Going Out of The Way to Find a Movie for Seniors

This should read movies for seniors

I have mentioned many times in this journal that the local multiplex rarely shows films for an older audience.  The Kew Gardens Cinema as a venue for high-quality films has also been mentioned several times here.  The only problem is that it is often hard to find parking there.  Last Saturday when we saw Beirut at Kew Gardens we saw a trailer for Disobedience staring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams.  There was a very positive review for it in the New York Times.  I wanted to see it, but it is only showing in three theaters in Manhattan.  I decided to see it at City Cinemas 1 2 3 at 3rd Avenue and 60th Street.  This is the first time since January 2009 that I made a special trip to Manhattan to see a movie.  At that time we saw Frost Nixon which was not playing in Queens.

Random Comments of the Day

I never know when Bruce's Journal will have an impact on someone else.  Back in 2012, I purchased a biography of Paul Reed who played Captain Block on Car 54 Where are You.  A writer contacted me since he wanted to find out if there was any relationship between Paul Reed and the entertainer Sid Caeser who was popular in the 1950s.  He needed to get some information from that book which is now out of print.  When he phoned me, I was able to read to him some excerpts which confirmed there was a minor relationship between the two entertainers.  The next time I go to the Performing Arts Library of NYPL I will look up a few books on Sid Caeser.

Today we drove over to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see Robert Redford in the Old Man & the Gun.  It seems that all of the movies at the local multiplex are just suited for a younger audience.  However, whenever we go to Kew Gardens there is always a problem with finding a parking spot or navigating through the narrow 2-way streets.

I am working on indexing articles for the Baseball Index, a service of SABR.  I try to index about 10 articles a day.

Movie Day on Staycation

I may as well live this week as a gentleman of leisure so after I did some reading in the morning I decided to take in a flick.  I looked at the listings for the College Point Multiplex and even looked at some trailers and decided that the movies over there were just not for me.  It is always tempting to think that since it right in the neighborhood I may as well just walk over there.  Too many times I walked out of that complex feeling that I wasted my money seeing a movie aimed at much younger people.

I decided to drive over to the Kew Gardens Cinema as I usually do a few times a year.  I had a little problem finding parking, but didn;t mind having to walk several blocks to the theater.  I saw the film 5 Flights Up starring Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman.  It was about a long-time married couple living in Brooklyn who feel it is time to move out and try to sell their apartment.

When I go to the Kew Gardens Cinema I am often one of the youngest people in the audience while in College Point I am usually one of the oldest.

Taking Advice from A Cheapskate

Regular readers of this blog know that I am gretaly anticipating the release on Wednesday of I'm Not There, the biopic of Bob Dylan.  When I got the New York Times this morning there was a one page ad for the film in the Arts and Leisure section.  I had originally thought that it open only in the Film Forum but it will play at several theaters in the NYC area.  It will actually play in the Kew Gardens theater which is not too far from me at Queens.  We have been to that theater before, but it is very small and old.  I called my friend Roy, the "Culture Vulture" to ask him if we should see it at the Film Forum in Soho or the Lincoln Plaza Cinema uptown.  His answer - you may as well see it in Kew Gardens since it will be cheaper there.  We will have to check the times for Friday and decide which one is most convenient and decide if we want to hang around the Lincoln Center area or Soho.  One of these days I'll have to write a blog entry about Roy.

The Music Never Stopped - A Sleeper of a Movie

Some independent films just don't get the publicity they deserve.  I checked the listings for the Kew Gardens Theater and found this description for The Music Never Stopped. "Tale of a father who struggles to bond with his estranged son Gabriel, after Gabriel suffers from a brain tumor that prevents him from forming new memories."

Gabriel, the son had a very large benign brain tumor that had to be removed.  After the surgery his father discovers that he can remember events of the past through the music of the 1960s and 1970s.  He is especially moved by the music of the Grateful Dead, but the music of other popular artists of that era is also featured.  I won't give any of the movie, though it has a sad ending.  A few hours after I returned home, I downloaded the soundtrack album from Amazon.com

I highly recommend listening to the studio version of Touch of Grey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8zCANDDO70

Ask Dr. Ruth - An Excellent Documentary about the World's Most Popular Sex Therapist

Back in the 1980s, I would regularly listen to Sexually Speaking with Dr. Ruth Westheimer on WYNY when it was an AC station at 97.1 FM.  This documentary is available to Hulu subscribers and is also being shown in selective theaters including the Kew Gardens Cinema.  She tells that she was born in 1928 in Germany just before the Nazis took over.  Her parents sent her to Switzerland where she lived as an orphan.  She eventually moved to the United States where earned a doctorate and then became a sex therapist.  She got her fame with the radio show that started out in NYC and then was heard all over the county.  From there she moved to TV as her popularity skyrocketed.

