" changed the way I saw movies. 1014 00:42:21,997 --> 00:42:26,251 It opened my mind, blew away my expectations. 1015 00:42:26,252 --> 00:42:28,003 I was never the same. 1016 00:42:30,506 --> 00:42:33,258 Westport, Connecticut is where I obsessively listened to 1017 00:42:33,259 --> 00:42:35,593 that "Apocalypse Now" soundtrack album 1018 00:42:35,594 --> 00:42:37,011 and as far back as I remember, 1019 00:42:37,012 --> 00:42:39,013 summers were spent up there. 1020 00:42:39,014 --> 00:42:40,431 Other than weekends, 1021 00:42:40,432 --> 00:42:42,767 my dad mostly stayed in the city to work, 1022 00:42:42,768 --> 00:42:44,769 so it was usually just me and my mom, 1023 00:42:44,770 --> 00:42:46,854 and that was fine by me. 1024 00:42:46,855 --> 00:42:48,940 She was great movie going company 1025 00:42:48,941 --> 00:42:51,109 and many a warm summer night of my youth 1026 00:42:51,110 --> 00:42:53,111 was spent getting lost together 1027 00:42:53,112 --> 00:42:56,281 in whatever film was playing at the local movie theater. 1028 00:42:56,282 --> 00:42:59,367 Oh, the summers were a glorious time. 1029 00:42:59,368 --> 00:43:02,287 My mom and I went to see almost every movie I wanted. 1030 00:43:02,288 --> 00:43:05,873 From "Meatballs" to "Uptown Saturday Night," 1031 00:43:05,874 --> 00:43:09,460 if it played in Westport, we were there. 1032 00:43:09,461 --> 00:43:13,047 A few years before "Apocalypse Now," when I was 10, 1033 00:43:13,048 --> 00:43:16,384 I begged and begged my mother to take me to "Jaws." 1034 00:43:16,385 --> 00:43:18,136 It was all anyone was talking about 1035 00:43:18,137 --> 00:43:21,222 in the summer of 1975. 1036 00:43:21,223 --> 00:43:22,807 My mother finally relented 1037 00:43:22,808 --> 00:43:25,394 and we saw it at the Fine Arts Theatre in Westport. 1038 00:43:27,146 --> 00:43:28,605 It was there that the second 1039 00:43:28,606 --> 00:43:30,064 of the three biggest scares 1040 00:43:30,065 --> 00:43:32,233 that a movie happened to me. 1041 00:43:32,234 --> 00:43:34,902 Not when the head pops out of the sunken boat, 1042 00:43:34,903 --> 00:43:36,654 though that was terrifying. 1043 00:43:36,655 --> 00:43:38,656 Not when the boy was attacked at the beach 1044 00:43:38,657 --> 00:43:41,576 after everyone finally went back in the water. 1045 00:43:41,577 --> 00:43:44,329 No, it was when Roy Scheider was casually throwing chum 1046 00:43:44,330 --> 00:43:45,663 - into the ocean. - I can go slow ahead. 1047 00:43:45,664 --> 00:43:47,666 Come on down and chum some of this shit. 1048 00:43:49,168 --> 00:43:51,836 Holy shit, that scared the hell out of me. 1049 00:43:51,837 --> 00:43:54,255 My mother, of course, instantly regretted the decision 1050 00:43:54,256 --> 00:43:55,506 to take me to "Jaws" 1051 00:43:55,507 --> 00:43:57,425 as I was totally terrified by the movie. 1052 00:43:57,426 --> 00:43:58,509 Did you hear your father? 1053 00:43:58,510 --> 00:43:59,844 Out of the water now! 1054 00:43:59,845 --> 00:44:01,179 Though I loved it. 1055 00:44:01,180 --> 00:44:03,431 And subsequently, like much of America that summer, 1056 00:44:03,432 --> 00:44:05,683 I refused to go into the water. 1057 00:44:05,684 --> 00:44:08,019 That didn't stop me from buying "The Jaws Log," 1058 00:44:08,020 --> 00:44:10,188 a book by one of the film screenwriters. 1059 00:44:10,189 --> 00:44:12,023 It was a true behind- the-scenes story 1060 00:44:12,024 --> 00:44:13,941 and I ate up each delicious page. 1061 00:44:13,942 --> 00:44:16,694 I felt like I was almost a member of the film's crew 1062 00:44:16,695 --> 00:44:17,862 and even as a 10 year old, 1063 00:44:17,863 --> 00:44:19,948 that's desperately where I wanted to be. 1064 00:44:21,533 --> 00:44:25,621 I was terrified by the movie, but wildly inspired by it. 1065 00:44:27,289 --> 00:44:28,790 My sweet mother, 1066 00:44:28,791 --> 00:44:32,126 what she must have thought after taking me to "Jaws." 1067 00:44:32,127 --> 00:44:35,713 She's lost to dementia now, barely remembering me, 1068 00:44:35,714 --> 00:44:38,216 but I still have so many questions for her, 1069 00:44:38,217 --> 00:44:41,887 so many movie memories that only she and I shared. 1070 00:44:49,395 --> 00:44:53,481 It's the biggest, it's the best, it's Bond. 1071 00:44:53,482 --> 00:44:55,316 After the summer of "Jaws," 1072 00:44:55,317 --> 00:44:57,985 my mother and I had better Westport movie success 1073 00:44:57,986 --> 00:45:00,071 with the "James Bond" films. 1074 00:45:00,072 --> 00:45:02,490 We saw "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker." 1075 00:45:02,491 --> 00:45:04,158 We saw "The Revenge of the Pink Panther" 1076 00:45:04,159 --> 00:45:06,079 and "The Pink Panther Strikes Again." 1077 00:45:07,079 --> 00:45:08,496 One of my favorite films I saw 1078 00:45:08,497 --> 00:45:11,416 during the summertime was "Breaking Away," 1079 00:45:11,417 --> 00:45:14,837 directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. 1080 00:45:16,588 --> 00:45:19,841 My mother and I actually saw it twice in the summer of '79 1081 00:45:19,842 --> 00:45:22,176 as it played at the local theater from June to August 1082 00:45:22,177 --> 00:45:23,678 back when movies would play for months, 1083 00:45:23,679 --> 00:45:26,097 slowly finding their audience. 1084 00:45:26,098 --> 00:45:29,267 Seeing this film about four friends' endless summer days 1085 00:45:29,268 --> 00:45:31,102 and a bike race that changes their lives. 1086 00:45:31,103 --> 00:45:32,687 I instantly fell hard for it, 1087 00:45:32,688 --> 00:45:35,440 especially for the scenes of the friends hanging out. 1088 00:45:35,441 --> 00:45:37,859 They seem like real people, real buddies, 1089 00:45:37,860 --> 00:45:39,778 funny and competitive with each other. 1090 00:45:40,863 --> 00:45:42,823 How'd you get to be so stupid, Cyril? 1091 00:45:43,699 --> 00:45:45,533 I don't know. 1092 00:45:45,534 --> 00:45:47,034 Guess I have a dumb heredity or something. 1093 00:45:47,035 --> 00:45:48,954 What's your excuse, Michael? 1094 00:45:50,622 --> 00:45:52,790 "Breaking Away" was the perfect summer movie. 1095 00:45:52,791 --> 00:45:55,711 It was light and funny, but also real and resonant. 1096 00:45:58,380 --> 00:46:00,047 The kids in the movie were older than me 1097 00:46:00,048 --> 00:46:01,632 and definitely different, but I connected 1098 00:46:01,633 --> 00:46:03,968 to the way they talked and hung out and the dreams they had. 1099 00:46:03,969 --> 00:46:05,387 How you doing, guys? 1100 00:46:06,305 --> 00:46:08,139 Well, we're a little disturbed 1101 00:46:08,140 --> 00:46:09,599 by the developments in the Middle East, 1102 00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:11,040 but other than that. 1103 00:46:16,315 --> 00:46:18,566 One of the oddest films I saw with my mom in 1104 00:46:18,567 --> 00:46:20,443 Connecticut was a PG version 1105 00:46:20,444 --> 00:46:22,236 of "Saturday Night Fever," 1106 00:46:22,237 --> 00:46:23,738 which Paramount Pictures released 1107 00:46:23,739 --> 00:46:27,241 after the original R-rated version became a mega hit. 1108 00:46:27,242 --> 00:46:28,576 My mother had loved the movie 1109 00:46:28,577 --> 00:46:30,328 and played the soundtrack often, 1110 00:46:30,329 --> 00:46:32,079 but she wouldn't let me see it. 1111 00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:34,248 "Too inappropriate," she said. 1112 00:46:34,249 --> 00:46:36,417 This pissed me off to no end, but at 12, 1113 00:46:36,418 --> 00:46:39,003 with no car and stranded in our country house, 1114 00:46:39,004 --> 00:46:40,588 I had no choice but to brood 1115 00:46:40,589 --> 00:46:42,340 and endure everyone talking about a movie 1116 00:46:42,341 --> 00:46:44,091 I was unable to see. 1117 00:46:44,092 --> 00:46:45,676 Finally, 1118 00:46:45,677 --> 00:46:47,011 when this more family- friendly version was released, 1119 00:46:47,012 --> 00:46:49,681 I got to check out what all the commotion was about. 1120 00:46:50,516 --> 00:46:52,099 I liked it, I guess. 1121 00:46:52,100 --> 00:46:54,519 Sure, the dancing and music was cool, 1122 00:46:54,520 --> 00:46:56,687 but I knew I was missing something. 1123 00:46:56,688 --> 00:46:58,105 I was missing the good part 1124 00:46:58,106 --> 00:47:01,026 and not just the nudity in four letter words. 1125 00:47:02,277 --> 00:47:04,946 Later, when I saw the original R-rated cut on VHS 1126 00:47:04,947 --> 00:47:09,200 in 11th grade, I was blown away by what was cut out. 1127 00:47:09,201 --> 00:47:11,369 Instead of just a dance movie about a young guy 1128 00:47:11,370 --> 00:47:12,870 with big city dreams, 1129 00:47:12,871 --> 00:47:14,622 "Saturday Night Fever" was a dark, 1130 00:47:14,623 --> 00:47:16,123 yet honest look at flawed, 1131 00:47:16,124 --> 00:47:19,877 complex people with real troubles as well as real dreams. 1132 00:47:19,878 --> 00:47:21,963 Travolta was still deeply likable, 1133 00:47:21,964 --> 00:47:24,882 but he now existed in a world with hurt and anger 1134 00:47:24,883 --> 00:47:27,718 and death where a girl could be horribly assaulted 1135 00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:29,470 in the backseat of a car, 1136 00:47:29,471 --> 00:47:32,640 where pain was as much a factor as pleasure. 1137 00:47:32,641 --> 00:47:35,977 In other words, it was a classic '70s American movie. 1138 00:47:35,978 --> 00:47:37,728 The flaws were the point, 1139 00:47:37,729 --> 00:47:40,398 the humanity exposed by the truthfulness, 1140 00:47:40,399 --> 00:47:43,234 and it still had a killer soundtrack 1141 00:47:43,235 --> 00:47:45,988 and a perfect beautiful John Travolta. 1142 00:47:47,573 --> 00:47:51,075 One summer day, I was in a small Westport bookstore, 1143 00:47:51,076 --> 00:47:53,077 biding my time as my mother shopped 1144 00:47:53,078 --> 00:47:55,413 at the farm stand across the street. 1145 00:47:55,414 --> 00:47:57,498 Suddenly, she ran into the store, 1146 00:47:57,499 --> 00:48:00,001 all flush and frazzled, yanked my hand and said, 1147 00:48:00,002 --> 00:48:02,753 "Come with me," as if our house was on fire. 1148 00:48:02,754 --> 00:48:04,505 My mother quickly dragged me across the street 1149 00:48:04,506 --> 00:48:06,257 and shoved me into the farm stand 1150 00:48:06,258 --> 00:48:08,259 and right up next to a gentleman in sunglasses 1151 00:48:08,260 --> 00:48:09,927 checking out the peaches. 1152 00:48:09,928 --> 00:48:13,681 This is how I got to see Paul Newman up close and personal. 1153 00:48:13,682 --> 00:48:15,933 For years after, I would joke that my mother only used me 1154 00:48:15,934 --> 00:48:20,021 as a cute prop, a way in so she could smile flirtatiously 1155 00:48:20,022 --> 00:48:21,772 and bat her eyes at him, 1156 00:48:21,773 --> 00:48:24,191 but now I understand that she probably really did it for me, 1157 00:48:24,192 --> 00:48:26,527 as she always said, because my mother knew 1158 00:48:26,528 --> 00:48:29,280 how much I loved "The Sting" and "The Towering Inferno," 1159 00:48:29,281 --> 00:48:30,448 and movies. 1160 00:48:30,449 --> 00:48:31,866 And she knew that seeing 1161 00:48:31,867 --> 00:48:34,368 a star like Paul Newman up close would stay with me. 1162 00:48:34,369 --> 00:48:36,287 I soon found out that New York City was great 1163 00:48:36,288 --> 00:48:38,122 for spotting movie stars 1164 00:48:38,123 --> 00:48:40,292 and running into them gave me a high. 1165 00:48:41,710 --> 00:48:44,295 I saw Sylvester Stallone and John Travolta walking together 1166 00:48:44,296 --> 00:48:46,380 in matching fur coats on the Upper West Side 1167 00:48:46,381 --> 00:48:49,800 as they were making "Staying Alive." 