Verbatim » Apollo

Beatles still rock, romp at the Apollo

Billy Dennis — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:48:46 +0000

The motion picture some see as foreshadowing the lively style of MTV music videos was the Beatles’ first movie, and it’s showing at downtown Peoria’s nonprofit Apollo Theater on Saturday, August 22.

Starring John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison, the 90-minute “day in the life” of the Fab Four, circa 1964, was nominated for two Oscars. It was the first feature film directed by Richard Lester, who went on to direct the Beatles’ “Help!” plus “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” “The Three Musketeers,” two movies in the Christopher Reeve series of “Superman” films and other movies.

Longtime Beatles producer George Martin supervised the music, which includes “She Loves You,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “I Should Have Known Better” and others in addition to the title tune.

Showtime is at 7 p.m., and the suggested donation is $5 and $4 for kids, students and seniors. For details call (309) 673-4343.

Spring into golf season with ‘Caddyshack’

Billy Dennis — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 04:25:38 +0000

West-central Illinois may be dealing with spring storms and floods, but more than a few golfers are eyeing area courses for enough drainage to play a round.

To help celebrate the season and the sport once dubbed “a good walk ruined,” downtown Peoria’s Apollo Theater is screening the 1980 comedy “Caddyshack” one night only on Saturday March 21.

Starring Rodney Dangerfield, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase and Michael O’Keefe, the 1980 romp is a sophomoric delight, filled with goofy golf and a class war between the likeable rich guy and sneering snobs like the club president (ex-“Mary Tyler Moore Show” star Ted Knight).

As a gopher-hunting groundskeeper, Murray steals the scenes he’s in, as does Chase in his Zen-like playing style, and golf could never again be completely considered an elitist undertaking.

Written and directed by Harold Ramis, it also features Brian Doyle-Murray.

Showtime will be 7 p.m., and the suggested donation at the nonprofit Apollo is $5 and $4 for kids, students and seniors. For details call (309) 673-4343.

‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ stops at Apollo

Billy Dennis — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:29:43 +0000

Sixty years ago was a golden time for Hollywood, and besides “Gone with the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Stagecoach” and many other gems, director Frank Capra’s “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” was a popular Oscar winner.

The 130-minute drama is scheduled to show at 7 p.m. Saturday, January 24 at Peoria’s downtown Apollo Theater.

In “Mr. Smith,” Capra made a star of likeable Jimmy Stewart, starring as a principled but naïve young man appointed to fill in for a U.S. Senator on Capitol Hill.

The touching film fable follows him as he runs afoul of inside-the-beltway corruption, from Congressional colleagues to the press. A bipartisan and populist celebration of idealism more than an indictment of government, “Mr. Smith” won an Academy Award for Best Story, and was honored with seven other Oscar nominations.

It co-stars Claude Rains, Thomas Mitchell, Jean Arthur and Guy Kibbee, a familiar character actor who got his start in a vaudeville act co-starring Peorian Harry Bay, a major league baseball player for Cincinnati and Cleveland.

The suggested donation at the nonprofit Apollo is $5 and $4 for kids, students and seniors. For details call (309) 673-4343.