Author: Ben Model

  • blasting off for Tromsø (Weds)

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    Ben Model
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    Well, I’m off to Tromsø today…will land there midday Thurs. Am traveling solo again this year as the fest coincides with the first week of school here. Will plan to post festival reports each day, if I can. Opening night film is a new restoration of The Passion of Joan of Arc with a new…

  • me and Roscoe in Norway again

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    Ben Model

    Here’s a page from the “Stumfilm Dagere” festival catalog, which was just sent to me as a PDF. Click on the image to see it full size (and to see if you can understand the Norwegian text).

  • Sherlock Jr in Hamilton NY

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    Ben Model
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    Am back from a few weeks of R&R out of town, and ready to launch into September. Am gearing up for my return to Norway for “Stumfilm Dagere”, 5 Sessue Hayakawa films at MoMA’s retrospective, the launch of the fall season of my Silent Clowns series, a show at Scandinavia House (NYC), and my return…

  • Reel Baseball at the MCNY

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    Ben Model

    Presented and accompanied a program of films from the Kino Reel Baseball DVD set at the Museum of the City of New York this afternoon. We showed The Busher, plus Hearts and Diamonds and Felix Saves the Day. We had a great crowd, biggest one so far in the five years I’ve been doing silents…

  • Slapsticon days 1 & 2

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    Ben Model
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    Have now slid through the first two days of Slapsticon, and am having a blast. Have seen a load of great comedy shorts, and am enjoying the Harry Langdon and Larry Semon entries. Tonight UCLA Film & TV’s new restoration of the Semon feature Spuds (1928) was screened (with yours truly at the piano) on…

  • Slapsticon on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi show

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    Ben Model
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    Here we all are, kibitzing before going on-air for our segment, which lasted about 25 minutes. You can listen to our interview right here. http://www.silentclowns.com/podcast-audio/KojoNnamdi-slapsticon.mp3

  • Slapsticon “pre-glow” weds 7/18

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    Ben Model
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    Steve Massa and I arrived in DC bright and early, completely missing the big storm in NYC that delayed a number of peoples’ flight etc. Here I am outside the LOC building, right near the Capitol bldg, where Steve and I spent the day screening comedy shorts. At left you see the interior of the…

  • on the road to Slapsticon 5

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    Ben Model

    Well, I’m off (via Amtrak) this morning to Arlington, VA for the fifth annual Slapsticon where I’ll spend 4 fun-filled glorious days and nights watfching — and playing for — classic comedy shorts and features from the ’10s, ’20s and ’30s. I’ve been one of their accompanists every year since the fest started, along with…

  • Peg O’ My Heart (1922) with Laurette Taylor

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    Ben Model

    Played for Peg O’ My Heart at MoMA last night, and will play for its repeat on Thursday. Print is MoMA’s, acquired from Filmoteca Española, Madrid. Titles were all in English, possibly made by the archive as part of their preservation work, as they looked newer than the film. The film is basically complete, with…

  • The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) – MoMA 6/2

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    Ben Model

    The 6pm show of The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906), plus the 1975 Sunday, Too Far Away was introduced by Paolo Cherchi Usai, of the National Film and Sound Archive in Australia, the archive that restored these films. Paolo told of the efforts to preserve and find the pieces of the Kelly film, the…