Wednesday, October 03, 2007

No football in Athens? No problem

Please don't get me wrong: This weekend's UGA football game against Tennessee in Knoxville is huge, and I therefore will be watching it on as big a TV as I can find.

However, if you're anywhere near Athens, GA, and are looking for something else to do this weekend, Ciné Athens has cooked up something pretty friggin cool.

You've probably been hearing for years about those kids who made a shot-by-shot remake of "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Well, not only did those crazy dudes pull it off and manage to not get sued, but now you can see their movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation" this weekend at Ciné, located right downtown at 234 West Hancock Ave. between Pulaski and Hull streets.

Not only that, but if you want to meet two of the guys who took the word geek to a whole new level, director Eric Zala and star Chris Strompolos will be in attendance and will lead Q&A sessions after the 4:30 and 7 p.m. showings on both Friday and Saturday. Here's the full schedule of screenings:

Friday: 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.
Saturday: 2, 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.
Sunday: 2, 4:30, 7 and 10 p.m.

Even if I tried, I don't think there's any way I could undersell just what these guys accomplished. Starting in 1982 when they were 10 years old, the trio spent the next six years re-creating the movie masterpiece shot-by-shot - rolling boulder, live snakes and all - in their Mississippi Gulf Coast back yards.

In case you need any more incentive, the whole thing is a fund-raiser for Project: Teenscreen, so you can do a little to help the next generation of aspiring Athens filmmakers at the same time. I'll be there Sunday, and I really hope some of you will too.

To share a little more about the movie itself, here's a YouTube clip sent to me by Tom Kelly of the Strayhorn Quarterly.

And if you'll excuse me now, I'm gonna brew a bowl of coffee and watch Monday's episode of "Heroes." God bless the DVR. Peace out.

2 comments:

Bob said...

DUDE! I saw it in Seattle a couple of years ago and it's incredible. You're gonna have such a blast! Eric Zala was at that screening too. Very nice guy, answered everybody's questions.
And the movie they talk about at the end of the BBC clip is supposedly going to be scripted by Daniel Clowes.

Reel Fanatic said...

I'd heard that about Clowes, Bob ... If they ever manage to attach a director (and why not Mr. Zala), his script should indeed lead to another fun flick