I wasn't going to do this. But for me, blogging a bit during every show is a way for me to keep my photos organized. The discipline I have to bring in order to sort and process my photos helps me stay sorted. So this is really about me and my natural lack of order.
Also, since New York isn't exactly exotic, this blog's novelty and cache is suspect. Very suspect indeed. But there may yet be some things of interest to see and some stories to tell so I'm gonna go ahead and do it. Banality be damned.
So this is another Russian film. Translated from the Russian, the title is something like "No Love In the City." (It has a more fun turn of phrase in Russian) We were going to shoot in St. Petersburg. But the weather in St. Petersburg this time of year is vicious, wily, and inconducive to life. So the movie was moved to New York City.
In essence, NLITC is a romantic comedy with a fantasy element. The basic premise is that three men, all womanizers (one married) are visited by St. Valentine. The spectral saint, well, how can I put this... takes away their mojo until they can manage to fall in love, sincerely, authentically and...you know...nicely.
jetBlue was perfectly fine. I had a good seat at the front of the plane. And while the flight was a little bumply, at least we had a 30 minute hold over JFK while some U.N. General Assembly VIP held up commercial air traffic while they departed the U.S. of A. That was cool.
I was picked up at JFK and taken to Kaufman/Astoria Studios in Queens. "No Love In the City"'s production offices are here. KAS is one of those studios that's hosted virtually every classic NYC movie ever made. ALL THAT JAZZ shot here. No, literally,
here:
In this very stage! Also a dozen Sidney Lumet movies and countless Woody Allen movies and a Paul Mazursky here and there. "Moonstruck" built the interior of the Castorini house on the stage seen above. The list goes on forever. Also, SESAME STREET is in the stage next door. I half expect to see Elmo and Big Bird hanging outside the stage smoking cigarettes.
But now, ABC's "Life On Mars" is occupying most every stage here.
The movie starts shooting in three days. Pre-production has been scarily short. So there's an added urgency to everything. Much movement. Phones ringing. Standard basic production environment.
"The Cotton Club" also shot here.
So Marius and I were then driven into Manhattan, back to our apartment building on 42nd and 12th. My apartment is on the 30th floor and affords the following view from the window:
I quickly unpacked and then walked down to a semi-nearby Food Emporium to stock up on some staply basics. But I couldn't get a cab back, because west of 9th Ave. there's essentially zero cabbage. So I ended up having to walk all the way home, plastic grocery bags cutting into my fingers. By the time I got in the elevator I was drenched. But I got milk!
Got up this morning and took a gander out the window in daylight.
Looks like there's an MTA bus hatchery right below me.
The web service in the apartment is on the fritz. So this morning I had to jump on the 'A' train and go all the way in to the production office in Queens just to get online. Bummer.
That's all for now.
3 comments:
Interesting story. But there is no "no" on the Russian poster. Just "Love in the big city". I'm a child of communism - but not victim - so I HAD to learn this language 8 years.
Welcome, Jacek... Yeah, well, see the key art for the movie is still being developed. At the time of the making of this particular poster, the title was still just "Love In the City." But now it's been changed to "No Love In the City." So... that's what happened.
And sounds more interesting with "No"
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