short takes (1)

September 17, 1981

* Think the movies are all wet these days? You should see John Rubin's Floating Cinema -- two small boats and two large screens, which glide back and forth before their audience. During a recent appearance on the Hudson River in New York, the subject matter was eclectic, to say the least -- footage from old movies, shadowy figures leaping (so it seemed) from one boat to the other, even a gigantic pair of lips complaining about "all this weirdo stuff." It's an unpredictable and sometimes clever show, but hardly a big splash. Couldn't more be done with this acqueous format?