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According to the Fox Theatre’s Web site, the first seven titles of its annual summer film series will be the following:

Shine A Light — 7:30 p.m., June 5.
Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! — 2 p.m., June 8.
Atonement — 7 p.m., June 8.
Casablanca — 7:30 p.m., June 17.
No Country for Old Men — 7:30 p.m., June 18.
Enchanted — 2 p.m., July 13.
Ben-Hur — 7 p.m., July 13.

All shows include a classic cartoon and an old-fashioned sing-along with the “Mighty Mo” organ. Seven more titles will be announced for August, and if the Fox follows the pattern of previous years, they will almost certainly include Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

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As Felicia Feaster reported in her excellent cover story in Creative Loafing, Atlanta photographer Sheila Pree Bright hits the big time this weekend when she opens her Young Americans exhibit at the High Museum — a companion exhibit to the High’s Road to Freedom photography exhibit. Here’s what Felicia had to say about the much-anticipated exhibit …

The project centers on a generation, roughly aged 16-27 – reared on their parents’ world of war, consumerism and corruption – a generation that soon will be running the country. In her layered examination of Gen Y and its complicated relationship to America, her ethnically and racially diverse subjects pose with the flag in a way they think best expresses their identity as Americans: cradling it like a baby, hiding under it, kissing it, protectively draping it over their bodies like a shroud; loving it, hating it, trying to wrap their minds around what America means in the same way Bright tries. …An obvious expansion of Bright’s interest in multiculturalism, Young Americans advances ideas addressed by a number of prominent photographers – among them, Robert Frank, Richard Avedon, James VanDerZee and Weegee – who have revealed the nuances and underlying tensions involved in being an American. Bright claims Roy DeCarava as a particular influence; his velvety images of Harlem shed light on the black experience, often lurking on photography’s margins.

Don’t forget to check out the audio slide show that accompanies the cover story, hosted by Felicia and featuring comments by Bright on her work.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Today’s Air Loaf features CL’s David Lee Simmons and WMLB-AM’s Max Arbes discussing The Marriage of Figaro. $27.50-$133.50. Sat., April 26, 8 p.m.; Tues., April 29, 7:30 p.m.; Fri., May 2, 8 p.m.; Sun., May 4, 3 p.m. Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. 2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway. 404-817-8700. www.atlantaopera.org.

Air Loaf is broadcast weekdays on 1690 WMLB-AM at approximately 8:10 a.m., 12:20 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.

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MEAT BEAT MANIFESTO mastermind Jack Dangers stands at the forefront of big beats, big bass and even bigger distortion. Words such as industrial, techno and jungle have hung from the group’s name, but none captures the dense grooves and politically charged multimedia assaults that have become Dangers’ psychedelic fingerprints. MBM’s 10th album, Autoimmune (Metropolis), reprograms dubstep stutters to serve his merger of sensory-jamming sound and vision. Raz Mesinai’s Badawi opens with a live dub set Tues., APRIL 29. $12. 9 p.m. Smith’s Olde Bar, 1578 Piedmont Ave. 404-875-1522. www.smithsoldebar.com.

(Photo Peter Ellenby)

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1) Katie Crouch signs and discusses Girls in Trucks at Wordsmiths Books.

2) Dolly Parton performs at Fox Theatre.

3) Memorial Paintings, Jack Whitten’s acrylic painting exhibit, is at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

4) Meat Beat Manifesto plays at Smith’s Olde Bar.

5) 7 Stages features The Van Gogh Café.

(Photo Amazon.com)

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A recap of news about the live-action film of The Hobbit, intended as a prequel to Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, which featured Ian Holms (above) as Bilbo Baggins:

The Bad News: Litigation and bad blood between Jackson and New Line tied up the project for two years and cast doubt that Jackson would return to direct it.

The Good News: In December of 2007, New Line and Jackson resolved their differences. The Hobbit was on, with Jackson’s involvement, and a target release date of the summer of 2011!

The Bad News: Wait, Jackson’s not actually directing it — he’s co-writing and producing it. So what was all the fuss about? And who will direct The Hobbit?

The Good News: It’s official as of last week: Guillermo del Toro will direct the Hobbit, and will even move to New Zealand for four years to work on it and a nebulous-sounding second film that will apparently bridge the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. I don’t get it, either, but del Toro, director of Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy, is one of cinema’s greatest fantasists of our time.

