Tag Archives: Oscars

DRIVING MISS DAISY at CALS Ron Robinson Theater tonight

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RRT driving-miss-daisy-posterThe Oscars are later this month, but tonight is a chance to see the winner of the 1989 Best Picture Oscar – DRIVING MISS DAISY. It will screen tonight at 7pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater.

Tickets are $5.  Concessions are available for purchase.

Based on the 1988 Pulitzer Prize winning play, Driving Miss Daisy tells the story of a textile factory owner who insists on hiring an ever-patient chauffeur for his aging head-strong mother. The Jewish woman and her African American driver eventually build a relationship over many years.

In addition to winning the Oscar for Best Picture, star Jessica Tandy won the Oscar for Best Actress.  Morgan Freeman and Dan Aykroyd each earned Oscar nominations for their performances.  Others in the cast include Patti LuPone and Esther Rolle.

Directed by Bruce Beresford (who surprisingly did not pick up a nomination for Best Director), the film was adapted by Alfred Uhry from his original stage play. Uhry won an Oscar for his writing. The film also earned a fourth Oscar for Best Makeup.  In addition to the nominations for Freeman and Aykroyd’s performances, it picked up nominations for Art Direction, Costumes, and Editing.

GONE WITH THE WIND on the big screen at the CALS Ron Robinson Theatre tonight

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Gone with the Wind (1939) PosterAs God is my witness, you can see Gone with the Wind on the big screen tonight! And frankly my dear, you should give a damn!

The doors to the CALS Ron Robinson Theater open tonight (10/30) at 6pm for the 7pm screening of the 1939 Best Picture winner.  Filled with romance, action, and witty dialogue (as well as melodrama and some embarrassing dialogue too), this film was destined to be a hit before it even started filming.

Everyone who was anyone (and a lot of noones) auditioned to be in the movie.  It went through a plethora of directors and screenwriters before it was completed. But through it all, producer David O. Selznick used a steel fist to keep it on course.

Nominated for thirteen Oscars, it won eight: Best Picture, Actress (Vivien Leigh), Supporting Actress (Hattie McDaniel, who became the first African American to win an Oscar – and had to sit in the segregated section at the awards ceremony), Director (Victor Fleming – who only directed about half the film, having been brought in after it had started), Screenplay (Sidney Howard – who had died in a farming accident and became the first posthumous Oscar winner), Cinematography, Art Direction and Editing.

Admission is $5, with concessions available for purchase.

 

 

THE LOOK OF SILENCE tonight at the CALS Ron Robinson Theater

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RRT Look SilenceTonight at 8pm at the CALS Ron Robinson Theatre, The Look of Silence will be shown.  The film is Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar®-nominated The Act Of Killing.

Through Oppenheimer’s footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. The documentary focuses on the youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, who decides to break the suffocating spell of submission and terror by doing something unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power: he confronts the men who killed his brother and, while testing their eyesight, asks them to accept responsibility for their actions. This unprecedented film initiates and bears witness to the collapse of fifty years of silence.

The film is rated PG-13. Admission is $5.

Ron Robinson Theater showing The Tale of the Princess Kaguya this afternoon

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RRT Tale PrincessThe Tale of the Princess Kaguya was nominated for Best Animated Feature earlier this year at the Oscars.

Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthralls all who encounter her – but ultimately she must confront her fate, the punishment for her crime

An international cast of actors voice the characters in this film including James Caan, Darren Criss, Lucy Liu, Beau Bridges, Dean Cain, Oliver Platt, James Marsden and Oscar winner Mary Steenburgen.

It screens this afternoon at 2pm at the Ron Robinson Theater.  Admission is $5 with concessions available for purchase.

This is part of the Kid Flix series.

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater

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RRT Rocky HorrorDo the Time Warp tonight at the Ron Robinson Theater when The Rocky Horror Picture Show is screened.

Doors open at 7pm, movie starts at 8pm.

A mixture of fantastical rock opera and horror movie spoof. A couple of ordinary kids – Brad and (Dammit) Janet (I love you) – have car trouble one dark and rainy night and knock on the door of a looming gothic mansion. They are stunned to learn that they have stumbled into an ongoing convention of kinky characters, hosted by Dr. Frank-N-Furter, a mad scientist who is a sweet transvestite from Transylvania.

