Belcourt Theater

Welcome to In The Balcony. We hope you enjoy your visit.

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Plus, you'll be eligible for the monthly $1 million prize. (Not really.)

Join our community!

If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Pages:
1
2
…
5

Belcourt Theater; 2nd Saturday Series
Topic Started: Aug 12 2007, 09:34 AM (1,423 Views)
Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Aug 12 2007, 09:34 AM Post #1
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Last night my son and I went to The Belcourt for their 2nd Saturday Sci-fi Series. This series is shown on the outside wall of the theater at dusk. Folks bring their own seating to watch the fun on the 2nd Sat.from June thru Oct. The Belcourt was built in 1925 and is a Historic Tennessee Landmark. Currently it is an "Art House" theater. Last nights show started with an old advertisement for the concession stand. I remember this ad from the 60's, usually at drive-ins. The ad was for hot dogs, hamburgers and other goodies as the minutes counted down from 4 til showtime. Next was Bert The Turtle teaching all to duck and cover in case of an atomic attack. Bambi Meets Godzilla was next, followed by some movie previews, TV commercials and Bambi's Revenge. The TV ads were hawkin' Planet Of The Apes Action Figures and Buck Rogers Action Figure w/aircraft. The previews for Spaceballs, Soylent Green, Forbidden Planet (Sept's fare) and ET (Oct's fare) were shown. The main event was Ghidorah The Three-headed Moster. Half of the crowd of 200 or so, greeted the films start with applause. A bigger applause was given for the first appearances of Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidorah. I'm sorry I missed the first two films in the series: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Plan 9 From Outer Space. The event had a great atmosphere and I'll be at the last two. Oh, by the way, the whole thing is FREE !!! Ya can't beat it .
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Aug 12 2007, 03:49 PM Post #2
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	It is a sad state of affairs in the Stony household when one has to question one's own post! Where is the Belcort Theater? It is located in Nashville, Tennessee, in the Hillsboro area just SSE of the Vanderbilt campus!!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Sep 8 2007, 02:40 PM Post #3
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Tonight at The Belcourt is FORBIDDEN PLANET. It is the 4th and next to last installment of The Summer Sci-fi Series. My son and I will leave shortly to grab a pizza and then walk to the theater. I haven't checked the website in a while before today and I was suprised to find a new series of films to be shown from Oct.thru Dec. The series is based on the book The Best Old Movies For Families;A Guide To Watching Together, it was written by Boston Globe film critic Ty Burr. The films to be shown are: THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD THE LADY EVE MONKEY BUSINESS METROPOLIS WEST SIDE STORY DUCK SOUP MEET ME IN ST.LOUIS THE RED BALLOON with WHITE MANE The series concludes at X-Mas with IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE! I haven't seen any of these on the big screen but I'm gonna try to see most of them. Capra's WONDERFUL LIFE is one of my favorites and I'm stoked. It wasn't that long ago this film would be on 10 channels at once editted to hell and back and sometimes colorized. METROPOLIS is a film I've never seen. It is restored with the original music. The current series (Weekends in Sept.) consist of Jean-Luc Godard films. BREATHLESS is this weekend followed by: WEEKEND CONTEMPT PIERROT LE FOU I haven't seen any of these but I'm going to make an attempt to see 'em! It looks like I should buy a membership to the theater. For 40 bucks ya get $2.50 off a ticket and 20% off of non-alcoholic concessions.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Inspector Carr	Sep 8 2007, 04:18 PM Post #4
Charter Member Posts: 2,787 Group: Members Member #48 Joined: September 14, 2005	Just Curious....Do they use a film projector or a Digital DVD projector? either way it sounds like fun. :rolleyes:
	"Reality is for people who can't handle alcohol"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Sep 8 2007, 06:13 PM Post #5
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	FORBIDDEN PLANET was rescheduled for Sept. 22nd due to a rain threat. The pizza was good. INSPETOR .... The Sci-Fi series is touted as having all original 16mm film prints, and not DVDs. Godard's PIERROT LE FOU is a new 35mm print. METROPOLIS is a restored print. Here is the website http://belcourt.org/
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


panzer the great & terrible	Sep 19 2007, 05:03 PM Post #6
Mouth Breather Posts: 10,301 Group: Members Member #13 Joined: September 3, 2005	I saw PIERROT on its original American release, and I recommend you check it out. The color is wonderful, and Jean-Paul Belmondo of BREATHLESS fame plays the hero. The heroine, Anna Karina, was Godard's wife and a bodacious, major fox. CONTEMPT is my favorite Godard movie. I've seen it a dozen times at least, but the first time I didn't like it. Then again, I never liked any Stones record the first time either.
	We Wear Short Shorts Flying Purple People Eater


