Livin’ in New York City Post 26: Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow! (This Title is Better if You’ve Seen “White Christmas”)

During my recent adventures in New York, I was able to see a snow-covered Central Park with everyone taking the opportunity to stop what they were doing and have fun in the snow for a day.

I had a dream recently. In this dream, I was having drinks with Pat Irwin, Michael Shannon, David Byrne and Kyle MacLachlan at Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Nothing too strange happened, it was just the five of us dressed in suits having a quiet drink while some folk music was playing in the background. I have no idea what it means but it sure feels nice starting off one of these posts on a different note. There’s only so many times that I can pretend to be excited by the nice weather we’re having. However, one thing that hasn’t changed is my continued and ever-evolving love for the city of New York. You’d think that after 20 months of living here that there’d be a leveling out of how excited or amazed I can become but I have yet to hit that mark. 

What I have been doing has been the usual diet of seeing as many films as possible. Due to so many prestige films being released around Christmas time (both to get the lucrative box office and to be fresh in voters’ minds come awards season), I had to work overtime to see many titles from the end of December and into January including “The Iron Claw”, “Godzilla Minus One”, “May December” and “American Fiction”. Following such a fun yet exhausting binge of theatrical releases, I decided to take some time off from seeing films in theaters and writing about them. This cleanse lasted a week which, for me, is an eternity. I started to feel withdrawals and my AMC app sent me a text that just said “U OK?”

Eventually, I had no choice but to return to seeing films on a regular basis. I know that I’ve said this before (because it’s the truth) but I love being able to see so many classic films on the big screen. There’s just no shortage of small and large art theaters that can fulfill this need to explore cinema in all its eras. Despite my many excursions to different theaters in New York, there are still some that I keep discovering. One of these theaters is The Metrograph in The Lower East Side which I first went to just this past month when my new roommate Donny, a fellow filmmaker, cinephile and artistic badass, invited me to catch a 35MM screening of the surreal comedy film “Being John Malkovich” which I had never seen. 

Out of all the cinemas I’ve ever been to, the Metrograph ranks very favorably to me. Unlike most theaters, where the portions of popcorn are either too big or too small, Metrograph has these perfectly packaged boxes of popcorn in the sleek concession stand. Along with glass Coke bottles and a plethora of sugary treats, I was in the perfect, junk food-fueled state to enjoy Spike Jonze’s masterpiece with a wonderfully weird script from Charlie Kaufman. I am always in the mood for a weird film and that’s the adjective that can be associated with many of my favorite films. Since falling in love with “Being John Malkovich”, which I cannot recommend enough, I returned to the Metrograph, slunk into the comfy seat made from an old barrel and watched “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on 35MM film. As someone who deeply loved this film and has seen it many times, watching it in a theater was like seeing it for the very first time. As a movie-lover, I hit the jackpot when I decided to move to New York City. 

As a filmmaker and lover of movies, seeing all of the incredible relics that Spike Lee has picked up over the years was a great source of inspiration.

Continuing my need to fuel my cinematic cravings, I took the opportunity to go to The Brooklyn Museum to see a very special exhibit: a display of the numerous artifacts and memorabilia in the possession of Spike Lee. As many know, I am a massive fan of Spike Lee, his films and his whole attitude to film as a vehicle of both entertainment and social change. I live only five blocks from where he shot “Do The Right Thing” for God’s sake. I also know that he has this incredible collection of various artifacts of sports, music, literature, history and cinema (whether from his films or ones he admires) all put on display in the offices of his production company Forty Acres and a Mule in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. But for a limited time, Spike lent many of the pieces of his collection to the museum for display and I had no choice but to see them.

Not only was the exhibit a lot of fun to explore, but it gave me and everyone else who attended a glimpse into Spike’s mind and the passions that have fueled his films. There are simply too many amazing things that I saw to list them here but I do have some favorites. In the world of sports, there were numerous NBA jerseys from all-time greats like Patrick Ewing, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other legends of the New York Knicks as well as pieces autographed by icons like Jim Brown, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Roberto Clemente and, of course, Michael Jordan. And yes, Mars Blackmon’s Mars necklace was on display.

In the world of social justice, there were pictures, posters and artifacts of icons like Malcolm X (complete with a projection of scenes of Denzel Washington’s performance in Spike Lee’s film “Malcolm X”), Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Angela Davis and pieces that reflect the past and present realities of racism. Musically, there were pieces that reflected the soundtracks of Spike Lee’s films as well as instruments from people who have collaborated with Lee including guitars played and signed by David Byrne and Prince, trumpets played by Terrence Blanchard and the trumpet of Denzel Washington’s character in “Mo Better Blues”. 

