Summer's coming and that means theater and film outdoors in front of the Old Stone House in Washington Park. This July there will be performances outdoors by Piper Theater. And of course, Brooklyn Reading Works will take out the big screen and project some fantastic movies outdoors.

And I  just got the scoop from Kim Maier, who runs the Old Stone House, on this summer's Brooklyn Film Works films. The series is called Downturns in Destiny.

Downturns in Destiny at Brooklyn Film Works on Thursdays in July in Washington Park (the Park formerly known as JJ Byrne Park):

July 2: Yankee Doodle Dandy

July 9: Dr. Strangelove

July 16: What a Way to Go

July 23: Films from the Piper Theater Film Workshop

July 30: Sullivan's Travels

Once again, thank goodness for Brooklyn Based: she does the footwork and puts up great tip sheets for Brooklyn life. Today her “Blogletter” is all about outdoor movies in Brooklyn this summer. Think about signing up for BB’s three times a week blogletter, which is delivered directly to your inBox.

One caveat: she left out Brooklyn Film Works, which begins on July 2nd in JJ Byrne Park (Fifth Avenue and Third Street). This summer, the series is called, Democracy in Action and it opens with 1776. The show begins at dark. As always, there will be great shorts to accompany the feature. A lovely thing to do on a summer night: movies al fresco under the stars.

Back to Brooklyn Based.

When I was growing up in the sticks, one of my favorite summertime activities was dragging the TV and VCR out to the backyard (courtesy of a very long extension cord), setting up lawn chairs and watching movies outside with friends on warm summer evenings. Turns out, when you grow up and move to Brooklyn, you can watch all sorts of movies outside during the summer, no extension cords or explanations to your parents required

This is the Brooklyn Reading Works event you won’t want to miss. Never heard of a Memoir-A-Thon? That’s because I made it up. It’s sort of a marathon reading of memoirs—but it won’t be long and boring.

Nope. That’s because the writers are each limited to 6 minutes and that will be strictly enforced by my little bell.

At five minutes: ding, ding, ding.

And what a group of writers: Branka Ruzak, Mary Warren, Marian Fontana, Paula Bernstein and Elyse Schein, Nica Lalli, Kim Larsen, Carla Thompson and MORE…

Come to this great event and hear the personal stories of these unique writers. Books by these authors will be on sale at the event which is at the Old Stone House at Fifth Avenue and Third Street.

PAULA BERNSTEIN & ELYSE SCHEIN are the authors of Identical Strangers: A Memoir of Twins Separated and Reunited,

MARIAN FONTANA is the author of A Widow’s Walk, a memoir of 9/11. 

NICA LALLI is the author of Nothing; Something to Believe In, a memoir of growing up an athiest.

BRANKA RUZAK has
been
a
writer,
producer
and
editor
for
commercial
and corporate
advertising
who
spent
many
childhood
hours
listening
to
her father’s
stories
and
playing
Croatian
folk
music.
Always
an
avid
traveler,her
studies
in
Hindusthani
classical
music,
as
well
as
her
enthusiasm
for Indian
novels,
textiles
and
a
good
cup
of
chai
have
taken
her
to
India
and other
destinations.
She
is
currently
working
on
a
collection
of
essays
about family,
identity,
culture
and
travel.

MARY WARREN is a freelance writer who teaches English at a local college. SHe has two blogs, Mrs. Cleavage’s Diary and Eat, Drink, Memory.

CARLA THOMPSON writes a blog, "The Ride: Life
Lesson for Those Who Can’t Draw a Straight Line", which features her
acerbic and sometimes witty musings on everything from politics to pop
culture. Carla has also written a variety of articles for Women’s
eNews, Black Enterprise, AOL Black Voices and the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution among other publications.

KIM LARSEN’S feature story, "Bad Blood," which reports on the reintroduction of DDT in the fight against malaria in Africa, is the cover story in the winter 2008 edition of OnEarth Magazine. Her essay about the untimely death of a close friend appears in the essay anthology, "The Oldest We’ve Ever Been."

