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'Halloween' trivia question

Debbie Henry won last week's trivia question. She was the 16th person to know that "Wedding Crashers" was the correct answer. We didn't make it easy on you--with two mistakes that caused mass confusion (see post below). We'll try to keep our story straight this week!

Be the 11th correct entry this week and win a free pass. Send your answer in the subject line to trivia@eagletheater.net. One entry per email address. If you want us to read the body of the email, put a "*" by your answer.

Ready?

"Halloween"  is a remake the 1978 John Carpenter classic that featured a then-young (and still young to ME) actress who was the daughter of two very famous Hollywood stars. She was paid $8,000 for that role, a fraction of the $3 million she earned for "Halloween: Ressurection," which was a 2002 production that did $30 million at the box. For her work in the horror genre, this actress earned the nickname of "The Scream Queen," or more poetically, and accurately on many levels, "The Body." Who is this goddess, er... ACTRESS?

Halloween redux

Big doins' here on Saturday night! You could win a movie pass and a dinner from BackPorch SmokeHouse.

Local ping-pong "pro" Brad Siler will be at the theater from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. taking all comers in a short, short ping-pong match. Take two out of three points from Brad and you win the prize!

It's all to promote Balls of Fury, which is a huge comedy with tiny balls. We've got a table set up in the lobby, so get in shape for your big game. You can read all about it below in the other posting.

Balls of Fury stars Christopher Walken, one of my favorite actors noted for playing unbalanced characters. I think there is a cosmic tie between us.

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Shrek the Third is back for a one-week run at a discounted price--$3 for all seats. It is our first movie in our Second Chance September series. Wild Hogs will be coming next week!

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If you like classic horror, we have the movie for you. Halloween opens Friday. It is a remake of the 1978 John Carpenter film. Director Rob Zombie has a twist on the tale--it steps back in time to examine the childhood events that shaped the psychopaths--Michael Myers.

Yummy.

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Speaking of yummy, we have added Jelly Belly beans to the concession stand. We might have a few samples to share, and we can scoop you up about four ounces of these delicacies for $2.50. We have Smoothies, Soda Pop Shoppe, and 10-Flavor Sours.

By the way, the flavors in the Soda Pop Shoppe include 7UP, Dr. Pepper, Orange Crush, Grape Crush, A&W Root Beer and A&W Cream Soda. My personal favorite are the 10-Flavor Sours...

We're working on some other additions to the concession stand. A few I will keep secret for now, but we ARE going to add frozen drinks next month. We are looking at a Strawberry frozen drink and a frozen Vanilla Velvet Cappucino. Third drink in the lineup will be a Cookies and Creme Milkshake. Every now and then, we will throw a Blueberry frozen drink into the mix.

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I sure made a mess of the trivia contest last week! The answer we were looking for was "Wedding Crashers," which was the movie that featured a small role by Christopher Walken. I wrote that the movie in question was from 1995, when of course it was from 2005. Even weirder, I mistakenly put down the wrong email address to send entries. Some people sent entries to the "regular" address, while our other good Germans followed orders and sent their answer to the "wrong" address.

We DO have a winner AND a new trivia question--this one about the new movie, Halloween.

Can you beat our Ping-Pong pro on Saturday night?

Here is the press release we submitted to the Daily News and WTAY:

A former tennis teaching pro is trading in his long-handled racket for a ping-pong paddle this Saturday night.

Brad Siler, who has coached in area schools and at Lincoln Trail, has been hired as the ping-pong “pro” at Eagle Theater for an event Saturday night in connection with the new Christopher Walken movie, “Balls of Fury.” Siler will take on all comers from

6 p.m.

to

10 p.m.

Players who best Siler in a short match of two out of three points will win a movie pass and a sandwich, side and drink from BackPorch Smokehouse.

“We have a champion—and his name is Siler,” said Eagle Theater President Eric Gubelman, who graduated from RHS a year after Siler did in 1975. “Brad’s a great tennis player, a great basketball player, and a killer ping-pong guy. We are looking for people not afraid to take him on.”

In keeping with the light tone of the event, Eagle Theater has been touting Siler’s alleged Ping-Pong accomplishments, including a purported 1996 stint as champion of Stoy and the 2002 Ping-Pong runner up for Greater Latvia.