Without a doubt, the wing containing Lee’s film artifacts was what I was most excited to see and it didn’t disappoint. The room was decked out with many posters that were signed by filmmakers Lee (as well as I) admires with names including Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Francis Ford Coppola, William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese. Behind a glass case were the original, leather-bound, handwritten scripts (Spike Lee doesn’t type out his scripts) of some of my favorite films like “Malcolm X”, “She’s Gotta Have It” and “Do The Right Thing”. But the two artifacts that held my attention for the longest time were the ones that I had no idea that Spike would let out of his sight to be in the exhibit. 

Right by the scripts were Spike Lee’s two Academy Awards that he was awarded in 2015 and 2019 respectively. The former was an Honorary Academy Award that he received for his numerous contributions to cinema and the latter was in the category of Best Adapted Screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman” (he also should have won for Best Director and Best Picture instead of “Green Book”). When I texted my mom a photo of the two statues, I included “There should be five more statues in that case. Fucking “Driving Miss Daisy”.” I know I’ve said this a lot but the fact that “Do The Right Thing” wasn’t even nominated for Best Picture while “Driving Miss Daisy” won the top prize is an insult. 

While most filmmakers all say that we don’t make films for the awards, we all have to admit that we’ve all rehearsed a fake Oscars speech at least once. Oscars aren’t the most important thing but they are so damn cool and being face-to-face with them was so engrossing. I just stared at them and couldn’t look away. Throughout the exhibit, there were dark rooms where scenes from Spike Lee films are being played and you can just sit down and marvel at Spike’s energized take on cinema. 

One room had the opening credits of “Do The Right Thing”, which could also be viewed as a music video to Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power”, and another had multiple screens depicting multiple musical scenes including “Da Butt” from “School Daze”. But the one that left the biggest impact was the projection of the ending of “BlacKkKlansman.” While set in the 1970s, the film’s ending brilliantly brings the story into the present by showing the infamous gathering of white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 which resulted in violence between the Nazis and counter protesters and in the death of a counter protester named Heather Heyer. 

Seeing Donald Trump trying to downplay the threat of white nationalists by saying that some of them were “very fine people” and trying to say that “both sides” were equally guilty was terrifying to me. Terrifying because we not only elected this man but that we’re fully prepared to do so again this November and that he joked about being a dictator on the first day. Come November, just keep in mind that Trump said in a recent rally that if you get magnets wet then they no longer work and, following Spike Lee’s 2019 Oscar win where he urged everyone to vote and make the right choice of “love versus hate” in his acceptance speech, he called Spike Lee a racist and slammed his use of notes during the speech. It’s not a weakness to have notes when giving a good speech but it is a weakness to be an empty-headed troglodyte. End of political statement.  

When you see so many incredible artifacts all in one place, it’s a fundamentally inspiring sight. Being in the presence of all of these items that Spike Lee has accumulated over his decades in the industry really showed me just how incredible this life can be. You not only get to make films but you also get to meet incredible people, go to new places and find new passions that you never even knew you desired. This exhibit was a reminder of why I moved out here and why I love film. 

Although I love New York and the film scene that has been a strong part of the city for decades, let us not forget all of the great films and series that have been made in Illinois, especially in the great city of Chicago. There’s “The Fugitive”, “The Dark Knight”, “The Blues Brothers”, “High Fidelity”, “Chiraq”, “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and a ton of John Hughes films just to name a few. 

Recently, at the behest of a coworker, I watched the series “The Bear” on Hulu and completely fell in love with it. The dramedy series is set in Chicago and follows the life of Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, played incredibly by Jeremy Allen White, as he leaves his prestigious job at a Michelen Star restaurant to take over the sandwich shop of his older brother who took his own life. This show has everything that I love. It’s got intense performances, characters who are all insanely passionate about what they do, a love for food, sharp writing, marvelous direction and it doesn’t care about pleasing everyone. 

The series may be a comedy, but it also relishes in the fast-pace of the restaurant world and can often bring out feelings of anxiety within the viewer. However, there is a strong balance between the feeling of “this show is stressing me out and I don’t think I can watch it” and another feeling of “I think this show is bringing out something good in me.” This is especially apparent when you watch the Season 2 episodes “Fishes”, one of the most intense hours of television I’ve seen in a while, and “Forks”, an incredibly cathartic episode that immediately reduced feelings of anxiety, back-to-back. 