1168 00:48:49,801 --> 00:48:51,302 One day, my father made the mistake of telling me 1169 00:48:51,303 --> 00:48:54,472 that he had just spotted Roy Scheider browsing 1170 00:48:54,473 --> 00:48:55,973 at the New Yorker Bookstore, 1171 00:48:55,974 --> 00:48:58,309 which is above the New Yorker Theatre in my neighborhood. 1172 00:48:58,310 --> 00:49:00,729 This was serious film nerd news. 1173 00:49:05,317 --> 00:49:07,068 I mean, here was the star of "Jaws" 1174 00:49:07,069 --> 00:49:09,820 at a bookstore only a few blocks from my apartment. 1175 00:49:09,821 --> 00:49:11,822 I vowed to run into him myself 1176 00:49:11,823 --> 00:49:13,157 and spent many, many hours roaming 1177 00:49:13,158 --> 00:49:15,326 the aisles of the place looking for him. 1178 00:49:15,327 --> 00:49:17,078 It never happened, of course, 1179 00:49:17,079 --> 00:49:18,663 though I did fall in love with the bookstore 1180 00:49:18,664 --> 00:49:20,081 during that time. 1181 00:49:20,082 --> 00:49:21,999 Trips there were always special. 1182 00:49:22,000 --> 00:49:24,919 My dad bought cigars at the indoor newsstand below it 1183 00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,421 and then we'd go up the narrow spiral staircase 1184 00:49:27,422 --> 00:49:30,091 to this massive, mysterious store above. 1185 00:49:30,092 --> 00:49:32,343 I can still remember the dusty smell of the place 1186 00:49:32,344 --> 00:49:35,222 and, of course, where the film section was. 1187 00:49:36,431 --> 00:49:39,433 If I saw my dad as Errol Flynn when I was a kid 1188 00:49:39,434 --> 00:49:42,019 and then Humphrey Bogart as I got older, 1189 00:49:42,020 --> 00:49:45,189 by the time I was 14, I became completely convinced 1190 00:49:45,190 --> 00:49:46,524 that he most resembled 1191 00:49:46,525 --> 00:49:48,693 the lunatic character Peter Falk played 1192 00:49:48,694 --> 00:49:52,530 in the perfectly bonkers comedy, "The In-Laws." 1193 00:49:52,531 --> 00:49:54,365 Falk played a slightly deranged, 1194 00:49:54,366 --> 00:49:56,701 though completely lovable CIA agent 1195 00:49:56,702 --> 00:49:58,786 who had a very hard time with the truth 1196 00:49:58,787 --> 00:50:01,122 and an even harder time staying out of trouble. 1197 00:50:01,123 --> 00:50:04,625 Like my dad, Falk in the movie had secret identities 1198 00:50:04,626 --> 00:50:06,544 and mysterious agendas. 1199 00:50:06,545 --> 00:50:08,963 My father wasn't traveling all over the world getting 1200 00:50:08,964 --> 00:50:12,550 into comic trouble, but he just as well could have been. 1201 00:50:12,551 --> 00:50:14,969 He did things that made no sense at the time, 1202 00:50:14,970 --> 00:50:17,221 but seemed vitally important to him. 1203 00:50:17,222 --> 00:50:19,056 Some were small like his refusal 1204 00:50:19,057 --> 00:50:21,308 to pay admission prices to anything. 1205 00:50:21,309 --> 00:50:23,728 If it were an antique fair, he would always sneak us in 1206 00:50:23,729 --> 00:50:25,062 through the service entrance 1207 00:50:25,063 --> 00:50:27,231 rather than pay a dollar to get in. 1208 00:50:27,232 --> 00:50:28,816 Or he'd speak in gibberish 1209 00:50:28,817 --> 00:50:32,069 until the person at the front door gave up and let us in. 1210 00:50:32,070 --> 00:50:34,405 He'd tell my mother he was betting only a hundred dollars 1211 00:50:34,406 --> 00:50:37,742 on a boxing match, but I'd see thousands of dollars come 1212 00:50:37,743 --> 00:50:41,245 and go, and I knew he was lying to her. 1213 00:50:41,246 --> 00:50:44,248 But the biggest move my father made was a day he announced 1214 00:50:44,249 --> 00:50:47,251 to me and my mom that he would no longer be speaking 1215 00:50:47,252 --> 00:50:50,421 to his own father or his brothers ever again. 1216 00:50:50,422 --> 00:50:53,340 Even for my dad, this seemed like a crazy thing to do. 1217 00:50:53,341 --> 00:50:56,177 He was cutting off his family completely. 1218 00:50:56,178 --> 00:50:58,763 When I probed him further, he told me that his whole life, 1219 00:50:58,764 --> 00:51:01,265 they never understood him, never encouraged him, 1220 00:51:01,266 --> 00:51:03,350 and he needed to expunge them now 1221 00:51:03,351 --> 00:51:06,437 in order to finally feel free and be fully happy. 1222 00:51:06,438 --> 00:51:08,773 He said one day he would explain the whole story, 1223 00:51:08,774 --> 00:51:10,107 but for now, I just had to accept 1224 00:51:10,108 --> 00:51:12,109 that it was something my father had to do, 1225 00:51:12,110 --> 00:51:13,778 so that was that. 1226 00:51:13,779 --> 00:51:16,447 Making that heartbreakingly difficult decision 1227 00:51:16,448 --> 00:51:17,948 in order to help himself 1228 00:51:17,949 --> 00:51:20,117 showed me that my father had a level of guts 1229 00:51:20,118 --> 00:51:21,786 I couldn't imagine. 1230 00:51:21,787 --> 00:51:23,370 In the movies, I always saw courage 1231 00:51:23,371 --> 00:51:25,623 as Rod Taylor saving Tippi Hedren 1232 00:51:25,624 --> 00:51:29,210 as the birds attacked her in Hitchcock's Film. 1233 00:51:29,211 --> 00:51:31,545 Or Richard Dreyfuss getting on the mothership 1234 00:51:31,546 --> 00:51:34,215 with the aliens in "Close Encounters." 1235 00:51:34,216 --> 00:51:35,549 But in my real life, 1236 00:51:35,550 --> 00:51:38,720 I had never seen a braver thing done by anybody. 1237 00:51:52,317 --> 00:51:53,651 With my father's open wounds 1238 00:51:53,652 --> 00:51:55,986 about his own family now exposed, 1239 00:51:55,987 --> 00:51:57,738 he decided I was mature enough 1240 00:51:57,739 --> 00:52:01,158 to appreciate the most famous movie made about a family, 1241 00:52:01,159 --> 00:52:03,577 Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" 1242 00:52:03,578 --> 00:52:05,830 and "Godfather Part II." 1243 00:52:05,831 --> 00:52:08,082 The movies were playing in revival at the Regency Theatre 1244 00:52:08,083 --> 00:52:10,334 on West 67th Street. 1245 00:52:10,335 --> 00:52:11,919 Those movies were a lot to take in 1246 00:52:11,920 --> 00:52:14,171 and I would have to see them both many times more 1247 00:52:14,172 --> 00:52:16,006 to fully get their impact, 1248 00:52:16,007 --> 00:52:18,008 but it clarified my youthful belief 1249 00:52:18,009 --> 00:52:19,510 that Francis Ford Coppola was 1250 00:52:19,511 --> 00:52:21,846 the greatest filmmaker of all time. 1251 00:52:21,847 --> 00:52:23,097 Something I also noted was 1252 00:52:23,098 --> 00:52:25,182 that the actor playing Fredo had a quality 1253 00:52:25,183 --> 00:52:27,351 that just cut to my heart. 1254 00:52:27,352 --> 00:52:30,604 I related to his loneliness, his otherness. 1255 00:52:30,605 --> 00:52:32,106 There was a sadness in his eyes, 1256 00:52:32,107 --> 00:52:34,275 a weakness in him amongst all the other machismo 1257 00:52:34,276 --> 00:52:37,194 in the films, and I deeply connected to it. 1258 00:52:37,195 --> 00:52:38,445 In college, I put together 1259 00:52:38,446 --> 00:52:41,031 that the same actor from the Godfathers was 1260 00:52:41,032 --> 00:52:43,701 also in "The Conversation," "Dog Day Afternoon," 1261 00:52:43,702 --> 00:52:45,035 and "The Deer Hunter." 1262 00:52:45,036 --> 00:52:47,037 And that I loved him in all those films. 1263 00:52:47,038 --> 00:52:50,207 Years later, I would make a documentary for HBO. 1264 00:52:50,208 --> 00:52:53,544 "I Knew It Was You. Rediscovering John Cazale," 1265 00:52:53,545 --> 00:52:55,546 and would be able to shine a light on the man 1266 00:52:55,547 --> 00:52:57,131 who only did five movies, 1267 00:52:57,132 --> 00:52:58,382 all of them classics, 1268 00:52:58,383 --> 00:53:00,885 all of them nominated for best picture. 1269 00:53:00,886 --> 00:53:03,888 It was an incredible run, never duplicated. 1270 00:53:03,889 --> 00:53:06,223 Cazale was Al Pacino's best friend, 1271 00:53:06,224 --> 00:53:07,808 Meryl Streep's boyfriend, 1272 00:53:07,809 --> 00:53:09,643 and he died of cancer at 42. 1273 00:53:09,644 --> 00:53:12,646 Of the bountiful pleasures in doing that documentary, 1274 00:53:12,647 --> 00:53:14,398 the best was that I got 1275 00:53:14,399 --> 00:53:16,901 to interview many of my childhood movie heroes, 1276 00:53:16,902 --> 00:53:19,486 including Coppola himself. 1277 00:53:19,487 --> 00:53:21,405 It was quite a thrill talking with him, 1278 00:53:21,406 --> 00:53:22,907 though I didn't have the guts to tell him 1279 00:53:22,908 --> 00:53:24,742 that I had memorized all the narration 1280 00:53:24,743 --> 00:53:26,423 from "Apocalypse Now." 1281 00:53:27,662 --> 00:53:30,331 I also didn't tell him that one day in high school, 1282 00:53:30,332 --> 00:53:33,334 I saw that a movie was being filmed at the Plaza Hotel 1283 00:53:33,335 --> 00:53:35,502 and I followed the cables from the generators on the street 1284 00:53:35,503 --> 00:53:40,090 into a side door, up some back stairs, down a long corridor, 1285 00:53:40,091 --> 00:53:43,177 through two giant banquet rooms filled with equipment 1286 00:53:43,178 --> 00:53:46,013 and onto the set of his movie, "The Cotton Club," 1287 00:53:46,014 --> 00:53:48,015 where I stole some craft service donuts 1288 00:53:48,016 --> 00:53:50,017 before being spotted and kicked to the street. 1289 00:53:50,018 --> 00:53:51,770 What do you think you're doing? 1290 00:53:54,606 --> 00:53:56,857 Growing up in New York was also great 1291 00:53:56,858 --> 00:53:59,610 for stumbling onto film sets. 1292 00:53:59,611 --> 00:54:01,695 One night I was near the Metropolitan Museum 1293 00:54:01,696 --> 00:54:04,199 and came across a big movie being shot there. 1294 00:54:05,450 --> 00:54:08,619 There was a large crew and many period cars. 1295 00:54:08,620 --> 00:54:10,037 Not knowing any better, 1296 00:54:10,038 --> 00:54:12,623 I walked past the rest of the New Yorkers watching, 1297 00:54:12,624 --> 00:54:14,959 slid under several police barriers, 1298 00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:18,295 snaked my way through a bunch of crew members and extras, 1299 00:54:18,296 --> 00:54:21,131 and found myself exactly where I wanted to be, 1300 00:54:21,132 --> 00:54:24,468 standing at the video monitors right behind the director, 1301 00:54:24,469 --> 00:54:27,054 who in this case was the great John Huston, 1302 00:54:27,055 --> 00:54:29,807 who was making the not so great film version 1303 00:54:29,808 --> 00:54:32,059 of the Broadway musical, "Annie." 1304 00:54:32,060 --> 00:54:37,065 ♪ Clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow ♪ 1305 00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:39,984 No one said anything to me as I stood there, 1306 00:54:39,985 --> 00:54:42,736 as they all assumed that I was a son of someone important 1307 00:54:42,737 --> 00:54:45,990 and meant to be so close to the action. 1308 00:54:45,991 --> 00:54:47,741 I watched take after take, 1309 00:54:47,742 --> 00:54:50,411 incredibly excited by all the machinations it took 1310 00:54:50,412 --> 00:54:52,413 to get a scene done. 1311 00:54:52,414 --> 00:54:54,915 I was a bit confused that Huston wasn't yelling action 1312 00:54:54,916 --> 00:54:56,667 or cut himself. 1313 00:54:56,668 --> 00:54:59,086 Wasn't it always the director who yelled cut? 1314 00:54:59,087 --> 00:54:59,921 Cut! 1315 00:54:59,922 --> 00:55:01,089 Who said cut? 1316 00:55:02,007 --> 00:55:03,507 I had a film run out. 1317 00:55:03,508 --> 00:55:06,136 How many feet of film are left in that camera, Gabe? 1318 00:55:08,763 --> 00:55:10,056 33. 1319 00:55:10,849 --> 00:55:12,933 Goddamn your fucking eyes out. 1320 00:55:12,934 --> 00:55:14,853 How dare you yell cut on my set? 1321 00:55:16,021 --> 00:55:18,856 Well, what the hell, Eli, 33 feet is nothing. 1322 00:55:18,857 --> 00:55:20,400 It is 22 seconds, Henry. 1323 00:55:22,694 --> 00:55:25,529 In 22 seconds, I could break your fucking spine! 1324 00:55:25,530 --> 00:55:26,864 In 22 seconds, 1325 00:55:26,865 --> 00:55:28,532 I could pinch your head off like a fucking insect 1326 00:55:28,533 --> 00:55:30,200 and spin it all over the fucking pavement. 