By Gothamist Getaways Jump into Gothamist Getaways, where we bring you stories about travel, food, new products and handy tips for making your trips—both near and far—more enjoyable. So kick back, dream about your next journey, and let us know if you have any hints for us—email travel@gothamist.com. At my local Brooklyn movie theater, they still request that audience members turn off their pagers. Although I can’t help but giggle each time the antiquated warning flashes across the screen, I do appreciate the grittiness of the theater and the old-school ’80s vibe. I’ve always been a fan of retro movie houses. In my youth, I interrogated my parents about their dates to the Kings Theatre in the 1960s, questioning them about the interior of the then-shuttered theatre and the possibility that Barbra Streisand was their usher. The economical luxury that…
Far from ‘Avatar,’ Stephen Lang performs one-man show to benefit Crandell Theatre
By Amy Biancolli, Times Union Photo by Jeff Vespa On screen, Stephen Lang can be an awfully scary guy. A veteran of villainous muscleheads and hard-nosed military types, he’s best known as Colonel Quaritch — that big, genocidal, buzz-topped security chief who terrorized the gentle blue bipeds of “Avatar.” But he’s at peace with this. At 61, he’s had decades of work and myriad roles spanning Broadway (as Happy Loman, Willy’s son, in a 1984 “Death of a Salesman” revival) and tough indie drama (as Paddy, the sloshed and abusive longshoreman of “White Irish Drinkers”). So he knows a good gig when he sees one. “If I get typecast at this point in my career as a tough old dude, I’m all right with that,” he said. “It’s better that than the ice cream man.” Chatting on the phone, Lang…
Digital age has small cinemas reeling
by Chris Churchill, Times Union CHATHAM — It sounds like an intriguing movie plot: Raise at least $100,000 — or die. But for many smaller movie theaters across upstate New York, that’s not a fictional drama. It’s a terrifying documentary. See, the movie world is at the cusp of a major shift. Studios, looking to save money, are going digital and will no longer release films on, well, film. The old-fashioned movie projector is going the way of the record player, or the eight track, or the (insert your favorite outdated technology here). Progress is progress, I guess. And as a newspaper employee, I can say with certainty that the movie business is hardly the first industry scrambled by the digital revolution. But for small theaters, often barely profitable, the price of progress can be staggering. The Crandell Theatre in…
Chatham Film Club hires its first director
The Chatham Film Club has an executive director for the first time in its 14-year history. The film club’s board of directors recently hired Annie Brody, an administrator and consultant with experience in nonprofit and small- business program management, marketing, and community service. She lives in Canaan, N,Y. ” The board is very pleased that Annie will be joining us,” says Sandi Knakal, president of the film club. “We were fortunate to have many strong candidates in the community, and she was chosen after an extensive search. We look forward to working with her as we continue to improve and renovate the Crandell Theatre.” Brody brings with her a diverse background. She was vice president of national programs for Earth Force, a nonprofit youth environmental organization, for five years in the 1990s and has most recently served as a consultant…
One year later, Crandell holding its own
By Tom Keyser, Times Union On Saturday, the day before screening “Project Nim,” the Crandell Theatre will celebrate the one-year anniversary of its reopening. It will mark the occasion by showing Buster Keaton’s 1926 classic silent film “The General” and a short silent film from 1927 called “Dog Shy.” Bernie Anderson will provide live piano accompaniment to both films. The movies start at 7 p.m., and admission is pay-what-you can. The money will go toward the ongoing restoration of the theater, operated for a year now by the Chatham Film Club. The club bought the Crandell after its longtime owner-operator Anthony Quirino died suddenly in January 2010, prompting fears that the theater, a beacon on Chatham’s Main Street, would close forever. It closed for half a year, reopening last July 9 under the new ownership. Peter Biskind, the author and…