The snaking guitar and clanging cowbell of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear The Reaper” can be heard at the start of Amy Nicholson’s “Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride,” a new documentary opening this weekend. If anything, the tune serves as a suggestion to those upset over yet another David and Goliath story about regular citizens and bureaucratic jerks serving the needs of wealthy businesses. The Zipper itself is a twisting, thrashing carnival ride, one of the last remaining parts of the former Coney Island, left standing for months as the territory surrounding the ride was bulldozed, in an attempt to reach new lows in gentrification. To the locals, it is a landmark; to the suits, it’s a relic. For those out-of-towners, Coney Island was one of the very last vestiges of weird in the post-Giuliani-era New York City. Parades, attractions, and rides suited both those...
- 8/7/2013
- by Gabe Toro
- The Playlist
Logo for Zipper: Coney Island's Last Wild Ride Photo: Courtesy Amy Nicholson Known to the world through the eyes of Woody Allen's characters in Annie Hall or Radio Days, Coney Island has an illustrious history. Amy Nicholson's documentary Zipper: Coney Island’s Last Wild Ride effectively takes on the challenge of archiving where films like The Little Fugitive, directed by Morris Engel and Ruth Orkin, and Douglas Sirk's Imitation Of Life left off. New York Post reporter Rich Calder, seen as a commentator in Nicholson's film, calls the Zipper, one of Coney Island's most famous rides, "a casualty of a game of chicken between the city and a developer over the seaside amusement district's future".
I first saw Zipper as a member of the jury at the inaugural First Time Fest, where it won for Outstanding Achievement in Editing (more on the winners here).
In the...
I first saw Zipper as a member of the jury at the inaugural First Time Fest, where it won for Outstanding Achievement in Editing (more on the winners here).
In the...
- 8/1/2013
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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