Category Archives: Film

Happy New Year – Sixteen “16”s for 2016

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Here are sixteen images of various 16s from throughout Little Rock.

 

1616 Scott

The intersection of 16th and Scott Streets


1616 Bus route

Rock Region Metro route 16


1616 fox

KLRT Fox 16 tower in downtown


1616 Firebird

Sixteenth notes from FIREBIRD SUITE which will be played by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra later this month.


1616 candles

Sixteen Candles movie is available for checkout from the Central Arkansas Library System


1616 june novel

The novel THE SIXTEENTH OF JUNE is available at Barnes & Noble


1616 Gas

Gas for $1.60 9/10 a gallon in Little Rock. (Yes, this is a slight cheat on the 16, but the 1 and 6 are still next to each other)


1616 Tons

Tennessee Ernie Ford’s LP “Sixteen Tons” available at music stores and in many homes in LR


1616 street

A street address which reverses the year – 1620 instead of 2016


1616 LRFD

Little Rock Fire Station Number 16 servicing Walton Heights and parts of Pleasant Valley


A clock in the Culture Vulture's car

A clock in the Culture Vulture’s car


A detail from an Arkansas license plate

A detail from an Arkansas license plate


A 16th birthday card

A 16th birthday card


A grocery store aisle

A grocery store aisle


Roswell Beebe, Little Rock's 16th Mayor

Roswell Beebe, Little Rock’s 16th Mayor


Little Rock has the 16th square on the new Monopoly Here & Now Game. And rent is $160

Little Rock has the 16th square on the new Monopoly Here & Now Game. And rent is 160

15 Highlights of 2015 – Little Rock Film Festival ends

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LRFF EndOn September 30, 2015, the “Fin” screen appeared for the Little Rock Film Festival. The mark it has made to boost filmmaking and the artform of cinema will last for years to come.

Statement from the Little Rock Film Festival:

After 9 great years, each one bigger and arguably better than the last, The Little Rock Film Festival is retiring.

We are proud of the Arkansas filmmaking community that we have helped to inspire and promote, and pleased to have brought hundreds of the top independent filmmakers from around the World to Central Arkansas each year to share their work directly with audiences.

Along the way, we were able to show off our beautiful city and state, and provide the kind of cultural entertainment we believe is essential for a city like Little Rock, to attract and retain the young people it needs to prosper and compete.

Thank you to the sponsors, festivalgoers, filmmakers and volunteers who have been a part of this fantastic ride. We love you all.

Longtime Little Rock Film Festival programmer Justin Nickels has stepped in to make sure that the Little Rock Picture Show festival will continue.  It will take place in June 2016.

Several in the Little Rock arts and film community are trying to pick up the banner for a new Little Rock Film Festival. Stay tuned to 2016!

It’s OFFICIALLY Here! The new Star Wars movie

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IMG_5919As a third grade boy, I remember devouring the novelized version of Star Wars in 1977. I read everything I could about the movie. I owned the two album London Symphony Orchestra soundtrack.

I was a few months late to Star Wars figures, but Christmas of 1977 and birthday of 1978 did feature them as gifts. (I promptly lost my Sandcrawler weapon at my grandparents’ house on Christmas day.)

In those early days, I was excited by the idea of NINE Star Wars movies. Then, I gave up hope when George Lucas abandoned them after Return of the Jedi. When the prequels were announced during my adulthood, I was excited. Only to be disappointed by the actual movies (though admittedly they did get better by episode 3).

But now – the day my eighth grade self dreamed of, is here! What happens AFTER Return of the Jedi.

In honor of Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening day, here is a flash back to the Arkansas Gazette ad in June 1977 when the first film hit Little Rock (a full month after it first opened in New York).

It did not reach Little Rock until June 24, 1977. Given its status as a sleeper hit, it is no surprise that it came into Little Rock largely unnoticed.

In that day, major films opening on a Friday would be heralded the previous Sunday with a substantial advertisement. The first Star Wars ad ran on Thursday, June 23, 1977, the day before it opened. By contrast, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, which would play at the same theatre, had a large ad on Sunday, June 19.

