Senator Theatre owner Tom Kiefaber found out Wednesday that the historic York Road theater has been selected as one of the showcase engagements for "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace," which opens May 19. The deal will be finalized after the movie is screened for exhibitors the first week in May.
"Based on the record-setting engagement of the `Star Wars' trilogy we had in 1997, and the fact that we have been selected on this initial list of showcase engagements, we are very optimistic about coming to terms with Fox and inking a deal with them," Kiefaber said yesterday. Stay tuned.
Classics at the Charles
Jim Jarmusch's 1984 film "Stranger Than Paradise," the film that informed a generation's meandering, darkly funny, low-budget aesthetic, and Jean-Luc Godard's "Weekend" (1967), a surreal portrait of contemporary society as seen through the eyes of a French couple on a terrifying road trip, open at the Charles Theatre tonight for a run through Tuesday.
Tickets are still available for the Charles' grand re-opening Wednesday. With four new screens and a spiffed-up lobby, the Charles will show a special program of new and classic films Wednesday starting at 8: 15 p.m. "The Castle," "Tango," "My Name is Joe," "The Dreamlife of Angels" and this critic's all-time favorite film, "Sweet Smell of Success," will be shown. A reception with free champagne and popcorn will begin at 7: 15 p.m.
Tickets are $15 and are available at the Charles box office. For more information, call 410-727-FILM.
`Samurai' at Hopkins
"Six String Samurai," a favorite on the festival circuit since sweeping the awards at the 1998 Slamdance Film Festival, makes its Baltimore premiere at the Johns Hopkins Film Festival tonight at the Language Learning Center. The show starts at midnight.
The Hopkins festival runs through the weekend and includes a program of local works; a second screening of "Six String Samurai" Saturday at 10 p.m.; "The Perfect Specimen," Stephen Mims' antic look at a high school prom; and "A Hole in the Head," Eli Kabillio's surprisingly engrossing documentary about the practice of drilling a hole into the skull to increase brain function. "God Said, `Ha!", the filmed adaptation of Julia Sweeney's one-woman comedy about the saddest year of her life, will close the festival on Sunday. For a full schedule and ticket information, call 410-516-7517, or visit the festival's Web site at http: //www.seether.com/filmfest.
