Random Observations about Film Forum

"This old thing? I just wear it to the movies."

1. At Film Forum, there will be at least one girl in the audience who is dressed like she's in the movie. At a Godard screening, you will find two or more girls who look like Anna Karina. At Breadlines and Champagne, there will be at least one girl wearing a snood/seamed stockings/slim skirt/all of the preceding.

2. After seeing enough movies in the B&C series, you will begin to mystify your friends by saying things like, "Joan Bennett is so underrated" and "Jake!" You will also become even more obsessed with James Cagney and forgive Spencer Tracy for becoming so irritating in his later years.

3. Some FF crowds will clap when Joan Blondell appears on screen, some won't. You want to be in the house with the former, because they will also clap when certain minor characters appear on screen. These will be cameos by people so obscure you've never heard of them but each will have his own fan club, probably headed up by the people you're sitting with. If you're really lucky, one of them will tell you about the time her friend's dad dated Gene Tierney.

4. You have a fifty-fifty chance of sitting next to a fat guy at any given screening.