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SABRINA SCOLARI PHOTOGRAPHY
Yup , I have heard that more than once from my millennial and Gen Z colleagues at Rhode Island Monthly . Guilty as charged . No matter the label , I think we all index significant memories from our lives to the music and movies of those times .
There is a quote : “ All it takes is one song [ or movie , in my opinion ] to bring back a thousand memories .”
When I think of the seventies , I remember The Godfather , The Deer Hunter , Rocky and The Sting . In the eighties , it was La Bamba , Top Gun ( the original ) and Hoosiers . The nineties : Goodfellas , My Cousin Vinny , Schindler ’ s List . And into the 2000s : The Blind Side , as well as bio pics like Crazy , Ray , Walk the Line ,
Rocket Man and Bohemian Rhapsody .
We all remember relationships , significant event milestones , memories from the silver screen and the music created for it ( think of John Williams ’ expansive Star Wars soundtracks ) as our emotional benchmarks .
Spielberg , Coppola , Ron Howard … and here in Rhode Island , we are blessed to proudly have the name Feinberg on our film mantel .
Full disclosure : Steve Feinberg is a friend , although I ’ m probably in the majority of Rhode Islanders in making that statement .
Paul Kandarian , a longtime contributor to this publication and accomplished thespian in his own right , has penned a terrific and poignant profile of Rhode Island ’ s film czar , a man who ’ s on a first name basis with top executives at all the major studios , especially Disney , which has allowed Rhode Island to flourish as Hollywood ’ s favorite playground ( or backlot ?).
This is not to outshine our spectacular cover package , headlined by Associate Editor Lauren Clem , with contributions from Jamie Coelho , our editor , and Kait Murray , our digital editor .
It is a fascinating look at the long , intricate and — at times — scandalous history of the upper crust of society on a national , even international scale , in our very own Newport .
I hope you find it as intriguing , addictive and scandalous as the national television audiences who are so dedicated to the programs that chronicle the Gilded Age .
Bragging rights time : We had twenty-seven finalists in the Rhode Island Press Association Awards . Our team took home nine first-place awards , six second , ten thirdplace spots and two honorable mentions . It shows the enormous journalistic chops we have in this tiny state and gives special recognition to our small but mighty team .
Lastly , a heads up . Get your tickets for the Best of Rhode Island party , to be held July 20 at the Providence Performing Arts Center . More than 130,000 votes from our readers eclipsed last year ’ s record , and the event has sold out for the past ten years ( excluding 2020 ).
Lastly , I was tempted to start this column by quoting an anthem from my youth , Alice Cooper ’ s “ School ’ s Out ,” but then I thought I would need to have “ Boomer ” permanently tattooed on my forehead .
To the Rhode ahead . — J . J . P .
10 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l JUNE 2023