I highly recommend this film.

I Hate Light Snow

I just hate it when there is only an inch or two of snow as there was this morning. When there is a light snowfall, you have to go to work in bad weather and cope with poor traveling conditions. At least when there is a bg snowfall, places close and you can get a day off from work. Today was Sunday, anyway, but I just hate being bound to the apartment. So, that means another trip to the local multiplex. We've seen so many movies over the last month. Today we saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

We've seen worse movies. I guess if you are a Keven James, you would like this flick. It was a silly story about a nebish (loser) who works as a security guard in a shopping mall in West Orange, NJ and some how bumbles his way and becomes a hero. I wish that this multiplex would reserve one screen for independent films. There is a small theater in Kew Gardens, about a 15 minute drive away, which shows movies suited for an older audience. On a crummy day like today, I just don't feel like driving in tricky conditions just to see a movie.

Kosher Deli's in Queens

Today, Karen, Lee and I walked around Alley Pond Park.  On the way back we stopped at Buddies Deli on 73rd Avenue for a few hot dogs and fries.  We discussed the Kosher Delis in Queens that have folded the ones still left.  Here goes:

Still Left

Bens in Bayside - there are several Bens on Long Island and one in Manhattan where the Meet and Greets were held

Bens Best Deli in Rego Park - this is not affiliated with the Ben's above.  I have been going to this one since the 1950s

Deli Masters in Fresh Meadows - this is across the street from the former site of the WTFM and WAPP studios

Buddies in Bayside wher we ate today

Queens Deli's no longer around

Pastrami King in Kew Gardens - this was right next to the Court House.  One of the only good things about jury duty was having this restaurant nearby

Julies in Rego Park - I remember this right next to the Rego Park Jewish Center in the early 1960s

Surreys on Union Turnpike - when I worked at St, Johns in the early 90s, this was nearby

Fassbergs - this was around the corner from where I now live.  It changed names and owners a few times.  It became Reubens, Kosher King, and Flushing Delight before becoming a Korean restaurant in 1995

I think these restaurants closed because the Jewish population in Queens has declined.  Here is an invitation to Dave from Chicago.  If you ever come to Queens, I will take you on a tour of these restaurants

There are some kosher delis in Manhattan.  There is Mendy's on 34th Street and Park Avenue which is Glatt (strictly) Kosher.  We had some gatherings of oldies radio enthusiasts there since one of our friends was observant.  The Stage and Carnegie Deli's are kosher style which is an oxymoron.

Perhaps the Distinguished Professor of Saturday Night who lives in Manhattan can give some more information

 

Ben's Deli, Ben's Best and The Comedian (Movie)

Although the Carnegie Deli closed there is still Ben's Best Deli in Rego Park and Ben's Deli with locations in Bayside, Long Island, and Manhattan.  The later is the restaurant where we hold the annual oldies meet and greet in November.  There has always been some confusion between the two.  Ben's Best with just one location has been in Rego Park since 1945.  While growing up, my mother would send me there on Sundays to get cold cuts and hot dogs for dinner.  I remember Ben, the original owner who passed away,  His son Jay Parker now runs it.   I believe the Ben's Deli of oldies meet and greet fame didn't open until the early 1990s.

Anyway, today we went to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see The Comedian starring Robert DeNiro.  He played an aging insult comedian named Jack Burke.  His brother played by Danny DeVito and sister-in-law played by Patty Lupone managed the deli.  Jay Parker appeared in a cameo role.  I highly recommend seeing this movie.

Echo in the Canyon Another Documentary Another Dylan

Jakob Dylan, son of Bob, is the executive producer of this documentary that examines folk-rock stars of the 1960s who were part of the Laurel Canyon music scene.  He interviewed musicians including:

• David Crosby
• Roger Mcguinn
• Brian Wilson
• Michelle Phillips
• John Sebastian
• Stephen Stills
• Graham Nash
• Tom Petty
• Ringo Starr
• Eric Clapton

The "Echo" refers to a group of younger musicians who gather for a tribute concert covering some of the hits of the artists mentioned above. These included:

• Fiona Apple
• Beck
• Norah Jones
• Cat Power
• Regina Spektor

I highly recommend this film for all 60s music enthusiasts.  I was able to see it at the Kew Gardens Cinema.  Luckily, I didn't have to travel to Manhattan to see it.

