Tag: MoMA

  • “The Gaucho” w/Douglas Fairbanks at MoMA

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    Ben Model

    After some initial futzing with audio set-up we got the Miditzer sounding just right for tonight’s showing of The Gaucho at MoMA’s Titus 2 theater. This happens from time to time, but the MoMA projectionists are fantastic and they always figure out how to make this work right. Steven Higgins (curator of the retrospective) told…

  • John Gilbert in “The Cossacks”; audio from “Two Tars”

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    Ben Model

    Today’s show at MoMA went well. Both prints were in 35mm. Two Tars looked okay…I’d be curious to A/B it against a good Blackhawk 16mm. The Cossacks looked fantastic, and while the audience really enjoyed it I found its 10 reels felt like 15. It’s a big Hollywood star vehicle for John Gilbert and Renee…

  • Cruel and Unusual @ MoMA Nov 19

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    Ben Model

    photo of our Nov 19th class with guest speaker Eileen Bowser, MoMA senior film curator emerita. L to R: Eileen Bowser, Ron Magliozzi, Steve Massa, Ben Model Last night was our third class session for Cruel and Unusual Comedy at MoMA. The class is going really well, and we’ve got 20 people in the class.…

  • Spooky Silents ’08

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    Ben Model

    October is wrapping up, and I’ve just wrapped up a slew of shadowy, creepy silent films: Barrymoore’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Sun 10/26 @ Silent Clowns, on piano), the Chaney/Browning West of Zanzibar (Tues 10/28 @ C.A.C., on Miditzer VTPO), Lon Chaney in Phantom of the Opera (Weds 10/29 @ Church of St. Paul…

  • silent film poster exhibit opens at MoMA

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    Ben Model

    I played at a press screening yesterday for the new poster exhibit at MoMA organized by Ron Magliozzi and Jenny He. The posters are all one-of-a-kind hand-painted posters from the Eastman Theater in Rochester. George Eastman didn’t care for the posters the studios were sending out…so he hired Rochester artist Batiste Madalena to create posters…

  • Jekyll & Hyde and Green Goddess

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    Ben Model

    Okay, okay, I know the image at right is for the 1930 talkie remake of the 1923 silent, but you get the idea. I played for a double-header at MoMA last night (Sat 9/20): John Barrymore in Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (gorgeous new 35mm print from Eastman House) and George Arliss in The Green…

  • (Safety Last + shorts show) x 2; AllDay recording

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    Ben Model

    July 15 – yesterday I accompanied Safety Last (plus the Lloyd 1-reeler Luke’s Shattered Sleep) and a shorts program at MoMA on piano. I’ll repeat the shows tomorrow on theatre organ. Safety Last knocked the audience out, as usual, and I was pleased to see a number of kids and younger people in the audience.…

  • 5 shows performed, 2 bass strings replaced, 1 recording for Kino

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    Ben Model

    July 12 – Weds and Thurs I played to Keaton’s The General, Lloyd’s The Freshman, and Keaton’s Sherlock, Jr. in the Titus 1 theater at MoMA. The Miditzer theatre organ sounded great in there (T1 is the bigger of the three theaters at MoMA). Shows were well-attended, and I saw some familiar faces who brought…

  • My 2008 summer of silents begins:

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    Ben Model

    I’m going to try to post as often as I can in July with quick or short impressions of the shows, as well as the recording sessions I have (one for Kino, one for ReelclassicDVD, and a few for AllDay Entertainment). * * * * * * * * June 30 – a pretty full…

  • Midnite show at MoMA – June 21

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    Ben Model

    On Saturday June 21 at midnight (!) I presented and accompanied a program of silent one-reelers from 1913 at MoMA. The program was part of an innovative education program done by Amir Parsa called “That Year, This Day” in which class participants spent time at the museum from 6pm to 2am in galleries and education…