It's time again for the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival. That means each Monday night for the next ten weeks, there'll be a free film at dusk in Bryant Park. And as I have for the last three years, I'll be hosting Word for Word Reel Talks in the park. For an hour or so before each film, I'll be talking about the movie with one or two film aficionados. This year's guests will include the film writer and academic Foster Hirsch and crime novelist Wallace Stroby. Our discussions on each movie roam far and wide, from back story to historical perspective to anything juicy - fact, gossip, rumor. Who directed, who starred, who wrote, who edited, who composed the score, who fought on the set, who had affairs, who did drugs or drank too much, etc....It's all open for discussion.
The films showing this year are varied, and to be honest, some of the films on the program I like more than others. (I don't pick them, by the way; the sponsor of the festival, HBO, chooses the films each summer). But no matter what the film, whether we love them or not, we always have a good time discussing them.
Audience participation encouraged.
Here's the list of films showing this year.
JUNE 17- TOOTSIE (Sony/Columbia) (1982) 116 Min. Panavision
JUNE 24- INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (Paramount) (1956) 80 Min. SuperScope
JULY 1- FRENZY (Universal) (1972) 116 Min.
JULY 8- WILLY WONKA & THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY (Warner Bros.) (1971) 98 Min.
JULY 15- HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (Fox) (1964) 133 Min.
JULY 22- THE AFRICAN QUEEN (Paramount) (1951) 105 Min.
JULY 29- A FOREIGN AFFAIR (Universal) (1948) 116 Min.
AUGUST 5- NORMA RAE (Fox) (1979) 113 Min. Panavision
AUGUST 12- THE WOMEN (Warner Bros) (1939) 132 Min.
AUGUST 19- E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (Universal) (1982) 115 Min.
For more information about the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival, you can go to the Bryant Park website at http://www.bryantpark.org/plan-your-visit/filmfestival.html.
