Ended on 12/14/2006
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51 BIRCH STREET -
(unrated)
2005 - USA - English - 88 minutes - Truly Indie
Directed by: Doug Block
Featuring: Mike Block, Mina Block, Kitty Block, Ellen Block, Karen Block Engwall, Marjorie Silver
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showtimes and tickets
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 Documentary filmmaker Doug Block had every reason to believe his parent’s 54-year marriage was a good one. So he isn’t prepared when, just a few months after his mothers’ unexpected death, his 83-year old father, Mike, phones to announce that he’s moving to Florida to live with “Kitty”, his secretary from 40 years before. Always close to his mother and equally distant from his father, he’s stunned and suspicious.
Funny and heartbreaking, 51 Birch Street is the first-person account of Block’s unpredictable journey through a whirlwind of dramatic life-changing events: the death of his mother, the uncovering of decades of family secrets, and the ensuing reconciliation with his father. What begins as his own intimate, autobiographical story, soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity and the mystery of family.
"One of the most moving and fascinating documentaries I’ve seen this year."
A.O. Scott, The New York Times
"Doug Block's very moving, honest and even suspenseful autopsy of his parents' marriage is the kind of film audiences leave the theater talking about, and which keeps them talking days later."
John Anderson, New York Newsday
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Users Comments
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by : Lauren |
Date Added: 2/10/2006 3:21:01 PM  report this post |
Hard to imagine that first poster was seeing the same film. 51 Birch Street is one of the best personal docs I've ever seen, and I'm not a huge fan of the genre. I was constantly surprised at every turn, and often didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Spent most of the film doing both. As did the whole audience, as far as I could tell. So just see it. And take your parents, if you can.
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by : Andrea |
Date Added: 4/10/2006 12:51:09 PMreport this post |
I saw this film at the Toronto Film Festival last year. It's a beautiful work that plays out like a mystery, with themes that hit home universally. Can't wait to bring my friends to see it.
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by : Stumpy D |
Date Added: 4/10/2006 2:28:28 PMreport this post |
I'm with some of the others here - personal docs often leave me cold, but Birch Street's a great story with great characters. Mom and Dad turn on, tune out, have real emotional lives, and we willy nilly, at the end of the road, finally realize it whether we want to or not. Yikes!
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by : Edgar Allen Poe |
Date Added: 4/10/2006 4:57:17 PMreport this post |
This film is emotionally powerful, personal, and definitely worth seeing. Tell your friends and family to check it out!
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by : Bruce Crowley |
Date Added: 7/12/2006 2:59:52 PMreport this post |
Loved it, loved it, LOVED IT! When's the dvd coming out so I can get one for all my family members???
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by : R. Allen |
Date Added: 8/10/2006 11:18:39 AMreport this post |
Really loved this film. On the surface it seemed like a simple story, but as layers get peeled back, it grows deeper and is filled with all sorts of drama and humor. The lens goes so close up to the characters, I forgot I was watching a documentary at one point.
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by : puny girl |
Date Added: 9/24/2006 1:15:01 AM report this post |
don't bother. watched it at full frame film festival. tries to hard to be curious. story is ... well ... boring. fails to get beyond the "so what" issue.
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by : Ray |
Date Added: 9/28/2006 3:09:17 PMreport this post |
This film is MAGNIFICENT!
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by : benjamin b |
Date Added: 9/28/2006 11:56:12 PMreport this post |
a truly powerful and profound experience.
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by : MVA |
Date Added: 10/18/2006 12:50:05 AM report this post |
This film is riveting. A honest look into some difficult family issues. The magic is that the most compelling story was born while the documentary was being made. The truth is sometimes unpleasant but the filmaker faced it with courage and love. Loved it!
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by : inflated |
Date Added: 10/21/2006 10:44:01 PMreport this post |
Although I understand many of the above posts, I don't agree with them. The documentary is inflated, overrated, and contrived. How many times can the director play the card, "Should I open and read the letters?" Sorry, but the story becomes old after just 30 mins.
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by : Stan B. |
Date Added: 10/25/2006 12:17:46 PMreport this post |
I went to see this film based the great reviews, especially A.O. Scott's glowing review in the NY Times. I haven't been so moved by a film in a long time. Kudos to the director for making such an honest film about marriage and family. Highly recommended.
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by : Sookie St. James |
Date Added: 10/26/2006 1:52:07 PMreport this post |
This film is both funny and sad, heartbreaking and real. I recommended it to all my friends and family. The director did a terrific job of finding a combination of pathos and humor. I haven't stopped thinking about it for days!
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by : Bill |
Date Added: 10/26/2006 3:31:28 PMreport this post |
Was dragged by my fiancee, who read the reviews. It wasn't what I expected. Much food for thought. Great film but not sure I'll marry her anymore ;-)
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by : adecat |
Date Added: 10/27/2006 8:10:15 PMreport this post |
What Ross McElwee ("Sherman's March") accomplishes with ironic detachment and Alan Berliner ("Intimate Stranger") evokes with poetic editing, Doug Block achieves with a visceral connection to his subject(s)--the primal subject we must all come to terms with or live with a void in our hearts. Funny, sad, suspenseful, cathartic--this is nonfiction personal filmmaking at its best!
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by : Julian Edison |
Date Added: 10/28/2006 12:36:15 PM report this post |
We are coming up to NY, and not available to see this film which we we are most anxious to see.
Will it be shown into the weekend of Nov 3 & 4?
Thanks,
M/M Julian Edison, St. Louis
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by : Rene |
Date Added: 10/28/2006 4:56:44 PMreport this post |
Absolutely loved it.
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by : RStaley |
Date Added: 11/15/2006 9:53:28 AMreport this post |
After seeing the film, I went back and read all the reviews on it. I can see why critics love it. It's one of the most unique and moving films I've seen in a long time. bravo!
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by : thebigmancat |
Date Added: 11/27/2006 12:09:19 PMreport this post |
Going to see it again this afternoon. Deserves to ruin for another 6 weeks.
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by : James Worthi |
Date Added: 12/10/2006 10:48:45 PMreport this post |
Don't want to spoil it for you. All I can say is... SEE IT!
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by : doug |
Date Added: 2/26/2007 9:54:13 AMreport this post |
next time you are in the sun city area please take an hour over lunch to discuss a project.....richard roe, retired, age 70, tampa area, atlanta cell 770-380-6808......
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