Cinema St Louis Announces Lineup For This Year’s Golden Anniversaries

Cinema St Louis Announces Lineup For This Year’s Golden Anniversaries

Films of 1973 spotlighted in online discussions and in-person screenings

The Golden Anniversaries film series — an annual presentation of Cinema St. Louis (CSL) — features classic films celebrating their 50th anniversaries. The sixth edition of the event highlights films from 1973.

This year, Cinema St. Louis will hold both virtual conversations and in-person screenings as part of Golden Anniversaries. Virtual conversations are presented free of charge.

The online conversations, with people watching the films on their own but gathering virtually to discuss them, will continue through December. The virtual programs will be available as livestreams through Eventive. Each online event has a link to register on the CSL website: cinemastlouis.org/golden-anniversaries.

This year’s series kicked off in April and will continue through December, with films playing on Sunday afternoons at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, 1005 McCausland Ave, 63117.

Tickets are required for the in-person screenings at the Hi-Pointe. Free parking is available at the Hi-Pointe Backlot or Lindell Bank across the street from the theater.

Ryan and Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon”

In addition, during the 32nd Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, which takes place from Nov. 9-19, CSL will offer a trio of free Golden Anniversaries screenings — Jack Hill’s “Coffy” (with Novotny Lawrence), Robert Clouse’s “Enter the Dragon” (with Daniel Yezbick), and Peter Bogdanovich’s “Paper Moon” (with Tom O’Keefe) — on the second Saturday and Sunday of the fest at the St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St., 63103.

Whether the event is held online or in person, film critics, film academics, filmmakers, and writers will offer introductory remarks and participate in discussions about the films. In addition to St. Louis-based experts, Golden Anniversaries will again feature contributors from elsewhere, including returning presenter Novotny Lawrence (“Coffy” and “Cleopatra Jones”) and new participants such as freelance writer and film historian, Marya E. Gates (“Love & Anarchy”).

For full descriptions of the films, visit the Cinema St. Louis website.

In-Person Screenings

Sunday, April 1, at 1:00 PM

The Sting

George Roy Hill, U.S., 129 min.

With Chris Clark, artistic director of Cinema St. Louis.

Sunday, May 21, at 1:00 PM

Robin Hood

David Hand & Wolfgang Reitherman, U.S., 83 min.

With Jim Tudor, co-founder of ZekeFilm and adjunct professor of film studies at Webster University.

Sunday, June 18, at 1:00 PM

Live and Let Die

Guy Hamilton, U.K. & U.S., 121 min.

With Jim Tudor, co-founder of ZekeFilm and adjunct professor of film studies at Webster University.

Sunday, July 16, at 1:00 PM

The Three Musketeers

Richard Lester, Spain & U.S., 106 min.

With Robert Hunt, former film critic for The Riverfront Times.

Sunday, Aug. 20, at 1:00 PM

Sissy Spacek and Martin Sheen in “Badlands”

Badlands

Terence Malick, U.K., 94 min.

With T.J. Keeley, Ph.D. student in contemporary American literature at Saint Louis University and teacher of English and film at college prep schools in the St. Louis area.

Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1:00 PM

The Long Goodbye

Robert Altman, U.S., 112 min.

With Calvin Wilson, theater, film, dance and jazz critic for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/stltoday.com.

Sunday, Oct. 15, at 1:00 PM

F for Fake

Orson Welles, Gary Graver & Oja Kodar, France, Iran & West Germany, 89 min.

With Joshua Ray, film critic for KMOV and Co-Founder and Contributing Editor of The Take-Up.

Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, The Way We Were

Sunday, Dec. 17, at 1:00 PM

The Way We Were

Sydney Pollack, U.S., 118 min.

With Lynn Venhaus, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic who reviews for the Webster-Kirkwood Times, KTRS Radio (Jennifer Blome and Wendy Wiese Show), and PopLifeSTL.com website, www.poplifestl.com

Virtual Discussions

Monday, June 12, at 7:30 PM

Love & Anarchy

Lina Wertmüller, Italy, 120 min., Italian

With Marya E. Gates, freelance film writer and historian who specializes in the work of female directors.

Monday, July 10, at 7:30 PM

The Spirit of the Beehive

Victor Erice, Spain, 98 min.

With Cait Lore, who holds a Master’s Degree in Film Theory from the University of Kent, teaches film studies at Websger University, and serves as a co-programmer of QFest St. Louis.

Monday, Aug. 14, at 7:30 PM

Day for Night

François Truffaut, France, 116 min., French

With Robert Hunt, former film critic for The Riverfront Times.

Randy Quaid and Jack Nicholson in “The Last Detail”

Monday, Sept. 11, at 7:30 PM

The Last Detail

Hal Ashby, U.S., 104 min., English

With Robert Garrick, attorney and former contributor to the davekehr.com film blog.

Monday, Oct. 9, at 7:30 PM

Amarcord

Federico Fellini, Italy, 122 min., Italian

With Cate Marquis, a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic and film historian who writes for We Are Movie Geeks, the St. Louis Jewish Light, and the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, and a member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists and the St. Louis Film Critics Association.