While Star Wars would seem like the perfect movie for the great UA Cinema 150, it did not play there. The film playing at the 150 was A Bridge Too Far, which was, at least an action movie. Star Wars did not even open at a UA theatre. It opened at the ABC Cinema 1 & 2 (located at Markham and John Barrow) and at the McCain Mall Cinema. (The ABC Cinema location is now home to discount cellphone and discount clothing businesses; a cinema has returned to McCain Mall but in a different location.)

The day it opened, there was a fairly large ad which incorporated the familiar beefcake Luke, Leia in flowing gowns, and Darth Vader mask. On the Sunday after it opened, there was a slightly smaller ad with the same artwork. McCain Mall also ran a small add for both Star Wars and Herbie. It noted that Star Wars was a film that management “does not recommend for children.”

#GivingTuesday – support a cultural institution

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Today is #GivingTuesday. Since most of the cultural institutions are non-profits, please remember them when considering a donation.

 

“Most Likely to Succeed” film screening and Q&A at Clinton School tonight

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Tonight at 7pm, the Clinton School will screen the documentary Most Likely to Succeed.  It will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer Ted Dintersmith.

Where a college diploma once meant a guaranteed job, now more than half of America’s new college graduates are unable to find employment. Director Greg Whiteley locates the source of the problem not in the economy but in our educational system, which was developed at the dawn of the Industrial Age to train obedient workers and has changed little since, despite radical changes in the marketplace wrought by technology and the outsourcing of labor.

With a world of information available a click away, and the modern workplace valuing skills like collaboration and critical thinking, our rote-based system of learning has become outdated and ineffective. Charter schools like San Diego’s High Tech High, which replaces standardized tests and compartmentalized subjects with project-based learning and a student-focused curriculum, offer an alternative. Whiteley follows students, teachers, and parents to see if this different model can reawaken the love of learning and offer the potential for a paradigmatic shift in education.

Free “Movies at MacArthur Museum” tonight WAY OF THE WARRIOR

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In partnership with AETN, the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will host a screening of the documentary Way of the Warrior. The screening starts at 6:30pm tonight at the museum in MacArthur Park.  This film was chosen for November as a way to commemorate Native American Heritage Month.

Free admission. Free popcorn and beverages provided.

This documentary examines the visceral nature of war and the bravery of Native-American veterans who served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War–and came to grips with the difficult post-war personal and societal conditions.

Their stories are examined through the prism of what it means to be “ogichidaa,” one who protects and follows the way of the warrior. Dramatic historical footage, period photographs and sound effects juxtaposed with photos of veterans in more genial settings, away from combat with family and friends stateside, create portrait of not just the warrior, but the paradox of a warrior’s motivations.

The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History is a program of the City of Little Rock’s Parks and Recreation Department.

KONG is King at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight in screening of 1933 classic

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Before the ill-advised remakes and schlocky sequels, there was the original 1933 RKO classic KING KONG.  This movie defies genres: it is not really a horror film, an action film, or a romantic film – though it has elements of all three.

Tonight at 8pm at the Ron Robinson Theater, take the opportunity to enjoy the Big Ape on the Big Screen.  Admission is $5.

Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot star in this film which used the tagline, “A Monster of Creation’s Dawn Breaks Loose in Our World Today!”  Though listed as a “Cooper-Schoedsack Production” neither Merian C. Cooper nor Ernest B. Schoedsack were credited as directors.  Cooper and Edgar Wallace did receive credit for conceiving the movie.  The film’s screenplay credits went to James Creelman and Ruth Rose, though Cooper, Wallace and Leon Gordon also contributed to the script.

This film helped make the Empire State Building famous with its climactic action sequence.

Carl Denham needs to finish his movie and has the perfect location; Skull Island. But he still needs to find a leading lady. This ‘soon-to-be-unfortunate’ soul is Ann Darrow.  No one knows what they will encounter on this island and why it is so mysterious, but once they reach it, they will soon find out. Living on this hidden island is a giant gorilla and this beast now has Ann in it’s grasps. Carl and Ann’s new love, Jack Driscoll must travel through the jungle looking for Kong and Ann, whilst avoiding all sorts of creatures and beasts.