1327 00:55:30,201 --> 00:55:33,037 In 22 seconds, I could put 22 bullets 1328 00:55:33,038 --> 00:55:35,039 inside your ridiculous gut. 1329 00:55:35,040 --> 00:55:37,791 What I seem unable to do in 22 seconds is 1330 00:55:37,792 --> 00:55:40,587 to keep you from fucking up my film! 1331 00:55:42,213 --> 00:55:43,464 Without a doubt, 1332 00:55:43,465 --> 00:55:44,965 my favorite movie set watching experience was 1333 00:55:44,966 --> 00:55:47,718 when Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill" 1334 00:55:47,719 --> 00:55:50,387 took over East 70th Street where my high school was 1335 00:55:50,388 --> 00:55:52,139 for three days of filming. 1336 00:55:52,140 --> 00:55:54,058 Being so close to an actual film set 1337 00:55:54,059 --> 00:55:56,393 for so long was the kind of high-grade, 1338 00:55:56,394 --> 00:55:58,228 24-frames-a-second smack 1339 00:55:58,229 --> 00:56:00,814 I needed to shoot directly into my cinephile arm. 1340 00:56:00,815 --> 00:56:03,067 Just outside the window of my science class was 1341 00:56:03,068 --> 00:56:06,737 a full film crew, as well as Angie Dickinson, 1342 00:56:06,738 --> 00:56:11,075 Keith Gordon, Nancy Allen, and Michael Caine, 1343 00:56:11,076 --> 00:56:14,329 but mostly there was director Brian De Palma. 1344 00:56:15,497 --> 00:56:17,081 I watched them shoot as often as I could, 1345 00:56:17,082 --> 00:56:20,417 sometimes cutting classes right in front of my teachers. 1346 00:56:20,418 --> 00:56:21,919 If you listen closely to the film, 1347 00:56:21,920 --> 00:56:25,673 you can hear us, the kids on the soundtrack. 1348 00:56:29,094 --> 00:56:32,096 I remember talking with De Palma, getting his autograph, 1349 00:56:32,097 --> 00:56:34,014 asking him questions. 1350 00:56:34,015 --> 00:56:36,934 When the film was released, I saw it opening day. 1351 00:56:36,935 --> 00:56:39,520 I can't tell you how many times I've seen it since. 1352 00:56:39,521 --> 00:56:42,106 Sexy, daring, violent, and disturbing. 1353 00:56:42,107 --> 00:56:46,277 It's De Palma's slickest film and in my mind, his best. 1354 00:56:48,613 --> 00:56:52,282 It's a Hitchcock homage, of course, but much, much more. 1355 00:56:52,283 --> 00:56:54,451 It has jaw-dropping scenes of violence, 1356 00:56:54,452 --> 00:56:56,121 but a beating heart as well. 1357 00:56:58,289 --> 00:57:00,791 It's also a true New York movie with dirty, 1358 00:57:00,792 --> 00:57:02,126 dangerous subway cars, 1359 00:57:02,127 --> 00:57:05,045 and even more dangerous building elevators. 1360 00:57:05,046 --> 00:57:07,381 It also has a scene set at the Met 1361 00:57:07,382 --> 00:57:09,716 that I think is one of the greatest set piece sequences 1362 00:57:09,717 --> 00:57:11,635 in all of modern film. 1363 00:57:11,636 --> 00:57:12,970 Unhappily married 1364 00:57:12,971 --> 00:57:15,889 Angie Dickinson meets a mysterious stranger 1365 00:57:15,890 --> 00:57:18,726 while sitting in front of a large Alex Katz painting. 1366 00:57:19,644 --> 00:57:21,396 The pair seem to connect. 1367 00:57:23,314 --> 00:57:24,816 But then they don't. 1368 00:57:29,237 --> 00:57:30,988 But then they do. 1369 00:57:30,989 --> 00:57:34,074 As the possible future lovers glide from room to room, 1370 00:57:34,075 --> 00:57:36,160 the suspense ratchets. 1371 00:57:36,161 --> 00:57:40,664 Each shot, each glance, each cut raises the sexual 1372 00:57:40,665 --> 00:57:42,667 and cinematic tension. 1373 00:57:46,838 --> 00:57:50,424 Helped enormously by Pino Donaggio's brilliant score, 1374 00:57:50,425 --> 00:57:53,260 this exquisite dance of flirtation between Dickinson 1375 00:57:53,261 --> 00:57:57,015 and the man might be my favorite scene in any movie ever. 1376 00:58:00,518 --> 00:58:03,187 It shook the film out of its B-movie roots 1377 00:58:03,188 --> 00:58:04,521 and clearly announced 1378 00:58:04,522 --> 00:58:06,941 that it was a genre- bending work of art. 1379 00:58:13,448 --> 00:58:15,115 "Dressed To Kill" is also a film 1380 00:58:15,116 --> 00:58:17,784 where Brian De Palma uses split diopter lenses 1381 00:58:17,785 --> 00:58:19,036 that keep foreground 1382 00:58:19,037 --> 00:58:22,456 and background in focus to maximum effect. 1383 00:58:22,457 --> 00:58:26,043 Later, as a filmmaker myself, I continued to refer back 1384 00:58:26,044 --> 00:58:27,544 to much in the movie, 1385 00:58:27,545 --> 00:58:29,880 using split diopter lenses on my thriller, 1386 00:58:29,881 --> 00:58:33,301 "The Perfection," in a very clear homage to De Palma. 1387 00:58:34,552 --> 00:58:36,303 Like many films of that era, 1388 00:58:36,304 --> 00:58:39,056 parts of "Dressed to Kill" are problematic, 1389 00:58:39,057 --> 00:58:43,478 but the movie still holds up, still tingles, still scares. 1390 00:58:46,147 --> 00:58:47,981 I bought the soundtrack, of course, 1391 00:58:47,982 --> 00:58:50,359 used it to score some of my Super 8 thrillers. 1392 00:58:50,360 --> 00:58:51,902 I read Pauline Kael's rave about it 1393 00:58:51,903 --> 00:58:54,071 in the New Yorker over and over. 1394 00:58:54,072 --> 00:58:55,155 She wrote, 1395 00:58:55,156 --> 00:58:56,240 "The pleasure of the movie's suspense 1396 00:58:56,241 --> 00:58:57,908 becomes aphrodisiacal." 1397 00:58:57,909 --> 00:59:00,077 My God, could there ever be a better compliment 1398 00:59:00,078 --> 00:59:01,958 in a film review? 1399 00:59:02,580 --> 00:59:04,665 At this point, movies fully took over my life. 1400 00:59:04,666 --> 00:59:06,166 I was all in. 1401 00:59:06,167 --> 00:59:09,002 My already bad grades got worse, but it didn't matter. 1402 00:59:09,003 --> 00:59:10,754 New York was a mecca for all things film 1403 00:59:10,755 --> 00:59:12,339 and I took full advantage. 1404 00:59:12,340 --> 00:59:14,424 I saw nearly everything that got released 1405 00:59:14,425 --> 00:59:18,596 from "Blood Beach" to Eric Rohmer's "Pauline at the Beach." 1406 00:59:20,306 --> 00:59:21,974 My high school friends, 1407 00:59:21,975 --> 00:59:23,183 Mark Mullin on the left, 1408 00:59:23,184 --> 00:59:26,103 and Liam Plevin, were also film obsessed. 1409 00:59:26,104 --> 00:59:29,106 So I had partners in crime going to the movies. 1410 00:59:29,107 --> 00:59:32,442 "The Road Warrior," "Altered States," 1411 00:59:32,443 --> 00:59:36,113 "The Shining," "Tootsie," "Tender Mercies," 1412 00:59:36,114 --> 00:59:38,782 "Being There," "Prince of the City." 1413 00:59:38,783 --> 00:59:40,033 For the four years of high school, 1414 00:59:40,034 --> 00:59:42,202 we'd go to films every Friday after school, 1415 00:59:42,203 --> 00:59:44,621 sometimes Saturday and Sunday too. 1416 00:59:44,622 --> 00:59:47,708 If the movie was rated R, we asked people to buy us tickets, 1417 00:59:47,709 --> 00:59:49,710 always young couples on a date. 1418 00:59:49,711 --> 00:59:51,128 If the line was too long, 1419 00:59:51,129 --> 00:59:52,462 we'd loiter in front of the theater 1420 00:59:52,463 --> 00:59:54,214 and then when the line started moving, 1421 00:59:54,215 --> 00:59:57,301 we'd effortlessly cut it like the super smooth movie spies 1422 00:59:57,302 --> 00:59:58,719 that we were. 1423 00:59:58,720 --> 01:00:01,471 Senior year, Liam and I even got part-time jobs 1424 01:00:01,472 --> 01:00:03,890 at the Criterion Movie Theatre in Times Square 1425 01:00:03,891 --> 01:00:05,475 because back in the early '80s, 1426 01:00:05,476 --> 01:00:06,810 being an usher at a movie theater 1427 01:00:06,811 --> 01:00:08,729 in the city allowed you two tickets 1428 01:00:08,730 --> 01:00:11,398 to any other movie theater in the city at any time. 1429 01:00:11,399 --> 01:00:14,651 It was like a secret society. 1430 01:00:14,652 --> 01:00:16,570 You just called up and dropped the bomb. 1431 01:00:16,571 --> 01:00:17,988 You would let the ushers in for free 1432 01:00:17,989 --> 01:00:21,241 to your theater if they did the same for you. 1433 01:00:21,242 --> 01:00:23,910 The idea that I could go to any movie in the city for free, 1434 01:00:23,911 --> 01:00:25,495 my God, it was heaven. 1435 01:00:25,496 --> 01:00:27,080 When my parents heard about that perk, 1436 01:00:27,081 --> 01:00:28,832 they reminded me that when they were young 1437 01:00:28,833 --> 01:00:30,167 and just beginning to date, 1438 01:00:30,168 --> 01:00:32,753 my father won a movie trivia contest in a magazine 1439 01:00:32,754 --> 01:00:34,671 and the prize was a free pass for two 1440 01:00:34,672 --> 01:00:36,923 to any movie in the city for a year. 1441 01:00:36,924 --> 01:00:38,675 This is how my parents courted. 1442 01:00:38,676 --> 01:00:40,178 This is how they fell in love. 1443 01:00:41,429 --> 01:00:42,929 It's funny how my dad and I both managed 1444 01:00:42,930 --> 01:00:44,264 to get into the movies for free 1445 01:00:44,265 --> 01:00:46,183 at pivotal points in our lives. 1446 01:00:46,184 --> 01:00:48,061 Hustlers, both of us. 1447 01:00:49,187 --> 01:00:51,104 There were six screens at the Criterion 1448 01:00:51,105 --> 01:00:52,856 and Sidney Lumet's "The Verdict" played there 1449 01:00:52,857 --> 01:00:55,525 for several months in the winter of 1982. 1450 01:00:55,526 --> 01:00:58,111 I'm sure I ended up seeing it at least 50 times, 1451 01:00:58,112 --> 01:01:00,364 parts of it at least, which was okay with me 1452 01:01:00,365 --> 01:01:01,448 because I loved it. 1453 01:01:01,449 --> 01:01:03,450 It was a studio film made for adults 1454 01:01:03,451 --> 01:01:04,951 as opposed to studio films today, 1455 01:01:04,952 --> 01:01:06,453 which are made for kids. 1456 01:01:06,454 --> 01:01:09,706 Watching it expanded my universe, didn't placate to it. 1457 01:01:09,707 --> 01:01:11,041 I'm going up there, I'm gonna try it. 1458 01:01:11,042 --> 01:01:12,542 I'm gonna let the jury decide. 1459 01:01:12,543 --> 01:01:14,044 You know, they told me about you. 1460 01:01:14,045 --> 01:01:17,297 That you're a hard ass, you're a defendant's judge. 1461 01:01:17,298 --> 01:01:18,715 Oh, I don't care. 1462 01:01:18,716 --> 01:01:19,800 I said, "The hell with it." 1463 01:01:19,801 --> 01:01:20,967 To hell with it! 1464 01:01:20,968 --> 01:01:22,302 The Criterion also showed, 1465 01:01:22,303 --> 01:01:23,804 "The Empire Strikes Back," in re-release 1466 01:01:23,805 --> 01:01:26,473 before "Return of the Jedi" was to come out. 1467 01:01:26,474 --> 01:01:28,558 Part of my job was to check the picture projection 1468 01:01:28,559 --> 01:01:31,561 and sound, and one day I walked into one of the theaters, 1469 01:01:31,562 --> 01:01:33,230 which was thick with pot smoke 1470 01:01:33,231 --> 01:01:35,608 and found that the sound was completely off. 1471 01:01:37,235 --> 01:01:38,985 No R2-D2 beeps. 1472 01:01:38,986 --> 01:01:42,572 No Wookiee howls, no John Williams score, zilch. 1473 01:01:42,573 --> 01:01:44,574 I asked one of the 10 people in the audience 1474 01:01:44,575 --> 01:01:46,660 how long the sound had been out and he smiled 1475 01:01:46,661 --> 01:01:48,745 and he said he thought about 15 minutes. 1476 01:01:48,746 --> 01:01:51,081 In that time, no one had come out to complain. 1477 01:01:51,082 --> 01:01:53,250 They were all too fucked up. 1478 01:01:53,251 --> 01:01:55,919 At other times, packs of teenagers would try to sneak in 1479 01:01:55,920 --> 01:01:57,254 by walking backwards 1480 01:01:57,255 --> 01:01:59,589 as the crowd streamed out of a previous show. 1481 01:01:59,590 --> 01:02:01,758 As someone who was used to scams getting into theaters 1482 01:02:01,759 --> 01:02:04,594 for free, I appreciated the creativity. 1483 01:02:04,595 --> 01:02:06,346 I'd joke with my parents for years about 1484 01:02:06,347 --> 01:02:07,931 how back in the early '80s, 1485 01:02:07,932 --> 01:02:10,517 when it was one of the most sketchy areas in all of America, 1486 01:02:10,518 --> 01:02:13,103 they let me work in a Times Square movie theater. 