Tag Archives: CALS

Relive THE LAST WALTZ tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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The Last Waltz PosterOne of the seminal North American music groups in the 1970s to 1990s was simply named The Band.  Relive The Band in its glory tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as it screens the 1978 movie The Last Waltz.

This film screening celebrates “one of the most important cultural events of the last two decades” (Rolling Stone).

Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz looks at The Band’s historic 1976 farewell concert and features Arkansas music legends Levon Helm and Ronnie Hawkins.

The Band was a Canadian-American roots rock group including Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Robbie Robertson, and Levon Helm. Their time backing Bob Dylan was when they first reached prominence, but they were originally formed as The Hawks, a backing band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins.  Following the Farewell Tour, as did so many other groups, The Band reconstituted itself from 1983 to 1999. And Levon Helm made music up until his final days.

In addition to featuring the members of The Band, The Last Waltz contains appearances by Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Dr. John, and Van Morrison, among others.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

Authors of TWO DEAD – Van Jensen and Nate Powell – headline next OA South Words program

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Image result for two dead book"The Oxford American is excited to continue its 2019-2020 South Words readers series with Van Jensen and Nate Powell, author and illustrator of Two Dead. Moderating the discussion is OA senior editor and author of Carry the Rock, Jay Jennings.

The program takes place at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.  Doors open at 6:00 PM, and there will be a book signing after the reading. Books will be for sale onsite.

Two Dead, a stunning crime noir graphic novel by Nate Powell and Van Jensen, explores intertwining threads of crime, conspiracy, racism, and insanity in the post-World War II Deep South.  Powell is the acclaimed DC Comics writer and the artist of the #1 New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-winning illustrated trilogy March. Jensen, a former crime reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a graphic novel writer who has written for the Pinocchio and Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and DC Comics.

This special event is free to attend. Please reserve your RSVP tickets on this page.

Our Presenting Sponsor for South Words is the UCA College of Fine Arts & Communication, and the reading series is presented in partnership with the Central Arkansas Library System’s Six Bridges Book Festival. Additional season partners include the Clinton School of Public Service, Arkansas Arts Council, Division of Arkansas Heritage, and Villa Vue at SoMa.

Van Jensen, a former crime reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, is a graphic novel writer who has written for the Pinocchio and Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and DC Comics. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Nate Powell is an illustrator who worked on the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel trilogy March, for which he became the first cartoonist ever to win the National Book Award. His work also includes You Don’t Say, Any Empire, Swallow Me Whole, The Silence of Our Friends, The Year of the Beasts, and Rick Riordan’s The Lost Hero and he has received a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, three Eisner Awards, two Ignatz Awards, two Harvey Awards, the Michael L. Printz Award, a Coretta Scott King Author Award, four YALSA Great Graphic Novels For Teens selections, and the Walter Dean Myers Award. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.

Jay Jennings is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in many national newspapers and magazines, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Lowbrow Reader, Garden & Gun, Travel & Leisure, and Oxford American, where he is a senior editor. He is the author of Carry the Rock: Race, Football and the Soul of an American City and the editor of Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany.

2 PET SEMETARYs for the price of 1 tonight at CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Pet Sematary double featureTonight (November 16), the Stephen King Rules! Book Club and the Bookstore at Library Square present a special double feature screening of the 1989 and 2019 adaptations of Pet Sematary (R). Enjoy both films for the price of one — only $5!

The road in front of Dr. Louis Creed’s rural Maine home frequently claims the lives of neighborhood pets. Louis has recently moved from Chicago to Ludlow with his wife Rachel, their children and pet cat. Near their house, local children have created a cemetery for the dogs and cats killed by the steady stream of transports on the busy highway. Deeper in the woods lies another graveyard, an ancient Indian burial ground whose sinister properties Louis discovers when the family cat is killed.

The 1989 version stars Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby, and Fred Gwynne while 2019’s version has Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow.

Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Pet Sematary (1989, R) starts at 5:30 p.m. Pet Sematary (2019, R) starts at 7:30 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be served!

1984 documentary THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO AL GREEN is being shown at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight

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Gospel According to Al Green PosterJoin CALS for a rare screening The Gospel According to Al Green, Robert Mugge’s 96-minute portrait of soul singer, gospel preacher, and Arkansas music legend Al Green filmed at a concert in Washington, D.C. and a church service in Memphis, TN.

The 1984 film delves into the tension between the singer’s secular hits and his sanctified calling. As noted in DECIDER: :The film is unobtrusively directed by Robert Mugge, who’s made a career out of documenting the greats of American roots music, and presents Green in a variety of different settings playing music and discussing his life.”

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

BingoFlix at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight with MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE

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Image result for manos the hands of fate"

BingoFlix returns to the Ron Robinson Theater!

Play bingo to some of the most hilarious movie cliches during a screening of the so-bad-it’s-good film, Manos: The Hands of Fate! Win prizes including free movie and event tickets to upcoming shows at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater!

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Film starts at 7:00 p.m. Beer, wine, and concessions will be available!

This 1966 American independent horror film revolves around a vacationing family who lose their way on a road trip. After a long drive in the Texas desert, the family finds themselves trapped at a lodge maintained by a polygynous pagan cult, and they attempt to escape as the cult’s members decide what to do with them.

One of the actors, John Reynolds, was on LSD throughout the filming. His incessant twitching may not be the weirdest thing about this movie.

The entire film was shot with a hand-held camera that could only record 32 seconds of film at a time. It was also shot without sound; all the lines were dubbed later by two men and one woman.

The only cast members who were paid for their performances were Jackey Neyman Jones and a Doberman, which got a bag of dog food. The rest of the cast was supposed to receive a cut of the movie’s profits, which never materialized. Director Harold P. Warren also gave the crew shares, instead of a salary.

Harry Thomason discusses BROTHER DOG: SOUTHERN TALES & HOLLYWOOD ADVENTURES today

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Producer and native Arkansan Harry Thomason will discuss his new book Brother Dog: Southern Tales & Hollywood Adventures today (November 10) at 3pm at the Clinton Presidential Center Great Hall.  The program is a partnership of the Clinton School of Public Service, Clinton Foundation, and Central Arkansas Library System.

Film and TV-movie producer Harry Thomason has worked with Burt Reynolds, Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck, and Billy Bob Thornton, among others. His self-effacing stories– both humorous and poignant – are told as only a true raconteur can tell them. Thomason lives in Los Angeles with his wife, creator/writer Linda Bloodworth Thomason (“Designing Women,” “Evening Shade,” “Heart’s Afire”).

A humor-laced episodic memoir, “Brother Dog” is the story of a working-class childhood in the rural South during the 1950s and 60s, striving to become a filmmaker on an ever-expanding stage, helping elect a friend to the presidency, and anecdotal encounters with Chuck Berry, Prime Minister Tony Blair and other luminaries, all rich in imagery, grit, and humor.