CommanderBond.net

Now on the CBn main page...

James Bond Double Feature At Fox Theatre Summer Film Festival

'Goldfinger' and 'Casino Royale' on 4 June in Atlanta

I think I'm the only one around here that lives in Atlanta, but if anyone's interested, I'll arrange a meetup. Should be a great time!

You'll have to give us a report on the event, clublos.

Hey, I'm also in the Atlanta area. Hoping I can get my brother and Dad to join me for this, especially since Dad introduced me to Bond on a Dr. No/FRWL double bill when I was in 2nd grade.

Movies at the Fox are really something special!


Steve

This post has been edited by Yellow Pinky: 10 May 2007 - 15:34

Yeah, it's great seeing movies there. It's definitely got this old time appeal of the classic theaters that are so large and make the film going experience an event.

I'm so looking forward to this.

Coming up soon...

Goldfinger back to back with CR, wow! those two are interchangable as my favourite Bond film, I've been meaning to do that with the DVDs, but never have the time (see which one is truly the best).

Sounds like a great time could be had.

They couldn't move this back like 3 months?

I naturally move there after all the good stuff is over.

You're moving here? Cool, another die-hard Bond fan in my neck of the woods.


Anyway, I'm so ready for this tonight! I'll have my camera with me and get some good shots. I've got a good group of friends coming with me, so I'll be sure to give a full report.

So the Fox theater has movie fests every Summer. And they show a mix of everything from classics to recent blockbusters. The cool thing about watching a movie at the Fox theater is you really feel like you're part of an experience. It has the largest screen in the city (IMAX excluded) and the theater itself is simply amazing. The website is http://www.foxtheatre.org if you want to see what it's all about. But the coolest part is the audience. There's such a mix of people, all there for pure, old-fashioned entertainment. I mean this is the audience that cheers whenever something good happens, jumps at the scary scenes and gives a thunderous applause when the creidts roll. As my buddy put it, "It's like being at a large party because everyone's there to enjoy themselves."

We were making plans Sunday afternoon on how we'd assemble. My fiance, Shannan, is a teacher and is off for the Summer, so she'd be at home and my buddy Alan and his girlfriend Heather would come over around 4:00. They'd decide what to do for dinner and when I got home from work, we'd eat, wait for more friends to show up and then leave. As the mixed drinks at the Fox are expensive (more on that later), we decided to get lit before leaving, show up and have a drink or two and then we'd be set.

Good plan.

I got off work around 4:00 and Shannan was already waiting on Alan. He's not the most punctual person in the world, so I didn't expect him before 5:00. It's kindof this window we allow him when making plans. He has absolutely no concept of time, so we tell him to show up an hour before we want him, and he's never late. (Although, there are the once in a blue moon times when he does show up an hour early, probably because he forgot whatever he was doing at the time. He's the poster child for ADHD. And he's my best friend, I've known him since we were 13. I love the guy.)

He and Heather get there at 5:00, we go pick up some dinner from KFC (minor reference to the upcoming film, if you will), eat, and then leave.

As we drive around midtown, we notice (okay, I notice) numerous hotties dressed up walking along the street toward the Fox, and Heather and Shannan become nervous that they're underdressed. Alan and I assure them that they're fine, all the while straining to get some good looks in (yup, I said it, I look at the menu, but I know where my good cookin' really is).

One of the only decent radio stations is there, 99X, so we talk to their people for a while so Alan can smoke, play some roulette, win a Casino Royale poster (which I already had), a 99X beer coozy and a 99X license plate. And then we go into the theater.

And hit the bar.

Now, if you're wondering what kind of drunk I am (even if you're not), I'm the fun playful type that acts all goofy and likes to laugh, so we're all talking to the bartenders and joking with them, and I put the poster, beer coozy and license plate down on a table. They're probably still there, I don't remember exactly where I left them, but all I know is I didn't leave the theater with them.

