For Raleigh Film Fans, These Are Some Of The Saddest Sights In Town

Citing plumbing issues, Mission Valley Cinema closed last summer after more than 45 years in operation. I’ve seen many many movies there since the ‘80s (I’m pretty sure the first movie I ever saw there was the Eddie Murphy/Nick Nolte action comedy 48 HRS in 1982) so I hate seeing the empty marquee whenever I go that shopping center.

There has been talk about the possibility of new owners, so there is some flicker of hope that the five screen venue might re-open someday, but until then that image above will remain a very depressing sight indeed.

Here’s a picture of Mission Valley in happier times - the opening of RETURN OF THE JEDI on May 25, 1983: 

I wasn’t there as I was living in Chapel Hill at the time and saw the movie at the Carolina Theatre on Franklin Street there - sadly that’s another venue that’s no longer with us as it closed in 2005.

I never worked at Mission Valley, but I worked for the same company – Ambassador Entertainment - at the Colony Theater in North Raleigh from 2009 to when it closed in 2015. 

The two screen indie theater originally opened in 1969, and like MVC, I had attended films there since the ‘80s (I’m pretty sure the first film I ever saw there was the Billy Crystal/Danny Devito comedy THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN).

I still work for Ambassador Entertainment at the Rialto Theatre (opened in 1942), and often moviegoers will ask about whether the Colony will re-open. These hopes were fueled by the Raleigh News & Observer in 2017 when they reported that a permit had been issued for renovations. But that was three years ago, and nothing has happened.

Since I live fairly close to the Colony (or the Colony’s old location I should say), I see that sad blank marquee often (the empty poster cases are pretty dismal looking too). Within the last week I stopped by to look through the windows, and it was obvious that no work had been done since the seats were ripped out of the floor five years ago.

On more of an up note, here’s the Colony in happier times with one of my favorite marquees.

Man, I miss those yearly showings of THE BIG LEBOWSKI. The N.C. Museum of Art does a good job with their LEBOWSKI events, but it’s just not the same as the Colony’s.

If these venues don’t re-open in some fashion, I wish they’d take down those marquees so film fans don’t have to see their blank faces for years and years. But maybe it’d be worse if they took them away. At least they are reminders of what was, and serve as some kind of marker. Maybe that’s why I made this post with pictures of them.

Since I’ve mentioned three theaters that have closed in this post, I guess the bottom line is: support indie theaters!

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Oscars® 2018 Recap: My Best Score Since 2015

“For those who say we're all out-of-touch Hollywood elites - I’ll have you know that each of the 45 million Swarovski crystals on this stage tonight represents humility.” 

I spent last night at the Rialto Theatre in Raleigh watching the 90th Academy Awards broadcast and enjoyed the show a lot more than the last several years. 

It felt like there was more of a purpose to the proceedings this time largely via moments like Frances McDormand’s impassioned speech, Emma Stone saying that “four males and Greta Gerwig” were up for Best Director, Daniela Vega being the first openly trans actress, Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph joking about #oscarsowhite controversy from a few years back, and rapper Common calling out President Trump: “A president that chose with hate/He don’t control our fate/Because god is great/ When they go low we stay in the heights/I stand for peace, love and women’s rights.”

Jimmy Kimmel did a good job as host touching on some of the same topics, and I liked his bit about giving away a jet ski to the Osacr winner who makes the shortest speech (see Helen Mirren showing it off above). 

Anyway, I had my best score in years as I bested the last two Oscars (at least by one) with a tally of 17 out of 24. Here's the ones I got wrong:

BEST PICTURE: My prediction: GET OUT / What won: THE SHAPE OF WATER

While I got wrong that Jordan Peel’s excellent film would win the big one, I was right that he’d win for Best Screenplay - another great moment as he’s the first African American to do so.

BEST DOCUMENTARY: My prediction: FACES PLACES / What won: ICARUS

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: My prediction: EDDIE+EDITH / What won: HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405

FILM EDITING: My prediction: BABY DRIVER / What won: DUNKIRK

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:  My prediction: WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES / What won: BLADE RUNNER 2049

I really didn’t expect BLADE RUNNER 2049 to win more than one Oscar (it won for Best Visual Effects, and Best Cinematography). I predicted Roger Deakins would win for his masterful work on BR 2049, and was happy that after over a dozen nominations over the years that it finally happened.

