T h e S p e c t r u m | F r i d a y, J a n u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 1 1
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Emily Hanson Arts and Entertainment Editor Phone: 231-5261 | Email: ae@ndsuspectrum.com
Arts and Entertainment
Local Art House Cinema continues to thrive AMANDA HILLIER Contributing Writer
Nestled in downtown Fargo sits a building rich in history and thrilling entertainment; a building that, for over 85 years, has inspired the minds of Fargo-Moorhead residents. One would think they were walking into a museum rather than an 85-year-old movie theater. With its high ceilings and large art moderne deco-styled interior, the Fargo Theatre is truly a masterpiece. Built in 1926 by Finkelstein and Ruben of F. & R. Entertainment, the theater was deemed the most modern play house in North Dakota and was originally classified as a cinema and vaudeville with a fully operational vaudeville stage, fly lift, and $25,000 WurliTzer theater pipe organ; “a rare find,” according to the theater’s Film Programmer Emily Beck. “Back when [the Fargo Theatre] was a vaudeville, there used to be a series of acts shown together, like a collection of traveling shows, that would include actors, singers, musicians, comedians, films and more.” Beck said. “That is how we got the stage. Now we are considered more of an art house cinema.” According to Beck, the WurliTzer theater pipe organ was originally used to bring sound to silent movies. The organ is still used today for the occasional silent film showing and as a sort of matinee before weekend and special films, with performances by the Red River chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society. “The entire theater was valued at $350,000 when it was built in 1926,” Beck said.
Over the years, numerous film icons have graced the theater’s screens and a number of celebrities, including Babe Ruth, Janet Leigh, and Tom Mix, have made guest appearances on the Fargo Theatre’s stage. Today, The Fargo Theatre is a downtown hot spot for concerts, plays, comedians and other live events, as well as independent and foreign films. “We show an average of 30 to 50 live events a year,” Executive Director Margie Bailly explained. “Our film niche is mostly made up of small independent films that you normally wouldn’t find at a larger theater.” The theater has undergone a number of renovations over the years. One caused it to be closed from May 1998 through March 1999, which was the longest the theatre has ever gone unused. The most recent renovation took place in March 2009 when the Off Broadway Theatre was added. The Off Broadway Theatre is a state-of-the-art screen that seats 76. The Fargo Theatre also has an On Broadway Theatre, which is a restored art deco style theater with a stage and organ; the On Broadway Theatre seats 870. “We really have a lot to offer, especially for college students. It’s a great place to go to see a movie then enjoy the bar scene and downtown,” Bailly said. “We show edgy, funny, provocative and beautiful [films].” The theater offers a number of benefits, including a special student membership for $25. With the membership, students will receive the Fargo Theatre newsletters and emails, four first-run film passes, and a punch card for
five midnight admissions. Students can still save if they aren’t a member however, by showing their student IDs at night films. A number of other memberships are offered by the theater as well. The Fargo Theatre is open 364 days per year. Special events include the Midnight Movie Series, Classic Film Series and Silent Movie nights. They also host the annual Fargo Film Festival every March. This year’s festival will take place March 1-5. “This year we have an incredibly strong narrative feature category for our Film Festival,” Beck said. The winner for this year’s film festival is a World War II drama from Russia. The two honorable mention films include a romantic comedy from Ireland and a horror film from California. “No matter what kind of movie you like, there’s probably something for you at the Film Festival,” Beck said. Upcoming live events include the Comedian Louie Anderson and Chelsea Lately, the 14th Annual Celebration of Women and Their Music, Martin Sexton, Leo Kottke and more. The film “I Love You Phillip Morris” starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor will premier at the Fargo Theatre on Friday, Jan. 28, 2011. Box-office hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Call 701-235-4152 to reserve tickets for live events. Visit www.fargotheatre.org or www.fargofilmfestical.com for more information on the Fargo Theatre, upcoming events and ticket prices. The Micah Zimmerman/The Spectrum Fargo Theatre is located at 314 Broadway in Fargo, N.D. The historic Fargo Theatre remains a hot attraction in downtown Fargo.
