Earlier this month the Museum of the Moving Image unveiled a face lift to rival that of the tautest of Beverly Hills housewives. The museums new reflected exterior with accents of hot pink, and expanded wing designed by architect Thomas Leeser make it stand out from the neighboring restaurants and shops in Astoria. Upon entering the lobby you feel as though you’ve been transported to a spaceship or something out of Soylent Green, when we thought the future would only include white modular furniture. But it doesn’t feel cold; it feels playful, due in part to Chiho Aoshima’s animated feature City Glow which is projected on the main wall. In the mezzanine amphitheater, a stop motion short Dolls Vs. Dictators by Martha Colburn plays on a loop. It’s colorful collages, Barbies, glitter and whimsical renditions of recognizable figures draw you in. Have you ever seen Kim Jong-il with googly eyes and the legs of a centipede? Here you can!
The second floor the museum focuses on the past. It opens with a feature called The Actor where a concave wall is devoted to some gorgeous publicity photographs of the stars of the silver screen era (a new obsession of mine), and then it really gets exciting: Special Effects and Makeup! Dude. I couldn’t help but to let out a small squeal when I saw the puppet of Regan from The Exorcist and Freddy Krueger’s oversized red and green sweater. The collection highlights everything from Chewbacca to Mrs. Doubtfire (And yes, the fat suit is there too!) to more recent additions like Winona Ryder’s prosthetic injured legs from The Black Swan. There are artifacts of cinema classics peppered in like the extensive floor plans for Buffalo Bill’s home or a miniature of the Muppets arrival at the Port Authority from The Muppets Take Manhattan. Even the most cynical will be charmed by a two inch tall Fozzy Bear. And did you know that Robert De Niro’s Mohawk in Taxi Driver was a wig? Me either! A small alcove displays a few costumes from film and TV like Diane Keaton’s iconic Annie Hall ensemble, Deniro’s Raging Bull boxing gloves, and even Crockett’s white hot suit from the set of Miami Vice. Let’s dust that baby for cocaine residue! Yeeeoooowww. But MMI isn’t afraid to look to the future either. The third floor is host to the latest in video installation and 3-D. The mesmerizing Cathedral, by Marco Brambilla and a projected sculpture by Pablo Valbuena that mimics the skyline will stop you dead in your tracks. And the museum saves some of the best for last: interactive areas to charm kids and adults alike. Act out your own Chaplin inspired flip book that you can purchase in the giftshop, or create a stop motion short, or dub your voice over a inquisitve Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot. Did I mention there are also original arcade games?! What I found most fascinating was the museum’s mix of high brow artifacts like Georges Méliès Trip to the Moon (a monument in science fiction cinema) and then how moments later you find yourself saying “Is that Eddie Murphy’s outfit from Beverly Hills Cop?!”. I’m sure the museum hands had a chuckle when installing this piece of Murphy SNL history. A museum with a sense of humor? Now that is something I can appreciate. I could have been in this place for days but my friend summed it up pretty well: “I wish there was more, but what’s here is perfect”. (Photos via: John Hill/Flickr)
