Make sure to vote for your People’s Choice movie! On Saturday, Aug. 16, we will be showing either Stripes, Enter the Dragon, or A Nightmare on Elm Street at 11PM. You can vote anytime on our website by clicking the “Vote” tab or by texting “Stripes,” Enterthedragon,” or “ElmStreet” to 22333.
This isn’t Iowa. This is El Paso, and we’re warming up for the seventh annual Plaza Classic Film Festival with a special showing of “Field of Dreams” at 8 p.m. today at Southwest University Park, the sparkling new home of the El Paso Chihuahuas.
The El Paso Community Foundation and the Chihuahuas welcome you to tonight’s special presentation. Check out the stadium, watch a movie, have a hot dog — and have fun!
A few things you should know:
• The box office opens at 6:30 p.m.
• Doors open at 7 p.m. Entry will be at the Santa Fe Street gate (south of the box office) and the Durango Street gate.
• Seating will be on the third base side of the field, which offers the best shot of the HD scoreboard, where the movie will be projected. THERE IS NO SEATING ON THE FIELD.
• The program starts at 8 p.m. There will be a few announcements, then the movie.
• Tickets are $5 at the door, $6 at plazaclassic.com and with a credit card. A 2014 Festival Pass will get you in the doors (no ticket required; just show your pass).
Call 915-533-4020 if you have any questions.
See you at the ball game, er, movie!
A part of Turner Classic Movies joins another classic, the Plaza Classic Film Festival, when Scott McGee joins us for our opening weekend, Aug. 8-10. Scott is a senior writer and producer with the classic movie channel’s programming and studio productions departments. He’s also part of the TCM Classic Film Festival and the TCM Classic Cruise. He’ll be on hand to introduce some of our classic movie offerings and give a couple of the free Film Talks at the Camino Real Hotel.
Longtime PCFF friend Laura Emerick will return for the second weekend, Aug. 15-17, the same weekend that Robert Wagner will be here. Laura was the Chicago Sun-Times entertainment editor, and worked with the late, great Roger Ebert, when she started attending the El Paso festival a few years ago. She’s not the digital editor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She’ll help with intros and Film Talks.
Also, Elisa Sanchez, whose mother was involved with the strike depicted in the historic “Salt of the Earth,” which will show on the final weekend, will attend the screening and take questions from the audience. Her mother also was one of the non-professional actors in this intriguing movie, which is 60 years old this year. Elisa is a Las Cruces, N.M., resident who established a scholarship fund at New Mexico State University in her mother’s honor. Latino students
Two of El Paso’s most popular teams — the El Paso Chihuahuas and the El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival — are teaming up to show “Field of Dreams” at 8 p.m. Aug. 6 at Southwest University Park.
The event is a new “pre-game” warmup to the world’s largest classic film festival that will turn the stadium’s sparkling high-definition scoreboard into a giant movie screen. General admission seating is $5 at the door, available at the Santa Fe and Durango street entrances the night of the show. They are available in advance for $6 at plazaclassic.com. It’s the perfect way to showcase the ball park and kick off the seventh annual Plaza Classic Film Festival, which will feature more than 80 movies and guests stars such as Shirley Jones and Robert Wagner from Aug. 7-17 at the Plaza Theatre and other downtown venues.
“It’s just cool,” said Eric Pearson, president and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation. “We’ve got a Triple-A baseball team in a state-of-the-art stadium and a major league film festival in a state-of-the-art theater. We’re excited to share the experience and invite everyone to the stadium and the festival.”
“This event is a great example of the kinds of things that are possible in this amazing facility with our community partners,” said Brad Taylor, El Paso Chihuahuas general manager. “It can truly be used to bring families and friends together for more than baseball.”
The El Paso Community Foundation created the Plaza Classic Film Festival in 2008 to bring movies back to the historic Plaza Theatre, which it helped restore in 2006. The Festival has attracted more than 200,000 fans, shown more than 400 movies, created $1.5 million in annual economic impact and brought a glittering cast of special guests, including Al Pacino, Rita Moreno, Eva Marie Saint and El Paso native Debbie Reynolds.
The El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, have been the talk of Minor League Baseball since the brand debuted on Oct. 22, 2013. The Chihuahuas have been embraced by fans worldwide, having sold merchandise in all 50 states and 10 countries. Since opening the gates at Southwest University Park on April 28, the Chihuahuas have sold out 32 of 42 times, surpassed the Minor League Baseball attendance record of 334,000 in El Paso and have been featured by ESPN, USA Today, Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports and FOX Sports, to name a few.
It’s the 25th anniversary of “Field of Dreams,” which stars Kevin Costner as an Iowa corn farmer who builds a baseball field after hearing a persistent voice that implores him to. It earned three Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and grossed more than $64,000,000 upon its release in 1989. “It transcends more than just baseball,” Costner has said. “It is about believing in the unbelievable. It’s about relationships. It’s about fathers and son and things that go unsaid for too long.” What: “Field of Dreams” When: 8 p.m. Aug. 6 Where: Southwest University Park How much: $5 general admission at the door, $6 in advance at plazaclassic.com. Information: 915-533-4020, plazaclassic.com.
Lights! Camera! Enter!
Sure, the Plaza Classic Film Festival is the world’s largest classic film festival, but it’s also the area’s premiere showcase of locally made and connected movies.
We’re bringing back New York-based, Hanks High School graduate Ryan Piers Williams on Aug. 16-17.
Ryan will introduce “Kilimanjaro,” a 2013 drama he produced, at 7 p.m. Aug. 16 in the Philanthropy Theatre.
He’ll follow that with the El Paso premiere of his second feature film, “X/Y,” which debuted at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 16 in the Philanthropy.
Tickets for each screening are $4 at the Plaza Theatre box office and www.ticketmaster.com.
Additionally, Ryan will talk film, filmmaking and film gear at a free brunch at 11 a.m. Aug. 17 in the El Paso Community Foundation’s Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon. Seating is limited.
We’re also bringing in El Paso filmmaker Zach Passero and Oklahoma-based director Lucky McKee to show their latest effort, the zombie horror movie “All Cheerleaders Die,” on which Zach was editor. That’s at 9:30 p.m. Aug. 8 in the Philanthropy ($4).
Coronado High graduate Yvette Yates will appear with producer Shaun Redick for a screening of “In the Blood,” which stars Gina Carano of MMA fame, at 3:30 p.m. Aug. 9 in the Philanthropy ($4). Yvette, who is in Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming “Inherent Vice,” and Shaun will talk about her quest to make it in Hollywood.
Las Cruces filmmaker Rajeev Nirmalakhandan will be here to show and discuss his 2013 project “The Odd Way Home,” which stars Chris Marquette and Rumer Willis, and was shot in Cruces and southern New Mexico. It screens at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15 in the Philanthropy ($4).
Meanwhile, local filmmakers have until Aug. 1 to enter their newest projects. We’re accepting shorts, narratives, documentaries, animation, music videos and more. They have to have been completed after Jan. 1, 2012.
There’s no cost to enter. Go to the Submissions page at www.plazaclassic.com/localflavor to fill out your entry form.
They’ll be rounded up into three Local Flavor programs at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 9 (the 10th anniversary of “The Good, The Bad, The Indie, Vol. 10”), 2 p.m. Aug. 10 and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 16. Selections from this year’s Ghostlight Creative 48-Hour Film Slam will be shown at 2 p.m. Aug. 17.
We’re moving them from the art museum to the El Paso Community Foundation’s Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon, this year.
Admission is free.