1487 01:02:13,104 --> 01:02:14,521 Truth was they never really seemed 1488 01:02:14,522 --> 01:02:15,772 to give it a second thought 1489 01:02:15,773 --> 01:02:17,607 that I was working in a neighborhood of thieves 1490 01:02:17,608 --> 01:02:19,943 and roving gangs and pimps and prostitutes. 1491 01:02:19,944 --> 01:02:21,695 It was New York and I was a New Yorker. 1492 01:02:21,696 --> 01:02:23,281 I just had to deal with it. 1493 01:02:26,284 --> 01:02:28,702 I saw every kind of movie during those years. 1494 01:02:28,703 --> 01:02:32,706 Art films, teen comedies, Oscar winners, Kung Fu films, 1495 01:02:32,707 --> 01:02:34,541 Schlocko action pictures. 1496 01:02:34,542 --> 01:02:37,377 I saw horror movies like "The Fan," "The Fog," 1497 01:02:37,378 --> 01:02:38,795 "The Fun House," 1498 01:02:38,796 --> 01:02:41,798 insane low budget wonders like "Parasite 3D," 1499 01:02:41,799 --> 01:02:46,136 "Amityville 3D," "Psycho 2," "Halloween II," "Wolfen," 1500 01:02:46,137 --> 01:02:49,222 "Silent Scream," "Creep Show," "Basket Case," 1501 01:02:49,223 --> 01:02:51,475 "Dawn of the Dead," and "Fade to Black," 1502 01:02:51,476 --> 01:02:53,727 that starred that guy from "Breaking Away" 1503 01:02:53,728 --> 01:02:56,288 and had some great gratuitous nudity. 1504 01:02:57,148 --> 01:02:58,398 I saw foreign movies 1505 01:02:58,399 --> 01:03:00,984 like Italy's "The Night of Shooting Stars," 1506 01:03:00,985 --> 01:03:04,821 France's "La Boum," Japan's "Kagemusha." 1507 01:03:04,822 --> 01:03:06,656 I saw the "The Draughtsman's Contract," 1508 01:03:06,657 --> 01:03:09,242 "Circle of Deceit," "Time Stands Still," 1509 01:03:09,243 --> 01:03:11,828 "Breaker Morant," and "Gallipoli." 1510 01:03:11,829 --> 01:03:14,831 Jean-Jacques Beineix's film, "Diva," blew my mind 1511 01:03:14,832 --> 01:03:18,752 with its use of color and music and punk rock beauty. 1512 01:03:18,753 --> 01:03:22,005 This unique French movie about obsession, opera, 1513 01:03:22,006 --> 01:03:24,925 and priceless recordings that lead to murder was, 1514 01:03:24,926 --> 01:03:26,760 along with "Dressed to Kill," 1515 01:03:26,761 --> 01:03:28,678 one of the most influential films I saw 1516 01:03:28,679 --> 01:03:30,096 during that period. 1517 01:03:30,097 --> 01:03:32,516 I realized that beautiful design and music, 1518 01:03:32,517 --> 01:03:34,267 and a unique cinematic style, 1519 01:03:34,268 --> 01:03:37,270 could elevate a genre movie into something better, 1520 01:03:37,271 --> 01:03:39,856 that films could have more than one level to them. 1521 01:03:39,857 --> 01:03:42,692 In fact, the more levels, the better. 1522 01:03:42,693 --> 01:03:45,278 I wasn't yet ready to give up my schlock film mania 1523 01:03:45,279 --> 01:03:47,030 for only art films, 1524 01:03:47,031 --> 01:03:49,867 but I had finally started to notice the difference. 1525 01:03:51,369 --> 01:03:53,703 I got so film obsessive that I didn't even have the patience 1526 01:03:53,704 --> 01:03:56,039 to wait till 3PM when school got out 1527 01:03:56,040 --> 01:03:58,542 to see the new movies that were opening. 1528 01:03:58,543 --> 01:04:01,878 I started cutting classes on a scarily regular basis. 1529 01:04:01,879 --> 01:04:03,797 I saw "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" 1530 01:04:03,798 --> 01:04:06,716 at the Paramount Theater at the first 11AM screening 1531 01:04:06,717 --> 01:04:07,884 on opening day. 1532 01:04:07,885 --> 01:04:09,302 For a "Star Trek" fanatic, 1533 01:04:09,303 --> 01:04:12,472 that turgid slog of a film was especially disappointing, 1534 01:04:12,473 --> 01:04:13,640 but I didn't mind. 1535 01:04:13,641 --> 01:04:15,559 I was where I wanted to be. 1536 01:04:15,560 --> 01:04:17,644 My 11th grade girlfriend, Mitzi, and I 1537 01:04:17,645 --> 01:04:19,729 cut school to see "One From The Heart," 1538 01:04:19,730 --> 01:04:21,731 because, well, I just had to. 1539 01:04:21,732 --> 01:04:24,234 It was Francis Coppola after all. 1540 01:04:24,235 --> 01:04:26,403 Mark Mullin and I didn't even show up to school 1541 01:04:26,404 --> 01:04:29,072 the day "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" opened. 1542 01:04:29,073 --> 01:04:30,240 It was thankfully leaps 1543 01:04:30,241 --> 01:04:32,242 and bounds better than the first one. 1544 01:04:32,243 --> 01:04:34,995 We also saw "Poltergeist" on that same day, 1545 01:04:34,996 --> 01:04:36,580 one right after the other, 1546 01:04:36,581 --> 01:04:38,915 just crossed 86th Street from the Loew's Orpheum 1547 01:04:38,916 --> 01:04:39,916 to the Town and Country. 1548 01:04:39,917 --> 01:04:40,918 What's happening? 1549 01:04:42,336 --> 01:04:45,338 Now that's an excellent Friday afternoon. 1550 01:04:45,339 --> 01:04:48,008 Shortly after our drama teacher, Betsy Lifton, 1551 01:04:48,009 --> 01:04:49,593 joined us as we ditched school 1552 01:04:49,594 --> 01:04:51,761 to see Martin Scorsese's brilliant 1553 01:04:51,762 --> 01:04:54,431 and misunderstood, "The King of Comedy." 1554 01:04:54,432 --> 01:04:57,267 Suddenly, Scorsese was all I was talking about. 1555 01:04:57,268 --> 01:04:59,812 Coppola appeared in my rear view mirror. 1556 01:05:01,188 --> 01:05:03,773 Mark Mullin had been making Super 8 films himself 1557 01:05:03,774 --> 01:05:05,358 before he transferred to my school, 1558 01:05:05,359 --> 01:05:08,778 so we instantly hit it off when he arrived in 10th grade. 1559 01:05:08,779 --> 01:05:11,781 Soon, he and Liam and I were making films together. 1560 01:05:11,782 --> 01:05:15,118 Thrillers mostly, but some dramas and comedies too. 1561 01:05:15,119 --> 01:05:18,872 They were far more ambitious in my Super 8 solo efforts. 1562 01:05:18,873 --> 01:05:20,373 In "Shadows From The Past," 1563 01:05:20,374 --> 01:05:21,875 a title my father helped come up 1564 01:05:21,876 --> 01:05:23,793 with along with the catch line, 1565 01:05:23,794 --> 01:05:27,380 "Memories may haunt you but reality will kill you." 1566 01:05:27,381 --> 01:05:29,382 We convinced our high school history teacher, 1567 01:05:29,383 --> 01:05:31,968 Mr. Lakaye, to play a version of himself, 1568 01:05:31,969 --> 01:05:33,720 except that he's a high school teacher 1569 01:05:33,721 --> 01:05:35,722 who's a homicidal serial killer. 1570 01:05:35,723 --> 01:05:38,725 Mark played the transfer student who recognizes Mr. Lakaye 1571 01:05:38,726 --> 01:05:41,478 as a suspected murderer from his former school. 1572 01:05:41,479 --> 01:05:42,730 Sit down, Mark. 1573 01:05:48,319 --> 01:05:49,904 Have you told anyone about this? 1574 01:05:51,322 --> 01:05:55,660 'Cause if you had, I'd suggest you change your story 1575 01:05:56,827 --> 01:06:01,707 or it might become, as we say, unhealthy. 1576 01:06:02,500 --> 01:06:03,667 In another film, 1577 01:06:03,668 --> 01:06:05,001 we intercut Mark having a conversation 1578 01:06:05,002 --> 01:06:06,753 with Robert De Niro from Taxi Driver. 1579 01:06:06,754 --> 01:06:07,588 You talking to me? 1580 01:06:07,589 --> 01:06:08,672 Yes, Mr. De Niro. 1581 01:06:08,673 --> 01:06:09,923 Let me rephrase the question. 1582 01:06:09,924 --> 01:06:11,841 How did it help you learn to deal with people? 1583 01:06:11,842 --> 01:06:12,842 Are you talking to me? 1584 01:06:12,843 --> 01:06:14,010 Achieving this 1585 01:06:14,011 --> 01:06:16,012 by buying a short Super 8 version of the movie, 1586 01:06:16,013 --> 01:06:18,515 you could do this as before the age of home videos, 1587 01:06:18,516 --> 01:06:21,184 studios used Super 8 movies as a marketing tool 1588 01:06:21,185 --> 01:06:24,354 and we then spliced it in with stuff we shot. 1589 01:06:24,355 --> 01:06:25,939 Okay, okay, Mr. De Niro. 1590 01:06:25,940 --> 01:06:27,857 Okay, okay, I get the point. 1591 01:06:27,858 --> 01:06:28,942 We showed these movies 1592 01:06:28,943 --> 01:06:30,360 to our high school classmates, 1593 01:06:30,361 --> 01:06:33,029 usually in a packed auditorium after school. 1594 01:06:33,030 --> 01:06:34,614 We made posters and flyers to get them 1595 01:06:34,615 --> 01:06:36,950 to come just like the pros did. 1596 01:06:36,951 --> 01:06:38,785 It was always an immediate blast to watch 1597 01:06:38,786 --> 01:06:41,371 and listen to our classmates as they viewed our films, 1598 01:06:41,372 --> 01:06:44,708 to hear their laughter, to grab their attention. 1599 01:06:44,709 --> 01:06:46,543 Soon, our principal, Colin Reed, 1600 01:06:46,544 --> 01:06:49,629 who himself was a movie buff, got caught up in our passions 1601 01:06:49,630 --> 01:06:52,716 and started funding our films with the school's money. 1602 01:06:52,717 --> 01:06:55,385 We'd go in and pitch him ideas like we were at a studio 1603 01:06:55,386 --> 01:06:57,638 and he'd either greenlight it or pass. 1604 01:06:59,056 --> 01:07:01,891 When we saw Alan Parker's brilliant and exuberant, "Fame," 1605 01:07:01,892 --> 01:07:03,727 still one of my favorite films, 1606 01:07:03,728 --> 01:07:06,646 we made the far less brilliant and exuberant "Audition." 1607 01:07:06,647 --> 01:07:09,899 I killed my own mother! 1608 01:07:09,900 --> 01:07:11,234 When we saw Martin Scorsese's 1609 01:07:11,235 --> 01:07:13,653 rock and roll fever dream, "The Last Waltz," 1610 01:07:13,654 --> 01:07:15,905 we made a music doc about Mark's high school band, 1611 01:07:15,906 --> 01:07:17,786 Quarter Deck. 1612 01:07:20,995 --> 01:07:22,579 Wait, stop, stop, stop. 1613 01:07:22,580 --> 01:07:23,747 Watching it now, 1614 01:07:23,748 --> 01:07:25,248 I think our studio head, Mr. Reed, 1615 01:07:25,249 --> 01:07:27,417 should have passed on that one. 1616 01:07:27,418 --> 01:07:29,085 My mother and father were encouraging 1617 01:07:29,086 --> 01:07:30,503 of my cinematic output, 1618 01:07:30,504 --> 01:07:32,756 but they were also honest in their assessment, 1619 01:07:32,757 --> 01:07:34,340 especially my father. 1620 01:07:34,341 --> 01:07:36,342 My dad liked some of my Super 8 movies, 1621 01:07:36,343 --> 01:07:38,094 but others didn't work for him. 1622 01:07:38,095 --> 01:07:39,929 This remained true with all my films, 1623 01:07:39,930 --> 01:07:42,599 even my professional ones, until the day he died. 1624 01:07:42,600 --> 01:07:45,602 He never really bullshitted me when it came to my work. 1625 01:07:45,603 --> 01:07:48,438 If he saw a film of mine that he thought wasn't successful, 1626 01:07:48,439 --> 01:07:50,190 he went outside to smoke a cigar 1627 01:07:50,191 --> 01:07:53,276 and hoped the subject would be changed before he returned. 1628 01:07:53,277 --> 01:07:55,779 That's why his compliments meant so much to me. 1629 01:07:55,780 --> 01:07:57,947 When it connected, he connected, 1630 01:07:57,948 --> 01:08:00,617 and while I wasn't always striving for his approval, 1631 01:08:00,618 --> 01:08:03,370 I can't say it wasn't in the back of my mind. 1632 01:08:04,330 --> 01:08:06,664 That's why I wish he could have seen the movies I directed 1633 01:08:06,665 --> 01:08:07,957 as an adult, 1634 01:08:07,958 --> 01:08:11,294 when I finally started finding my true voice as a filmmaker. 1635 01:08:11,295 --> 01:08:15,632 The ones I made after he died, "The Matador," 1636 01:08:15,633 --> 01:08:16,800 "The Hunting Party," 1637 01:08:16,801 --> 01:08:19,052 my eyeballed Jude Law gangster flick, 1638 01:08:19,053 --> 01:08:21,137 "Dom Hemingway." 1639 01:08:21,138 --> 01:08:22,555 It's not surprising 1640 01:08:22,556 --> 01:08:24,808 that so many of the movies I've written are about outliers, 1641 01:08:24,809 --> 01:08:28,687 men who won't conform, lovable criminals and rogues, 1642 01:08:29,939 --> 01:08:32,732 men who absolutely do not play by any rules. 