The Bad News: Hang on, del Toro might not actually be the best filmmaker for the job. Salon.com’s Andrew O’Hehir posts a provocative piece that suggests that del Toro’s sensibility may not be simpatico with Tolkein’s vision, and includes this money quote from del Toro from 2006:

“I was never into heroic fantasy. At all. I don’t like little guys and dragons, hairy feet, hobbits — I’ve never been into that at all. I don’t like sword and sorcery, I hate all that stuff.”

Um, what? Bilbo Baggins? Smaug the dragon? Now I don’t know what to think.

O’Hehir’s piece damningly compares New Line’s The Hobbit to a George Lucas-type project, which seems a little off-base. Nobody wants tone-deaf prequels to a beloved trilogy, but Jackson and del Toro are both ingenious filmmakers in their prime, while Lucas’s decision to personally direct the three Star Wars prequels after 20 years away from the director’s chair seems highly misguided in retrospect. So I’m going to assume the Jackson/del Toro team-up is good news until proven otherwise.

(Image courtesy of New Line Cinema)

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Just in time for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, Creative Loafing’s Allison C. Keene reviews The First Saturday in May, now playing at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema:

“Big hats, mint juleps and the chance of winning the betting lotto aren’t the only great things about the Kentucky Derby. Horses are there, too.

For the documentary The First Saturday in May, about the path to winning the first race of the Triple Crown, directors Brad and John Hennegan do their part to paint an instantly engaging and beautiful portrayal of the drama, determination and heartache in the lives of those dreaming of the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs in 2006. You don’t need insider knowledge to understand the racing world that the Hennegans present, though viewers may already be familiar with this particular story. In 2006, a fiercely talented horse named Barbaro won the Derby only to be struck down later with an ultimately fatal fracture during the Preakness. Barbaro’s role in the film doesn’t become the main focus until his win, with a brief coda about his tragic aftermath (for more on Barbaro and the controversy of his surgeries, click here), though for those who know what’s coming, even his first appearance brings a hint a sadness.

(more…)

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As the principal songwriter for Vancouver, B.C., indie darlings DESTROYER and the New Pornographers, Dan Bejar is fast becoming one of the most accomplished songwriters of the times. With Destroyer’s latest album, Trouble in Dreams (Merge), Bejar tempers a reflexive palette, shaped by a lifetime of crafting lo-fi folk music and breezy pop absurdism, with strong melodies and the kind of rock-song grandeur that only full band arrangements can offer. Andre Ethier, who is best-known as the frontman for Toronto garage-rock outfit the Deadly Snakes, steps out Mon., APRIL 28, to embrace the traditions of simple and stripped-down singer/songwriting fare. $12. 9 p.m. The Earl, 488 Flat Shoals Road. 404-552-3950. www.badearl.com.

(Photo courtesy of Merge Records)

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1) Destroyer plays at the Earl.

2) Second annual LiveStrong Golf Tournament raises funds for the Lance Armstrong Foundation at Cherokee Town and Country Club.

3) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has its 2008 Decorator’s Show House & Gardens.

4) Ellen Feldman reads and discusses her book Scottsboro at the Decatur Library.

5) Burmese Refugee Art Show features naturalistic paintings in oil and watercolor by Min Wein Ye at Mingei World Arts in Decatur.

(Photo Merge Records)

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Small Farms CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is sponsoring a benefit dinner at Glover Family Organic Farm (right) Sun., APRIL 27. The annual event is a fundraiser for Slow Foods Atlanta, a nonprofit organization that promotes local food traditions. This year’s theme of WORLD FOOD AT THE FARM pays homage to the immigrant roots that make up Atlanta’s culinary melting pot. Chefs and cooks from all over the world who showcase their talents daily at Atlanta restaurants such as Repast, Woodfire Grill and Restaurant Eugene are teaming up to prepare a family-style meal with most of the ingredients taken right from Glover Farm. It’s a collision of Southern comfort food and international flavors. Other treats for guests include a rare performance by a refugee drum troop from Burundi, and a silent auction to raise money for the community garden at Refugee Family Services. $45. Glover Family Farm, 3260 Ga. 166, Douglasville. 678-485-4941. www.slowfoodatlanta.org.
— Brooke Williams

(Photo courtesy of Glover Family Farm)

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