Ric Menello

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ric Menello
Born
Richard Menello

(1952-08-20)August 20, 1952
Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 1, 2013(2013-03-01) (aged 60)
Occupations
  • Filmmaker
  • screenwriter

Richard "Ric" Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013) was an American

filmmaker and screenwriter. Menello co-directed the landmark music video for the Beastie Boys' 1987 single, "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)".[1][2][3] His contributions to music during the era led MTV to call him, "one of the most influential visionaries behind the emergence of commercial hip-hop in the 1980s."[1]

Menello's screenwriting credits include the 1988

Run–D.M.C. film, Tougher Than Leather, directed by Rick Rubin, and two films co-written with and directed by James Gray, Two Lovers (2008), starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix, and The Immigrant,[4](2013), starring Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix.[1]

Biography

Menello was raised in Brooklyn, New York. He earned a bachelor's degree in dramatic literature and cinema from New York University. He continued to take graduate courses in cinema studies at NYU after completing his bachelor's.[5] Menello started writing film criticism in college for the NYU Journal and the Arts and Humor magazine Cold Duck, and his articles appeared in Film Comment, Photon and Blood Times. He later became a regular contributor to European Trash Cinema, where he critiqued Italian and French genre films. One of those early articles, "Dark Universe: The World of Dario Argento" (Photon July 1975) is cited in Maitland McDonagh's book Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento.

Wishing to broaden his experiences in the Arts, Menello acted onstage in such Off and Off-Off Broadway groups as Theater At Riverside Church, Program in Educational Theater and Sammarkind Players. He appeared in productions of Romeo And Juliet, She Stoops to Conquer, Guys And Dolls, The Miracle Worker, Wind In The Willows and Bell, Book & Candle.[6]

At NYU, he studied acting with and assisted the legendary filmmaker Nicholas Ray, director of Rebel Without a Cause. He continued to act in many of his music videos and in the feature films Tougher Than Leather and Drop Dead Rock (both of which he co-wrote). He and critic Dan Yakir contributed full-length audio commentary for the DVD release of the late Claude Chabrol's Pleasure Party (Une Partie de Plaisir), as well for Chabrol's Cry of the Owl (Le Cri du Hibou). He maintained a long distance relationship for years with Chabrol, writing to him at length to discuss his many films. Chabrol gifted Menello with his own autographed, personally notated script for his film L'Enfer (Hell).[7] Menello researched the life of the late director Jean-Pierre Melville, that included correspondence with Pierre Lesou, Philippe Labro and Bertrand Tavernier among others. Menello received a special thanks in the acknowledgement section of Ginette Vincendeau's book Jean Pierre Melville: An American in Paris, further sharing his views on Melville with many fellow writers and cinephiles.

During the 1980s, Menello was employed as a part-time desk clerk at Weinstein dormitory at

front desk watching movies with him and as Rick started bands and the label ... Menello was along for the ride ... But more importantly, as all this stuff is starting, Menello helps to form Rick's aesthetic. Rick knows what he likes, but it takes Menello to help Rick understand it." Charnas has noted that Menello helped Rubin, a longtime fan of Abbott and Costello, understand why he liked the duo, "Rick [Rubin] liked the whole lowbrow setup of the thing, but what Menello helped Rick understand was that it was not the slapstick that Rick liked, but the combination of that lowbrow slapstick with a very highbrow sophisticated form."[1]

Rubin chose Menello and his former roommate,

hip hop careers.[1][2] Menello also crafted the low budget TV commercial for the Licensed to Ill album after the album began to take off in 1986.[9]

Menello continued his association with the Beastie Boys by writing a television pilot,

I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, noted that "There are no more than a handful of music videos that have done more for a band's career and more vividly described their image than 'Fight For Your Right To Party', did for the Beastie Boys."[1]

Menello continued to work behind the scenes writing and co-writing treatments for an endless stream of music videos. In 1993, he collaborated with his cousin and frequent collaborator

Doro Pesch's "Bad Blood"[14] and "Last Day of My Life,"[15] which Giordano both directed and shot. The Bad Blood video was originally influenced by Samuel Fuller's film Verboten! and their treatment further developed into a powerful, thought-provoking clip that was voted Best Anti-Racism video during the first MTV Europe Music Awards ceremony in 1994. The video later spawned a series of commercials and public service announcements by Doro calling for racial tolerance in Germany.[16] Giordano and Menello continued working on music videos, with one of their last MTV collaborations being the low-budget video for Kittie's Funeral For Yesterday[17]
that Giordano directed and to which Menello contributed and co-wrote the treatment.

