Posts tagged Carolina Theatre
The Chaplin Chapters: Introduction

I wasn't allowed to watch much television when I was a child.  

To some of you, this will come as a complete shock.  "A childhood without television and access to pop culture?," you'll think. "Why, that's not childhood at all!"  Others of you will read that and nod approvingly to yourselves, glad to know that I spent most of my time actually having a social life, playing outside with other kids, and reading my weight in books every week. 

I really don't have an opinion one way or that other.  For me, that's just how it was.  My parents, always concerned about the type of stuff I might stumble across, forbade me from watching much of anything, no matter how much I begged and pleaded with them to let me turn on the magic box in the living room.  While my friends were playing with Power Rangers action figures, I had very little idea about who the Power Rangers were, let alone why they deserved their own line of toys.  Most of my television-watching experience as a kid consisted of a few hours of Saturday morning cartoons (or Pee Wee's Playhouse), with the occasional mid-week viewing of Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop in the afternoon if I was lucky.  We didn't even have cable.  Not that I hold all this against them, mind you - in fact, looking back, I'm grateful I wasn't left to stare at the boob tube for five hours a day like a lot of my friends.  And with all the time I now spend watching films and television, it's an understatement to say everything balanced out in the end.

Since I couldn't look to television to satisfy my lust for entertainment, I frequently had to turn to my parents' small collection of VHS tapes.  Mickey and the Beanstalk.  The Great Mouse Detective.  An American Tail.  These and other animated films were viewed dozens of times each, partly because I loved them, and partly because there just wasn't much else to watch.  There were a few live-action films my parents kept, all family-friendly fare rated G or PG to prevent me from accidentally popping in something that might traumatize my toddler brain.  But at this point in my childhood, I didn't care much about live-action media, aside from a few PBS shows and made-for-television children's films.  Why watch a bunch of real people deal with real-life situations when I could watch bright and colorful cartoons perform the impossible?

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The Chaplin ChaptersAndrew JohnsonCarolina Theatre, Charlie Chaplin, Janus Films, The Gold RushComment
Feature: The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell

Note: This article was originally published in Technician on February 22, 2007.

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Breaking the mold of Hollywood

So you want to make your own movie? Maybe these guys can help.

This Friday the Carolina Theatre will host a premiere of The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell, an independent feature film made by North Carolina natives. Before the screening, however, the filmmakers will be here on campus as part of a special "Meet the Filmmakers' event sponsored by the Film Studies program. The writer, director, producer, actors and other crew members -- including Jamie Bullock and Kevin Wheatley -- are scheduled to be on campus to show clips from the film and answer questions about how it was made.

Marsha Orgeron, director of film studies, is helping to sponsor the event.

"The whole idea is to allow students to have some interaction with a significant number of the cast and crew,' Orgeron said. "This is an opportunity for anyone interested in any element of filmmaking to come and ask questions.'

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FeaturesAndrew JohnsonBeach Party at the Threshold of Hell, Cannibal Sue, Carolina Theatre, Jamie Bullock, Kevin Wheatley, Marsha Orgeron, National Lampoon, North Carolina School of the Arts Comment
Feature: The 9th Annual Full Frame Documentary Film Festival

Note: This article was originally published in Technician on April 10, 2006.

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Full Frame examines reality through the art of film

How much reality can you handle?

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival explored this question last weekend from April 6-9 at the Carolina Theater in Durham. More than 100 documentary films were shown, with 73 competing for various awards. However, that's only a fraction of the more than 1100 submissions that were received from documentary filmmakers around the world.

The festival officially kicked off with a screening of The Sketches of Frank Gehry, which delved deeply into the creative process of prestigious architect Frank Gehry and his work. The film was directed by famed actor and director Sydney Pollack, who had never directed a documentary before.

"I didn't know what I was doing," said Pollack. "The only research I could do was to go over to [Frank's] office and wander around and say, 'This is kind of interesting.'"

Despite it being his first attempt at making a documentary, Pollack said he learned a lot from the experience.

"What I came away with was that I found a kind of freedom in that approach that I've never had in narrative filmmaking. There's something peaking in the looseness," he said.

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FeaturesAndrew JohnsonBoy in the Bubble, Carolina Theatre, Danny DeVito, Full Frame, Julia Reichert, Lion in the House, Sketches of Frank Gehry, So Much So Fast, Stephen Bognar, Steven Ascher, Sydney Polack, film festival Comment