Do kids like these films?

Hi PlainOldMe -- Thanks for the recommendations. I think you're exactly right that some R-rated films are more appropriate than some PG-13 ones (though I can't think of any offhand).

Jumanji as a coming-of-age film? Hadn't thought of that. I thought it was very creative but a little bit scary. I don't know the other films you mentioned... Secret of Nimh, Milo & Otis (that sort of rings a bell -- a dog & a cat?) and the Asterix. I'll have to check them out.

Iron Giant, Matilda and the Dark Crystal are all great in their own way, spy kids is all wrapping and no substance and Finding Neverland I have never seen.

I would root for the Dark Crystal because a puppet film is so out of the ordinary and because of the amazing fantasy world created by the late Jim Henson and his team.

Late entry: Time Bandits, which might also be fun for parents to watch, since they will understand the historical backgrounds better (I hope).

Wow... Time Bandits -- great film! That's part of the Criterion Collection -- one of the coolest collections of films any distributor has in the U.S., but we won't be dealing with them on this project.

I'll keep your recommendations in mind, Paaskynen. I've had some lobbying to drop one of the four and add The Sound of Music. Can't do that because it's distributed (or should I say NOT distributed) by 20th Century Fox who don't sell public performance rights. <phbbbbt to them>

Piffka,Just wondering which films you decided to go with.

Hello Thief of Light, thanks for still being interested in my little project.

We had one of our last planning meetings this morning. We've known for a while that two films we'll be showing outdoors are: Apollo 13 and ET. The third film is going to be a "People's Choice."

Because of the acclaim right here on a2k about some of the other children's films, I decided to show Finding Neverland and The Incredibles as "showcase" films in the library this summer. We'll also be showing The Aviator. The children's librarian has a whole group of Knights and Fantasy type films... Princess Bride is one -- she's three or four more. The library is also having a weekend of "all Harry Potter all the time." Our head librarian LOVES Harry Potter.

The films on the People's Choice ballot are listed below. We all agreed that we think the people will choose Shrek. It will be interesting. The dollar amount is how much it will cost us for a single showing. As far as I know, the maximum for any single film was $275 for Wizard of Oz. One of the live theater groups in town is doing that this summer, so we've chosen not to consider it, but wouldn't that be a great film to show?

Here's the list to choose from:
#1 - $125 The Dark Crystal - 1982- PG 93 minutes - "Another planet, another time. " Jim Henson animated story; 1000 years ago the Dark Crystal was damaged...

#2 - $250 Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory - 1971- G 100 minutes - From the book by Roald Dahl, starring Gene Wilder. "It's everybody's non-pollutionary, anti-institutionary, pro-confectionery factory of fun!"

#3 - $175 Spy Kids -2001- PG 88 minutes - "Real spies, only smaller. " Children of secret agents join the "family business."

#4 - $250 Shrek - 2001- PG - 90 minutes - "A reclusive ogre and a chatterbox donkey go on a quest to rescue a princess for a tyrannical midget lord."

#5 - $150 True Grit - 1969- G; 128 minutes - John Wayne, Glen Campbell and a young girl track down her father's killers. She "didn't care what they were or who they were as long as they had true grit."

#6 - $150 Iron Giant - PG; 86 minutes; 1999 - Acclaimed animation family film about a boy who makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot.

They are making a sequel to DARK CRYSTAL. It's supposed to be released in 2007

Oh really? Interesting. Sometimes sequels are as good. Are they ever better than the first? Hmmmm, maybe Toy Story 2.

I'd like it if 'the people' chose Dark Crystal. It's been so long since I've seen it! I can't remember much about the storyline, but I remember a positive feeling for it.

Which of those films would you choose then... Dark Crystal?

I'd go with IRON GIANT, but I'll bet WILLIE WONKA
will be the one they go for.
I work on a film festival in town. we decided to go with a film called THE BOY WHO WANTED TO BE A BEAR for our kid's program.

I'd like to see Iron Giant -- it would go so well with our space theme.

Would you tell me about your film festival? Do you have a website? I'm all ears! I'd love to find out how you got the Public Performance Rights for that Danish film.

