SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Melanie Abramov is a Brighton Beach native who is quickly carving a history of pushing the envelope in the film world. Sheepshead Bites featured an interview with Abramov in 2011 concerning her life and her short film Dame Factory. Now Abramov is back, relying on Kickstarter to raise the funds necessary to film her latest movie, No Milk, a bold dystopian feminist tale  that explores themes concerning women’s bodies. Here is a summary of the interesting concept.

THE STORY

AMERICA, 2036. BREAST MILK IS THE KNOWN CAUSE OF A DEADLY EPIDEMIC, AND A REBELLIOUS TEEN GIRL IS ABOUT TO GO UNDER THE KNIFE.

Sasha is beautiful and tough. When she’s not at school battling bullies, she spends her days hanging out with friends and challenging authority in standard hormone-fueled fashion.

But Sasha’s world is anything but standard; it’s an alternate futuristic world where breast milk has become unfit for human consumption and is strictly regulated by the militaristic medical arm of the government.

Until now, Sasha’s main concerns in life have been BFFs and boyfriends, but boys find her ample cup-size revolting and her friendships are dissolving before her eyes.

Suddenly she’s facing a bigger, sharper problem that cuts deeper than teen angst and could alter more than just flesh.

Can comfort be gained at the edge of a surgeon’s knife, or should Sasha choose a whole-bodied future? In a state that grants only the illusion of freedom, does she even have a choice?

Wow. It is worth noting that any funds raised beyond the 25,000 goal will be donated to a breast cancer foundation.

It is also worth noting that once fundraising is completed and filming begins, Abramov will be filming across Southern Brooklyn and at Murrow High School if given permission. Fascinating  I am looking forward to the hopeful completion of this project. If you would like to donate, click here.

Source: cinematreasures.org

Sheepshead Bay’s United Artists movie theater will be hiking its prices this Friday, with adult admission reaching $14 – or nearly twice the national average – Sheepshead Bites has learned.

A source has confirmed the price hike, noting that adult admission will rise from $13.50 to $14.00. Seniors, children, and matinee admission prices will climb from $10.00 to $10.50.

The UA Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14 & IMAX, owned by Regal Entertainment and located at 3907 Shore Parkway, is one of the only remaining movie theaters in Southern Brooklyn, maintaining a stranglehold that draws thousands from around the borough every weekend.

The new rates mean that the theater is that much closer to being double the national average for a movie ticket, which in 2012 was $7.96 according to the New York Times. The average admission nationwide increased just three cents last year, a lesser increase than in previous years; from 2008 to to 2010, the Times reports, prices jumped 4 percent annually.

There’s no word yet on whether or not the UA will increase the price for 3-D movie tickets. According to the Times, 3-D admissions are fueling rate hikes across the country as interest in the gimmick plummets, causing theater owners to charge more for regular tickets.

The Times reported in February:

Regal Entertainment, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, said last week that it raised prices for standard screenings by 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter [of 2012]; 3-D ticket sales in the period contributed 14 percent of Regal’s sales, down from 17 percent in the same quarter a year ago. 

The sales slump suggests that the local UA may keep its 3-D offerings pegged at $20.00 for adults and $16.50 for children and seniors.

Are you Russian, Romanian, Bulgarian or Ukrainian? Do you live in Sheepshead Bay or Brighton Beach and have long dreamed of being in a movie? Well, thanks to filmmaker David Gutnik, you can have your chance today to be an extra in his film “Original Love,” a story about a gangster’s son who is involved in a deep family crisis.

Gutnik, a Southern Brooklyn local who ran a successful Kick Starter campaign to get his movie funded, put out a call for extras and background actors on Craigslist. Here are the relevant details for those who want to participate.

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Eliza Hittman, Bottom Center, via Facebook

Eliza Hittman, a 33-year-old filmmaker and former Edward R. Murrow Graduate, is submitting her first feature-length film, It Felt Like Love, to the Sundance Film Festival. Her film, which is a coming-of-age story about a 14-year-old girl from Gravesend, also features a slew of current Murrow students and recent graduates, according to a story in the New York Daily News.

The film has a really cool premise, especially for all us Southern Brooklynites. It focuses on the impressionable and inexperienced Lila (Gina Piersanti) and her crush on an older, tattooed Rockaways boy named Sammy, played by Ronen Rubinstein. The film follows Lila’s awkward and dangerous obsession with Sammy, as well as her desire to experience sexuality no matter what the consequences.

Hittman, a native of Flatbush, went back to her stomping grounds at Murrow to find feature players and extras.

“I wanted to pass along an opportunity for students to try something that I was interested in when I was 17 or 18,” Hittman told the Daily News. “I hope this motivates them and instills in them what’s possible in this world.”

Locals in the film include 18-year-old Andrew McCord of Sheepshead Bay and 19-year-old Jesse Cordasco of Mill Basin.

“I feel pretty lucky. If [Hittman] had never reached out to the school, none of this would have happened,” McCord said to the Daily News.

I personally can’t wait to see this film, not just because I think its going to be good, but because its exciting to see all your favorite local spots emblazoned on the silver screen. It’s fun to be that annoying guy that leaps up and shouts, “I GOT PIZZA THERE! IT WASN’T THAT GREAT!”

Best of luck to the cast and crew at Sundance. Here’s hoping It Felt Like Love becomes a big, beautiful hit.

