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Ryan Eashoo
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Friends,
We did it again! Thanks to all of you, the historic State Theatre of Traverse City was the number one theater in North America this week among the 312 theaters showing "Doubt." This happened in spite of the fact that the local Carmike chain's multiplex had already played "Doubt" for ten weeks. Our attendance was SEVEN TIMES the national average!
In a news flash from Hollywood, here are the top ten grossing theaters for "Doubt" in North America this past weekend:
1. State Theatre, Traverse City MI
2. Lincoln Square 13, New York NY
3. Village East 7, New York NY
4. Empire 25, New York NY
5. Forum 22, Montreal QC
6. San Francisco Centre 9, San Francisco CA
7. Sedona 6, Sedona AZ
8. Angelika Film Center 8, Dallas TX
9. Lake 7, Oak Park (Chicago) IL
10. Olympus Pointe 12, Roseville (Sacramento) CA
That's right. We topped the theater in Lincoln Square in New York City. What the heck is going on here? It's hard to explain to the Hollywood brass. What do you think I should tell them? Drop me an email and let me know what to tell them when they ask me, "What is it about the State Theatre?" They're starting to think we're not really of this planet.
Considering that we're nowhere near being done with one of the harshest winters of the decade -- where one dreary, frigid day follows the next with no end in sight -- it's a great thing to see Front St. so alive throughout the day and night, thanks to the thousands who come downtown to see great movie.
In addition to our national recognition, a lot of other cool things have been happening at the State lately. It was nice to bring back Baby Day, when we let you in with your babies and toddlers so you can (finally) get out of the house to see a movie. What surprised me this week was that 40 people without babies came to Baby Day to hear the melodious soundtrack accompaniment of wailing, burping, and unintelligible English.
We often have special screenings for school groups, and recently the kids from Traverse City High came by to watch "The Fellowship of the Ring" as part of their J.R.R. Tolkien class. You can read the letter they sent to us after their visit below.
Also, this week the younger Autistic and Head Start programs from Oak Park came to the State to watch a cartoon. They had a great time. And it was a pleasure once again to have local filmmaker and all-around good guy Rich Brauer at the State, where he presented his northern Michigan comedy "Frozen Stupid."
The highlight for me and 60 other souls this week was getting to watch, for the first time, one of the best movies I've ever seen -- Luis Buñuel's "The Exterminating Angel." And to listen to filmmaker John Walter give us the background on it before and after the screening -- well, my friends, if you haven't come to this new Cinema Guild series yet, you are really missing one of the best hidden treasures in these parts.. This Sunday, it's another huge treat -- a rare screening of a "lost" movie, the classic Russian silent film, "The Man with the Movie Camera." John thinks it may be the best movie he's ever seen. Well, he hasn't been wrong yet. This Sunday, 1 pm. It's only 70 minutes long, and John Walter has put together his own special musical soundtrack for this revolutionary film. Cinephiles -- do not miss it!
Today (Thursday) is the last day to catch "Doubt" -- 1, 3:15, 6 and 8:15 pm.
Tomorrow we begin a ONE WEEK ONLY run of the incredible film "Frost/Nixon." Directed by Ron Howard, it stars Frank Langella as Richard Nixon and Michael Sheen as the television interviewer David Frost. Ah, Nixon.. Those were the days. Never thought we'd be able to top them! I attended his second presidential inauguration as a teenager. The last memory I have of that event is of a horse chasing my sister, Jeff Gibbs, and me across the Elipse by the Washington Monument. Ok, it wasn't actually the horse that was chasing us, but rather the man in the uniform who was riding the horse. Seriously, we weren't doing anything wrong! It was a presidential inauguration!
The next time I saw Nixon was July 1974 in Bad Axe, Michigan, a few weeks before he resigned. He was campaigning for a candidate in a special election for Congress. He looked horrible. His face was literally orange and, as he got closer, I could see he had on a ton of makeup, and it was clear he was not having a good month. His candidate lost, and then he was gone.
Speaking of inaugurations, next time you're at the State, be sure to check out the drawings and cards by the fifth graders in Central Grade School's gifted program. They were able to come to the theater on inauguration day, and the thank you notes they wrote are pretty cool.
And speaking of those kids, I see the TCAPS school board might get rid of the third grade gifted program to save money. Here's my two cents: Never cut back on the kids who, in the future, are going to be the ones to find the cure for cancer, invent the next iPod, or solve the global warming catastrophe. And never send a message to anyone thinking of bringing jobs to this area that we don't value education in TC, especially education of the kids who are lucky enough to be able to learn a little faster than the rest. These are hard times, but let's not lose our compass.
Check out the schedule below for this coming week's showtimes, including the Saturday kids movie ("The Lion King" at 10:30 am Saturday) and the Wednesday Marx Brothers classic ("A Day at the Races," just 25 cents at 11 am).
We have a few other special events this week:
On Friday at 6 pm we'll have a special screening of "Frost/Nixon" during which we'll thank the very generous Dr. Sandra Leahy and Dr. Kathleen Sawhill of Hearing Solutions of Northwest Michigan for their donation of a Hearing Loop system to the State Theatre. The Loop allows people with hearing aids and cochlear implants equipped with telecoil to tap directly into the theater's sound system. They'll explain how it all works before the show.
On Monday we'll have a special 5 pm screening of "MirrorMask," a film chosen by the Student Film Club at Grand Traverse Academy. Admission for everyone is just $5 and we'll have free pizza for middle and high school students.
If you missed the Metropolitan Opera's incredible presentation of "Madama Butterfly" last weekend, you can see the encore performance on Wednesday evening at 7 pm. Some tickets are still available.
And don't forget -- we're two weeks away from our big open house, celebrating a quarter-million admissions at the new State Theatre. More on that next week.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Here is the letter from the Traverse City High School students:
Dear State Theatre,
We have been reading "The Fellowship of the Ring" for about twelve weeks now. When our teacher Mr. Veith told us you were going to be showing us the extended version of the movie, we all got very excited. We have been antsy for a week and a half now just waiting for the day when we got to go there and watch the movie. Other community members have a tendency to look down on us at TC High. I have yet to witness a time that you wonderful people turn down a chance to have us come. Not only that but you are always so nice and generous to us. We are immensely grateful that you have done (and are doing) this for us.
-The students from Traverse City High (the "alternative" high school)
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:33 pm |
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Dave Starr
F L I N T O I D
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| So, what's he done for the town he claims as his home town? |
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I used to care, but I take a pill for that now.
Pushing buttons sure can be fun.
When a lion wants to go somewhere, he doesn’t worry about how many hyenas are in the way.
Paddle faster, I hear banjos. |
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:50 pm |
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andi03
F L I N T O I D
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quote:
Dave Starr schreef:
So, what's he done for the town he claims as his home town?
How in the hell did he get Universal Studios to agree to have Frost/Nixon play at his theater? Did he buy it? Ah, probably because he's old enough to remember Nixon.... |
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:04 pm |
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back again
F L I N T O I D
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go mike go!!!
HEY!!! i'm old enough to remember nixon   |
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 7:48 pm |
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twotap
F L I N T O I D
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| Nixon the guy that ended Kennedys and LbJs war. You libs crack me up. |
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"If you like your current healthcare you can keep it, Period"!!
Barack Hussein Obama--- multiple times. |
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Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:06 pm |
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