“Balls of Fury” is a martial arts spoof of the unsanctioned, underground, and unhinged world of extreme Ping-Pong, where the competition is brutal and the stakes are deadly. Oscar winner Walken, known for his portrayals of psychologically unstable characters, plays arch-fiend Feng, who is determined to thwart the ambition of former Ping-Pong phenom Randy Daytona (Tony Award winner Dan Fogler).

Gubelman said that all who play Siler will be given 10 Jelly-Bellies to provide a sugar rush as they enter competition against the Ping-Pong pro. “That’s 40 calories of non-steroidal energy that is our contribution to even the odds against our pro,” he said.

The Eagle Theater President admitted he was concerned about the international students from LTC coming out to try to whip the local pro. “There are rumors of several Ping-Pong ringers in the community, but Siler is a fighter,” he said.

Christopher Walken trivia question

The versatile Christopher Walken stars in "Balls of Fury," which opens Wednesday at the Eagle. Walken's early work included the 1983 screen version of Stephen King's novel, "The Dead Zone" (now a television series).

More recently, you may have caught him in "Hairspray," "Click," or "The Stepford Wives."

This week's trivia question concerns Walken's role in a 1995 bawdy comedy that starred Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. Walken played a Cabinent officer, but the movie did not focus on his public role. What was that movie?

If you know, put your answer in the subject of an email to eric@eagletheater.net. If you are the 16th correct entry, you win a free pass to the Eagle. One entry per email address. As always, if you want us to read the entire email, put a "*" next to your answer.

Worst movie of the year coming to Eagle

Want to mess with the studio execs heads? Want to mark Crawford County as a truly unique place? Read on...

The worst reviewed comedy of the year, Daddy Day Camp, is opening at the Eagle this Friday. Critics HATE this movie, which has done a paltry $8.9 million at the box office in the first two weeks of release.

Here are a few samples from the critics:

"Daddy Day Camp is a perfect family film for the blind and deaf."
--Michael Ferraro, Film Threat

"At least it will not suck anybody's will to live."
--Pam Grady, Reel.com

"Other than being silly most of the time and stupid on occasion, there is nothing offensive about Daddy Day Camp."
Bruce Kirkland, Jam!Movies

This is quite possibly the worst movie we will exhibit this year, and we are urging you to see it to confound Hollywood and put Robinson on the map. In my mind's eye, I see studio execs getting the nightly box office reports and noticing that Eagle Theater is out-grossing theaters much larger for Daddy Day Camp. They scratch their heads in wonderment, make a few calls, and discover that Eagle Theater is a unique theater in a unique town. Our phone number makes it to their Rolodex, and we begin a dialogue that will pay off in the future (somehow).

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Two other comedies are opening this week. Neither will win Academy awards, but both will have their audience. Nanny Diaries opens Friday and Balls of Fury will come in on Wednesday. I'm a Christopher Walken fan, and he makes me laugh in about any role he is in. This week's trivia question is a Walken question, and you can play by reading the question above. You might win a free pass, which will make up for us having forced you to see Daddy Day Camp.

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We are going to try something new for September. We call it Second Chance September, and we are bringing back five movies that played previously, and we are charging a bargain price--only $3 per ticket. If you missed these fun movies, you've got another chance to see them. Don't rent the DVD when you can see it on the big screen for only three bucks!

This is an experiment. You are the variable. Get in that test tube and mix it up!

We will bring in each movie for a weekly run beginning on the Friday noted below. Here's the schedule:

Aug. 31-- Shrek 3
Sept. 7-- Wild Hogs
Sept. 14-- Knocked Up
Sept. 21-- Pirates of the Caribbean 3
Sept. 28-- Transformers

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If you are a friend of the Welsh family or a fan of Oblong football, you are hereby granted dispensation and permission not to see a movie on Friday night. If you skip out on this traditional night of fun and frivolity, your attendance at the Oblong football field is required. Former Oblong football coach Ron Welsh is being honored Friday night at the game there. The field is being named for him. Ron is the father of Eagle Theater Manager Tom Welsh. Coach Ron dedicated his career to the community, and it is good to see that commitment has its rewards. We are proud of him and the entire Welsh litter of pups.

J.D. Mullen and Company is trivia winner

Our friends at J.D. Mullen and Company won last week's trivia question. They win a free courtesy pass for knowing that Robert Ludlum was the author behind the Bourne movies.

No trivia contest for the next few weeks. I am heading out to Montana, and we will resume when I get back from Big Sky country.

