A message from Johnny Alonso

UPDATE: Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon HELD OVER again

Held Over @ The Senator Theatre Through Thursday, August 6th
By Popular Demand!

Presented with a stunning digitally restored 35mm print

The husband, the wife... or the bandit?

"Rashomon (1950) struck the world of film like a thunderbolt."
Rober Ebert - Chicago Sun Times

Starring:
Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki & Kichijiro Ueda

Friday, July 31st and Saturday, August 1st
showtimes: 5:45 & 7:45 pm

Sunday, August 2nd showtimes:
3:45, 5:45 & 7:45pm.

Monday, August 3rd Through Tuesday, August 4th
showtimes: 5:45 & 7:45pm.

Thursday, August 6th, 5:45 & 7:45 PM.

NOTE: Wednesday shows have been canceled for a private event.

Admission $8

A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view.

Running Time For "Rashomon":
Approx. 1hr and 30min.

The Restoration

The basis for this stunning new restoration was a 35mm print created in 1962 from the original camera negative; while the print itself was in good physical condition, the source material from which it was made was extremely battered. Due to the extensive printing and handling it had received over its lifetime, many shots were already starting to shrink and wrap, and there were numerous scratches, dust, and dirt in the damaged negative. Scanned at 4k resolution, that 47-year-old print has
been meticulously cleaned both digitally and by hand, complete with a new seamless soundtrack.

This essential restoration has been made possible by the Academy Film Archive, the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc., with funding provided by Kadokawa Cultural Promotion Foundation and
Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation.

I will continue to report on interim event schedules at The Senator, while we wait to find out what the future may be. At this time, I am unaware of any specific future events.

Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon HELD OVER!

Is this your last chance to see a movie at The Senator?

Held Over @ The Senator Theatre Through Thursday, July 30th
By Popular Demand!

Presented with a stunning digitally restored 35mm print

The husband, the wife... or the bandit?

"Rashomon (1950) struck the world of film like a thunderbolt."
Rober Ebert - Chicago Sun Times

Starring:
Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori, Takashi Shimura, Minoru Chiaki & Kichijiro Ueda

Friday, July 24th and Saturday, July 25th
showtimes: 3:45, 5:45, 7:45 & 9:45pm

Sunday, July 26th showtimes:
3:45, 5:45 & 7:45pm.

Monday, July 27th Through Thursday, July 30th
showtimes: 5:45 & 7:45pm.

Admission $8

A heinous crime and its aftermath are recalled from differing points of view.

Running Time For "Rashomon":
Approx. 1hr and 30min.

The Restoration

The basis for this stunning new restoration was a 35mm print created in 1962 from the original camera negative; while the print itself was in good physical condition, the source material from which it was made was extremely battered. Due to the extensive printing and handling it had received over its lifetime, many shots were already starting to shrink and wrap, and there were numerous scratches, dust, and dirt in the damaged negative. Scanned at 4k resolution, that 47-year-old print has
been meticulously cleaned both digitally and by hand, complete with a new seamless soundtrack.

This essential restoration has been made possible by the Academy Film Archive, the National Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and Kadokawa Pictures, Inc., with funding provided by Kadokawa Cultural Promotion Foundation and
Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation.

Is this your last chance to see a movie at The Senator?

Frankly, I don't know.

Baltimore City was the highest bidder in a confusing auction on Wednesday, where chaos was created by the auctioneer changing the venue of the auction from inside the theatre to outside with less than 5 minutes notice.

Ownership of the theatre will not actually change until the auction is ratified in court, which I understand will take at least 30 days.

Who knows? Maybe the next auction will have a better result.

In any case, what the future holds is unclear, and I am unaware of any more events scheduled at the theatre in the near future, although it's possible more events could be in the works.

A Conversation

This is a conversation between two of our patrons at The Senator, which they asked me to record. In it, they discuss a movie that played last weekend, "The Spook Who Sat By The Door," military service in Vietnam, and an upcoming biography by Carroll A. Durham, Jr., about his experience serving in Vietnam.

I got to try out my new editing software on this. Check out the groovy titles and transitions!



Just one more example of the fascinating array of events and conversations happening at The Senator!

New Schedule of Films at The Senator starting Friday!

The Last Season - The Life and Demolition of Memorial Stadium
(2002 - 50min)

Starts Friday, April 17th Through Thursday, April 23rd at 6pm @ The Senator Theatre

The Silencing of the World's Largest Outdoors Insane Asylum.

A Charles Cohen & Joseph Matthew Film

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5
Stay over for "Divine Trash" at no extra cost.

The documentary captures the almost ritualistic reaction to the demise of Memorial Stadium. The Film captures a steady stream of onlookers during the year and half that the wrecking ball swung, creating a time lapse view of a city wrestling with its blue collar past.