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Sep 19 2007, 07:33 PM Post #7
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	I saw WEEKEND Sunday and previews were shown for CONTEMPT and PIERROT plus I've read about these films on the Belcourt website. I know Fritz Lang plays himself in CONTEMPT along with Brigette Bardot and Jack Palance, not playing themselves of course. It still appears to be a good bet that I'll see these last 2 films at the theater. WEEKEND was filled with humor, wild visuals and political and social commentaries. Any dialog I write can't be taken verbatim. The humor could be short as in the main male character asking a man, "Are you in the movie or are you real?" to which the man replies he is in the movie and the lead is done with him. The scene with the long line of vehicles is amazing and funny with people throwing a ball from one car to another and others sitting between vehicles on the road while playing chess. Social commentary has a man driving his tractor into a sportscar killing the car's young male driver. A young woman who is the daughter of the tractor operator and the girlfriend of the dead man asks her father how could he kill her boyfriend because he was so well to do and better than the working class. This film is filled with noise, literally. From early on when a woman describes a sexcapade with her female friend and the friend's husband there is a noise that gets so loud you can't hear what she is saying. The noise goes from loud to soft and I don't know how someone watching the film without subtitles could hear alot of the dialog. There is constant horn blowing during the long car line scene as well as a drummer playing the drums during a 10 minute or so span. I will see this film again because I feel I missed alot of it and I enjoyed it.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Sep 23 2007, 02:41 PM Post #8
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	My son, his best friend Jake and I arrived at the Belcourt 6 minutes before showtime last night. We were late because I wasn't keeping track of the time very well. We set our seats in the front row and the boys held the fort down while I walked to the pizza parlor for our pie. I returned to the last minutes of a Betty Boop cartoon with Koko The Clown. Betty and Koko were sellin' an elixer that caused all the toons to sing and dance at the end. Hell, I haven't seen Koko for 40 years. The cartoon was followed by a preview for ET stating the film was coming in June 1982. FORBIDDEN PLANET was the Feature Presentation. I've only seen this film once, sometime around 1973 I'd say. I'd also say I didn't care for it back then......but that was then and this ain't!!!! A team of astronauts, lead by Leslie Nielson, are sent to a planet to search for a missing team of astronaunts, lead by Walter Pidgeon. I should say, they were lead by Walter because they were all murdered by a mysterious killer. I like this story alright, along with the sets and the robot. Alot of the dialog was downright hilarious. Anne Fancis was given some short skirts to wear. One scene has Anne sitting with her forearm across her hemline because the skirt is so short. Another scene has her swimmin' in the buff, yet you can see her outfit as she exits the pool. My favorite part has Earl Holliman as the ship's cook. Seems that the robot can mimic organic materials, so Cookie just happens to have a partial pint of Kentucky bourbon. The robot reproduces 60 gallons of the bourbon complete with glass pint bottles, but the funny part has Cookie tasting the robot's brew and as he makes a face as if his guts were on fire he exclaims "Oh, that's smooth!" I'll end up buying this flick, I found it entertaining even with those 1956 special effects. Dessert for the night was NASHVILLE 99, the 1978 TV cop show. The detectives were played by Claude Akins, Jerry Reed and Charlie Pride. Claude plays Stony or Stoney, a hard nosed cop. Jerry Reed plays a cop who's alot like his SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT character and Charlie Pride had about 3 lines of cardboard dialog. This was the 4th and final installment of the short-lived series. Next month the crowd will get to decide which of the 4 episodes will be repeated. I hope it's not the 4th one because it's the only one I've seen. The boys and I had a great time. They liked the movie but laughed at the monster and ray gun special effects of FP. The crowd was about 300 strong. Next up ET.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Oct 2 2007, 04:46 PM Post #9
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Today on the Belcourt's website I see there will be a theatrical production of Dracula. I'm stoked. Or should I say Stokered!! For 3 Saturdays around Halloween this play will act out with 3 kids friendly shows at 10 am for 5 bucks a head. There is also an adult version on Nov 3rd for 7 bucks. I must be livin' right or at least livin' in the right city. This upcoming weekend starts the family series of films. First up is the 1938 THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD with Errol Flynn. I've never seen it but that'll change this weekend. The film was originally touted as, "Only the rainbow can match it's brilliance!". Woooooooo-doggieeeee!
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Laughing Gravy	Oct 2 2007, 08:21 PM Post #10
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,060 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	It's the greatest adventure film of its kind, never been topped. You're gonna love it.



