tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post8277599219254633040..comments2024-03-28T16:21:30.329-04:00Comments on Patricia Abbott (pattinase): At the Moviespattinase (abbott)http://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-80797347211002297652020-11-18T17:25:23.677-05:002020-11-18T17:25:23.677-05:00Jeff--about the only mild joy to be had in THE BET...Jeff--about the only mild joy to be had in THE BETSY is in Kathleen Beller's gratuitous nude scene (unless one of Olivier's worst performances counts as joyous), so you missed little. <br /><br />The foreign films in Philadelphia, as you probably know, Patti, have been mostly the province of the Ritz chain of theaters since the '90s, along with the rather less well-appointed Roxy. The Ritz had a large theater out in the Jersey burbs for about a decade as well, but it's changed hands a couple of times and the quality of everything about had devolved so much that we stopped going to it about five or more years ago. Along with the Bala Theater, in Bala Cynwd not too far from your childhood digs I think, had a brief scare some years ago, but reopened and was joined by the Bryn Mawr Film Institute on the Main Stem. As George worries, let's hope they can survive this mess. Todd Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01815516018079824802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-70458897259168297052020-11-18T10:52:48.337-05:002020-11-18T10:52:48.337-05:00I think they will come back but in smaller numbers...I think they will come back but in smaller numbers. I doubt Hollywood can make a living out of what they can charge online. And the experience is very different. A lot of people want to get out of their house. Me especially. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-7856132256626891232020-11-18T10:06:33.922-05:002020-11-18T10:06:33.922-05:00Enjoyed you reminiscing, Patti. Until the pandemic...Enjoyed you reminiscing, Patti. Until the pandemic I would occasionally catch a film at our little movie house about a block from my apartment. It's been closed nearly a year now, and, altho me visits were infrequent, I miss them--especially every time I drive by the place. I'm beginning to wonder if sit-down theaters are going the way of drive-ins, grist for memories until they fade away completely.Mathew Pausthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06157135006791553019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-55476145626736639962020-11-17T14:27:58.288-05:002020-11-17T14:27:58.288-05:00I do have yearly calendars I have been keeping sin...I do have yearly calendars I have been keeping since 1975, but this was all from memory. I have a list of plays we've seen by date and theater, so that is all in one place and easy to access. Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-26686848358344196652020-11-17T12:59:35.948-05:002020-11-17T12:59:35.948-05:00Wow, Jeff. Quite a memory. I bet you can do it wit...Wow, Jeff. Quite a memory. I bet you can do it with plays too. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-25065880572361650002020-11-17T12:32:00.975-05:002020-11-17T12:32:00.975-05:00We first went to England in April of 1971 on our b...We first went to England in April of 1971 on our belated honeymoon, and besides a few shows (THE MOUSETRAP being one), we went to the movies. I remember CROMWELL (Richard Harris; Alec Guinness was Charles I) being one. The other escapes me. This was our first experience of movie-going the way it has become here: assigned seats, commercials before the previews of forthcoming movies. After that, we would usually see a movie or two in London along with the shows. We saw THE DEER HUNTER in London, but also things like NASTY HABITS and FUN WITH DICK AND JANE. One other time I remember particularly. We were with our friends in Edinburgh, and Jackie and Sue went to see THE BETSY. Bob and I didn't. We did all see STAR WARS there, and two years later it was THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.<br /><br />We didn't see that many things outside Britain, but I do remember seeing AMERICAN GRAFFITI for the first time in a small theater in Paris, and LENNY in Munich.<br /><br />When we got married, the area we lived only had one theater in easy walking distance, the Rex. It was a few blocks from Jackie's school and had a bad reputation as a druggie hangout, so we never went there. But when our friends Bob and Sue visited, they had a revival of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, which Bob wanted to see, so we did. The theater was pretty skeevy, A couple of years later it closed, was renovated, and reopened as the artier Cobble Hill Cinemas. There was also a Brooklyn Heights Theater (one of the first with two small screens) we went to a few times.