ORIGINAL SONG: My prediction: “This Is Me” from THE GREATEST SHOWMAN (Justin Paul & Benj Pasek) / What won: “Remember Me” from COCO

LIVE ACTION SHORT: My prediction: DEKALB ELEMENTARY / What won: THE SILENT CHILD

Lastly I was disappointed that the In Memorium segment left out John Mahoney, Robert Guillaume, Tobe Hooper, Powers Boothe, Adam West, and Tom Petty (sure Eddie Vedder covering Petty’s “A Room at the Top” worked as a tribute, but I would’ve loved seeing a clip of Petty in THE POSTMAN in the montage).

Okay! That’s it for this year. As I’ve said before, now back to watching movies for fun and not for sport.

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Richard Gere Fakes His Way Through Being A Fixer in NORMAN

Now playing at an indie arthouse near me (the Rialto in Raleigh being the closest):

NORMAN (Dir. Joseph Cedar, 2016)

In Israeli writer/director’s first English language film NORMAN (aka NORMAN: THE MODERATE RISE AND TRAGIC FALL OF A NEW YORK FIXER), Richard Gere schleps around Manhattan stalking powerful people who he promises to introduce to other powerful people.

Gere’s Norman Oppenheimer constantly networks, trying to make political connections, handing out his business card for “Oppenheimer Strategies,” faking his way through being a fixer with most of his prey knowing, or sensing that he’s just a small time operator with no real clout.

That is until one day when he meets Micha Eshel (a smooth, charming Lior Ashkenazi), the deputy Israeli minister of trade and labor, outside a high end clothing store (Norman was staking him, of course), and the two establish a friendship - mostly because Norman buys Micha an outrageously expensive pair of shoes.

Three years later, Eshel is made Prime Minister of Israel, and Norman aims to rekindle their relationship as it appears that he finally has an “in.” Norman is subsequently sought after, while his past is scrutinized, and he finds he’s being followed. Then Eshel gets caught in a scandal involving bribes and corruption, and Norman may be in hot water as the unnamed businessman that Eshel will have to use as a scapegoat in order to escape prosecution.

Gere, while neither Jewish or a schlub (albeit a well dressed one with a cashmere coat and nice suits), is terrific as Norman, who at times appears to stare into the abyss as we see looking through his eyes at unforgiving surroundings.

Utterly believable as this pathetic, delusional loser who believes he’s a winner and fancies himself a macher (Yiddish for an important or influential person), Gere interacts with the rest of the cast in sometimes amusing, sometimes cringe-worthy ways.

The rest of the cast includes Michael Sheen as Norman’s skeptical nephew, Steve Buscemi as a Rabbi who stupidly trusts Norman to find an investor so he can save his synagogue, Hank Azaria as the guy following Norman who turns out to be a “Norman” himself with a similar business card for a non-existent company, and pitches that he can connect powerful people with one another; and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a woman who Norman blabs to on a train, who turns out to be an Israeli prosecutor.

It’s billed as a thriller, but Director Cedar, working from his own screenplay, plays a lot of this material in a comedic fashion by populating the film with doublespeak dialogue and a sometimes silly score by Japanese composer Jun Miyake which is dominated by a bouncy brass section.

NORMAN may take a bit to get going, but once it does it’s a wicked delight. It could be seen as a companion piece to Oren Moverman’s TIME OUT OF MIND, which starred Gere as a delusional homeless man wandering the streets of New York, hoping to re-connect with his daughter.

Gere’s Norman may be homeless himself as while a rent-controlled apartment that he inherited is mentioned, we never see it. He also says he has a daughter, but we’re not sure we believe him. The man who once starred in a movie called POWER, and has made a career out of playing slick affluent men, is now excelling at playing scruffy people who have no power.

Gere used to be an actor that didn’t appeal to me back in the day, but now having seen how f-in’ good he is at slumming it, he’s more than earned my respect.

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Classic Films On The Big Screen In The Triangle Area

This post is extremely localized about theaters in my area that show old movies so it might not appeal to some of my readers. However, I think it’s possible that out-of-towners will find some interest and may be inspired to comment about revival showings at theaters near them.

The summer season is overflowing with movie choices, but many in the Triangle may not know that there is a welcome antidote to the mind numbing “event movies” arriving weekly at the multiplexes.

Favorite films from years past, both classic and cult, are being shown at a number of theaters and venues in the area alongside current releases. These screenings give moviegoers a chance to see on the big screen films they’ve loved before on television or DVD, or heard about but never seen, in all their 35 millimeter glory. Plus, they’re typically not as expensive as first run films.

