The Automat
| The Automat | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster featuring Mel Brooks | |
| Directed by | Lisa Hurwitz |
| Written by | Michael Levine |
| Produced by | Lisa Hurwitz |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Philip Lucas |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | Hummie Mann |
| Distributed by | A Slice of Pie Productions |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 79 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $257,221[1][2] |
The Automat is a 2021 American documentary directed and produced by Lisa Hurwitz and written by Michael Levine. It is about the automats once operated by Horn & Hardart. It features an original song by Mel Brooks. The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021. It was released in the United States on February 18, 2022, by A Slice of Pie Productions. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.
Synopsis
[edit]Horn & Hardart, founded in 1888 by Joseph Horn and Frank Hardart, was noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia and New York City. The restaurant chain was well known in the U.S. for serving food out of a vending machine for a nickel. The last New York Horn & Hardart Automat closed in April 1991.
Appearances
[edit]Production
[edit]The documentary details the rise and fall of the Horn & Hardart automats. Director Lisa Hurwitz was inspired to create the documentary because she loved eating in her school cafeteria day after day during her college days. The film features an original song titled "At the Automat" written and performed by Mel Brooks.[3]
Release
[edit]The film premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2021.[4] It was released in the United States on February 18, 2022, by A Slice of Pie Productions.[5]
Reception
[edit]Box office
[edit]In the United States, the film earned $13,917 from the Film Forum theater in its opening weekend [6] and went on to earn $257,221 overrall. [7]
Reception
[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 51 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A wistful ode to a bygone era, The Automat will make viewers nostalgic for America's past – and hungry for a meal at the titular diner."[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 79 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[9]
The Hollywood Reporter's Stephen Farber wrote, "Hurwitz supplements the talking heads with tasty archival footage and sharp graphics. Her film is sleek and unpretentious. It wins us over with humor and a pointed touch of melancholy."[10] Variety's Owen Gleiberman said the film "taps into so many resonant aspects of what America used to be that to watch it is to be drawn into an enchanting and wistfully profound time-tripping reverie."[11] Writing for The New York Observer, Rex Reed said it "gets to the core of the Automat's significance, cutting to the core of its social impact on New York and the changing world we live in."[12] The New Yorker's Richard Brody said the best part of the film was "its blend of social and intellectual history with its anecdotal history—its evocation of the links between intention, practice, and experience; its depiction of a largely lost aesthetic of daily life."[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "The Automat (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- ^ "The Automat (2021)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (September 2, 2021). "Is Mel Brooks Heading For A Best Song Oscar Nomination? Watch Him Sing At The Automat – Telluride Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (September 1, 2021). "Telluride Film Festival: Will Smith's King Richard, Peter Dinklage Musical Cyrano, Joaquin Phoenix In C'mon C'mon, Ken Branagh's Belfast Set To Premiere". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ "Domestic Release Schedule for 2022". The Numbers. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Goldsmith, Jill (February 27, 2022). "At The Automat Original Song By Mel Brooks Strikes A Chord For New Doc On Iconic Eatery – Specialty Box Office". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ "The Automat (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved November 4, 2022.
- ^ "The Automat". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
- ^ "The Automat". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Farber, Stephen (September 2, 2021). "The Automat: Film Review | Telluride 2021". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (February 24, 2022). "The Automat Review: A Documentary That Serves Up Tasty Nostalgia". Variety. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Reed, Rex (February 19, 2022). "The Automat Was the Coin-Operated Restaurant of the People". The New York Observer. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
- ^ Brody, Richard (February 18, 2022). "The Automat Is a Guide to the Wonders of Mid-Twentieth-Century Urbanism". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
External links
[edit]- The Automat at IMDb
- The Automat at the TCM Movie Database