Tag Archives: Arizona

Salt Lake City, Utah: Open Air Cinema hosts Outdoor Movie at NRPA Convention

Glad you are here! If this is your first visit, you might want to subscribe to the Outdoor Movie Feed or email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing on the Open Air Cinema blog!

This past Wednesday, Open Air Cinema and Swank Motion Pictures hosted a free screening of Transformers 2 at the National Parks and Recreation Association (NRPA) national congress in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The screening was a blast, and everyone really enjoyed watching the movie on the huge 30′ screen. It was really great because everyone was able to see the screening on a brand-new system.  The sound was amazing, and the projection was stunning.  National Parks and Recreation administrators from all over the place came to see the screening: Alabama, Texas, Utah, California, New York, Colorado, Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and many other places.  Here is an excerpt of a review from io9:

“Critical consensus on Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is overwhelmingly negative. But the critics are wrong. Micheal Bay used a squillion dollars and a hundred supercomputers’ worth of CG for a brilliant art movie about the illusory nature of plot.

Oh, and I would warn you that there’ll be spoilers in this review — except that, really, since I still have no idea what actually happened in this movie, I’m not sure how much I can spoil it.

Since the days of Un Chien Andalou and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari filmmakers have reached beyond meaning. But with this summer’s biggest, loudest movie, Michael Bay takes us all the way inside Caligari’s cabinet. And once you enter, you can never emerge again. I saw this movie two days ago, and I’m still living inside it. Things are exploding wherever I look, household appliances are trying to kill me, and bizarre racial stereotypes are shouting at me.

Transformers: ROTF has mostly gotten pretty hideous reviews, but that’s because people don’t understand that this isn’t a movie, in the conventional sense. It’s an assault on the senses, a barrage of crazy imagery. Imagine that you went back in time to the late 1960s and found Terry Gilliam, fresh from doing his weird low-fi collage/animations for Monty Python. You proceeded to inject Gilliam with so many steroids his penis shrank to the size of a hair follicle, and you smushed a dozen tabs of LSD under his tongue. And then you gave him the GDP of a few sub-Saharan countries. Gilliam might have made a movie not unlike this one.”

Read more at http://io9.com/5301898/michael-bay-finally-made-an-art-movie

Read full storyComments Off

Tempe, Arizona: Major League Outdoor Movie Night

What: Major League Movie Night
When: Friday, October 16, 2009 at dusk
Where: Tempe Diablo Stadium
Tempe Parks and Recreation hosts Major League Movie Night at the Angels’ spring training home. The cult favorite, The Sandlot (PG), will be shown on a large, inflatable screen in the outfield. Families are invited to bring blankets and lawn chairs for seating on the field. Admission is free, and stadium concession stands will be open throughout the movie. Attendees can bring food from home but no food from outside restaurants is allowed. Bottled water and soft-side coolers are also permitted, but please no other beverages or glass containers. Tempe Recycling will give away reusable bags at Major League Movie Night to people who bring old athletic shoes to be recycled in the Nike Reuse-a-Shoe program. Any brand of athletic shoes with no cleats, spikes or high heels will be accepted.

Judy Hedding

source-http://phoenix.about.com/b/2009/10/13/five-free-things-to-do-in-and-around-phoenix-october-2009.htm

Read full storyComments Off

Tucson, Arizona: A Movie Under the Stars with Edgar Cayce

"The Sleeping Prophet"

Tucsonans have lost the DeAnza Drive-in, but Southern Arizonans still have alternatives available that will allow us to watch films under the stars. We can watch outdoor movies May through October, downtown at La Placita. Sometimes, though, we will have to travel a little for that opportunity to watch a movie, outside, in a group setting. This Friday, down in Tubac, one of these special opportunities will present itself in the form of a documentary about “The Sleeping Prophet”, titled: Edgar Cayce: The Beautiful Dreamer.

This 2004 documentary about Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) isn’t the newest film release, but it has proven to be popular among some Arizonans. Screenings for this film sold out more than a dozen times in Sedona. A sold out August screening in Tubac is the reason for this second showing on Friday. Directed by Darrah Meeley, the film earned rave reviews from Oscar winning directors Robert Wise (The Sound of Music) and Arthur Hiller (Love Story). The film won the “Most Thought Provoking Award” at the 2005 Sedona Film Festival. The film also won praise from Edgar Cayce’s son, Edgar Evans Cayce, who stated: “It is the best film ever made on my father.”

If you don’t know who Edgar Cayce was, he was an American clairvoyant and psychic. Dubbed “The Sleeping Prophet”, Cayce would lie down and enter into a sleep, or trance state to provide readings. The subjects for his readings were usually not present. Cayce generally provided readings in response to written requests. Most letters he received initially asked for health advice. However, readings soon evolved into advice about many things, including past lives, dream interpretation, and business advice. He also expanded into giving dietary advice. Among Cayce’s dietary recommendations: avoidance of red meat, no alcohol – except for red wine, and two or three almonds a day to keep cancer away. This description of Cayce only touches the surface of who he was. He was the most documented psychic of the 20th century.

Cayce’s predictions weren’t always right. In fact, he stated that his advice should be tested, rather than accepted as faith.  With thousands of predictions made by Cayce – some made well into our future – we have yet to see if some will come true. Whether or not you believe in psychic phenomena, this documentary presents the life of a very interesting man whose life still fascinates many people today. The film begins at 7:30 pm at Tubac’s Cinema Under The Stars, on Friday. The cost is $5, with proceeds benefiting teen and young adult rehabilition programs.

Tubac’s weather forecast is clear for Friday evening, but weather predictions aren’t always right, are they? Still we will accept the forecast on faith. The folks at Tubac’s Cinema Under The Stars have secured an alternate location, indoors, just in case.

Cherlyn Gardner Strong

source-http://tucsoncitizen.com/paranormal/2009/10/12/under-the-stars-with-edgar-cayce/

Read full storyComments Off

Mesa, Arizona: Free Outdoor Movies Shown on an Inflatable Screen in Mesa, Arizona

Outdoor Movies on an Inflatable Screen in Mesa, ArizonaFree things to do in and around Phoenix: During the next week you can make believe you are at the zoo, see coyotes that skate, tweet, escape to Africa, meet old masked turtles and greet a tortoise named Eric. One thing you definitely don’t want to miss is the outdoor movie screening of Madagascar 2 -Escape to Africa in Mesa. It’s free and a great opportunity to see a movie under the stars. Kids and adults alike will love this comedy screened on an inflatable movie screen.

What: Free Family Movie Night
When: Saturday, June 27, 2009. Gates open at 6 p.m., movie starts at 8 p.m.
Where: Mesa Amphitheatre
Madagascar 2 – Escape 2 Africa (Rated PG) is the first movie in a series of upcoming Free Family Movie Nights at the Mesa Amphitheatre. A large inflatable screen will be on the stage, allowing great views and plenty of seating on the grass and terraces. There will be free bounce houses for the kids, and concession stands will be open with family friendly pricing. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs. No alcohol is permitted.

Source: “Six Free Things To Do In and Around Phoenix – June 2009″ by Judy Hedding -About.com Guide to Phoenix. Read full article at: http://phoenix.about.com/b/2009/06/23/five-free-things-to-do-in-and-around-phoenix-june-2009-2.htm.

Read full storyComments Off