The Academy Museum is the place for movie lovers exhibiting classic movies like Casablanca (1942), Cyberpunk cinema including Tron (1982), and powerful films like The Godfather (1972)! The second floor had a central room that was not open for Cyberpunk: Envisioning Possible Futures Through Cinema. It did continue on the third floor, but this exhibition runs to April 12, 2026 so there is enough time to return. The promise of the exhibition is exploring the sci fi subgenre of cyberpunk through 25 films. At the far right hall was the Significant Movies and Filmmakers section which began with Casablanca! To the left is Sam’s green piano from La Belle Aurore, the text noted that Dooley Wilson (Sam) was a drummer and he mimed playing the piano!
Across the way is Sam’s piano from Cafe Americain and then doors that were the entrance to the cafe. Against a wall was Ingrid Bergman’s diary, My Interest in Theater. Some pages show the translation form Bergman’s Swedish. Next to it is the prop passport of Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). The Main Title musical score by Max Steiner, who did not like “As Time Goes By”, is shown. This exhibit will close on January 4, 2026. I went a little further to the section on Boyz N The Hood: Increase the Peace. The 1991 drama, written and directed by John Singleton, was powerful. There were polaroids, I really like the nameplate and stress balls of Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), and the hat of Doughboy (Ice Cube). The exhibition will also close on January 4, 2026, you still have time!
This all leads to Academy Awards History. A sort of reversal from my earlier visit. This has the circular room filled with Academy Awards from many movies. The next room has Academy Award programs and other material from the ceremony. I took note of Naomie Harris’ gown since there was a note about sustainale design, “inspired by volcanic lava flow”, and one of the materials was “recycled candy wrappers”! This leads to the room on Story with a sequence from Rebecca (1940) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This includes the original novel, outline, and shooting script. The highlight though was walking through The Art of Moviemaking: The Godfather. There was a page from the script and then seven costumes from film plus Fredo’s fedora.
Some of them were the orange dress of Kay Adams (Diane Keaton), her colors become more subdued during the film, then the tan suit of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), the suit of Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) from The Godfather Part II (1974). A section shows the Corleone office with the original desk and chair with the recreated set from The Offer (2022). It really feels like walking into the office of Don Corleone. On the other side is Hair and Makeup showing the work of Dick Smith. This shows two casts of Marlon Brando’s head and the teeth appliance. There was a display of director, Francis Ford Coppola, I was also stunned by the cast list which shows Peter Falk as Moe Green! In a case was the horse’s head! Against the far wall was the neon sign of Louis Italian-American Restaurant.
Next was a section on music with pages by Nino Rota and the mandolin used to play music for the film. There is editing equipment and a camera. Publicity posters including one exclusive to the Academy Museum store. It is one of the most comprehensive exhibits on a movie. The Godfather exhibit closes soon on January 5, 2025. A must for anyone who like The Godfather. The following section has film costumes. Some of the standouts was the suit of Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy) from Coming to America (1988), the pink suit from Elvis (2023) worn by Austin Butler, and the costumes from Titanic (1997) of Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet). On the third floor, the room at the end had Hollywoodland: Jewish Founders and the Making of a Movie Capital. This had a map that pointed out Hollywood through the years and panels that focused on studios like RKO, Universal, and Warner Bros.
The middle room continued with the Cyberpunk exhibit. Around the corner was the full costume of Ram (Dan Shor) fron Tron (1982). Also, two pieces of artwork from the movie. On display from Strange Days (1995) was the headset,, Super-conducting Quantum Interference Device (S.Q.U.I.D.), face and props from Ex Machina (2015), and a matte painting of Los Angeles from The Running Man (1987). These are all interesting, but I keep wondering about the second floor displays with the rest of the films. On the far left is the door to Inventing Worlds and Characters: Animation. This had the Trash Tower maquette in a display case, maquette of Eve and Wall-E 3D model from the Pixar film, Wall-E (2008). On the opposte wall was drawings of the setting and characters. Along the left wall is the large set of Geppetto’s workshop from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022).
#AcademyMuseum, #Cyberpunk, #Casablanca, #DooleyWilson, #IngridBergman, #PaulHenreid, #MaxSteiner, #BoyzNTheHood, #JohnSingleton, #AcademyAwards, #NaomieHarris, #Rebecca, #AlfredHitchcock, #TheGodfather, #FrancisFordCoppola, #DianeKeaton, #AlPacino, #RobertDeNiro, #MarlonBrando, #GodfatherPartII, #TheOffer
#DickSmith, #NinoRota, #ComingToAmerica, #EddieMurphy, #Elvis, #AustinButler, #Titanic, #LeonardoDiCaprio, #KateWinslet, #Hollywoodland, #Tron, #DanShor, #StrangeDays, #ExMachina, #TheRunningMan, #WallE, #GuillermodelTorosPinocchio
No comments:
Post a Comment