Repost: Finding Vivian Maier (August 30th and 31st at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[FINDING VIVIAN MAIER screens Saturday August 30th at 9:20 pm and Sunday August 31st at 4:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque..]

Review by Bob Ignizio

It's kind of like the most interesting episode of Storage Wars ever. John Maloof (who co-wrote and directed this documentary with Charlie Siskel) bought some boxes of negatives at an auction. Those negatives turned out to be an amazing stash of never before seen street photographs of Chicago. Initially Maloof didn't do much with the photos, since everyone he talked to said they were nothing special. But once he had time to sit down and really go through what he had, he realized just how important this collection was.

Finding Vivian Maier (opens in Cleveland May 2nd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[FINDING VIVIAN MAIER opens in Cleveland on Friday May 2nd exclusively at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

It's kind of like the most interesting episode of Storage Wars ever. John Maloof (who co-wrote and directed this documentary with Charlie Siskel) bought some boxes of negatives at an auction. Those negatives turned out to be an amazing stash of never before seen street photographs of Chicago. Initially Maloof didn't do much with the photos, since everyone he talked to said they were nothing special. But once he had time to sit down and really go through what he had, he realized just how important this collection was.

Bettie Page Reveals All (March 8th and 9th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[BETTIE PAGE REVEALS ALL screens Saturday March 8th at 9:30 pm and Sunday March 9th at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

For most of the nineteen fifties, a woman from Tennessee named Bettie Page posed for a series of photographs that would make her an iconic sex symbol. The photos ranged from amateur shot cheesecake photos for New York city “camera clubs” to bondage photos for pin up photographer Irving Klaw. She also posed several times for Bunny Yeager, herself a former pin-up model turned photographer, which resulted in Bettie becoming the first holiday Playmate in the January 1955 issue of Playboy Magazine. In all of these photos, there was something special about Bettie that went beyond just her undeniable good looks – a sense of joy, a knack for knowing just the right post, and a complete and utter lack of shame. And then, she seemed to simply vanish from the face of the earth.

Men at Lunch (January 8th at the Cleveland Museum of Art)

[MEN AT LUNCH screens Wednesday January 8th at 7:00 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

MEN AT LUNCH purports to tell the story of an iconic photo taken in 1932 that depicts a group of iron workers casually enjoying their lunch some 840 feet above street level while sitting on a girder of what will eventually be the RCA Builiding at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City. Not much is known about who took the photo or the people in it as director Seán Ó Cualáin begins his film, and although there is much speculation, not much more is known by the time his film concludes. The film asserts that such knowledge isn't really important to understanding the significance of the photo and what it represents, and it makes a reasonable case to that effect. But then, why spend so much screen time on leads that ultimately can't be verified?

The Naked Zinester (now available to watch online)

Review by Bob Ignizio

Columbus native Aaron Tsuru is sort of like a low budget Hugh Hefner. Tsuru, subject of the short documentary THE NAKED ZINESTER, takes photos of women in various stages of undress. Some wind up in his self published fanzines, some on his website. His subjects, including girlfriend Cherry La Voix, are not the standard cookie-cutter models one sees in Playboy, but what Tsuru describes as “real” women. Personally I think that's kind of unfair, seeing as the Playboy girls exist, too. They don't necessarily live next door to me like the fantasy Mr. Hefner is selling, but obviously they live next door to someone. Perhaps it would be more fair to say that Tsuru photographs a different kind of woman than one usually finds in Playboy, women who aren't quite as made-up, have a few more curves, maybe some tattoos and piercings. His models are kind of in the vein of the Suicide Girls, but a little more down to earth.

Book Review: 'Hollywood Movie Stills: Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios'

Hollywood Movie Stills: Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios by Joel W. Finler

Book review by Bob Ignizio

If you've ever read a book on movies, chances are you've seen movie stills. Whether you know it or not, these often iconic photographs of movie scenes and their stars usually weren't taken directly from the films themselves. Rather, most of them were shot after the movie cameras were done rolling by a separate still photography unit. These still photographers had particular techniques developed for their brand of photography that were utilized to make the movie stars shine even brighter, some of which were adopted by the makers of motion pictures. Stills are also of great importance as a record for how films were made in the early days, since many “behind the scenes” shots were taken. And then there are those films which have been lost to the sands of time, but which live on in some way through still photos. All this and much, much more can be learned by reading Jeol W. Finler's Hollywood Movie Stills: Art and Technique in the Golden Age of the Studios.

Repost: Bill Cunningham New York (September 3rd and 4th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK screens Saturday September 3rd at 7:25 pm and Sunday September 4th at 8:25 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Having just been laid off by a daily paper I may be oversensitive, but - hell! - don't let any newspaper publishers, especially from The Plain Dealer, watch BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK. The documentary feature directed by the aptly named Richard Press and partially produced by the eminent New York Times itself lovingly profiles one of the Times' own star writer-photographers. And dig it: Bill Cunningham is an elderly bachelor with no personal life, dependents or intimates - just work. He didn't even deposit his paychecks from one filthystinkingrich employer (the same Newhouse family that owns the PD) on principle of retaining his creative control. He doesn't partake of offered freebies and refreshments (not even water).

Repost: Bill Cunningham New York (July 8th and 10th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK screens Friday July 8th at 7:30pm and Sunday July 10th at 3pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Having just been laid off by a daily paper I may be oversensitive, but - hell! - don't let any newspaper publishers, especially from The Plain Dealer, watch BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK. The documentary feature directed by the aptly named Richard Press and partially produced by the eminent New York Times itself lovingly profiles one of the Times' own star writer-photographers. And dig it: Bill Cunningham is an elderly bachelor with no personal life, dependents or intimates - just work. He didn't even deposit his paychecks from one filthystinkingrich employer (the same Newhouse family that owns the PD) on principle of retaining his creative control. He doesn't partake of offered freebies and refreshments (not even water).

Bill Cunningham, New York (now playing in Cleveland exclusively at the Capitol Theatre)

[BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK is now playing in Cleveland exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Having just been laid off by a daily paper I may be oversensitive, but - hell! - don't let any newspaper publishers, especially from The Plain Dealer, watch BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK. The documentary feature directed by the aptly named Richard Press and partially produced by the eminent New York Times itself lovingly profiles one of the Times' own star writer-photographers. And dig it: Bill Cunningham is an elderly bachelor with no personal life, dependents or intimates - just work. He didn't even deposit his paychecks from one filthystinkingrich employer (the same Newhouse family that owns the PD) on principle of retaining his creative control. He doesn't partake of offered freebies and refreshments (not even water).