Sarah Inocencio-Miller

Hey, Watch It! – The Best Summer Cinema Brooklyn Has To Offer

August 11, 2018 By Sarah Inocencio-Miller Filed Under: READER CINEMA

We’ve all been there. Sucked into a never-ending Netflix loop while sinking into a couch or bed, at times Netflix feebly prodding, “Are you still watching?” The ease and convenience of online streaming sites has been revolutionary in spreading film and TV shows to audiences across the globe. Still, however, I prefer, and often still long for the more traditional movie magic: the feeling of sitting in darkness as lights flicker off of stranger’s faces as we all experience the same film together. But as Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu grow more and more, movie theaters must find unique ways to tempt audiences out of the comfort of their own homes. New York City, and Brooklyn in particular, is a hotbed of uncommon theatrical experiences, ranging from boozy movies to outdoor film festivals with screenings in the cemetery Jean-Michel Basquiat and Leonard Bernstein are buried in. With New York summer is in full swing, do yourself a favor and head out to the exciting summer cinema Brooklyn has to offer. Netflix can wait.

Rooftop Films

“What’s going on at the cemetery?”

A confused man tapped me on the shoulder as I snapped photos of a small crowd gathered outside the Greenwood Cemetery as the setting sun glinted off of passing cars.

The queue of people outside the graveyard seemed to be puzzling a number of bystanders. As the line outside the wrought iron gates of the cemetery grew, people on the street began to take note, pausing with mild curiosity.

The line forming was, in fact, film fans waiting for the opening night and kickoff of the Rooftop Films 2018 Summer Series, an annual seasonal event that showcases independent filmmakers over the course of a few months at several outdoor locations.

Rooftop Films’ philosophy is to engage and inspire diverse communities by bringing underground films outdoors and since its humble inception on an East Village apartment rooftop in 1997, it has slowly grown to become a New York summer classic. With a variety of feature length and short films throughout the summer at over fifteen different locations, Rooftop Films gives New Yorkers the opportunity to expose themselves to indie films while also enjoying the many outdoor areas that the city has to offer, including the Greenwood Cemetery, Coney Island, Pioneer Works, and The Old American Can Factory. The site-specific screenings for this summer are all sponsored by Lays, Corona, and Ketel One, and after parties following the screenings allow for patrons to mingle and enjoy cocktails on-site.

Opening night of Rooftop Films this year kicked off with musical guests L’Rain, a hauntingly ambient experimental band that oozed spirituality. Taja Cheek opened their set by ritualistically cleansing the stage with a smudge stick before diving into a set that explored looping Cheek’s vocals and, in one song, her triumphant laughter.

As is tradition, Rooftop Films opened with a series of independent shorts that ranged from an avant-garde exploration of a scorpion bite to the quirky tale of a young woman who accidentally finds herself tied to the Italian mob in her neighborhood through a series of drunken misunderstandings. After the screenings, a handful of the filmmakers were able to participate in a short Q&A about their work and then join attendees at the after-party, a surreal display of lights and music amidst the historic buildings.

The beauty of Rooftop Films is its ability to engage patrons through both the films and the location of the screening. Rooftop Films can be viewed as a tour of some of New York’s most beautiful outdoor spaces, and screenings and their subsequent after parties are a lovely way to get New Yorkers outside to appreciate their city’s many landmarks.

Nitehawk Cinema

Located in Williamsburg and, by the end of this summer, in Prospect Park, Nitehawk Cinema offers much more than the traditional theater experience. With tableside food and beverage service, Nitehawk enhances the traditional theatrical experience by presenting specialty menus inspired by what they are currently showing.

Nitehawk’s unique claim to fame is its decidedly grown-up take on what a movie theater can be. Nitehawk Cinemas was responsible for overturning the liquor law in the state of New York that made serving alcohol in motion picture theaters illegal. Three months after Nitehawk opened its Brooklyn doors in 2011, moviegoers were able to enjoy boozy beverages while watching a new film.

Nitehawk’s location in Williamsburg has been hugely popular, and by late summer, another location will be opening in Prospect Park! Nitehawk has taken over Park Slope’s historic Pavilion Theater, which first opened its doors in 1928 as a single-screen theater called The Sanders. The renovations, which began in 2016, will refurbish the space to include seven screens, 650 seats, a double kitchen, two bar areas, and a restored atrium overlooking the park. Like Nitehawk’s original campus, patrons can expect a diverse mix of programming that includes harder to find indie films but can also anticipate a few more Hollywood blockbuster movies in the repertoire due to the larger size of the new theater. And for those who are diehard film fans, Nitehawk will continue to show a range of print formats, with four of the seven screens having 35mm reel to reel capabilities.

