Scene - Blogs - What I meant to say.

What I meant to say....
Published: 7/18/2008 5:00 PM
Last Modified: 7/18/2008 5:00 PM

Editors.

Better stop right there with that thought.

I hope people liked the story on the Circle Cinema in the July 17 Spot magazine, a double-truck in the center that detailed where Tulsa's historic theater had been, where it's at, and where it's headed.

One element of that package was a sort of think piece on what the Circle Cinema means to Tulsa, what it offers, what they are. Less than half of what I wrote appeared in the paper.

Editors. Reporters. I say I'll write this much for the Circle Cinema piece. They say write a little more.

This is dangerous territory, telling a writer to write more, because we love everything we write. Those words are precious. I wrote too much.

Blogs. No editors. Or at least no space constraints.

Here's what I meant to say, in its entirety, about the Circle Cinema in the Spot magazine:

You have to look beyond the obvious when you physically look at the Circle Cinema from the outside. Come on, she’s 80 years old.
Don’t we all know that it’s what’s on the inside that matters? When you enter Tulsa’s oldest standing theater, you are going on a journey. When it comes to film, the Circle Cinema offers audiences the world.
This is the neighborhood theater with the worldwide screen, where you come to see French farces and the best foreign dramas.
But the Circle is also the place that finds a local connection to worldwide events. When it presents a documentary on the lost boys of Sudan, there is a lost boy from Sudan who afterward tells the audience about his journey.
The Circle Cinema is the one place showing films that recall the events of the Holocaust, and when it’s over, a survivor — a Tulsan — tells the stories that we must never forget.
The nonprofit Circle Cinema Foundation bought the theater five years ago to educate young minds, like Tulsa’s middle school students who attend the Circle’s Journeys in Film series, as well as adults, with an ambitious mission in mind: Use the extraordinary power of cinema to promote tolerance and encourage greater understanding among diverse people.
“Films have such a power to influence the way people think and act,” foundation co-founder Clark Wiens said. “And we’ve always believed that if you could use that power to enlighten people and inspire them and help them understand others, it would be a great thing.”
This is not your mega-multiplex theater ushering people in and out of one explosive summer blockbuster after another. We love those movies, and we know where to go to find them.
The Circle is different.
It’s an art-house theater of remarkable quality in a market the size of Tulsa, whose caretakers believe that local residents shouldn’t have to drive to Dallas or someplace else out of state to see a wide selection of films that no other local theater would show.
They believe that Tulsans shouldn’t have to wait for the DVD release of “Half Nelson” when Ryan Gosling is nominated for an Academy Award or when Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard embodies the spirit of Edith Piaf in “La vie En Rose.”
But more than anything, the Circle Cinema is local, and not just in its ownership. No where else is Oklahoma’s contribution to motion pictures — past, present and future — both recognized and celebrated than at the Circle.
When the documentary “In the Shadow of the Moon” recounts the Apollo space travels, you go to the Circle to hear Oklahoma’s living astronauts tell of their experiences with NASA, to hear about their work on those missions, to hear about history.
When a young director like Sterlin Harjo of Tulsa has a film selected for the Sundance Film Festival, Wiens makes sure that the first chance to see his movie in our state will be at the Circle Cinema, because he believes that the theater should be the center of film in Oklahoma.
Woody Guthrie’s sister. J.J. Cale’s band mates. Dust Bowl survivors. All have appeared for question-and-answer sessions, as have many others.
The theater’s goal is that one in every three films have either the filmmaker, a participant or an educator present to provide a context for the film. It’s an ambitious program, and one that has proven popular, as audiences regularly overflow from the 105-seat theater to another screen in the lobby for these events.
Midnight movies. The Friday Music Film series. Free summer movies for kids (in conjunction with the Tulsa City-County Library, one of the many nonprofits the Circle joins with for films). “American Idol” watch parties and free gatherings to screen the Academy Awards.
The Circle Cinema is a special place. Don’t be afraid of the plywood over boarded-up windows; murals painted by Kendall Whittier Elementary School students have made them more pleasing as construction continues on two new screens that will provide more than 350 additional seats.
Don’t fret at driving in front of the theater for a view of that spiffy neon sign, only to notice that there appears to be about five parking spots. You’ll find a couple hundred more in back of the theater, leading to a rear entrance.
Once inside, you’ll find an art gallery with new exhibits every 90 days, some of the best popcorn in town and a silver screen that brings you the world.
Once you enter the Circle Cinema, you will realize: It’s what’s inside that counts.

Reader Comments

1 Total

Show: Newest First

Learn About Our Comment Policy

TAB (5 years ago)

You'll be proud to know that this morning's "Morning Animal" out of OKC went off on your review of the new Will Ferrell movie -- the co-host, Pork, was said he thought you got your lunch money stolen when you were a kid. Honestly, I was proud you made those guys so mad.

1 comments displayed

To post comments on tulsaworld.com, you must be an active Tulsa World print or digital subscriber and signed into your account.

To sign in to your account, go to tulsaworld.com/signin.
To activate your print subscription for unlimited digital access and to post comments, go to tulsaworld.com/activate.
To purchase a subscription, go to tulsaworld.com/subscribe.

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.

Follow Michael Smith on Twitter

Subscribe to this blog

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

2/2013	1/2013	12/2012	11/2012	10/2012	9/2012
8/2012	7/2012	6/2012	5/2012	4/2012	3/2012
2/2012	1/2012	12/2011	11/2011	10/2011	9/2011
8/2011	7/2011	6/2011	5/2011	4/2011	3/2011
2/2011	1/2011	12/2010	11/2010	10/2010	9/2010
8/2010	7/2010	6/2010	5/2010	4/2010	3/2010
2/2010	1/2010	12/2009	11/2009	10/2009	9/2009
8/2009	7/2009	6/2009	5/2009	4/2009	3/2009
2/2009	1/2009	12/2008	11/2008	10/2008	9/2008
8/2008	7/2008	6/2008	5/2008	4/2008	3/2008
2/2008	1/2008	12/2007	11/2007	10/2007	9/2007
8/2007	7/2007	6/2007

Your bookmark will appear on your Profile page. Please give it a title, and short description so that visitors to your page will understand where the bookmark leads.
Bookmark Title :

Bookmark Text :