Blog Version of Paper 1

Hi Professor Dan,

This is the blog version of my paper 1. Could you please help me to post it on the blog? Thank you so much.

Curators' Choice: The Best of 2012

"Curators' Choice: The Best of 2012" is the film screening series organized by the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, New York from January 8 through February 22, 2013. 

David Schwartz, Chief Curator, and Rachael Rakes, Assistant Film Curator selected seven films from various directors, who had the most critical work in cinema in the past year, to offer the audiences opportunity to see these films on the big screen. The lists of films include The Deep Blue Sea, The Turin Horse (A torinói ló), Neighboring Sounds (O som au redor), This Is Not a Film (In film nist), Moonrise Kingdom, Cosmopolis, and In Another Country.

On February 15, 2013, The Museum of the Moving Image screened a film Cosmopolis, directed by David Cronenberg and starring Robert Pattinson. The plot is based on Cosmopolis, a 2003 novel by Don DeLillo. This film received the positive reviews and was selected to premier in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. I had a chance to attend this screening. It was organized at the Main Film Theater, a brand new 267-seat theater, on the first floor. There were around forty audiences (approximately 10 percent of all museum visitors) attended the screening and all of them were adults aged between 25 to 45 years. Before screening, I did not see the curators introduce the film or have the speech to audiences as I expected. The screening took time around two and a half hours.

In my view, the "Curators' Choice: The Best of 2012" is a good film screening. Its result was rather successful because of the various factors. First, it was organized by the experienced curators in the well-known institution where screened more than 400 films, both classic and contemporary films, in each year.  Second, the appropriate schedule on Friday evening at 7 p.m. resulted in the adults, who were the target audiences of this film, could easily attend this event. They could watch the film after work and did not have to concern about waking up early to work. Third, the ticket is affordable price, and has the special discount for student and senior. Finally, the Museum is located in the good area and the transportation is very convenient.

Nevertheless, nothing is perfect; this screening also has the weaknesses. In my opinion, the Museum seldom promoted this screening to audiences. There was no any announcement about it, except the leaflets placed at the inconspicuous area of information desk. If the audiences would like to see the Museum's events, they had to access the Museum's website. The Museum should provide a little more promote of this screening to the audiences by establishing the announcement boards of all events at the information desk and in front of the Museum, or producing the next screening program teaser and presenting it before the film starts. Another weakness of this screening is the lack of curators' participation. The curators did not introduce the film and explain why it was selected for this event. The curator's participation not only increases the understanding of audiences, but also establishes a network and community between curators and the Museum's visitors. 

Sources:

http://www.movingimage.us/

http://www.movingimage.us/films/2013/01/08/detail/curators-choice-the-best-of-2012-2/

 

Pawarisa Nipawattanapong