Alamo Drafthouse

Like Nitehawk Cinema, Alamo Drafthouse gives audiences the chance to experience new films paired with food and drink. Alamo Drafthouse’s calling card is its commitment to serving beer from a variety of local breweries, serving over thirty beers on tap. Additionally the drinks list at Alamo Drafthouse is also extensive in regards to liquor and cocktails. Classic cocktails on the menu are presented Rated G through Rated R, Rated G typically being a bit lighter and Rated R being, well, more alcoholic.

Alamo Drafthouse is a proponent of new independent films and is a partner with NEON (‘Ingrid Goes West’, ‘I, Tonya’) as well as the American Genre Film Archive, a non-profit that “exists to preserve the legacy of genre movies through the collection, conservation, and distribution”. Alamo Drafthouse also spotlights films through its distribution company, Drafthouse Films, with the motto of “sharing the films we love with widest audience possible”. Drafthouse Films include movies such as “A Band Called Death”, “Mood Indigo”, and “The Look of Silence”. Alamo Drafthouse is a much more widely appreciated venue throughout the United States, with 24 different locations from New York to Los Angeles to Kansas City.

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Brooklyn Academy of Music offers programming that ranges across the spectrum of the arts. The multi-arts center is also the home of BAMcinématek, four screening rooms that showcase independent films, classic films, and other special programming. Every summer BAM also celebrates new, independent films through the BAMcinemaFest. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the indie festival and in that short time it has become “an indispensable annual moviegoing tradition” according to The Village Voice. With filmmaker Q&A’s every evening, BAMcinemaFest introduces audience members to new films while simultaneously educating them on what happened behind the scenes. This year the festival runs from June 20 to July 1 and showcases more than twenty-eight new works from independent filmmakers.

The Endless Summer: Camps!

May 17, 2018 By Sarah Inocencio-Miller Filed Under: Park Slope Life Tagged With: creativity, daycamp, experience, fun, interests, kids, learning, season, sleep away, summer, Summer camp

With summer quickly approaching, bringing waves of sunny days and no school, many parents and families look to summer camps to help their kids stay active and make new friends. Luckily for park slope residents, and New Yorkers in general, camp options are countless and provide an array of opportunities for children to cultivate new skills, practice old ones, and foster their curiosity while building meaningful relationships.

Camp is a productive way to engage a child in their interests while also allowing them to unplug from phones and television in favor of connecting in positive social situations. Summer camp can be an incredibly meaningful period of time for some.

Best friends Marissa Roer and Kate Elliot, two Brooklyn residents, frequented camp throughout their childhoods and have maintained a friendship of ten years since first meeting at an arts conservatory camp. “I would endure the year and think about camp,” Marissa mused as Kate laughed. “Summer camp was when I learned about female dynamics. It was a good thing for me to experience while growing up,” Kate added. “I eventually ended up going to high school with two of the girls I bunked with.” Though their days of camp are long over, Marissa and Kate make a point of seeing each other once a week over Saturday yoga and brunch and frequently catch up with other camp peers, one whose wedding they will be attending in the fall of this year.

In the spirit of Marissa and Kate’s friendship, cultivated from years of camp, here is a definitive list of potential summer camps that will make any kid hope this summer really is endless.

For the big thinkers out there, there are plenty of camp options to satisfy even the most curious of minds. Located in Windsor Terrace, The Tiny Scientist summer program offers weekly sessions dedicated to in-depth explorations in topics ranging from chemistry experiments to sports science to the study of dinosaurs. Engineering For Kids is another great option that introduces 4-14 year olds to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) in a hands-on way. Their website offers an easy-to-use class filter so you can sort through their breadth of programs, like scratch programming, electronic game design, 3D printing, and LEGO-based robotics. For ‘girls who wanna have fun’, Curious Jane is a no-brainer and provides girls entering 3rd-6th grades to explore and create among other inquisitive girls. Curious Jane also publishes a quarterly magazine so girls can DIY projects at home—perfect for the girls who couldn’t get enough of the summer program.