Continue reading THE MEMOIR-A-THON: THIS THURSDAY AT BROOKLYN READING WORKS →

What’s Up Doc, last night’s outdoor film at Brooklyn Film Works in JJ Byrne Park, was photographed by Laszlo Kovacs, who is considered one of the great cinematographers in Hollywood. He died in his sleep on Saturday night. He was 74.

In addition to What’s Up Doc, Kovacs shot more than 60 films, including “Easy Rider” “Five Easy Pieces,” “Shampoo,” “Paper Moon,” “New York, New York,” “What’s Up, Doc,” “Mask,” “Ghostbusters,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and many more.

The man responsible for the look of all these ground-breaking American movies was born and raised on a farm in Hungary during the Nazi occupation of that country.

According to Reuters, Kovacs, along with another great cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, documented the rebellion. They borrowed film and a camera from their school and hid the camera in a paper bag that had a hole in it for the lens.

The pair carried 30,000 feet of documentary footage across the border. They eventually entered the United States as political refugees in 1957.

In the early 1960’s Kovacs got his start in Hollywood with Roger Corman, called the King of the B’s. Bogdonavich, the director of What’s Up Doc, Peter Bogdanavich, met Kovacs while he was working on a film called The Girl in the Invisible Bikini. Bogdanavich hired him on the spot to shoot Paper Moon. At the time Kovacs went an Americanized version of his name: Leslie Kovacs. Bogdanavich told NPR that he told Kovacs that Leslie didn’t sound like a Hungarian name. Kovacs told him that no one knew how to pronoucne his real name. He told Bogdanavich that when he makes a good film, his real Hungarian name will go on it.

His real name appears on the credits of Paper Moon and What’s Up Doc.

And “What’s Up Doc?” is a great film. I forgot just how funny it is. It is perfectly entertaining from start to finish. Such fun, such perfect screwballism. Filled with great dialogue by Robert Benton and Buck Henry, the stars, Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’Neal make the perfect screwball pair.

The crowd of nearly 100 enjoyed the film immensely. A great night at BFW. Next week: don’t miss Duck Soup with the Marx Brothers. July 31 in JJ Byrne Park. 8:30.

Enough about what makes Park Slope annoying. What about some of the great stuff that goes on here?

Like Brooklyn Film Works in JJ Byrne Park, for instance, which is produced by Kim Maier and the Old Stone House and curated by Bill, whose last name I don’t know at the moment, but who has selected a great group of movies for this year. Last night’s show was so much fun.

What crazy chemistry: mid-life Mae West and a young Cary Grant. A little May-December magic. And it’s the film with the famous line "Beulah, peel me a grape."

"I’m No Angel," is chock full of fabulous one-liners, deep, gutteral sounds by Mae West and of course her famous, Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?"

That was last night at Brooklyn Film Works and a crowd of about 50 gathered on the lawn in JJ Byrne Park

As always, there was a fantastic short, a Betty Boop flick, that makes you want to watch all the Fleisher Brother’s cartoons.

The famous BFW’s screen, designed by Showman Fabricators, looked great leaning against the Greg’s Express truck. The state-of-the-art video projector, donated by Scharff Weissberg, makes a beautiful picture.

People brought lawn chairs, cloth to lie on, food, friends. There’s a hot dog concession by Willie’s Dawgs. Just two more Tuesday in July screenings left.

NEXT WEEK: "What’s Up Doc?" Peter Bogdonovich’s 1970’s screwball comedy with Barbara Streisand and Ryan O’neal is a funny one with an uproarious chase scene up and down the streets of San Francisco. The very 1970’s-ness of the film should be fun.

TUESDAY JULY 24 at 8:30. DON’T MISS IT. There are only two more. The last show, Duck Soup with the Marx Brothers is on TUESDAY JULY 31

July 10:

Brooklyn Film Works Presents: Screwball Brooklyn!

The Lady Eve

directed by Preston Sturges, starring Barbara Stanwyck

Introduced by film critic Ty Burr, author of The Best Old Movies for Families

8:30 pm. Free.

July 17

Brooklyn Film Works Presents: Screwball Brooklyn!

I’m No Angel

directed by Wesley Ruggles, starring Mae West

8:30 pm. Free.

July 24

Brooklyn Film Works Presents Screwball Brooklyn!

What’s Up Doc?

directed by Peter Bogdonavich, starring Barbra Streisand

8:30 pm. Free.