* * *
Divine Trash
Starts Friday, April 17th Through Thursday, April 23rd at 7:15pm @ The Senator Theatre

WINNER
Filmmakers Trophy ~ Best Documentary at The 1998 Sundance Film Festival

A Steve Yeager Film

An In-Depth Look at The Early Career of John Waters
(1998)

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5

The life and times of Baltimore film maker and midnight movie pioneer, John Waters, Intercut with a 1972 interview of Waters are clips from his first films and recent interviews with his parents, his brother, Divine's mom, actors and crew, other directors and more. Also included is footage of Waters making his early movies. In sweet ways, this documentary is also a celebration of Divine(1945-1988).

* * *

Last weekend "Stop Making Sense" rocked The Senator!

It's The Same as it Ever Was!

This Friday, April 17th & Saturday, April 18th it's Back By Popular Demand For Encore Presentations Friday & Saturday only at 9:00pm.

Relive The Senator's legendary 1984 engagement on the big screen, cranked up with state-of-the-art sound!

A Jonathan Demme Film
(1984)

"One of the greatest rock movies ever made."
Leonard Maltin

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5
Stay over for "Secret World Live" at no extra cost.

An innovative concert movie for the rock group The Talking Heads.

* * *

Starts Friday, April 17th @ The Senator
Friday & Saturday 10:30pm

A Francois Girard Film
Peter Gabriel
Secret World Live(1994)

Featuring:
Come Talk to Me | Steam | Across the River | Slow Marimbas
Shaking the Tree | Blood of Eden | San Jacinto | Red Raid
Kiss That Frog | Washing of the Water | Solsbury Hill
Digging in the Dirt | Sledgehammer | Big Time
Secret World | Don't Give Up | In Your Eyes

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5

* * *

Saturday, April 18th & Sunday, April 19th @ The Senator Theatre

The Senator Theatre & The Belvedere Improvement Association Present The 14th Annual Belvedere SpringFest
An Earth Day Celebration

Featuring BARAKA
(90min)

BARAKA (an ancient Sufi word for the essence of life) took filmmakers to 24 countries on a worldwide 14 month odyssey capturing breathtaking images to tell the story of earth's evolution, human culture diversity, and humankind's ecological impact on the earth. BARAKA is a stunning visual and auditory masterpiece when presented on the big screen at "Baltimore's Premiere Showplace."

Admission is FREE
(Donations appreciated)

12:00 - 1:00pm (SATURDAY ONLY) :
We're "Drumming up Support" for The Senator with a one-hour drum jam.
(Bring your own drums and shakers, or use ours!)

1:00 - 2:45pm (SATURDAY & SUNDAY):
BARAKA showtime for Saturday & Sunday is 1:00pm.

* * *
Monterey Pop
Saturday & Sunday only at 2:45pm

Filmed at the Monterey International Pop Festival

A D.A. Pennebaker Film
(1968)

Performances by:
Scott McKenzie, The Mamas & The Papas, Canned Heat, Simon & Garfunkel, Hugh Masekela, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Country Joe & The Fish, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, Ravi Shankar & Janis Joplin

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5
Stay over to see "HELP!" at no extra cost

A documentary of the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, focusing on the audience as well as performances by such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin & The Who.

* * *
HELP!
Stop worrying! HELP! is on the way!

Saturday & Sunday only at 4:15pm

A Richard Lester Film
(1965)

Featuring: The Beatles

"Recession Buster" Admission is $5

Ringo finds himself the human sacrifice target of a cult and the band must try to protect him from it.

Watchmen to Watch Over The Senator

Calling all fanboys and fangirls! The new Zack Snyder film WATCHMEN starts at The Senator this Thursday, March 5th at Midnight. Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, WATCHMEN concerns a group of ordinary, flawed human beings who take on superhero identities. Only one of the characters, Dr. Manhattan, has superhuman powers.

The Senator, often ranked in national media as one of the top movie theatres in the entire country, is the finest showcase in the area for an event film like WATCHMEN. The technical presentation is of the highest quality, which prompted the Theatre Alignment Program (TAP), a rigorous system of technical quality measurement designed by LucasFilms, to rank The Senator as one of the top theatres in the country for technical excellence.

After the midnight opening on Thursday, regular times for the movie will be at 1:00, 4:15, and 7:30 PM, with an additional 10:30 PM late show on Fridays and Saturdays.

Come see WATCHMEN as it ought to be seen!

War profiteering and John Cusack’s War, Inc. – Let’s talk about it

John Cusack’s War, Inc. is a must-see movie. Let’s make sure people see it.

Many of us who have been lucky enough to see this film already know that it’s funny, topical, and offers many levels of meaning, perhaps somewhat concealing its beautiful soul.

If you’ve been following what’s going on in this country, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and if you know your history, you’re also most likely aware that the issues of war profiteering and privatization this movie brings up are very real and very scary.

The corporate media, however, is not very good at informing us about what’s really going on when our reaction to events might jeopardize the profits of other corporations, which may even be linked through common investors or subsidiary arrangements to the media companies themselves. It seems to me the small number of corporate conglomerates that run most of the media companies in this country would prefer that you not see War, Inc. and understand what it’s really about.

