Author: Ben Model

  • Au Bonheur Des Dames – 2nd performance (w/audio)

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    Ben Model

    May 16 (Sat) – Had two great shows of “Museum Trip” in Brooklyn with Parallel Exit, and then got a second crack at Duvivier’s “Au Bonheur de Dames” at MoMA. Made some improvements in the Duvivier score second time around in terms of underscoring choices, wanting to make it play better this time and having…

  • Au Bonheur Des Dames (1930) – dir Julien Duvivier

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    Ben Model

    I’ve now played for all four of the Julien Duvivier films in the series at MoMA, with two repeats to come. So far my favorite is La Vie miraculeuse de Therese Martin, perhaps because its storyline is much more simple than the other 3 pictures. All of them have stunning visuals, very nice cinematography and…

  • Edgar Jones in “Border River” (1919)

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    Ben Model

    I have just scored and uploaded to YouTube a 16mm print I picked up on eBay a year (or so) ago, called Border River (1919) starring and directed by Edgar Jones, who made dozens of films — mainly westerns — throughout the teens and early twenties. There are no FIAF holdings on this title, and…

  • Radio City Music Hall Wurlitzer (again)

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    Ben Model
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    May 6 – I was back at Radio City Music Hall for some practice time on the Wurlitzer today, in prep for next week’s SVA graduation. Turns out I won’t be using the organ at the ceremony — nothing to do with RCMH, it’s just that the sample recordings I’d sent in didn’t quite fit…

  • “Poil de carotte” at MoMA (2nd show)

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    Ben Model

    May 4, 2009 – played for “Poil de carotte” again at MoMA this afternoon, without incident. Score went better (for me, anyhoo) as expected. Recorded blogcast and my score, as I did yesterday (see below). Here’s a chance to see how when I play for the same film twice in two consecutive days the score…

  • Poil de carrotte

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    Ben Model

    May 3, 2009 – played for Poil de carotte (“Carrot Top”), the 1925 silent directed by Julien Duvivier. I recorded my blog entry as a blogcast/podcast on my digital recorder while walking home from MoMA after the show (so that’s why I sound a little out of breath), rather than come home and do a…

  • April update

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    Ben Model

    Today Steve Massa and I were at MoMA screening Thanhouser films with Charles Silver for a program we’re working on for October. The program will help the Thanhouser Film Corp. celebrate the company’s centenary; Ned Thanhouser will be doing a program with the LOC as well as at MoMA during the last weekend of October,…

  • Cruel and Unusual Comedy in MoMA calendar

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    Ben Model

    Just got the PDF of MoMA’s May/June 2009 members calendar, with the full listings for Cruel and Unusual Comedy in it. Am posting the pertinent pages from the calendar here; click on the images below to see them larger. Unfortunately, due to space restrictions, there was no way to include info or a blurb about…

  • WNYC art.culture podcast

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    Ben Model

    Margaret Pickering interviewed me after Wednesday’s show of Wild Bill Hickok. She’s a blogger on WNYC’s culture page. This podcast appeared on their page today and runs about 10 mins 20 seconds. The segment with me is brief, and starts at around 08:40. http://www.odeo.com/flash/audio_player_standard_black.swfClick on the image below to go to WNYC’s art.cult page.

  • Wild Bill Hickok at MoMA

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    Ben Model

    Just played show #2 of Wild Bill Hickok (1923) will William S. Hart. Yesterday’s show went well, and today’s went a little better. I was a little more focused and also backed off a little more. On the second pass I was also able to get a better handle on a western-type flavor on the…