July 31

Brooklyn Film Works Presents Screwball Brooklyn!

Duck Soup

directed by Leo McCarey, starring The Marx Brothers

8:30 pm. Free.

TUESDAY NIGHT JULY 11 at 8:30 p.m.

Brooklyn Film Works is pleased to present the second film in its outdoor film series in JJ Byrne Park. Spend a lovely evening on the lawn in JJ Byrne Park watching movies. (LEFT: Screening of Little Fugitive in JJ Byrne Park on June 27, 2006. Cool screen!)

CONEY ISLAND: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. A documentary by Ric Burns. Learn the stories behind the Cyclone, the Wonder Wheel and the Parachute Jump and the history of America’s greatest amusement park.
Before the feature: Buster Keaton shorts.

Food Concession by Stone Park Cafe including delicious tamales, cup cakes, lemonade and who knows what else.

This series made possible with the financial and in-kind support of Scharf Weissberg, Showman Fabricators, Greg’s Rubbage Removal, and New York Methodist Hospital.

There was wind but it looked like the rain would hold out until after midnight. And it did. The rain started just as the movie ended. So we got lucky. Really, really lucky.  Brooklyn Film Works was a go!

Our crew, Henry, Dan, and Derek, put together the aluminum frame, which was designed by Bob Usdin at Showman Fabricators, very quickly. Then they tied the screen onto the frame with the webs and gromits.

The cabana/projection booth nearly blew away while we were assembling it. Bricks and string helped a lot.

Probably the most dramatic moment was raising the screen against the truck and then securing it to the truck. It was like that barn raising scene in Witness. I felt like crying when I saw our beautiful screen standing up for the first time. But then I got nervous that it might fall over in the wind. That’s why we had lots of rope.

Luckily, crewmember Dan loves heights and was willing to climb a 16 ft. ladder and walk on the top of Greg’s truck to rope the top of the frame to the truck.

By 8 p.m. the projector, the speakers, DVD  player and monitor were all set up in the projection cabana and projectionist Bill Lyons was ready to begin.

Then it was a waiting game until it was dark enough to begin the show. One little girl kept walking up to me "when is the movie going to start?"

Stone Park Cafe set up a food concession, which was fantastic. They served short rib tamales wrapped in banana leaves for $5 dollars, lemondade, and delicious cup cakes. They will be offering food at all JJ Byrne Park summer events (Blues in the Park on Thursdays and Shakespeare plays in mid-July).

Mary Engel, the daughter of Ruth Orkin and Morris Engel, talked aboutthe making of  Little Fugitive (1953), which was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She introduced her moving short documentary about her mother called, Ruth Orkin: Frames of Life, that was at Sundance and 20 other film festivals.

Both films looked fantastic on the screen. It didn’t rain. It felt wonderful to be out on the lawn watching movies. Watching Little Fugitive, I could think of at least two films that make reference to it: Truffaut’s 400 Blows and Wim Wender’s Alice in the Cities.

This film festival was a great, great idea. The next show is on July 11th. It’s Ric Burns’ documentary about Coney Island. We haven’t decided what short we’re showing first but it’ll be great. Something fun for the kids.

Join us on July 11th. This is really, really special.

TONIGHT’S THE NIGHT: BROOKLYN FILM WORKS PRESENTS LITTLE FUGITIVE
RAIN OR SHINE. If it rains, the films will be shown inside The Old Stone House

Brooklyn Film Works: Movies Alfresco in J.J. Byrne Park (Fifth Avenue at Third Street)
Tuesday nights at 8:30 p.m.

Bring a picnic, your friends and family, and watch great Brooklyn flicks on the lawn in JJ Byrne Park.

June 27: LITTLE FUGITIVE Directed by Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin  A little boy gets lost in Coney Island. Introduced by their daughter, Mary Engel.

July 11: CONEY ISLAND:  THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE Learn the stories behind the Wonder Wheel, the Parachute Jump, and the Cyclone.

July 18: MOONSTRUCK The Carroll Gardens classic. Directed by Norman Jewison. With Cher.

July 24: THE LONG GOOD BYE with Brooklyn’s Elliot Gould. Directed by Robert Altman.