Magic of the Movies

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A Separation is a realistic movie that might be expected to make us think of life and shake us up, while something like Scorsese’s Hugo, a fantasy — a richly entertaining 3D fantasy — is as far away from true life as we can get, and yet they both fill our senses and touch us deeply. In different ways, yes, but both, a story about a boy’s adventure in a Parisian train station and an intimate, complex moral drama of two families in modern Tehran become in our hearts, in our imagination, one indelible emotional, aesthetic experience. It’s not the high level of realism in one and the delirious sense of fantasy in the other that get at us, but their art — cinematic art. Watch with purpose. Don’t just passively sit. Look deeply, listen intently, and get into the mode of an observer or critic. Here are examples of things to think about:

There are a few great documentaries that profile magicians that I decided not to include in this list. Maybe it's that they seem to be more personal than about magic, but for some reason I didn't want to include them even though they are great films. Those movies include:• An Honest Liar: This fascinating and touching film about James Randi chronicles his career from magician to noted skeptic, and even delves into his personal secrets quite a bit. Laurence Olivier was offered the role of the agent but was unable to do it, and then Burgess Meredith was cast. [5] Meredith landed the role after walking into the 21 Club one night when Levine was there – Levine cast him on the spot. Meredith modelled his performance on the agent Swifty Lazar, even shaving his head to look like Lazar. "I tried to get his cool, understated manner, his sharp clothes, and most of all, his way of speaking softly so that you've got to lean over to hear what he's saying", said Meredith. [7] Goldman later wrote about the film that "Burgess Meredith was perfect and Tony Hopkins...was so wonderful here. But running stride for stride with him was Miss Olsson. I think Ann-Margret is the least appreciated emotional actress anywhere." [8]

This is really where you get to appreciate the story and the magic of movies. How to immerse yourself fully in the experience

You know what your problem is, it’s that you haven’t seen enough movies - all of life’s riddles are answered in the movies. ~Steve Martin Turn movie watching today into a joyful experience by taking an active role. Engage with the story and have the best time. Stories are a big part of religion and culture. They indulge our imagination. More importantly, they bind us together. There is another magic documentary that I would have liked to have included titled Magic Camp, about kids from around the world who gather every year at Tannen's Magic Camp.Although he is considered the first cinema artist, the cinema as we know it did not yet exist when Méliès went into production. In fact, it was the cinema that ultimately put him out of business. Barnouw points out that the movies effectively automated stage magic (as talkies would later render live musical accompaniment redundant): "The transfer to screen of the magician's most sensational illusions – disappearances, bizarre transformations and beheadings – proved ultimately catastrophic for magicians. Anyone with a camera and a splicer could produce the same miracles, and did." What then does "magic of the movies" mean in the light of the new situation, namely the development of computer generated imagery? I don’t know how much this once large and troubling reality about going to the movies in India has changed for women, but I do see a few young women now, mostly college-going, catch a morning or matinee alone at a multiplex. Killing time, bunking college or an irrepressible passion for cinema? Whichever it is, it’s nice to see they can choose to watch alone. I wonder how much of that ridiculous old stigma had also to do with the poor reputation cinema had in India for several generations as trashy and artistically inferior cinema. Our movies are hip and cool now, but even until the late 90s they were thought of as cheesy and infra dig. (What we could all unabashedly relish and celebrate were the movie songs, especially the old Hindi songs). I come from that generation for whom ‘movies’ was a guilty pleasure. You had to hide your love for it, you couldn’t celebrate it; you had to pretend along with the others that it was silly: at best, a way to kill time, at worst, a waste of time. It wasn’t art, it wasn’t a career, (not even a Vis Com course in sight) it wasn’t respected or even respectable. It also had to do with the state of the art of our movies which, frankly, wasn’t state of the art ‘anything’. (Yes, there were some charming, poetic, sepia-toned Guru Dutt-type movies, and some artsy cinema — the parallel cinema — but right there was the problem: it stayed parallel, didn’t connect, didn’t touch, didn’t go anywhere). No one in their right mind could look at our mainstream cinema then and say: that’s the most vital art form of the 20th century.

Canby, Vincent (November 8, 1978). "Film: Dummy Takes Over in 'Magic' ". The New York Times . Retrieved December 30, 2005.I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians. ~Francis Ford Coppola Joanna Lumley and her husband Stephen Barlow invite you into their home for a fascinating, funny journey into their shared love of music. I guess I might be able to find a few people out there who feel like me. And I hope they’ll agree with me that it’s not just laziness at play here; that it’s out of a deep fascination for this craft, a swooning desire for the art of cinema. Filling our senses in a way no other art form can hope to. And it’s a communal art, which is a bonus. I list below some of the things I’ve done to enjoy the experience and engage with the story and the team behind such a magical creation. With the occasional special guest, join the pair as they discover what it really takes to stay relevant in the public eye today.