A beauty contest that's all business
Did cosmetics entrepreneur Helena Rubinstein really say that "There are no ugly women, only lazy ones"? And just how vicious was her competition with fellow cosmetics company magnate Elizabeth Arden?
Yes, Rubinstein said it -- although "whether she believed it or not, one can only guess," says Ann Carol Grossman, who's making a documentary about the two women. As for the relationship between Rubinstein and Arden, " It was not a 'cat fight,' " says Grossman , " but it was a serious rivalry that lasted their entire careers -- whenever one would open a new salon or bring out a new product, the other would make a counter move. We view it as a chess match."
Grossman and Arnie Reisman, Brookline - and Natick-based filmmakers who have worked together for 10 years, have been digging into the lives and legacies of Rubinstein and Arden since 2003 for a documentary called "The Powder and the Glory." The film has received funding from the Program Challenge Fund, which is jointly administered by PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, and is currently in post-production.
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is offering a sneak peek at clips of the movie and a chance to talk with the directors on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston. The event is "pretty well booked," the BJFF's Sara Rubin indicated in an e - mail, but those interested in attending should go to bjff.org or call 617-244-9899 to see if any spaces have opened up.
CONVERSATION WITH: Paul Mazursky has spent a lot of time in recent years in front of the camera, on television shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Once and Again." But he also has logged serious time on the other side, as writer and director, with films such as "Down and Out in Beverly Hills," "Scenes From a Mall," and, back in the day, "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice." This past week, Lincoln Center in New York put on a retrospective of 11 of his films.
Included at that program was Mazursky's newest, an autobiographical documentary called "Yippee!: A Journey to Jewish Joy." Part travelogue (to the Ukraine) and part religious exploration, the film follows Mazursky to the burial place of a Rabbi Nachman, a leader of the Hasidic movement.
Mazursky will be at the Wasserman Cinematheque at Brandeis University today at 1 p.m. for the movie's New England premiere, in an event hosted by the National Center for Jewish Film. For information, visit jewishfilm.org.
WESTERN MASS . FEST: The
The festival runs through next Sunday . Details are at 413-528-8030 and biffma.com.
SCREENINGS OF NOTE: Edinburgh has its Fringe festival, and now the Boston Gay & Lesbian Film/Video Festival, which continues this week through next Sunday, has its own event pushing the boundaries. "In a world where 'The Gay' is becoming mainstream, we celebrate the radical," say organizers of "CineMental," a one-night program on Wednesday at 8 at the Brattle Theatre of queer film, video, performance , and music. Featured will be 24 short films by 24 groups of artists telling the 24 chapters of Homer's "The Odyssey." The full line up of participating filmmakers is at truth serum.org, while details about the Gay & Lesbian fest, held at the Museum of Fine Arts, are at 617-267-9300 and mfa.org/film.
Are you a fan of Fluxus art? Wondering what all the ruckus was about? The Harvard Film Archive is offering a 106-minute lesson in the "everything is art" movement on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. with four short films including Jonas Mekas's "Zefiro Torna or Scenes From the Life of George Maciunas" and a recording of a telecast conversation from the 1977 " documenta 6" art exhibition in West Germany by Joseph Beuys, Nam June Paik, and Douglas Davis. You'll never look at the ephemera of your life in the same way (617-495-4700 and hcl.har vard.edu/hfa).
Sir Laurence Olivier gets the tribute treatment at the Brattle Theatre today through May 23, with a selection of nine films. Today it's "Hamlet" (2 p.m., 7:45 p.m.) and "Henry V" (5 p.m.); Monday "Othello" (8 p . m.); and Tuesday "Bunny Lake Is Missing" (5 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:30 p.m.). Other movies in the series: "Sleuth," "Marathon Man," "Rebecca," "The Entertainer," and "Wuthering Heights" (617-876-6837 and brat tlefilm.org).
With the American Repertory Theatre putting up a stage production of Harold Pinter's "No Man's Land" (it opened last night and runs through June 10), the HFA is hosting a series on films written by Pinter. Pinter received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays for "Betrayal," (which plays on May 27 and 28), and "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (screening May 29 and 30). Tonight at 7 p.m. the Archive has "The Pumpkin Eater," starring Anne Bancroft, Peter Finch, and James Mason, and "Pinter People," a documentary featuring Pinter talking about his characters and the real-life locales that inspired them.
And if you missed it at the Independent Film Festival of Boston last month, "Brooklyn Rules," directed by Rhode Island native Michael Corrente and written by Terence Winter, who also pens "The Sopranos," opens at the Kendall Square Cinema on Friday.
Leslie Brokaw can be reached at lbrokaw@globe.com. 