1643 01:08:32,733 --> 01:08:35,401 It's a darkly humorous cinematic world I understand 1644 01:08:35,402 --> 01:08:37,237 and relate to because I grew up with a man 1645 01:08:37,238 --> 01:08:39,406 who was those characters. 1646 01:08:40,825 --> 01:08:43,326 It's sad how I couldn't really start writing those movies 1647 01:08:43,327 --> 01:08:46,412 until after my father got sick. 1648 01:08:46,413 --> 01:08:48,665 As if I needed the space, 1649 01:08:48,666 --> 01:08:50,667 the transition to be able 1650 01:08:50,668 --> 01:08:53,753 to become the filmmaker I was meant to be. 1651 01:08:53,754 --> 01:08:56,840 I really wish he could have gotten a chance to see them, 1652 01:08:56,841 --> 01:09:00,677 to see what the filmmaker he had nurtured actually produced 1653 01:09:00,678 --> 01:09:02,678 when set free. 1654 01:09:06,767 --> 01:09:09,686 As one can see with his cameo in my movie, "Mercy," 1655 01:09:09,687 --> 01:09:12,188 my father sometimes looked like a homeless person. 1656 01:09:12,189 --> 01:09:14,941 It was a persona he cultivated so he could go unnoticed 1657 01:09:14,942 --> 01:09:16,860 as he broke into abandoned buildings 1658 01:09:16,861 --> 01:09:18,361 or tried to negotiate a better price 1659 01:09:18,362 --> 01:09:20,864 for one of his antique toys he collected. 1660 01:09:20,865 --> 01:09:23,199 Once in 11th grade when I was performing 1661 01:09:23,200 --> 01:09:25,118 in Peter Shaffer's "Black Comedy," 1662 01:09:25,119 --> 01:09:26,703 a performance, it should be noted, 1663 01:09:26,704 --> 01:09:29,122 where I broke my nose running into Michael Bregman's skull 1664 01:09:29,123 --> 01:09:31,124 during one of the blackouts in the play, 1665 01:09:31,125 --> 01:09:33,960 my father was turned away from the door of our high school 1666 01:09:33,961 --> 01:09:35,128 because some teacher thought he looked 1667 01:09:35,129 --> 01:09:37,463 like a crazed street person. 1668 01:09:37,464 --> 01:09:39,716 Of course, he'd wear a tie if he had to, 1669 01:09:39,717 --> 01:09:42,552 and he rocked that look because he was a man of vanity 1670 01:09:42,553 --> 01:09:46,556 and style, but he also carried brass knuckles in his pocket 1671 01:09:46,557 --> 01:09:50,393 because he never strayed too far from New York's underbelly. 1672 01:09:50,394 --> 01:09:51,603 That was my father, 1673 01:09:51,604 --> 01:09:53,813 sophisticated when it suited him, 1674 01:09:53,814 --> 01:09:57,400 but otherwise edgy and scrappy like the city he loved. 1675 01:09:57,401 --> 01:10:01,070 That duality extended to other parts of his life. 1676 01:10:01,071 --> 01:10:02,906 He was a man who was selfless 1677 01:10:02,907 --> 01:10:06,409 and selfish, sometimes at the same time. 1678 01:10:06,410 --> 01:10:08,077 When I called him to get help taking 1679 01:10:08,078 --> 01:10:10,914 a giant 12-foot "Star Wars" marquee sign home 1680 01:10:10,915 --> 01:10:12,916 from the Criterion Movie Theatre, 1681 01:10:12,917 --> 01:10:15,251 he told me to figure it out myself. 1682 01:10:15,252 --> 01:10:16,920 After all, he hadn't needed help getting 1683 01:10:16,921 --> 01:10:19,505 that Coca-Cola sign home, 1684 01:10:19,506 --> 01:10:21,758 but he would show up at every school play no matter 1685 01:10:21,759 --> 01:10:24,595 how mediocre my performance was bound to be. 1686 01:10:26,096 --> 01:10:28,681 Once when I was 12, he took me to a "Star Trek" convention 1687 01:10:28,682 --> 01:10:30,767 at the Hilton on 54th Street. 1688 01:10:30,768 --> 01:10:32,602 Dropped me off is a better description 1689 01:10:32,603 --> 01:10:34,687 as my dad had no interest in going 1690 01:10:34,688 --> 01:10:37,441 and he rarely did what he didn't want to do. 1691 01:10:40,861 --> 01:10:43,529 Anyway, when he came to pick me up later that afternoon, 1692 01:10:43,530 --> 01:10:45,448 I wasn't outside as planned. 1693 01:10:45,449 --> 01:10:47,200 Frustrated, my father went inside 1694 01:10:47,201 --> 01:10:49,202 and found me standing on an endless line 1695 01:10:49,203 --> 01:10:52,789 to get James Doohan, Mr. Scott's autograph. 1696 01:10:52,790 --> 01:10:54,207 I had been waiting for two hours 1697 01:10:54,208 --> 01:10:55,959 and I was now very close. 1698 01:10:55,960 --> 01:10:57,794 Realizing that I wasn't going to leave, 1699 01:10:57,795 --> 01:10:59,295 my father joined me on the line. 1700 01:10:59,296 --> 01:11:01,297 He wasn't happy about it, but he did. 1701 01:11:01,298 --> 01:11:02,882 Just then, James Doohan stood up 1702 01:11:02,883 --> 01:11:04,217 and said that he was finished. 1703 01:11:04,218 --> 01:11:05,135 His time was up. 1704 01:11:05,136 --> 01:11:07,470 I instantly broke out in tears. 1705 01:11:07,471 --> 01:11:09,722 I was so close to him and I waited for so long 1706 01:11:09,723 --> 01:11:11,808 and now he was just going? 1707 01:11:11,809 --> 01:11:14,978 Seeing my heartbreak and always up for a little rumble, 1708 01:11:14,979 --> 01:11:17,730 my father said in an incredibly loud voice, 1709 01:11:17,731 --> 01:11:20,817 loud enough for James Doohan and half the Hilton to hear it, 1710 01:11:20,818 --> 01:11:23,069 "My son and I just drove 12 hours 1711 01:11:23,070 --> 01:11:24,821 from South Carolina in the rain 1712 01:11:24,822 --> 01:11:26,823 so we could get Mr. Scott's autograph. 1713 01:11:26,824 --> 01:11:29,493 I would hope that he could help us out." 1714 01:11:39,336 --> 01:11:40,753 Feeling terrible for me 1715 01:11:40,754 --> 01:11:43,172 and having no idea that my father was bullshitting 1716 01:11:43,173 --> 01:11:45,174 and that we lived just uptown, 1717 01:11:45,175 --> 01:11:46,509 Mr. Scott motioned us over 1718 01:11:46,510 --> 01:11:49,596 and quickly signed my 8-by-10 glossy of him. 1719 01:11:53,934 --> 01:11:55,351 That was my father. 1720 01:11:55,352 --> 01:11:56,853 He made my day. 1721 01:11:56,854 --> 01:11:58,688 He thrilled me. 1722 01:11:58,689 --> 01:12:01,774 That he later secretly sold all my "Star Trek" memorabilia 1723 01:12:01,775 --> 01:12:03,192 while I was off in college 1724 01:12:03,193 --> 01:12:04,777 because he needed some quick cash 1725 01:12:04,778 --> 01:12:08,364 for some scheme is another story all together. 1726 01:12:08,365 --> 01:12:11,952 As I said, selfless and selfish. 1727 01:12:13,203 --> 01:12:15,455 New York City was my father's city, 1728 01:12:15,456 --> 01:12:16,873 but it was also mine 1729 01:12:16,874 --> 01:12:19,208 and that was a true gift my dad gave me. 1730 01:12:19,209 --> 01:12:20,793 New York was alive with cinema. 1731 01:12:20,794 --> 01:12:23,296 It was just up to me to seek it out. 1732 01:12:23,297 --> 01:12:25,882 I mean, where else could you see "My Dinner with Andre," 1733 01:12:25,883 --> 01:12:27,550 an hour-and-51-minute movie 1734 01:12:27,551 --> 01:12:29,802 of just two brilliant guys talking? 1735 01:12:29,803 --> 01:12:33,723 Or "Chan Is Missing," a $22,000 indie that's as funny 1736 01:12:33,724 --> 01:12:35,892 and original as any bigger film? 1737 01:12:35,893 --> 01:12:39,228 Or the X-rated epic, "Caligula" with Malcolm McDowell, 1738 01:12:39,229 --> 01:12:42,315 Peter O'Toole, John Gielgud, Helen Mirren, 1739 01:12:42,316 --> 01:12:44,734 and a bunch of porn stars that was both dirty 1740 01:12:44,735 --> 01:12:47,070 and boring at the same time. 1741 01:12:47,071 --> 01:12:48,654 With my friends, Mark and Liam, 1742 01:12:48,655 --> 01:12:50,990 there was rarely a film we didn't go to, 1743 01:12:50,991 --> 01:12:54,160 a theater we didn't know, the Coronet, 1744 01:12:54,161 --> 01:12:56,079 the Baronet, the Paris. 1745 01:12:56,080 --> 01:12:57,747 They had some great names. 1746 01:12:57,748 --> 01:13:00,333 The Sutton, the Gemini, the Carnegie Hall Cinema, 1747 01:13:00,334 --> 01:13:04,754 the Trans Lux 85th Street, Cinema I and II. 1748 01:13:04,755 --> 01:13:08,091 And The Thalia, which always smelled of Chinese food 1749 01:13:08,092 --> 01:13:12,762 and consistently played the smartest, coolest films. 1750 01:13:12,763 --> 01:13:16,432 I lost many, many hours in each of those movie theaters. 1751 01:13:16,433 --> 01:13:18,518 Of course, this being New York of the early '80s, 1752 01:13:18,519 --> 01:13:20,603 I learned to avoid a few of the sketchier ones 1753 01:13:20,604 --> 01:13:21,854 along the way. 1754 01:13:21,855 --> 01:13:23,106 The Embassy at Broadway 1755 01:13:23,107 --> 01:13:25,775 and 47th Street was a guarantee of danger. 1756 01:13:25,776 --> 01:13:28,778 It was only to be entered in cinematic duress. 1757 01:13:28,779 --> 01:13:32,115 The UA East on First Avenue was a recipe for being mugged, 1758 01:13:32,116 --> 01:13:34,951 although I did see the sci-fi film "Hangar 18" there. 1759 01:13:34,952 --> 01:13:37,203 Keep the lid on Hangar 18. 1760 01:13:37,204 --> 01:13:38,704 I mean, how could I not see a film 1761 01:13:38,705 --> 01:13:39,956 that purported to tell us 1762 01:13:39,957 --> 01:13:42,792 why the government was concealing UFOs? 1763 01:13:42,793 --> 01:13:44,877 {\an8}Mark, Liam, and I got some of the girls in our class 1764 01:13:44,878 --> 01:13:46,462 {\an8}to see "The Dogs of War," 1765 01:13:46,463 --> 01:13:48,881 a brutal action picture with Christopher Walken, 1766 01:13:48,882 --> 01:13:50,383 by convincing them 1767 01:13:50,384 --> 01:13:52,218 that it was an animated film about a bunch of cute dogs 1768 01:13:52,219 --> 01:13:54,513 that accidentally get recruited to the army. 1769 01:13:56,056 --> 01:13:58,141 We saw "An American Werewolf in London" 1770 01:13:58,142 --> 01:13:59,475 and a few weeks later, 1771 01:13:59,476 --> 01:14:01,227 we recognized the film's director, John Landis, 1772 01:14:01,228 --> 01:14:03,813 walking on Madison Avenue and stopped him 1773 01:14:03,814 --> 01:14:05,731 and peppered him with a million questions 1774 01:14:05,732 --> 01:14:07,733 and all he could do is look at us incredulously 1775 01:14:07,734 --> 01:14:10,486 and say, "Who are you guys?" 1776 01:14:10,487 --> 01:14:12,489 Wonderful, thanks a lot. 1777 01:14:17,744 --> 01:14:18,995 We saw the thriller, 1778 01:14:18,996 --> 01:14:20,580 "When A Stranger Calls," starring Carol Kane 1779 01:14:20,581 --> 01:14:22,915 as a babysitter getting ever threatening phone calls 1780 01:14:22,916 --> 01:14:24,250 from a killer. 1781 01:14:24,251 --> 01:14:25,418 Have you checked the children? 1782 01:14:25,419 --> 01:14:26,752 And it provided the third 1783 01:14:26,753 --> 01:14:27,920 and biggest scare I had 1784 01:14:27,921 --> 01:14:29,005 at the movies as a kid. 1785 01:14:29,006 --> 01:14:30,214 What was so great about 1786 01:14:30,215 --> 01:14:31,632 the scare was that I actually 1787 01:14:31,633 --> 01:14:32,675 knew it was coming. 1788 01:14:32,676 --> 01:14:35,178 See, the theater had a waiting area inside, 1789 01:14:35,179 --> 01:14:38,097 a few couches to sit on if it was rainy or cold. 1790 01:14:38,098 --> 01:14:39,849 We got there early and were waiting patiently 1791 01:14:39,850 --> 01:14:42,518 while the previous showing was nearing its conclusion. 1792 01:14:42,519 --> 01:14:44,353 Suddenly through the closed theater doors, 1793 01:14:44,354 --> 01:14:47,773 we heard the entire audience scream in unison. 1794 01:14:47,774 --> 01:14:49,525 We excitedly looked at each other, 1795 01:14:49,526 --> 01:14:52,278 what horrors could cause an audience to react like that? 1796 01:14:52,279 --> 01:14:55,031 Just then, the theater doors swung open and a man ran out 1797 01:14:55,032 --> 01:14:57,450 and puked in fear in the lobby. 1798 01:14:57,451 --> 01:15:00,537 It was truly the greatest preamble to a horror movie ever, 1799 01:15:01,455 --> 01:15:03,289 and the movie didn't disappoint. 1800 01:15:03,290 --> 01:15:05,291 The first 20 minutes are the film's best, 1801 01:15:05,292 --> 01:15:07,543 ending with the police calling and telling the babysitter. 