Cinema is Dope

Ok, I really don’t know how many towns you could find showing a double feature of Public Enemy with James Cagney and Switchblade Sisters with Monica Gayle… yet here in Austin, Texas this past evening at the Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz aka The Drafthouse Ritz aka Alamo Ritz aka The Ritz aka the A to the Z, this very double feature played!

I really don’t know if I’ve seen any of Cagney’s films earlier than Public Enemy, but upon seeing this film print I’m certainly curious to see where he finally cranks into movie acting. Before he was in movies he was a theater actor and before that he was part of a dance act. Throughout Public Enemy you can just see Cagney get more and more into his character and throwing out wonderful moments that clearly weren’t in the script. For the film itself the pouring rain scene at the end was magnificent. I really don’t know what the first gloomy crime/action moment in a film was but this had to be one of the first. Recent examples that really take this idea to the max would be Matrix Revolutions and the South Korean film Nowhere to Hide.

I have a stack of Cagney stills I will be posting on the site in the coming days. Of real note is I finally found the production notes (which I will also be posting) for a TNT special that was done on him many years ago, that had the side premise of Michael J. Fox possibly one day starring as Cagney in a movie based on his life. I like Fox as an actor but I don’t see him at all playing Cagney. I really can’t think what actor could. Any ideas?

Switchblade Sisters of course was real bliss. I remember back when Rolling Thunder released it and I went out to see it and thought I had lucked out in the one chance of seeing it on the big screen would be in some restored print. I had always longed to see an actual film print from back in the day of it on the big screen. Tonight I finally got my wish. I know everyone picks an actress to fall in love with this in this film and for me it’s Joanne Nail. I’ve actually thought about trying to track her down for an interview, but never went through the Actors Guild yet to do so.

I have a fairly good stack of Switchblade Sisters items that I will be posting throughout the coming weeks.

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Good news for Austin fans of either P.T. Anderson or There Will Be Blood! This Friday with the release of the Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz will be start screening before the film a 35mm trailer for There Will Be Blood that was cut by P.T. Anderson himself. And even better this is the only place you can see this trailer anywhere in the world! I’ll be down on Sunday to check it out for my own eyes and report back later that night!

First Big Movie to Hit the Ritz (Alamo Drafthouse Ritz Press Release)
Official Site

The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz theater is proud to announce the opening of the Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN this Friday, November, 16th, against only one other theater in town. This tremendous privilege for our fledgling flagship theater has been made possible by the good people at The Weinstein Company and we wish to express our gratitude the way we always do- by sharing this incredible film the Alamo way.

As always, it’s more than just movies at the Alamo, and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is no exception. We’ll have onscreen Coen Brothers trivia before the show, a barrage of vintage 35mm Coen Brothers trailers and there’s even a rumor of a NCFOM-inspired skull-crushing piston, courtesy of the Austin chapter of DorkBot. Check back to the website (www.originalalamo.com) for more. We’ll also be the only theater in the country featuring a new 35mm trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Unlike the other trailer, this one was cut by the director himself and is only available at Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz.

Grab your tickets online (here) and head down to the Ritz this weekend. You’ll thank me. You’ll thank yourself. You’ll thank the Coen Brothers. We’ll see you at the Ritz.

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