With the return of our Staff Picks programming at the Oriental Theatre, we're letting the pickers take the stage and let you know why they chose their particular film! Next up in this series, Development Manager Rachel!
What's your name?
Rachel Vander Weit
What's your job title at Milwaukee Film? What does that entail?
Development Manager - working with all our amazing donors and sponsors!
What's your favorite place to sit in a movie theater?
Left side aisle seat - I like to be on a bit of an angle of the center to the left - I def need the aisle seat because I always end up drinking too much wine and soda and have to take a bathroom break.
What's your favorite theater snack?
Sour Patch Kids & wine!
What's the first film you remember seeing in theaters?
Snow White or 3 Men & a Baby - can't remember which one was first
Do you have a most memorable theatergoing experience? (Bonus points for ones involving the OT!)
Not really?! All of them?!!? I love going to movies by myself - it's the hottest date one can take themselves on.
What movie did you pick?*
William Shakespeare's ROMEO + JULIET
When did you first see said movie?
Sometime in late 1996/early 1997 - whatever the exact day it was available to see at the Savoy Theaters in my dinky hometown of Champaign, IL
In ten words or less, tell us why we HAVE to see this movie!
I truly detest Baz Luhrmann - this is my ONE exception.
Okay - expand on that - why did you make this your staff pick?
This came out in when I was a sophomore in high school. I had a collage shrine of Leonardo DiCaprio pictures that I cut out of my Seventeen magazine and taped to the inside of my closet door. It was a legit masterpiece. This also coincided with my obsession and love for the best tv show ever made: My So Called Life (which would have been my #1 choice for a staff pick FOR THE RECORD). So when Claire Danes and Leo DiCaps show up in this movie together, my high school heart could barely handle it. I went to see it (for the sweet 90s theater admission ticket price of $4.50!) and I think I fainted and swooned so much that I went back to see it at least a dozen more times. ROMEO + JULIET holds my personal record for the film I saw repeatedly in a theater the most times. Greatest soundtrack (rollerbladed to Disc Go Round to buy it on cd), #1 best Shakespeare adaptation, dreamiest love scenes, all-star cast with great wardrobe.
Any parting words you'd like to impart?
Claire Danes' crying scene at the end where she lets out the most audible sob with a frown face wet with tears is a beautifully tragic Hollywood milestone
Posted by: Tom Fuchs