As I alluded to yesterday, I visited another amazing museum recently: the Museum of the Moving Image!
This cool place is located in Astoria (just about 20 minutes from my apartment), so I couldn't wait to check it out! As their mission states:
Museum of the Moving Image advances the public understanding and appreciation of the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media. It does so by collecting, preserving, and providing access to moving-image related artifacts, screening significant films and other moving-image works, presenting exhibitions of artifacts, artworks, and interactive experiences, and offering educational and interpretive programs to students, teachers, and the general public.
Now, I am nowhere near what most folks would call a "film buff," but I love watching movies! So I was pretty excited to see what this museum had to offer. Upon entering the first exhibit, I wasn't disappointed. Spanning an entire wall were photos of the greatest film actors/actresses of all time.
And it didn't take me long to spot my boyfriend, Bing Crosby! (For those of you who have never met me, I have loved Bing for as long as I can remember... he's the best!)
Of course, there were all sorts of other things to see at the museum as well. From prop busts...
To mechanical "heads" (the plaque said that this one was used in Black Swan, though I don't know for sure since I'm too scared to see the movie)...
And terrifying puppets. (Do you recognize her from The Exorcist?)
In addition to the creepy items, there were also cases of interesting cinematic artifacts.
For example, this was Marlon Brando's dental insert for his role in The Godfather.
And like I shared yesterday, these were the prosthetic faces for Mrs. Doubtfire.
The museum collection also included a few interesting costumes...
Where Mrs. Doubtfire's dress and padded "lady suit" were prominently displayed (you can even see Cliff Huxtable's sweater and slacks on the right).
Another fun part of the museum was the area devoted to movie memorabilia. There was a wall of movie magazines...
Toys based on movies and television shows...
(Including these awesome coloring books that I would LOVE to have owned...)
And a whole alcove of video games. I was surprised to see these at first, but then I realized they're also great examples of "moving images." Oh- and the best part? YOU CAN PLAY THESE!! There are a couple that are free (the older games), while the newer games like Ms. Pacman are 25 cents a game. Isn't that fun?
One of my favorite little displays on this floor was this area devoted to movie scores. I was proud to realize that I already owned quite a few of these (including one my of personal favorites Fame in the upper-left-hand corner).
And as if that whole floor wasn't cool enough, there was a movie theater IN THE MUSEUM! Even better, the theater is home to screenings each week, so people can come to the museum and see a movie... how fun is that?
As you can tell, this museum is great! I have a few more pictures to share, so make sure to stop by on Monday to see the rest of the photos!
Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