Monday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 PM

Cleopatra Jones

Jack Starrett, U.S.,  89 min.

With Novotny Lawrence, associate professor at Iowa State University.

Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon”

Popster Picks for Sept. 27

Popster Picks for Sept. 27

By Lynn Venhaus

DVD: “Thor: Love and Thunder” released today.

The third “Thor” superhero stand-alone movie combined comedy and romance with the cosmic action-adventure, earning $746.670 million worldwide. After losing his home planet and close family members during the events of “Avengers: Endgame” and “Thor: Ragnarok,” Thor embarks on a journey to find his way in the universe.

Director Taika Waititi also played a supporting role in a cast that included Chris Hemsworth as the Nordic god, Natalie Portman as his one true love Jane Foster, Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher, with , Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Tessa Thompson, Bradley Cooper, Russell Crowe, Pom Klementieff, Jaimie Alexander, Melissa McCarthy, Sam Neill, Dave Bautista, Simon Russell Beale, Luke Hemsworth, and Sean Gunn. Rated PG-13, its runtime is 118 min.

Formats: DVD, Blu-ray + Digital Code, 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Combo + Digital Code, VOD, Digital. Extras: Gag reel; commentary; “Hammer-worthy: Thor and The Mighty Thor” featurette; “Shaping a Villain” featurette; “Another Classic Taika Adventure” featurette; deleted scenes

Here’s my review (“Fresh” on the Tomato-meter): https://www.poplifestl.com/fast-furious-and-funny-thor-love-and-thunder-is-a-rip-roaring-good-time/

Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas

Movie: “Sweet Home Alabama,” 20th Anniversary

On Sept. 27, 2002, a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon as fashion designer Melanie Carmichael, who has reinvented herself as a socialite, opened. In the screenplay by C. Jay Cox, she becomes engaged to NYC’s most eligible bachelor, a JFK Jr.-like Drew Hennings, played by Patrick Dempsey. But her past holds many secrets, including Jake (Josh Lucas), the down-home husband she married in high school, who refuses to divorce her. She sneaks back home to Alabama to legally end the relationship after seven years of separation, but confronting her past isn’t as smooth as she had hoped.

I fell in love with this movie, not ashamed to admit it, and own the DVD – and still watch it every so often if I find it on cable. I don’t care what other critics say or what it’s ratings/scores are. What matters is that I like it, and so do many of my girlfriends. When it came out on DVD, we had a group viewing and listened to the commentary by director Andy Tennant. We still talk about how fond we are of it

I find the love triangle chemistry palpable and the supporting cast endearing. What’s not to love about Mary Kay Place and Fred Ward as her parents Pearl and Earl Smooter? And Jean Smart as Jack’s Mom Stella Kay Perry and Candice Bergen as Drew’s Mom, mayor of NYC? And the wondrous Melanie Lynsky as Lurlynn, the friend with a ‘baby in a bar’? Dakota Fanning as a young Melanie? Ethan Embry (“Grace and Frankie”) as Bobby Ray, and Earl Bridgers “The Truth About Pam”) as Eldon.

It is on the Freeform Channel today and Wednesday. There are several streaming platforms where you can watch it, as long as you have a subscription, and you can rent it on multiple platforms.

From JustWatch.com: Currently you can watch “Sweet Home Alabama” streaming on Hoopla, DIRECTV, Freeform or for free with ads on The Roku Channel. It is also possible to rent “Sweet Home Alabama” on Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, Redbox, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand, Spectrum On Demand online and to download it on Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Vudu, Microsoft Store, Redbox, DIRECTV, AMC on Demand.

Nathan Lee Graham, Reese Witherspoon, Rhona Mitra

Fun Fact: Nathan Lee Graham, who plays one of Melanie’s assistants (Frederick Montana, graduated from the Webster University Conservatory of Theatre Arts. He is currently playing Hermes in the national tour of the Tony-winning “Hadestown,” which will be at the Fabulous Fox Theatre Oct. 11-23.

Bio: https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Nathan-Lee-Graham/

TV: David Letterman will be a guest on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tonight at 10:35 p.m.

This week, Jimmy returned to his hometown, Brooklyn. Growing up, he idolized Letterman. The other guest is SNL alum Tracy Morgan.

Here’s Jimmy’s favorite Letterman moments, Part II:
https://youtu.be/xhn8vHg5E-o

Part I: https://youtu.be/3BI8v8_4ZVA

Fun Fact: Today, in 1954, “The Tonight Show” debuted nationwide on NBC hosted by Steve Allen.

Music: The Dave Matthews Band

On this day in 1994, The Dave Matthews Band released their first album, “Under the Table and Dreaming,” which included the tracks “What Would You Say” and “Ants Marching” that received wide airplay. The album went on to sell over 6 million copies. They had been gaining fans on the road, especially in the Virginia area, where they played live starting in 1991.

On This Day: Cautionary Tale

In 1962, marine biologist and writer Rachel Carson published ‘Silent Spring’ about the deleterious impacts of pesticide use on the environment.

