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EC revisits ‘Star Wars’

October 19th, 2009 by Scott Marks

I have sinned against you, my readers. Marty forgive me for what I’ve done. Saturday night found me neck deep in enemy territory where I actually chatted up Chewbacca! It was for a good cause, so I can’t be too mercenary, but it did take its toll on this reporter. That plodding John Williams theme continues to wreak havoc on my cerebral cortex.

Normally the CommCinema crew (both of us) is the first to arrive for an outdoor show, but when I rolled up to the 4S Ranch on Saturday afternoon the place was already teaming with hundreds of “Star Wars” junkies. I reached for a Zanax, but the cupboard was bare.

Tonight’s show was going to be more than an average screening. It was a benefit to help raise money for Olivia’s Fund. Earlier this year 7-month old Olivia Susan Ferrandi was diagnosed with a neurological disorder known as Canavan Disease. This rare debility (less than 300 reported cases in the U.S.) makes it impossible for the child to crawl, walk, sit or talk.

According to MyLocalNews.com, “in most cases the children’s ancestry includes Ashkenazi Jews from eastern Poland, Lithuania and western Russia, or a Saudi Arabian heritage, the disease can affect all ethnic groups.

There is no cure for the disease, but there are treatments available to potentially help improve the quality of life and prolong Olivia’s lifetime. If you are in any position to throw a few bucks Olivia’s way it would be greatly appreciated. To donate to Olivia’s Fund click here.

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All right. I did my mitzvah for the decade, now let’s have some fun.

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FIELD OF DREAMS becomes a National City nightmare

August 15th, 2009 by Scott Marks

Video’s answer to burning film

This summer John Dacapias and I have become San Diego’s answer to Auguste and Louis Lumiere, traveling to every remote corner of the county showing movies outdoors. Instead of a sheet strung up between two tent poles we use an inflatable air screen. No more hand cranked projectors, or film for that matter. Our mother company Community Cinema equips us with only the finest in digital technology. The image is bright, the colors bold and the focus razor sharp.

Okay. It’s not film, but I must confess that much of what we’ve shown in the past few months isn’t exactly what I’d call film anyway. The titles were already locked in before I signed on and when you see the list of movies being screened (Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar 2, Open Season 2, Night at the Museum 2, e.t.) it’s pretty obvious that I had no say in the selection process. Honestly, the best films I’ve screened are Hotel for Dogs and Wall-E, which is plays tonight in Ramona. There’s always next year.

For the most part it’s been smooth sailing. There was that one night when I heard the generator sputter and looked up to see the screen puckering before my eyes. I tugged on the cord harder than a Tijuana hooker giving hand relief and eventually it turned over.

Even though the movies are crap, there is still a great deal of satisfaction in basically whipping together a theater and showing a movie in the course of a few hours. I take a great deal of pride and personal satisfaction taking a mid show stroll through the crowds that at times number over a thousand. The image is so big and bright and the sound remarkably crisp that the audience watches in silence. No screaming toddlers running amuck and no cell phones. They’re better behaved than at the multiplex.

Last night we screened Field of Dreams at Little Padres Park in National City, a town Jim Thompson would be proud to call home. (For a sentimental, “love me, daddy” sports movie, it’s watchable.) It is generally the client’s responsibility to provide us with a copy of the movie. They didn’t. Fortunately we came equipped with a sealed copy of the two DVD special collector’s edition. The fact that it was “formatted to fit your screen” was a good indication that I wasn’t the one that bought it. It was shot with a hard matte, so I couldn’t even blow it up to make it fit the 16×9 screen.

Normally I will check the DVD for scratches prior to showtime, but this one came to me still in shrink wrap. Of the the thousands of DVDs I’ve owned, I have never, not once, cracked the case and found a defective disc. LaserDiscs, yes. DVDs, never.

The pre-show festivities went fine. I couldn’t find my copy of Baseball Bugs (the logical cartoon to show before Field of Dreams), so I screened another brilliant sports-related short, Three Little Pigskins starring The 3 Stooges. The tiny turnout in National City now knows the importance of always taking sparkling waters with their liquors.

At exactly one-hour-and-twenty-three minutes into the picture the image began to freeze. Damn! Goddamn! The backside of the disc had more scratches and scuff marks than the floor of a Fred Astaire dance studio. God bless the nice folks at Little Padres Park for not breathing down my neck while I was trying to correct the problem. There is nothing worse than having the client standing behind you and tapping their foot while waiting for the solution to a problem beyond control.

It finally began to play, but only for a few minutes. We got through it, but not without the picture breaking up and freezing a total of fives times throughout the course of the screening. By the time it was over, even the client split and only nine remained. Believe it or not, they were gracious enough to thank us on the way out.

At the beginning of the show, I suggested we opt for two hours of Stooges. The client, a Stooge lover at heart, almost went for it, but in the end had to stick with the published program. Too bad. If the Stooges DVD crapped out, I could have acted out all the parts for the crowd. Sparkling water with his liquors!!!

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