Tag Archives: Central Arkansas Library System

HIDDEN FIGURES closes out July’s Space Cinema events on CALS Ron Robinson Theatre screen

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Image result for hidden figures movieThe 2016 film Hidden Figures is being shown tonight  (July 30) at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater as it closes out Space Cinema events.

As the United States raced against Russia to put a man in space, NASA found untapped talent in a group of African-American female mathematicians that served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in U.S. history. Based on the unbelievably true life stories of three of these women, known as “human computers”,  Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Gobels Johnson crossed all gender, race, and professional lines while their brilliance and desire to dream big, beyond anything ever accomplished before by the human race, firmly cemented them in U.S. history as true American heroes.

The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monae, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Mahershala Ali, and Aldis Hodge.  Directed by Theodore Melfi, it was based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book.  It was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Spencer), and Adapted Screenplay.

The screening starts at 7:00pm.

 

Life and Legacy of Chesley Bonestell focus of film on CALS Ron Robinson Theatre screen tonight

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Chesley Bonestell: A Brush With The Future, is a feature length documentary about the life, work, and influence of “The Father of Space Art.”  It will be shown tonight (July 26) at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

The film is sponsored by the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society, the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium, and the Central Arkansas Library System.

Long before spacecraft would journey to the planets or deep-space telescopes photographed distant galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters, there was an artist whose dazzling visions of space would capture the imaginations of all who beheld them. With his art, he helped inspire America’s space program, NASA, and many of the scientists, engineers, technicians, and astronauts who would one day put us on the Moon. Before that, he was an architect working on projects like the Chrysler Building and the Golden Gate Bridge. He would later be recruited by Hollywood to create matte paintings for films such as Citizen Kane and Destination Moon.

Who was this man? His name was Chesley Bonestell.

Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future is the first-ever documentary to focus on the amazing life and works of “The Father of Space Art.” Bonestell’s paintings of worlds beyond our own helped create America’s space program. On the eve of celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the lunar landing, it can be said thatChesley was a man who helped get us to the moon, not with technology, but with a paintbrush.

“More than three decades after his death in 1986, Bonestell remains one of the most important and influential astronomical artists ever to put paint to canvas.” – Don Vaughan, Filmfax Magazine, Jan. – Mar. Issue 2019

Chesley Bonestell: A Brush with the Future features rare interviews with Bonestell himself, along with Ray Bradbury (Fahrenheit 451), Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey) and veterans Ben Burtt, Craig Barron and Richard Edlund. Additional perspectives come from space artists David Aguilar, Don Davis, astronomer Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz and numerous others who knew him or were influenced by his art. This multi-award-winning film compellingly combines art, science fiction and science fact to engagingly tell the story of Bonestell’s life and his uncanny predictive ability to create visions of distant worlds that still resonate deeply within us.

Six Weeks of STAR WARS continues at Ron Robinson Theater tonight with STAR WARS: REVENGE OF THE SITH

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Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith PosterFor six weeks this summer, the Central Arkansas Library System is showing the first six episodes of the STAR WARS saga on Thursday evenings at the Ron Robinson Theater.  They are being shown in episode order, not release order, or any of the other orders dreamed up by fans.

Tonight is Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith

In this 2005 film, three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, the noble Jedi Knights have been leading a massive clone army into a galaxy-wide battle against the Separatists. When the sinister Sith unveil a thousand-year-old plot to rule the galaxy, the Republic crumbles and from its ashes rises the evil Galactic Empire. Jedi hero Anakin Skywalker is seduced by the dark side of the Force to become the Emperor’s new apprentice – Darth Vader.

The Jedi are decimated, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Master Yoda are forced into hiding. The only hope for the galaxy are Anakin’s own offspring – the twin children born in secrecy who will grow up to become Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.

The cast includes Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Jimmy Smits, Anthony Daniels, and Hayden Christensen.  It was again directed by George Lucas. The film was nominated for one Oscar: Best Makeup.

The screening starts tonight, July 25, at 7pm. Admission is $5.00.

