It’s the first time Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center in Patchogue is offering so many classic films, said Plaza Cinema executive director Catherine Oberg. Seven altogether, every Thursday, with the last one on September 5.
Most of them have the added cachet of St. Joseph’s University film professor Peter Mascuch adding interesting movie facts after the films are viewed while he conducts a Q&A.
We sat in on “Moonstruck,” the beloved, quirky 1987 film that won Cher and Olympia Dukakis Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress Oscars; the film also won Best Screenplay by John Patrick Stanley.
About 70 attended; the theater seats 80.
The romantic comedy centering around Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini, (Cher) her boisterous, funny family, and the hot-tempered but passionate younger brother Ronny Cammareri (Nicolas Cage) of her stodgy fiancé that she ultimately ditches him for, struck a nerve with audiences when it was released for its take on romance, the absurdities of life, love and family. It was filmed in Brooklyn Heights and at the Metropolitan Opera.
Professor Mascuch is no stranger to the Plaza Cinema. He offered a film course there in 2012 and kicked off “Casablanca,” with Isabella Rossellini in 2014, in the Plaza’s American Classics series.
“We chose those from the 40’s but now we have new classics,” said Oberg. “Peter (Mascuch) has been volunteering here since 2012. He’s a godsend and so committed. With this slate of films, we wanted to do something light and funny. Aside from `Jaws,’ and `Thelma & Louise,’ our movies are romantic comedies to go with a family or have a date night.”
Oberg said it’s the first time the Plaza is offering as many in the classic film realm.
After the film ended Mascuch began his questions. Several in the audience had already seen it; one woman, a total of 30 times.
“With this film, they got John Patrick Shanley, who wrote a terrific screenplay, and the two leads in the cast were not really known movie stars,” Mascuch said. “Cher had starred in `Silkwood,’ and hadn’t been a lead. And Nicolas Cage wasn’t that well known yet. Neither was Olympia Dukakis. She had only a handful of films. Vincent Gardenia, as Loretta’s father Cosmo, was the only one who had been in everything (films and movies).”
The woman with the 30 times record said she could relate to it. “I see my parents,” she said. Another said, “My parents weren’t Italian but they played Vikki Car all the time. (Vikki Car sings “It Must Be Him,” a song Cosmo plays obsessively. Oh. He’s having an affair.)
“What about Cher,” Mascuch asks. “How did they use her persona. In the beginning she’s deglamorized. She lives with her parents, grandfather, and his five dogs and is a sad widow. After she meets Ronny, she decides to get a makeover. She goes through a transformation and likes the way it looks.”
The moon plays a subtle but important part in the movie. It’s underscored in the scene with Loretta’s uncle Raymond when he’s in his bedroom transfixed by the moon; his wife says he looks like he’s 25, and they canoodle.
“No single character is wasted,” agreed Mascuch after someone says being in love makes you feel young no matter how old.
He asked about Perry (John Mahoney), the professor who’s dumped in a restaurant by a female student, and Rose, Loretta’s mother, who witnesses the scene after deciding to dine alone when her husband is out late. Rose invites Perry over to her table. He eventually walks her home and invites himself in, but she declines.
“She thought it was a flirtation. I think she liked it and it gave her a boost,” said one.
It was mentioned that Perry confesses how he feels when he sees a pretty young student admiring him in class; it makes him feel younger and wanted.
The theme of life and death, how the movie begins in the funeral home where Loretta works as a bookkeeper, that her husband died young, her fiance’s mother is dying in Sicily, the beautiful tragic opera “La boheme” and how Loretta is transfixed with when she sees it with Ronni was brought out.
It was a lively night; the film was still being discussed as movie goers exited.
“Something’s Got To Give” and “When Harry Met Sally” have already played, but you can still catch “Pretty Woman” on Aug. 22, “Little Women” on Aug. 29, and “Bridget Jones Diary” on Sept. 5. Plaza Cinema & Media Arts Center is located at 20 Terry Street in Patchogue.
