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Circle Cinema: More Than Movies
Published: 4/10/2008 5:43 PM
Last Modified: 4/10/2008 5:43 PM

Did you notice that the Circle Cinema has six different films playing this coming week? Do you realize that they’re pulling that off with just one screen, seating 105 people?

It’s remarkable, like many things that happen at the Circle, where co-founder Clark Wiens so believes in educating the community about the world around them through the best in independent, foreign-language and documentary cinema, that he’s never hesitated to operate his historic theater as if he had four screens at his disposal.

Did you know that he decided to show a documentary called “Note By Note,” about the building of a Steinway piano, from selecting the wood in the forest to its performance on a concert stage, and that he’s been filling the theater for each showing?

Did you know that through Clark’s good works and the efforts of Saied Music, that the L1037 – the Steinway that is built during the making of the documentary – was shipped to Tulsa and is sitting in the Circle Cinema’s lobby, with a waiting list of people wishing to play it prior to screenings of the film?

While any other theater just rents a film and sets show times, Clark often makes going to the movies a special event. Showing a movie about NASA? Clark brings Oklahoma’s three living astronauts to the theater to speak to the audience. A Woody Guthrie documentary? Come meet Woody’s sister after the film.

Did you know there’s a lot you can learn by seeing a movie at the Circle Cinema?

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Tia (5 years ago)

That is what I miss most about Tulsa.

Amberla (5 years ago)

I knew it! Those people down there sure do work hard. ;) I love the Circle!

john ehret (5 years ago)

I really love the kind of films that are shown at the Circle. this is the kind of stuff you only see in the big cities. There is a market in Tulsa for this art form and it's really appreciated my many.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Archive

Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

Michael Smith's Blog Archive:

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