About Gary Brown
Brown on Film
Gary Brown is a Founding Faculty member of Lone Star College-Montgomery. He has been with the college district as a Government and Geography instructor since 1983. His graduate degree comes from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.Brown’s interest in film dates back to his earliest days. He began writing weekly film reviews for the Conroe Courier in 1997 and recently completed a run as film critic of the Woodlands Villager and other Houston Community Newspapers publications. His backlog of film reviews can also be found at RottenTomatoes.com.In 1999 Brown founded the LSC-Montgomery Film Series which completes its tenth season of operation this fall (2009).
July 19, 2007 at 6:20 pm |
Good deal. About time you had a blog. I put you on my Google reader so I am notified when you write a review.
July 19, 2007 at 7:39 pm |
Excellent review of the new Harry Potter film and I would like to recommend several films which I believe would be well received in the Fall film series and wish you would consider them for future showings. 1960’s David and Lisa, 1980’s The Tin Drum and 2000’s Spring Forward. All are oustanding, well made films that most serious film buffs may have overlooked in the past. Thanks
July 20, 2007 at 12:46 am |
Gary: Looking forward to the new film series………great selections…..Bill and Dianne Haskell
July 23, 2007 at 2:07 pm |
Gentlemen: Thanks for checking out the blog. I feel empowered to take the level of intellectual discourse down a notch or two.
July 27, 2007 at 4:57 pm |
I would like to ask Professor Gary Brown how they determine which films will make it to the fall film series. Thanks
July 30, 2007 at 1:30 pm |
It’s all about licensing rights and budget. Any schmo can show a DVD film at home to friends and family. But to show a film to the general community at a public place requires the purchase of licensing rights from film distributors.
I typically use two major distributors: Swank Films of St. Louis and New Yorker Films. Both companies give me a price break. If I run 10 of their titles, Swank charges me $195 for back titles and $310 for recent releases. Plus I have to pay Swank $21 for their DVD copy, including shipping and handling. New Yorker will allow me to hit eBay and Amazon.com to find my own copy of one their titles to show but either way it is money out of our pocket.
To help underwrite the cost of running the series, I charge $3 a ticket. That means at least 70 paying customers must attend each week to break even. I’ve turned to secondary sources (grants and student activity fee money) to help underwrite the losses.
I’d love to be able to show really off-beat stuff like Lindsay Anderson’s “If…” and “The Tin Drum,” but by the time I could find the distributor, showing the movie twice would probably cost $600. That would break the bank. So each spring I comb the Swank Films and New Yorker Films catalogs in search for some pretty decent foreign and independent movies at a reasonable cost.
From this I’ve come to the conclusion that owning and running a movie theater is not a very profitable venture. It’s no wonder refreshments cost an arm and a leg at the local multiplex. Movie rights are prohibitively expensive.
August 10, 2007 at 9:08 pm |
Gary: The MC Film Series is now in its eighth year. First , you deserve a round of applause for keeping it going this long. Second, I want to make a film suggestion for the series. Perhaps if one you run into trouble with one of your selections, you will consider “Gus.” “Gus” is one of my all-time favorite movies. Unfortunately, when I saw it in the theatre as an 8-year-old, it was so packed that I had to sit in the very front row. Seeing Don Knotts and Tim Conway up that close was, well, the only downside to an otherwise thoroughly unforgettable movie. I cried when Gus kicked the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl. Ooops!!! I hope I didn’t ruin the ending for anyone who hasn’t seen this classic. Sorry!
Any movie with Dick Butkus and Dick Van Patton is a must-see. Throw in Johnny Unitas and Tom Bosley (“Mr. C” from Happy Days), and you’ve got blockbuster written all over it.
Anyway, please know that “Gus” gets my vote for the MC Film Series. See you in B102!
Steve
August 18, 2007 at 1:59 pm |
Steve:
The other night on Encore I saw “Speed 2.” I had forgotten about Tim Conway playing Mr. Kenter, the driver license bureau examiner who has to grade Ms. Bullock on her test drives which naturally turn into zany events. In the few minutes at the beginning and end he stole the entire film. I’ve been watching Conway since his days as Ensign Parker on “McHale’s Navy.”
March 16, 2009 at 8:51 am |
Gary – have been trying to send you a document re family history and it’s bounced back several times. Pls email me w/ your correct email address.
Thanks, Darrell
March 16, 2009 at 12:08 pm |
Darrell:
garyb@lonestar.edu
With the college name change came an email change, too.