[SkateDC] Screen on the Green Tonight (7/20/09): Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Off Topic]

[George Marinkovich]

I hope it stays dry for the Screen on the Green tonight, but I'm not feeling lucky today so I've decided in favor of "Giant" at the National.

The film is shown in the Helen Hayes Gallery of the National Theater starting at 6:30pm.  Tickets become available on a first-come, first-served basis at 6 pm.  The HH Gallery does not hold a very large audience.

The movie is a bit on the long side (3 hours 21 minutes).  

Based on Edna Ferber’s 
          sprawling novel, George Stevens’ meticulously crafted Oscar-winning 
          epic traces the rise and fall of two generations of Texans. Bick Benedict 
          (Hudson), a confident yet stubborn Texas cattle baron woes and wins 
          the heart of the seemingly demure Leslie (Taylor) a Virginia belle who 
          proves to be his match after settling into the family’s garish 
          windswept mansion on a dusty Texas plain. Wildcatter Jett Rink (Dean) 
          confronts the authority of the Benedict family when he strikes oil on 
          a neighboring ranch, transforming himself from a dirt poor hard scrabble 
          farmer into a flamboyant playboy, and challenging long held beliefs 
          concerning the oppression of women, miscegenation, racism, and society. 
          Giant captured the imagination of 1950’s America with its all-star 
          cast and garnered 10 Academy Award nominations. Elizabeth Taylor, 
          Rock Hudson, James Dean, Dennis Hopper, Carroll Baker, Mercedes McCambridge. 
          Warner Brothers; directed by George Stevens; screenplay by Fred 
          Guiol and Ivan Moffat. Not rated, 201 minutes, Color, 1956.

Enjoy,
George



--- On Mon, 7/20/09, George Marinkovich <skatewash at yahoo.com> wrote:

From: George Marinkovich <skatewash at yahoo.com>
Subject: Screen on the Green Tonight (7/20/09):  Close Encounters of the Third Kind [Off Topic]
To: "WAR Skate List" <skatedc at www.skatedc.org>
Date: Monday, July 20, 2009, 8:17 AM

The 2009 Screen on the Green season starts tonight on the Mall with "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," starting between 8:30 and 9 pm.

For more info, see http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/Screengreen.htm.

There's a chance of rain today during the movie (30% according to weather.com and AccuWeather.com is calling for thunderstorms at 7 and rain at 10pm).

So by 5pm I will make a decision about whether I'm going to be at SotG tonight, which I'll post to the list.  The SotG film will be shown even if it rains (it will only be canceled in the event of extreme weather), but if I believe at 5pm it's going to rain during the movie I won't be there.

In the event of rain or a rainy radar forecast, I will instead be at the Elizabeth Taylor film festival which
 tonight (at 6:30pm) is showing "Giant" at the National Theater.  More info at http://nationaltheatre.org/cinema/cinema.htm 

Both films are free.

Enjoy, 
George