Texarkana Entertainment Blog

“The Wizard of Oz” and its fantastic songs still hold tremendous sway over our imaginations. It’s one of the most cherished and memorable films of all time. In case you missed it in the movie theaters in September, “The Wizard of Oz” returns to the big screen once again at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the local Cinemark movie complex here at the Texarkana Pavilion. It’s “The Wizard of Oz 70th Anniversary Encore Event,” a restored version of the timeless classic presented by NCM Fathom, Warner Home Video, and Turner Classic Movies. Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne introduces the film with a taped interview. You’ll also get behind-the-scenes footage and archival interviews. Tickets are $10. You can get them at the Cinemark movie theater box office or at FathomEvents.com.

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photo courtesy of Turner Classic Movies:

On Wednesday last week Gazette photographer Evan Lewis and I traveled down to Jefferson, Texas, to see what was happening on the set of “Boggy Creek,” the non-remake of the Charles B. Pierce cult favorite “The Legend of Boggy Creek.” The movie—directed by East Texas native Brian T. Jaynes—is an update on the Bigfoot/Sasquatch/Fouke monster theme: Shaggy, hairy creatures terrorizes people. It’s inspired in some ways by the original but has a very different plot, following five college-aged kids as they face the monster. Jaynes says this monster and movie is different than the Pierce film, and the creature is based more on Caddo Indian mythology and lore than the previous film’s scary creature.

We got to see the monster in person, and this creature is pretty impressive. I’d be scared if I saw him in the dead of night running at me through the swamp, fog, and Spanish moss. Creature effects specialists Phil and Melissa Nichols (who hail from Houston and have worked on a number of Hollywood films) crafted a monster that certainly blends in with the elements. Unlike a lot of such creatures portrayed in the movies, he is also, to put it succinctly, anatomically correct in appearance. I must admit that made the interview with the main monster actor in costume a little odd. There’s also more than one monster in the movie, said the director.

Much of the time while being on a film set it feels like a “hurry up and wait” experience as the shot gets set up. They were filming this day in the bayou woods at the edge of Jefferson, which has a suitably mysterious ambiance. It was a scene of the monster running through the trees. Later, the two lead actresses were going to be chased, and this scene involved a swim across the fictional Boggy Creek.

It was a fun experience, and it’s certainly not every day there’s a film being shot within driving distance of Texarkana. We should have the story out soon, most likely on the Oct. 11 Sunday Accent page this upcoming weekend.

- Aaron Brand

It’s a bit of a drive from Texarkana, but Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia hosts a potentially fascinating and inspiring question and answer session and lecture Tuesday evening that movie fans (or anyone intrigued by young dreamers) may want to check out.

It’s a neat opportunity to see two young and precocious filmmakers speak, one of whom attended SAU. Twin brothers Noah and Logan Miller directed the film “Toucing Home,” starring Ed Harris, Brad Dourif, and Robert Forster; the movie, which has yet to gain wide release but has played at film festivals, chronicles their real life struggles with an alcoholic father who died in jail. For a time, Noah was an SAU student on a baseball scholarship. But he ultimately left the school when he had to return to California.

The Miller brothers wrote a book on how—without much money and no Hollywood connections—they accomplished their dream of making a movie. I read a bit of the book online and it features some crisp, great writing, and it seems like both a sad and redemptive tale. It’s also funny and insightful.  The book is called “Either You’re In or You’re In the Way,” and they’ll discuss it at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center at SAU.

More info on the Miller brothers is available at www.inorintheway.com.

- Aaron Brand

Submitted photo:

Researching the upcoming fall movies. Despite what seems like its troubled production history, I’m looking forward to this Spike Jonze flick, an adaptation of one of my favorite books as a kid. Trailer below. It’s out Oct. 16. Anyone else excited to see how it turns out?

- Aaron Brand

That excellent 2007 Denzel Washington film was about the Marshall, Texas-based Wiley College debate team and some of its members who achieved pretty amazing things. Some scenes were even filmed in that town just down U.S. Highway 59, and Washington came in for a red carpet opening.