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Oct 3 2007, 03:56 AM Post #11
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	This film and METROPOLIS are the 2 I want to see the most. Although IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE is one of my favorites, I have yet to see ROBIN HOOD or METROPOLIS. I'm not old enough to remember shorts or serials being shown before films but I do remember when ya got a cartoon at least. So I'm at least hoping for a cartoon since this is a family series.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Laughing Gravy	Oct 3 2007, 04:26 AM Post #12
Revered in the UK Posts: 11,060 Group: Admin Member #1 Joined: August 31, 2005	Metropolis is my all-time favorite sci-fi film; I was lucky enough to see the restored version on the big screen a few years ago. I took my younger two sons, and they both loved it, too.



Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Oct 3 2007, 12:12 PM Post #13
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Laughing Gravy Oct 3 2007, 04:26 AM Metropolis is my all-time favorite sci-fi film; I was lucky enough to see the restored version on the big screen a few years ago. I took my younger two sons, and they both loved it, too. What cracks me up about METROPOLIS being advertised on the Belcourt website is it's advertised as, "Yes Fritz Lang made a silent movie." Well I knew Fritz Lang made METROPOLIS and it was a silent movie when I was 14 years old because I read Famous Monsters Of Filmland, unfortunately I didn't know Fritz made anything else.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Sgt Saturn	Oct 3 2007, 12:18 PM Post #14
Charter Member Posts: 5,680 Group: Members Member #11 Joined: September 3, 2005	Quote: Well I knew Fritz Lang made METROPOLIS and it was a silent movie when I was 14 years old Actually, Fritz made several silent movies. Siegfried and Kriemhilds Rache are excellent if you like LOTR/Conan type movies.
	The Ol' Sarge


Stony Brooke da Mesquiteer	Dec 21 2007, 09:18 AM Post #15
Balconeer Creeper Posts: 14,166 Group: Members Member #244 Joined: July 6, 2007	Ahhhhh, The Belcourt. I don't go as much as I would like, but when I do it's enjoyable. Now where was I, oh yeah, the Sci-fi series. The last in the series was E.T. I like this movie OK, but it's not great. The experience this night wasn't great because the Nashville Electric Co. did not turn out the street lights as they'd done in weeks past. This made the movie very tough to see, especially the night scenes in the forest. Oh well, the announcement was made that the series will be back in '08. Next up is The Family Film Series. I saw The Adventures Of Robin Hood. I mentioned the tagline from the film: Only the rainbow can match it's brilliance!!! That is an understatement. I've never seen a rainbow with this many colors...make that vibrant colors. From Olivia's bejeweled gowns to all of the costumes, there is an array of dazzling colors on display here. The film, colors aside, is just great. It moves at a steady pace with great actors. Flynn, Hale, Rathbone and one of my newest fav actors...Claude Rains. I watched this again last week on TCM....I love it!!!! Next up for me in The Family Series was Metropolis. Another great film. Good sets and story. Just well done. This is my second Lang film (Scarlett Street being the other) and he seems to be quite the story teller with a lens!! This week is Shohei Imamura week - PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS - THE INSECT WOMAN - THE PORNOGRAPHERS - THE PROFOUND DESIRE OF THE GODS - VENGEANCE IS MINE - BLACK RAIN. I don't know any of them and unfortunately I won't get to see any of them at this theater. January has four later films by master filmmkaer Akira Kurosawa all spectacularly filmed in color. Dec 29th-30th- RAN --- Jan 5th-6th- KAGEMUSHA --- Jan 12th-13th- DERSU UZALA --- Jan 19th-20th- DREAMS. I don't know any of these either, but I plan on checking one or two out. In February there is ....Noir Nashville February 2008 The Belcourt gets dark Now that's what I'm talking about. There is no info posted on the site yet, but I'm expecting some good flicks.
	"She's got style, she's got grace She's got long, long legs, she's got... Savoir Faire"


Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · Matinee Memories · Next Topic »

Pages:
1
2
…
5