For the adventurers itching to get out and let out some energy, SKATEYOGI helps the aspiring shredder learn to skate safely. Programs allow children ages 6-12 to experience skateboarding outdoors in Prospect Park as well as in an air-conditioned, indoor space. Parents are included in the fun and receive daily pictures of skateboarding adventures around the city. Brooklyn Boulders offers summer sessions that teach kids boldness, creativity, strength, and fine motor skills through climbing. The team and instructors behind Brooklyn Boulders are “strong believers that attitude is everything, and believe in the value of failing gracefully”. A Park Slope favorite, Kim’s Kids Club allows children to take everyday adventures in their very own city. Flexible scheduling allows families on a budget or with summer plans to choose a camp experience that works for them. Activities include playground hopping around the city, visiting the Bronx Zoo, and swimming at Riis Beach (accompanied by Kim’s Kids very own lifeguards).

For The Budding Prodigies waiting to unleash their creativity, Gowanus Music Club gives kids the chance to hone their musical abilities by learning to play instruments. Supported by staff who themselves are musicians and the friends they make in their bands, rockers are given the opportunity to play live shows and showcase their talents to family and friends. For more stage opportunities, Brooklyn Acting Lab provides multiple sessions and a “play in a day” program. Each summer BAL also mounts one big musical to be performed at the end of the summer. This summer rising 3rd-8th graders will spend four weeks rehearsing Shrek The Musical Jr. with the session starting July 9 and running through August 3. Automatic Studios offers two different levels of classes for both the amateur filmmaker and the more serious auteur. The weeklong session packs the experience of making a movie into five days of fun and ends with a wrap party to celebrate their accomplishments. The two-week master class boasts a similar model, but offering a bit more time for budding directors to hone their craft through preproduction, shooting, and animation. BKLYN Clay offers affordable classes teaching the basics of hand building and wheel throwing techniques, while students get creative with the clay. At Brooklyn Sewcial kids are given one week to finish a unique project in a small classroom environment that motivates creativity and imagination. Spoke the Hub provides a Camp Gowanee Multi-Arts Summer Program for children ages 7-12 featuring an impressive lineup of master teachers. This summer artists such as Sachiyo Ito, a Japanese dance master and elder, and Iliana Quander, a well-known Brooklyn fashion designer will be joining the ranks of Spoke the Hub.

For The Tiny Chefs who want to take control of what’s on their plate, Food Art For Kids introduces the importance of fresh produce and how to integrate that into a meal. Sessions include weekly visits to Brooklyn Heights’ Green Market where fresh produce is picked out for the cooking projects of the week. Kids engage in cooking healthy meals and on Fridays treat themselves to a homemade pizza party. A farm-to-table summer camp, Butter Beans Kitchen offers wholesome culinary expeditions for children ages 6-10. At Butter Beans Kitchen, kids are given unique opportunities to engage with the environment in the city around them, like farming in urban gardens, beekeeping on rooftops, and catching fish in Central Park. Children make their lunches every day, and learn to cultivate a close relationship between the food they pick and what they will ultimately end up feeding themselves.

The traditional summer camp is usually sleep-away, which, although daunting at first, can be a child’s first steps towards independence and nurturing self-confidence in a safe environment. For those ready to take the plunge and find a home away from home, Windsor Mountain welcomes children into a co-ed, non-competitive sleep-away summer camp in Windsor, New Hampshire. Windsor Mountain’s hallmark is ‘directed free-choice’, which means campers have a say in all the activities they participate in and have staff and counselors at their disposal to help figure out how best to enjoy their summer at the mountain. With amenities like a farm, garden, forest, tree house, and ropes course, boredom is never an option. For those who want to get away but aren’t quite ready to tackle nights away from home, Deer Mountain Day Camp in Rockland County, NY offers day sessions for kids of all age groups with the traditional camp structure. Located on a mountainside next to a spring-fed lake, this 25-acre camp encourages outdoor play and exploration. Stony Creek Farmstead in Walton, NY offers children the opportunity to live on an organic farmstead and interact with animals and the environment in a sustainable, respectful way. The camp is offered in weekly sessions and provides distinctive activities like milking cows, foraging for wild food, and working on art projects.

As a 23-year-old with no children of my own and no real camp experience, I was pretty astounded by the sheer number of camps nestled away in Brooklyn. As a kid my parents would, by default, send me to summer school so I wouldn’t sit alone coloring in the living room for weeks on end. Although summer school held nothing of the richness of camps I’ve come to learn about, it did offer flexibility in electives, so I was lucky enough to be able to choose an area of art I was interested in and also attend a school that had some funding for this. In the first grade I chose to take the drama elective during summer school and although it was the most casual of experiences and I had the smallest of roles, I ended up harboring a secret flame for drama that never quite extinguished. I knew from that point on that I enjoyed theater, but was never given another opportunity to pursue it as I was stacked with my pre-existing extracurricular activities. Many years passed before I performed again.