Next week the modern debate team from Wiley will tackle a problem fresh on the minds of many Americans, and that’s health care. During a free event from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the debate team will argue the positives and negatives of health care reform. The event is sponsored by the AARP and will be held at the Marshall Civic Center’s Caddo Hall, 2501 East End Blvd. A check will be given to the Wiley College Debate Team, and a reception will follow the debate.

- Aaron Brand

I haven’t followed Quentin Tarantino’s movie career too obsessively since his “Pulp Fiction” days. While I appreciate his style and the creative energy in movies, his attitude strikes me as just less clever and interesting than he thinks he is. Don’t get me wrong—both “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs” are worthy classics—but to me he’s just not all that; he’s more flash than depth. I saw one of the “Kill Bill” movies and liked it, but it hasn’t stuck with me as a particularly memorable film. But “Inglorious Basterds,” just released widely this past Friday, is what I see as a strong return to form, or I should say perhaps a deepening of his form. It is a wildly inventive film where Tarantino pushes the limit of tension and humor. This film is entirely fun and very funny … as much as a film about WWII and Nazis can be. It is also extremely violent, so be warned that there’s a scene with a captured Nazi, tough Jewish soldier, and a baseball bat. You do the math on that one. “Inglorious Basterds” features some great performances, and Brad Pitt comes in as a natural to work with Tarantino. I highly recommend it. 

- Aaron Brand

I saw the very first screening of “District 9″ up at Cinemark this morning and will have a review in the Sunday Accent page. It was an awesome movie, thrilling for both its emotional impact and the gory fun. The CGI effects make for some pretty cool and gruesome aliens, and Neill Blomkamp’s directorial style of using herky-jerky camera work and a news documentary look both work effectively to visually engage us with the film. Plus, the alien mothership looks pretty darn sweet. It’s one of the best science fiction films to come out in a long time, and on of the best movies of the year so far. As with some of the best sci-fi flicks, it really teaches us a lot about the human condition, perhaps more than we want to know as both the dark side and deeper side of it are explored in the context of humans versus aliens. Anyone else get to see it yet? 

- Aaron Brand

For the 39th year the city of New Boston, Texas, will celebrate its pioneer times, a celebration that began when the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1970. The New Boston Pioneer Days festival takes place right downtown at T & P Trailhead Park. In addition to the usual varieties of entertainment you’d expect at this festival—a lumberjack show, street dances and rodeo (both on Friday and Saturday nights), amusement rides starting Wednesday night, concessions, arts and crafts, pony rides, a petting zoo, mechanical bull, four-wheeler mud race—there’s storyteller and musician Brian Burns. He uses music about Texas to portray the rich history of the Lone Star State. He’ll perform from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday at the festival. The parade will be held at 10 a.m. that day. More info on the festival: 903-628-2581. 

- Aaron Brand

I’m really looking forward to this movie opening on August 14, and I’m not one to get too excited about upcoming science fiction flicks. It’s not a genre I particularly relish, but some of the best sci fi flicks (”Blade Runner,” for example)  can transcend the genre limitations and tell us a lot about the modern condition. This film, directed by Neill Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson, is generating quite a buzz around it—in part because of a cool viral ad campaign and also because of some impressive, mysterious trailers. “District 9″ chronicles the fate of refugee extraterrestrials who’ve come to Earth only to be forced to live in a poor section of South Africa called District 9 under the thumb of the corporation Multi-National United. MNU’s interest? The alien weapons, of course.

- Aaron Brand

Yes, that’s right. The 1959 Ed Wood Jr. science fiction flick regarded by many a film buff as the absolute worst ever made will be shown at the local Texarkana Cinemark movie theater on Thursday, August 20, at 7 p.m. The screening is “RiffTrax Live: Plan 9 From Outer Space,” a live, one-night showing of the film with commentary (that’s the “riffing”) from Mystery Science Theater 3000 vets Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, whose discussion is broadcast from the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tenn., to movie theaters across the country to go along with the movie. This screening is one of a number of special events brought to the movie theaters by NCM Fathom. Below is a trailer clip from a restored, color version of the movie. It’s humorously hideous. 

- Aaron Brand