Our festival is called S.N.O.B.(Somewhat North of Boston) Film Festival. This is our fourth year. We're a small non-profit fest which takes place at the NH Tech College in Concord. Our website is Edit: Moderator: Link removed. I contacted Central Park Media the US distributer of The Boy Who Wanted to Be Bear. It isn't written in stone that we are going to show it yet. But I'm hoping.

I'm glad you came back, Thief. I've visited your website -- it looks very cool. You're in a little different niche from us, we're still hard-scrabbling out of thin-air. I think your concept is great and I love the name. Isn't November getting to be a little cold in N.H.?

I'm wondering -- we have to pay to have our films shown but you get the filmmakers to pay you. How'd you work that!?!!

Good luck getting The Boy Who Wanted to Be Bear. If you're able to get the rights, would you mind passing the contact info to me? I'd love to show more foreign films but getting the rights is <ahem> a bear.

Forgot to mention how much I liked this:

We don't show the films outside in Nov but we are doing a one night show in July, a "Best Of" with shorts from the first three years. That will be outside if it isn't still raining by then!
We charge an entry fee for the small amateur and indie film makers. (almost all festivals do) the money goes to awards and to keep the fest going, but we have to pay fees for stuff like The Boy...

Interesting. Seattle is in the midst of a big Film Festival. I think every screening costs money.

I love Shorts. I see that you don't do 35mm... what kind of screen do you use outside? We're having a small problem with screen "sag" which makes the focus weird sometimes.

We charge the film goers to see every film (we package the shorts in groups). Animation, student films and just a general best of).I meant that we pay the film makers of the big films we show.
As far as the screen goes we ended up building a large plywood square and hanging the screen on it.
I did attend an outdoor show at a local college and they had a real nice screen that was made to be used outside. I think that they rented it a company out of Boston,which doesn't really help you out and the cost of renting it for each showing would add up. We watched The Boy Who wanted to be a Bear last night and we decided that it wasn't what we were looking for, pretty scarey for young kids. So it's back to searching for a better film.

Your festival sounds so cool, thief. I wish it were closer to where I live. It must be very enjoyable to work on it, too. How big is that plywood base for the screen? Some places attach those to sides of buildings. The City of Bellingham developed its own screening wall and outdoor seating area. I talked to one group so revved about outdoor films that they recommended showing the film on a sheet hanging from a big truck as better than nothing at all.

The outdoor screen we'll be using is an inflatable screen -- we can rent these from a group out of Boulder, CO, but the city chose to buy their own and all the rest of the equipment. It is the inside screen that has the slight sag. I've asked for somebody to look into it... not for the first time.

Sorry about the Bear being too scary. Besides taste, what is the choice based on? Can you use a film that's made the rounds or is in somebody's catalog?

Sorry I've taken so long to get back on but my computer had a fight with a lightening bolt and lost.
We had our "Best of" tonight and had about 75 people show up, we had competition from a concert in town. our criteria for choosing films are a strong story-line,and decent production values. a film can be flawed if we like it. We show films made by highschool kids. As far as films that have made the rounds, if it hasn't shown in central NH it's fair game. How has your series gone?

Howdy... Congratulations on your summer show. I just checked your website (which took a little searching as the Moderators cut it from your previous post !) and saw that these were the films you showed:

Jack Milton, Fairy Tale Detective; Gu; Delivery; 50 Feet that Shook the Earth; Spank; Jimmy's House of Hugs and selected shorts.

All those were shorts? I'll have to look them up on imdb.

Our outdoor series has been going alright so far -- one film down, two to go. There were 60 people at the first outdoor screening which was amazing since it was absolutely new to the community and the advertising was abysmal. We were supposed to have signs on the street -- but didn't, we were supposed to have a write-up in the local papers -- but didn't, and the weather was extremely iffy. It was chilly and threatened to rain. We were also competing with the Tall Ships events which had started that evening.

I've already counted more than 250 ballots for the "People's Choice" film for August. We might be in trouble if that many people showed up. Thought you'd be pleased to know that your prediction looks correct. Willie Wonka is winning hands down! I just hope that people realize it is the old Gene Wilders version and not the new Johnny Depp one.