Source: papertiger.org

Famed Brooklyn author Sol Yurick passed away at the age of 87 this past Saturday according to the New York Daily News. Yurick is most famous for writing The Warriors, a 1965 novel – and, later, cult move – about a Brooklyn gang viciously battling their way through the borough on their way home to Coney Island.

The movie grew into a huge cult success in years subsequent to its release. earning a 94 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Yurick, born to working class Jewish immigrants in the Bronx in 1925, made Brooklyn his home when he moved to Park Slope in 1958. He worked as a social investigator for the Department of Welfare, observing the rhythms of the streets and underclasses that informed the vibrancy of his writing.

Yurick moved to Prospect-Lefferts Gardens in 1985 where he lived for the rest of his life. He is survived by his wife Adrienne and his daughter Susanna.

A number of local cultural organizations have teamed up to produce an evening of movies that show the “shared past and common future” of Turkish and Russian-Jewish cultures, two ethnic groups that have planted deep roots in our community. All the information is in the flier below.

Is that the UA parking deck behind Batman?

Looks like the rebooted Batman series Dark Knight is trying to reclaim the coveted mantle of “Biggest All-Time Opening Weekend at the Box Office,” and it’s getting a little help from Regal Entertainment, operator of the United Artists Sheepshead Bay Stadium 14 (3907 Shore Parkway).

Regal announced yesterday that their theaters will feature 72-hours of continuous screenings of The Dark Knight Rises, the last in the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy opening this Friday, July 20.

Before making the announcement, Regal had already sold out tickets in more than 100 theaters nationwide.

But that’s not all. Regal is also doing a marathon showing of the entire Batman trilogy, letting moviegoers what all three Nolan flicks for $25 on Thursday, July 19.

So who’s beating the heat at the movies this weekend?

Hey, look, it's all three Olsen sisters! (P.S. - We're horrible people.)

A few weeks ago we reported on the filming of the 2013 movie “Very Good Girls,” which will be shot in Brighton Beach over the next few weeks.

Producers for the film recently announced that stars Dakota Fanning and Elizabeth Olsen will not be going naked for the movies’ beach scene and will be holding a casting call for body doubles on Monday, July 16 in Brooklyn. The body doubles will be given clothing to cover their fronts, but will be seen “bare back all the way down, top and bottom” while on Brighton Beach.

According to producers, “submits must have great bodies and not be too sun tanned.”

So if you’ve got a stick-figure body and the skin tone of a vampire, this may be your ticket to the big time!

Source: New Yorkers for Beverage Choices

If the battle to kill a proposed ban on large sugary drinks were likened to World War II, the Southern Brooklyn coastline played the role of Normandy this weekend.

The soda industry lobby unleashed an all-out assault on the densely packed beach at Coney Island, with dozens of activists on the sand and a banner-carrying plane overhead in an effort to win the public’s hearts, diets and wallets. From there, they established an outpost at the United Artists theater, also jam-packed with movie-goers escaping the brutal heat outside, with clipboard-wielding workers in T-shirts stating, “I picked out my beverage all by myself,” and pro-soda ads screened before every film.

New Yorkers for Beverage Choice, the beverage industry lobby group behind the push, flew this banner over the Coney Island and Rockaway beaches this weekend and on July 4 as part of an effort to educate New Yorkers about the ramifications of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large sugary drinks.

Several weeks ago, Bloomberg’s Administration has proposed a ban on beverages like soda in containers larger than 16-ounces in New York City restaurants, movie theaters, sports arenas, coffee shops, delis, pizza shops, and food trucks or carts.

“No one tells us what neighborhood to live in, what team to root for, or what deli to eat at,” said New Yorkers for Beverage Choice in a video on their website, entitled “Where Will it End?”

The goals of New Yorkers for Beverage Choice are to convey to New Yorkers that standing up to the Bloomberg Administration’s ban is about defending their freedom and rights, and to persuade them to sign petitions and submit comments to the Board of Health to ensure their voice is heard.

The city’s Board of Health will decide whether or not to endorse Bloomberg’s proposal after a public hearing on July 24.

Enjoy the warm July evening weather sitting outdoors on the beach, watching a film on a large screen, as “Flicks on the Beach” returns to Coney Island beginning today.

“Flicks on the Beach,” is presented by New York City & Co. and Rooftop Films. Thanks to New York City & Co. and the Coney Island Development Corporation, the films can be viewed free of charge.

Can it get any better than that?

Screenings will take place in Coney Island on Monday nights, from July 2 through August 6. Selected films will be shown on a gigantic 40-foot screen on the Coney Island beach at West 10th Street, right near Coney Island’s boardwalk and amusement park. Film screenings are set to commence at dusk (8:30 p.m.). Many of the screenings are preceded by music and dancing, kicking off at 7:00 p.m.

A special screening will also take place on Saturday, July 14. For those who are busy during the week, save this date and enjoy the weekend with friends, family and an evening outdoor free movie.

Here’s the full rundown of the seven-film lineup:

• July 2: Ghostbusters (1984)
• July 9: Edge of the City: Underground NY Shorts by the Sea
• July 14: Bound for Glory (1976)
• July 16: Manhattan (1979)
• July 23: The Muppets (2011)
• July 30: Girl Walk (2011)
• August 6: Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)

Additional details of the film screenings can be viewed here.

In addition to these Coney Island events, New York City & Co. and Rooftop Films will present special outdoor events in all five boroughs of New York. To obtain the full listing of these events, visit nycgo.com/rooftopfilms.