Redford, Streisand

Playlist: “The Way We Were”

Barbra Streisand sang “The Way We Were” on her 15th studio album of the same name, which was released as the album’s lead single on Sept. 27, 1973. The song, written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and Marvin Hamlisch. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

All together now: “Memories..misty-watercolored memories…” Watch this special Oprah moment when Babs sang the song on her show

Cardinals Nation: If you can’t get enough of Albert Pujols’ 700 home runs

All 700 home runs from MLB:

Albert Jr. on his dad:

Go, Cards!


Sightlines: My All-Time Favorite, Robert Redford, at 85

Sightlines: My All-Time Favorite, Robert Redford, at 85

By Lynn Venhaus
Actor-filmmaker-founder of Sundance Film Institute Robert Redford turned 85 today! (Aug. 18).

He has been a major part of my film-going life, first as an actor, then making smart movies, and then deciding storytelling would be his life’s work through honoring independent films in Utah.

“Storytellers broaden our minds: engage, provoke, inspire, and ultimately, connect us,” he once said.

He has changed the film industry and changed lives.

Early on, he broke the mold in Hollywood and carved out a career on his own terms, living far from the celebrity life in Utah, raising a family and becoming an environmental activist.

He turned the perception of a ‘golden boy’ into an exploration of culture and society’s roles/expectations. (His movie, “Quiz Show” is rarely mentioned, but go back, and what he says about the American Dream — great work by Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro).

My sister Julie and I rushed to every one of his film openings in the 1970s after “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” (when I was in high school), then hit after hit — “The Sting,” “The Way We Were,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “The Candidate” and “Jeremiah Johnson,” among them.

He was born to play the tortured hero Jay in “The Great Gatsby,” starring opposite Mia Farrow in the 1974 adaptation that did not measure up to expectations.

My boys used to give me DVDs of his work for Mother’s Days (and paired “The Natural” one time with “Serial Mom” — yep, that’s my John Waters’ loving son Tim’s idea of humor).

Hubbell Gardiner in “The Way We Were”

He gave us the definitive investigative journalism movie “All the President’s Men,” one of my all-time favorites and inspirations, explaining how the press changed the course of history in our country’s politics.

For his only competitive Oscar, he turned the bestselling book “Ordinary People” into an honest and painful study on families and grief in 1980.

I watched it again a couple months ago, and wow, does it resonate. Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland and Timothy Hutton turn in some of their finest work. I will argue its value to anyone who wants to fight me on this.

His intelligence behind the baby blues, his sharp observations on human behavior — obvious early on in a remarkable filmography.

He only works sparingly in front of the camera these days, but I think he still has it – particularly in “The Old Man and the Gun” with Sissy Spacek,” “A Walk in the Woods” with Nick Nolte, and his solo tour de force “All is Lost.”

Robert Redford and Paul Newman

He has never been afraid to be a flawed anti-hero (“Downhill Racer”) or an all-out bad guy (spoiler alert: “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”)

The on-screen pairings have been high points — so memorable as Denys with Meryl Streep in “Out of Africa.”

A good move was working with Brad Pitt in “Spy Game,” and he coaxed a career-best performance (at the time) from Pitt in “A River Runs Through It,” which he directed and narrated.

Of course, the pinnacle was his work with Paul Newman, and thus, the buddy movie was born.

And three films with Jane Fonda, They both started out on stage in the late 1950s and worked early together on film when he reprised his role as Paul in “Barefoot in the Park.” Then, reunited in “The Electric Horseman” in 1979 and “Our Souls at Night” in 2017.

In the Natalie Wood documentary, “What Remains Behind,” he is one of the commentators and remained a close friend, after they made two films together (“Inside Daisy Clover” and “This Property is Condemned” in the ’60s), before he exploded as a superstar. She, in turn, showed up in a cameo in “The Candidate.”

Roy Hobbs in “The Natural”

For a while in the 1990s, he experienced a screen ‘renaissance’ — “The Horse Whisperer,” “Indecent Proposal,” “Up Close and Personal” and “Sneakers.”

He will always be Hubbell Gardiner and Roy Hobbs to me, masterful screen portraits of complicated guys.

Cases in point:
Hubbell’s college writing: “In a way he was like the country he lived in — everything came to easily to him. But at least he knew it.

“Roy in hospital: “God, I love baseball.”
“There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.”

Meryl’s Karen in “Out of Africa”: “When the gods want to punish you, they answer your prayers.”

And this:(Robert Redford) “You’ve ruined it for me, you know.”(Meryl Streep) “Ruined what?”(Robert Redford) “Being alone.”

You see all these being said, don’t you?

And of course, the “Be a Beacon” speech in “Sneakers.”
https://youtu.be/2q2iQC-4wbA

What great timing!

Thank you, Mr. Redford, for the memories and your lasting impact.

(On a Related Note: In January 2011, my two sons and I made the cut to be volunteer ushers at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a highlight of my life, and sharing it with my movie-loving boys was very special. Tim described it as the greatest two weeks of his life, and he saw something like 23-24 movies in 11 days).

Charlie, Lynn and Tim Venhaus, Sundance 2011