1802 01:15:07,544 --> 01:15:08,711 We traced the call. 1803 01:15:08,712 --> 01:15:10,546 It's coming from inside the house. 1804 01:15:10,547 --> 01:15:11,964 But the true scare, 1805 01:15:11,965 --> 01:15:14,300 the scare that caused the entire audience to scream 1806 01:15:14,301 --> 01:15:17,053 and some dude to puke happens at the end. 1807 01:15:17,054 --> 01:15:19,222 It's years later and Carol Kane is married 1808 01:15:19,223 --> 01:15:22,642 and is living a normal life when the killer escapes. 1809 01:15:22,643 --> 01:15:25,228 There's a scene at night where Carol Kane is in bed 1810 01:15:25,229 --> 01:15:28,482 with her husband and the closet door slowly starts to open. 1811 01:15:29,483 --> 01:15:31,234 It's terrifying because we suspect 1812 01:15:31,235 --> 01:15:33,736 that the killer is hiding in there and we just want Carol 1813 01:15:33,737 --> 01:15:35,739 and her husband to get up and get out. 1814 01:15:36,698 --> 01:15:38,575 Stephen. Stephen. 1815 01:15:43,580 --> 01:15:46,458 Cue the giant audience scream and the puke. 1816 01:15:50,921 --> 01:15:52,672 Few movies of that period were 1817 01:15:52,673 --> 01:15:55,341 as critically mistreated as Michael Cimino's 1818 01:15:55,342 --> 01:15:56,759 "Heaven's Gate." 1819 01:15:56,760 --> 01:15:59,011 Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" wrote that, 1820 01:15:59,012 --> 01:16:00,763 "The notoriously over budget, 1821 01:16:00,764 --> 01:16:04,934 three-and-a-half-hour Western was an unmitigated disaster." 1822 01:16:04,935 --> 01:16:06,102 And continued, 1823 01:16:06,103 --> 01:16:08,980 "The film fails so completely that you might suspect 1824 01:16:08,981 --> 01:16:11,107 Mr. Cimino sold his soul to the Devil 1825 01:16:11,108 --> 01:16:13,526 to obtain the success of The Deer Hunter, 1826 01:16:13,527 --> 01:16:16,696 and the Devil has just come around to collect." 1827 01:16:16,697 --> 01:16:19,448 That review was nitroglycerin in newsprint. 1828 01:16:19,449 --> 01:16:21,117 I couldn't stop rereading it. 1829 01:16:21,118 --> 01:16:23,119 I counted the hours till school was over 1830 01:16:23,120 --> 01:16:26,539 so I could race over to Cinema I to catch it opening day. 1831 01:16:26,540 --> 01:16:28,374 I didn't care if they thought it sucked. 1832 01:16:28,375 --> 01:16:30,293 I had to see for myself. 1833 01:16:30,294 --> 01:16:32,795 Sometimes the thought of a very bad movie was just 1834 01:16:32,796 --> 01:16:34,964 as enticing as a very good one. 1835 01:16:34,965 --> 01:16:37,967 Of course, not everyone was as adventurous as I was. 1836 01:16:37,968 --> 01:16:40,720 A week after the film opened, it was yanked from theaters 1837 01:16:40,721 --> 01:16:43,973 because it was such a cataclysmic box office bomb. 1838 01:16:43,974 --> 01:16:47,059 It basically put the film studio out of business. 1839 01:16:47,060 --> 01:16:50,813 I didn't love the movie, but an unmitigated disaster? 1840 01:16:50,814 --> 01:16:52,398 Had they seen "Meteor?" 1841 01:16:52,399 --> 01:16:54,317 That meteor's five miles wide 1842 01:16:54,318 --> 01:16:55,985 and it's definitely gonna hit us! 1843 01:16:55,986 --> 01:16:58,070 The critical laceration of "Heaven's Gate" 1844 01:16:58,071 --> 01:17:00,906 was the beginning of my obsession with movie reviews. 1845 01:17:00,907 --> 01:17:03,492 I eagerly attacked my parents' newspaper every Friday 1846 01:17:03,493 --> 01:17:05,494 to see what the critics would say. 1847 01:17:05,495 --> 01:17:07,496 I read the film section in "The Village Voice" 1848 01:17:07,497 --> 01:17:08,998 and Pauline Kael in "The New Yorker," 1849 01:17:08,999 --> 01:17:11,584 and I became obsessed with Siskel and Ebert, 1850 01:17:11,585 --> 01:17:13,669 who at that time weren't quite famous, 1851 01:17:13,670 --> 01:17:16,255 but instead were doing a small weekly movie review show 1852 01:17:16,256 --> 01:17:17,673 on public television. 1853 01:17:17,674 --> 01:17:18,924 I loved those guys. 1854 01:17:18,925 --> 01:17:22,345 They were as film nerded out as I was. 1855 01:17:22,346 --> 01:17:25,097 One thing that reading all those movies reviews did was up 1856 01:17:25,098 --> 01:17:27,767 my game on defending the movies I loved. 1857 01:17:27,768 --> 01:17:30,353 ♪ Pennies from heaven ♪ 1858 01:17:30,354 --> 01:17:33,065 Or expertly eviscerating the ones I didn't. 1859 01:17:34,691 --> 01:17:36,859 I was always up for a good film argument 1860 01:17:36,860 --> 01:17:39,278 and sometimes they'd last for days. 1861 01:17:39,279 --> 01:17:41,447 That said, no one was ever able to convince me 1862 01:17:41,448 --> 01:17:44,450 that Robert Benton's "Kramer vs. Kramer" deserved 1863 01:17:44,451 --> 01:17:46,285 to win the Best Director Oscar 1864 01:17:46,286 --> 01:17:49,706 over Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." 1865 01:17:52,209 --> 01:17:55,294 Still, I loved "Kramer vs. Kramer." 1866 01:17:55,295 --> 01:17:57,797 It was set on the Upper East Side where my school was 1867 01:17:57,798 --> 01:17:59,965 and several of the locations were places I walked 1868 01:17:59,966 --> 01:18:01,717 by every day. 1869 01:18:01,718 --> 01:18:05,054 It was exciting to see my city when I went to the movies. 1870 01:18:05,055 --> 01:18:08,974 Peter Falk in a taxi in Herald Square in "The In-Laws," 1871 01:18:08,975 --> 01:18:10,976 the Upper West Side restaurant my parents 1872 01:18:10,977 --> 01:18:13,813 and I would sometimes go to in "The King of Comedy," 1873 01:18:13,814 --> 01:18:15,231 the corner where I grew up 1874 01:18:15,232 --> 01:18:18,484 in the opening sequence of "Romancing The Stone." 1875 01:18:18,485 --> 01:18:21,487 "Kramer vs. Kramer" was a true New York movie. 1876 01:18:21,488 --> 01:18:24,073 Every inch of it felt lived in and real. 1877 01:18:24,074 --> 01:18:26,826 Dustin Hoffman was deeply moving in the film, 1878 01:18:26,827 --> 01:18:28,577 out of his depth as a parent. 1879 01:18:28,578 --> 01:18:30,663 Daddy, it's burning, it's burning! 1880 01:18:30,664 --> 01:18:32,499 - What? - It's burning. 1881 01:18:33,333 --> 01:18:34,333 Ow! 1882 01:18:34,334 --> 01:18:35,334 Damn it! 1883 01:18:35,335 --> 01:18:37,336 Goddamn her! 1884 01:18:37,337 --> 01:18:39,588 But stepping up when it mattered. 1885 01:18:39,589 --> 01:18:41,090 It would be years I have to admit, 1886 01:18:41,091 --> 01:18:42,258 before I could appreciate 1887 01:18:42,259 --> 01:18:44,427 Meryl Streep's complicated character. 1888 01:18:44,428 --> 01:18:46,429 At the time, I hated her in it. 1889 01:18:46,430 --> 01:18:48,013 Okay, look, we're gonna sit here, and- 1890 01:18:48,014 --> 01:18:49,849 The movie was about divorce and it resonated 1891 01:18:49,850 --> 01:18:51,016 because all around me, 1892 01:18:51,017 --> 01:18:52,852 my friends' parents were splitting up. 1893 01:18:52,853 --> 01:18:55,187 It was like a Manhattan Upper Middle Class virus 1894 01:18:55,188 --> 01:18:57,606 that was spreading at an alarming pace. 1895 01:18:57,607 --> 01:18:59,108 It was everywhere. 1896 01:18:59,109 --> 01:19:01,694 I always assumed my parents would be together forever, 1897 01:19:01,695 --> 01:19:03,946 but around the time that "Kramer vs. Kramer" came out, 1898 01:19:03,947 --> 01:19:06,782 my parents' arguments were getting edgier and louder. 1899 01:19:06,783 --> 01:19:08,368 Just do what you have to do. 1900 01:19:09,453 --> 01:19:10,703 And I remember crying, 1901 01:19:10,704 --> 01:19:13,205 thinking they would be the next to split. 1902 01:19:13,206 --> 01:19:14,290 They didn't. 1903 01:19:14,291 --> 01:19:15,374 My parents stayed together 1904 01:19:15,375 --> 01:19:16,876 and pretty happily, it seemed, 1905 01:19:16,877 --> 01:19:19,795 for 40 years until my dad died. 1906 01:19:19,796 --> 01:19:22,131 This, even though my father was a master flirt 1907 01:19:22,132 --> 01:19:23,632 when he wanted to be, 1908 01:19:23,633 --> 01:19:27,136 and secretive in the way a man having affairs would be, 1909 01:19:27,137 --> 01:19:29,054 I didn't think about it much then, though 1910 01:19:29,055 --> 01:19:32,224 I saw so many films about infidelity in high school, 1911 01:19:32,225 --> 01:19:36,479 "An Unmarried Woman," "Betrayal," "Body Heat." 1912 01:19:36,480 --> 01:19:38,230 I'm a married woman. 1913 01:19:38,231 --> 01:19:39,751 Meaning what? 1914 01:19:40,233 --> 01:19:41,901 Meaning I'm not looking for company. 1915 01:19:41,902 --> 01:19:44,487 And you should have said, "I'm a happily married woman." 1916 01:19:44,488 --> 01:19:46,489 But now I wonder about all those summer nights 1917 01:19:46,490 --> 01:19:47,823 my father was in New York City 1918 01:19:47,824 --> 01:19:49,658 when my mother and I were in Connecticut. 1919 01:19:49,659 --> 01:19:51,076 What was he doing? 1920 01:19:51,077 --> 01:19:53,162 Was he just going home alone at the end of his day 1921 01:19:53,163 --> 01:19:54,747 or was there something else? 1922 01:19:54,748 --> 01:19:56,749 Did he cheat on my mother like Albert Finney did 1923 01:19:56,750 --> 01:19:58,167 to Diane Keaton 1924 01:19:58,168 --> 01:19:59,835 in Alan Parker's devastating "Shoot The Moon." 1925 01:19:59,836 --> 01:20:01,170 Well then, tell me about Sandy. 1926 01:20:01,171 --> 01:20:03,339 Does she fuck you morning, noon, and night? 1927 01:20:03,340 --> 01:20:04,507 I don't know. 1928 01:20:04,508 --> 01:20:06,509 At least I didn't know then. 1929 01:20:06,510 --> 01:20:09,678 Near the end of my father's life and later after he died, 1930 01:20:09,679 --> 01:20:12,181 I would uncover some of his many secrets. 1931 01:20:12,182 --> 01:20:14,683 Most were ones I didn't wanna know. 1932 01:20:14,684 --> 01:20:16,352 It's funny how mysteries are the center of 1933 01:20:16,353 --> 01:20:17,686 so many great movies, 1934 01:20:17,687 --> 01:20:19,772 but in real life, solving those mysteries, 1935 01:20:19,773 --> 01:20:23,360 revealing dark secrets can shatter perfect memories. 1936 01:20:24,361 --> 01:20:25,778 I can't just look at my youth 1937 01:20:25,779 --> 01:20:28,197 with the happy tint of nostalgia anymore, 1938 01:20:28,198 --> 01:20:29,698 but I accept it all. 1939 01:20:29,699 --> 01:20:31,450 My parents were simply human. 1940 01:20:31,451 --> 01:20:32,868 That's the truth. 1941 01:20:32,869 --> 01:20:35,372 And growing up is finally just understanding that. 1942 01:20:37,207 --> 01:20:38,874 In 10th grade, I started to keep 1943 01:20:38,875 --> 01:20:41,377 a list of all the movies I saw that year. 1944 01:20:41,378 --> 01:20:43,712 I'd write it in the back of my school's yearbook, 1945 01:20:43,713 --> 01:20:47,299 on one of the advertising pages just as a record. 1946 01:20:47,300 --> 01:20:49,969 By senior year, my list of movies overflowed to the pages 1947 01:20:49,970 --> 01:20:53,055 beyond and an eclectic list it was. 1948 01:20:53,056 --> 01:20:54,557 Showtime, folks. 1949 01:20:54,558 --> 01:20:56,559 I could just as well be swooning over 1950 01:20:56,560 --> 01:20:57,893 "Q - The Winged Serpent," 1951 01:20:57,894 --> 01:20:59,728 an awesome low budget Larry Cohen movie 1952 01:20:59,729 --> 01:21:01,981 about a large serpent living in Manhattan 1953 01:21:01,982 --> 01:21:03,899 as I would be at Robert Redford's beautiful 1954 01:21:03,900 --> 01:21:06,068 and emotional, "Ordinary People." 1955 01:21:06,069 --> 01:21:09,488 The fact was I was inhaling movies at a furious pace. 1956 01:21:09,489 --> 01:21:11,907 If they projected it, I went. 1957 01:21:11,908 --> 01:21:16,662 "Capricorn One," "Porky's II," "Superman III," 1958 01:21:16,663 --> 01:21:21,334 "The Class of 1984," "1990 The Bronx Warriors," 1959 01:21:22,586 --> 01:21:24,587 whatever it was, I was there. 1960 01:21:24,588 --> 01:21:27,423 My father would often ask why I was seeing such garbage. 