In middle school it was customary for the 8th graders to put on a play before graduation and that year we put on Fiddler on the Roof Jr. I ultimately got one of the lead roles, and with the ecstasy of real stage time under my belt. I entered high school with a mission. At 3:01 on my first day of 9th grade I rushed to the performing arts center to sign up for auditions for the Theater Conservatory. The small flame that I had kept quietly within myself ended up defining my high school career and, eventually, my college career as well. Then, with a tad more acting knowledge than I had possessed in the first grade, I moved to New York City from my hometown of Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting.

Looking back on the journey that I’ve taken with the greatest passion I have in my life, I wish I had had more time to nurture the love for acting that I had within me.

Camps and summer programs teach leadership, interpersonal skills, courage, and creativity. More than anything, they allow kids to try new things alongside others who may have similar interests and ideas as them. It’s extremely important to encourage interests and hobbies at a young age. These experiences coalesce and inform a person deeply. And who knows? They may just stumble across a spark that fuels them for the rest of their lives! k

READER CINEMA: Isle of Dogs

April 12, 2018 By Sarah Inocencio-Miller Filed Under: READER CINEMA Tagged With: cinema, dogs, japan, Japanese, Wes Anderson

Isle of Dogs

Dir. Wes Anderson

“Will you help him, the little pilot?”

“Why should I?”

“Because he’s a twelve year old boy. Dogs love those.”

With all the same wry humor and pleasantly symmetrical compositions characteristic of a Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs spins a tale of loyalty and love between a boy and man’s best friend. Anderson’s newest film features a familiar cast (among them Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and Frances McDormand) and marks the director’s second adventure in stop-motion animation after Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Set twenty years in the future in Japan, Isle of Dogs follows the story of a young boy named Atari as he tries to find his lost pet on an island of exiled dogs. Due to a dog flu epidemic that has taken over the city of Megasaki, Mayor Kobayashi, a vehement anti-dog proponent, decrees that all dogs be sent to a “trash island” just off the coast, transported via creaky metal baskets. The dogs quickly form feral packs in search of food, where we meet a ragtag group of dogs made up of King (Bob Balaban), Duke (Jeff Goldblum), Rex (Edward Norton), Boss (Bill Murray), and their rough around the edges leader Chief (Bryan Cranston). After crash-landing on the island, Atari sets in motion a revolution to save all dogs on trash island and help reform the surly Chief in the process.

As with all Wes Anderson films, there is a certain unattached quirkiness that lends itself to the script and makes for delightfully dry humor. The stop-motion animation lends itself to Anderson’s ability to create a beautiful shot but this time with a new color palette of more muted browns and reds. Anderson’s strongest choice in the film is probably his refusal to subtitle anything said in Japanese, relying on the audience’s ability to pick up on body language and tonality. So while all dogs can speak English, Atari speaks in only Japanese, and Western audiences rely heavily on context to glean meaning from what the young boy says. While a unique idea when approaching a setting outside of the United States it does make one wonder how the film is to be presented outside of the U.S. and if perhaps the film was crafted with too Western a lens. After all, the character of Tracy, a blonde foreign exchange student from Ohio and studying in Japan, speaks, even to her Japanese classmates, in English throughout the entire movie, save for a ten second interval where she speaks hurriedly in Japanese to her host mother.

Although the film was an enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing experience overall, as an Asian American, I found myself sinking into my chair at the very idea of Tracy, a character who could have very easily been Japanese. While I understand the “rules” Wes Anderson seems to have created for this world in order for an English-speaking audience to understand the film, I wonder how the film translates, quite literally, to non-English-speaking countries. There is something so underhandedly infuriating as well when a movie about talking dogs insists on having the dogs characterized as love interests all be blonde or light-haired.

Isle of Dogs’ greatest strength is in its sentiment and its biggest downfall is unfortunately in the way it seems to use Japan as a backdrop more than anything else.