“The Bear” also brought out a desire to reflect on my home state. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy in New York but there are some things I miss about Illinois. I miss the quiet corn fields and the freedom I had driving around. I miss the flat landscape and all those gorgeous sunsets. But most importantly, I miss the chocolate cake shake from Portillo’s. For those not from the Midwest, if you ever go to Illinois, you need to find the nearest Portillo’s and get one. It’s a chocolate shake where they put a big slice of chocolate cake with frosting in it and it’s culinary perfection. If I had to choose between having a meal prepared for me by Remi from “Ratatouille” or a chocolate cake shake with an Italian Beef sandwich and a Chicago-style hot dog, I’d take some to the rat and say “this is pretty damn good right?” 

While there are no Portillo’s locations in New York (yet), I was desiring some Chicago cuisine to coincide with my current habit of watching “The Bear”, especially before I finished the current season. Fortunately, I didn’t have to look that hard to find a place in New York with Italian Beef and Chicago Dogs because, when Jeremy Allen White was on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”, they ate Italian Beef sandwiches from a place in Brooklyn called Dog Day Afternoon. Well, after getting off of work one day and with just two episodes left in the second season, I went to the Dog Day Afternoon location in Williamsburg (the original restaurant and only other location is in Park Slope) and got a few Chicago staples that I missed from my months away from Illinois. 

No disrespect to Portillo’s and all of the other great restaurants in Illinois that serve Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian Beef but Brooklyn has got it nailed down. I couldn’t imagine a more fitting way to end my time with “The Bear”. Before my more passionate friends in Illinois go nuts, one of the owners of Dog Day Afternoon is from Oak Park so we are not dealing with posers. Plus, they named the restaurant after one of my favorite Al Pacino movies. Why? Well, probably because the restaurant’s Park Slope location is 250 feet from where Sidney Lumet filmed the exterior shots of the bank Al Pacino and John Cazalle tried to rob for the movie. That’s right, a restaurant is serving hot dogs within viewing distance of where Al Pacino yelled “Attica”. As a film lover, there’s only so much I can take before I explode. Now that season three of “The Bear” is currently filming in Chicago with the season set to premiere in June, I know that Dog Day Afternoon is going to continue supplying me with treats from home. 

Continuing my endless search for fun experiences, especially in the realm of cinema, I saw on my Instagram feed that “Stop Making Sense”, the incredible 1984 concert film from Talking Heads that has been rereleased in cinemas by A24, was having a new wave of late-night screenings in various cities across the country. Wanting to relive the fun of seeing the film on the big screen with a packed house, I bought tickets for me and a friend who had never seen the film before. Since seeing this film multiple times in theaters pretty much converted me into a massive Talking Heads fan, I decided to dress up for the occasion by wearing a suit that was gifted to me by a friend when I helped him move out. The suit was this dark blue with black pinstripes and it had shoulder pads in it and, if you know anything about David Byrne’s appearance in “Stop Making Sense”, it seemed like the perfect outfit to pay homage to the frontman of the New Wave group. 

So, my friend and I get to the Alamo Drafthouse theater in Downtown Brooklyn and we sit back ready to enjoy the film when one of the artistic directors of the Alamo Drafthouse comes out to give a little speech before the film. He announced that the Alamo Drafthouse would have a residency for the film in which “Stop Making Sense” would be played on the last Saturday of every month until May and that, during the screening, we were free to dance if we wanted. I also noticed that his hand was shaking and I was wondering if he was nervous about something. He then said that he had a few people who would like to give a special introduction to the film and, from the back of the theater, came Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and David Byrne. We were in the presence of ¾ of Talking Heads (Jerry Harrison was also introducing the film that night to a crowd of fans at the Castro Theater in San Francisco) and we could hardly contain ourselves. The place was going nuts and we were so thrilled to have each of these rock legends display their thanks at our continued love for this film. There is no better way to start a film screening. 

(From Left) Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and David Byrne all showed up to introduce “Stop Making Sense” to a packed house in Brooklyn.

Despite this being my fifth time seeing “Stop Making Sense” on the big screen, it simply never gets old. The energy of the film is remarkable and, by the time the band was playing “This Must Be The Place (Native Melody)”, we were all out of our seats and had congregated in the open area in front of the screen to dance. All I can say about dancing to Talking Heads songs (and “Genius of Love” by the Tom Tom Club) with a bunch of complete strangers is that it was so freeing and just felt like this unbelievable celebration of life itself. I’ve already got my ticket for the April showing so it’s clear to me that I am not done with this film by a long shot. Although, the next morning, I woke up to a slightly sprained ankle that I must have gotten from dancing. Fortunately, my boots are really good at compression and I was able to get to work, make it through the day and feel back to normal by noon. 

