Ridgewood Guild Film Festival honors actor Danny Aiello
MAY 1, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014, 4:31 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
Oscar-nominated actor Danny Aiello lives in Saddle River, and rarely passes through Ridgewood. That could be changing, the actor said, thanks to his recent foray into the village.
Aiello was named the first-ever celebrity lifetime honoree at the Ridgewood Guild’s annual film festival last week.
The well-known actor was brought to Ridgewood for the second day of the two-day festival, now in its fourth year, thanks to his friend and fellow actor, RJ Konner, a Ridgewood resident. Aiello went out to eat at the new restaurant Mémoire in Ridgewood while the film festival progressed in its entirety in Theatres 1 and 2 of Ridgewood’s Clearview Warner Quad.
“I’ve never been in Ridgewood really for any significant amount of time. I live in Saddle River. I promise that I’ll be here more often,” said Aiello, who blew a kiss to the audience upon returning to the theater after dinner, before taking a moment to praise his meal at Mémoire.
Aiello’s public appearance, including a Q-and-A session, followed a reel of clips played on the screen, featuring some of his best movie work, including scenes from Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” (in his Oscar-nominated role, Aiello played the owner of a Brooklyn pizzeria, a white business in a neighborhood filled with ethnic tensions) and “Moonstruck” (he played Cher’s boyfriend). The clips alternated with Aiello’s more-recent music videos, in which he updates old standards, like “Save The Last Dance For Me,” by crooning in Frank Sinatra-like fashion, with accompaniment from the rapper Hasan.
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