The Fantastic Three Death comes to America’s first super family
STEVEN STROM Contributing Writer
In Nov. 1961, two relatively unknown comic book creators, young writer Stanley Lieber and the more experienced artist Jack Kirby, created the first issue of a series that would change the world of comics forever. That series was "The Fantastic Four," the first superhero team title to be produced by Lieber (now better known as Stan Lee) that would prove to rocket the then mostly
fledgling Marvel Comics in to modern day media dominance. Stan Lee would go on to provide many contributions to graphic fiction including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man and the Hulk. However, it was the Fantastic Four that acted as the catalyst for Stan Lee’s now worldwide fame. Also, despite not providing as strong of a showing in film and television as some of Lee’s later work, it is the Fantastic Four that many hold as the first great Marvel series. Now in the year 2011, nearly 50 years after the series began, "The Fantastic Four" will be coming to an end with the release of issue #588. Although the series will not officially be ending until the release of that issue, the Fantastic Four can officially be considered to be no more with the already released second-to-last issue dis-
playing the death of one of the team’s titular members. Johnny Storm, better known to most as The Human Torch, has perished within the panels of the penultimate pages. Fans of Marvel comics or the films will know that Johnny Storm represented reckless optimism in the face of danger, making his demise doubly sad, as it represents the loss of hope apparent both in the Marvel universe and the world in which we live. When asked in an interview with IGN.com about the decision to kill the character, current series writer Jonathan Hickman said “…Johnny represented the child-like idealism, and he probably had the most utopian ideal. Taking him away adds a narrative push, a resistance, to what the book is actually about and what Reed (Mr. Fantastic) is trying to achieve. He made sense thematically. Story wise, there's also some other stuff going on in the background of this issue that will make a lot of sense in the future. The events surrounding Johnny's death are pretty key in all of that.” Despite the end of the current series and a certain discrepancy between the team’s title and the number of actual members, the remaining members of the Fantastic Four will continue to feature in the regular Marvel lineup. A new series featuring the characters title, simply "F.F." will be on store shelves sometime in the future and while it is fairly common for comic book superheroes to return from the dead (Captain America, Batman), moving the characters over to a completely new series and canceling the original is a pretty uncommon occurrence as well as a possible sign of a major
Fantastic on Page 7 >> Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
FARGO FOOD FANATIC
Space Aliens Different is not always better
JUSTIN HARKEN Contributing Writer
This week I decided to go in a different direction with a franchised restaurant. I picked Space Aliens because it has local roots, originating in Bismarck with Fargo being the second location, and it might also not be a place that very many people have gone. When I think of a great dining experience, Space Aliens doesn’t come to mind, and I found out there is good reason for this. I was not very impressed with this establishment. Space Aliens tries to create an environment that is friendly for everyone by combining an arcade for children and a full bar for mommy and daddy. This makes it awkward, as you are trying to enjoy your drink while kids are running around screaming. I can equate it to combining a VFW with a McDonald’s Playland. This might be great for someone who has kids and can let them loose while they drink away their regrets of being a parent in the first place, but I thought that’s
what babysitters are for, or the television. Space Aliens does have a separate bar section, which is where I sat, but the music seemed to be playing at a loud volume, and with the hum of chatter throughout the restaurant, conversing was difficult if the person with whom you were speaking wasn’t right next to you. Additionally, maybe I’m just not into themed restaurants, but the whole space theme seemed tacky. Most of the food on the menu had a space theme to it. Fries were “Outer Space Fries” and a regular burger was an “Alien Burger.” It’s like going to Zorbaz, where all S’s are replaced with Z’s. This is cute and funny for about a minute but then it just becomes annoying. I realize that the restaurant is trying to appeal to children in an effort to empty their parents’ wallets, but at least show some dignity while doing it. A burger is a burger and fries are fries. Kids know what these are and the unthemed versions will appeal to them. While the server I had seemed friendly, she was quite slow. After ordering our drinks -- which wasn’t a great deal because apparently kids pumping quarters into games they can’t win doesn’t bring in enough money -- the waitress said that she would be right back to take our food order. Fifteen minutes and one empty mug later the waitress wasn’t in sight and my stom-
ach seemed to be eating itself. When the waitress finally arrived and took our order, the food came out promptly which could be due to the fact that everything was deepfried. The food wasn’t anything to write home about. The chicken tenders were about as good as the ones served in my high school cafeteria and the side of fries was not worth the $2. In a nutshell, Space Aliens is at the bottom of my list of good restaurants in Fargo. I couldn’t get over the atmosphere and average food.
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Maybe I'm not just into themed restaurants, but the whole space theme seemed tacky. If a restaurant promotes itself as being different then they should go all-out and come up with some new food ideas, not just decorate the place with some bad movie props and disguise an Applebee’s menu with alien clip art and cheesy names.