THE READER arrives

Written by Dan

If you didn't read yesterday's newsletter, the big news of the week is that Kate Winslet's new film, THE READER, will be starting here on Friday. It came as quite a shock when we got the call from the Weinstein Company yesterday, specifically asking us to show the film on Friday. It's cool enough having one super award-magnet (SLUMDOG), but two... at the same time!!! It's going to be an awesome weekend.

In other news, I have a weird cyst on my thumb joint. My diagnosis is ganglion cyst, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were a physically-manifested stress BB either. The only thing it affects is my bowling game, but I think I'll pull through.

As for theater news, we're still plugging along at the new location. We're creeping closer and closer to the 100% finished line, which is fan-freaking-tastic! I finally cleaned and organized my office / storage room, so no it's much more comfortable do here in "the hole." Other than that, we're just cruising right along.

Uh oh.... movie's over. MORE LATER!

Exploding cows

Written by Dan

Back when Nicole and I used to work at Springfield 8, on a particularly busy Friday night, I was right in the middle of tearing tickets when an older gentleman approached me and whispered in my ear: "You might want to go clean up in the bathroom... it looks like a cow exploded in one of the stalls!" He then turned around and began to walk away, but then stopped and decided to clear something up: "It wasn't me!"

I continued to tear tickets as I pondered what to do; luckily, a few moments later, a fellow employee walked by, broom in hand. "Hey [past co-worker]! Go check out the men's restroom. Someone said one of the toilets is messed up." The poor sap (I don't remember who it was, exactly) willingly obliged, and off he trotted into the restroom. Less than a minute later, the same employee staggered out of the restroom looking like he'd just watched the first 30 minutes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN... gurgling out of a toilet bowl.

He flat out refused to do anything about the mess (and rightly so), so we took the next logical step: find the next employee with less seniority and make them do it. This deflection down the chain of command continued for about an hour until we'd finally ran out of groundlings to force the job upon, and that's when the manager stepped in. Andy R. was his name, and he was a fine fellow. He went in for an inspection, came out slightly dazed but still determined, and returned with yellow gloves and cleaner. The job had fallen on his able shoulders, and he wasn't about to back down.

Long story short, he cleaned up the poop, and I learned an important lesson: you can make your employees do menial tasks, but when it comes to cleaning a stranger's fecal matter, the buck always floats to the top. I'd never had the opportunity to relate this story until tonight.

And that's all I'll say on the matter.

For those of you who say we never show enough animated films...

Written by Nicole

When I was in high school, my sister and I would get extra credit for seeing foreign films, and the *only* place in Springfield that offered that service was at SMS (now, of course, Missouri State). I remember the first time we went on campus and watched LA CEREMONIE, a French psychological thriller by one of my favorite mystery authors, Ruth Rendell. We felt so cool, just little ol' high school freshmen, walking on campus in the evening, catching a flick in a small dark auditorium, sitting amongst college kids and professors. Oh how smart we thought we were!

There were always such a good selection of films on campus - I also remember watching MICROCOSMOS - that weird, very up-close and personal documentary on insects. There still are a great selection of films to watch from MSU's various film series, but there's going to be one small change: They'll now be playing at The Moxie! We're super excited to partner with Missouri State's Media, Film, and Journalism Department to help showcase their film series this upcoming semester.

Each semester, the department picks a handful of films with a similar theme. In the fall, it was "Politics in Everyday life", and they played films such as 4 MONTHS 3 WEEKS 2 DAYS, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, and THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND. For this spring, they picked six animated films. But these aren't your everyday Pixar animation - these films push the boundaries on style, plot, and expectations. We can't wait to be a venue for these films!

And naturally, the best part of the series is that they're FREE! So mark your calendars, and sweet talk your teacher for some extra credit. You'll feel so cool.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Here's the schedule:

HEAVY METAL - Jan. 21 @ 7pm
This unique collection of six animated stories combines science fiction wih fantasy, horror, comedy, sex and rock music. The stories are all linked by sequences featuring a fiendish green meteorite that claims to be the cause of evil throughout the world."

PINK FLOYD: THE WALL - Feb. 11 @ 7pm
Loosely based on the life story of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's original front man, PINK FLOY: THE WALL stars Bob Geldof as Pink, a mentally damaged man who has gone from a hopeful child artist to a burned-out rock star drifting away from reality.

PAPRIKA - March 4 @ 7pm
The visually striking thriller is set in the not-too-distant future, where doctors are developing a groundbreaking new psychotherapy treatment that allows them to enter the dreams of a subject and explore matters of the unconscious mind.