I think that if there were an Oscar category for Most Relevant Non-Documentary Film, War, Inc. should win it. But that’s not going to happen. Nevertheless, in some better future when we recognize the history of American war profiteering for what it was, John Cusack may be seen as a hero for helping to bring this issue to light and into the pop culture consciousness.

Some of us who are fans of the movie may know others who are fans of John Cusack, but may think that he’s making all of this up. They may not have heard about this issue before, and perhaps they think that the absurdist extreme to which he takes the issue is just based on some sort of left wing paranoia. In fact, I don’t think he’s exaggerating very much.

I’ve been blogging about this movie more than I intended to, but sometimes I just have to go with the flow when I see an opportunity to make an impact. I’ve been deeply concerned about the state of the world all my life. I tend to go through periods of activism on various issues, followed by periods of feeling like all my efforts have been futile. If you’ve ever done any work as an activist, I think you probably know it’s hard sometimes to stay inspired. Right now, I have to thank John Cusack for making this an issue I have some chance of being able to laugh about, and for inspiring me to believe that we might make some progress on this issue if enough people can see this movie and come to understand it.

As I’ve been blogging about this movie and reading John Cusack’s blog and other blogs, I’ve come across some links we might want to use to talk about the movie and the issues it raises. This is hardly a comprehensive list, but check some of these out and if you know someone who needs to be educated on the issue of war profiteering, please consider passing some of these along.

My categorization of these links into movie-related or issue-related is somewhat arbitrary, since many cover both.

Movie-related links

War, Inc. Official page on MySpace (John Cusack)
IMDB page If you have a membership here, don’t forget to rate the movie!
First Look Studios official page
Watch the trailer on YouTube
The Hour: John Cusack on War, Inc. – great interview on YouTube
Buy it on Amazon.com
Rent it on Netflix – and don’t forget to review it and rate it.
Yahoo movies Rate the movie here!
DVD Talk
War, Inc. – a review that focuses on the reality of the issue
John Cusack’s Latest --- War, Inc. – positive review of the movie by a conservative
My own reviews:
The Flicks Files: War, Inc. (2008)
The Trinity, Redemption, and John Cusack’s War, Inc.
8th House Scorpions and How NOT to Recycle War Profiteers


Issue-related links

Whose Vision – Cusack’s or Bush’s – The Privatization of War
War Inc. 2002 article on the reality of war profiteering.
Dick Cheney: War Profiteer
Halliburton Watch
Iraq for Sale documentary film by Robert Greenwald
Interview with Kevin Phillips on the Bush Dynasty
Democracy Now! interview with John Cusack
Meet the Bloggers interview with Cusack and other bloggers on YouTube
John Cusack’s blog on Huffington Post
John Cusack’s blog MySpace
List of further facts and research links on Iraq for Sale web site


This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it’s a start. I hope it will help you to present this issue to others. And if you see other good links out there, or you post something on this movie yourself, post the link in a comment.

Oh, and here's the takeaway: the next time someone says we should get into a war, ask yourself who stands to make a buck.

It's enough to make a girl quite giddy.

Then again, maybe you could tell that for someone willing to call herself "AstroGirl," it doesn't take much. But still.

Let's see, how many other ways can I talk about this movie? Maybe my next essay will be on the astrological significance of scorpions and how they relate to the 8th house of sex. Or the importance of recycling famous British actors when you're done with them. Wouldn't want to throw them in garbage trucks, after all. Or perhaps the bathroom habits of Republican vice presidents. I guess I could actually write something about war profiteering, but then I'd be next on someone like Hauser's hit list, I'm sure of it.

Campaign Slogans for McCain and Obama and places I've visited lately in cyberspace

A friend was pointing out to me the racist subtext in the McCain/Palin campaign. Apparently we're supposed to want to save the pretty white woman from the scary black man. You can tell if you watch the ad where they claim "lipstick on a pig" was about Palin. Anyway, as a result I wrote this blog post about the real top ten campaign slogans of McCain and Obama on Progressive Blue.

Some readers may remember I was not initially thrilled with Obama, but the scarier his opponents get, the more he grows on me. Let's save America this time, OK?

Another friend forwarded me this commentary by Deepak Chopra. He says Sarah Palin is the "shadow self" acting out in opposition to the hope offered by Obama. Might be a good way to frame it for anyone who's into New Age stuff, but not politics.

I also just have to give a shout-out to my close, personal MySpace friend (yeah, right), John Cusack, who is clearly mad as heck and not going to take it anymore. I've been reading his blog, and I have to say, it's kind of nice to see this much outrage from someone who has enough celebrity to possibly get his voice heard loudly. His new movie, War, Inc., which seems to have been basically censored by corporate movie distributors, since it never made it to many cities, is due out on DVD soon. It's a satire about war profiteering. Really looking forward to that.

South Carolina's Native Son Rising

Check out this new ad by the Edwards campaign. I think it's really fun.



You can help to air it before the South Carolina primary on Saturday, January 26th by donating to the campaign.