First screening: DCP at Lincoln Center (NYFF) | Second screening: DCP at Paris Theater
On my mind during the opening sequence the first viewing: why does this feel like something by Pixar? Later, when the credits roll—“Original score composed by Randy Newman.”
The crowd at Paris Theater reacted completely different to Driver’s performance during “The Scene” than the NYFF attendees. At NYFF, there was complete silence, the quietest it had gotten since the film started, versus Paris had widespread nervous laughter.
Throughout the film, I kept thinking about the price of my ticket. No, nothing related to that debate that’s going on right now about justifying the inflated price of theater-going over streaming, but rather the fact that I paid for my ticket essentially the same amount that I’ve paid over and over to see trash like the Lion King remake, Black Panther, Rogue One, The Hobbit, etc, etc. It’s like a Renoir costing the same as a tourist portrait painted by a Parisian street artist. Almost feels like stealing, but that’s how the business works. Cinema is a true democracy.