film | Amusing the Zillion

Archive for the ‘film’ Category

Our Fave Coney Island Song: Joe McGinty’s Million Dollar Mermaid

Posted in Favorites, film, Music Video, tagged Circuit Parade, Coney Island, Edward McGinty, Joe McGinty, Million Dollar Mermaid on April 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

How did we miss this delightful little music video tribute to Coney Island made in June 2007 until today? We’ve fallen under the spell of the quirky arrangement and whimsical lyrics of “Million Dollar Mermaid.”

Make yourself green and wear something scanty
And we’ll make out to the sounds of sea shanties
Screams of the Cyclone, the sweet symphony
Photobooths, bumper cars, sideshows
And you’re here with me….

“Million Dollar Mermaid” is the work of genius keyboardist, composer and arranger Joe McGinty. He wrote the song as an homage to Coney in what was expected to be the last summer of Astroland. “Big changes are in store for Coney Island, and I wanted to capture my favorite memories in song,” McGinty wrote at the time. His cousin Edward McGinty made the beguiling video in which a boy and a girl enjoy a ride spree in Wonder Wheel Park, their grown-up counterparts waltz on the Boardwalk, and McGinty and his band Circuit Parade play “Million Dollar Mermaid.”

The former member of the Psychedelic Furs operates a vintage keyboard studio in Brooklyn and has released original music as part of McGinty and White, Circuit Parade, Baby Steps and Space Nutz. Visit Joe McGinty’s website for more marvelous music.

Evicted by Thor, Coney Island’s Zipper Ride Thrills in Honduras

Posted in Coney Island Redevelopment, film, tagged Amy Nicholson, Coney Island, documentary film, Honduras, Last Day of the Zipper, Thor Equities, Zipper on April 12, 2010| 2 Comments »

Zipper, Coney Island. Photo © brooklynnfoto via flickr

A tweet from zipperfilm, aka documentary filmmaker Amy Nicholson, made us feel happy and sad at the time: “On our way back from shooting in Honduras. The Zipper is alive and well and scaring the crap out of kids on a beach there. Viva la Zipper!”

It makes us smile to think Coney Island’s beloved Zipper ride, which was evicted by Thor Equities in September 2007, has found new life as an expat. It makes us sad that nearly three years after the Zipper was dismantled and trucked away, its spot on West 12th Street remains empty and devoid of fun. Call it Thorland instead of Coney Island because real estate speculator Joe Sitt has managed to erase amusements from the property and blight the block.

Before Thor: View of W 12th Street with Go Karts and Zipper. April 15, 2006. Photo © frankko via flickr

The Honduras footage will provide a satisfying coda to “The Last Day of the Zipper,” which Nicholson and cinematographer Jerry Risius have been working on for the past three years. We’ve been looking forward to their film ever since we met the duo on the last day of Coney Island’s 2007 season. A synopsis posted on twitter says “A small-time carnival operator is forced to sell his ride and vacate his lot when he becomes the victim of a power struggle over the future of Coney Island.”

On the Zipper film’s newly launched website, the intro shows Zipper operator Eddie Miranda uncannily disappearing and reappearing on the empty lot. “A story about politics, greed, land use and public policy, Last Day of the Zipper chronicles a critical period in Coney Island’s history and examines the impact of redevelopment on a place that has always provided affordable entertainment for the masses. In a market driven world, where revenue and profits often trump nostalgia, Eddie and his Zipper may only be the beginning of what is lost.”

We don’t expect THE Zipper to ever come back to Coney Island, but wouldn’t it be nice to see some kickass carnival rides including a replacement Zipper and Go-Karts on Thor’s empty lots this summer? Let the countdown till Summer of Hope 2 or Dreamland 3 begin!

Thorland, August 2, 2008. Photo © Tricia Vita/me-myself-i via flickr

Super 8 Movie: I Had A Dream I Went To Coney Island

Posted in film, tagged Coney Island Film Festival, eight millimeter, experimental film, Road Junky Film Festival, Super 8 on March 30, 2010| 3 Comments »

Last October, Sherwin Akbarzadeh’s experimental film “I Had A Dream I Went to Coney Island” came all the way from Australia to premiere in Brooklyn at the 2009 Coney Island Film Festival. Now this evocative eight millimeter movie is up on YouTube as a submission for Berlin’s Road Junky Film Festival. You’ll catch a glimpse of the stars shining on Astroland’s vanished Surf Ave. Gate at 2:20…

The Road Junky Travel Film Festival is offering 1500 euros in prizes for five minute films that change the way we see the world. On May 28, travelers and film makers will converge in Berlin to screen their documentaries and stream them live over the internet as they’re shown. Submission deadline: April 10, 2010.

Call for entries for the 2010 Coney Island Film Festival, named one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals” by MovieMaker Magazine, is open as well. The 10th annual event is set for September 24-26, 2010 at Sideshows by the Seashore and the Coney Island Museum. Submission deadlines: April 23, 2010. Late deadline: June 25, 2010. Extended deadline: July 2, 2010. Check festival website for details.