It was Hitchcock Day in the Slutsky Family

Karen has been a fan of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies for many years.  Back in the 1980s when we first got a VCR she taped many of his films.  She has been anticipating the release of the new movie Hitchcock staring Anthony Hopkins.  It wasn't playing at the local multiplex so we took a short drive to the Kew Gardens Cinema.  Hopkins was absolutely superb in his portrayal of Hitchcock.  This movie showed his role as director of Psycho released in 1960.  The shower scene in Psycho was considered very violent in 1960, but is quite tame by today's standards.  We recalled that back then a movie opened in one or two theaters in Manhattan and weeks later came to neighborhood  cinemas.

When we got home we couldn't resist going into our library of VHS tapes and viewing the original Psycho.

John Lennon was a Red Sox Fan

Yesterday we took a short drive to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see the movie U.S. versus John Lennon.  This small theater shows many independent films that are not shown in our local multiplex.  Back in the early 1970s tricky Dick Nixon wanted to do anything to be re-elected with a big landslide.  Back then John Lennon assosciated himself with political radicals such as Abby Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and others.  Lennon was convicted of marijuana posession in England some years bag.  Nixon and his stooges like J. Edgar Hoover did everything to get John deported.  This was the theme of the movie.  There was a scene in the movie showing John and Yoko as hosts of the Mike Douglas show with Bobby Seale as the guest.  John was wearing a Boston Red Sox uniform during the show.  Hopefully this film will be shown in Prescott or Pagebyrner will have to wait until it comes out in DVD.

The Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969 Becomes the Summer of Soul

 

When people think about music festivals in 1969 everyone talks about the Woodstock Music and Art FAir held in upstate New York.  The Harlem Cultural Festival that was held as 6 concerts from June 29 - August 24, 1969, has been forgotten. Some people referred to it as the Black Woodstock.  It included performances by Nina Simone, B.B. King, Sly and the Family Stone[1], Chuck Jackson, Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach, the 5th Dimension, David Ruffin, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, and Moms Mabley, among others.

Finally, after 52 years a documentary film called Summer of  Soul was produced and released to Hulu and selected theaters.  Today we took a drive to the Kew Gardens Cinema and saw it there.  I highly recommend it to my oldies music friends.

I Guess I am Just Too Old For Mainstream Movies

Since the weather was threatening on this 4th of July we decided to play it safe and walk over to the local multiplex to see Hancock which opened this weekend.  Will Smith is certainly a fine actor, but the film like many other of its genre had a "far-fetched plot" and plenty of fantasy violence.  There were very few people my age in the theater.  I guess I have to come to grips that mainstream movies are not for me any more.  I may have to go out of my way to see independent films that are suited for an older audience.  There is a small movie theater with 4 screens in Kew Gardens Queens that show independent movies.  When I go to that theater, I feel like I am in a senior citizens residence.  To quote Bob Dylan "It's not dark yet, but it's getting there."

Movie Theaters like they used to be

A few times a year we go to the Kew Gardens Theater, a 10 minute ride from Flushing. This is a movie theater like they were a generation ago. Since it has 4 or 5 screens it is still a multiplex but it is located in a residential area with a marquee. They show independent films suited for an older audience. It was really strange to see a working telephone booth in the lobby. When was the last time you saw a phone booth?

Since I was intrigued by the title, we saw City Island . It is part of the Bronx connected to the mainland by a bridge. Back in 1985 I went to a restaurant there to celebrate the marriage of my father-in-law Will to Betty. I will leave it up to my readers to click on the link from IMDB to read about the movie. I did enjoy it.

Afternoon with The Beatles

I must congratulate Ron Howard for putting together so much concert footage to compile this documentary covering Beatles concerts from 1963-66.  I have seen many Beatles films over the years including The Compleat Beatles, but I saw so many new scenes.  50 years later the Fab Four still has great appeal no musical act in all these years have impacted generations of listeners.

The documentary is now seen on HULU, a subscription based streaming service, but it is being shown in selective theaters including the Kew Gardens Cinema.  At the end of the film, The Beatles at Shea Stadium from 1965 was shown.