$2 Terror Tuesdays on CALS Ron Robinson Theater screen – HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

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House on Haunted Hill PosterAhhhh, the mellifluous voice of Vincent Price.  Is there anyone more closely affiliated with mid-century horror films?  (Ok, you could say Hitchcock – but his were not really horror movies in the truest sense of the word.)

$2 Terror Tuesdays continue tonight (7/23) at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater with 1959’s HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL starring the aforementioned Price.  The trailer asks, “Do you dare enter” but since it uses no question mark I don’t know if it is more a declarative statement. (But then, the trailer also refers to it as “THE” House on Haunted Hill.)

Directed by William Castle, the film was written by Robb White and stars Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart. Price plays an eccentric millionaire, Frederick Loren, who, along with his wife Annabelle, has invited five people to the house for a “haunted house” party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000. As the night progresses, the guests are trapped within the house with an assortment of terrors.

The showing starts at 7pm.  Cost is $2.

Author Delia Owens: Where the Crawdads Sing this afternoon at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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Where the Crawdads Sing is a mystery, a love story and a courtroom drama, but it is primarily a sociobiological drama about self-reliance, survival and how isolation affects human behavior. The #1 best-selling novel has been on the New York Times Best-seller list for 26 weeks.

Delia Owens is the co-author of three internationally best-selling nonfiction books about her life as a wildlife scientist in Africa – Cry of the Kalahari, The Eye of the Elephant, and Secrets of the Savanna.

She currently lives in Idaho, where she continues her support for the people and wildlife of Zambia.

Where the Crawdads Sing is her first novel, inspired by her research on female bonding in the animal kingdom and her own lifelong friendships. It is the 2019 Selection for the “If All Arkansas Read the Same Book” series, sponsored by the Arkansas Center for the Book a the Arkansas State Library. This project is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

This event is currently sold out. But a wait list is being maintained.

See the stars through a CALS telescope

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While the US may not be currently sending astronauts into space, there are still opportunities to learn more about the stars. To help inspire that, the Central Arkansas Library System (CALS) has a Telescope Program with telescopes available for CALS patrons to borrow.

The telescopes are 4.5” Orion StarBlast Newtonian instruments and will gather several hundred times more light than the unaided eye and magnify up to 56 times.  These small, portable scopes are particularly suited to observing the moon and the brighter planets, such as Saturn, Jupiter, and under proper conditions some “deep sky” objects can be observed as well, such as star clusters.

The CALS Telescope Program began in 2016 when the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society helped CALS procure funding for the program from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium and then modified the original collection of 16 telescopes for public use. There are now over 40 telescopes available.

Since the program began, hundreds of CALS patrons have participated in the program, checking out telescopes to take home and attending educational events to learn about the night sky

Mark 50 years of Apollo 11 with a screening of APOLLO 13 at CALS Ron Robinson tonight

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Apollo 13 PosterOn July 20, 1969, “the Eagle has landed” was uttered as man stepped foot on the moon.

While the Apollo 11 mission was successful, two missions later, Apollo 13 faced many travails.  Ron Howard’s 1995 film explored the aborted 1970 Apollo 13 mission. It is based on the book Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by astronaut Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger.

Astronauts Lovell, Jack Swigert, and Fred Haise aboard Apollo 13 for America’s third Moon landing mission. En route, an on-board explosion deprives their spacecraft of most of its oxygen supply and electric power, forcing NASA’s flight controllers to abort the Moon landing, and turning the mission into a struggle to get the three men home safely.

The film’s star-studded cast includes Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan, and Ed Harris.  The movie was nominated for nine Oscars (Picture, Supporting Actor-Ed Harris, Supporting Actress-Kathleen Quinlan, Adapted Screenplay, Art/Set Direction, Visual Effects, Film Editing, Original Score, and Sound) and won two: Sound and Film Editing.

Tonight (July 20) at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater, Apollo 13 will be shown.  Doors open at 6pm and the film starts at 7pm.  Cost is $2.  Members of the Central Arkansas Astronomical Society receive free admission.