Okay, so drinks in hand, we make our way to find seats (it's general admission). First, we go up to the balcony and it's pretty full. But that's okay, because in an old school theater like the Fox, I want to see the almost flat row of seats (don't get me wrong, I love stadium seating, but this place is just too cool for school) in front of me and everyone around me. Before the show, they have this guy named Mo playing this huge organ to entertain the crowd. He plays classic songs that you'd hear in a staduim or something. And the project the lyrics on the screen, so the audience can sing along. And they do.

They show old newsreels too from the 1940's. Pretty cool.

Then the trailers begin for movies that are coming up at the Fox: The Departed, Pan's Labyrinth and 300. And would you believe they actually show a cartoon? I mean a Bugs Bunny cartoon! Loony Tunes! Roars of laughter and cheers befall the audience during this segment. You'd think it's the highlight of the evening. Good times.

And then, finally, Casino Royale begins.

Now remember how I said that the audience really gets into the movies at the Fox? They cheered and laughed at every turn. When Bond kills Dryden, everyone clapped and cheered. When Bond bursts through the wall at the construction site, they cheered. They clapped at the first image of the Aston Martin DB5 on the security monitor. It was great! Going to the multiplex pales in comparison to this experience. I mean I saw Casino Royale six times at the theater, and this blew each of those experiences away. They even cheered and clapped when he won the Aston Martin at the poker game. And the cheers kept coming. After a while, Alan leans over to me (you see, we share half a brain, pun intended) and he says exactly what I'm thinking: "This crowd is going to go crazy during the torture sequence." And as expected, the roar was insane. I truly wish my first viewing of Casino Royale had been in this setting.

For those of you that are daing/engaged/married to someone who is not exactly a fan of Bond, their love can be measure by how well they tolerate your incessant Bond film viewings. If this is true, Shannan is a godsend. But, and I swear I never thought I'd see this, when that person begins to call out the next quote before it happens, you know you've got someone special. And all during the show last night, Shannan kept whispering various lines before they were said.

So the film ends to a massive applause and a 10 minute intermission is announced.

Back to the bar. Okay, there's several bars set up, and all but one serve beer, popcorn and a few mixed drinks. Then there's the Grey Goose bar with various martinis. As we're talking to the bartender and deciding what to order, I notice a bottle Lillet over his shoulder. I was so ready to do it, it's like it was waiting for me. Like God reached down with a silver platter with my name on it and said, "Drink. You've earned it." Well, unfortunately, I did something wrong because I wasn't about to pay $11.50 for a martini. Then I asked for a Jack and Coke, and the bartender was like, "That's $11.50, too. All my drinks are the same price. You can get a Jack and Coke at the other bar for $7.50." I felt like Mike in Swingers being told that the dealer can't change a $100 chip because that's the minimum bet at his table. Even still, my buzz was still going and I didn't feel like paying any more. Besides, the 10 minutes were almost up and I wasn't going to miss the gunbarrel for Goldfinger.

As I understand it, Goldfinger is fairly regularly shown on the west coast, but in my area this is the first that I can remember it being shown in a very long time. The print wasn't great. The beginnings and endings of each reel were pretty dirty, but it was still enjoyable. Of course, the atmosphere remained and everyone cheered as the gunbarrel opened the film. We moved up closer to the center, out from underneath the balcony overhang. (Inside the theater, they have the ceiling painted to resemble a nighttime sky with twinkling stars, and that was now visible from our seats.) Oh yeah, and the print had OHMSS as the next Bond film, which was nice to see.

And I'm sure you can imagine the uproar when Pussy Galore's name is mentioned. In fact, the applause was so loud after her introduction that Bond's response was barely audible. Every time she was mentioned by name, laughter/applause. Good times.

Okay, I'm done rambling. I really hope this remaster thing takes off in the U.K. because that means we'll get the films, too. And this was too much fun.

I live in Atlanta also and nobody told me about this event.

I'll be a freshman at Georgia Tech.

Sounds like it was a pretty good time! Looking at a map now, and the theatre's only two blocks away from campus. Ugh.