READER CINEMA: A Wrinkle in Time

March 21, 2018 By Sarah Inocencio-Miller Filed Under: READER CINEMA Tagged With: A Wrinkle In Time, cinema, Oprah

A Wrinkle In Time, directed by Ava DuVernay (Selma, 13th) has been highly anticipated for months, not only because of the respected director attached to the project, but also because of a star-studded cast comprised of celebrities like Mindy Kaling, Reese Witherspoon, and, of course, Oprah Winfrey. Based on the book by Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle In Time follows the story of Meg Murry (Storm Reid), an anxious girl mourning the disappearance of her scientist father (Chris Pine). One stormy night Meg is introduced to the mysterious and eccentric Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon) by her precocious little brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe). Mrs. Whatsit discloses that “tesseracts are real” before disappearing into the night. This revelation leads to an epic journey across universes to find Meg’s father, her self-confidence and ultimately fight a dark force threatening the cosmos.

The film is through and through a children’s movie. At times the script feels as though it’s sprinting forward towards the visually compelling sections, leaving the audience trying to anchor themselves in the establishing realities that had just rushed by. Within the first ten minutes of the film Reese Witherspoon appears to pepper some fantasy into the mix and her high energy, wide-eyed performance comes off as slightly corny. It’s as if she is trying to compete with the consistently solid energy Oprah holds throughout. Mindy Kaling deviates from her usual comedic characters, presenting herself as a magnanimously wise being, and does the best she can despite having to regurgitate quotations for three fourths of the movie. The stars and saviors of the film are the three children, Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin. While Storm Reid delivers a subtle performance of Meg, Deric McCabe offers a sometimes annoyingly genius parallel as Charles Wallace. Levi Miller as accompanying adventure friend Calvin is quite possibly the most consistent and believable performance of the entire journey (although within the realm of this film it’s never really understood what Calvin’s purpose is on this trip). He delivers lines like “I like your hair” to Meg with quiet tenderness and winning eyes that ground the film a little more to reality.

While the film approached platitudes like bullying and self-confidence, it was done with a rather soft hand. This film would be a wonderful way to start a conversation about respecting yourself and others with a child under the age of eleven but unfortunately for anyone older than that, these themes were touched upon too generally. The decision to make the Murry family biracial was a step forward in diversity casting but was, at the end of the day, brushed over so quickly that the effect was minimal.

All in all, A Wrinkle In Time is a colorful adventure with moments of joy and visual awe. For best results, leave all pre-conceived notions outside the theater and sit back to enjoy a film that appeals to child-like wonder.

The Black Panther—A Celebration of Black Power

February 21, 2018 By Sarah Inocencio-Miller Filed Under: READER CINEMA, The Arts Tagged With: Black Panther, Marvel, Wakanda

2 hours and 14 minutes
Director: Ryan Coogler

~This review contains no spoilers~

The Black Panther, the much-anticipated new release from the Marvel universe is not only breaking box office records but breaking boundaries in superhero storytelling. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the mind behind Fruitvale Station, The Black Panther is a Marvel film that stands alone in its grounded celebration of black culture and life.

The movie boasts an unparalleled cast flexing their skills to the max; Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa authoritatively leads us as both king and warrior in arguably one of the best super suits to date. Letitia Wright as Princess Shuri is a standout character for girls everywhere: she is resident inventor and innovator and a sharp, witty well of comebacks and disses, a welcome comedic parallel to the intensity of her brother. Lupita Nyong’o as T’Challa’s activist, ex-flame Nakia and Danai Gurira as the fierce, female warrior Okoye are loyal patriots to their country and king and are further examples of their refreshingly female-oriented nation. Wakanda as a country is vibrantly African in both culture and custom, untouched by colonial hands and buoyed by its access to a resource called “Vibranium” which fuels their incredible technological advancements unseen by the rest of the world.

The movie’s real power, however, lies in the hands of its anti-hero, Erik Killmonger, a mysterious outsider with a substantial military background who threatens the throne and everything Wakanda stands for. Michael B. Jordan, a clear Coogler favorite, realizes Killmonger in such a humanizing way that it’s hard to brand him as a villain. Killmonger’s looming presence ultimately raises the most compelling question of the film: at what point is Killmonger an enemy and at what point is he a brother in a movement towards survival and empowerment?

Without giving away major plot points, The Black Panther is truly masterful in its ability to commingle sci-fi, superheroes, and black power. Where other Marvel films devote significant screen time to extensive origin story and budding romance, The Black Panther provides representation, liberation, and, in more real ways, resistance against a largely white, male-dominated Hollywood. Snag a seat; The Black Panther is in theaters now and celebrating black power on a monumental scale.