In honor of all the fun that Talking Heads has given me, I decided to make a stop after work to the Long Island City loft that was the home of Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and also served as rehearsal space for Talking Heads. In fact, they recorded part of their third album “Fear of Music” in the loft by parking a van with sound engineers outside the building and running cables up the side of the building and through the window. It wasn’t even difficult to get to since all it took was a five minute walk from the café. When I stared at the loft, I met a guy who was showing his friends his new business, a cannabis dispensary, that he was going to open on the ground floor of the same building. When he asked me if I was here to check out the soon-to-open dispensary, I told him no and that I was here because I’m a big fan of rock music. Before I could even tell him why I was specifically here he said “Talking Heads right?” This guy was on the same wavelength as me. It’s good to know that, despite having not lived there for decades, a good deal of people in LIC still know the significance of that building and all of the great music that came out of it. 

When you go to see “Stop Making Sense” you’ve got to dress like David Byrne and have a little photoshoot in his style.

While there is much fun to be had in New York, it can also be monotonous if you let it. You can get sucked into the routine of work, movies, work, movies, work, groceries, work and so on unless you take some time to just wander around and see what hits you, something that I’ve done less in the winter months for obvious reasons. However, I did recently take a day just to walk through Greenwich Village, visit record stores, grab a bagel, sit in a coffee shop, read “A Little Life” and try not to lose my mind. If you’ve read “A Little Life”, you know exactly what I’m talking about. 

With these ventures, I just try to make the most of things without ignoring what’s in front of me. I look at it this way, I definitely don’t want to stay in my apartment all the time because I live in the greatest city in the world and don’t want to miss out. However, the inverse can also be dangerous where I’m always out and never take the time to just relax at home which is becoming more homey by the day. My roommate just found a free bookshelf online and we’ve put all kinds of film-related items in it like books, Criterion Collection Blu-Rays and even a typewriter to leave reminders and notes for each other. It’s becoming a very good place to write but I do still need to get off the couch and see a movie in theaters. Not just because I want to but because I need to. 

I’ve been meaning to make visiting museums a more regular habit and, after seeing the Spike Lee exhibition, I figured that I would continue the cinematic motif that has dominated my life by returning to the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. While I have visited this place before, not only is it an enjoyable space that warrants multiple trips but they also have different exhibits that change every few months alongside their permanent galleries centered on the history of film equipment and the Jim Henson workshop. When I came to the museum, there was a special addition to the make-up props with a whole exhibit on the special effects makeup that was used in “The Exorcist” which included the tube system that was used for Linda Blair to vomit on Jason Miller. And they say museums are boring. 

Included in the artifacts for “I’m Not There” was the famous written pitch that detailed Haynes’ unconventional way of depicting Bob Dylan.

There was also an interesting look at the films of Todd Haynes complete with props from his latest film “May December” as well as artifacts from his other films like the Barbie doll Haynes used as an actor in his short film “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” and his exceptionally written pitch for “I’m Not There”, one of the greatest films ever made about a musician, that he sent to Bob Dylan and Dylan’s manager Jeff Rosen that detailed his plans for a cinematic take on Dylan’s life. 

But the exhibit that will always steal my heart is the Jim Henson exhibit. There’s just this innate childlike wonder that emerges when you learn about the history of the Muppets and you find yourself face-to-face with the likes of Kermit the Frog, Rowlf and Big Bird. But, if it’s not too much to ask, could Fozzie Bear be included in the exhibit? I would very much like to meet one of my great comedic idols. 

Some of my artistic longings have made their way into my weekly routine. Aside from the compulsion to see movies in a theater multiple times per week, I have started going to the Long Island City Culture Lab every Saturday night for their free music series. Since I also close up the café that night, it’s been a good way to spend the evening. I’ll get off of work, go to a local restaurant for a quick bite and then go to the Culture Lab to hang out and explore the artwork on display before the music starts. 

I’ve also been going to poetry readings and small musical gatherings that my friends, mainly the ones that make up the incredible band Camp Bedford, participate in. While I’ve always liked poetry (especially the darkest depths of Arthur Rimbuad), I think most of us have a distant relationship with the form due to all of the deadpan readings we did in high school. But these recent readings are something else altogether. Hearing talented people reading their own poems with such candor in a coffee shop or the back room of a bar is like hearing poetry for the first time. Not just their poems but the entire form as a whole. 