Built in 1926, The Carolina Theater in Durham has a great reputation for revival shows with their popular weekend series of horror movies: “Retrofantasma” and a summer series that this year includes double features of Robert De Niro (TAXI DRIVER, THE UNTOUCHABLES), Alfred Hitchcock (REAR WiINDOW and VERTIGO, Steven Spielberg (JAWS and INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM) and John Belushi (ANIMAL HOUSE and THE BLUES BROTHERS) features. 

“Retrofantasma”, billed as “a joyful jolt of terror and nostalgia”, has a dedicated audience for a roster ranging from SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT to the tongue in cheek CLUE. They may be scratchy old prints for the most part, but there's no denying the thrill of seeing famous film history writ large.

Located in North Raleigh, The Colony Theater caters to the cult crowd; the kids who grew up on Lucas and Spielberg but leaned towards Tarentino and Lynch as they matured. “Cool Classics @ The Colony” has showcased a multitude of films with fanatic followings such as PURPLE RAIN, ERASERHEAD, PULP FICTION and MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. 

After 3 successful years the Colony is starting a new series: “Cinema Overdrive” which will feature far out and obscure oddities like DEATH RACE 2000 (starring the recently deceased David Carradine) and Frank Zappa’s 200 MOTELS.

Colony Theater General Manager Denver Hill, a film buff and 35 MM film collector, said that the “Cool Classics” often “do a lot better than the usual films” as it’s been “slow for indie films lately.” Hill, who has worked for the theater since 2002, also remarked that he expected the June 16th and 17th showings of the late 90’s Coen Brothers cult classic THE BIG LEBOWSKI to make more money than the current well reviewed Broadway documentary EVERY LITTLE STEP. LEBOWSKI, is a repeat performance as Hill explains: “90% of the films have been customer requests.”

The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh offerings may be a bit more highbrow, but they are just as crowd pleasing. Over the fast few decades there have been many film festival of such icons as Woody Allen and such noted genres as “film noir.”

It should be noted that they could benefit from having more than one screening in the winter when movies are shown in their auditorium; multiple times when I tried to attend showings they were sold out or only single seats remained.

This is a non-issue in the summer season as they have outdoor screenings that can accommodate more people (of course, those can get rained out). This year the highlights will be a Watergate revisited weekend with AlLL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN and FROST/NIXON, a tribute to Paul Newman with a showing of THE STING, and at the end of August a 70th anniversary showing of GONE WITH THE WIND with an accompanying documentary “The Making Of A Legend.”

The Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, in their “Movies By Mooonlight” Summer series shows mostly movies from the last year (TWILIGHT, KUNG FU PANDA, IRON MAN, etc.) but does offer a few older titles: MOONSTRUCK and WAIT UNTIL DARK are showing this Summer. 

Be forewarned: Koka booth rarely shows 35 MM prints (the last one was 3 years ago: the legendary THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON) – the films are projected from a DVD. Still, it’s a beautiful venue and a fine evening be had with the right companion, lawn-chairs and beverages.

The Galaxy Theater in Cary often screens older films, in the last year they’ve presented an overlooked beautifully restored Charlie Chaplin film - MONSIEUR VERDOUX as well as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA and DOUBLE INDEMNITY. The theater, which is something of an art-house multiplex, has several popular series such as the “Undiscovered Gem Series,” the “Silver Screen Spring Series”, and like a number of local theaters, a “Kids Summer Movie Series” that runs on weekday mornings.

And for almost 20 years there’s been the Friday midnight showing of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW* at The Rialto. 

Via email, Ambassador Entertainment owner Bill Peeples said that “attendance is high and consistent” for the long running late show that has played “every Friday at midnight since December, 1989.”

The Rialto, which is part of Ambassador Entertainment along with the Colony, Mission Valley Theatres, and Six Forks Station, also hosts “Cinema, Inc”, billed as Raleigh’s oldest and finest non-profit film society offering classic film presentations once a month on Sunday night.

With the possible closing of the Varsity and Chelsea Theaters in Chapel Hill, one might wonder if more revival screenings might have changed their fate. 

This spring at the Chelsea, a retrospective of director Mark Rydell (including ON GOLDEN POND and THE ROSE) drew respectable crowds so it goes to shows that there is definitely an audience for vintage cinema in this area. If the historic Varsity and Chelsea theaters are to continue operation I hope they embrace the past as they look to the future.

Post note: For more information like show-times and directions and please click on the theater's highlighted names in the article.

* I just blogged about seeing THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW for the first time - read the post here.

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