PRINCESS MONONOKE - March 18 @ 7pm
A beautifully realized tale of civilization versus nature, PRINCESS MONONOKE is a true epic by Japan's master animator, Hayao Mizyazaki.

PERSEPOLIS - April 15 @ 7pm
PERSEPOLIS presents a deeply personal coming-of-age tale about finding one's place in the world. Based on her bestselling graphic novel, Marjane Satrapi teamed up with underground comic book artist Vincent Paronnaud to co-direct this animated big-screen adaptation.

FEAR(S) OF THE DARK - April 29 @ 7pm
FEAR(S) OF THE DARK is a collaborative showcase of six different drawing and animation styles, provocative in their very mutations, the film manages to escape the seemingly inherent horror-anthology fate of adding up to an uneven tone.

Dan and Nicole on The Mystery Hour

Written by Dan

Just a quick announcement: Nicole and I will be guests during this Saturday's Friday's "Mystery Hour" at The Skinny Improv, hosted by our good buddy Jeff Houghton (who has a dish named after him at Gailey's). It's an hour long late-night-talk-show-esque extravaganza! The show starts at 10:15 PM, and tickets are a measly $5.00. Jeff promises plenty of full facial nudity, but I still might show up without pants just to throw him off. Nude or not, it's going to be a blast, so if you're looking for something fun and different to do on Saturday Friday night (assuming you've seen both MAN ON WIRE and SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK), swing by and catch the show.

In other news, I banged my head on a ceiling joist so violently today that I think I jarred something loose. Now the only thing I can smell is burnt ham.

The seven and a half floor

Written by Dan

Mark it down; this is the first blog post I've written since we've opened for business at our new location. It's been a crazy five days, but things are already starting to settle back into a sense of routine, albeit a totally new one. I wish I could've written more during the transition, but it would've been nearly impossible. Had I known how incredibly taxing—physically, emotionally, financially—this move would be beforehand, I'm not sure we would've made the jump in the first place; but we did, and I'm glad. Now, let's talk about something else.

I'm writing this from my new office, which is situated underneath the booth in a dark, dirty corner of what we're referring to as the seven and a half floor. Why, you ask? Because the clearance from floor to screw-and-nail-riddled ceiling is a mere five feet. While the low overhead is novel, the exposed fiberglass is not. After being down here for five full days, I can already feel the microscopic, carcinogenic shards of man-made glass embedding themselves into the delicate lining of my lungs. Until I can get the walls covered with something (most likely roll plastic), I've been doing my best to only breathe through my nose... and I'm also wearing my scarf around my face.

The reason I'm forced to take up shop in this rather uninhabitable (and totally awesome) hole is due in large part to a reduced amount of storage space at our new space. The vast majority of square footage was used to make everything larger: bigger bathrooms, larger lobby, additional auditorium, huger hallway, wider walls, cooler Cinebar; which left us with little room for storage. We had the exact opposite situation at the old place, where we had more storage space than brains, causing us to collect all kinds of crud that we should've thrown out or given away. Now we have to cull our collection of crap to fit into our new, efficiently designed digs. Can it be done? You betcha!

This scarf is really itchy on my nose.

In other news, I shaved off my beard and the scar from my infamous U-Haul accident is exactly how the doctor described it: minimal. I was sort of hoping for a cool Harrison-Ford-esque line across my chin, but I guess I'm alright with it being nearly invisible as well.

We still have quite a few projects to finish before I'll consider the new theater 100% finished; like hanging curtains around the screens and over the speakers in both auditoriums, installing and calibrating our digital projectors, piping in music to the lobby, designing and putting up a menu, putting a light in the seven and a half floor so I'll quit banging my head against the ceiling joists, &c.. Is it just me or have I been using a lot of punctuation in this post? Look at all those semi-colons!

:O

;-)

I'm looking forward to booking the rest of December and getting our new calendars out, as well as starting a marketing blitz to let everyone know about our new location. 2009 is going to be a challenging year, but, as always, I think The Moxie is up for it. That's all for today. I have to go pull up lights in auditorium two. AWESOME!

1. [BLOG #595] THE READER arrives
   + Last comment by evilvet
2. THE READER
   + Last comment by nicole
3. [BLOG #594] Exploding cows
   + Last comment by nate
4. LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
   + Last comment by Ozark Hillbilly
5. MSU MJF Film Series: HEAVY METAL
   + Last comment by nicole
6. I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG
   + Last comment by nicole
7. TELL NO ONE
   + Last comment by nicole
8. DAFT PUNK's ELECTROMA
   + Last comment by PatMcRotch
9. [BLOG #590] Grand opening day!
   + Last comment by PatMcRotch
10. Repo!: The Genetic Opera
    + Last comment by PatMcRotch