To sequel, or not to sequel?

Do you suffer from Sequel-itis? Is this summer's bill of fare a bunch of stale leftovers that gives your palate the feeling of "Been There, Done That, Stuffed Myself to Death?" Do you think that movies don't often come in bunches of three?

Then this is the week for YOU. We offer you Stardust, and action/fantasy film that stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, and Charlie Cox. It is well-reviewed, it is fresh, and it is based on the novel by Neil Gamain.

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Do you love sequels? Have you enjoyed Spiderman 3, Pirates 3, and the latest installment of Harry Potter? Do you think that movies are best when they revisit familiar characters in new situations?

Then this is the week for YOU (too). We offer you Rush Hour 3, the Chris Rock/Jackie Chan vehicle that will take you along for a brisk ride.

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Our Summer Kids Series concluded this week with the showing of "Night at the Museum." As you can see, more than 3,500 attended, and "Charlotte's Web" led the pack in attendance. Our thanks to Monical's Pizza, Marathon, and First Robinson Savings Bank for making this series possible at a free price. We certainly appreciate it, and I know the parents and kids in the community do as well.

Movie	Tickets
Charlotte's Web	455
Barnyard	428
Open Season	396
RV	368
Happy Feet	348
Over the Hedge	339
Happily N'ever After	334
Flushed Away	324
Eragon	278
Night at the Museum	241
Total	3511

You have to be re-Bourne to win this week

Hallelujah! At the movies, we are all going to be Bourne again this week...

Matt Damon returns as Jason Bourne in the spy/adventure/thriller The Bourne Ultimatum. It's the third (and best reviewed) movie of the series based on a series of spy novels, inluding "The Bourne Identity" and "The Bourne Supremacy."

We're looking for the 10th person to tell us the name of the author who write the Bourne novels. If you know, put your answer in the subject line and send to trivia@eagletheater.net. Tenth person wins a free pass.

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No winner last week. "Roger and Me" was the answer, but not enough entered to name a winner. I know that Crawford County is a red county, but you won't rot in a dark corner if you answer a Michael Moore trivia question.

By the way... "Sicko" was one of the finest movies I have ever seen. I have rarely been as moved as I was by that film. I have two friends who I care about deeply who refused to see the movie because Michael Moore directed it. It is truly their loss--and your loss--if you skipped the film.

Welcome to Mayberry

I counted more than 40 reviews of The Bourne Ultimatum at www.rottentomatoes.com, and 38 of them were favorable. This is definitely the best action/thriller of the year, with some critics saying it is the best movie of the year. As we near the end of the summer season, this could be a great finish...

Disney is bringing us Underdog, based on the cartoon that kept me glued to the television on Saturday mornings about 40 years ago. I am now old enough to see my cultural icons recycled by Hollywood. What next? Mighty Mouse?

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Robinson is hosting 10 midwestern baseball teams this weekend in the Babe Ruth Tournament, held locally at the city park. The theater has distributed discount coupons to all teams, and I know we all want to go out of our way to make these young ballplayers welcome. There's going to be some pretty good baseball played, but don't let it interfere with movie watching! Give up something else this weekend--like sleep.

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You know you live in a small town when...

I have a utility trailer that I use to haul around a riding mower, the only valuable piece of equipment the theater owns. A few weeks ago, I lost the pin the holds the tilt bolt in place (the thingy that keeps the platform from upending at a 30 degree angle so you unload it). I picked up another pin from Gary Oxford, but they didn't know how much it cost, so I was operating on credit the last few weeks until I got a call that the fee was $3, and I could stop by at my leisure.

My leisure finally arrived because in the meantime, I had lost the tilt bolt itself. (Diagnosis: Middle age dementia) It is probably sitting in the road somewhere between Sears (warranty work on the mower) and the theater. I stopped in to pay my freight on the pin and buy a tilt bolt, but Gary didn't have one on hand. I paid him another $3 (I'm up to $6), and he gave me $5 back from my ten because he didn't have exact change.

So now, I'm $1 ahead of where I should be, but I don't have the bolt. A few hours later, I came out to my van at lunch, and sitting in my seat was the magical, mystical bolt, delivered to my unlocked vehicle and left behind where I would sit on it if I didn't see it.

Where else but in a small town can you buy on informal credit, get back more change than you have coming to you, and have something delivered to your front seat because the guy selling it to you knows what you drive?