What’s it going to take to get people back into movie theaters for something other than the latest superhero bash?
That’s what we are hoping to see with the revival of the Santa Cruz Film Festival after a three-year hiatus. How about more than 90 movies you can’t see on your home screens, all presented to take you on unimaginable adventures? Add panels with directors and producers answering your questions about a slew of new, experimental, ambitious and glorious films?
That’s enough to get me out of my house and into the theaters. So much of cable entertainment is so predictable. We need things to take us to new frontiers and to represent people like us, not people who fly or talking raccoons (as much as I love James Gunn).
Looking over the listing of movies coming up in Joan Hammel’s cover story in this issue, it’s got to be exciting to see underrepresented people on the big screen.
On the minus front, I’m still depressed about losing all the art films at the Nickelodeon, which were crucial to my Santa Cruz education. On the positive side, we have both the Watsonville Film Festival and now its Santa Cruz sister. Isn’t that what living in a double college, highly educated county is about? The Nick was always crowded, or so I thought, and I can’t understand why it’s gone.
But if we can’t have brilliant international and local movies all the time, at least we can catch them in these two festivals. I really hope this launch is for the long term. We deserve it. When we talk about making Santa Cruz great again, great movies—or should I be cultural and say films—is one of the things we need to go with our symphony, our jazz club, our poets, our theater companies, our writers, our actors and directors, and our range of ambitious food, to name a few things.
We have a more diverse and intelligent culture than cities 10 times our size and it’s something to be proud of and to support. And the parties should be awesome.
Other highlights: After the movies, what’s the best thing to do? Read a great book before it gets made into a movie. We’ve got a local author writing about A.I., (not A-1 sauce). Read about this new novel in Josh Logan’s arts story.
Maybe you want to take a farm tour and see the cutting edge of food tech and organics? Our dining column by Mark C. Anderson maps it out for you.
Street Talk is back, and nothing has generated more complaints than when writer John Koenig took a break. Topic this week is about musical inspiration. Can’t miss.
Here’s a request: we’re looking for people to write about where they think Santa Cruz will be 50 years from now for one of our anniversary issues. Want to contribute? Send your thoughts to ed****@*****ys.com.
Have a great week and see ya at the movies.
Brad Kava | Editor
PHOTO CONTEST
HITCHCOCK ALERT This dad is a bird magnet at New Brighton Beach. Photography by Laurie Mello.
GOOD IDEA
This may be the deal of the fall. You can buy two hours of arcade time at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for $24.95 on weekdays through Nov. 26. For this family, that’s like a savings of $200 or more. On Saturdays and Sundays from 10am–noon the arcade games are half price. The only bummer is that you don’t win tickets during the specials. But, with all the money you’ll save, you can buy a plushy somewhere else. Go to beachboardwalk.com and look up fall arcade specials. You’re welcome.
GOOD WORK
More than 260,000 California 2nd graders are starting this school year with a $500–$1,500 scholarship through CalKIDS, the program that helps families prepare for college and career training. Each eligible 2nd grader is automatically awarded a minimum of $500 in their CalKIDS Scholarship Account. Foster youth and students experiencing homelessness receive an additional $500–$1,000, for a CalKIDS Scholarship Account worth up to $1,500.
The account can be used to support their future college and career goals.To learn more, visit CalKIDS.org. Nice work!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“When people ask me if I went to school, I tell them ‘No, I went to films.’” —Quentin Tarantino
