Hundreds of Screens: It's (Not) a Wonderful Life

One of my favorite movie theaters in Manhattan is the IFC center. Unlike a lot of multiplexes it definitely has its own character. This is even more obvious on the inside where creepy heavy black curtains surround you in cavern like spaces. One time going to INLAND EMPIRE, I swear we thought we were in a Lynch movie before we even took our seats... so many hallways we were ushered through with curtains everywhere and fellow moviegoers disappearing into other rooms with unmarked doors along the pathway.(I haven't had that experience again so they either restructured or we were really inside a Lynchian nightmare) You couldn't mistake it for another theater. Before it was the IFC Center it was the Waverly and as such hosted one of the very first movie events I ever attended in New York. I can't remember details but it was a John Waters night and there was some sort of contest. Drag queens were everywhere and I thought 'New York moviegoing is spectacular!'


Not that that degree of special proved regular. The strange thing though is that every time I go to the IFC, which isn't often given its location, something memorable does happen.

The memorable thing isn't always good. Tonight my friend Ed suggested we attend It's A Wonderful Life. I thought "Perfect!" what a way to kick off a few days holiday with friends. The super long pre-show began with a few David Lynch moments (they sell his coffee there) interspersed with multiple trailers and then the movie began... without sound. Then the movie began again with what we thought was sound... was that sound?...without picture. Then the whole thing shut off. Nearly an hour after the scheduled start time they were saying "five minutes" so we left. But it's one of those movies we all know by heart, isn't it? So even as we stumbled off to dinner and on to other activities I'm pretty sure we still heard the bell ring many blocks away as Clarence got his wings.

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Kissing: When George Met Mary

Happy November 1 to you all. It is I, Piper, editor, camera operator, usher, ticket-taker, curator, and concession attendant of the Lazy Eye Theatre. It is my honor to help Nathaniel while he is away, and it is my pleasure to continue a new series on Film Experience called “Kissing” not to be confused with another series "Cussing" which is to come later in the year (don't bet on that last idea). I am told I can write about anything as it relates to kissing, which is quite intimidating really because there are so many things to write about when writing about kissing. Naturally, I went to my funny place, but couldn’t think of any funny kiss that was really worth mentioning. Then I wanted to write about the worst kiss in movie history (Stallone and Stone in The Specialist?), but the truth is I’m kind of a softy when it comes to the love arena, so I wanted to take a serious approach to this series. So I thought about movie kisses in general and I decided I don’t really like them. Why? Because I just don’t buy most of them. How can I? I’m not the one kissing or being kissed. Wouldn’t it be great if we could kiss all these beautiful stars so that we would know if they were good kissers. Like is Kate Winslet a good kisser? Or Rachel Weisz? I might call each of them and see if I can set up five minutes to find out.

To me the magic of a kiss doesn’t really happen with the kiss at all. It happens in the moments leading up to the kiss. I compare it to a Dirty Harry movie with a really good bad guy. The purpose of every Dirty Harry movie is to set up a bad guy, make him super bad and then kill him off in the end. If the bad guy isn’t bad enough, there isn’t the satisfaction when he gets killed, so you have to make him really bad and kill him really good. Same thing goes with a kiss. Building to a really good kiss is what it’s all about. If those moments before the kiss aren't good, the kiss isn't either.

So most movie kisses fail because they don’t allow for those moments that build to a perfect kiss. Because a kiss is really everything. Movies today use the sex scene as the ultimate declaration of love, but a good kiss is really the truth. So I guess that’s why I am constantly struck by the kiss between George (Jimmy Stewart) and Mary (Donna Reed) in Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life. In the movie, you really feel that George wants to kiss Mary, but more than that you feel like Jimmy wants to kiss Donna. And that’s what sells me on the scene. It’s real. As the two of them listen in on a phone call from old pal Sam Wainwright, they wiggle and squirm because they are unsure what will happen next. There’s obviously chemistry between the two and Capra holds the scene long enough so that when George finally grabs Mary and kisses her, there are sparks. The actual kiss is clumsy, short and not even shot that well but what makes it magic are the moments before it. And in my book, that makes for a mighty good kiss.