Screenwriting

Menello also worked as a screenwriter throughout the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. He often wrote at night at the Vox Pop cafe in the

Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. He moved to another Brooklyn bar, Sycamore, when Vox Pop closed in 2011. He hosted a weekly film screening, with guests including Mark Romanek and Darren Aronofsky. Menello also collaborated with actors, including friend Owen Wilson, to revise and strengthen existing dialogue.[3]

Menello and

James Gray,[4] teamed up to co-write the 2008 romantic drama, Two Lovers, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix.[2][3] Menello also co-wrote Gray's film The Immigrant, which stars Joaquin Phoenix, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Renner[3] that screened at the Cannes Film Festival and the New York Film Festival
prior to its May 2014 release through The Weinstein Company.

Death

Menello died from a heart attack on March 1, 2013, aged 60.[3]

A mosaic designed by artist Juan Carlos Pinto[18] at the Newkirk Plaza Tunnel in Brooklyn was dedicated to Ric on May 11, 2013.[19]

Immediately after Menello's death, Richard Brody eulogised Menello in series of articles which appeared in the New Yorker.[20][21] The friends of Menello responded, citing factual inaccuracies in Brody's articles.[22]

References

  1. ^
    MTV.com
    . Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  2. ^
    Spin Magazine
    . Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g McEwan, Chris (2013-03-17). "R.I.P. Ric Menello — Screenwriter, Beastie Boys Video Director, NYU Alumnus". NYU Local. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  4. ^ a b Perez, Rodrigo. "James Gray's 'The Immigrant' Starring Marion Cotillard & Joaquin Phoenix Will Land In Limited Release On May 16". The Playlist. Indiewire. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Remembering Ric Menello". Ditmas Park Corner. 2013-03-02. Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  6. ^ a b Giordano, Vincent. "Menello Monogatari Part One". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  7. ^ Giordano, Vincent. "Mr. Ric's Cinema". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  8. ^
    MTV.com
    . Retrieved 2013-03-17.
  9. ^ Menello, Ric. "Beastie Boys Licensed to Ill Commercial". The Menello Archives: Volume Two. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  10. ^ Menello, Ric. "Scared Stupid: Original First Draft Treatment". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  11. ^ Giordano, Vincent. "Ric's Cali". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  12. ^ Giordano, Vincent. "The Mother Video". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  13. ^ Giordano, Vincent. "The Making Of Children's Story". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  14. ^ Pesch, Doro. "Bad Blood". Doro "Bad Blood" video. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  15. ^ Pesch, Doro. "Last Day Of My Life". Doro Pesch "Last Day Of My Life" video. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  16. ^ Pesch, Doro. "Doro Pesch Biography". Archived from the original on 17 July 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  17. ^ Kittie. "Funeral For Yesterday". Kittie Funeral For Yesterday Official Music Video. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  18. ^ Pinto, J Carlos. "J Carlos Pinto". Artist J Carlos Pinto. Archived from the original on 16 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  19. ^ "Newkirk Plaza Tunnel Mosaic dedicated to Ric Menello by artist Juan Carlos Pinto". Ric Menello (August 20, 1952 – March 1, 2013). Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  20. ^ Brody, Richard. "A Beloved Cinematic Savant". The New Yorker.
  21. ^ Brody, Richard. "In Memory of Ric Menello Part Two". The New Yorker.
  22. ^ Giordano, Vincent. "Rebuttal to Richard Brody".

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ric_Menello&oldid=1167792317"