Thursday, June 22, 8:15 pm, Roxie + streaming encore
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| The Playland Cafe |
In Boston from 1937 to 1998, there was a venue called the Playland Cafe, possibly the oldest gay bar in Boston, located in an area known as the Combat Zone, where the “adult” businesses were segregated from polite society. The Playland Cafe, along with many other businesses in the Combat Zone, was demolished in the name of Redevelopment.
This film doesn’t tell the story of the Playland Cafe, opting instead to give dreamlike glimpses of ghosts of its glory days. Unfortunately, owing largely to the overuse of Meaningfully lighting a cigarette, Meaningfully taking a puff of the cigarette, Meaningfully gesturing with the cigarette, Meaningfully staring off into space, and Meaningfully walking in exaggerated poses, the film fails to hold the audience’s interest. It is clear that these gestures are pregnant with Meaning of some sort, but it is is never quite clear what that meaning might be. There are some interesting visuals, including Lady Bunny and Aidan Dick (When Men Were Men, Frameline46), but for anyone other than a student of experimental film, I can’t recommend it.
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