MOVIEOKE // canavarlar

SHBZD3-FEB17-USA-MOVIEOKE  SHBZD3: STORY S131  MOVIEOKE NEW
YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES FEBRUARY11,2004 NATURAL WITH
ENGLISH SPEECH DURATION: 4.01  SOURCE: REUTERS TV AND WEB
RESTRICTIONS: NONE FEED HISTORY: FIRST RUN SHBZD3, 0015 GMT,
FEBRUARY 17, 2004  INTRO: Movieoke - karaoke for film fanatics - hits New
York.   SHOWS: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FEBRUARY 11,
2004) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS MOVIEOKE PARTICIPANT,
CHARLES FREIJ, ACTING OUT A SCENE FROM THE MATRIX 2. MOVIEOKE
FOUNDER, ANASTASIA FITE, WATCHING 3. FREIJ ACTING "THE MATRIX" AND
AUDIENCE APPLAUDING 4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FITE SAYING: "You pick
any scene from any movie that you ever wanted to be - any character
you've wanted to be, anything - and I put it on and I put on subtitles and I
get on stage and you act it out." 5. FITE ASKING PERFORMER HOW LOUD
THEY WANT THE VOLUME 6. MAN ASKING FOR MOVIE TO BE TURNED UP A
LITTLE BIT AND ACTING OUT SCENE FROM "COMING TO AMERICA" WITHOUT
SUBTITLES 7. MAN SINGING IN SCENE FROM "COMING TO AMERICA" 8.
AUDIENCE APPLAUDING 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FITE SAYING: "I am not
getting a lot of actors, I am just getting regular people that basically have
a little performative bone in their body and this gives them permission to
let it out, without there being any stakes to it, because they are forgiven
by what is going on on the screen behind them." 7. MOVIEOKE
PARTICIPANT, MATT DUJNIC, ACTING OUT TWO PARTS FROM "FIGHTCLUB"
SCENE 8. AUDIENCE WATCHING 8. DUJNIC ACTING OUT FIGHT
IN "FIGHTCLUB" AND FALLING TO FLOOR 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUJNIC
SAYING: "It appeals to the ham in me, it appeals to the aspiring never-to-
be-an-actor, actor in my, because I am not an actor and it also appeals to
the guy who memorizes a lot of movies - that's me." 10. (SOUNDBITE)
(English) FREIJ SAYING: "Well I have a sort of background I guess in the
theatre, so it gives me a chance to relive some of the glory days." 11.
MOVIEOKE PARTICIPANT NACHIE CASTRO AND DUJNIC ACTING OUT SCENE
FROM "BREAKFAST CLUB" 12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) CASTRO SAYING: "It
was a little bit nerve-wracking because I am not too good at being in front
of people, but it was a lot of fun because you get to act out movies that
you kind of know the words to anyway." 13. FITE ACTING OUT SCENE
FROM "THE WICKER MAN" 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) FITE SAYING: "I
always do the seductive wall dance from the Wicker Man, that's always my
favourite just because it is so funny and absurd and she is singing this
crazy song and doing this crazy little dance, so that's my favourite to do.'
15. FITE DANCING IN SCENE FROM "THE WICKER MAN" 16. MAN IN
AUDIENCE LAUGHING 17. DUJNIC ACTING OUT SCENE FROM "THE WICKER
MAN" 18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DUJNIC SAYING: "It's kind of like being up
on stage with Karaoke, there is really no point in being embarrassed." 19.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) FREIJ SAYING: "I would say Karaoke has had its
day, it is past, but you know this is something that is in the future." 20.
FITE ACTING OUT SCENE FROM "THE WICKER MAN" 21. AUDIENCE
APPLAUDING AND CHEERING  STORY: Years after Karaoke took the bar
scene by storm, its cinematic offspring has arrived - Movieoke. The
brainchild of film fanatic, Anastasia Fite, Movieoke allows movie buffs to be
their favourite stars from the silver screen - a chance to take over from
Robert de Niro in his "you talkin' to me?" Taxi Driver monologue or to
bellow alongside Laurence Fishburne in the The Matrix. Movieoke takes
place every Wednesday night in New York's East Village basement bar 'Den
of Cin'. The video store upstairs supplies the huge selection of DVD movies.
Fite explains how Movieoke works, "You pick any scene from any movie
that you ever wanted to be - any character you've wanted to be, anything -
and I put it on and I put on subtitles and you get on stage and you act it
out." Guests pick a particular scene from the film of their choice, which is
then projected onto a big screen on stage. Subtitles run along the bottom
of the screen as well as on a smaller monitor placed in front of the stage.
Movieoke participants range from the awkward to the extrovert, from
people who hardly know the scenes to those who know every line off-by-
heart. The result is either a skillful rendering of the lines or a deliberate or
mistaken goof-up, sparking laughs from the audience. Movieoke draws a
mainly twenty-something crowd - and what surprised Fite the most was
that none of them are professional actors looking to practice in front of an
appreciative crowd.  "I am not getting a lot of actors, I am just getting
regular people that basically have a little performative bone in their body
and this gives them permission to let it out, without there being any stakes
to it, because they are forgiven by what is going on on the screen behind
them" said Fite. For the true devotees of Movieoke, playing two parts adds
an extra challenge. Matt Dujnic's favourite scene is to punch himself up in
an energetic scene from Fight Club. Dujnic is a big and enthusiastic fan, "It
appeals to the ham in me, it appeals to the aspiring never-to-be-an-actor,
actor in my, because I am not an actor and it also appeals to the guy who
memorizes a lot of movies - that's me" he said. Charles Freij, who likes to
stick bottle-tops on his shirt and on the back of his neck as props for his
The Matrix scene, is a restaurant manager by day and by night Laurence
Fishburne. "Well I have a sort of background I guess in the theatre, so it
gives me a chance to relive some of the glory days" said Freij. No Oscars
are being handed out here, but the first beer comes free and helps nudge
the more reserved patrons up onto the stage. After an hour or so Nachie
Castro agreed to participate in a scene from Breakfast Club - a movie most
of the young crowd have seen many times. Castro said he was glad he
plucked up the courage, "It was a little bit nerve-wracking because I am
not too good at being in front of people, but it was a lot of fun because
you get to act out movies that you kind of know the words to anyway."
The highlight of the night though surely had to be watching Fite play Brit
Eckland's bizarre sexy dance scene from the cult British movie "The Wicker
Man". "I always do the seductive wall dance from the Wicker Man, that's
always my favourite just because it is so funny and absurd and she is
singing this crazy song and doing this crazy little dance, so that's my
favourite to do," said Fite breaking off into laughter.  While most of the
guests are not fans of Karaoke, they do admit that it takes the same kind
of guts to act the fool at Movieoke as it does to sing in front of all friends
and strangers. Dujnic said, "It's kind of like being up on stage with Karaoki,
there is really no point in being embarrassed." As far as Fite knows, she is
the first to put on Movieoke nights. She hopes the idea will catch on and
become something big. Freij agrees that it's time for the would-be singer
to leave the spotlight and make way for their Movieoke actor cousins, "I
would say Karaoke has had its day, it is past, but you know this is
something that is in the future" he said.       2201 160204 GMT