I highly recommend this for Beatles fans of all ages.  A splendid time is guaranteed for all.

Movie Theaters, The Films They Show and The Prices They Charge

People who read my Facebook account must know that I frequent the College Point Multiplex which is within walking distance of my home.  Since it opened in May 1999 we probably have gone there about 40 times a year for a total of about 700 visits.  Every time we go they add points to my account so I can get a free soda, free popcorn or free admission.  The only problem for me is that most movies they show appeal to a young audience.  I understand that they are trying to make a profit, but I wish 1 of their of their 12 screens be used for independent films.  The bargain matinee price (before 2 PM) and senior citizen price are $11.75.  On Tuesdays, everybody gets in for $8.50 while seniors pay $7.50 on Wednesday.  All too many times I walk out of that complex annoyed that I paid for a film that is just not for me, but it is so close to home.

Today I went to the AMC Bay Terrace which is a 10-minute drive away.  Most of the movies there are the same as the College Point Multiplex, but today I saw The Shape of Water.  The senior citizen price is $11.79.  I could have saved money by staying close to home, but I wanted to see that film which was nominated for several academy awards.  A few weeks ago I took a subway ride to the Kaufman Astoria complex to see the highly acclaimed The Darkest Hour.  This is another good film not shown at the College Point Multiplex.

My favorite theater is the Kew Gardens Cinemas that specializes in independent and foreign movies.  The only problem is that parking in that neighboorhood is bad.  Sunday is the best day to go there.  I think their standard price is $8.50.  A couple of times a year I go over there.

Now that I have more time, I'll have to travel to Manhattan to see movies not shown in Queens.

Elvis & Nixon

On December 21, 1970 the King met Tricky Dick at the Whitehouse.  I guess if they can make a movie about this they can make a movie about just about anything.  I enjoyed the film but wonder if  events described in the movie actually happened.  Did Elvis present Nixon a handgun as a gift?  Did he sign an autograph for Julie Nixon?  Was Nixon thrilled to meet Elvis or did he go through this reluctantly?

I certainly would recommend this movie to those who grew up during the 60s and 70s who were living when Nixon was president and Elvis, the King.  Actors portrayed some of the future Watergate figures including H.R, Haldeman, Egil Krogh, and Dwight Chapin.

One of the best things for me was a chance to visit the Kew Gardens Cinema.  That is a movie theater they way they used to be in neighborhoods and not shopping malls.  I did miss the stadium seating of the College Point Multiplex.

Description in the Internet Movie Database

The Queen (Movie)/Queens College Basketball

It was a dreary day today, but I just can not stay home.  I had already seen most of the decent movies at the multiplex so I decided to see The Queen playing at the Kew Gardens theater which shows only independent films.  That movie theater is a dinosaur since it is in a neighborhood not a mall.  It has 5 screens but most of the patrons were senior citizens.  As I have discussed on this blog before most of the movies these days appeal to people under 35.  Middle aged people like myself and older people should have movies released for us.  The film was a fictionalized account of how the royal family reacted to the tragic death of Princess Diana.  When we got home we listened to the latest Theme Time Radio which was about hair.  Bob even played some songs about bald men.  I see enough bald men during the week :)  Even though Saturday night oldies was a full four hours tonight, the Slutsky family does not sit home.  We left about 6:45 to see Queens College play Adelphi.  Queens lost 64-50.  I know that several people record Saturday night oldies so I'll download the 2 hours that I missed tomorrow.

Nowhere Boy - Excellent Movie with the Wrong Title

Today we took a short drive to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see Nowhere Boy about John Lennon at age 15. Over the years I have read several biographies of John Lennon and the Beatles. The film certainly confirmed what I have read. I enjoyed the movie but I would change the title to Quarryman. I recall the lyrics of the Beatles hit Nowhere Man as follows:



“He’s a real nowhere man sitting in his nowhere land making all his nowhere plans for nobody.”


The young John Lennon certainly was a mover and shaker. We see how he was influenced by Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and others during his formative years as a musician. He met Paul McCartney and formed the Quarrymen. We also observe John’s difficult family situation with his Aunt Mimi and mother Julia. It ends with his taking his group to Germany for a gig. The name Beatles was never mentioned, but if I remember my music history correctly the name was changed from Quarrymen to Beatles at that time.


I recommend it for everyone who is familiar with the popular music of the 1950s and 60s.