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NEWS OF ATHENS’ CINEMA SCENE
Welcome, or Welcome Back: Since this is
the deluxe annual "back-to-school" issue of
Flagpole, I'll give all you newcomers a little
primer in what goes on film-wise in our not-
so-sleepy little college town (Did I hear The
Princeton Review named UGA the fourth-best
party school in the nation? Splendid.)/ and
what this column is for. Athens has two multi
plexes, the GTC Beechwood and the Carmlke
12, and a budget second-run house, the
Georgia Square 5. You won't read much here
about what's playing in these theaters; those
films are amply covered elsewhere, or more
pointedly, everywhere else. Instead, I'll try
to keep you informed of less mainstream film
screenings and events around town, in the
hope that this column makes things easier for
local film artists, organizers, exhibitors and
audiences alike. .
The most significant venue for alternative,
independent and foreign films in Athens is
Cine, located at 234 W. Hancock Ave. down
town. This is the town's only art house, and a
good portion of what you read here will con
cern things happening there. Flicker Theatre
& Bar is also downtown, at 265 W. Washington
St., and hosts frequent screenings of a diverse
assortment of films, including’independent
projects by local filmmakers. The Athens-
Clarke County Public Library has free screen
ings of interesting films at least once a week.
The UGA Tate Center, once a fabulous haven
for alternative new releases and revivals, now
sticks mainly to second-run blockbusters (like
last week's offering, 17 Again'.), but does
occasionally host cool university-affiliated
stuff like the French Film Festival and the
Japanese Film Festival. Things come up in
other places, too, and I do my best to get the
word out.
Oh, and This: Another feature of this column
is that I allow myself the indulgence of ram
bling for a paragraph about something I've
seen recently; this makes my job more fun,
and it also gives you a better idea of where
I'm coming from when I recommend a film (or
don't). I originally stipulated that this sec
tion would be about the absolute last thing
I'd seen, but I admit I've fudged that slightly
a time or two. Like this week: I watched Jean
Renoir's 1925 La Fille de I'Eau this morning,
but I had a slightly more interesting experi
ence with Elia Kazan's East of Eden at Cine
last night. Here's why: as we were leaving the
theater, my wife and I had a conversation
about the tension created by the conflicting
acting styles of the various principles. My
wife thought James Dean's and Julie Harris'
emotional, deeply internalized "Method" act
ing was over-the-top and hyper-stylized, while
she found Raymond Massey and Burl Ives,
both operating in a more classical mode, more
natural and realistic. What's fascinating about
this is that I've always thought of the advent
of the Method as a sort of moment of divi
sion between the classical film acting styles
of the studio era, which today's audiences
often find stilted and alienating, and the sup
posed "naturalism" of today's actors. Cleariy
the notion of such a "moment of division" is
oversimplifying, but East of Eden is definitely
a site of direct, tumultuous contact between
old and new. I know what my wife means—in
the context of a Hollywood literary adaptation
from 1955, Dean and Harris come off like tor
tured animals—but the counterintuitive effect
of this clash of styles still surprised me.
Y Now, on to Business: Upcoming events
of interest at Cin§: East of Eden marked the
resumption of the Summer Classics series,
which continues this week with West
Side Story and, starting Friday, Aug.
14, The Pink Panther. Also announced
is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,
probably opening Aug. 21. Admission
for Summer Classics is $5... The Atlanta
rock documentary We Fun shows
the weekend of Aug. 14-16. Parties
involved, including former Athens gad
about, now Chunklet impresario Henry
Owings, will be present for a Q&A ses
sion at the Friday, Aug. 14 screening.
Check www.myspace.com/wefunmovie
for more details... EcoFocus will co
host a presentation of Robert Kenner's
acclaimed, frightening-sounding docu
mentary Food, Inc. beginning Aug. 21.
The film parts the curtains on industrial
food production in the U.S.... On Aug.
22, the Southern Foodways Alliance
presents the Potllkker Film Festival,
an evening of food from local chefs
as distinguished and diverse as Hugh
Acheson and Dexter Weaver, music and
entertainment from the likes of Coleman
Barks, Terrapin beer, and, of course, short
films showcasing and celebrating regional food
culture... Astra Taylor's screening of her new
documentary Examined Life a couple of weeks
ago was so well attended that people had to
be turned away. The film will be brought back
for a more extended engagement, probably in
early September... Go to www.athensrine.com.
ACC Library Screenings: Somehow I got a
little ahead of myself with regard to the
IFilms series in my last column; my apolo
gies. As I mentioned two weeks ago, the Aug.
13 screening is The Gods of Times Square,
Richard Sandler's 1999 documentary about
the transformation of Manhattan's famed
cultural epicenter from a gritty, diverse hive
of pulsating urban life into a corporate-spon
sored civic theme park. Aug. 20 brings The
Window, a "poetic, humanistic" Argentinean
film from director Carlos Sorin about a bed
ridden 80-year : old man awaiting a visit from
his estranged son. All iFilms screenings are
Thursdays at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the
main library at 2025 Baxter St. For more infor
mation, go to www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us.
Dave Marr film@flagpole.com
Cin§ continues its Summer Classics series with a screening
of The Pink Panther on Friday, Aug. 14.
aim
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