1961 01:21:27,424 --> 01:21:29,008 I told him I learned something from every movie I saw 1962 01:21:29,009 --> 01:21:31,677 and while he didn't believe it, I did. 1963 01:21:31,678 --> 01:21:33,762 Plus, a lot of those movies were simply fun. 1964 01:21:33,763 --> 01:21:35,431 "Rocky III" was about as good a time 1965 01:21:35,432 --> 01:21:36,682 as I've ever had at the movies. 1966 01:21:36,683 --> 01:21:38,183 I pity the fool. 1967 01:21:38,184 --> 01:21:40,102 Plus, because we went to a sneak preview, 1968 01:21:40,103 --> 01:21:42,771 they gave us a free 45 record of "Eye of the Tiger" 1969 01:21:42,772 --> 01:21:44,023 by Survivor. 1970 01:21:44,024 --> 01:21:46,025 Who wouldn't want that? 1971 01:21:46,026 --> 01:21:48,027 I also went to a sneak preview of a film 1972 01:21:48,028 --> 01:21:50,112 by one of my favorite directors growing up, 1973 01:21:50,113 --> 01:21:51,530 Steven Spielberg. 1974 01:21:51,531 --> 01:21:53,198 I didn't have high hopes for the movie. 1975 01:21:53,199 --> 01:21:54,617 I hadn't heard anything about it, 1976 01:21:54,618 --> 01:21:56,952 and the photos at the theater looked kind of lame, 1977 01:21:56,953 --> 01:21:58,203 but about 30 seconds 1978 01:21:58,204 --> 01:22:00,122 after "Raiders of the Lost Ark" started, 1979 01:22:00,123 --> 01:22:02,458 I knew that my initial instincts were rubbish 1980 01:22:02,459 --> 01:22:03,626 and I was about to rocket 1981 01:22:03,627 --> 01:22:06,712 to some higher cinematic pleasure dome. 1982 01:22:06,713 --> 01:22:09,548 It was really nice to turn my dad on to a movie. 1983 01:22:09,549 --> 01:22:11,550 If he liked something I recommended, 1984 01:22:11,551 --> 01:22:13,469 I always felt a rush 1985 01:22:13,470 --> 01:22:16,472 as if I was sitting on his lap again as a child. 1986 01:22:16,473 --> 01:22:19,808 Only this time, I was the one introducing him to films. 1987 01:22:19,809 --> 01:22:21,977 He didn't always understand me in high school, 1988 01:22:21,978 --> 01:22:24,146 but he understood movies and my love for them 1989 01:22:24,147 --> 01:22:25,814 and that's where we connected. 1990 01:22:25,815 --> 01:22:27,983 I certainly didn't recommend everything to him. 1991 01:22:27,984 --> 01:22:30,903 Pretty sure he wouldn't have dug "Ms .45," 1992 01:22:30,904 --> 01:22:33,322 but if it was in his cinematic sweet spot, 1993 01:22:33,323 --> 01:22:35,991 penetrating dramas like "The Great Santini," 1994 01:22:35,992 --> 01:22:38,327 visionary sci-fi, like "Blade Runner," 1995 01:22:38,328 --> 01:22:40,162 a throwback film like "Raiders," 1996 01:22:40,163 --> 01:22:42,283 he would usually respond like I did. 1997 01:22:48,672 --> 01:22:51,924 What a strange time in film the early '80s. 1998 01:22:51,925 --> 01:22:54,009 While later in the decade, the Top Guns 1999 01:22:54,010 --> 01:22:56,762 and "Ghostbusters II" would dumb down the studio business 2000 01:22:56,763 --> 01:22:59,181 in a way it would never recover from, 2001 01:22:59,182 --> 01:23:01,684 many of the early '80s studio movies still tried 2002 01:23:01,685 --> 01:23:04,520 to embrace intelligence over commerce. 2003 01:23:04,521 --> 01:23:07,606 "Raging Bull," "All That Jazz." 2004 01:23:07,607 --> 01:23:10,693 "My Favorite Year," "Sophie's Choice." 2005 01:23:10,694 --> 01:23:13,278 In the years I was inhaling movies at a critical pace, 2006 01:23:13,279 --> 01:23:15,531 those films and others pushed buttons 2007 01:23:15,532 --> 01:23:17,616 and caught people off guard. 2008 01:23:17,617 --> 01:23:20,869 Yes, there was plenty of crap and I saw most of it, 2009 01:23:20,870 --> 01:23:23,455 but along with the crap, there was something else. 2010 01:23:23,456 --> 01:23:24,791 There was art. 2011 01:23:26,710 --> 01:23:28,877 Some of the other films that I saw in that period 2012 01:23:28,878 --> 01:23:31,547 that had an impact on me, artful or not, 2013 01:23:31,548 --> 01:23:33,465 included John Carpenter's "The Thing," 2014 01:23:33,466 --> 01:23:37,052 a terrifying and wonderfully claustrophobic horror fest 2015 01:23:37,053 --> 01:23:39,722 that made me a lifelong lover of practically done, 2016 01:23:39,723 --> 01:23:42,975 non-CGI visual effects. 2017 01:23:42,976 --> 01:23:45,978 I dug "Starstruck," a rough and tumble Australian musical, 2018 01:23:45,979 --> 01:23:47,813 directed by Gillian Armstrong. 2019 01:23:47,814 --> 01:23:49,565 I remember listening to the soundtrack 2020 01:23:49,566 --> 01:23:51,109 on a dinky cassette player. 2021 01:23:53,820 --> 01:23:56,238 There was Bill Forsyth's "Local Hero," 2022 01:23:56,239 --> 01:23:57,322 still one of the lightest, 2023 01:23:57,323 --> 01:23:59,992 most swirling original movies ever made 2024 01:23:59,993 --> 01:24:01,995 with a great Mark Knopfler score. 2025 01:24:03,747 --> 01:24:06,248 Another great score was by Philip Glass 2026 01:24:06,249 --> 01:24:07,583 for "Koyaanisqatsi," 2027 01:24:07,584 --> 01:24:08,917 which Coppola produced. 2028 01:24:08,918 --> 01:24:10,836 A wordless, plotless documentary 2029 01:24:10,837 --> 01:24:12,588 about a world out of balance, 2030 01:24:12,589 --> 01:24:14,923 it sounded potentially slow and pretentious, 2031 01:24:14,924 --> 01:24:16,925 but because Coppola was involved, 2032 01:24:16,926 --> 01:24:19,261 I went and I was blown away. 2033 01:24:19,262 --> 01:24:21,097 I saw it three times. 2034 01:24:22,599 --> 01:24:25,184 Debra Winger stole my heart in "Officer and a Gentleman." 2035 01:24:25,185 --> 01:24:27,519 I saw it twice because of her earthy, sexy, 2036 01:24:27,520 --> 01:24:28,854 lived in performance 2037 01:24:28,855 --> 01:24:31,023 and frankly, the graphic sex scene, 2038 01:24:31,024 --> 01:24:32,608 though nothing compares to how a hot 2039 01:24:32,609 --> 01:24:35,944 and beautiful Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver were together 2040 01:24:35,945 --> 01:24:38,864 in Peter Weir's journalists-in- a-war-zone romantic thriller, 2041 01:24:38,865 --> 01:24:41,116 "The Year of Living Dangerously." 2042 01:24:41,117 --> 01:24:43,869 I was turned on by both of them. 2043 01:24:43,870 --> 01:24:46,622 Jessica Lange was ravishing in "Tootsie," 2044 01:24:46,623 --> 01:24:48,290 but it was her devastating 2045 01:24:48,291 --> 01:24:51,627 and ferocious performance in "Frances" that stuck with me. 2046 01:24:51,628 --> 01:24:54,797 The film was about the 1940s movie star, Frances Farmer, 2047 01:24:54,798 --> 01:24:57,800 who because she was fiery, unpredictable, 2048 01:24:57,801 --> 01:25:00,469 and refused to play by society's rules, 2049 01:25:00,470 --> 01:25:02,054 was given a lobotomy 2050 01:25:02,055 --> 01:25:04,807 which tragically neutered her personality. 2051 01:25:04,808 --> 01:25:07,559 This horrific surgery was all the rage at the time 2052 01:25:07,560 --> 01:25:10,646 in dealing with people who did not conform. 2053 01:25:10,647 --> 01:25:13,816 Along with the cure comes a loss of affect, 2054 01:25:13,817 --> 01:25:16,485 a kind of emotional flattening 2055 01:25:16,486 --> 01:25:19,072 with diminished creativity and imagination. 2056 01:25:20,490 --> 01:25:22,575 The movie was heartbreaking. 2057 01:25:23,743 --> 01:25:25,661 "Cutter's Way" was one of those dark 2058 01:25:25,662 --> 01:25:27,996 and emotional cinematic discoveries 2059 01:25:27,997 --> 01:25:30,666 that lift you up off the ground. 2060 01:25:30,667 --> 01:25:33,252 With a healthy amount of '70 cynicism 2061 01:25:33,253 --> 01:25:35,838 matched with a beautiful 1980's aesthetic, 2062 01:25:35,839 --> 01:25:38,090 courtesy of director, Ivan Passer, 2063 01:25:38,091 --> 01:25:40,843 and cinematographer, Jordan Cronenweth, 2064 01:25:40,844 --> 01:25:43,428 it showed flawed characters desperately trying 2065 01:25:43,429 --> 01:25:46,516 to do the right thing in the face of overwhelming odds. 2066 01:25:47,517 --> 01:25:49,351 Amazing how Jeff Bridges kept showing up 2067 01:25:49,352 --> 01:25:51,604 in some of my favorite films. 2068 01:25:52,564 --> 01:25:53,856 I went to "Out Of The Blue" 2069 01:25:53,857 --> 01:25:55,691 because it was directed by Dennis Hopper 2070 01:25:55,692 --> 01:25:57,192 who had been in "Apocalypse Now," 2071 01:25:57,193 --> 01:25:59,862 and I remember being captivated by Linda Manz 2072 01:25:59,863 --> 01:26:03,199 and this dark little story of tragedy in punk rock. 2073 01:26:04,868 --> 01:26:07,119 "Over The Edge" by Jonathan Kaplan 2074 01:26:07,120 --> 01:26:09,204 and starring a very young Matt Dillon, 2075 01:26:09,205 --> 01:26:11,040 had a similar punk attitude, 2076 01:26:12,041 --> 01:26:15,043 as did Penelope Spheeris's amazing doc, 2077 01:26:15,044 --> 01:26:17,713 "The Decline of Western Civilization," 2078 01:26:17,714 --> 01:26:21,550 as did Susan Seidelman's low- budget fireball, "Smithereens," 2079 01:26:21,551 --> 01:26:24,887 as did Nick Cage and Martha Coolidge's "Valley Girl," 2080 01:26:24,888 --> 01:26:26,388 one of the greatest, 2081 01:26:26,389 --> 01:26:28,891 "Hello, I'm destined to be a fucking movie star" performances 2082 01:26:28,892 --> 01:26:30,393 I've ever seen. 2083 01:26:32,729 --> 01:26:34,813 The more and more movies I saw, 2084 01:26:34,814 --> 01:26:37,733 the worse and worse my grades got. 2085 01:26:37,734 --> 01:26:41,153 By senior year, I was nearly failing out of high school. 2086 01:26:41,154 --> 01:26:44,157 My SAT scores were even more embarrassing. 2087 01:26:45,491 --> 01:26:47,743 My directorial heroes were the first generation 2088 01:26:47,744 --> 01:26:49,912 that went to film schools. 2089 01:26:49,913 --> 01:26:54,750 George Lucas at USC, Francis Ford Coppola at UCLA, 2090 01:26:54,751 --> 01:26:57,753 and Martin Scorsese at NYU. 2091 01:26:57,754 --> 01:27:00,589 They had set a trail I wanted to follow. 2092 01:27:00,590 --> 01:27:03,008 It didn't matter that many great directors before 2093 01:27:03,009 --> 01:27:06,011 and after completely bypassed film school. 2094 01:27:06,012 --> 01:27:08,263 In my mind and at that time, 2095 01:27:08,264 --> 01:27:10,349 the main way to a career in the movies was going 2096 01:27:10,350 --> 01:27:13,018 to one of those universities. 2097 01:27:13,019 --> 01:27:15,771 Plus, I had no other options. 2098 01:27:15,772 --> 01:27:17,689 I had no interest in anything else 2099 01:27:17,690 --> 01:27:20,609 and no talent for anything else either, 2100 01:27:20,610 --> 01:27:22,694 so I sent in my applications. 2101 01:27:22,695 --> 01:27:25,197 My guidance counselor almost cried. 2102 01:27:25,198 --> 01:27:27,449 There was no way with my grades I was getting anywhere 2103 01:27:27,450 --> 01:27:31,370 near those schools and it was true. 2104 01:27:31,371 --> 01:27:34,122 With each application came a rejection. 2105 01:27:34,123 --> 01:27:38,210 USC Film School, UCLA Film School. 2106 01:27:38,211 --> 01:27:39,795 My dream of following Lucas 2107 01:27:39,796 --> 01:27:43,883 and Coppola to California became just that, a sad dream. 2108 01:27:45,301 --> 01:27:49,137 Then in February, I got turned down by Boston University, 2109 01:27:49,138 --> 01:27:54,059 my safety school, the one I'd go to if all else failed. 2110 01:27:54,060 --> 01:27:56,478 The skyscrapers of the city collapsed 2111 01:27:56,479 --> 01:27:59,314 around me like some cheesy disaster movie. 2112 01:27:59,315 --> 01:28:02,317 I had been given a gift, a loving family, 2113 01:28:02,318 --> 01:28:04,236 a privileged upbringing that allowed me 2114 01:28:04,237 --> 01:28:07,906 to become the person I wanted to be and I blew it. 2115 01:28:07,907 --> 01:28:10,034 I fucking completely blew it. 2116 01:28:11,160 --> 01:28:12,828 What was I going to do? 2117 01:28:12,829 --> 01:28:15,080 Movies were the only thing I knew. 2118 01:28:15,081 --> 01:28:17,666 From the earliest age, I had been molded by my father 2119 01:28:17,667 --> 01:28:19,835 to love and devour them, 2120 01:28:19,836 --> 01:28:24,006 to watch films and talk about films and make films. 