The most recent poetry reading I went to was especially lovely because it was Sapphic poetry. Based in the same subject matter as the poetry of Sappho (an ancient Greek poet who broke barriers with her writing and even was beloved by Plato). Much of Sappho’s poetry had homoerotic tones with much of her work depicting either her love for women or other lesbian relationships (the word lesbian comes from Sappho’s home island of Lesbos). The poems I heard in Brooklyn, thousands of years after Sappho’s passing, were remarkable with some being very sincere and others having excellent humor with every poet ending their set of original poems with a reading of Sappho’s work. 

I think what I like the most about the Sapphic poetry I heard is that there is underlying tenderness associated with the women depicted that connects to my own love for women. After all, who could write about the beauty of women better than women? As great as many love poems written by men and directed towards women are, there’s also the risk that many writers face when they fall victim to “the male gaze” in which the women they write about are turned into flat objects of romance or lust as opposed to fully realized people. Not that men can’t write good poetry about women, but the different perspectives are important and healthy to explore. 

Whether I find myself in a theater to watch a 35MM print of “Casablanca” or in a bar to hear some poetry or at a loft to hear a collective of artists, one trend that I notice is one that has followed me for a long time: I’m usually the youngest person at these events. If I do run into twenty-somethings at screenings or shows, they’re usually in the later half of this decade. But it’s never really bothered me. I guess the best way to put how I feel is to draw another reference to a film. One of the cinematic characters I’ve identified with for a while is William Miller (Patrick Fugit) from “Almost Famous”, this 15-year-old kid who wants to be involved in the world he loves (rock music) and gets an opportunity to do so. While I’m almost a decade older than William, I often feel the journalistic perspective that William has, probably because I spent four years in college studying and actively participating in journalism. There’s a shyness to him that quickly dissipates when he finds people that feel his beat like the real-life rock writer Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), band-aid Penny Lane (Kate Hudson) or the fictional rock group Stillwater. He’s excited, perhaps a bit overeager but very happy to be a part of this community. 

When I go to these poetry readings, live music shows and film screenings, I’m partly there for the art but my main reason for going is the people. For the community that I find is slowly forming around me or, rather, the one that is letting me be a part of it. It’s a good feeling to be part of such a supportive unit that not only respects the arts but lives them every single day. So, whenever I see my friends that are putting on a show and they thank me for coming, I just say “always.” 

Marking my second winter in New York, the cold weather has been pretty disappointing. Yes we’ve had some snowfall but it’s nothing like the magic that was promised to me when I saw Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan lugging a Christmas tree up the sidewalk in “When Harry Met Sally” or when Robert Redford is trying to not freeze to death since Jane Fonda is making him sleep on the couch and the skylight a hole in it in “Barefoot in the Park”. Well, my patience finally came to fruition when New York was not only hit with snow, but it was a wet snow. The kind that is perfect for packing and making snowmen, snowballs and ramps to fly off of when sledding.

Waking up to this was exciting enough but, with the day off and a morning appointment in Manhattan, I realized that I had the whole day to spend and I knew immediately where to go: Central Park. Getting on the C train and getting off at 72nd Street, I made my way to Strawberry Fields just in case there were musicians playing in the snow. There weren’t any but I’d imagine it would be hard to play John Lennon songs when gigantic pieces of wet snow are falling from the trees. It might be difficult to play “Across The Universe” with slush flying across your face. But right by Strawberry Fields, I spotted a group of tourists taking the opportunity to have a snowball fight and I got in on the action. It was a light-hearted skirmish and we all laughed. The only thing that could make this whole scenario perfect was a snowman and, sure enough, one was right at the end of the clearing with a carrot nose. That means someone had to go to a vegetable stand and buy just a single carrot all for the sake of a snowman. So, when you see a snowman with a carrot nose, the people who built him took this process very seriously. 

As I walked through the park, it seemed as though everyone and anyone who had the opportunity was going to spend the day in Central Park. Kids were sledding, couples were walking together, some were even having carriage rides. Everything was covered in snow and it was all so beautiful. I was especially moved when I was walking through the Ramble and, despite the snow, there were still plenty of birds out including several cardinals which are an important bird to my family and not just because our favorite baseball team has them as a mascot. 

With this snow day bringing out the best in everything I saw, New York will never stop surprising me. At least, not for a long time. So, as I explore even more exciting adventures on the horizon, I feel incredibly good about where I am and where I’m going.