Access Atlanta > Movies > Blog > Archives > 2008 > March > 21
Friday, March 21, 2008
Take a listen to 3 Bulgarian “Idol” losers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Be glad you don’t live in Bulgaria.
Here’s that country’s top three “Music Idol” losers.
Enjoy (or should I say, “Endure”?).
Permalink | Comments (4) | Post your comment | Categories: Mr. Smithee's Megaplex
You want to see live 3-D sports, concerts in theaters?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Bankroller Mark Cuban on Tuesday will use one of his Landmark theaters in Texas to broadcast a live NBA game in 3-D.
It’s one of the first in what Cuban sees as the wave of the future: exhibition of live sports and concerts in a three-dimensional format via satellite in movie theaters.
Tuesday’s game involves the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Clippers and will be shown at Landmark’s Magnolia Theater in Dallas.
Do you want to see live 3-D sports, concerts in theaters? Which would you be more excited to see — the Braves, Falcons, Hawks or Thrashers?
Permalink | Comments (45) | Post your comment | Categories: Bob Longino
Here’s what I’d watch if I had a really big screen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I am the executive director of the Strand Theatre, a 1935 movie house on the Marietta Square that we are currently renovating. In the fall of this year, the theater will reopen as a restored performing arts facility after being vacant for about 35 years. In addition to live theater, concerts and corporate events, we will be showing classic movies.
Based on your extensive knowledge of the movie industry, would you recommend your top 10 “must-see” movies that we should present during our first couple of years of operation?
EARL REECE, Marietta
Dear You,
Know who makes me happy?
You.
I’ve been dreaming of metro Atlanta having a revival house for quite some time. I love how those spunky kids at the Plaza Theatre play with programming, which means we get a lot of B-movie and horror classics.
Coming March 29, for instance, at the Plaza’s Silver Scream Spookshow is 1966’s “Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster!” Happy times.
I imagine that artwise, the Strand plans on aiming a little higher. You program according to what’s going to bring in your base audience.
All I know is that if I had a movie house, these would be among the first crop of movies I’d want to see on a big screen:
1. “Top Hat” (1935). What’s not to like about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? Besides, it’s the first film to ever play at the Strand. Makes sense to me to book it.
2. “Intolerance” (1916). D.W. Griffith’s multi-era silent masterpiece is the third-best American film ever made. (Third? Well, I have this unquenchable thing for “Godfather” 1 and “Godfather” 2.)
3. “The Third Man” (1949). Noir at its very best.
4. “Nanook of the North” (1922). It’s only 79 minutes long. So I’d make it a double bill with Buster Keaton’s 75-minute, Marietta-centric “The General” (1927).
5. “To Kill a Mockingbird” (1962). I don’t care how easy and available it is to see this movie at home. I want to see it again in a theater just like I did as a kid in 1963.
6. “Children of Paradise” (1945). I thought “Gone With the Wind” was big and beautiful until I saw this French epic masterpiece.
7. “Ran” (1985). Akira Kurosawa’s battle epic just soars.
8. “Trouble in Paradise” (1932). You want a great romantic comedy? Ernst Lubitsch used subtlety, rightly figuring the audience had a brain.
9. “Do the Right Thing” (1989). Seems to me it doesn’t get shown often enough.
10. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). Because writer Arthur C. Clarke died this week.
ALAN
P.S. You get a set of four posters from the “Indy Jones” movies and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I have a vague memory of a film about Pontiac’s War. Something like “Drums Along the Mohawk” but that wasn’t it. Any suggestions?
PERRY TREADWELL, Decatur
Dear You’re Right About One Thing,
“Drums Along the Mohawk” (1939) with Henry Fonda, Claudette Colbert and the feisty and Oscar-nominated Edna May Oliver, definitely is not it. That fine movie, as I am sure you realize, involved the Revolutionary War, which came after Pontiac’s War.
For those readers who might be history challenged, let me pause to explain that Pontiac’s War began in 1763 and involved Native American tribes seeking to oust the British and settlers in the Great Lakes region.
Here’s a fact to wake you up: British officers apparently tried to infect their attackers with blankets exposed to smallpox.
Perry, the movie I believe you have in mind is the 1947 Cecil B. DeMille epic “Unconquered” with Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard.
Of special note: Boris Karloff, of all people, plays Chief Guyasuta, the Seneca/Mingo head honcho who, along with the Ottawa tribe’s Chief Pontiac, led Native American efforts.
Lucky you, “Unconquered” was released on DVD last year.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Bee Movie” plush toy and an “Ask Alan Smithee” T-shirt.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Alan Smithee