2121 01:28:24,007 --> 01:28:26,592 They were my blood, my heart. 2122 01:28:29,679 --> 01:28:32,431 My parents, knowing that I was spiraling 2123 01:28:32,432 --> 01:28:34,516 and seeing how truly scared I was 2124 01:28:34,517 --> 01:28:37,185 at the prospect of not getting in anywhere, 2125 01:28:37,186 --> 01:28:39,354 did their best to comfort me, 2126 01:28:39,355 --> 01:28:42,859 though I knew they were worried too and disappointed. 2127 01:28:44,360 --> 01:28:46,695 Finally, my father asked if I was free one Saturday to go 2128 01:28:46,696 --> 01:28:48,196 to the movies with him. 2129 01:28:48,197 --> 01:28:50,782 Go to the movies, not with my friends, 2130 01:28:50,783 --> 01:28:54,619 but with him for the first time in months 2131 01:28:54,620 --> 01:28:58,040 to go see "Winter Kills." 2132 01:28:58,041 --> 01:28:59,417 And so we did. 2133 01:29:00,877 --> 01:29:03,795 And afterwards, on the way home, he told me something, 2134 01:29:03,796 --> 01:29:05,213 something that made everything I knew 2135 01:29:05,214 --> 01:29:07,883 about him suddenly make sense. 2136 01:29:07,884 --> 01:29:10,135 He told me that when he was a young man, 2137 01:29:10,136 --> 01:29:11,970 dreaming about being an artist, 2138 01:29:11,971 --> 01:29:15,140 he, like Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer, 2139 01:29:15,141 --> 01:29:16,975 was fiery, unpredictable, 2140 01:29:16,976 --> 01:29:19,311 and refused to play by society's rules, 2141 01:29:19,312 --> 01:29:22,315 and his parents had almost lobotomized him. 2142 01:29:25,735 --> 01:29:27,819 They hated his nonconformity, 2143 01:29:27,820 --> 01:29:30,739 his dream of an artist's way of life. 2144 01:29:30,740 --> 01:29:33,658 It was only because a forward thinking uncle intervened 2145 01:29:33,659 --> 01:29:37,246 that my father was spared this terrifying medical procedure. 2146 01:29:38,664 --> 01:29:39,998 With that news, 2147 01:29:39,999 --> 01:29:42,918 I finally understood why my father lived his life 2148 01:29:42,919 --> 01:29:44,336 the way he did, 2149 01:29:44,337 --> 01:29:47,255 why he was unlike the other dads in the school, 2150 01:29:47,256 --> 01:29:49,508 why he refused to get a normal job, 2151 01:29:49,509 --> 01:29:51,843 and basically lived his life tap dancing 2152 01:29:51,844 --> 01:29:54,346 on the edge of respectability. 2153 01:29:54,347 --> 01:29:56,765 It was because his parents had almost destroyed him 2154 01:29:56,766 --> 01:30:00,102 for being himself and he was gonna make damn sure 2155 01:30:00,103 --> 01:30:02,604 that was never gonna happen again. 2156 01:30:02,605 --> 01:30:05,107 Good, bad, liar, 2157 01:30:05,108 --> 01:30:07,442 thief, husband, father. 2158 01:30:07,443 --> 01:30:09,528 My dad was who he was. 2159 01:30:09,529 --> 01:30:11,279 No one was gonna stop that. 2160 01:30:11,280 --> 01:30:14,699 He was a man truly comfortable in his own skin. 2161 01:30:14,700 --> 01:30:16,201 I loved him for it. 2162 01:30:16,202 --> 01:30:18,787 And because my father had his artistic dreams 2163 01:30:18,788 --> 01:30:20,789 nearly destroyed by his own parents, 2164 01:30:20,790 --> 01:30:22,874 he went out of his way to make sure I would never feel 2165 01:30:22,875 --> 01:30:25,127 that I couldn't have an artistic life. 2166 01:30:25,128 --> 01:30:26,628 "College or no college," 2167 01:30:26,629 --> 01:30:28,713 he said, "It didn't matter." 2168 01:30:28,714 --> 01:30:30,966 I would be all right. 2169 01:30:30,967 --> 01:30:33,468 I would be all right if I just took that love of movies 2170 01:30:33,469 --> 01:30:36,555 that he had given me and let it take me where it might. 2171 01:30:36,556 --> 01:30:38,723 I would be all right if I could be comfortable 2172 01:30:38,724 --> 01:30:40,976 in my own skin like he was, 2173 01:30:40,977 --> 01:30:44,313 comfortable being the film geek that I was. 2174 01:30:48,734 --> 01:30:50,318 Rocky running up those stairs 2175 01:30:50,319 --> 01:30:52,237 in Philadelphia was nothing compared 2176 01:30:52,238 --> 01:30:53,838 to how I felt that day. 2177 01:30:54,740 --> 01:30:56,575 I saw a future again. 2178 01:30:56,576 --> 01:30:59,161 I would continue making movies. 2179 01:30:59,162 --> 01:31:00,745 I might not win every fight, 2180 01:31:00,746 --> 01:31:03,624 but I knew I could go the distance. 2181 01:31:14,343 --> 01:31:16,178 Two weeks later, I came home 2182 01:31:16,179 --> 01:31:19,182 to an acceptance letter from NYU Film School. 2183 01:31:21,184 --> 01:31:23,685 One more story about my dad. 2184 01:31:23,686 --> 01:31:27,022 It takes place about 15 years after high school. 2185 01:31:27,023 --> 01:31:29,441 I've made a few independent films at this point, 2186 01:31:29,442 --> 01:31:32,194 but I'm barely scraping by financially. 2187 01:31:32,195 --> 01:31:34,029 I've managed to raise a million dollars 2188 01:31:34,030 --> 01:31:35,614 to make my movie, "Oxygen," 2189 01:31:35,615 --> 01:31:37,032 much of it coming from 2190 01:31:37,033 --> 01:31:39,534 the air freshener king of Long Island. 2191 01:31:39,535 --> 01:31:41,620 Three weeks before we were to shoot, 2192 01:31:41,621 --> 01:31:43,788 the investor paperwork wasn't done 2193 01:31:43,789 --> 01:31:46,958 and I had the film's pre-production payroll to meet 2194 01:31:46,959 --> 01:31:49,628 with no money in the bank to pay it. 2195 01:31:49,629 --> 01:31:53,048 Desperate broke and facing my movie falling apart, 2196 01:31:53,049 --> 01:31:56,551 I did what any self-respecting film director would do. 2197 01:31:56,552 --> 01:31:59,221 I turned to a loan shark for help. 2198 01:31:59,222 --> 01:32:01,223 I turned to my father. 2199 01:32:01,224 --> 01:32:02,474 Through thick cigar smoke, 2200 01:32:02,475 --> 01:32:06,144 my father agreed to loan me $10,000 for a week 2201 01:32:06,145 --> 01:32:08,730 until the investor's money came through. 2202 01:32:08,731 --> 01:32:12,317 He would deliver it to me in cash in a brown paper bag 2203 01:32:12,318 --> 01:32:16,905 in specific denominations wrapped in thick rubber bands. 2204 01:32:16,906 --> 01:32:19,574 In return, I would pay him back $11,000 2205 01:32:19,575 --> 01:32:21,409 exactly seven days later, 2206 01:32:21,410 --> 01:32:25,080 in cash, in the same denominations, 2207 01:32:25,081 --> 01:32:27,082 in the same brown paper bag 2208 01:32:27,083 --> 01:32:29,251 with the same thick rubber bands. 2209 01:32:29,252 --> 01:32:31,086 It had to be the same rubber bands. 2210 01:32:31,087 --> 01:32:33,922 In a weird way, only my father could explain, 2211 01:32:33,923 --> 01:32:36,091 it was the most important thing for him. 2212 01:32:36,092 --> 01:32:38,593 My dad's one week vig was 10%. 2213 01:32:38,594 --> 01:32:40,262 That was a lot of money. 2214 01:32:40,263 --> 01:32:42,931 When I tried to negotiate, he stopped the conversation dead. 2215 01:32:42,932 --> 01:32:46,935 If I wanted his money, I had to do it on his terms, 2216 01:32:46,936 --> 01:32:49,438 selfless and selfish. 2217 01:32:50,606 --> 01:32:53,525 But he came through for me like he always did. 2218 01:32:53,526 --> 01:32:55,610 I paid him back and the movie got made 2219 01:32:55,611 --> 01:32:58,780 and it led to other movies, larger movies, 2220 01:32:58,781 --> 01:33:02,784 and TV pilots, and TV series, and short films, 2221 01:33:02,785 --> 01:33:04,286 and documentaries. 2222 01:33:04,287 --> 01:33:07,122 Would any of that have happened without my father, 2223 01:33:07,123 --> 01:33:08,873 without him holding my hand all the way 2224 01:33:08,874 --> 01:33:11,126 through "King Kong" when I was six, 2225 01:33:11,127 --> 01:33:12,962 sharing his movie dreams with me? 2226 01:33:14,213 --> 01:33:16,715 It's sad that with all the Super 8 films I made, 2227 01:33:16,716 --> 01:33:19,634 there's so very little footage of my parents. 2228 01:33:19,635 --> 01:33:21,886 I didn't have them act in any of my childhood productions 2229 01:33:21,887 --> 01:33:23,888 except that once early on 2230 01:33:23,889 --> 01:33:26,976 where my dad clearly enjoyed playing the bad guy 2231 01:33:28,144 --> 01:33:30,563 and got strangled by my friend. 2232 01:33:38,654 --> 01:33:40,155 Before I was born, 2233 01:33:40,156 --> 01:33:43,241 there were these brief frames at my cousin's first birthday, 2234 01:33:43,242 --> 01:33:45,577 grainy, shaky images of my parents, 2235 01:33:45,578 --> 01:33:47,412 months after they were married. 2236 01:33:47,413 --> 01:33:49,999 Big smiles and big dreams, I'm sure. 2237 01:33:51,167 --> 01:33:52,584 There was only one film, 2238 01:33:52,585 --> 01:33:55,170 even remotely feeling like a family home movie, 2239 01:33:55,171 --> 01:33:57,088 a trip my parents and their friends made 2240 01:33:57,089 --> 01:33:59,507 to visit me at sleepaway camp. 2241 01:33:59,508 --> 01:34:02,677 The footage is mostly of me or my camp buddies, 2242 01:34:02,678 --> 01:34:05,431 but there are these three quick shots of my dad, 2243 01:34:08,017 --> 01:34:11,102 just a few frames, cigar in mouth, 2244 01:34:11,103 --> 01:34:14,689 shirt unbuttoned like he used to wear in the summer. 2245 01:34:14,690 --> 01:34:17,025 It strangely really captures him. 2246 01:34:17,026 --> 01:34:20,195 It's like I can step into that frame of Super 8 film 2247 01:34:20,196 --> 01:34:22,281 and see my entire childhood with him. 2248 01:34:24,200 --> 01:34:27,202 And then there's this pan that almost gets to him, 2249 01:34:27,203 --> 01:34:29,454 but heartbreakingly stops. 2250 01:34:29,455 --> 01:34:31,855 If only the camera had kept panning. 2251 01:34:32,708 --> 01:34:35,126 There's even less footage of my mother, 2252 01:34:35,127 --> 01:34:38,380 just this quick moment in a yellow shirt sitting next 2253 01:34:38,381 --> 01:34:42,967 to her friend, Hannah, looking happy and beautiful. 2254 01:34:42,968 --> 01:34:46,138 Just a few frames of her, nothing more. 2255 01:34:48,557 --> 01:34:51,643 I did put my dad in a few of my feature films 2256 01:34:51,644 --> 01:34:54,813 and I feel really lucky to have that footage. 2257 01:34:54,814 --> 01:34:58,733 Yet when I watch it, I see the older version of my father, 2258 01:34:58,734 --> 01:35:00,402 the father I knew as an adult, 2259 01:35:00,403 --> 01:35:05,240 when I came home on vacation or stopped by for dinner, 2260 01:35:05,241 --> 01:35:08,743 as always a warm, loving, complicated person, 2261 01:35:08,744 --> 01:35:11,830 but not the man who is my whole world. 2262 01:35:11,831 --> 01:35:15,333 But still, when I look into his eyes here, 2263 01:35:15,334 --> 01:35:17,419 I'm able to go back in time 2264 01:35:17,420 --> 01:35:20,422 to see the man I built forts with 2265 01:35:20,423 --> 01:35:24,926 and read books on his lap with and walked the city with, 2266 01:35:24,927 --> 01:35:29,848 the man who took me to the movies, took me into the movies, 2267 01:35:29,849 --> 01:35:34,854 gave me this specific love, this lucky cinematic life. 2268 01:35:40,526 --> 01:35:42,777 Had a fellow used to come in here every afternoon, 2269 01:35:42,778 --> 01:35:45,196 exactly at 3 on the nose. 2270 01:35:45,197 --> 01:35:47,615 I think he was a school teacher. 2271 01:35:47,616 --> 01:35:50,702 He used to come in here every day, sit where you're sitting, 2272 01:35:50,703 --> 01:35:53,455 order a Maker's Mark, pull out his false teeth, 2273 01:35:53,456 --> 01:35:54,706 and place it in front of him. 2274 01:35:54,707 --> 01:35:56,292 And get filthy drunk. 2275 01:35:57,585 --> 01:35:58,794 Then he died. 2276 01:36:04,216 --> 01:36:06,050 That's a nice story, Sally. 2277 01:36:06,051 --> 01:36:07,970 Yeah, it is. 2277 01:36:08,305 --> 01:37:08,573 Do you want subtitles for any video? -=[ ai.OpenSubtitles.com ]=-