The movie stars Tony nominee Tim Curry, Tony winner Barry Bostwick and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon along with appearances by Meat Loaf, and Richard O’Brien (who wrote the stage show and co-wrote the movie).

Originally a flop, it became one of the first cult-classic movies which ended up running for years in various cities.  Now is the chance to again see it on the big screen.

Admission is $7. Concessions are available for purchase.

RSVP today for August 29 Lights! Camera! Arkansas! FREE seminar at Old State House Museum

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LCA_topThis Saturday, the Old State House Museum will host a FREE seminar to explore Arkansas’s connection with the film and television industry.  It will take place from 9am to 2:30pm on August 29.

Activities will include a screening of the 2001 Academy-award winning Best Live Action Short Film “The Accountant.” Speakers including Robert Cochran, Suzanne McCray, Ben Fry, Stephen Koch and Philip Martin will discuss topics including women in film, Broncho Billy Anderson, music in Arkansas and Arkansas in the rise of regional Southern cinema.

“It gives a great sense of state pride knowing how incredibly important Arkansas has been to the film industry from a historical, technical and social standpoint,” said Suzanne McCray, one of the seminar’s presenters. “From the very first cowboy in film to the great up-and-coming actors and directors of today, Arkansas has made its case as a relevant and essential part of film and television.”

OSH logoSimilarly, presenter Bob Cochran said that his talk about a common film character-type is a perfect analogy for Arkansas. “There’s a standard trope of Hollywood films, the outsider — the character who the audience doesn’t expect anything from,” Cochran said. “However, by the end of the film this outsider reveals unexpected qualities and potential. That’s a wonderful analogy for the film industry in the state of Arkansas.”

An RSVP to the free event is required, and reservations can be made by emailing georganne@arkansasheritage.org or calling (501) 324-9685 today to reserve a place. The seminar is programming in support of the “Lights! Camera! Arkansas!” exhibit at the Old State House Museum, which will be on display until January 25, 2016.

The Old State House Museum is an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage.

Back to School Cinema: TO SIR, WITH LOVE

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tosirwithlove1967’s To Sir, With Love is a bit formulaic.  Following in the footsteps of Goodbye, Mr. Chips; The Corn Is Green; and Blackboard Jungle, it tells the tale of a teacher who seeks to educate “problem” students and show them a brighter future.

There are several reasons this movie succeeds.  One is Sidney Poitier. He is polished and understated exuding a genuine humanity without being beatifically noble.  The obvious wrinkle this movie presents to the formula is that the teacher is black, while the students are not mainly white.  While that is an added layer to the challenges “Sir” faces in teaching the students, neither the screenplay nor Poitier’s performance seek to make this a message movie.

The students also keep this movie from slipping into cliche.  They are a motley crew.  Filmed in the East End of London in 1966, these actors embody the time and era. These are not pristine, scrubbed faces – they are ruddy, with stringy hair. While they may be a bit older than their characters, it works in this movie.  These characters face hard lives and have had to grow up too quickly.  But, as Poitier’s character uncovers – they really are like schoolchildren who just want someone to care about them.

Several veteran mid-level British actors fill out the other adult roles.  Patricia Routledge makes her movie debut as one of Poitier’s colleagues.  For those who have only seen her as Hyacinth Bucket, her performance is a revelation here.

The cinematography, direction and music also aid the movie.  It has a dark, grimy look, more akin to a documentary. Director James Clavell working with cinematographer Paul Beeson and editor Peter Thornton, makes use of the realistic look while throwing in occasional quick cuts and varied angles. The iconic trip to the British Museum is accomplished by using only still photos over the score.  This was borne out of necessity because the museum would only allow still photos not filming.  But it is more powerful, and the photos are stunning.

The film was largely overlooked at awards time.  It was released the same year as Poitier’s In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.  He received no nomination that year at the Oscars — his three films probably all cancelled each other out.

The title song, which was sung by Lulu in the movie, was nominated for a Grammy.  Written by Mark London and Don Black, it has been covered by everyone from Al Green to Soul Asylum to 10,000 Maniacs with Michael Stipe.  Lulu’s version spent five weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard chart.