Revival Screening Showcase: Hood College "Phones Home" with E.T. (1983)

1982 ad for the Frederick area screening of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial,
at the now-defunct Frederick Towne Mall cinemas (operated by
Interstate Theaters before being acquired by Hoyts),
as featured in the November 5, 1982 edition of The News.

In commemoration of Hood College's "Home" colloquium series conclusion, the college will present a FREE revival screening of Steven Spielberg's 1982 science-fiction masterpiece, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial on April 28th at 7:00 p.m., inside Hodson Auditorium.

And if you guessed Reese's Pieces would be available during the screening, you're correct!  So take a break from the intensity of final projects (and exams), and relax by watching E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial the way it was meant to be seen, on the big screen. Starring Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, and Dee Wallace.

The special revival screening of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial is presented by The Center for Humanities at Hood College, with a special grant made possible by the National Endowment For The Humanities.

The event is free and open to the general public.

E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Special revival screening at Hood College's Hodson Auditorium (inside Rosenstock Hall)
April 28th at 7:00 p.m.
401 Rosemont Ave.
Frederick, Maryland 21701

For more information, contact fulfer@hood.edu

At The Matinee's head author and chief proprietor may show up for this special screening of E.T., depending on the workload of final projects.

Update (5/1): I enjoyed seeing E.T. on the big screen inside Hodson Auditorium.  Yet there was one element missing from the revival screening- some hot, fresh, tasty popcorn.  Plus, I thought that there would be more people in attendance that evening.  There were about 15-20 people in the audience (possibly due to final projects/exams, etc.).

Aside from all that, it was an amazing experience, as I have never seen Steven Spielberg's E.T. on the big screen before.

Record Store Day: A look back at Tower Records in 1971

This is in honor of Record Store Day (April 18th).  Remember these now-defunct record stores?

Waxie Maxie's, Wall-To-Wall Audio & Video (later known in its last years as "The Wall"), Sam Goody, Harmony Hut, Camelot Music, Waves, and  the biggest of them all (until its demise in 2006)- Tower Records.

Recently unearthed on the Internet Archive (via the Center for Sacramento History), a 1971 film of the day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles Tower Records location on Sunset Boulevard.  It was filmed and edited by Sacramento City College professor Darrell Forney.  Forney mixed his footage with two popular hit songs (of the era)- "Thank You For Letting Me Be Myself Again" by Sly & The Family Stone, and "Me and Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin.

Forney's film is an interesting look at the then-modern record store of the day, and one of the popular locations of the Tower chain.  It is a must see for lovers of music and physical media!

Tower would enter the Washington area in the mid-1980's.  The Sacramento-based chain shuttered all of its stores in 2006, due to financial problems, online retailers and the threat of digital downloads.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL RECORD STORE ON RECORD STORE DAY! If you enjoyed Darrell Forney's film of Tower Records in 1971, be sure to support your local record store.  Nothing can beat any genre of pre-recorded music on physical media.

And when you do purchase your favorite music on vinyl or CD, be sure to play your favorite songs on a good, well-calibrated stereo system! Don't fall for bad sound!

For participating retailers, click here.

1978 advertisement for Harmony Hut Record Stores
in the News-Post.  Harmony Hut would be acquired
by the Musicland Group, and would be converted
to the company's Sam Goody stores.

#recordstoreday

"Speak Softly and Carry A Big Stick:" Theodore Roosevelt appears in forerunner to Paramount's Newsreels

This is in relation to a recent Hood College class trip to the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Some eleven years before the studio presented its newsreels with "The Eyes of the World" (later "The Eyes and Ears of the World" after the dawn of sound), Paramount Pictures released a news magazine series to theaters- titled Paramount Pictographs.

The weekly newsreel series was produced in conjunction with Bray Studios, a company that was better known for its pioneering work in cartoon animation (though Bray produced a live-action film for General Electric, A Day with Thomas A. Edison in 1921).  Bray's animated output was included with newsreel product featured in Paramount releases.

According to the 1916 issue of The Motion Picture News, this was the second installment of Paramount's newsreel gazette.  For this edition, former President Theodore Roosevelt, who was no stranger to the newsreel camera, presented his thoughts on the topic of preparedness (with inter-titles).  The newsreel also showcased Roosevelt, collaborating on the subject of preparedness with the editor of the Metropolitan Magazine.  The footage was filmed at President Roosevelt's house, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, New York.

It was an interesting and fascinating newsreel of Theodore Roosevelt in 1916, featured in an early newsreel for a major motion picture studio.

The early Paramount newsreel of Theodore Roosevelt can be viewed here at the Library of Congress' YouTube channel.