On Monday, June 16 the Bryant Park Film Festival starts up again. If you don't know about it already, every Monday night from the middle of June until the middle of August, HBO screens a classic movie for the general public in Bryant Park, totally free of charge. I first went several years ago and saw A Streetcar Named Desire and a couple of years ago I went to see MASH.
This has become a very popular New York summer tradition. It's something of a Yuppie scene. The movies begin at sundown so they usually don't start until sometime between 8:30 and 9 PM. The park opens to the public at 5 PM. Most people bring a blanket and some water and food, grab a patch of land on the big lawn, and hang out, usually sunning themselves or reading until the movie starts. It gets really crowded by the time the movie begins, and if you get there late you'll probably be forced to stand up on the concrete steps, near the New York Public Library. Still, if you haven't gone, it's worth it: it's a nice, relaxing urban and cultural experience.
This year's schedule includes Dr No (the first film in the film festival and coincidentally the first James Bond movie), Billy Wilder's great comedy The Apartment (a wonderful New York film and the 1960 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture), and the first Superman movie. Also included is one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser known films, Lifeboat, a thriller set completely on, you guessed it,a lifeboat. It may be lesser known but it's a really good movie. Interestingly enough, I remember that this was the very first movie I saw after graduating high school - actually, the day after I graduated. Funny the things you recall.
P.S. Most Alfred Hitchcock movies include the director making some kind of cameo appearance. So how does he do that when all of the characters in Lifeboat are stuck in a boat? Here's a clue: if you ever see this movie, keep your eyes out for a newspaper ...
This has become a very popular New York summer tradition. It's something of a Yuppie scene. The movies begin at sundown so they usually don't start until sometime between 8:30 and 9 PM. The park opens to the public at 5 PM. Most people bring a blanket and some water and food, grab a patch of land on the big lawn, and hang out, usually sunning themselves or reading until the movie starts. It gets really crowded by the time the movie begins, and if you get there late you'll probably be forced to stand up on the concrete steps, near the New York Public Library. Still, if you haven't gone, it's worth it: it's a nice, relaxing urban and cultural experience.
This year's schedule includes Dr No (the first film in the film festival and coincidentally the first James Bond movie), Billy Wilder's great comedy The Apartment (a wonderful New York film and the 1960 Academy Award Winner for Best Picture), and the first Superman movie. Also included is one of Alfred Hitchcock's lesser known films, Lifeboat, a thriller set completely on, you guessed it,a lifeboat. It may be lesser known but it's a really good movie. Interestingly enough, I remember that this was the very first movie I saw after graduating high school - actually, the day after I graduated. Funny the things you recall.
P.S. Most Alfred Hitchcock movies include the director making some kind of cameo appearance. So how does he do that when all of the characters in Lifeboat are stuck in a boat? Here's a clue: if you ever see this movie, keep your eyes out for a newspaper ...
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