Customer Reviews

The Cruise [VHS]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Timothy Levitch is one of the people that makes New York the wonderland that it will always remain for people like me who grew up there and then were wrested from our roots in the fifties to go where the jobs, (and the apartments)were available, and to finally explore as well that mysterious land beyond the Hudson - and then if we were lucky on to the rest of the world. When we return, we are, alas,only tourists. But what a pleasure to meet Timothy, and ride his bus, his magic carpet, up and down the streets of Manhattan. Timothy: reminds me of Franz Schubert, the boy who despite his inner beauty and his enormous capacity for love, just never got the girl, or the appropriate job, or could make his parents understand that whatever he was, it was not ORDINARY. Timothy: Extraordinary. Will he survive in the world of brand names and fashion madness and where courting position and material wealth is required first and foremost before a man can even be judged to own a soul? I hope so, because as I said: to see him and hear him talk, and watch his sad and gallant walk, is to fall in love with him. If I were 50 years younger we would be walking (gallantly) down Third Avenue, together holding hands and happy.

Witnessing Tim Levitch's New York unflold in his honest, artful, poetic monologues is like watching the universe spit out its greatest secrets. The city becomes a living metaphor from the grid system of the streets to the terra-cotta cornices running up a building. Even familiar landmarks such as the Empire State Building and the Crystler Building take on new personas in the eyes of Levitch. He champions a simple beauty which holds high above all else individuality which he calls a "beautiful lie".

Challenge yourself and everything you think. This is a must-see.

This is a great documentary. Timothy is a total riot. I wish I could have taken one of his tours of N.Y.C. He is the kind of New Yorker that make me want to go back again and again. He is full of personality and passion. The world needs more people like Timothy. He is a unique individual in this white bread homoginzed middle of the road wastland we live in.

I first saw this film, unexpectanly, when I strangly Cruised into a local movie theater. After seeing this movie I couldn't drive for over 2 hours because I was so shocked and moved that I couldn't function as a normal person. I am still shocked with the beauty and truth that is beheald inbetween the pieces of plastic that costs so much. This is the absolute best movie of the 90's - without question.

Take the Cruise into your life.

This movie needs to go to DVD now. It remains one of the
most powerful expressions of living and respecting each
moment of our lives. Mr. Levitch constantly reminds us to
take the blinders off and not miss any detail of this precious
life we have been handed.
Let's start thinking in terms of making this work of art much more available by putting it on DVD.
But don't let that stop you from buying it. It's worth dusting
off the ol VCR, and you'll watch it over and over. Brilliant!!

This little film could also have been a wonderful story for The New Yorker. When I saw Tim "Speed" Levitch, I thought, Wow, I know this guy! He's every New Yorker I've ever known - tough, effete, gruff, wise, silly, profane, provincial, cosmopolitan, neurotic, eloquent, voluble, accessible, insecure, indomitable . . .

A few points:

If Woody Allen were just another struggling jazz clarinetist, he'd probably be something like Speed.

I hope Speed wasn't fired by Grey Line (like he was afraid he'd be) for his choice comments and his non-regulation livery.

If he was not fired, Grey Line should be smart and charge a big premium for the "Speed Tour" and give Speed a fitting raise.

More than anything else, "The Cruise" is a portrait of a natural-born poet in his element.

I got this on impulse after one of those terrible video-store episodes where there are 1000's of movies but not a single one that you could bear sitting in front of for 2 hours. What a gem. This guy, this loony, lovable, unattractive guy, is a true original. Some of his concepts have literally become part of the way I see the world. (My husband has assimilated it into his world too - his calls me 'the anti-cruise' at times, usually when I'm making a suggestion relating to copious beer consumption.) I am going to buy this when the price comes down, you just can't let something like this float past you and out of your life, but I will have to think of a way to stop my husband showing it to every poor visitor to this house for the next 20 years.

This is an amazingly intimate film about a remarkable guy who everyone should encounter. Speed is brilliant, clever, passionate, entertaining, and then to complete the impossible, he is also profoundly thoughtful about life and others. It is fascinating and enlightening to see how Speed reconciles his pain and his practically visionary perspective on New York and life. I'm amazed this is not a major hit.

"I think having an intimate 'love affair' with a flower is far more psychotic and riveting than having a love affair with some of the more banal creatures of the human race."

"Speed" Levitch is an intensely poetic individual. He's one of the most eccentric people I know of and that's not a put down. This is a documentary of someone rejecting convention and having to suffer for it. For example, he expresses some deep sadness when speaking of his grandparents. From their perspective he is a failure because he has not devoted his life to mere preservation and praticial pursuits.
Levitch takes you on a tour that is meant to force people to look at things differently. At one point, Levitch recalls a conversation he has with a women about the grid plan of New York city, with its 90 degree parrallel streets corners and rigid organization and he sees this as symbolic for the comformity and homogeneousness of civilization. It's a sad reflection of ourselves. It's a reflection of our inclination to stamp out diversity and change. These are ideas that are purposely woven into his tour and you can even see looks of apprehension on the faces of some of the tourists soon after he begins to speak.

I remember this guy from Waking Life because he had such a distinguishing voice and appearance. After seeing this I know see why he was so perfect for that movie.

The Cruise is a great unique documentary shot with a digital camera. Your trusty Gray Line tour guide Tim Levitch is waiting to take you into the heart of New York City. This hilarious genius will explain his philosophy of Cruise, riding the wave of Manhattan chaos, forever evading the anti-Cruise, societal controls.
You will find out what the collective consciousness of New York is, and see an intimate relationship between a man and his city. His affair with the Brooklyn Bridge and more poignantly, the World Trade Center. September 11th was a devastating post-film anti-climax to this positive spontaneously intellectual perspective. I just hope Tim doesn't become one of the 36.