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-39055909789695919042020-11-17T12:16:13.815-05:002020-11-17T12:16:13.815-05:00We're back. To continue: another seven block...We're back. To continue: another seven blocks down Kings Highway at Coney Island Avenue was the Kingsway, a really big theater (that they later divided up into five theaters, which was a disaster). It opened in 1921 with 2,500 seats. We went there on our first date, January 14, 1967, to see WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF, of all things.<br /><br />There was the Avenue M (Avenue M and East 16th Street) and the Avenue U (U and E. 16th), each of which had a period as a "cheap" theater, with all seats at $1 each! For that price, you could sit through anything. This was later done at the Graham, in Sheepshead Bay where Jackie grew up. There were others - the Fortway, which may still exist on Coney Island Avenue, the Mayfair on Avenue U and Coney Island Avenue. Another was the Nostrand (Nostrand Avenue, obviously). So, our neighborhood had a lot of choices; even though a lot had the same shows, there was usually one which was cheap and one which showed "arty" choices. We saw things like REPULSION (twice! it was a second feature once), COMING APART (full frontal male as well as female nudity), MORE (young rich druggies on Ibiza), etc. We also went to Radio City Music Hall when they were threatening to close it (I remember seeing the weak Paul Newman movie, THE SECRET WAR OF HARRY FRIGG, there).<br /><br />MY mother felt about like Patti about the movies, and any time we visited them we were likely to be dragged to the movies. Next time: Europe. Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-65136349521916597932020-11-17T10:09:36.003-05:002020-11-17T10:09:36.003-05:00I have been watching a few of those. Be better whe...I have been watching a few of those. Be better when actors aren't in boxes. It feels like Hollywood Squares. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-79649782398732017502020-11-17T08:57:27.924-05:002020-11-17T08:57:27.924-05:00Patti, like you I wonder how many theaters and art...Patti, like you I wonder how many theaters and art houses will survive the Coronavirus. The future of plays and movies might have to be online productions.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04546161337366365635noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-90230368086748117692020-11-17T08:27:07.474-05:002020-11-17T08:27:07.474-05:00I imagine that plays took over for you two at some...I imagine that plays took over for you two at some point. Living in NY it would although Megan is still more attached to movies. <br />I wonder if any of those art houses will survive this, Margot. pattinase (abbott)https://www.blogger.com/profile/02916037185235335846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-59467502634055532582020-11-17T08:05:53.742-05:002020-11-17T08:05:53.742-05:00Thanks, Patti. That was great. We're going o...Thanks, Patti. That was great. We're going out early - downtown to the market for apples, and to Trader Joe's - but will answer at length when we come back. Movies used to be a big part of my (and our) life too. When we were kids we had to Avalon on Kings Highway, our go to place. We walked down Ocean Avenue from Avenue O to P to Kings Highway, then three short blocks to the Avalon on East 17th Street. I remember even as a kid going Fridays when they had a free "sneak preview" of a forthcoming movie, which was almost always a terrible Elvis movie - SPINOUT, ROUSTABOUT, etc. During Easter Break from school we were assigned to go see the French movies they showed - sadly, it was nothing good, but THE COW AND I (La Vache Et Moi) starring Fernandel. When Jackie and I started dating in early 1967, the Avalon was only an occasional stop, but I remember walking there from my house at my mother's recommendation to see TWO FOR THE ROAD, which became (and has remained) one of our favorite films of all time.<br /><br />More later.Jeff Meyersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00093411926030586355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33110302.post-57769103178443718222020-11-17T07:30:49.150-05:002020-11-17T07:30:49.150-05:00Going to the movies really did used to be almost a...Going to the movies really did used to be almost a sacred experience, Patti. And before the days of streaming films and TV, it used to be <i>the</i> way to see foreign films. Thanks for reminding me of how it was...Margot Kinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08599589137890528065noreply@blogger.com